Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Potential antivirals and antiviral strategies against SARS coronavirus infections

There are a number of antivirals as well as antiviral strategies that could be envisaged to prevent or treat severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) (or similar) coronavirus (CoV) infections. Targets for the prophylactic or therapeutic interventions include interaction of the spike (S) glycoprotein (S1 domain) with the host cell receptor, fusion of the S2 domain with the host cell membrane, processing of the replicase polyproteins by the virus-encoded proteases (3C-like cysteine protease [3CLpro] and papain-like cysteine protease) and other virus-encoded enzymes such as the NTPase/helicase and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. Human monoclonal antibody blocking S1 may play an important role in the immunoprophylaxis of SARS. Fusion inhibitors reminiscent of enfuvirtide in the case of HIV may also be developed for SARS-CoV. Various peptidomimetic and nonpeptidic inhibitors of 3CLpro have been described, the best ones inhibiting SARS-CoV replication with a selectivity index greater than 1000. Human interferons, in particular α- and β-interferon, as well as short interfering RNAs could further be pursued for the control of SARS. Various other compounds, often with an ill-defined mode of action but selectivity indexes up to 100, have been reported to exhibit in vitro activity against SARS-CoV: valinomycin, glycopeptide antibiotics, plant lectins, hesperetin, glycyrrhizin, aurintricarboxylic acid, chloroquine, niclosamide, nelfinavir and calpain inhibitors.
Litigation risk: Measurement and impact on M&A transaction terms

The purpose of the paper is to propose an original proprietary proxy of a firm's litigation risk. We extend the scope of litigation risk outside of the conflicts with shareholders and the domain of security litigation. We demonstrate that the source of the risk of litigation can be found in the firm's policies and in its management's operational or strategic decisions, even if a sector conditioning effect exists. Based on a sample of 465 US MA it confirms the previous results.
Institutional Foundations of Entrepreneurship in Global Contexts

Developing and underdeveloped nations across the globe face issues ranging from lack of rule of law and scarce resources to conflict and violence. These issues are not only hurdles for the economic and business development within those nations, but also affect the security and economic well-being of individuals in developed countries. Entrepreneurship is increasingly identified as a tool to help populations in developing contexts overcome those hurdles. In this symposium we bring together a group of scholars to explore the institutional foundations of entrepreneurship in various global contexts. By drawing on research across several developing and underdeveloped economies, we aim to understand the conditions that make entrepreneurship more accessible to populations in developing and underdeveloped countries so that it can be more readily used as a tool to overcome the institutional and social problems typical of those areas. We include five empirical papers that explore variations in the practice of entre.
Predictors of re-canalisation in acute cerebral infarction from occlusion of the terminal internal carotid artery or of the middle cerebral artery mainstem treated with thrombolysis

Objective: We have evaluated the factors of unsuccessful re-canalisation in a large series of patients with hemispheric cerebral infarction treated with thrombolysis. Patients and methods: All patients aged 18–80 years with an acute hemispheric infarction, admitted within the first few hours of symptoms onset, were immediately submitted to Magnetic Resonance both Imaging (MRI) and Angiography (MRA). MRI and MRA were repeated at 24 h of stroke. Re-canalisation was attributed if grade 2 or 3 of Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) criteria for the myocardial infarction. Outcome was rated at three months of stroke. Re-canalisation was matched with ageing and with the common risk factors for stroke. Results: One hundred and twenty-one patients, 70 men and 51 women, with a median age of 67 years, were included. Re-canalisation was seen in 62 patients (51%). Twenty-three patients (19%) died by 90 days of stroke. Re-canalisation was associated to survival (1 death vs. 22, p < 0.0001). Regression analysis retained advanced age (Odds ratio 0.37, 95% Confidence interval 0.13–0.98), baseline National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) (Odds ratio 0.94, 95% Confidence interval 0.89–0.98) and diabetes mellitus (Odds ratio 0.28, 95% Confidence interval 0.09–0.84) as factors contrasting re-canalisation. Conclusions: Our study indicates that in patients with proven occlusion of the terminal segment of the internal carotid artery and/or of the mainstem of the Middle Cerebral Artery, re-canalisation at 24 h of the acute ischemic stroke is dramatically associated with survival, and halted by advanced age and diabetes mellitus.
Mechanisms of Action of Anticonvulsants in Affective Disorders: Comparisons with Lithium

&NA; Until recently it appeared that lithium carbonate possessed a unique spectrum of clinical action in the acute and prophylactic treatment of manic and depressive episodes. It is now increasingly apparent that the anticonvulsants carbamazepine and valproate also share components of this spectrum of efficacy in the affective disorders but, in addition, are clinically effective in some lithium nonresponders. This clinical convergence can now drive a reexamination of the potential mechanisms of action of these compounds in the affective disorders. In spite of intensive study over several decades, the mechanism of action of lithium has remained elusive. A basic conundrum in the consideration of the actions of lithium has also been to explain how a simple ion could have such complex effects on multiple neurotransmitter systems and, in particular, have bimodal actions in the treatment of both manic and depressive phases of the illness. We suggest that a fundamental reconceptualization of both mania and depression as overactivated neural systems (either excitatory or inhibitory) could facilitate this conceptualization. Given the recent evidence linking lithium's effects to uncoupling receptor‐mediated activity at the level of G‐proteins or attenuating it at the level of second messenger systems mediated by adenylate cyclase or phosphoinositide turnover, these mechanisms become ideal candidates for considering how the drug could dampen overactivated systems potentially relevant to either depression or mania. The lag in onset of maximum therapeutic action of lithium, carbamazepine, and valproate further suggests that biologic effects associated with chronic compared with acute administration are the prime candidates for psychotropic effects. Comparison of the acute and chronic effects of carbamazepine with those of valproate is also offered to focus on the most likely receptor, second‐messenger, and ion channel mechanisms involved in their anticonvulsant and psychotropic actions. It is hoped that better understanding of the comparative actions of lithium, carbamazepine, and valproate will allow better targeting of individual drugs for individual patients as well as, ultimately, the development of new and more selective treatments for the recurrent affective disorders.
Picosecond superconductor opening switches

Picosecond opening switches using high-T/sub c/ superconductor devices made of TlPbSrCaCuO, TlBaCaCuO, and YBCO films have been successfully demonstrated. The switches were controlled by picosecond laser pulses. A switching risetime of 78 picoseconds and a switching efficiency of 80% have been achieved. The switches were used in an inductive energy storage pulsed power system. Nanosecond electrical pulses with a peak power gain of 22 were obtained. <<ETX>>
Effect of epinephrine on the ability of end‐tidal carbon dioxide readings to predict initial resuscitation from cardiac arrest

ObjectiveTo determine if the administration of epinephrine changes the partial pressure of end-tidal CO2 during cardiac arrest, as previously reported. Such a change could diminish the demonstrated ability of end-tidal CO2 measurements to predict resuscitation from cardiac arrest. DesignThe partial pressures of end-tidal CO2 of adult cardiac arrest patients who received iv epinephrine in doses from 1 to 15 mg were monitored throughout arrest. SettingEmergency department of a university hospital. PatientsAdults (n = 64) in cardiac arrest with a mean age of 70 ± 12 yrs, of whom 35 were males and 15 had a mean time of return of spontaneous circulation of 6.5 ± 11 hrs. InterventionsEnd-tidal CO2 (in torr) was analyzed on arrival, before the first dose of epinephrine, and 4 mins after epinephrine was administered in varying doses chosen by the supervising physician. Measurements and ResultsThe end-tidal CO2 decreased an average of 0.3 torr (0.04 kPa) after epinephrine was administered. Patients with a return of pulse had a decrease of −2 torr (-0.3 kPa) vs. an increase of 0.3 torr (0.04 kPa) for those patients with no return of pulse (p =.07). In 33% of patients, there was no change; in 28%, the partial pressure of end-tidal CO2 increased, and in 39%, it decreased. There was no correlation between the change in end-tidal CO2 after epinephrine and whether or not patients regained a pulse (r2 =.08, p =.07), although a decrease in end-tidal CO2 was most often associated with return of pulse. At a threshold of 10 torr (1.3 kPa), the first end-tidal CO2 had a positive predictive value for return of pulse of 50% and a negative predictive value of 82%. Just before epinephrine administration, the positive predictive value was 71% and the negative predictive value was 83%; 4 mins after epinephrine administration, the positive predictive value was 64% and the negative predictive value was 86%. A decrease in end-tidal CO2 after epinephrine had a positive predictive value of 53% and a negative predictive value of 92%. End-tidal CO2 readings predicted resuscitation most accurately when taken after initial stabilization and before administration of epinephrine. ConclusionsAlthough epinephrine administration may decrease end-tidal CO2 tensions in cardiac arrest, it does so unpredictably in individual patients, and it does not eliminate the predictive value of this measurement.
Limited Role of Working Time Shift in Offsetting the Increasing Occupational‐Health Cost of Heat Exposure

Climate change increases workers' exposure to heat stress. To prevent heat‐related illnesses, according to occupational‐health recommendations, labor capacity must be reduced. However, this preventive measure is expected to be costly, and the costs are likely to rise as the scale and scope of climate change impacts increase over time. Shifting the start of the working day to earlier in the morning could be an effective adaptation measure for avoiding the impacts of labor capacity reduction. However, the plausibility and efficacy of such an intervention have never been quantitatively assessed. Here we investigate whether working time shifts can offset the economic impacts of labor capacity reduction due to climate change. Incorporating a temporally (1 hr) and spatially (0.5° × 0.5°) high‐resolution heat exposure index into an integrated assessment model, we calculated the working time shift necessary to offset labor capacity reduction and economic loss under hypothetical with‐ and without‐realistic‐adaptation scenarios. The results of a normative scenario analysis indicated that a global average shift of 5.7 (4.0–6.1) hours is required, assuming extreme climate conditions in the 2090s. Although a realistic (<3 hr) shift nearly halves the economic cost, a substantial cost corresponding to 1.6% (1.0–2.4%) of global total gross domestic product is expected to remain. In contrast, if stringent climate‐change mitigation is achieved, a realistic shift limits the remaining cost to 0.14% (0.12–0.47%) of global total gross domestic product. Although shifting working time is shown to be effective as an adaptation measure, climate‐change mitigation remains indispensable to minimize the impact.
[The androgen receptor: molecular pathology].

: Androgens play a crucial role in the development, maintenance and regulation of male phenotype and reproductive physiology through the androgen receptor, a transcription factor. Testosterone or dihydrotestosterone binding induces a trans-conformation of the androgen receptor and allows its translocation into the nucleus, where it recognizes specific DNA sequences. Recent developments in molecular genetics, as well as structural analysis of the androgen receptor, allow a better understanding of the structure/function relationship of this nuclear receptor. Molecular analyses of androgen insensitivity syndrome, as well as hormone-resistant prostate cancer, Kennedy's disease and isolated male infertility, have been proved useful as privileged models for this purpose. In the absence of identified AR receptor mutations in androgen insensitivity syndromes, abnormalities of transcriptional cofactor should be considered. Finally, identification of androgen-dependent genes will be helpful for evaluating the degree of the molecular defect of androgen action within target cells.
The Relationship between Sexual Assault, Religiosity, and Mental Health among Male Veterans

Objectives: We examine the association between sexual assault, religion and mental health among male veterans. Methods: We used longitudinal data collected from 2,427 male veterans who received VA outpatient care. Sexual assault was self-reported in the questionnaire. Two dimensions of religiosity were used: organizational (frequency of religious service attendance) and subjective religiosity (the extent that religious beliefs are a source of strength or comfort). Mental health was measured by the mental component summary from the Veterans SF-36 and depression was measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale. A regression model that uses the generalized estimating equation approach for longitudinal repeated data analysis was used. Results: Based on the baseline data, 96 (4%) patients reported ever experiencing sexual assault. These patients have significantly lower levels of mental health status and higher levels of depression (p < .001). The regression results show that this decrement in mental health and increment in depression associated with sexual assault are in lesser degrees for patients who attended religious service more frequently compared to those who never did (p < .05). Similarly, there is a smaller magnitude of increment in depression associated with sexual assault for those who have a higher level of subjective religiosity (p < .05). Conclusions: Although the prevalence of self reported sexual assault is low among male veterans, those who reported sexual assault experiences had lower levels of mental health status and higher levels of depression. Further, religion attenuates this association which highlights the important role religion might have in coping with this stressful life event.
Merit‐Based Rewards, Job Satisfaction and Voluntary Turnover: Moderating Effects of Employee Demographic Characteristics

This paper draws on the reflection theory of compensation (Thierry, H. (1998). &#8216;Compensating work&#8217;. in P. J. D. Drenth, H. Thierry and C. J. de Wolff (eds), Handbook of Work and Organizational Psychology, 2nd edn, pp. 291&#8211;315, Psychology Press: Hove; Thierry, H. F. (2001). &#8216;Job evaluation systems and pay grade structures: do they match&#8217;, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 8, pp. 1313&#8211;1324) to examine the influence of individual merit&#8208;based rewards on voluntary turnover via job satisfaction. It also tests the moderating effects of employees&#8217; gender, age and education level between merit&#8208;based rewards and job satisfaction. Data were collected from 636 employees in Japan at three points in time over a 12&#8208;month period. The findings show that merit&#8208;based rewards have a direct, positive effect on job satisfaction and an indirect effect on voluntary turnover. The effect of merit&#8208;based rewards on job satisfaction was moderated by gender and education, providing evidence that merit&#8208;based rewards are more important for male and highly educated employees. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.
Value of Utilizing Both Aspects and CT Angiography Collateral Score for Outcome Prediction in Acute Ischemic Stroke

Background Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS) represents the extent of irreversibly damaged tissue; while CT angiography collateral score (CTA-CS) denotes the degree of collaterals. Aims We investigated whether there is cumulative value in using both ASPECTS and CTA-CS for outcome prediction and attempted to determine the specific subgroup of patients who could benefit from successful reperfusion using these scores. Methods This is a retrospective observational study of stroke patients treated with intra-arterial reperfusion therapy for unilateral arterial occlusion in the anterior circulation. A favorable outcome was defined as modified Rankin Scale ≤ 2 at three-months. Receiver operating characteristic comparison analysis was performed to decide whether outcome predictability increases when ASPECTS and CTA-CS are used together. Classification and regression tree (CART) analysis was done to identify the variables that best predict outcome and define the specific subgroup of patients who could benefit from successful reperfusion. Results A total of 91 consecutive patients were included. Outcome predictability of ASPECTS with CTA-CS was better than that of ASPECTS (P = 0·088) or that of CTA-CS (P = 0·049). CART analysis revealed that ASPECTS > 5 was the primary determinant of favorable outcome, followed by CTA-CS > 1. Among 19 patients with ASPECTS ≤ 5, none had a favorable outcome. Successful reperfusion was associated significantly with favorable outcome in the 51 patients with ASPECTS > 5 and CTA-CS > 1, but not in the 21 patients with ASPECTS > 5 and CTA-CS ≤ 1. Conclusions Outcome predictability improves when using ASPECTS and CTA-CS together.
The relative performance of foreign-owned subsidiaries and domestic companies

ABSTRACT The paper investigates the financial performance of the largest firms in Romania, by comparing foreign-owned subsidiaries (FOS) and domestic companies (DCs) over a decade. As such, the paper contributes to the literature on foreign direct investment (FDI) in transition economies, focusing on a country where few such studies have been conducted previously. Whereas most microeconomic research about Central and Eastern European (CEE) economies is concerned with the effects of FDI, this paper fills a gap in the literature by comparing the evolution of FOS and DCs performance during 2003–2012. This matter is approached in a novel methodological way, by applying the multiple correspondence analysis to explain the complex relationships between ownership, modes of entry and performance, as reflected in turnover and profit margins. One result is that FOS replaced DCs in top national positions, when taking into account size and turnover. However, although FDI via acquisitions financially outperformed DCs, the latter did better than greenfield FDI after the global economic crisis. Of all the factors analysed, the sector of activity resulted as having by far the most important influence on financial performance. The results have implications for policymakers who design FDI programmes for economic development.
Managing Real Estate Exposure: An Empirical Analysis on Interest Rate Risk

Real estate is an illiquid investment with cyclical returns, so risk management techniques should be used for sustainable returns. The risk management techniques include asset based, portfolio, insurance and derivatives solutions. Asset based solutions include the risk character of the real estate, based on where it’s located and how well it is developed. Some property such as foreclosure and those require maintenance is riskier than others. Portfolio solutions allow real estate companies to include real estate with different location and segments such as office and retail. Using this, the risk is limited to the systematic component, where asset based-idiosyncratic risk is tried to be reduced when included enough number of assets to the basket. The management should be capable of determining which risks taking and which to transfer. Some risks such as earthquake, fire, vehicle crush, terrorist activities are rare in nature but can cause severe damage when it takes place. The insurance policies can cover these events which most of the time are reinsured. In addition derivatives are available to hedge some of the risks. These can be traded on the market or over-the-counter. By using derivatives it is possible to hedge interest rate risk, inflation, currency risks, and property price changes. To hedge interest rate risk which is also studied in this paper, instruments such as cap, swap, and collar are available. The research is investigating the role of interest rate risk in the performance of real estate management companies. The variables used in this research are 30 years treasury yield, and exchange closing price for CBRE Group Inc., Colliers International Group, and Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. The data is daily for the period 16 June 2004 and 19 June 2015. The methods used are Johansen Cointegration and Granger Causality. The results of the study indicate there is a short-run and long-run relationship between interest rate and real estate management firm stock performance. In other words, interest rate fluctuation is a critical risk in performance of real estate management companies. In the paper, it is also discussed risk mitigation ideas for controlling this and other risks that real estate management industry is exposed.
Performance Study of Harmony Search Algorithm for Analog Circuit Sizing

Automation in nominal design of analog circuits considerably reduces the overall time to market of mixed-mode ICs. Application of meta-heuristic optimization algorithms with simulator level fitness evaluation for circuit sizing is a popular automation approach. In this work, with the same approach, we investigate the performance of Harmony Search (HS) algorithm. HS is a relatively new meta-heuristic inspired from musical process, in which population represents memory of a group of musicians, that searches for a perfect state of harmony. Performance of HS is compared with Differential Evolution (DE) algorithm for design of a 180nm CMOS process based Folded Cascode Operational Trans-conductance Amplifier (FCOTA) with continuous time common mode feedback. Results show that, at initial period of iterations, HS converges quickly but fails to converge to the global optimum as compared to DE algorithm.