Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nonphotochemical, Polarization-Dependent, Laser-Induced Nucleation in Supersaturated Aqueous Urea Solutions.

We report a new photophysical phenomenon in which 1.06 mm pulses from a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser induce crystallization in supersaturated solutions of urea in water. Because the solutions are transparent at the incident wavelength, a photochemical mechanism is unlikely. The needle-shaped crystals that initially form tend to be aligned parallel to the electric field vector of the light, suggesting a Kerr-like field-induced alignment of urea molecules that aids in organizing prenucleating clusters. The effect has application to pump-probe nucleation studies and to clean nucleation in sealed systems. [S0031-9007(96)01456-1] PACS numbers: 81.10. Dn, 42.50. Vk The study of the light-induced condensation of supersaturated vapors dates back to the work of Tyndall in 1869 [1]. More recent interest has centered on the formation of atmospheric aerosols [2], laser-induced chemical vapor deposition [3], and laser-induced clustering in atomic and molecular systems [4]. The mechanism typically involves the photochemical generation of a nonvolatile product that acts as a nucleus for the growth of the condensed phase [5]. Nucleation in liquid solutions is a more complex problem involving two components, and, to our knowledge, there have been no reports of light-induced nucleation from supersaturated solutions. Nevertheless, this problem is of great theoretical and commercial importance, such as in industrial crystallization processes [6]. Recently, while attempting to observe second harmonic generation in supersaturated solutions of urea in water, we have noticed that pulses from a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser can induce nucleation in such solutions. Because the incident light source is near infrared, a photochemical mechanism is unlikely. The orientation of the crystallites that are formed depends on the plane of polarization of the incident radiation, suggesting an electric-field-induced effect. Aqueous urea solutions, with concentrations, c, in the range of 11.5 -13.5M, were prepared by combining solid urea and water in a 1.3-cm diameter pyrex test tube, which was then heat sealed with a torch. Great care was taken to exclude dust from samples. Supersaturated solutions were generated and regenerated by heating the tubes to 45 ‐ C and holding them at that temperature for
Relationship between apoptotic markers (Bax and Bcl-2) and biochemical markers in type 2 diabetes mellitus.

INTRODUCTION Bax is essential for apoptosis in normal cells. However, overexpression of Bcl-2 enhances cell survival by suppressing apoptosis in cells subjected to apoptosis-inducing stimuli. The aim of this study was to examine the expression of apoptotic (Bax and Bcl-2) and biochemical markers in type 2 diabetics mellitus. METHODS A test group comprising 41 type 2 diabetes mellitus patients and a control group comprising 36 non-diabetic patients were enrolled in this study. Skin biopsy tissue samples were stained immunohistochemically for Bcl-2 and Bax expressions. Fasting plasma glucose (FPG), triglycerides, total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC) and glycosylated haemoglobin A1c (A1C) were analysed. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC) was calculated. RESULTS Bcl-2 expression was significantly higher (p-value is less than 0.001) in the control group. Bax expression was significantly higher (p-value is 0.018) in the diabetic group. Positive Bcl-2 expression was observed in 18 of 36 (50 percent) controls. Positive Bcl-2 expression was found in 5 of 41 (12.2 percent) diabetics. There was a significant difference (p-value is less than 0.001) between the two groups for mean FPG, HDLC and A1C. There was no significant difference for TC, LDLC and triglycerides between the two groups. Positive Bax expression was found in 11 of 35 (31.4 percent) controls. The odds of developing Bcl-2 among non-diabetics were 12.67 times compared to diabetics (p-value is less than 0.001). CONCLUSION Prolonged hyperglycaemia induces apoptosis in the endothelial cells of diabetic ulcers, which aggravates microvasculopathy and delays tissue healing and regeneration.
Segmentation of engineering consulting company market and selection of target market

In view of the problems that the research and application of the market subdivision of the engineering consulting company is still not perfect,the article analyses the significance of the market subdivision in engineering consulting company,and proposes preliminary subdivision and after-action subdivision methods.In after-action subdivision method,the article uses the fuzzy tool choosing index and expounds the calculations methods of it.
Exploring consumer product construct systems with the repertory grid technique

Examines some of the applications of repertory grid technique and theory to qualitative market research. In particular, it shows how together they can be used to explore five basic components of the network of subjective meanings that consumers attach to their consumption experiences, what are termed here consumers’ product construct systems (PCSs): consumption domains: how do consumers categorise different products and services? ; decision rules: what search strategies and evaluative criteria are employed for each category? ; values: what core beliefs underpin different decision rules? ; construct complexity: how discriminating are consumer’s decision rules and values? ; and construct commonalities: what are the similarities and differences in consumers’ PCSs and how are they mediated by their demographic backgrounds?
New Challenges for Industrial Policy in Nigeria

The main rationale of industrial policy is to accelerate the pace of industrial development by radically increasing value-added at the value chain. However, the context for the initiation of industrial policy has significantly changed as a result of new rules governing international trade, the rise of global value chains and marketing networks, and other aspects of globalization. Traditionally, the case for industrial policy has been discussed in terms of market failures, but the paper argues that it is not a sufficient basis. The global context in which governments and firms operate today is different from what prevailed two decades ago. Circumstances and conditions differ significantly across countries therefore economic and industrial development policy will only be efficient when the government do an inward search to identify and exploit the country’s existing capabilities that will meet its national interest. Secondary data were used for this paper; these data were analyzed using descriptive method. One of the major features of the process of globalization has been the rapid diffusion of industrial production from the developed to the developing countries, based on such developments as specialization in production by transnational corporations, the development of international supply chains and the liberalization of trade flows. This has allowed the production process to be disaggregated and the production of individual components and services to be outsourced, often to developing countries that enjoy competitive advantages in their production. The paper recommends getting the content and the application of industrial policy right, especially where the country is governed by inept and corrupt leaders that are presiding over a politically weak and internally fragmented state.
Evaluating application usability with portable biofeedback system for mobile and desktop

Evaluating mobile and desktop applications from usability aspects is becoming trending as the usage of electronic devices increases every day. Both user loyalty and usage efficiency are key factors in developing successful applications, given the wide variety of the market. An affordable and portable monitoring environment for desktop and mobile platforms could fulfill the specific needs of user experience researchers. In this paper we present a system that monitors the physiological signals of the user while using any application installed on the devices. As a result, we are able track the eye movement, ECG and EEG signals, and analyze the combined data provided by these sensors. Results are visualized in a way that user experience experts can follow effortlessly application usage and cognitive processes of the user, which makes it possible to improve even further the user interface to boost productivity and user loyalty, and lower frustration.
Implementation and field test of a small-scale WAVE system in IEEE 802.11p V2R/V2V environments

Vehicular communications have become more and more popular as a way to increase the comfort and safety of the transportation systems. The IEEE 802.11p/1609.x protocol stack, also known as the Wireless Access in Vehicular Environment (WAVE), has attracted much attention from researches. A large number of literatures and simulation platforms have been proposed for the performance evaluation and enhancements for the WAVE protocol stack. While very few real and available testbed is presented, due to the low availability and high cost of IEEE 802.11p/WAVE fully compliant hardware and software. Therefore many simulation results are misleading as the protocol standard is just partially implemented and the testing environment is not real-world representative. In this paper, an implementation of the WAVE standard using commercial off-the-shelf IEEE 802.11 hardware is presented. It provides seamless dual-channel and multi-channel access with synchronous channel switching, which consistently matches IEEE 1609.3/4 protocol. The performance of the implemented system is obtained via a series of testing and validation.
Corporate Social Responsibility and Family Business: An Exploratory Evidence in Chile (In Spanish)

The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate different factors associated to the socially responsible processes of principal family business in Chile. The research was grounded on the Sustainable Family Business Theory and based in seven factors defined by The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), a CEO-led, global association of some 200 companies dealing exclusively with business and sustainable development. The results of this study improve the understanding of the relationship between business and Social Responsibility in Chile. We also identified some implications for future research and investment in family responsibility is being discussed.
Multifunctional Delivery Systems for Cancer Gene Therapy

This chapter examines key concepts with respect to cancer gene therapy and the cur‐ rent issues with respect to non-viral delivery. The biological and molecular barriers that need to be overcome before effective non-viral delivery systems can be appropri‐ ately designed for oncology applications are highlighted and ways to overcome these are discussed. Strategies developed to evade the immune response are also described and targeted gene delivery is examined with the most effective strategies highlighted. Finally, this chapter proposes a new way forward based on a growing body of evi‐ dence that supports a multifunctional delivery approach involving the creation of vec‐ tors, with a unique molecular architecture designed using a bottom-up approach.
A cytogenetic study of 1000 spontaneous abortions

Cytogenetic analysis of 1000 spontaneous abortions showed 463 to have an abnormal chromosome constitution. The proportion of chromosome abnormalities varied with the gestational age of the abortus and the type of tissue cultured but was not significantly different among the five racial groups represented in the study population. It was suggested that differences in the rate of chromosome abnormalities among cytogenetic studies of spontaneous abortions were the result of methodological differences in sample selection rather than real biological variation among study populations. The only factor found to be unequivocally associated with the aetiology of chromosome abnormalities in spontaneous abortions was increasing maternal age in trisomies.
Innervation of the canine thoracolumbar vertebral column

The pattern of innervation of the caudal thoracic and cranial lumbar vertebral column of the dog is described. Frozen sections stained with Schofield's silver impregnation method show that the dorsal longitudinal ligament is profusely innervated, while the anulus fibrosus contains a few nerves limited to its outermost layers; no nerves are present in the nucleus pulposus. Following injection of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) into the anulus fibrosus of the thoracolumbar intervertebral disc and subsequent removal and staining of dorsal root ganglia, the reaction product is found in ganglia as far as two segments cranially as well as caudally, demonstrating that the disc is innervated by nerves arising from several spinal cord segments. A meningeal ramus, which innervates the discs of man, could not be found by gross dissection. Dissections show each vertebral articular facet innervated by the medial branches of two contiguous spinal nerves, a pattern further confirmed by injections of HRP into facet joints with subsequent staining of dorsal root ganglia. The dorsal rami of spinal nerves often divide into medial, intermediate, and lateral branches rather than the traditionally described division into only medial and lateral branches.
Unraveling the Evolution of Cytokinin Signaling[C][W][OA]

The conquest of the land by plants required dramatic morphological and metabolic adaptations. Complex developmental programs under tight regulation evolved during this process. Key regulators of plant development are phytohormones, such as cytokinins. Cytokinins are adenine derivatives that affect various processes in plants. The cytokinin signal transduction system, which is mediated via a multistep variant of the bacterial two-component signaling system, is well characterized in the model plant Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). To understand the origin and evolutionary pattern of this signaling pathway, we surveyed the genomes of several sequenced key plant species ranging from unicellular algae, moss, and lycophytes, to higher land plants, including Arabidopsis and rice (Oryza sativa), for proteins involved in cytokinin signal transduction. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the hormone-binding receptor and a class of negative regulators first appeared in land plants. Other components of the signaling pathway were present in all species investigated. Furthermore, we found that the receptors evolved under different evolutionary constraints from the other components of the pathway: The number of receptors remained fairly constant, while the other protein families expanded.
Estonian and English rhythm: a two-dimensional quantification based on syllables and feet

This paper expands a recent pilot experiment [3] on Estonian rhythm within the quantificational approach to the study of rhythm, using the Pairwise Variability Index (PVI). The PVI expresses the average difference between adjacent phonological units such as vowels, consonantal intervals or syllables. It is argued here that confining the application of the PVI to the level of the syllable (or its components) misses the essence of Estonian rhythm and indeed of phonetic rhythm in general, and the first experiment reported in this paper quantifies Estonian rhythm in terms of the durational PVI of both the syllable and (innovatively) the foot. In the second experiment, results are compared with the same measures for another language with strong stress, English. Both languages have a similar, relatively low foot PVI, but English has a considerably higher syllable PVI reflecting its radical reduction of unstressed syllables in polysyllabic feet.
Occult celiac disease prevents penetrance of hemochromatosis.

AIM To report a patient with C282Y homozygocity, depleted body iron and intestinal atrophy caused by celiac disease (CD) who experienced resolution of the enteropathy with subsequent normalization of iron metabolism upon gluten-free diet. METHODS To obtain information on the tissue distribution and quantitative expression of proteins involved in duodenal iron trafficking, we determined the expression of divalent-metal transporter 1 (DMT1), ferroportin 1 (FP1) and transferrin receptor (TfR1) by means of immunohistochemistry and real-time PCR in duodenal biopsies of this patient. RESULTS Whereas in hereditary hemochromatosis patients without CD, DMT1 expression was up-regulated leading to excessive uptake of iron, we identified a significant reduction in protein and mRNA expression of DMT1 as a compensatory mechanism in this patient with HH and CD. CONCLUSION Occult CD may compensate for increased DMT1 expression in a specific subset of individuals with homozygous C282Y mutations in the hemochromatosis (HFE) gene, thus contributing to the low penetrance of HH.
How the environment affects travel agency performance

This research examines the performance of travel agencies in Taiwan by using a market orientation framework. The study examines the impact of market orientation and financial performance and identifies the importance of competitive environment in the relationship between market orientation and financial performance. The study controls for factors associated with the external competitive environment, and the research model is analyzed using moderated regression analysis (MRA). The primary data were collected through a questionnaire survey completed by 249 managers of travel agencies in Taiwan. The results revealed that one element of the competitive environment (technological turbulence) influences financial performance.
Absorbed and effective doses from cone beam volumetric imaging for implant planning.

OBJECTIVES Volumetric CT using a cone beam has been developed by several manufacturers for dentomaxillofacial imaging. The purpose of this study was to measure doses for implant planning with cone beam volumetric imaging (CBVI) in comparison with conventional multidetector CT (MDCT). METHODS The two CBVI systems used were a 3D Accuitomo (J. Morita), including an image-intensifier type (II) and a flat-panel type (FPD), and a CB MercuRay (Hitachi). The 3D Accuitomo operated at 80 kV, 5 mA and 18 s. The CB MercuRay operated at 120 kV, 15 mA, 9.8 s. The MDCT used was a HiSpeed QX/i (GE), operated at 120 kV, 100 mA and 0.7 s, and its scan length was 77 mm for both jaws. Measurement of the absorbed tissue and organ doses was performed with an Alderson phantom, embedding the radiophotoluminescence glass dosemeter into the organs/tissues. The values obtained were converted into the absorbed dose. The effective dose as defined by the International Commission on Radiological Protection was then calculated. RESULTS The absorbed doses of the 3D Accuitomo of the organs in the primary beam ranged from 1-5 mGy, and were several to ten times lower than other doses. The effective dose of the 3D Accuitomo ranged from 18 muSv to 66 muSv, and was an order of magnitude smaller than the others. In conclusion, these results show that the dose in the 3D Accuitomo is lower than the CB MercuRay and much less than MDCT.
MprAB Regulates the espA Operon in Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Modulates ESX-1 Function and Host Cytokine Response

ABSTRACT The ESX-1 secretion system exports the immunomodulatory protein ESAT-6 and other proteins important in the pathogenesis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Components and substrates of ESX-1 are encoded at several loci, but the regulation of the encoding genes is only partially understood. In this study, we investigated the role of the MprAB two-component system in the regulation of ESX-1 activity. We determined that MprAB directly regulates the espA gene cluster, a locus necessary for ESX-1 function. Transcript mapping determined that the five genes in the cluster form an operon with two transcriptional start points, and several MprA binding sites were detected in the espA promoter. Expression analyses and promoter constructs indicated that MprAB represses the espA operon. However, the MprAB mutant Rv-D981 secreted lower levels of EspA, ESAT-6, and the ESX-1 substrate EspB than control strains. Secretion of CFP10, which is normally cosecreted with ESAT-6, was similar in Rv-D981 and control strains, further demonstrating aberrant ESX-1 activity in the mutant. ESAT-6 induces proinflammatory cytokines, and macrophages infected with Rv-D981 elicited lower levels of interleukin 1β (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), consistent with the reduced levels of ESAT-6. These findings indicate that MprAB modulates ESX-1 function and reveal a new role for MprAB in host-pathogen interactions.
Using Option Implied Volatilities to Predict Absolute Stock Returns - Evidence from Earnings Announcements and Annual Shareholders’ Meetings

We provide evidence that an option implied volatility-based measure predicts future absolute excess returns of the underlying stock around earnings announcements and annual meetings of shareholders, even after controlling for the realized stock return volatility shortly before these information events, and the volatility of excess stock returns around these two events in the past. Our results imply that option traders anticipate the change in uncertainty around these two scheduled events, and also trade on the expected volatility. In addition, we show that net straddle returns (after transaction costs) around earnings announcements and annual meetings of shareholders are significantly and negatively related to the predicted volatility of returns around the events. This suggests that the writers of call and put options expect to be compensated for the predicted volatility. Overall, we find that option traders anticipate and correctly incorporate the volatility induced by the information released in quarterly earnings announcements, and annual meetings of shareholders.
Motives for retailer internationalization: Their impact, structure and implications

This paper aims to draw together the largely non‐empirical and fragmented literature on motives for retailer internationalization (RI), introduce new empirical data based upon a survey of UK‐based international retailers, and examine the underlying structure of RI motives. Four factors were identified and those relating to the perceived international appeal and innovativeness of the retail offering and growth orientated and proactive motives were found to be the most important. Analysis revealed a more complex structure than previous dichotomous motive groupings and similarities with those found in export marketing studies. This, and the subsequent implications, are useful to both academics and retail practitioners.
In 117 , an Unusual In 0-Like Class 1 Integron Containing CR 1 and bla CTX-M-2 and Associated with a Tn 21-Like Element

In117, an Unusual In0-Like Class 1 Integron Containing CR1 and blaCTX-M-2 and Associated with a Tn21-Like Element Aránzazu Valverde, Rafael Cantón, Juan Carlos Galán, Patrice Nordmann, Fernando Baquero, and Teresa M. Coque* Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal, IMSALUD, Madrid, Spain, and Service de Bactériologie-Virologie, Hôpital de Bicêtre, Assistance Publique/Hôpitaux de Paris, Faculté de Médecine Paris-Sud, Université 9 Paris XI, K. -Bicêtre, France
The Kaldi OpenKWS System: Improving Low Resource Keyword Search

The IARPA BABEL program has stimulated worldwide research in keyword search technology for low resource languages, and the NIST OpenKWS evaluations are the de facto benchmark test for such capabilities. The 2016 OpenKWS evaluation featured Georgian speech, and had 10 participants from across the world. This paper describes the Kaldi system developed to assist IARPA in creating a competitive baseline against which participants were evaluated, and to provide a truly open source system to all participants to support their research. This system handily met the BABEL program goals of 0.60 ATWV and 50% WER, achieving 0.70 ATWV and 38% WER with a single ASR system, i.e. without ASR system combination. All except one OpenKWS participant used Kaldi components in their submissions, typically in conjunction with system combination. This paper therefore complements all other OpenKWSbased papers.