Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Digital entrepreneurship: Research and practice

Digital entrepreneurship is broadly defined as creating new ventures and transforming existing businesses by developing novel digital technologies and/or novel usage of such technologies, (European Commission, 2015). Digital entrepreneurship has been viewed as a critical pillar for economic growth, job creation and innovation by many countries including the Member States of the European Union. We argue that a nation's digital entrepreneurial capacity depends largely on digital entrepreneurial behaviour, culture, and strategies as well as a supportive innovation ecosystem in which governments, industry, business, educational institutions and NGOs (non-government organizations) work together. Therefore, a holistic and integrative approach is needed. This study aims to explore the emerging concept of digital entrepreneurship from multiple disciplinary perspectives, namely, information technology and systems, entrepreneurship and management, as well as contextual political/legal and socioeconomic factors and their impacts in a systemic and integrative way. For that purpose, the paper develops a conceptual model to study digital entrepreneurship drawing on current literature and three well-established theories – social network theory, social capital theory and institutional theory. The model addresses five fundamental research questions of digital entrepreneurship, thus leading to a better understanding of the concept and practice of digital entrepreneurship.
JC Virus Genotypes in the Western Pacific Suggest Asian Mainland Relationships and Virus Association with Early Population Movements

Distinct genotypes of human polyomavirus JC (JCV) have remained population associated possibly from the time of dispersal of modern humans from Africa. Seven major genotypes with additional subtypes serve as plausible markers for following early and more recent human migrations in all parts of the world. Phylogenetic trees of JCV sequences from the major continental population groups show a trifurcation at the base indicating early division into European, African, and Asian branches. Here, we have explored JCV relationships in the island populations of the western Pacific. Since these islands were settled from the Asian mainland and islands of Southeast Asia, we expected that their virus genotypes might show an Asian connection. We found that Type 2E (Austronesian) and Type 8 (non-Austronesian) are widely distributed in western Pacific populations. A few south China strains were found (Type 7A). A subtype of Type 8, Type 8A, was confined to Papua New Guinea. In keeping with these assignments we find that phylogenetic analysis by neighbor-joining and maximum parsimony methods places Type 2E in a closer relationship to east Asian mainland strains such as Type 2A and Type 7. Our findings support the Asian origins of the western Pacific JCV strains, and suggest three broad movements: an ancient one characterized by Type 8A, and then Type 8B, followed much later by migrations carrying Type 2E, which may correlate with the arrival of Austronesian-language speakers, the bearers of the "Lapita" cultural complex (~3,500 to 5,000 years ago), and relatively recent movements carrying largely Type 7A (south China) strains directly from the West. [End Page 473]
Incorporation of isotope from specifically labeled glucose into alginates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Azotobacter vinelandii

The incorporation of isotope from [6-14C]glucose into alginate by both Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Azotobacter vinelandii was 10-fold greater than that from either [1-14C]- or [2-14C]glucose, indicating preferential utilization of the bottom half of the glucose molecule for alginate synthesis. These data strongly suggest that the Entner - Doudoroff pathway plays a major role in alginate synthesis in both P. aeruginosa and A. vinelandii.
To Be Sure or Not to Be Preempted?: An Empirical Study on the Deferred Examination System in Korea

This paper investigates firm behaviors on examination request under the deferred patent examination system in Korea. We examine firm decisions on whether and when to request patent examinations when they face both uncertainty about invention’s value and market competition. We find that the examination request in Korea has an interesting bi-polar distribution, and both uncertainty about an invention’s value and market competition have significant impacts on firm’s decision for examination request. Applicants tend to utilize option value of waiting when uncertainty is high, but market competition attenuates the option value: the higher the competition, the less likely applicants are to delay or forego examination. Our study extends the empirical literature on deferred examination system but also provides a more comprehensive understanding on the irreversible investment decision under both uncertainty and competition.
Efficacy of cold application on pain during chest tube removal: a randomized controlled trial

Background: Use of analgesics is the most common method to alleviate the pain induced by chest tube removal (CTR), but patient response to medication can vary and may not be achieved complete relaxation. This study was to determine the effectiveness of cold application in combination with standard analgesic administration before CTR on CTR-induced pain. Methods: A prospective, randomized, single-blind, sham-controlled study was conducted. In addition to the same routine care, subjects in the experimental group (n = 30) received cold application of 600-g ice packs 15 minutes before CTR, whereas subjects in the sham group (n = 30) received tap water packs. Numerical rating scale was used to measure pain intensity before, immediately after, and 10 minutes after CTR. Results: The generalized linear estimating equation (GEE) model, adjusted for other factors, both the groups demonstrated a trend toward decreased pain during CTR over time (P < .001), but no significant differences between the 2 groups (P = .65), even stratifying by gender. If we fixed experimental group, women significant reduced pain score of 2.7 on immediately after CTR compared with before CTR (P < .0001) and reduced pain score of 2.05 on 10 minutes after CTR compared with before CTR (P < .0001). The sham group had no similar performance as the experimental group. In the male subgroup, both experimental and sham groups, men significantly reduced pain score on immediately after CTR and 10 minutes after CTR compared with before CTR (P < .0001). Conclusion: The results indicate that cold application is not more effective than sham treatment in decreasing pain during CTR, even among gender. Although statistically non-significant, clinically important differences of decreased pain score were observed with cold application among women (Clinical Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT03307239).
Hypoxia, Clonal Selection, and the Role of HIF-1 in Tumor Progression

Tumor progression occurs as a result of the clonal selection of cells in which somatic mutations have activated oncogenes or inactivated tumor suppressor genes leading to increased proliferation and/or survival within the hypoxic tumor microenvironment. Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) is a transcription factor that mediates adaptive responses to reduced O2 availability, including angiogenesis and glycolysis. Expression of the O2-regulated HIF-1α subunit and HIF-1 transcriptional activity are increased dramatically in hypoxic cells. Recent studies indicate that many common tumor-specific genetic alterations also lead to increased HIF-1α expression and/or activity. Thus, genetic and physiologic alterations within tumors act synergistically to increase HIF-1 transcriptional activity, which appears to play a critical role in the development of invasive and metastatic properties that define the lethal cancer phenotype.
THE EFFECTS OF SOME INHIBITORS ON THE RATES OF PHOTOSYNTHESIS AND RESPIRATION BY CHLORELLA

The effects of several inhibitors on the rates of photosynthesis and of respiration by Chlorella pyrenoidosa have been studied. The inhibitors used in this study include potassium cyanide, hydroxylamine hydrogen chloride, dinitrophenol,and sodium azide. Each inhibitor seems to have its own characteristic action in photosynthesis and in respiration. With the exception of hydroxylamine, all the inhibitors show a stimulation of respiration at low concentrations of the inhibitors. Only dinitrophenol inhibits respiration to a marked extent. Potassium cyanide, hydroxylamine, and dinitrophenol are about equally effective in inhibiting photosynthesis, but sodium azide is nearly ten times as effective.
Coxsackie and adenovirus receptor is increased in adipose tissue of obese subjects: a role for adenovirus infection?

CONTEXT The coxsackie and adenovirus receptor (CAR) was originally identified as a common receptor for coxsackie B viruses and type C adenoviruses. OBJECTIVE The objective was to investigate CAR gene expression in human adipose tissue to explore its associations with adipocyte physiology. DESIGN AND SETTING This was an ex vivo study in 91 visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and 109 sc adipose tissue (SAT) human samples (61 paired) obtained during elective surgical procedures. PATIENTS Patients were recruited at the Endocrinology Service of the Hospital Universitari Dr Josep Trueta. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE CAR mRNA was measured in human adipose tissue samples and confirmed at the protein level and in adipose tissue fractions. The effects of inflammatory stimuli on CAR gene expression were also evaluated. RESULTS In paired samples, CAR was 46-fold higher in VAT vs SAT (P < .0001), being higher also at the protein level (P = .04). CAR was predominantly found in stromal vascular cell fractions (SVFs) in both fat depots. CAR mRNA (P = .006) and protein levels (P = .01) in VAT were significantly increased in obese vs nonobese subjects. In fact, CAR mRNA levels in SAT were positively associated with body mass index (r = 0.26; P = .008) and percentage fat mass (r = 0.28; P = .004). In VAT, MGLL, FSP27, AKAP, omentin, TKT, S14, and FABP contributed independently to CAR mRNA variation after adjusting for age and body mass index. Macrophage-conditioned medium led to increased CAR gene expression in mature adipocytes in vitro. CONCLUSIONS The increased expression of CAR in adipose tissue from obese subjects, mainly in SVFs, suggests that CAR might play a role in adipose tissue dysfunction, given its dual associations with adipogenic and inflammatory genes.
Exchange rate pass through into consumer price inflation and macroeconomic shocks in Nigeria : an empirical investigation

The paper examines the macroeconomic shocks effect on exchange rate pass through into domestic consumer price inflation in the Nigerian economy between 1986Q1 and 2013Q1 using structural vector auto regression methodology. The results show that exchange rate pass through to consumer price inflation in Nigeria is low and incomplete. Moreover, the speed of adjustments to structural shocks, such as those from the exchange rate, output, monetary policy rate, and money supply is high. The effects of such shocks are highly volatile and therefore can potentially distort the status quo. The results from forecast variance decomposition analysis show that the consumer price inflation own shocks, positive money supply shocks and output shocks dominate over other factors in explaining consumer price inflation in the Nigerian economy. Therefore, Nigeria should strive for more effective monetary policy through conscious efforts by the monetary authority. The authority should adopt fully-fledged inflation targeting. This will help to bring expectations of inflation down and strengthen the expectations channel. This will in turn make the anticipated effects of monetary policy to require less aggressive monetary policy rate changes.
Robust linear mixed models using the skew t distribution with application to schizophrenia data

We consider an extension of linear mixed models by assuming a multivariate skew t distribution for the random effects and a multivariate t distribution for the error terms. The proposed model provides flexibility in capturing the effects of skewness and heavy tails simultaneously among continuous longitudinal data. We present an efficient alternating expectation‐conditional maximization (AECM) algorithm for the computation of maximum likelihood estimates of parameters on the basis of two convenient hierarchical formulations. The techniques for the prediction of random effects and intermittent missing values under this model are also investigated. Our methodologies are illustrated through an application to schizophrenia data.
Understanding academic identity development in a changing landscape: The case of university English teachers in Malaysia

The changing landscape of higher education (HE) and the expansion of academic work have impacted on academic identity development. However, there is very little known about the academic identity development of English language teachers who transition from teaching in the school sector to working in higher learning institutions in Malaysia. This paper thus seeks to explore how university English teachers’ (UET) academic identities are developed and to identify factors that are pertinent to this development through the lens of self-concept. Data were obtained from semi-structured interviews and the analysis was done using the framework of self-concept. The findings reveal that UETs’ self-concepts are dynamic constructs influenced by multiple internal and external factors from their past and present contexts. When UETs were placed into a new setting, they had to reflect on and re-evaluate their abilities in order to adapt to internal and situational changes. Self-concept thus played a role in restructuring the self and is strongly associated with motivation and is driven by goals for self-improvement. The findings of this study suggest that strategies which can support and sustain a positive transition for UETs into academia be implemented to ensure improved recruitment and retention.
The main connection circuits of the radiation-hardened differential difference amplifier based on the bipolar and field effect technological process

The architecture and circuitry of the differential difference amplifier (DDA) with higher radiation hardness (the total dose of radiation is up to 1 millirad, the neutron flux is up to 1013 n/cm2) are reviewed. The fundamental equations are obtained which simplify the parameter determination of the analog and digital interfaces on its basis. The characteristics of the main connection circuits of DDA are examined taking into consideration the effect of the loop gain, transadmittance of the input stages and feedback resistors. It is shown that one circuit of DDA renders possible to provide rather wide set of the identical characteristics without feedback resistors at the inverting and noninverting connections.
A fast self-reacting capacitor-less low-dropout regulator

A fast self-reacting (FSR) low-dropout (LDO) regulator with triple transient improved loops was implemented in 0. 35μm CMOS technology. The proposed regulator for SoC application can achieve high stability for load current from zero to 100mA. The FSR loops can accelerate load transient responses while the regulator achieves the FOM of only 0.00675 (ps) without an output capacitor. The experimental results show the load regulation of 75.2 μV/mA and line regulation of 1.046 mV/V. The whole LDO chip consumes a quiescent current of 27 μA with an ultra low dropout voltage of 142mV at the maximum output current of 100mA. The proposed FSR transient improved loops can effectively reduce the transient voltage undershoot and overshoot. While the load current switches between 0 and 100 mA with both rise and fall time of 1 μs, the result shows that the maximum undershoot is 25 mV and that the maximum overshoot is 5 mV. When the full load current is 100mA, the undershoot and the overshoot of the line transient response are 4 mV and 6.5 mV, respectively, for a 1 V step supply waveform with 5 μs transient time.
Framework for detection of anomalies in mass moving objects by non-technical users utilizing contextual & spatio-temporal data

Increasing utility of wireless sensors and their decreasing cost with technological innovation has increased their presence in many mobile & wearable devices and many devices are able to sense and relate a variety of sensor data including GPS location to be used for decision making. However, much potential of this data remains unexploited due to inherent complexity of manipulating such information, which bars the majority of users benefiting from this. One potential application is the detection of anomalies by users from a non-technical background through definition of rules. As such, a methodology/framework, which could enable users to define rules/query information from sensors fused with other contextual data in a user-friendly manner would be highly useful in deriving value from this data. This research attempts to formulate a low-cost framework, which enables users without a strong technical background to make potential use of this. The research is performed using a case study; identification of anomalies in the behaviours and violations of rules by marine vessels in Sri Lankan waters. However, the framework is generalized to enable application to other contexts also. The framework also attempts to identify a possible method and a process to enable users enter geo spatial rules in an accurate as well as user friendly manner while allowing to enter rules of different levels of complexities accurately. The research attempts to solve this problem through the use of a map interface which enables users enter geo spatial data either plotting on a screen or as pairs of coordinates. Use of auto query forms with dynamically changing queries was proposed to enter conditions of rules and the interrelationships. The research was carried out using one prototype and two systems in three stages, using the input of one step to next. Both methods of spatial rule entry were deemed accepted by users considering the ease of use in direct plotting as well as accuracy in formal coordinate entry in the two methods. While auto query form was found as a suitable method with reasonable accuracy with accuracy increasing with the educational background of users and decreasing on several occasions with increased complexity (multiple conditions or ambiguity of underlying concept) of rules, the display of the rule query in user readable form at the bottom of the interface as well as enabling the user to dynamically view query results to refine the query showed increased accuracy.
Measurement of Fiscal Council Independence in the Countries of the European Union (Pomiar niezaleznosci rad fiskalnych w krajach Unii Europejskiej)

Recent years have noted a strengthening of institutional solutions serving the improvement of budgetary standing in many countries. One such solution is the functioning of independent fiscal institutions, also known as fiscal councils. The goal of the paper is to define the level of independence of such institutions. The source for the research was an analysis of the fiscal institution independence index developed on the basis of data found in the database of independent fiscal institutions published by the European Commission and the specification of fiscal councils presented by International Monetary Fund.
Adipose Tissue Engineering by Human Adipose-Derived Stromal Cells

Tissue engineering has emerged as a promising alternative approach to current clinical treatments for restoration of soft tissue defects. The purpose of this study was to investigate adipose tissue formation in vitro and in vivo by using human adipose-derived stromal cells (ADSCs) utilizing a gelatin sponge (Gelform®) as a scaffold. Adipogenic potentials of human ADSCs were demonstrated by Oil-O-red staining and cellular morphology. After seeding human ADSCs in a density of 3 × 106 cells/ml on three-dimensional gelatin sponges, tissue-engineered constructs were exposed to adipogenic differentiation medium for in vitro studies and implanted in the backs of severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice for in vivo adipose regeneration. Adipogenesis of ADSC-seeded gelatin sponges was confirmed by Oil-O-red staining after 4 weeks of in vitro incubation. The optical density of the elution from Oil-O-red staining of adipogenic constructs is significantly higher than that of the control group (p < 0.05, n = 4). With short-term in vitro differentiation, adipogenic constructs turned into fat tissue 4 weeks after in vivo implantation, confirmed by biochemical and immunohistochemical examination. No adipogenic-morphological change or fat formation was observed in in vitro or in vivo studies when ADSCs were exposed to a control medium without adipogenic stimulation. These results indicate that engineered adipose tissue can be achieved using human ADSCs and biocompatible and degradable gelatin sponges.
A Critical View of the Unemployment and Health Debate

The major social change of the late 1970's and early 1980's in the U.K. has been the rise in unemployment to levels last experienced in the 1930's. Then as now, a vigorous debate has raged between the establishment and its critics over the possible health consequences of unemployment. The debate has many facets. The stress of redundancy and the stress of long term unemployment, may both be responsible for an increase in suicide and parasuicide. Poverty, apart from creating stress may affect living standards, in particular nutrition. Neonatal health may be particularly vulnera- ble. The evidence and arguments in these several areas is reviewed and the methodolo- gical problems of different study designs is discussed.
Viability of Giardia cysts suspended in lake, river, and tap water

Numerous waterborne outbreaks of giardiasis have occurred since 1965, yet little or no information has been reported on the viability of Giardia cysts in different aquatic environments. We have studied the viability of Giardia muris cysts suspended in lake, river, and tap water, while also monitoring water temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and other water quality parameters. Fecal pellets containing G. muris cysts were placed in glass vials covered with filter paper and exposed to (i) lake water at 15 ft (ca. 4.6 m) and 30 ft (ca. 9.2 m), (ii) river water, (iii) tap water, and (iv) distilled water stored under laboratory conditions. At 3, 7, 14, 28, 56, and 84 days, two vials from each environment were removed, and cyst viability was determined by (i) fluorogenic dye exclusion, (ii) production of giardiasis in an animal, and (iii) cyst morphology by Nomarski microscopy. In the fall, the cysts suspended at 30 ft in lake water remained viable for up to 56 days whereas cysts stored at 15 ft were nonviable after day 28. The G. muris cysts exposed to river water remained viable up to 28 days as determined by the production of giardiasis in mice. G. muris cysts suspended in tap water showed no signs of viability after 14 days, while cysts serving as controls (exposed to refrigerated distilled water) remained viable for up to 56 days. In the winter, Giardia cysts suspended in either lake or river water were viable for 56 to 84 days whereas cysts exposed to tap water were nonviable by day 14. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)