Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ICT and the New Zealand outbound retail travel industry: strategic adaptation to the threat of disintermediation

Disintermediation is the displacement of market intermediaries within the supply chain allowing for consumers to engage directly with suppliers to purchase product. Widespread disintermediation of travel intermediaries was predicted as early as the 1990s, when it was felt that Internet technology would fuel competition and allow new online entrants easy access to the global travel market. More recently, increasing consumer demand for online retailing continues to threaten further the existence of traditional travel agency businesses within travel distribution channels. Furthermore, the rapid development of information and communication technology (ICT) has shaped an environment in which suppliers, wholesalers and intermediaries compete for the same customers. The aim of this study is, therefore, to understand how ICT has influenced changes in the structure of the New Zealand outbound retail travel industry and to investigate the strategic responses of businesses as they adapt to changing market conditions. A case study design was used to collect data through in-depth interviews with senior managers and owners of retail travel businesses operating in the New Zealand market. In addition, industry publications and company documents were analysed and a comparison of the participants’ businesses’ websites undertaken to identify the current structure of the sector. A thematic analysis was completed, including an extensive coding process which led to the identification of the two emergent and interrelated themes: technological capacity and adaptation. The study shows that the New Zealand outbound retail travel industry has experienced considerable structural change in the ten years between 2004 and 2013. This change has been influenced by the nature of strategic relationships and by increased access to ICT provided by Internet technology, two factors that have facilitated the emergence of a new breed of travel agent, the travel broker, who are now a significant sector in the market. In addition, the nature of business models in the market often dictate the strength and value of strategic relationships. Key issues pertaining to the technological capacity of businesses have been identified including enhanced process efficiency and increasing opportunities for consumers to connect with businesses via websites and associated Internet technology. All retail
A Study of Risk Management in Iranian Banks

This study, investigates the relationship between some banking ratios such as cash to asset ratio, size of bank, capital adequacy and debt to equity with liquidity, operational and credit risks. Financial data was collected from 10 Iranian banks from 2006 to 2011. Regression methods for data analyzing was used and the results shown that capital adequacy had a inverse relationship and debt to equity ratio had an positive relationship with credit risk that there weren’t any relation between another variables with credit risk. The capital adequacy had a positive relationship with liquidity risk , as well as the cash to asset ratio, sizes of banks and debt to equity ratio had an inverse relationship with liquidity risk . On the other hand, the cash to asset ratio, sizes of banks and capital adequacy had a inverse statistically significant relationship with operational risk. The regression results reports that there weren’t any relation between the debts to equity ratio and operational risk.
The effects of dietary supplementation with fish oil on renal function in cyclosporine-treated renal transplant recipients.

The effect of a daily supplementation of 6 g fish oil (30% C20:5 omega-3 (EPA) and 20% C22:6 omega-3 for three months on renal function variables was investigated in a placebo-controlled (6 g corn oil, 50% C18:2 omega-6) prospective, randomized, double-blind study in stable cyclosporine-treated renal transplant recipients, at least nine months after grafting. Ten patients ingested placebo capsules and eleven patients fish oil. When measuring glomerular filtration rate and effective renal plasma flow (ERPF) before (baseline [BL]) and after 3 months of oil ingestion nothing changed in the placebo-treated group: GFR-BL = 64.5 GFR-3 months = 60 ml/min/1.73m2 (NS; median, Wilcoxon test) ERPF BL = 229.5 and ERPF-3 months = 242.5 ml/min/1.73m2 (NS). In the fish oil-treated group GFR rose by 20.3% from GFR-BL = 56 to GFR-3 months = 68 ml/min/1.73m2 and ERPF by 16.4% from ERPF-BL 218 to ERPF-3 months = 245 ml/min/1.73m2, (P less than 0.01). In the placebo-treated group mean arterial pressure and calculated total renal vascular resistance (TRVR) did not change: MAP-BL = 106 mmHg and MAP-3 months = 109 mmHg, TRVR being 20856 dyne.sec/cm5 and 19862 dyne/sec/cm5, respectively (NS). In the fish oil-treated group MAP and TRVR fell by 8.6% and 21.1%, respectively: MAP-BL = 106 mmHg and MAP-3 months = 98 mmHg (P less than 0.01), TRVR-BL = 21952 dyne/sec/cm5 and TRVR-3 months = 17087 dyne/sec/cm5 (P less than 0.01). According to these results fish oil supplementation has considerable effects on renal function and blood pressure in stable CsA-treated renal transplant recipients.
SpoIIE governs the phosphorylation state of a protein regulating transcription factor oM during sporulation in Bacillus subtilis

Cell-specific activation of the transcription factor Mo during sporulation in Bacillus subtilis is controlled by a regulatory pathway involving the proteins SpoIIE, Spo- IIAA, and SpoIIAB. SpoIIAB is an antagonist of or, and SpoIIAA, which is capable of overcoming SpoIIAB-mediated inhibition of oe, is an antagonist of SpoIIAB. SpoIIAA is, in turn, negatively regulated by SpoIIAB, which phosphorylates SpoIIAA on serine 58. SpoIIAA is also positively regulated by SpoIIE, which dephosphorylates SpoIIAA-P, the phosphory- lated form of SpoIIAA. Here, isoelectric focusing and Western blot analysis were used to examine the phosphorylation state of SpoIIAA in vivo. SpoIIAA was found to be largely in the phosphorylated state during sporulation in wild-type cells but a significant portion of the protein that was unphosphorylated could also be detected. Consistent with the idea that SpoIIE governs dephosphorylation of SpoIIAA-P, SpoIIAA was en-tirely in the phosphorylated state in spoIIE mutant cells. Conversely, overexpression of spoIllE led to an increase in the ratio of unphosphorylated SpoIIAA to SpoIIAA-P and caused inappropriate activation of eo in the predivisional sporangium.
Novel Structurally Related Flavones Augment Cell Death Induced by rhsTRAIL

TRAIL (tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand) was identified as a powerful activator of apoptosis in tumor cells and one of the most promising candidates for cancer therapy with no toxicity against normal tissues. However, many tumor cells are resistant to TRAIL-induced apoptosis. The aim of this work was to analyze the improvement of the anticancer effect of rhsTRAIL (recombinant human soluble TRAIL) by nine flavones: 5-Hydroxyflavone, 6-Hydroxyflavone, 7-Hydroxyflavone and their new synthetic derivatives 5-acetoxyflavone, 5-butyryloxyflavone, 6-acetoxyflavone, 6-butyryloxyflavone, 7-acetoxyflavone and 7-butyryloxyflavone. We examined the cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of rhsTRAIL enhanced by novel structurally-related flavones on SW480 and SW620 colon cancer cells using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide test, the lactate dehydrogenase assay and annexin V-FITC fluorescence staining. We observed a slight difference in the activities of the flavones that was dependent on their chemical structure. Our study indicates that all nine flavones significantly augment cell death by rhsTRAIL (cytotoxicity range 36.8 ± 1.7%–91.4 ± 1.7%; apoptosis increase of 33.0 ± 0.7%–78.5 ± 0.9%). Our study demonstrates the potential use of tested flavones in TRAIL-based anticancer therapy and prevention.
Music identification with MPEG-7

Realtime music identification became more and more interesting within the past few years. Possible fields are for example monitoring a radio station in order to create a playlist or scanning network traffic in search of copyright protected material. This paper presents a client-server application to identify an unknown segment of music. The extraction and exchange of descriptive data is done with MPEG-7 only. This paper also explains how to define the similarity between two segments of music and determents its robustness towards perceptional audio coding and filtering. It also introduces an indexing system to reduce the number of segments which have to be compared to the query.
Surgical excision after neoadjuvant therapy with vismodegib for a locally advanced basal cell carcinoma and resistant basal carcinomas in Gorlin syndrome.

Vismodegib is useful to treat locally advanced or metastatic basal cell carcinomas (BCCs),1 but to our knowledge, its use as a neoadjuvant to shrink BCCs before surgery has not been reported. This case illustrates the role of vismodegib as a neoadjuvant agent. In addition, this case highlights the fact that a patient with Gorlin syndrome can develop resistant BCCs while taking vismodegib, a phenomenon not widely recognized although recently reported.2
Malignant middle cerebral artery stroke: Where ischemia meets the scalpel

Seventeen patients with partial epilepsy had electroencephalographic (EEG) monitoring concurrent with cerebral positron emission computed tomography (PECT) after 18 F-ﬂuorodeoxyglucose ( 18 FDG) and 13 N-ammonia ( 13 NH 3 ) were given intravenously as indicators of local cerebral glucose utilization (LCMR glc ) and relative perfusion, respectively. In 12 of 15 patients who had unilateral or focal electrical abnormalities, interictal 18 FDG scan patterns clearly showed localized regions of decreased (14 to 58%) LCMR glc that correlated anatomically with the eventual EEG localization. These hypometabolic zones appeared normal on x-ray computed tomography in all but 3 patients and were unchanged on 18 FDG scans repeated on different days. In
Dimerization, DNA Binding, and Transactivation Properties of Hypoxia-inducible Factor 1*

Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) is a heterodimeric basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor that regulates hypoxia-inducible genes including the human erythropoietin (EPO) gene. In this study, we report structural features of the HIF-1α subunit that are required for heterodimerization, DNA binding, and transactivation. The HIF-1α and HIF-1β (ARNT; aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator) subunits were coimmunoprecipitated from nuclear extracts, indicating that these proteins heterodimerize in the absence of DNA. In vitro-translated HIF-1α and HIF-1β generated a HIF-1/DNA complex with similar electrophoretic mobility and sequence specificity as HIF-1 present in nuclear extracts from hypoxic cells. Compared to 826-amino acid, full-length HIF-1α, amino acids 1-166 mediated heterodimerization with HIF-1β (ARNT), but amino acids 1-390 were required for optimal DNA binding. A deletion involving the basic domain of HIF-1α eliminated DNA binding without affecting heterodimerization. In cotransfection assays, forced expression of recombinant HIF-1α and HIF-1β (ARNT) activated transcription of reporter genes containing EPO enhancer sequences with intact, but not mutant, HIF-1 binding sites. Deletion of the carboxy terminus of HIF-1α (amino acids 391-826) markedly decreased the ability of recombinant HIF-1 to activate transcription. Overexpression of a HIF-1α construct with deletions of the basic domain and carboxy terminus blocked reporter gene activation by endogenous HIF-1 in hypoxic cells.
The Determinant of Women Self leadership among Generation X and Y

Most organization suffers from the shortage of leadership personnel as retirement of babyboomers are increasing the remaining are generation X and Y. However the women those are competent enough to be the candidate with their outstanding performance still faces a strong setback due to the unseen barriers and this may vary with generations. The overall purpose to carry out this research was to identify and propose a conceptual model for the determinants of women self leadership among generation X and Y. It is crucial to study on how the determinants will influence the women self leadership, as well as to the different generations. The different determinants focused on the Capabilities, Family Influence, Self-efficacy and Masculinity-Femininity. Base from the literature review this current study found a gap which is generations as a moderating effect between capabilities, family influence, self-efficacy and masculinity-femininity that influence women’s self leadership.
Diffusion Tensor Magnetic Resonance Imaging

During the last decade, advances in the field of Magnetic Resonance Imaging(MRI) have led to the design of numerous innovative imaging techniques. These techniques have not only facilitated structural visualization of anatomy, but also have provided a wealth of functional information regarding biological processes. Diffusion tensor MRI (DT-MRI) is one such technique of rapidly growing research, both in technical refinements, as well as in clinical applications. DT-MRI attempts to analyze the magnitude and orientation of random microscopic motion of water molecules in all three dimensions. In this paper, we briefly describe the principles of diffusion of water molecules in biological tissues and discuss how tensor elements are measured using diffusion sensitive MR imaging. We also discuss the various techniques of depiction of this data that are currently under evaluation, and their relevance to clinical imaging and research.
Optimal liability rules under mutual externalities among multiagents

Nakai [3] proposes a new liability rule under external diseconomies between two companies. We generalize it in the following three points. First we treat more than two agents. Secondly we consider mutual externalities and therefore one agent may sustain damage from other agents and work damage on them simultaneously. Thirdly we take off the constraint of linearlity for the profit by economic behaviors of the government. Thus we obtain the optimal liability rules in the general case.
Factors Affecting Web Site Visit Duration: A Cross-Domain Analysis

In this study, the authors examine factors that affect Web site visit duration, including user demographics, text and graphics content, type of site, presence of functionality features, advertising content, and the number of previous visits. The authors use a random effects model to determine the impact of these factors on site duration and the number of pages viewed. The proposed method accounts for three distinct sources of heterogeneity that arise from differences among people, Web sites, and visit occasions to the same Web site by the same person. The model is fit using one month of user-centric panel data, and it encompasses the 50 most popular sites in a market. The results show that, in general, older people and women visit Web sites for a longer period. Some surprising results are revealed in an examination of interactions between these demographic and site characteristic variables. For example, sites with higher levels of advertising usually result in lower visit duration, but this is not the case for older people. The model also yields insights into the relative importance of different sources of heterogeneity in visit duration; heterogeneity in visit occasions dominates over individual-level and Web site-specific heterogeneity.
Corporate socially responsible (CSR) practices in the context of Greek industry

This paper sets out to describe the level of corporate environmental responsibility of the Greek industrial sector. While the level of corporate socially responsible behaviour has been widely explored in the context of Northern European industry, the theoretical work surrounding the level of CSR practices of Greek industry is underdeveloped. A qualitative study was designed to increase awareness about the level of environmental responsibility of two Greek firms, which represented the chemical/fertilizer and metal sectors. The empirical findings suggest that a number of factors, both internal and external, determine the level of environmental policy and performance of the two companies. The environmental policy of the companies appears also to relate to the sector of operation. The paper concludes that the Greek business actor should look at his workforce in order to accelerate the environmental activities of the organization. With regard to the theory of CSR, it is argued that the development of a model of CSR is aided by the study and identification of factors that support and/or undermine the socially responsible behaviour of the European corporate sector. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment.
A Dashboard for Affective E-learning: Data Visualization for Monitoring Online Learner Emotions

In an ordinary classroom, teachers monitor their students’ emotional reactions while learning, even if only by glancing at their faces while they work. In this way, teachers can gauge the effectiveness of their teaching strategies, determining whether students are bored, frustrated, or anxious. Teachers can see how emotions change over time, perhaps from positive, to challenged, and later triumphant. All this is difficult with educational software used online. In this paper we present software to address this gap. Our MADE Teacher’s Dashboard is a web application that supports educators to inspect and reflect on the emotional states of students using web learning applications. We apply theories of emotion in learning, together with a software library to identify emotions using computer vision. The Dashboard features a novel visualization of the emotional state of learners through time over the process of a learning activity.
Vildagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase-IV inhibitor, improves model-assessed beta-cell function in patients with type 2 diabetes.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS The dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibitor, vildagliptin, increases levels of intact glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and improves glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes. Although GLP-1 is known to stimulate insulin secretion, vildagliptin does not affect plasma insulin levels in diabetic patients, suggesting that more sophisticated measures are necessary to ascertain the influence of vildagliptin on beta-cell function. METHODS This study examined the effects of 28-d treatment with vildagliptin (100 mg, twice daily; n = 9) vs. placebo (n = 11) on beta-cell function in diabetic patients using a mathematical model that describes the insulin secretory rate as a function of glucose levels (beta-cell dose response), the change in glucose with time (derivative component), and a potentiation factor, which is a function of time and may reflect the actions of nonglucose secretagogues and other factors. RESULTS Vildagliptin significantly increased the insulin secretory rate at 7 mmol/liter glucose (secretory tone), calculated from the dose response; the difference in least squares mean (deltaLSM) was 101 +/- 51 pmol.min(-1). m(-2) (P = 0.002). The slope of the beta-cell dose response, the derivative component, and the potentiation factor were not affected. Vildagliptin also significantly decreased mean prandial glucose (deltaLSM, -1.2 +/- 0.4 mmol/liter; P = 0.01) and glucagon (deltaLSM, -10.7 +/- 4.8 ng/liter; P = 0.03) levels and increased plasma levels of intact GLP-1 (deltaLSM, +10.8 +/- 1.6 pmol/liter; P < 0.0001) and gastric inhibitory polypeptide (deltaLSM, +43.4 +/- 9.4 pmol/liter; P < 0.0001) relative to placebo. CONCLUSION Vildagliptin is an incretin degradation inhibitor that improves beta-cell function in diabetic patients by increasing the insulin secretory tone.
Start-up teams and venture capital exit performance in Germany: venture capital firms are not selecting on the right criteria

This paper identifies predictors of venture capital exit performance that are related to the founding teams of young ventures. As portfolio companies of venture capital firms are a very unique subgroup of young ventures, and as exit performance is a success variable that is only rarely examined, this study provides new insights from an investor's point of view. Based on data from 64 non-disclosed business plans of portfolio companies from German venture capital firms, we prove known team-related success factors for their potential to drive exit returns. We find that venture capital firms are not selecting on the right criteria.
Studies of the immunological activities of the outer membrane protein from Escherichia coli.

The outer membrane protein (OMP) prepared from Escherichia coli was found to be a potent mitogen for murine B cells and to be capable of inducing polyclonal antibody formation as well as a proliferative response. Spleen cells from nude mice responded equally as well to OMP as those from their normal litter-mates, whereas nylon-wool-purified T cells or thymocytes failed to respond. The proliferative response was dependent on the presence of macrophages. The macrophage dependency of the polyclonal antibody response seemed to be less than that of the proliferation. OMP was mitogenic for lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-resistant C3H/HeJ spleen cells, further indicating that OMP is an unique B-cell mitogen distinct from LPS. OMP also enhanced the specific antibody response sixty-seven-fold to an optimal dose of sheep red blood cells (SRBC) in vitro. The kinetics of the response, however, was not altered from that of cultures without OMP. The anti-SRBC response of spleen cells from C3H/HeJ mice was also enhanced by the addition of OMP, suggesting that the adjuvant effects were not due to the LPS in the preparation. Antibody responses in vitro to TI-1 antigens, trinitrophenyl-LPS (Boivin) (TNP-LPSB) and TNP-Brucella abortus, were not enhanced in the presence of OMP. In contrast OMP enhanced the response to TI-2 antigens, TNP-LPSW (Westphal) and dinitrophenyl-Ficoll and T cells were shown to be required for these augmented antibody responses. Enhancement was not seen in nude mouse spleen cell cultures but was seen when nylon-wool-purified T cells were added to the cultures.
Big Data and Management

The authors reflect on management of big data by organizations. They comment on service level agreements (SLA) which define the nature and quality of information technology services and mention big data-sharing agreements tend to be poorly structured and informal. They reflect on the methodologies of analyzing big data and state it is easy to get false correlations when using typical statistical tools in analyzing big data. They talk about the use of big data in management and behavior research.