Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Initiating Sustainable Development Reporting: Evidence from New Zealand

I found this paper very useful and stimulating to read. As part of a wider project exploring sustainable development reporting in a sample of six New Zealand companies, this well-constructed paper specifically examines issues which are still imperative to the social and environmental accounting literature, i.e. why and how companies initiate sustainable development reporting. While several studies have been conducted to explore such issues, drawing on a range of different theoretical and methodological perspectives, there is still a lot to be understood about how various institutional and organizational factors ‘combine at one point in time to create a dynamic for the publication of a report’ (p. 589). The paper, which is motivated by the authors’ recognition of the limitations of explanations in the extant literature, explicitly focuses on the ‘more subtle and complex’ dynamics through which institutional drivers interact with organisational factors to influence the initiation of sustainable development reporting. In particular, some organisational narratives (i.e. organisations’ self-descriptions) are analysed and interpreted through the lens of neo-institutional theory (see DiMaggio and Powell, 1991) in order to construct ‘a finer-grained picture’ (p. 616) about how business organisations, which are subjected to similar institutional pressures, shape the process of adoption and implementation of sustainable development reporting. For example, findings from the study suggest that sustainable development reporting practices, rather than being introduced to attain ‘carefully considered outcomes’, were initiated because they were perceived by managers as a ‘necessary part of fitting in and acting appropriately in the context’ (p. 612) in which companies operate. The paper uses neo-institutional theory to investigate, in a more explicit manner, the factors and determinants (institutional and organisational) which influence and shape the initiation and implementation of sustainable development reporting. However, the paper does not specifically shed light on the process of institutionalization of sustainable development reporting in itself (i.e. how sustainable development reporting became institutionalized), but rather provides a contribution to the literature about the factors and drivers which (may) have an impact on this process. While the narrative provides valuable insights which help ‘make sense’ and ‘comprehend’ the dynamics leading to the institutionalization of sustainable development reporting, in my opinion there is not sufficient discussion about how sustainable development reporting, after being initiated, was subjected to a process of habitualisation (Berger and Luckmann, 1966) to become a ‘taken for granted’ practice in the case-study organisations. Overall, Bebbington, Higgins and Frame’s paper provides a useful starting point on which social accounting scholars can build to explore the dynamics through which sustainable Social and Environmental Accountability Journal Vol. 31, No. 2, 167–177, September 2011
Combination of immunotherapy with targeted therapies in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

Treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has been significantly improved in recent years with the incorporation of drugs targeting antiangiogenesis and more specifically genomic alterations such as the EGFR mutations and ALK translocations. However, most patients invariably progress and die. The emergence of immune checkpoint inhibitors targeting the pathways involved in tumor-induced immunosuppression have redefined the management of the disease, achieving significant long-lasting responses with manageable safety profiles, regardless of histology. Still, response rates with immunotherapy are deemed suboptimal. Current efforts are focusing on new potential combination strategies with synergistic antitumor activity, using immune checkpoint blockade as a partner for targeted agents. Herein we discuss the available data on the combined use of immunotherapy, including PD-1/PD-L1 and CTLA-4 inhibitors, with EGFR and ALK inhibitors and comment on the current status of immunotherapy plus antiangiogenic drugs for molecularly unselected advanced NSCLC.
Acute hyperkalemia associated with intravenous omeprazole therapy

1. Dickey W, McConnel B. Celiac disease presenting as the Paterson-Brown Kelly (Plummer-Vinson) syndrome. Am J Gastroenterol 1999;94:527–9. 2. Rashid Z, Kumar A, Komar M. Plummer-Vinson syndrome and postcricoid carcinoma. Late complications of unrecognized celiac disease. Am J Gastroenterol 1999;94:1991. 3. Oberhuber G, Granditsch G, Vogelsang H. The histopathology of coeliac disease: Time for a standardized report scheme for pathologists. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol 1999;11:1185–94. 4. Harris OD, Cooke WT, Thompson H, et al. Malignancy in adult coeliac disease and idiopathic steatorrhea. Am J Med 1967;42: 899–912. 5. Corrao G, Corazza GR, Bagnardi V, et al. Mortality in patients with coeliac disease and their relatives: A cohort study. Lancet 2001;358:356–61.
Effects of dietary supplementation of essential oils and vitamin E on performance, egg quality and Escherichia coli count in excreta

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary essential oil combination (sage, thyme, and mentha extracts) (EOC) and vitamin E (Vit E) supplementation on laying hens’ performance, egg quality, yolk Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substance (TBARS) values and Escherichia coli (E. coli)and Coli form bacterium counts in excreta. One-hundred and twenty Lohmann white layers (36 weeks of age) were randomly allocated to five treatment groups, each having six replicate cages as subgroups comprising of four hens. Experimental groups were fed the basal diet (control group), basal diet plus 150 ppm of EOC (EOC-1), 300 ppm of EOC (EOC-2), 150 ppm Vitamin E (Vit E-1), or 300 ppm Vitamin E (Vit E-2). The performance parameters, except for egg production and feed consumption, were not affected by the essential oil combination and Vit E supplementation. Feeding 300 ppm EOC caused significant reduction in egg production as compared to other groups(P 0.05). It may be concluded that Vit E can easily be replaced by essential oil combination at the level of 150 ppm for inhabitation of lipid oxidation, without having an adverse effect on performance of laying hens and quality of eggs.
Mixing efficiency in natural flows

It is argued that the mixing efficiency of naturally occurring stratified shear flows, γ=Rf/(1−Rf), where Rf is the flux Richardson number, is dependent on at least two governing parameters: the gradient Richardson number Ri and the buoyancy Reynolds number Reb=ϵ/vN2. It is found that, in the range approximately 0.03<Ri<0.4, which spans 104<Reb<106, the mixing efficiency obtained via direct measurements of fluxes and property gradients in the stable atmospheric boundary layer and homogeneous/stationary balance equations of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) is nominally similar to that evaluated using the scalar balance equations. Outside these Ri and Reb ranges, the commonly used flux-estimation methodology based on homogeneity and stationarity of TKE equations breaks down (e.g. buoyancy effects are unimportant, energy flux divergence is significant or flow is non-stationary). In a wide range, 0.002<Ri<1, the mixing efficiency increases with Ri, but decreases with Reb. When Ri is in the proximity of Ricr∼0.1–0.25, γ can be considered a constant γ≈0.16–0.2. The results shed light on the wide variability of γ noted in previous studies.
Developing a new product development & launch process

Date of presentation Degree programme Author or authors Jonis Mahmutllari Group or year of entry POBBA10 Title of thesis Developing a new product development and launch process Case: Company X Number of report pages and attachment pages 54 +3 Thesis advisor(s) Evariste Habiyakare, Veijo Vänttinen This study is a product-oriented thesis which is focused in developing a new product development and launch process for Company X , a company which offers innovative Roll handling equipment for the paper industry. The objective of the thesis is to find and develop a framework which would clarify the entire product development and launch process and increase the success rate on the new product launches. The reviews of the literature, business cases, journals and data analysis are the foundation of the new product launch model. Even the thesis is product oriented, a qualitative research, in form of in-depth interviews is conducted. The qualitative research helps, in connecting the theoretical part with the actual process followed in the business. The product outcome of this thesis is a concrete structured process, including each step from the product conceptualisation to the stage of launching the product into the market. This thesis proposes elaborated guidelines which Company X could follow in its product development and launch process. The launch plan was developed based on the Stage-GateTM process, which is a reliable and successful method used in different successful launch cases. The Stage-GateTM process was adopted according to the industry and company ́s strategy. The author hopes that the final results could help the company to have a clear understanding of each stage in the product launching process and implement each of these stages in accordance with the type of the project or launching strategy.
Fates of blood : Studies on stem cell differentiation potential and B lymphocyte generation in chimeric cattle

Stem cells exist in most adult tissues. Some of these somatic stem cells may be more plastic than expected, not limited to generating new cells for the tissue of their origin. While such findings suggest a revolution in regenerative medicine, they remain controversial. Most stem cell research is based on transplantation experiments of isolated and often cultured cells in mice, and the results may be affected by the manipulation of the animals and the transplanted cells. Here, naturally chimeric twin cattle were used to investigate the differentiation potential of stem cells in a non-manipulated large mammal. Due to conjoined placental circulations, blood of the bovine twins is mixed for most of the fetal period, and circulating stem cells are effectively exchanged. We developed powerful methods for tracing their progeny in various tissues of freemartin cattle, females born as a twin to a bull. While from 10% to 90% of the hematopoietic system in freemartins was donorderived, donor contribution to non-hematopoietic tissues was in most cases minor. Thus, hematopoietic stem cells and other cell types circulating in fetal blood do not generate significant numbers of non-hematopoietic cells in the development, growth and physiological turnover of bovine tissues. However, they may be important in tissue repair and regeneration, as suggested by increasing numbers of donor-derived cells in newly forming granulation tissue. Chimeric cattle were also used to investigate the generation of bovine B lymphocytes, which occurs differently than in the commonly studied human and mouse, and is poorly understood. The results indicate that the ileal Peyer’s patch determines the peripheral B cell pool in young cattle, and is likely responsible for the production of the preimmune antibody repertoire by post-rearrangement strategies. To facilitate a direct analysis of bovine stem cells, the first antibodies against bovine CD34 were generated. The CD34 glycoprotein is commonly used as a marker for hematopoietic progenitors and endothelial cells in the human and mouse. CD34 mRNA was found to be alternatively spliced and widely expressed in cattle tissues. Using the new antibody, the protein was detected in most blood vessel endothelia, primitive hematopoietic cells and some non-hematopoietic cell types.
Ventricular arrhythmia, Cheyne-Stokes respiration, and death: observations from patients with defibrillators

Objective: To determine whether ventricular arrhythmia related to nocturnal hypoxaemia during Cheyne-Stokes respiration (CSR) explains the observation that CSR is an independent marker of death in heart failure. Design: Prospective, observational study. Patients: 101 patients at high risk of clinical serious ventricular arrhythmia fitted with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). Measurements: Patients were studied at baseline for CSR during sleep. Arrhythmia requiring device discharge was used as a surrogate marker for possible sudden cardiac death. Results: 101 patients (42 with CSR) were followed up for a total of 620 months. Twenty six patients experienced 432 ICD discharge episodes. Twenty four (6%), 210 (49%), 125 (29%), and 73 (17%) episodes occurred across the time quartiles 0000–0559, 0600–1159, 1200–1759, and 1800–2359, respectively. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed a relative risk of 1 (95% confidence interval 0.5 to 2.2, p = 1) for device discharge in the CSR group. The average (SED) numbers of nocturnal ICD discharges per patient per month of follow up were 0.01 (0.01) and 0.04 (0.02) for patients with and without CSR, respectively (p = 0.6). Conclusion: These findings refute the proposition that CSR is related to heart failure death through nocturnal serious ventricular arrhythmia.
Substrate Independent Dyeing of Synthetic Textiles Treated with Low-Pressure Plasmas

The synthetic fibers are widely used in apparel and home furnishings due to their good physical and chemical properties. The synthetic fiber market is characterized by a trend towards ever-finer fibers. It is very difficult for these finer fibers to obtain very deep colours via the common dyeing processes. The increasing demand of polyester (PES) such as poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) in textile market for high performance applications in smart textiles, technical textiles, operation clothing etc. and more recently, for their potential applications as electronic textiles. It indicates that PET has the potential in research in the future due to the wide range of mechanical properties, relative high melting point and glass transition temperature, insensitivity to common solvents and moisture, chemical inertness. PET, an aliphatic-aromatic polymer composition and thermoplastic, shows a rather hydrophobic nature due to its rigid structure,
Do Grocery Store Personnel's Perceptions, Attitudes, and Knowledge Determine Availability of Organic Food Products?

This study uses a survey of grocery store personnel nationwide and a series of weighted least square regressions with hierarchically-structured sets of covariates to explore how retail personnel’s perception, attitude, and knowledge regarding organic foods are related to availability of organic foods. We find that, while store types remain an important determinant of store personnel’s attitudes as well as availability of organic food products, store personnel’s perceptions of lower barriers and higher customer demand have strong separate associations with greater availability of organic foods. Implications for retail personnel’s potential role in framing consumer choice and overall health disparity are discussed.
A Role for ADP-ribosylation Factor 6 in the Processing of G-protein-coupled Receptors*

After agonist-induced internalization, the vasopressin V2 receptor (V2R) does not recycle to the plasma membrane. The ADP-ribosylation factor (ARF) proteins initiate vesicular intracellular traffic by promoting the recruitment of adaptor proteins; thus, we sought to determine whether ARF6 could promote V2 R recycling. Neither the agonist-induced internalization nor the recycling of the V2 Rwas regulated by ARF6, but a constitutively active mutant of ARF6 reduced cell-surface V2Rs 10-fold in the absence of agonist treatment. Visualization of the ARF6 mutant-expressing cells revealed a vacuolar-staining pattern of the V2R instead of the normal plasmamembrane expression. Analysis of V2R maturation revealed that reduced cell-surface expression was due to the diminished ability of the newly synthesized receptor to migrate from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi network. The same mechanism affected processing of the V1aR and acetylcholine M2 receptors. Therefore, ARF6 controls the exit of the V2 and other receptors from the endoplasmic reticulum in addition to its established role in the trafficking of plasma-membrane-derived vesicles.
DNA–DNA interactions in bacteriophage capsids are responsible for the observed DNA knotting

Recent experiments showed that the linear double-stranded DNA in bacteriophage capsids is both highly knotted and neatly structured. What is the physical basis of this organization? Here we show evidence from stochastic simulation techniques that suggests that a key element is the tendency of contacting DNA strands to order, as in cholesteric liquid crystals. This interaction favors their preferential juxtaposition at a small twist angle, thus promoting an approximately nematic (and apolar) local order. The ordering effect dramatically impacts the geometry and topology of DNA inside phages. Accounting for this local potential allows us to reproduce the main experimental data on DNA organization in phages, including the cryo-EM observations and detailed features of the spectrum of DNA knots formed inside viral capsids. The DNA knots we observe are strongly delocalized and, intriguingly, this is shown not to interfere with genome ejection out of the phage.
A Role for Cysteine-Rich 61 in the Angiogenic Switch During the Estrous Cycle in Cows: Regulation by Prostaglandin F2alpha1

The development and demise of the corpus luteum (CL) are accompanied by angiogenic and angioregressive processes; however, the mediators of these processes have not been fully identified and characterized. Transcriptional profiling studies revealed the upregulation of cysteine-rich 61 (CYR61) in the CL, about which nothing was previously known. In the present study, we found that over a 12-h period following a single injection of prostaglandin F2alpha (PGF2alpha), RT-PCR revealed the upregulation of CYR61 at 0.5 and 1 h, after which it declined. We also determined that luteal-derived endothelial cells as well as luteal steroidogenic cells are sources of CYR61. Treatment with PGF2alpha in vitro had no effect on CYR61 expression in luteal-derived endothelial cells, but it increased CYR61 expression in luteal steroidogenic cells. During the estrous cycle, CYR61/CYR61 (transcript/protein) was increased in the Day 4 but not in the Day 10 and Day 16 CL, suggesting that it may be associated with the switch to the angiogenic phenotype. In addition, the specific but transient upregulation of CYR61 by PGF2alpha in vivo, and in luteal steroidogenic cells but not endothelial cells in vitro, may be part of the mechanism underlying the previously reported transient increase in blood flow during the early onset of luteolysis. This is supported by our preliminary finding that CYR61 transiently inhibited endothelial cell expression of endothelin-converting enzyme 1 mRNA but not endothelin 1. Collectively, the increased expression of CYR61 in the Day 4 CL and its transient increase by PGF2alpha in Day 6, Day 10, and Day 16 CL indicate that CYR61 may play a role in regulating angiogenesis over the life span of the CL.
Who Is Leading the Replication Fork , Pol ε or Pol d ?

Peter M.J. Burgers,1 Dmitry Gordenin,2 and Thomas A. Kunkel2,* 1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA 2Genome Integrity and Structural Biology Laboratory, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH, DHHS, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA *Correspondence: kunkel@niehs.nih. gov http://dx.doi. org/10.1016/j.molcel. 2016.01. 017
MECP2 and Beyond: Phenotype—Genotype Correlations in Rett Syndrome

The association of Rett syndrome with pathogenic mutations of the methyl-CpG binding protein 2 ( MECP2) gene was first made in 1999. Since that time, it has been found that the clinical phenotype can, at least in part, be explained in terms of the type and location of the MECP2 mutation and epigenetic factors such as skewing of X-chromosome inactivation. In addition, MECP2 mutations may be associated with non—Rett syndrome clinical phenotypes, including nonsyndromic and syndromic X-linked mental retardation and Angelman-like phenotypes. Intense research efforts are currently focused on understanding the pathogenesis of Rett syndrome, using sophisticated techniques such as microarray analysis, and the development of mouse models, with an ultimate aim being the development of targeted therapies that could ameliorate or even prevent the devastating consequences of this enigmatic neurodevelopmental disorder. (J Child Neurol 2003;18:669—674).
Corporate Governance and Development: An Update

What do we know about the links between economic development and corporate governance in emerging markets? Stijn Claessens and Burcin Yurtoglu have sifted through scores of academic studies on various countries, sectors, and business organizations - from state-owned enterprises to publicly listed companies - to determine how corporate governance can influence economic development and well being, and what is needed to promote good practices. The Focus 10 draws on new evidence that has become available since Focus 1: Corporate Governance and Development was published in 2003. While the paper reviews research literature, it is written to be accessible to the nonacademic audience: board members, investors, government regulators, development professionals, and other CG practitioners. Research findings sited in the Focus include: 1) improved corporate governance practices increase firm share prices; 2) operational performance is higher in better corporate governance countries; 3) well governed companies have less volatile stock prices in times of crisis; 4) companies with boards composed of a higher fraction of outsider or independent directors usually have a higher market valuation; 5) improvements in corporate governance quality lead to higher GDP growth, productivity growth, and the increased ratio of investment to GDP; 6) when a country's overall corporate governance and property rights systems are weak, voluntary and market corporate governance mechanisms have limited effectiveness; 7) large, more concentrated ownership can be beneficial, unless there is a disparity of control and cash flow rights; 8) the quality of shareholder protection positively correlates with the development of countries' capital markets; and 9) better corporate governance leads to a better developed financial system. The paper concludes by identifying several main policy and research issues that require further study. For example, more research is needed on family-owned, state-owned or controlled firms that predominate in many sectors and economies.
Marketing Organization: An Integrative Framework of Dimensions and Determinants

Although there is increasing interest in topics related to the organization of the marketing function, there is relatively little research that relates marketing organization to a business unit's environment. This article, based on interviews in U.S. and German firms, explores how the organization and role of marketing vary across business contexts. After reviewing prior research and describing their methodology, the authors present a conceptual framework that relates aspects of marketing organization to the business environment. The authors then draw on field observations and prior research to describe variations and develop illustrative propositions for three organizational dimensions: (1) the structural location of marketing and sales groups, (2) the cross-functional dispersion of marketing activities, and (3) the relative power of the marketing subunit. The authors conclude with theoretical and managerial implications.