Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ABAD enhances Aβ‐induced cell stress via mitochondrial dysfunction

Amyloid‐β peptide (Aβ) binding alcohol dehydrogenase (ABAD), an enzyme present in neuronal mitochondria, is a cofactor facilitating Aβ‐induced cell stress. We hypothesized that ABAD provides a direct link between Aβ and cytotoxicity via mitochondrial oxidant stress. Neurons cultured from transgenic (Tg) mice with targeted overexpression of a mutant form of amyloid precursor protein and ABAD (Tg mAPP/ABAD) displayed spontaneous generation of hydrogen peroxide and superoxide anion, and decreased ATP, as well as subsequent release of cytochrome c from mitochondria and induction of caspase‐3‐like activity followed by DNA fragmentation and loss of cell viability. Generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was associated with dysfunction at the level of mitochondrial complex IV (cytochrome c oxidase, or COX). In neurons cultured from Tg mAPP/ABAD mice, COX activity was selectively decreased, and cyanide, an inhibitor of complex IV, exacerbated leakage of ROS, induction of caspase‐3‐like activity, and DNA fragmentation. In vivo, Tg mAPP/ABAD mice displayed reduced levels of brain ATP and COX activity, diminished glucose utilization, as well as electrophysiological abnormalities in hippocampal slices compared with Tg mAPP mice. In contrast, neither Tg ABAD mice nor nontransgenic (non‐TG) littermates showed similar changes in ATP, COX activity, glucose utilization or electrophysiological properties. Each of the genotypes (Tg ABAD, Tg mAPP and Tg mAPP/ABAD mice, and non‐TG littermates) displayed normal reproductive fitness, development and lifespan (1) These findings link ABAD‐induced oxidant stress to critical aspects of Alzheimer's disease (AD)‐associated cellular dysfunction, suggesting a pivotal role for this enzyme in the pathogenesis of AD.
The effects of shape anisotropy of the magnetic particles in a composite on RF power absorption

The shape anisotropy of the magnetic particles in a composite film for EMI applications plays a key role in their performance. For a few types of the particles such as wires and hollow fibers, permeabilities of the particles and in-line attenuation of the composite were evaluated by simulations. With the change of the shape anisotropy by aspect ratio or hollow ratio, power absorption could be controlled in frequency. In experiments, Ni/FeCo magnetic hollow fibbers were fabricated by electroless plating and power loss of the composite filled with the fibbers was evaluated.
Developing a Health Care Information System for Scotland

The rapid development and uptake of Internet technology has created opportunities for large-scale information networks to replace paper-based information sources. In order to obtain the maximum benefits for patients and medical practitioners it is important that health care providers work together to produce an integrated information service. However, the task of bringing together a large number of different information providers to create a huge structured pool of information covering a wide range of topics with appropriate quality assurance is non-trivial. This paper describes an approach being used to create healthcare information systems in a set of co-operative healthcare information networks in Europe, and specifically in Scotland.
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE – PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

In a society constantly evolving, with information technologies being in a permanent transformation, the managers of agile, flexible organizations, which are equipped with the latest tools for making decisions and with people well trained to use them, will be able to successfully meet the challenges of the future. This paper presents the evolution of Business Intelligence and a comparative analysis between two modern developments of it, such as Mobile Business Intelligence and Cloud Business Intelligence, with accent on the advantages, disadvantages, implications and benefits at the company level. These are useful tools suitable for the management of the companies that are obliged to operate in a global economy facing with crisis.
Standardization/adaptation of international marketing strategy

For over 40 years academicians and practitioners have debated the standardization versus adaptation of international marketing strategy. Despite the importance of, and tremendous interest in the topic, and the volume of scholarly activity this topic has generated, the debate remains unresolved. Why? Here, it is argued that the last 40 years of scholarly research has advanced without a strong underlying theoretical framework. The historical foundations of the standardization/adaptation perspective are presented, followed by a critical evaluation of the field under the guiding framework of the fundamentals of theoretical construction. Suggestions for developing a stronger theoretical foundation, as well as directions for future research are addressed.
Discovery of endocannabinoids and some random thoughts on their possible roles in neuroprotection and aggression.

A short history of the discovery of the main plant cannabinoid, Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol and of the endogenous cannabinoids anandamide, 2-arachidonoyl glycerol and 2-arachidonyl glyceryl ether (noladin ether) is presented. The role of the cannabinoids in neuroprotection, with emphasis on the endocannabinoids, is described. The unexpected production of aggression by Cannabis and cannabinoids under stressful conditions, published mainly in the past, is summarized.
The effects of an Electronic Medical Record on patient care: clinician attitudes in a large HMO

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study is to examine the attitudes of clinicians in a large HMO toward the effect of an outpatient Electronic Medical Record system on the quality of patient care. Attitudes toward a Results Reporting system and an online charting and ordering system are also compared. DESIGN A cross-sectional study was performed using a survey of Kaiser Permanente Northwest clinicians. In addition, interviews were conducted with the physician leaders of the clinical departments at Kaiser Permanente Northwest. MEASUREMENTS Clinician attitudes are measured regarding the effects of a Results Reporting system and an online charting and ordering system on the overall quality of patient care and other care-related indices. RESULTS Most clinicians feel that the outpatient Electronic Medical Record has improved the overall quality of patient care, with 72% reporting an improvement with the use of the Results Reporting system, and 60% reporting an improvement with the use of the online charting and ordering system. On average, clinicians feel that the EMR has also improved the quality of the patient-clinician interaction, the ability to coordinate the care of patients with other departments, the ability to detect medication errors, the timeliness of referrals, and the ability to act on test results in a timely fashion. CONCLUSION Clinicians perceive an improvement in patient care as a result of using an outpatient Electronic Medical Record system. Clinicians have higher opinions, however, of the effects of a Results Reporting system compared to an online charting and ordering system.
Response to "Level 2 Observational Studies: A Practical Alternative to Randomized Trials in Plastic Surgery".

One day when I was a junior medical student, a very important Boston surgeon visited the school and delivered a great treatise on a large number of patients who had undergone successful operation for vascular reconstruction. At the end of the lecture, a young student at the back of the room timidly asked, “Do you have any controls? ” Well, the great surgeon drew himself up to his full height, hit the desk, and said, “Do you mean did I not operate on half of the patients? ” The hall grew very quiet then. The voice at the back of the room very hesitantly replied, “Yes, that's what I had in mind. ” Then the visitor's fist really came down as he thundered, “Of course not. That would have doomed half of them to their death. ” God, it was quiet then, and one could scarcely hear the small voice ask, “Which half? ”—Erle E. Peacock, Jr.1 Although evidence-based medicine (EBM) principles have been developed over decades, only recently has a systematic, organized commitment to incorporate EBM principles into the specialty of plastic surgery been undertaken.2,3 As such, we are all learning as a group how EBM principles can help us and our patients make better care decisions. In his commentary, Dr Swanson casts doubt on the value of the randomized controlled trial design in surgery;4 however, the collective wisdom of hundreds of scientists, statisticians, epidemiologists, and researchers from around the world have established the randomized controlled trial in the last half century …
A survey on time interval measurement techniques and testing methods

The most frequently utilized techniques for precise time interval measurements are discussed. By analyzing the characteristics of both published architectures and commercial Time-to-Digital Converters (TDCs), the most significant testing methods are also considered. Related performance parameters, useful for calibrating such devices and compensating any deviations from the expected behavior, are also identified. Since full standardization activities in this field have not been carried out yet, the proposed results may reduce terminology and definition ambiguities, allowing an easier comparison between different TDC architectures. To this aim, an overall Figure of Merit is also introduced and evaluated for several published TDCs.
FORMAÇÃO E GERÊNCIA DE REDES DE EMPRESAS: REQUISITOS PARA ADEQUAÇÃO DO PLANEJAMENTO E CONTROLE DA PRODUÇÃO - ESTUDO DE CASO EM OBRA DE CONSTRUÇÃO CIVIL DE GRANDE PORTE

FREITAS, J. B. (2005). Interorganizational networks development and management: requirement for production planning and control – case study in civil huge size construction. M.Sc. Dissertation – Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, São Carlos. An interorganizational cooperation network is defined as a group of companies which interact among themselves for exchange of competences, so a series of necessity from the companies which would be a difficult satisfaction if the work were done individually. In view of that the Production Planning and Control has a great importance in an industrial company and also in the cooperation network. Through organizational modeling, can be observed the company with a greater and better dimension of agreement, which allows the integration of the companies’ components. This work has the objective to adjust the PPC to the environment of cooperation networks between companies, once several resources, capacities and ability are congregated and must be endeavored by a flow of information, through the use of the methodology of organizational modeling (EKD) and Case Study in workmanship of civil construction.
Analysis of Knowledge and Technology Transfer by Multinational Companies to Local Suppliers in the Turkish Automotive Industry

The main question at the basis of this research project is whether Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) occurring in the Turkish automobile industry has any effect on local suppliers, especially whether and to what extent it leads to knowledge and technology transfers towards local suppliers. Therefore, the main objective is to determine what - if any - kind of knowledge and technology transfers occur from multinational companies (MNCs) in direction of their local suppliers in the Turkish automotive industry in the field of product design and production processes. In addition, the project aims at revealing those characteristics of local suppliers that influence the occurrence of these transfers, the place of these firms in the value chain of MNCs and the effect of the aforementioned transfers on the performance of local suppliers. In the course of this analysis, the volume and nature of innovation and research and development (R&D) activities of these firms will be explored as well. The main reason for focusing on the automotive industry is the fact that the globalization process as well as technology and innovation activities of firms have been taking place now more rapidly and at a more global scale in the automotive industry than in many other industries. Other reasons are the existence of a large number of foreign firms in the Turkish automobile industry, the existence of increasing relationships between MNCs and local firms and the extensive R&D and innovation activities of firms taking place in this sector. To these must be added its growth and employment creation potential which has led this industry to become one of the most important strategic industries in the Turkey. In this research project, two different methods were used to collect detailed data and information at the firm-level. First, a detailed questionnaire survey was designed and later conducted face to face with the production and/or R&D managers of the local suppliers. Second, face to face interviews based on a semi-structured interview guide were carried out with the top level managers of the main automotive manufacturers in Turkey. The main findings are: there are knowledge and technology transfers from foreign firms to their local suppliers on co-designer and co-development activities, the designing of production tools, the development or improvement of quality and control methods, the cost reduction and the design of materials. Econometric analysis points to the fact that these transfers exert a positive effect on the performance of supplier firms.
Fettered Consumers and Sophisticated Firms: Evidence from Mexico&Apos;S Privatized Social Security Market

This paper brings new evidence from the privatized social security system in Mexico, offering insight into investment behavior and the efficacy of government "nudges" in the context of profit maximizing firms. We use administrative data from the social security system surrounding the government adoption of a new official fee index aimed at simplifying fees and increasing price sensitivity of investors. The fee index combined load and management fees in a particular way, implying that choosing a lower index firm could lead many workers to choose a higher-cost fund for them. We find that before the index, investors of all backgrounds paid little attention to fees when choosing fund managers. Post-policy intervention, investors heavily weighted the fee index regardless of whether doing so caused them to choose a higher-cost fund. In contrast to investors, we find that firms responded optimally to the changes in demand induced by government policy, restructuring rather than lowering their fees to minimize the index. The strategic response erased gains to consumers from increased price sensitivity and redistributed management fees from high-income to low-income segments of the market. We conclude that regulations and policies aimed at aiding consumer decision-making also need to incorporate firm incentives to be effective.
Post-conflict infrastructure - trends in aid and investment flows

As war and civil strife subside, can governments turn to the private sector to restore basic services? Post-conflict countries suffer from disproportionately low levels of private investment in infrastructure, with only small-scale service providers likely to emerge during, and right after conflict. Larger investors are slow to enter, and when they do, they focus almost exclusively on the easily secured, and most profitable sub-sectors. Yet, some countries have been able to couple aggressive reform and liberalized policies to attract infrastructure investments soon after conflict abates. What does their experience tell us? This Note summarizes an analysis from a companion paper, and explores policy options for post-conflict countries seeking to attract private investment in infrastructure. It suggests improving the underlying factors influencing political and economic risk ratings, for it may lead to faster growth in infrastructure investment in conflict-affected countries, than in other developing countries.
2 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ASABE improve soil carbon stocks through soil retention , and reduce nutrient transport to drainage water

Interplanting a cellulosic bioenergy crop (switchgrass, Panicum virgatum L.) between loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) rows could potentially provide a sustainable source of bio-feedstock without competing for land currently in food production. The objectives of this study were to: (1) quantify the concentrations and loads of drainage water nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (phosphate) associated with establishment and growth of switchgrass treatments and compare them with those for a mid-rotation pine forest (control), and (2) quantify the treatment effects on drainage water N and phosphate and compare the effects between treatments, i.e., switchgrass intercropped into young loblolly pine (IC) and switchgrass only (SG). Thinned mid-rotation loblolly pine with natural understory (MP) was used as the control. Pretreatment calibration equations for nutrients were obtained using a paired watershed approach and bootstrap geometric regression with 20072008 data, when pine on all sites had reached canopy closure. Treatment effects were calculated as the difference between expected values from the pretreatment relationship and measured data for the treatment period. Precipitation, outflow, and N and phosphate concentrations in the outflow were measured during calibration (Jan. 2007 to Dec. 2008), site preparation for switchgrass establishment (Nov. 2009 to Mar. 2012), and switchgrass growth (Apr. 2012 to Apr. 2014). Mean NO3-N concentrations and loads were significantly ( = 0.05) greater for SG than for IC during the switchgrass growth period. Average treatment concentrations with standard errors and total load effects during switchgrass growth for NO3-N followed the trends SG (-0.002 0.01 mg L-1) > IC (-0.12 0.04 mg L-1) and SG (0.75kg ha-1) > IC (0.23kg ha-1), respectively. For phosphate average concentrations and loads, the treatment effects during switchgrass growth followed the trends SG (-0.004 mg L-1) >IC ( -0.02 mg L-1) and IC (-0.43 kg ha-1) > SG (-0.70 kg ha-1), respectively. Average concentration effects for NO3-N and phosphate and total load effects for phosphate significantly ( = 0.05) decreased for IC compared to the MP control. These results suggest that the intercropping treatment (IC) with loblolly pine and switchgrass improved water quality by reducing NO3-N and phosphate concentrations and phosphate loads.
Stabilization Over Power-Constrained Parallel Gaussian Channels

This technical note is concerned with state-feedback stabilization of multi-input systems over parallel Gaussian channels subject to a total power constraint. Both continuous-time and discrete-time systems are treated under the framework of H2 control, and necessary/sufficient conditions for stabilizability are established in terms of inequalities involving unstable plant poles, transmitted power, and noise variances. These results are further used to clarify the relationship between channel capacity and stabilizability. Compared to single-input systems, a range of technical issues arise. In particular, in the multi-input case, the optimal controller has a separation structure, and the lower bound on channel capacity for some discrete-time systems is unachievable by linear time-invariant (LTI) encoders/decoders.
Is anybody listening?

The most exciting and groundbreaking scientiﬁ c articles not only describe the answer to a speciﬁ c question but also provide novel insights into fundamental biology. Such is the case with Kuznetsov and colleagues ( 1 ) in the most recent of a series of articles from the McAllister laboratory examining the molecular underpinnings of recurrent tumors. These articles identify multiple novel pathways that control tumor recurrence; show that different subtypes of tumors can activate different mechanisms promoting recurrence; beautifully show the systemic nature of the complex biology behind relapse and recurrence; suggest a predictive approach for identifying those individuals at greatest risk for recurrence; and highlight therapeutic strate-gies to address the systemic basis of tumor biology. Epidemiologic studies provided striking information suggesting a systemic aspect of cancer biology. Analysis of data from large surveillance cohorts shows that patients diagnosed with one malignancy have an increased risk for developing multiple independent primary malignancies in distal tissues and that these individuals also have a reduction in overall survival ( 2 ). a the survival of
The Fundamental Determinants of Systematic Risk and Financial Transparency in the DFM General Index

This research study examines the association between firm’s fundamental financial information and systematic risk in the DFM General Index. The methodology utilizes a stepwise regression analysis to identify the financial ratios that are associated with firm’s beta significantly. The data are obtained from ReutersP®P Financial database for the firms included in DFM General Index which are classified into three categories: Banking, Insurance and non-financial firms. The results indicate that the fundamental determinants of systematic risk in the banking sector are (a) Assets/Equity (b) Book Value Per Share. The fundamental determinants of systematic risk in the insurance sector are (a) Book Value Per Share, (b) Cash Operating/Assets, (c) Cash Operating/Fixed Assets Purchased, (d) Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation / Assets, (e) Total Liability/Equity. The fundamental determinants of systematic risk in the non-financial sector are (a) Book Value Per Share, (b) Cash Flow/Book Value Per Share, (c) Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation Per Share, (d) Total Liability/Total Assets (e) Sales/Receivables, (f) Sales/Total Assets. In terms of the association with systematic risk, it was also found out that the financial reports of the DFM Index are not quite transparent to shareholders which offers little help control and manage firm’s systematic risk. This study has an intrinsic value in three ways (1) the study is a practical attempt to create a link between financial reporting and the control and management of systematic risk in the DFM General Index, (2) the study identifies the most significant financial information to be published in firm’s financial reports in order to control and manage systematic risk, (3) the study shows the methodology to be followed to create an informative link between financial reporting and systematic risk. This study has also certain policy-level implication regarding the scope of transparency that it shows what is to be considered a compulsory financial information to be included in financial reporting.
CSR and Development: Seeing the Forest for the Trees

Abstract This paper examines the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the development agenda. First, it examines highlights of the debate on whether CSR is “good or bad development. ” It then contextualizes these debates by examining (1) the mainstream debates on whether CSR is “good or bad business management”; (2) how CSR fits within the private sector-led development model; and (3) the institutional infrastructure in which CSR operates. We argue that this contextualization allows for a more sober and realistic assessment of CSR's potential benefits and limitations in the development agenda.