Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A fission yeast RCC1‐related protein is required for the mitosis to interphase transition.

The isolation and characterization of the mutant dcdts (defect in chromatin decondensation) has led to the identification of two conserved proteins required for the re‐establishment of the interphase state following the completion of mitosis. The gene that rescues the dcdts mutant encodes a protein similar to the human chromatin binding protein, RCC1. A suppressor of dcdts encodes a protein nearly identical to the human GTP‐binding protein, RAN, encoded by the TC4 gene. These results indicate that completion of mitosis is regulated at least in part by a GTPase molecular switch. The gene and suppressor of dcdts are identical to the previously described Schizosaccharomyces pombe genes pim1 (premature initiation of mitosis) and spi1 (suppressor of pim), but the dcdts mutant does not enter mitosis prematurely, a phenotype that has been reported for the pim1‐46ts mutant. Based on our studies we propose that the pim1 gene product is required for regulating chromatin condensation with a primary role at the end of mitosis and pleiotropic effects on other aspects of cell behavior.
Has Regulation Changed the Market's Reward for Meeting or Beating Expectations?

A firm meets or beats expectations when it reports earnings that are at or above the consensus analysts' forecast. We argue that two types of firms MBE: strong firms who commit to future performance and signal future earnings by MBE, and weak firms who attempt to mimic strong firms by managing either expectations or earnings. Using a sample of 4,152 earnings announcements for firms that habitually MBE between 1999 and 2004, we find that the incidence of expectations (earnings) management decreased following the enactment of Regulation FD (Sarbanes Oxley). In addition, we find that the market reactions to MBE achieved through managing expectations declined significantly following the enactment of Regulation FD, but not to MBE achieved by managing earnings following the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
IT Governance Awareness and Practices: an Insight from Malaysian Senior Management Perspective

While corporate governance is now receiving due attention in the Asian region, IT governance (ITG) does not appear to be given much credence even though business processes today mandate IT. It is observed that awareness and practices of ITG do not seem to be widespread in the region. Using senior management sample data from Malaysian organizations, a study was conducted to determine the awareness and practices of ITG. Contrary to observation, findings indicated that Malaysian businesses appeared to exhibit awareness but ITG was only partially practiced. There was positive correlation between both concepts. Although the association was not causal, it revealed the potential tendency for awareness to cascade down to practices in an operating environment. ITG practices may be strengthened through senior management commitment and involvement, oversight committees, and real-world issues experienced by organizations such as the focus on IT creating tangible value to real stakeholders and the strategic alignment of IT to include the real business environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
TRADE REFORMS AND WAGE INEQUALITY IN COLOMBIA Orazio

We investigate the effects of the drastic tariff reductions of the 1980s and 1990s in Colombia on the wage distribution. We identify three main channels through which the wage distribution was affected: increasing returns to college education, changes in industry wages that hurt sectors with initially lower wages and a higher fraction of unskilled workers, and shifts of the labor force towards the informal sector that typically pays lower wages and offers no benefits. Our results suggest that trade policy played a role in each of the above cases. The increase in the skill premium was primarily driven by skilled-biased technological change; however, our evidence suggests, that this change may have been in part motivated by the tariff reductions and the increased foreign competition to which the trade reform exposed domestic producers. With respect to industry wages, we find that wage premiums decreased by more in sectors that experienced larger tariff cuts. Finally, we find some evidence that the increase in the size of the informal sector is related to increased foreign competition – sectors with larger tariff cuts and more trade exposure, as measured by the size their imports, experience a greater increase in informality, though this effect is concentrated in the years prior to the labor market reform. Nevertheless, increasing returns to education, and changes in industry premiums and informality alone cannot fully explain the increase in wage inequality we observe over this period. This suggests that overall the effect of the trade reforms on the wage distribution may have been small. * We wish to thank Hector Mejia at DANE and Andreas Blom at the World Bank for providing us with the data. We are also grateful to Cristina Gamboa, Adriana Kugler, Jairo Nuñez Mendez, and Ximena Pena for answering our numerous questions about the data and the Colombian reforms, and to Eric Edmonds, Ravi Kanbur, and two anonymous referees for useful comments and suggestions. Goldberg and Pavcnik gratefully acknowledge financial support from the National Science Foundation Grant SES #0213459. Goldberg acknowledges financial support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation through a Faculty Research Fellowship. Pavcnik acknowledges the support from the Rockefeller Social Science Faculty Grant.
Ball-milling-induced amorphization in NixZry compounds: A parametric study.

A vibrating frame grinder has been instrumented for evaluating the amplitude and frequency of ball oscillation, as a function of the amplitude of vibration of the frame and of the ball mass. Based on such measurements, it is found that Ni x Zr y compounds become fully amorphized provided the specific milling intensity is greater than a temperature- and composition-dependent threshold value. The specific milling intensity is the momentum transferred by the ball to the unit mass of powder per unit time. Below this threshold, a two-phase structure (crystalline+amorpbous) is stabilized; the steady proportion of the amorphous phase increases with the milling intensity and decreases on increasing the milling temperature
Establishment of Index System of Macro-Quality Estimation

With the rapid development of national economic,the improvement of quality plays the key role in the wider and higher global economic cooperation and competition.How to estimate the macro-quality in China with the quantitative index and to grasp the development of the national quality are very important and exigent.This paper discusses the steps of choosing macro-quality estimate index from the definition and characteristic of quality.
Preimplantation genetic diagnosis and the biopsy technique: Important considerations

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis allows to test the genetic status of embryos prior to implantation. In order to obtain genetic material, on which carry out a genetic diagnosis, a procedure named embryo biopsy is required. In the last two decades, embryo biopsy at the cleavage stage has been the mostly performed procedure. However, recently, alternative methods allowing the retrieval of a larger number of cells (blastocyst stage biopsy), or representing a valid alternative to overcome ethical issues (polar body biopsy) have obtained increasing consensus. This article reviews different methods of embryo biopsy and points out their positive and negative aspects.
Pre-existing dwarfs, tidal knots and a tidal dwarf galaxy: an unbiased H i study of the gas-rich interacting galaxy group NGC 3166/9

We present Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA (ALFALFA) and follow-up Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) H _I observations of the gas-rich interacting group NGC 3166/9. The sensitive ALFALFA data provide a complete census of H _I-bearing systems in the group while the high-resolution GMRT data elucidate their origin, enabling one of the first unbiased physical studies of gas-rich dwarf companions and the subsequent identification of second-generation, tidal dwarf galaxies in a nearby group. The ALFALFA maps reveal an extended H _I envelope around the NGC 3166/9 group core, which we mosaic at higher resolution using six GMRT pointings spanning ∼1 deg^2. A thorough search of the GMRT data cube reveals eight low-mass objects with gas masses ranging from 4 × 10^7 to 3 × 10^8 M_⊙ and total dynamical masses up to 1.4 × 10^9 M_⊙. A comparison of the H I fluxes measured from the GMRT data to those measured in the ALFALFA data suggests that a significant fraction (∼60 per cent) of the H _I is smoothly distributed on scales greater than 1 arcmin (∼7 kpc at the NGC 3166/9 distance). We compute stellar masses and star formation rates for the eight low-mass GMRT detections, using ancillary Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) data, and use these values to constrain their origin. Most of the detections are likely to be either pre-existing dwarf irregular galaxies or short-lived, tidally formed knots; however, one candidate, AGC 208457, is clearly associated with a tidal tail extending below NGC 3166, exhibits a dynamical to gas mass ratio close to unity and has a stellar content and star formation rate that are broadly consistent with both simulated as well as candidate tidal dwarf galaxies from the literature. Our observations therefore strongly suggest that AGC 208457 is a tidal dwarf galaxy.
Handwritten Chinese character recognition with spatial transformer and deep residual networks

This paper considers using deep neural networks for handwritten Chinese character recognition (HCCR) with arbitrary position, scale, and orientations. To solve this problem, we combine the recently proposed spatial transformer network (STN) with the deep residual network (DRN). The STN acts like a character shape normalization procedure. Different from the traditional heuristic shape normalization methods, STN is learned directly from the data. Furthermore, the DRN makes the training of very deep network to be both efficient and effective. With the combination of STN and DRN, the whole model can be trained jointly in an end-to-end manner. In this paper, new state-of-the-art performance has been achieved by our proposed model on the offline ICDAR-2013 Chinese handwriting competition database. Moreover, the experiment on randomly distorted samples shows that the STN is very effective for robust HCCR in rectifying the shape of distorted characters.
Foreign Exchange Risk Management Practices: A Study on Ludhiana Textile Exporters

With the globalization of Indian economy the trade and investments have increased with other countries. All such developments combine to give a boost to cross-currency cash flows. The corporate enterprises in India have come across currency risk exposure and need for application of innovative hedging techniques has arisen for protecting themselves against attendant risks. It is in this context that a review of the perceptions and concerns of the textile exporters in Ludhiana, in relation to derivatives and of their initiatives in tuning the organizational set up to acquire and adopt the requisite skills in risk management, assumes significance. In this study it is found that the textile exporters in Ludhiana are using hedging tools to overcome the risk of loss due to change in foreign exchange & they are satisfied with what they are practicing & prefer using the same in order to minimize their foreign exchange risk. But according to the opinion of majority of the exporters forecasting & risk estimation are the most important practices than hedging & factors like profitability, sales growth & leverage are more affecting the decisions to minimize foreign exchange risk. In order to manage risk exporters are more dependent on In-house expertise & taking less help from the consultancies which has increased their risk of loss.
Autonomous Viewpoint Selection of Robot Based on Aesthetic Evaluation of a Scene

Abstract In this paper, we propose an optimal viewpoint selection system for monitoring robots to search for the optimal viewpoint of a scene with the highest aesthetic property. Using the information of the targets, we propose a novel method for predicting human aesthetic sense for a scene. We construct evaluation functions based on certain known composition rules using three factors, namely, target size, visual balance, and composition fitting value. Then a score, which is a reflection of human evaluation, will be obtained using these functions. The optimal viewpoint will be selected from a number of candidates around the target group, by evaluating the aesthetic properties of scenes for each candidate viewpoint. Finally, once the optimal viewpoint is confirmed, path planning and path following controls are implemented for the robots during the moving process.
A time-varying transition channel model for air-ground communication

In traditional wired or cellular communication, the communication scenario and channel are fixed. However, with an increasing interest in air-ground integrated communication network, communication scenario transition caused by dynamic and high-movement nodes happens frequently, resulting in deteriorating reliability of communication. In this paper, a time-varying channel model is proposed to describe the continuous-time characteristics of scenario transferring process. The model constructs the geometric structure firstly. According to the structure, the characteristic of line-of-sight (LOS) and ground-reflection propagation path are analyzed in scenario transferring process, and the velocity and position of ground nodes are formulated as function of continuous-time. Moreover, the value of parameters of transition model is proposed with scenario changing referred to stochastic tap-delay-line (TDL) model and measured data. Simulation shows that the proposed model could effectively describe the continuous transition of channel when scenario is changing. In addition, considering the requirements of low-altitude air-ground channel measurement, a special channel sounder system based on universal software radio platform (USRP) is designed, which has small size and weight, and could be carried for drone or high-altitude platform (HAP). Test result shows that the channel sounder system could measure time delay, multipath power and Doppler frequency, and the response for Doppler frequency could be modeling as a linear function.
Role of Inter-firm Transactions on Industrial Agglomeration: Evidence from Japanese firm-level data

This paper investigates the role of inter-firm transaction structure on industrial agglomeration by using Japanese firm-level transaction relationship data. First, we measure the industrial agglomeration for each industry. Next, we measure the intensity of transactions and inequalities of transaction partners as the measures of the micro structure of transaction networks in each industry. Then, we regress the index of agglomeration by the indexes of transaction structure. We find that the intensity of intra-industry transactions statistically enforces the agglomeration. Further, the inequality of transaction partners has a negative effect on the agglomeration. This suggests that the industries that attract a few hub-firms have a large number of intra-industry transaction partners that are not agglomerated.
Chern-Simons production during preheating in hybrid inflation models

PACS numbers: 98.80. Cq. -- 28 pages, 15 figures, ReVTeX. -- Submitted on 30 Apr 2003 (v1), last revised 16 Sep 2003 (this version, v2). -- With minor corrections, version to appear in Phys. Rev. D.
Surveillance for detection of foot-and-mouth disease.

Programs to detect and prevent FMD in those coun-tries prior to the outbreaks were extremely similar tothe program currently in place for the United States,which essentially relies on recognition and reporting ofclinical signs by a producer, animal caretaker, meatinspector, or veterinarian. Inherent in the program is apotentially erroneous assumption that these first-lineobservers will be able to recognize FMD and differenti-ate between FMD and other clinically indistinguish-able indigenous diseases, such as
S100A8, An Oocyte‐Specific Chemokine, Directs the Migration of Ovarian Somatic Cells During Mouse Primordial Follicle Assembly

In the mammalian ovaries, the primordial follicle pool determines the reproductive capability over the lifetime of a female. The primordial follicle is composed of two cell members, namely the oocyte and the pre‐granulosa cells that encircle the oocyte. However, it is unclear what factors are involved in the reorganization of the two distinct cells into one functional unit. This study was performed to address this issue. Firstly, in an in vitro reconstruction system, dispersed ovarian cells from murine fetal ovaries at 19.0 days post coitum (dpc) reassembled into follicle‐like structures, independent of the physical distance between the cells, implying that either oocytes or ovarian somatic cells (OSCs) were motile. We then carried out a series of transwell assay experiments, and determined that it was in fact 19.0 dpc OSCs (as opposed to oocytes), which exhibited a significant chemotactic response to both fetal bovine serum and oocytes themselves. We observed that S100A8, a multi‐functional chemokine, may participate in the process as it is mainly expressed in oocytes within the cysts/plasmodia. S100A8 significantly promoted the number of migrating OSCs by 2.5 times in vitro, of which 66.9% were FOXL2 protein‐positive cells, implying that the majority of motile OSCs were pre‐granulosa cells. In addition, an S100A8‐specific antibody inhibited the formation of follicle‐like reconstruction cell mass in vitro. And, the primordial follicle formation was reduced when S100a8‐specific siRNA was applied onto in vitro cultured 17.5 dpc ovary. Therefore, S100A8 could be a chemokine of oocyte origin, which attracts OSCs to form the primordial follicles. J. Cell. Physiol. 230: 2998–3008, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Influential Factors of VoIP Adoption of Top 500 Export-import Enterprises in Taiwan

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a critical innovation technology in the globally oriented business world, which emphasizes flexibility and efficiency as means to reduce operation cost and improve service quality. Yet there is little research in the organization behavior literature investigating what factors affect enterprise decision to adopt VoIP. This study investigated significant determinants of VoIP adoption in the top 500 export-import enterprises in Taiwan. Logistic regression was used to examine four variables: top management support, environment competition, cost and business size. Specifically, the characteristic comparison of VoIP adopters and non-adopters were presented. We concluded by discussing weight ratio of VoIP adoption factor, characteristics of potential adopters and its managerial implications.
Infective endocarditis: some popular tenets debunked?

Infective endocarditis remains an uncommon disease thus any individual doctor's experience of it must of necessity be limited. Such patients are always "interesting" and invariably stay in hospital for weeks rather than days-this, I think, leads clinicians to assume the infection is more common than it really is. As a (clinical) microbiologist I have been in a unique position to follow all patients with infective endocarditis who have presented or been referred to St Thomas' Hospital in London since 1970. This has provided a wealth of information as well as the background for this article.
Salmonella Infection Induces a Hypersecretory Phenotype in Human Intestinal Xenografts by Inducing Cyclooxygenase 2

ABSTRACT Enteric Salmonella infection is accompanied by inflammation and diarrhea, and yet little is known about its effects on intestinal epithelial physiology. Since species differences limit the utility of animal tissues and cell lines lack relevant cell-cell interactions, we have used a human model of fetal intestine grown as xenografts in SCID mice. We investigated here the effects of Salmonellaenterica serovar Typhimurium SL1344 on xenograft ion transport. Harvested xenografts were stripped of seromuscular layers by blunt dissection, infected with Salmonella, and mounted in Ussing chambers. Salmonella infection for 1 h increased baseline ion transport without altering tissue conductance or morphology. The increased transport was blocked by the cyclooxygenase inhibitor, indomethacin, or the specific Cox-2 inhibitor, NS-398. Further, xenografts infected for 2 h showed increased secretory responses to the calcium-dependent agonist, carbachol, and the cyclic AMP-dependent agonists prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and forskolin, which were blocked by indomethacin. Western blot experiments revealed that infection was accompanied by increased cyclooxygenase 2 (Cox-2) expression, with no change in Cox-1 levels. Immunoassay demonstrated basolateral PGE2 release, which was inhibited by indomethacin. Histological examination of infected xenografts illustrated that upregulated Cox-2 expression was restricted to the epithelium and that little or no invasion of the tissue by Salmonella occurred for up to 2 h. In summary, Salmonella infection rapidly increases Cox-2 expression in human intestinal tissue, accounting for increased epithelial ion transport characteristic of infectious diarrhea.
Title of Thesis : Effectiveness , Suitability , and Performance testing of the SKC ® Deployable Particulate Sampler as compared to the currently fielded

Epidemiological studies have linked particulate matter (PM) exposure to mortality, morbidity, cardiovascular disease in the elderly, and an increased rate of respiratory disease. In order to monitor and assess the potential PM health risk to deployed personnel, the U.S. Army must field a portable sampler which can accurately sample particles with an aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to a nominal 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5). The sampler must be rugged, compact, durable, and battery operated. In this study the SKC Deployable Particulate Sampler (DPS) is compared to
Metabolic Imaging in Multicellular Spheroids of Oncogene-transfected Fibroblasts

Four rat embryo fibroblast (REF) cell lines with defined oncogenic transformation were used to study the relationship between tumorigenic conversion, metabolism, and development of cell death in a 3D spheroid system. Rat1 (spontaneously immortalized) and M1 (myc-transfected) fibroblasts represent early nontumorigenic transformation stages, whereas Rat1-T1 (T24Ha-ras-transfected Rat1) and MR1 (myc/T24Ha-ras-co-transfected REF) cells express a highly tumorigenic phenotype. Localized ATP, glucose, and lactate concentrations in spheroid median sections were determined by imaging bioluminescence. ATP concentrations were low in the nonproliferating Rat1 aggregates despite sufficient oxygen and glucose availability and lack of lactate accumulation. In MR1 spheroids, a 50% decrease in central ATP preceded the development of central necrosis at a spheroid diameter of around 800 μm. In contrast, the histomorphological emergence of cell death at a diameter of around 500 μm in Rat1-T1 spheroids coincided with an initial steep drop in ATP. Concomitantly, reduction in central glucose and increase in lactate before cell death were recorded in MR1 but not in Rat1-T1 spheroids. As shown earlier, myc transfection confers a considerable resistance to hypoxia of MR1 cells in the center of spheroids, which is reflected by their capability to maintain cell integrity and ATP content in a hypoxic environment. The data obtained suggest that small alterations in the genotype of tumor cell lines, such as differences in the immortalization process, lead to substantial differences in morphological structure, metabolism, occurrence of cell death, and tolerance to hypoxia in spheroid culture.