Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The role of middle managers in land based further education

This study explores the role of middle managers within specialist land-based provision. Middle management is currently under researched within further education and relatively little is known about the role in specialist settings. The study was influenced by the current context within the sector and the need for colleges to become more efficient whilst still meeting the needs of their local communities. This has led to a growing interest in new models of leadership which will enable them to meet current and future challenges. A qualitative study was undertaken and empirical data gathered through 12 semi-structured interviews with middle managers across a variety of land-based subject areas. The managers were asked to describe their role from a range of perspectives with a focus on leadership and management. Whilst they were able to articulate the differences between leadership and management from a theoretical standpoint, it was much harder to separate them in their daily practices. Most considered their role to combine aspects of both, with an emphasis on management. The findings indicate that although the participants were reluctant to identify themselves as leaders, they were clearly undertaking leadership activities as part of their role. They faced similar challenges to those in other educational environments such as a lack of role clarity and role overload. ‘Management by walking about’ was central to the experiences of those managing vocational areas which included large physical resources such as farms or animal centres. Despite the current context and continued influence of managerialism the participants remained positive about the sector and their role. The research raises issues around how leadership is viewed and enacted and suggests that identifying leadership as a practice, rather than as located within designated individuals, would redefine the contribution made by the managers.
Clutter noise reduction in B-Mode image through mapping and clustering signal energy for better cyst classification

Improving the ultrasound image contrast ratio (CR) and contrast to noise ratio (CNR) has many clinical advantages. Breast cancer detection is one example. Anechoic cysts which fill with clutter noise can be easily misinterpreted and classified as malignant lesions instead of benign. Beamforming techniques contribute to off-axis side lobes and clutter. These two side effects inherent in beamforming are undesirable since they will degrade the image quality by lowering the image CR and CNR. To overcome this issue a new post-processing technique known as contrast enhanced delay and sum (CEDAS) is proposed. Here the energy of every envelope signals are calculated, mapped, and clustered in order to identify the cyst and clutter location. CEDAS reduce clutter inside the cyst by attenuating it from envelope signals before the new B-Mode image is formed. With CEDAS, the image CR and CNR improved by average 12 dB and 1.1 dB respectively for cysts size 2 mm to 6 mm and imaging depth from 40 mm to 80 mm.
Cyclosporine in patients with steroid-resistant membranous nephropathy: a randomized trial.

BACKGROUND A clinical trial of cyclosporine in patients with steroid-resistant membranous nephropathy (MGN) was conducted. Although MGN remains the most common cause of adult-onset nephrotic syndrome, its management is still controversial. Cyclosporine has been shown to be effective in cases of progressive MGN, but it has not been used in controlled studies at an early stage of the disease. METHODS We conducted a randomized trial in 51 biopsy-proven idiopathic MGN patients with nephrotic-range proteinuria comparing 26 weeks of cyclosporine treatment plus low-dose prednisone to placebo plus prednisone. All patients were followed for an average of 78 weeks, and the short- and long-term effects on renal function were assessed. RESULTS Seventy-five percent of the treatment group versus 22% of the control group (P < 0.001) had a partial or complete remission of their proteinuria by 26 weeks. Relapse occurred in 43% (N = 9) of the cyclosporine remission group and 40% (N = 2) of the placebo group by week 52. The fraction of the total population in remission then remained almost unchanged and significant different between the groups until the end of the study (cyclosporine 39%, placebo 13%, P = 0.007). Renal function was unchanged and equal in the two groups over the test medication period. In the subsequent follow-up, renal insufficiency, defined as doubling of baseline creatinine, was seen in two patients in each group, but remained equal and stable in all of the other patients. CONCLUSION This study suggests that cyclosporine is an effective therapeutic agent in the treatment of steroid-resistant cases of MGN. Although a high relapse does occur, 39% of the treated patients remained in remission and were subnephrotic for at least one-year post-treatment, with no adverse effect on filtration function.
Properties of Chimeric (Tissue-Type/Urokinase-Type) Plasminogen Activators Obtained by Fusion at the Plasmin Cleavage Site

Summary Two hybrid plasminogen activators (K2tu-PA and FK2tu-PA), linking the kringle 2 domain or the finger plus the kringle 2 domains of tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) to the catalytic domain of single-chain urokinase-type plasminogen activator (scu-PA) were studied. At variance with similar constructs previously reported, they were obtained by fusion of the t-PA and scu-PA derived portions at their plasmin cleavage site (between Arg275 of t-PA and Ile159 of scu-PA), thus eliminating from scu-PA the two peptide bonds (Glu143-Leu144 and Arg156-Phe157) that lead to low molecular weight scu-PA and to thrombin-inactivated tcu-PA. The specific activities of K2tu-PA and FK2tu-PA, as measured by fibrin plate were 2.5 × 106 and 1.0 × 106 t-PA equivalent units/mg, respectively. Activation of plasminogen by hybrid PAs was stimulated by both CNBr-digested fibrinogen (40- and 80-fold) and Des-A-fibrin monomers (6- and 12-fold). The relatively weak stimulation of chimeric PAs by minimally degraded fibrin monomers was consistent with their reduced fibrin binding capacity. Like scu-PA, the chimeric PAs, in the single-chain form, were insensitive to inhibition, as they retained full activity after prolonged incubation in plasma and did not interact with SDS-reactivated recombinant PAI-1. The concentration producing 50% lysis of blood clots in 3 h was 0.5 μg/ml for K2tu-PA and 1 μg/ml for FK2tu-PA, as compared to 0.5 μg/ml and >2 μg/ml for t-PA and scu-PA, respectively. Plasminogen and α2-antiplasmin consumption induced by the hybrid PAs in clot-free plasma was comparable to (K2tu-PA) or lower than (FK2tu-PA) that induced by either t-PA or scu-PA. When exposed to plasmin, the hybrids were completely converted into two-chain molecules with full enzymatic activity. At variance with u-PA, however, the two-chain recombinant activators still required fibrin for full expression of activity. These data indicate that the products of such “artificial” fusion behave like true chimeras without loss of biological activity. The insensitivity to thrombin inactivation and to the proteolytic cleavage leading to low molecular weight scu-PA might confer enhanced stability to the molecules, especially at thrombus level. Moreover, if the thrombolytic activity observed in vitro is maintained in vivo, the prolonged half life of these hybrids should result in higher plasma levels of activator and thus in more extensive and rapid lysis.
Dynamics and Mechanism of p130Cas Localization to Focal Adhesions*

The docking protein p130Cas is a major Src substrate involved in integrin signaling and mechanotransduction. Tyrosine phosphorylation of p130Cas in focal adhesions (FAs) has been linked to enhanced cell migration, invasion, proliferation, and survival. However, the mechanism of p130Cas targeting to FAs is uncertain, and dynamic aspects of its localization have not been explored. Using live cell microscopy, we show that fluorophore-tagged p130Cas is a component of FAs throughout the FA assembly and disassembly stages, although it resides transiently in FAs with a high mobile fraction. Deletion of either the N-terminal Src homology 3 (SH3) domain or the Cas-family C-terminal homology (CCH) domain significantly impaired p130Cas FA localization, and deletion of both domains resulted in full exclusion. Focal adhesion kinase was implicated in the FA targeting function of the p130Cas SH3 domain. Consistent with their roles in FA targeting, both the SH3 and CCH domains were found necessary for p130Cas to fully undergo tyrosine phosphorylation and promote cell migration. By revealing the capacity of p130Cas to function in FAs throughout their lifetime, clarifying FA targeting mechanism, and demonstrating the functional importance of the highly conserved CCH domain, our results advance the understanding of an important aspect of integrin signaling.
Computing motivation: Incentive salience boosts of drug or appetite states

Abstract Current computational models predict reward based solely on learning. Real motivation involves that but also more. Brain reward systems can dynamically generate incentive salience, by integrating prior learned values with even novel physiological states (e.g., natural appetites; drug-induced mesolimbic sensitization) to cause intense desires that were themselves never learned. We hope future computational models may capture this too.
Sex‐role patterns, paternal rearing attitudes and child development in different social classes

Sex‐role patterns, the father's rearing attitude and the child's intellectual and emotional development in different social classes were studied in a randomly selected sample of 58 Swedish unbroken families of a small child. Working class men and women married younger and the women were more often house‐wives. Working class men had more often been reared in an “authoritarian” way and more often reared their children in the same way. Upper middle class men had taken a more active part in the care of the child. Working class children scored lower on the intelligence tests, especially the verbal ones and were more often estimated as socially immature.
The association of fasting insulin concentrations and colonic neoplasms in acromegaly: a colonoscopy-based study in 210 patients.

CONTEXT Hyperinsulinemia is associated with colon carcinoma in the general population. PATIENTS with acromegaly are considered to be at risk for developing colonic lesions and typically have hyperinsulinemia. OBJECTIVE Our objective was to evaluate the role of fasting insulin levels on the prevalence of colonic adenomatous polyps or adenocarcinoma in acromegaly. DESIGN This is an analytical, observational, prospective study. PATIENTS A total of 210 patients (111 women, 99 men, age 20-82 yr) undergoing complete colonoscopy at diagnosis of acromegaly were included in this study. RESULTS Colonic lesions were found in 81 patients (38.6%), and consisted of hyperplastic polyps in 33 (15.7%), adenomatous polyps in 42 (20.0%), and adenocarcinoma in six patients (2.8%). Polyps were single in 22 cases (27.1%). Fasting insulin levels were significantly lower in patients without lesions (16.0 +/- 7.5 mU/liter) than in patients with hyperplastic polyps (22.4 +/- 8.8 mU/liter; P < 0.01), adenomatous polyps (38.0 +/- 15.9 mU/liter; P < 0.0001), and adenocarcinoma (59.0 +/- 30.6 mU/liter; P < 0.0001). Fasting insulin levels were also lower in patients with hyperplastic polyps than in those with adenomatous polyps (P < 0.01). The odds ratio for harboring colonic adenomas was 14.8 (95% confidence interval 4.4-51.2; P < 0.0001) and 8.6 times higher (95% confidence interval 2.8-29.0; P < 0.0001) in patients with fasting insulin levels in the upper tertile [>/=27.1 mIU/liter (n = 28)] compared with the lower [</=12.1 mIU/liter (n = 40)] and middle tertiles [>12.1 to <27.1 mIU/liter (n = 74)], respectively. CONCLUSION An increase in fasting insulin levels is associated with an 8.6- to 14.8-fold increased risk of presenting with colonic adenomas in acromegaly.
Research on the Concentration of Companies in the Electric Power Market of Russia

The article is devoted to the issues of determining the structure and type of the industrial market of the Russian electric power industry. A comprehensive analysis of competition was conducted based on empirical data on installed capacities, production volumes and economic results of Russian power generating companies for 2016. The most common indices and coefficients for assessing the concentration of the industry market are critically evaluated taking into account the criteria of consistency, efficiency, intuitivity and the power of behavioral response. Based on them, a ranking approach of an integrated market type definition is proposed. The obtained results show that the Russian electricity market is classified as a diffused oligopoly with a tendency to monopolistic competition. The market is dominated by 9 significant players, who control more than 70% of electricity generation collectively. An important feature of the market is the absence of participants independent of the state and not affiliated with large industrial groups. The unclear type of the market indicates a possible change in the medium term subject to a number of conditions. This is facilitated by a stable long-term trend towards a reduction in market concentration by the Herfindahl-Hirschman index. At the same time, the probability of a significant redistribution of market shares is low until the structural problems of the industry are resolved. The revealed specificity of the industry is the existence of a significant market potential, even with a small amount of the player's market share (less than 10% sometimes). These circumstances point to the prospect of comparing the RSI residual supply indices between players in the regional market and between zones of free electricity flow in Russia. The results of the research open wide heuristic opportunities in the development of practical recommendations on the organization of corporate management and state regulation in the industry.
Jean Baudrillard: A Study in Cultural Metaphysics

Cultural Metaphysics. The Uncanny. The Political Scene. Becoming an Object. Baudrillard as an emergent property and a Strange Attractor. The Imitation of the Self. Things Traditional and Modern. Oppositional Semiotics: The Nonsubject of Meaning. The Object of Life. The Baudrillard Effect. Baudrillard in the Politics of Theory: Marxism, Structuralism, and the Critique of Everyday Life. Commodity Fetishism and the Theory of Reification. The Object of the Postwar French Culture. The Structuralist Articulation of the Object. From History to Metaphysics. Symbolic Exchange as a Critical Standpoint. The Metaphysical Ambience: A Prelude to Fatal Strategies. Metaphysical Accounting: The Cost of Value. Fatal Strategies. Alienation in collecting. Seduction. The Double. Madame Baudrillard, c'est moi. The Metaphysical Ruins of Culture. Text, Technology and Death. Simulation. Pataphysics and Politics. Left Over. The Flowers of Evil.
Sparse Gaussian graphical model of spatial distribution of anatomical landmarks – whole torso model building with training datasets of partial imaging ranges

A method of building a point distribution model for multiple anatomical landmarks from training datasets with various different imaging ranges is presented. To cope with the missing data problem caused by partial imaging ranges of training datasets, the MissGLasso algorithm is applied to build the model. The joint probability distribution of logarithmic distances between all landmark pairs is approximated as a sparse Gaussian graphical model which has a sparse precision matrix calculated by the graphical lasso method. Additionally, EM algorithm is also utilized to apply graphical lasso to training sample vectors which include many missing values. To evaluate models built by the proposed method, the models were embedded into multiple-landmark detection systems and the detection sensitivities were compared between models trained with partial and entire imaging range datasets. The overall sensitivities of landmark detection using these two models were 72.78 and 75.02%, respectively. Because the detection sensitivity for most of the landmarks differs little between the two models, it can be concluded that the MissGLasso algorithm could effectively handle missing values in training landmark distribution models.
Antecedents of successful internationalization in family and non-family firms: How knowledge resources and collaboration intensity shape international performance

The internationalization of family firms has increasingly been recognized as an important field of inquiry for international business scholars. And yet, there is a noticeable paucity of original research on key issues, including the differences in antecedents of international performance between family and non-family firms. By drawing on the revised Uppsala model of internationalization from 2009 and the concept of socio-emotional wealth, the present study applies Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis as a methodological approach to identify different configurational sets of antecedents for international performance. Our results suggest that differences in causal configurations of certain antecedents (education, international market knowledge, international business experience, and collaboration intensity) between family and non-family firms exist. Furthermore, we found that the specific characteristics of family firms explain these differences.
Tunable 3.5GHz and 1.5GHz chip antennas based on thin-film BaSrTiO3 capacitors

Tunable 3.5GHz and 1.5GHz chip antennas are presented in this paper. By applying tunable matching networks, the chip antennas show tunable characteristic. Especially, the capacitors in the matching networks are tunable thin-film BST capacitors, which have a 3∶1 tuning ratio. The capacitance of the BST capacitors can be tuned by an external DC bias voltage. By varying the capacitance, the tunable matching networks increased the bandwidth of the 3.5GHz antenna by 80%, and the 1.5GHz antenna by 26%.
On-site INS update of an AUV "r2D4" by SSBL based position estimation

The method of on-site INS position update for highly accurate AUV operation is presented. Since the localization by GPS is not available for subsurface navigation of AUV, until reaching the critical altitude below which the bottom DVL is available, positioning has to completely rely on the INS without the aid from DVL. This decreases the accuracy of AUV positioning significantly when there exist flow disturbances like sea currents. In the proposed method, deviation from the reference trajectory is evaluated right after the vehicle starts bottom tracking with DVL operation. A lattice of test interval consisting of few verification way points are installed at the entrance of the reference trajectory. On these way points, deviations in vehicle position are evaluated referring to the SSBL estimation. Uncertainty in the scattered SSBL measurement is mitigated by optimally regressed test interval. Evaluated deviation is transmitted to the AUV via the underwater acoustic communication, to update the current vehicle position in INS. Developed method was testified during the Kuroshima survey mission of "r2D4", the latest sea-cruising AUV by IIS, the University of Tokyo, to convince its usefulness in field application
A wideband planar printed antenna based on complementary-CRLH structures

In this paper, we demonstrated a wideband planar antenna based on periodic structure. Firstly, we introduce and analyze a complementary structure to the conventional mushroom-like CRLH structure. Then, periodic complementary-CRLH (C-CRLH) structures are used to design antenna with wide bandwidth. At last, a compact antenna with 88% impedance bandwidth is achieved by using 3×4 periodic unit-cells, the measured gain at typical frequencies exceed 3dBi.
Annual review of health care management: revisiting the evolution of health systems organization.

Dramatic changes to the structure of health systems since the 1980s has seen the development of large, integrated health organizations designed to provide scale and scope advantages, improve the quality of care and health outcomes, and provide greater bargaining power relative to payers and large employers. This transition has led to greater interest in understanding hospitals and health systems as complex systems. Two important themes emerged from this effort: 1. Creation and organization of physician-health organizations, and alignment of these organizations with hospital or system structure; and 2. Viewing health care organizations as complex systems, leading to new perspectives on design and management of these organizations. In Volume 15, Reuben McDaniel and L. Robert Burns, authors of two influential articles on these themes from earlier volumes of AHCM, revisit the evolution of health systems organization in light of regulatory and organizational evolution in health care, including the Patient Protection and Accountable Care Act of 2010, and increasing consolidation of health systems. Five additional refereed papers assess the latest evidence on physician integration, complexity, and system redesign.
MEASUREMENTS OF NATURAL SELECTION ON FLORAL TRAITS IN WILD RADISH (RAPHANUS RAPHANISTRUM). II. SELECTION THROUGH LIFETIME MALE AND TOTAL FITNESS

It has often been suggested that selection on floral traits in hermaphroditic plants should occur primarily through differences in male fitness. However, measurements of selection on floral traits through differences in lifetime male fitness have been lacking. We measured selection on a variety of wild radish floral traits using lifetime male fitness measures derived from genetic paternity analysis. These male fitness estimates were then combined with estimates of lifetime female fitness of the same plants to produce measurements of selection based on lifetime total fitness. Contrary to the prediction above, there was no strong evidence for selection on floral morphology through male fitness differences in any of the three years of the study, but there was strong selection for increased flower size through female fitness differences in one year. The main determinant of both male and female fitness in all years was flower number; this lead to moderately positive correlations between male and female fitness in all three years.
Evaluation Framework for Strategic Implementation Process in Large Enterprises

In recent years, corporate strategic implementation evaluation has received more and more attention from academic circles. Taking relevant theoretical works as a whole, this paper analyzes the characteristics and key elements of the strategic implementation process. In addition, this paper proposes an evaluation framework for the strategic implementation process, which will provide reference for the evaluation of strategic implementation processes in large corporations. Keywords—Corporate strategy; Strategic implementation process; Evaluation framework