Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND THE URBAN INFORMAL SECTOR IN NAGALAND

This paper evaluates the nature of entrepreneurship in the informal sector of Nagaland. With the growing literature on the importance of informal activity in developing economies around the world, it becomes imperative to determine the traits of the entrepreneurs entering this sector. The study looks into the socio-economic profile of the entrepreneurs, skill acquisition, determinants of their earnings, constraints faced while starting their units and their future prospects. The nature of entrepreneurship in our study corresponds to the view of structuralist perspective theory
Are Amenities Important for the Migration of Highly Educated Workers? The Role of Built-Amenities in the Migration of Highly Educated Workers

Across the past two decades, public officials have debated and social scientists have studied the importance of tourist amenities in attracting and retaining human capital. Few studies, however, have examined the relationship between tourist amenities and the migration of educated workers. Information of this nature is needed by public officials considering the best use of tax dollars to attract human capital and advance local economies. This dissertation addresses this need an analysis of the relationship between built amenities and the migration of educated workers. This study‘s focus was on the importance of built amenities such as sports facilities, museums, and restaurants. Public investments can change the distribution of these amenities; in contrast, the advantages provided by natural amenities (e.g., weather, coastlines, and mountains) are less susceptible to public interventions. For that reason, areas lacking in those assets have focused on sports, the arts, and culture to attract human capital. Knowing if any of those investments have an effect on migration patterns is essential for cities across the North American Midwest and in many other parts of the world. This study focused on both migration (attraction) and non-movement (retention) of different types (age, education) of workers. Empirical tests using IPUMS (Integrated Public Use Micro-data
Maternal diet during pregnancy: an emerging risk factor for childhood asthma

Evaluation of: Willers SM, Wijga AH, Brunekreef B et al. Maternal food consumption during pregnancy and the longitudinal development of childhood asthma. Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 178, 124–131 (2008). It has been hypothesized that the recent marked increase in the prevalence of asthma may, in part, be a consequence of changing diet. There is increasing interest in the possibility that childhood asthma may be influenced by maternal diet during pregnancy and an increasing number of studies have highlighted associations between childhood asthma and maternal intake of certain foods (e.g., fish, fruits and vegetables) and nutrients (e.g., vitamin E, vitamin D, zinc and polyunsaturated fatty acids) during pregnancy. Maternal diet during pregnancy has the potential to influence fetal immune and airway development during a critical period of life with long-term irreversible consequences, such as childhood asthma. Further research, particularly intervention studies, needs to be carried out to establish whether dietary intervention during pregnancy can be used as a healthy, low-cost, public-health measure to reduce the prevalence of childhood asthma.
A Monolithic Compliant Piezoelectric-Driven Microgripper: Design, Modeling, and Testing

In this paper, we report on the design, modeling, and experimental testing of a piezoelectric-driven microgripper making use of both an integrated gripping force sensor and an integrated tip displacement sensor. In the developed microgripper, a stack piezoelectric ceramic actuator is used to simultaneously obtain the tip displacement and the gripping force. A novel monolithic compliant mechanism is proposed to act as the microdisplacement transmission mechanism to obtain the large tip displacement and to provide the possibility of integrating both the gripping force sensor and the tip displacement sensor into the microgripper. The relationship between the gripping force, tip displacement, input force, and input displacement of the piezoelectric-driven microgripper and the dynamic model are established using the pseudorigid-body-model method. The characteristics of the developed microgripper are tested and the case of gripping an optical fiber is presented. The experimental results indicate that: 1) the theoretical model for the developed microgripper matched well with the measured results; 2) the integrated gripping force sensor and tip displacement sensor could accurately measure the gripping force and tip displacement; 3) the developed microgripper could achieve a displacement magnification of 16.0 × with respect to the stack piezoelectric ceramic actuator to realize the large tip displacement with high resolution but is also able to possess the parallel movement of its gripping jaws and the constant displacement magnification.
Characterization and genetic dissection of resistance to spotted alfalfa aphid (Therioaphis trifolii) in Medicago truncatula

Aphids cause significant yield losses in agricultural crops worldwide. Medicago truncatula, a model legume, cultivated pasture species in Australia and close relative of alfalfa (Medicago sativa), was used to study the defence response against Therioaphis trifolii f. maculate [spotted alfalfa aphid (SAA)]. Aphid performance and plant damage were compared among three accessions. A20 is highly susceptible, A17 has moderate resistance, and Jester is strongly resistant. Subsequent analyses using A17 and A20, reciprocal F1s and an A17×A20 recombinant inbred line (RIL) population revealed that this moderate resistance is phloem mediated and involves antibiosis and tolerance but not antixenosis. Electrical penetration graph analysis also identified a novel waveform termed extended potential drop, which occurred following SAA infestation of M. truncatula. Genetic dissection using the RIL population revealed three quantitative trait loci on chromosomes 3, 6, and 7 involved in distinct modes of aphid defence including antibiosis and tolerance. An antibiosis locus resides on linkage group 3 (LG3) and is derived from A17, whereas a plant tolerance and antibiosis locus resides on LG6 and is derived from A20, which exhibits strong temporary tolerance. The loci identified reside in regions harbouring classical resistance genes, and introgression of these loci in current medic cultivars may help provide durable resistance to SAA, while elucidation of their molecular mechanisms may provide valuable insight into other aphid–plant interactions.
Estimating the reproductive potential of offspring in evolutionary heuristics for combinatorial optimization problems

This paper proposes a metaheuristic selection technique for controlling the progress of an evolutionary algorithm (and possibly other heuristic search techniques) to manipulate and make use of the relationship between runtime and solution quality. The paper examines the idea that very rapid increases in initial fitness may lead to premature convergence and a reported solution that is less than optimal. We examine the advantages provided by this metaheuristic selection technique in solving two different combinatorial optimization problems: including a “toy” problem of finding magic squares and a more realistic vehicle routing problem (VRP) benchmark. The method is found to be useful for finding both higher quality solutions with a marginally longer algorithm run time and for obtaining lower quality solutions in a shorter time. Furthermore, the impact on the search results is similar for both the magic square and the VRP problem providing evidence the method is scalable to other problem domains, and therefore is potentially a relatively straight forward addition to many heuristic approaches that can add value by improving both runtime and solution quality.
Ultrasensitive pressure sensor based on gate- all-around nanowire fet

There have been limited studies addressing how the fundamental factors affect the piezoresistive sensitivity of transistors. In this work, we demonstrate pressure sensor based on gate-all-around (GAA) nanowire field-effect transistor (NWFET) sensing element. We show eight times sensitivity enhancement of NWFET within a low gate bias (0.4V). The pressure sensitivity ((ΔIDS/IDS)/ΔP) of 0.0045 (psi)−1 is achieved for 3. 5µm thick diaphragm. Result shows the picoampere current noise in subthreshold regime, which allows measurable output signal for the low pressure detection. Results reveal silicon channel GAA NWFET as a low bias controlled, miniaturized, and ultrasensitive sensing element for nanomechanical sensors.
Association of BRAF V600E mutation with poor clinicopathological outcomes in 500 consecutive cases of papillary thyroid carcinoma.

CONTEXT Because very few studies have examined the correlation between BRAF mutations and clinicopathological features of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), we analyzed here a large and homogeneous cohort of patients with PTC for the presence of the BRAF mutation. OBJECTIVE We examined BRAF mutations in a consecutive series of 500 PTC patients who underwent surgery in the Department of Surgery of the University of Pisa, and we correlated the presence of the mutation with clinicopathological parameters of the patients: age, gender, tumor size, presence of tumor capsule, extrathyroidal invasion, multicentricity, presence of node metastases, and tumor class. DESIGN BRAF (exon 15) mutation was examined by PCR-single strand conformational polymorphism followed by DNA sequencing in laser-capture microdissected tissue samples. RESULTS In this study, BRAF mutation was found in 219 of 500 cases (43.8%). In particular, we found the most common BRAF V600E mutation in 214 cases (42.8%), BRAF K601E mutation in three cases (0.6%), BRAF VK600-1E (0.2%) in one case, whereas in one case we found a new 14-bp deletion with concomitant 2-bp insertion, VKSR600-3del and T599I, respectively. BRAF V600E was associated with extrathyroidal invasion (P < 0.0001), multicentricity (P = 0.0026), presence of nodal metastases (P = 0.0009), class III vs. classes I and II (P < 0.00000006), and absence of tumor capsule (P < 0.0001), in particular in follicular- and micro-PTC variants. By multivariate analysis, the absence of tumor capsule remained the only parameter associated (P = 0.0005) with BRAF V600E mutation. CONCLUSIONS Our data suggest that BRAF V600E mutation is associated with high-risk PTC and in particular in follicular variant with invasive tumor growth.
Open Innovation Based on Value Net——A Case Study of BOE

It reviews the literatures on open innovation,and compares closed innovation and open innovation.Then it discusses inter-firm knowledge transfer and open innovation based on value net,and analyzes the influence of innovation intention,absorptive capability and complementary characteristic on network and open innovation.With BOE as an example,it finds how the corporation builds the value net of open innovation which includes participant modules of suppliers,customers,competitors and complementors,and discusses various innovation mechanisms from different perspectives of participants,which helps BOE realize open innovation of enterprise knowledge.The conclusion is that the breadth and depth of innovation sources based on value net is positively related to innovation performance.Finally,it points out the insights of the case study.
Safety at the workplace: accidents and illnesses

The topic of work safety is a very relevant and multifaceted problem for workers, firms and policy makers. Differing from other narrow-scope studies, this article aims to enrich the understanding of workplace safety as a whole by applying econometric techniques on data from the Italian Labour Force Survey. Findings show poor working conditions are the most significant determinants of accidents and illnesses occurring at work, while having a fixed-term (temporary) contract is not significant. Other significant determinants of work safety are: not being new to the workforce; dissatisfaction with the current job; gender; and a latent proneness observed with occurrence of accident on the way to work. This article also highlights that work related accidents and illnesses are two deeply correlated phenomena and that there is a structural break after three years on the job.
Non‐Asian hepatocellular carcinoma: correlation between histologic features and echogenicity.

Studies of hepatocellular carcinoma in Asia have revealed a correlation between lesion hyperechogenicity and five histologic features: nonliquefied necrosis, sinusoidal dilatation, hemorrhage, fatty metamorphosis, and fibrosis. However, this correlation has not been investigated for non‐Asian hepatocellular carcinoma, despite substantial differences between the Asian and non‐Asian forms of this carcinoma. We retrospectively reviewed records of 29 patients seen at one United States institution who had hepatocellular carcinoma lesions that were either completely hyperechoic or completely hypoechoic. Tissue specimens obtained surgically (n = 7) or percutaneously (n = 22) were evaluated microscopically for the presence of nonliquefied necrosis, sinusoidal dilatation, hemorrhage, fatty metamorphosis, and fibrosis. A statistically significant correlation was identified between the number of histologic features identified and lesion diameter (P = 0.04) but not between the number of histologic features identified and the likelihood of hyperechogenicity (P = 0.11). Two lesions (50%) with three histologic features, four lesions (40%) with two histologic features, and six lesions (55%) with one histologic feature were hypoechoic. The echogenicity of non‐Asian hepatocellular carcinoma lesions cannot be attributed to the histologic features that are believed to underlie echogenicity of the Asian type of hepatocellular carcinoma.
PEN-2 and APH-1 Coordinately Regulate Proteolytic Processing of Presenilin 1*

Presenilin (PS, PS1/PS2) complexes are known to be responsible for the intramembranous γ-secretase cleavage of the β-amyloid precursor protein and signaling receptor Notch. PS holoprotein undergoes endoproteolysis by an unknown enzymatic activity to generate NH2- and COOH-terminal fragments, a process that is required for the formation of the active and stable PS/-γ-secretase complex. Biochemical and genetic studies have recently identified nicastrin, APH-1, and PEN-2 as essential cofactors that physically interact with PS1 and are necessary for the γ-secretase activity. However, their precise function in regulating the PS complex and γ-secretase activity remains unknown. Here, we demonstrate that endogenous PEN-2 preferentially interacts with PS1 holoprotein. Down-regulation of PEN-2 expression by small interfering RNA (siRNA) abolishes the endoproteolysis of PS1, whereas overexpression of PEN-2 promotes the production of PS1 fragments, indicating a critical role for PEN-2 in PS1 endoproteolysis. Interestingly, accumulation of full-length PS1 resulting from down-regulation of PEN-2 is alleviated by additional siRNA down-regulation of APH-1. Furthermore, overexpression of APH-1 facilitates PEN-2-mediated PS1 proteolysis, resulting in a significant increase in PS1 fragments. Our data reveal a direct role of PEN-2 in proteolytic cleavage of PS1 and a regulatory function of APH-1, in coordination with PEN-2, in the biogenesis of the PS1 complex.
Mining clinical text for signals of adverse drug-drug interactions

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Electronic health records (EHRs) are increasingly being used to complement the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) and to enable active pharmacovigilance. Over 30% of all adverse drug reactions are caused by drug-drug interactions (DDIs) and result in significant morbidity every year, making their early identification vital. We present an approach for identifying DDI signals directly from the textual portion of EHRs. METHODS We recognize mentions of drug and event concepts from over 50 million clinical notes from two sites to create a timeline of concept mentions for each patient. We then use adjusted disproportionality ratios to identify significant drug-drug-event associations among 1165 drugs and 14 adverse events. To validate our results, we evaluate our performance on a gold standard of 1698 DDIs curated from existing knowledge bases, as well as with signaling DDI associations directly from FAERS using established methods. RESULTS Our method achieves good performance, as measured by our gold standard (area under the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve >80%), on two independent EHR datasets and the performance is comparable to that of signaling DDIs from FAERS. We demonstrate the utility of our method for early detection of DDIs and for identifying alternatives for risky drug combinations. Finally, we publish a first of its kind database of population event rates among patients on drug combinations based on an EHR corpus. CONCLUSIONS It is feasible to identify DDI signals and estimate the rate of adverse events among patients on drug combinations, directly from clinical text; this could have utility in prioritizing drug interaction surveillance as well as in clinical decision support.
Molecular Cloning and Oxidative Modification of Human Lens ALDH1A1: Implication in Impaired Detoxification of Lipid Aldehydes

Earlier studies showed that human lens ALDH1A1 plays a critical role in protection against oxidative stress-induced cytotoxicity in human lens epithelial cells (HLEC), and opacification of rat and mouse lens. The complete coding sequence of ALDH1A1 was cloned from human lens cDNA library by using PCR methods and expressed it in Escherichia coli. The cloned human lens ALDH1A1 cDNA encodes a 501-amino-acid protein (molecular mass = 54.8 kD) that is 100% identical to human liver ALDH1A1 and shares significant identity with the same isozyme from other tissues and species. The purified recombinant human lens ALDH1A1 exhibited optimal catalytic activity at pH 8 and preferred NAD+ as cofactor and specifically catalyzed the oxidation of toxic lipid aldehydes such as 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE; K m = 4.8 μM) and malonaldehyde (K m MDA = 3.5 μM). Citral, disulfiram, and cyanamide were found to inhibit human lens ALDH1A1 at IC50 values of 55, 101, and 22610 μM, respectively, whereas diethylstilbestrol (DES) was found to be an activator (EC50, 1.3 μM). Further, modification of recombinant human lens ALDH1A1 with nitric oxide donors such as S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP) and S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) significantly inhibited the enzyme activity. It therefore appears that activation of ALDH1A1, which efficiently catalyzes the detoxification of lipid-derived toxic aldehydes, and/or prevention of its oxidative modification may be novel therapeutic interventions against oxidative stress-induced lens pathologies.
Effective Bone Hemostasis and Healing Using Radiofrequency and Conductive Fluid

Hemostasis in bone is difficult to achieve because of the mineral content. Current techniques often are ineffective, can have systemic effects, or leave residual material in the wound. Our hypotheses were that a wand device coupling radiofrequency energy with a cooling conductive saline solution, applied topically to bone, could produce superior hemostasis compared with conventional electrocautery or no treatment, and not impede bone healing. Immediate hemostasis and subsequent bone healing for 6 and 12 weeks were evaluated in an iliac crest ostectomy (cancellous bone) and a drilled tibia defect (cortical bone) sheep model. Outcome variables were amount and intensity of bleeding, serial radiography, quantitative computed tomography, histology and mechanical testing. Control of bleeding was nearly complete (93%) and greater with the radiofrequency/saline treatment compared with electrocautery (56%) or no treatment (0%) in cancellous bone and cortical bone. Electrocautery induced surface char (black carbon debris) that could be seen at 6 and 12 weeks. There were no differences in bone healing between the radiofrequency and electrocautery device applications or untreated bone. At 12 weeks, all healing tibiae defects were as strong as undrilled tibiae. This may be an effective method to produce rapid hemostasis in bone without char or healing complications.
The Psychopharmacology Algorithm Project at the Harvard South Shore Program: An Update on Schizophrenia

This article is an update of the algorithm for schizophrenia from the Psychopharmacology Algorithm Project at the Harvard South Shore Program. A literature review was conducted focusing on new data since the last published version (1999–2001). The first-line treatment recommendation for new-onset schizophrenia is with amisulpride, aripiprazole, risperidone, or ziprasidone for four to six weeks. In some settings the trial could be shorter, considering that evidence of clear improvement with antipsychotics usually occurs within the first two weeks. If the trial of the first antipsychotic cannot be completed due to intolerance, try another until one of the four is tolerated and given an adequate trial. There should be evidence of bioavailability. If the response to this adequate trial is unsatisfactory, try a second monotherapy. If the response to this second adequate trial is also unsatisfactory, and if at least one of the first two trials was with risperidone, olanzapine, or a first-generation (typical) antipsychotic, then clozapine is recommended for the third trial. If neither trial was with any these three options, a third trial prior to clozapine should occur, using one of those three. If the response to monotherapy with clozapine (with dose adjusted by using plasma levels) is unsatisfactory, consider adding risperidone, lamotrigine, or ECT. Beyond that point, there is little solid evidence to support further psychopharmacological treatment choices, though we do review possible options.
HCV drug discovery aimed at viral eradication

Summary. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) causes significant morbidity and mortality worldwide with nearly 3% of the world population infected by this virus. Fortunately, this virus does not establish latency, and hence it may be possible to eradicate it. HCV is strongly associated with liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma and is currently treated with pegylated interferon‐α (peg‐IFN‐α) and ribavirin. Unfortunately, these limited treatment options often produce significant side effects, and currently, complete eradication of virus with combined drug modalities has not yet been achieved for the majority of chronically HCV‐infected individuals. Restricted treatment options, lack of a universal cure for HCV and the link between chronic infection, liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma necessitate design of novel drugs and treatment options. Understanding the relationship between the immune response, viral clearance and inhibition of viral replication with pharmacology‐based design can ultimately allow for complete eradication of HCV. This review focuses upon significant novel preclinical and clinical specifically targeted antiviral therapy (STAT‐C) drugs under development, highlights their mechanism of action, and discusses their impact on systemic viral loads and permanent clearance of infection.
Accurate Performance Analysis of OFDM over Nakagami-m Fading with Nonuniform Phase Distribution

This paper presents a new accurate error rate analysis of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing signals in the presence multipath frequency-selective Nakagami-m fading. In contrast to previous research, we focus on the effects of the nonuniform phase distribution on the error rate performance. A new closed-form expression is derived for the moment generating function (MGF) of the frequency-domain channel gain. Classical MGF methods can then be straightforwardly employed to obtain accurate error rates for different modulation and diversity formats.