Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
From grand idea to viable execution: how do venture and entrepreneurs co-evolve?

We empirically investigated the effect of intensive mentoring and feedback on co-evolution of cognitive development of entrepreneurs and their venture. A diverse sample of forty entrepreneurs was followed over twelve months in a business incubator in the Netherlands, and extremely detailed qualitative data from the entrepreneurs' weekly logbooks were collected. We found that focused feedback does influence co-evolution of entrepreneurial mindset and venture but also depends on the stage of the venture as well as on prior entrepreneurial experience.
Deregulating the Norwegian Pharmaceuticals Market - Consequences for Costs and Availability

The aim of this paper is to analyze the impact of the deregulation of the Norwegian pharmaceuticals market in 2001 on costs and availability of pharmaceutical products. Data has been collected from the annual reports of a sample of Norwegian pharmacies before and after the deregulation of the market. In addition, data regarding the number of pharmacies in each region in Norway has also been collected. In order to study costs, a translog function is estimated. Regressin models for the number of pharmacies in each region in Norway are also estimated. The results show that the costs of the individual pharmacies have not decreased as a consequence of the deregulation of the Norwegian pharmaceuticals market. The deregulation of the market did, however, increase the availability to pharmacy services substantially. The number of pharmacies increased from 392 in year 2000 to 524 in June 2004.
Determinants of Direct Investment : A Review of the Literature

A comprehensive review of the literature on direct foreign investment (DFI) invariably becomes a tour d’horizon of the field of International Business. Disciplines from Economics and Finance to Strategic Management, Marketing and Organizational Behaviour have contributed to the present understanding of DFI. This chapter reviews the literature on DFI with focus on determinants of DFI. It considers DFI at different levels of aggregation, including macroeconomic flows of DFI-capital, industry and firm level analysis, as well as individual decisions by firms. Early research analysed DFI as a financial flow. As researchers recognize the specific characteristics of direct, rather than portfolio, investment, they focus on three issues: the location of production, the sources of firm-specific advantages, and the reasons for integrating different business units in one firm. John Dunning’s OLI paradigm incorporates these three issues. It is now the most common analytical tool for the determinants of DFI and it is applied in this study. The limitation of the framework is its ability to explain dynamic processes. Therefore, this review pays special attention to recent advances of economic theory addressing the dynamics of DFI. Dynamic models focus on particular types or aspects of DFI and thus are less general than the OLI paradigm. The most familiar dynamic approach is that of the internationalization process models based on the work of the Uppsala school in the 1970s. Recent advances include the rediscovery of economic geography in the work of Paul Krugman and Michael Porter, the integration of MNE into models of international trade by James Markusen, Elhanan Helpman and, again, Paul Krugman, as well as the game-theoretic analysis by the Leuven school. The appendix presents another dynamic approach to DFI, the developmental model. It relates economic development of a country to the characteristics of DFI outflows. Table 3.1 summarizes economic theories by their level of analysis and whether they focus on static or dynamic analysis. This categorization serves as orientation only. In some cases dynamic theories have developed from static theories, as is the case with the developmental model. In other cases the pairs reflect contrasting views. Internalization and internationalization theories account for some of the most lively encounters at academic conferences. Table 3.2 lists the multitude of theories with their main analytical concepts, original contributors and recent reviews or extensions.
Functionalised inherently conducting polymers as low biofouling materials

Diatoms are a major component of microbial biofouling layers that develop on man-made surfaces placed in aquatic environments, resulting in significant economic and environmental impacts. This paper describes surface functionalisation of the inherently conducting polymers (ICPs) polypyrrole (PPy) and polyaniline (PANI) with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and their efficacy as fouling resistant materials. Their ability to resist interactions with the model protein bovine serum albumin (BSA) was tested using a quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D). The capacity of the ICP-PEG materials to prevent settlement and colonisation of the fouling diatom Amphora coffeaeformis (Cleve) was also assayed. Variations were demonstrated in the dopants used during ICP polymerisation, along with the PEG molecular weight, and the ICP-PEG reaction conditions, all playing a role in guiding the eventual fouling resistant properties of the materials. Optimised ICP-PEG materials resulted in a significant reduction in BSA adsorption, and > 98% reduction in diatom adhesion.
Government Policy Toward Open Source Software

Can open source software - software that is usually available without charge and that individuals are free to modify - survive against the fierce competition of proprietary software, such as Microsoft Windows? Should the government intervene on its behalf? This book addresses a host of issues raised by the rapid growth of open source software, including government subsidies for research and development, government procurement policy, and patent and copyright policy. Contributors offer diverse perspectives on a phenomenon that has become a lightning rod for controversy in the field of information technology.
Leadership: the critical success factor in the rise or fall of useful research activity.

AIM To describe how momentum towards building research capacity has developed through aligning research activity with executive responsibility via strategic planning processes that direct operational structures and processes for research activity. BACKGROUND Reflecting on the development of research capacity over many years at complex tertiary referral hospitals reveals that building nursing knowledge is too important to be left to chance or whim but needs a strategic focus, appropriate resourcing and long-term sustainability through infrastructure. KEY ISSUES A number of key approaches we uncovered as successful include: (i) articulation of questions consistent with the strategic direction of the health context that can be addressed through research evidence; (ii) engagement and dissemination through making research meaningful; and (iii) feedback that informs the executive about the contribution of research activity to guide policy and practice decisions. CONCLUSIONS Leadership teams need to ensure that the development of research knowledge is a strategic priority. The focus also needs to be more broadly on creating research capacity than focussing on small operational issues. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT Research capacity is developed when it is initiated, supported and monitored by leadership.
TNF Alpha-Mediated Disruption of Spermatogenesis in Response to Sertoli Cell Injury in Rodents Is Partially Regulated by MMP21

Abstract Mono-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP)-induced Sertoli cell injury in peripubertal rodents results in the stimulation of germ cell apoptosis through an interaction of FAS/FASL between these two cell types. During this peripubertal period, an early spike in the incidence of germ cell apoptosis occurs during the first wave of spermatogenesis and is essential for the development of functional spermatogenesis in adults. Our previous observations revealed that soluble tumor necrosis factor alpha (sTNFA) released by germ cells after MEHP exposure consequently resulted in a robust induction of FASL by Sertoli cells. Metalloproteinases (MPs) are essential for processing the TNFA precursor to its soluble form and its ability to bind to TNFRSF1A. The activity of MPs is regulated by the tissue inhibitors of MPs (TIMPs) family. Herein we report that TIMP2 is predominately expressed in Sertoli cells and that protein levels decrease in a time-dependent manner after MEHP exposure. The secretion of matrix MP 2 (MMP2) in primary rat Sertoli cell-germ cell cocultures is induced after MEHP exposure, and its activity increases in a time-dependent manner. The addition of SB-3CT, a specific gelatinase inhibitor, decreases the activity of MMP2 and significantly reduces MEHP-enhanced sTNFA production in primary cocultures. In vivo challenges with SB-3CT decrease sTNFA and reduce MEHP-induced testicular germ cell apoptosis. In primary cocultures, MEHP exposure causes a 9.46-fold increase in sTNFA, while the addition of recombinant MMP2 protein results in a 5.4-fold increase in sTNFA, suggesting that MEHP-induced MMP2 is in part responsible for the activation of TNFA in the testis. Taken together, these observations indicate the distinct role of specific MPs in response to toxicant-induced Sertoli cell injury, providing further insights into the mechanism by which Sertoli cells control the sensitivity of germ cells to undergo apoptosis.
Long bone fracture repair in mice harboring GFP reporters for cells within the osteoblastic lineage

GFP reporter mice previously developed to assess levels of osteoblast differentiation were employed in a tibial long bone fracture model using a histological method that preserves fluorescent signals in non‐decalcified sections of bone. Two reporters, based on Col1A1 (Col3.6GFPcyan) and osteocalcin (OcGFPtpz) promoter fragments, were bred into the same mice to reflect an early and late stage of osteoblast differentiation. Three observations were apparent from this examination. First, the osteoprogenitor cells that arise from the flanking periosteum proliferate and progress to fill the fracture zone. These cells differentiate to osteoblasts, chondrocytes, to from the outer cortical shell. Second, the hypertrophic chondrocytes are dispersed and the cartilage matrix mineralized by the advancing Col3.6+ osteoblasts. The endochondral matrix is removed by the following osteoclasts. Third, a new cortical shell develops over the cartilage core and undergoes a remodeling process of bone formation on the inner surface and resorption on the outer surface. The original fractured cortex undergoes resorption as the outer cortical shell remodels inward to become the new diaphyseal bone. The fluorescent microscopy and GFP reporter mice used in this study provide a powerful tool for appreciating the molecular and cellular processes that control these fundamental steps in fracture repair, and may provide a basis for understanding fracture nonunion. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 28:1338–1347, 2010
Proteinase-activated Receptor-2-mediated Activation of Stress-activated Protein Kinases and Inhibitory κB Kinases in NCTC 2544 Keratinocytes*

In this study we examined the regulation of the stress-activated protein (SAP) kinases and inhibitory κB kinases (IKKs) through stimulation of the novel G-protein-coupled receptor proteinase-activated receptor-2 in the human keratinocyte cell line NCTC2544. Trypsin and the peptide SLIGKV stimulated a time-dependent increase in both c-Jun N-terminal kinase and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase activity. Trypsin also stimulated NFκB-DNA binding and the activation of the upstream kinases IKKα and -β. Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate also strongly activated both SAP kinases and IKK isoforms, suggesting the potential for a protein kinase C-mediated regulatory mechanism underlying the effects of trypsin. Pre-incubation with selective protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitors GF109203X and Gö6983, or transfection of dominant negative (DN)-PKCα, abolished phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate-mediated c-Jun N-terminal kinase activity, although it only partially inhibited the response to trypsin. In contrast, Gö6983 reduced trypsin-stimulated p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase activity to a greater extent than GF109203X, although DN-PKCα or PKCζ had no substantial effect. Additionally, inhibitors of PKC partially reduced trypsin-stimulated IKKα activity but abolished that of IKKβ, whereas DN-PKCα but not DN-PKCζ substantially reduced trypsin-stimulated Flag-IKKβ activity. This study shows for the first time proteinase-activated receptor-2-mediated stimulation of both SAP kinase and IKK signaling and differing roles for PKC isoforms in the regulation of each pathway.
Complexity classes and sparse oracles

The authors obtain positive relativization results. In particular, the goal is to prove statements of the kind: 'Given two complexity classes C/sub 1/ and C/sub 2/, C/sub 1/=C/sub 2/ if and only if for every sparse set S, C/sub 1//sup S/=C/sub 2//sup S/. ' The authors derive a sufficient condition to obtain such results and, as an application, they prove a general theorem from which, as far as they know, all of the results obtained previously along with new ones can be immediately derived. <<ETX>>
Erythrocyte zinc levels in children with bronchial asthma

Zinc deficiency may be suspected to play a role in the pathogenesis, control, and severity of asthma because of its antioxidant, antiapoptotic, and anti‐inflammatory effects. We aimed to investigate whether there was any relationship between erythrocyte zinc levels and childhood asthma. The erythrocyte zinc levels of 67 asthmatic and 45 healthy children were analyzed in this case–control study. The mean concentrations of erythrocyte zinc were 1215.8 ± 145.1 µg/dl in asthma patients and 1206.9 ± 119.5 µg/dl in controls with no significant difference (P = 0.472). The erythrocyte zinc level was below 1,000 µg/dl in 6 asthmatic patients (8.9%) and 2 control group patients (4.4%). There was no relationship between erythrocyte zinc levels and duration of follow‐up, severity, and control of the asthma (P > 0.05). On the other hand, patients hospitalized for an asthma attack had significantly lower erythrocyte zinc levels compared with nonhospitalized patients and the control group (P = 0.000 and P = 0.004 respectively). This study's findings indicate that asthmatic children are not a risk group for zinc deficiency. We emphasize that checking zinc levels in children who are hospitalized for an asthma attack may be useful. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2011; 46: 1189–1193. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A Privacy Preserving Repository For Data Integration Across Data Sharing Services

Data sources and data warehouses expect to sign business agreements in which the scope of the shared data and corresponding privacy policies are specified. Existing data sharing and integration systems are usually implemented as centralized data warehouses collecting and storing data from various data sources. The most significant problem of existing data sharing and integration solutions is that they give data warehouses too much power, which may not be needed for data sharing. Our repository collects data from data sharing services based on users’ integration requirements rather than all the data from the data sharing services as existing central authorities. 2) While existing central authorities have full control of the collected data, the capability of our repository is restricted to computing the integration results required by users and cannot get other information about the data or use it for other purposes. 3) The data collected by our repository cannot be used to generate other results except that of the specified data integration request, and, hence, the compromise of our repository can only reveal the results of the specified data integration request, while the compromise of central authorities will reveal all data.
Categorizing biological information based on function–morphology for bioinspired conceptual design

Abstract A function-based keyword search is a concept generation methodology studied in the bioinspired design area that conveys textual biological inspiration for engineering design. Current keyword search methods are inefficient primarily due to the knowledge gap between engineering and biology domains. To improve current keyword search methods, we propose an algorithm that extracts and organizes morphology-based solutions from biological text. WordNet is utilized to discover morphological solutions in biological text. The novel algorithm also adapts latent semantic analysis and the expectation–maximization algorithm to categorize morphological solutions and group biological text. We introduce a novel penalty function that reflects the distance between functions (problems) and morphologies (solutions). The penalty function allows the algorithm to extract morphological solutions directly related to a design problem. We compare the output of the algorithm to manually extracted solutions for validation. A case study is included to exemplify the utility of the developed algorithm. Upon implementation of the algorithm, engineering designers can discover innovative solutions in biological text in a straightforward, efficient manner.
How to start and operate a mail-order business

Providing readers the tools and information they need to reap profits in the lucrative mail-order market, this guide has been expanded and brought up to date to take account of the latest opportunities and techniques of the 1990s. Whether the reader is a newcomer starting from scratch on a shoestring budget, or an established business person looking to cash in on the mail-order boom, Julian Simon's book provides A-Z coverage of how to plan, execute and maintain a successful mail order operation, from selecting the right products, through promoting them effectively, to creating ads and copy that sell, and more. The book reports on today's trends and developments in this fast-changing field, showing how to use computers, databases and desktop publishing to simplify and enhance operations; take advantage of the emerging opportunities in international direct marketing; benefit from insider advice from the field's biggest success stories; deal with postal increases, legal requirements, cash flow, competition, and potential pitfalls; and make smart tactical decisions about customer service, mailing lists, trial offers, selling a business, and more.
Insider Trading and Analyst Forecast Revisions: Global Evidence

We examine how insider trading affects market responses to subsequent analyst forecast revisions in a global setting. We find stronger market responses to analyst forecast revisions subsequent to the insider trading than to other revisions. This stronger response is mainly driven by analyst forecast revisions that are in the same direction as the previous insider trading signal. In further analyses, we find that the market responses are stronger to analyst forecast revisions that follow insider sales for the US data, but stronger to revisions that follow insider purchases for the international data. Overall, our study suggests that investors view analyst forecast revisions as having different information content conditional on the existence and direction of previous insider trading signals and that investors seem to respond to both the analyst signal and the previous insider signal at the time analysts revise their forecasts, although the prior insider trading signal have been publicly known.
Towards peakless, reproducible and long‐acting insulins. An assessment of the basal analogues based on isoglycaemic clamp studies

While the advantages of the two basal insulin analogues, glargine and detemir, over neutral protamine Hagedorn are well established, the relative merit of the two compared with each other has been a matter of some controversy. The two analogues are popularly perceived to differ from each other in their pharmacodynamic (PD) profiles, in particular with regard to ‘flatness’ and duration of action. The aim of this review, therefore, is to give a complete overview on the available PD data of both analogues as derived with the glucose clamp technique. In order to improve parity across studies, a common definition for duration of action (time from injection to plasma glucose >8.3 mmol/l) was applied and study data were recalculated when necessary. Despite differences in methodological details, the results of most clamp studies were very consistent. Glargine and detemir both typically show a gentle rise and fall in glucose‐lowering action over time. Duration of action with both analogues is dose dependent, but in the clinically relevant range of 0.35–0.8 U/kg it is close to 24 h in people with type 1 diabetes and in excess of this in people with type 2 diabetes. While both analogues seem to be very similar with regard to the mean shape of their PD profile and duration of action, detemir shows less within‐subject variability in its metabolic effect. These findings in experimental glucose clamp studies are consistent with observations in clinical trials and support routine once daily use with either analogue, in particular in people with type 2 diabetes.
NO‐cGMP mediated galanin expression in NGF‐deprived or axotomized sensory neurons

Leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and nerve growth factor (NGF) are well characterized regulators of galanin expression. However, LIF knockout mice containing the rat galanin 5′ proximal promoter fragment (− 2546 to + 15 bp) driving luciferase responded to axotomy in the same way as control mice. Also, LIF had no effect on reporter gene expression in vitro, neither in the presence or absence of NGF, suggesting that other factors mediate an axotomy response from the galanin promoter. We then addressed the role of nitric oxide (NO) using NGF‐deprived rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neuron cultures infected with viral vectors containing the above‐mentioned construct, and also studied endogenous galanin expression in axotomized DRG in vivo. Blocking endogenous NO in NGF‐deprived DRG cultures suppressed galanin promoter activity. Consistent with this, axotomized/NGF‐deprived DRG neurons expressed high levels of neuronal NO synthase (nNOS) and galanin. Further, using pharmacological NOS blockers, or adenoviral vectors expressing dominant‐negative either for nNOS or soluble guanylate cyclase in vivo and in vitro, we show that the NO‐cGMP pathway induces endogenous galanin in DRG neurons. We propose that both LIF and NO, acting at different promoter regions, are important for the up‐regulation of galanin, and for DRG neuron survival and regeneration after axotomy.
Minding the gap: the evolving relationships between affective neuroscience and advertising research

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