Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of chronic ethanol exposure on inositol trisphosphate receptors in WB rat liver epithelial cells.

BACKGROUND Enhanced agonist-induced Ca2+ release has been reported in hepatocytes isolated from ethanol-fed rats. Because myo-inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors (IP3Rs) are involved in the mobilization of Ca2+, we examined the effects of chronic ethanol treatment on IP3R function and levels of IP3R protein by using WB rat liver epithelial cells. METHODS WB cells were treated with ethanol (50-150 mM) for 24 to 48 hr and were loaded with Fura-2 to measure agonist-induced Ca2+ mobilization or saponin permeabilized to measure myo-inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3)-mediated Ca2+ release. IP3 levels were measured in [3H]-inositol labeled cells. Levels of IP3R protein were quantitated by immunoblotting with antibodies to IP3R isoforms. Lysosomal and proteasomal peptidase activities were assayed in cytosol and membrane fractions using specific fluorogenic peptide substrates. RESULTS Ethanol treatment enhanced Ca2+ mobilization in response to angiotensin II, vasopressin, and bradykinin. This effect was not due to an increased production of IP3. Chronic ethanol treatment stimulated the mobilization of Ca2+ from saponin-permeabilized cells in response to subsaturating doses of IP3 and increased the basal levels of both type I and type III IP3Rs by 1.8-fold and 1.6-fold, respectively. Ethanol treatment did not prevent angiotensin II-induced IP3R down-regulation or alter lysosomal cathepsin B activity or the trypsin-like and peptidylglutamyl peptidase activities of the proteasome. However, chronic ethanol exposure resulted in a 60% and 41% inhibition of the chymotrypsin-like activity of the proteasome in cytosol and microsomal membranes, respectively. CONCLUSION We propose that the enhanced agonist-mediated Ca2+ mobilization observed in chronic ethanol-treated WB liver epithelial cells results from increased IP3R expression caused by an inhibition of IP3R degradation pathways by ethanol.
Understanding the Relationship between Business and IT Groups: A Personal Construct Theory Approach

The relationship between business and Information Technology (IT) groups in organisations has consistently ranked as an important concern among business and IT managers. As a result, several researchers have investigated the means of improving the business/IT relationship. They focus on behaviours of business and IT groups and attempt to develop change management programmes as a vehicle for obtaining desired behaviours from business and IT groups in order to improve the 'relationship'. However, research shows that such attempts have a low success rate in attaining an effective 'relationship'. This paper argues that the reason for this is that most researchers tend to focus on behaviours of people without an in-depth understanding of their cognition, which influences those behaviours. Consequently, the paper proposes a cognitive approach and explores the application of Personal Construct Theory (PCT) to understand the 'relationship' and means to improve it.
Internal brand equity defines customer experience

Purpose – Brands scintillate on the twin pillars of external brand communication and staff commitment to the envisioned customer experience (CE). However, until very recently the contribution of staff to internal brand building has not received the importance it deserves. With customers becoming more knowledgeable and moving towards a holistic experience rather than buying “products”, the quality of customer interaction (CI) is becoming the deciding factor in brand creation and CE. From this on‐going research based on the emerging services dominant logic popularised by Vargo and Lusch, this paper aims to explore a model to measure the awareness, understanding and commitment of staff to the vision of the service‐oriented brand.Design/methodology/approach – Answers to a Likert questionnaire with six question sets will give researchers an insight into the awareness, understanding and commitment of staff to the brand vision. At a later stage researchers will use the above data to calculate the internal brand .
Relationship between changes in neck circumference and cardiovascular risk factors.

OBJECTIVE Neck circumference (NC) is a simple screening measure for identifying overweight and obese patients. The main aim of the present study was to determine the relationship between changes in NC and changes in cardiovascular risk factors by evaluating some components of the metabolic syndrome. METHODS The present longitudinal cohort study included 364 subjects (155 men and 209 women) with no known major medical conditions and who were not receiving any medication. Main indicators included NC, waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, body mass index, and fasting lipoprotein, glucose and uric acid levels. RESULTS Pearson's correlation coefficients indicated a significant association between changes in NC and changes in body mass index (men, r=0.67; women, r=0.69; each, P<0.0001), waist circumference (men, r=0.69; women, r=0.56; each, P<0.0001), waist-to-hip ratio (men, r=0.27; women, r=0.33; each, P<0.0001), and total cholesterol (men, r=0.68; women, r=0.64; each, P<0.0001), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (men, r=0.58; women, r=0.59; each, P<0.0001), triglyceride (men, r=0.48; women, r=0.44; each, P<0.0001), glucose (men, r=0.51; women, r=0.44; each, P<0.0001) and uric acid (men, r=0.42; women, r=0.47; each, P<0.0001) levels. The relative changes in NC contributed to independent significant changes in total cholesterol (8% for men and 1% for women), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (1% for men and 1% for women) and triglycerides (23% for men); it did not significantly contribute to changes in high density lipoprotein cholesterol, glucose or uric acid levels. CONCLUSION Changes in NC are positively correlated with changes in some factors of the metabolic syndrome and, therefore, are correlated with changes in the risk of cardiovascular disease.
The Impact of Knowledge Acquisition and Knowledge Integration of IT Outsourcing Supplier on Outsourcing Success -- Knowledge Sticky's Moderating Effect

In this study we analyze the emerging patterns of knowledge management of IT outsourcing supplier, which divided it into knowledge acquisition and knowledge integration, Since outsourcing success is related to a large amount of knowledge, it is of great significance to realize effective knowledge management to achieve outsourcing success. Using SEM methods to test the impact of knowledge acquisition and knowledge integration on outsourcing success, and then discuss knowledge sticky's moderating effect on them. Our results show that knowledge acquisition and knowledge integration of IT outsourcing supplier have significant positive influence on outsourcing success, knowledge sticky has negative moderating function between their relations.
The Vasorelaxation of Cerebral Arteries by Carbon Monoxide

Carbon monoxide (CO) is known to increase cerebral blood flow, but the effect of CO on the vascular tone of large cerebral arteries is uncertain. We tested whether CO affects cerebral artery tone by measuring tension generated by ex vivo segments of dog basilar artery upon exposure to CO. In cerebral artery segments contracted with either KCI or prostaglandin F2a, CO caused a concentration-related relaxation beginning with a concentration of 57 μM. Relaxation did not occur if CO was administered in the presence of bubbling carboxygen (95% 02:5% CO2), which reduces greater than 99% of CO from the solution. Furthermore, the CO-induced relaxation of cerebral artery segments was reduced in the presence of the guanylyl cyclase inhibitor 1H-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo[4,3-a]quinoxalin-1-one (ODQ, 10 μM)or the potassium channel blocker tetraethylammonium (TEA, 1 mM). Neither ODQ nor TEA completely eliminated the relaxation caused by CO and there was no additive effect if ODQ and TEA were administered together. These results suggest that cerebral arteries are directly relaxed by CO and that this relaxation depends upon the activation of guanylyl cyclase and the opening of potassium channels.
Opsoclonus, Myoclonus, Ataxia, and Encephalopathy in Adults with Cancer: A Distinct Paraneoplastic Syndrome

The clinical and pathological findings in 4 adults with cancer and opsoclonus were compared with those of 15 other patients described elsewhere. The clinical syndrome of paraneoplastic opsoclonus is characterized by the acute onset of opsoclonus and truncal ataxia, often accompanied by encephalopathy, myoclonus and a cerebrospinal fluid pleocytosis. Unlike most other paraneoplastic syndromes, the course is often remitting and relapsing. Neuropathological examination in 3 of our patients showed lymphocytic cuffing of occasional blood vessels throughout the central nervous system, associated with a mild, diffuse proliferation of microglia in 1 patient. Apart from a mild, patchy loss of Purkinje cells in 1 patient, there was no loss of neurons from the cerebellum, brainstem, cerebral hemispheres, or spinal cord. These patients differ from those with the more common paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration by the predominance of truncal over limb ataxia, the presence of myoclonus, the absence of severe dysarthria, a tendency for remission, and the preservation of Purkinje cells.
A SURVEY OF DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING METHODS FOR ADVANCED COMMUNICATION SATELLITES

The intention of the paper is to give a brief survey of digital signal processing methods that are most likely to be implemented onboard next generation communication satellites. The focus is put on frequency multiplexing and demultiplexing, beam forming, demodulation and modulation. Signal processing architectures for both narrow-band and broadband communication satellites are discussed. The paper is concluded with a brief discussion of onboard implementations of digital signal processing.
Analysis of Supply Chain Information Value and Comparative Study of Information Transmission Mode Based on Participants

In the paper, related research results of domestic and foreign scholars about supply chain information, client demand satisfaction and cost reduction are reviewed in the perspective of SCM. Information value in supply chain is analyzed. Supply chain information collection mode, rarely related in the study, is classified: independent information collection by manufacturer, information collection and delivery to manufacturer by distributor and information collection by the third party service provider. Advantages and disadvantages are analyzed on the basis with certain reference value. KEYWORD: Supply chain; Value of information; Transmission mode
Insights from the clinical assurance of service reconfiguration in the NHS: the drivers of reconfiguration and the evidence that underpins it – a mixed-methods study

issued by the Secretary of State for Health. This ‘first look’ scientific summary may be freely reproduced for the purposes of private research and study and extracts may be included in professional journals provided that suitable acknowledgement is made and the reproduction is not associated with any form of advertising. Applications for commercial reproduction should be addressed to: NIHR Journals Library, National Institute for Health Research, Evaluation, Trials and Studies Coordinating Centre, Alpha House, University of Southampton Science Park, Southampton SO16 7NS, UK.
Globally Exponential Stability of Discrete-time Cellular Neural Networks With Discrete Delays

Using the technique by virtue of Young and Halanay inequalities, a new sufficient condition for the globally exponential stability of a class of discrete-time cellular neural networks with delays is given. We discard the demand that activation functions must be derivable and only request them to be Lipschitz continuous, in this way the criteria given for globally exponential stability relies on the feedback matrices and is independent of the delay parameter.
The Nature of Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Disclosure by Non-GHG Registered Australian Companies — An Explanation of the Changing Rationale

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the changing rationale of voluntary GHG disclosure by non-GHG registered companies over time and among industry sectors.Design/methodology/approach – A GHG disclosure index is used to evaluate the levels of GHG disclosure in 2009 and 2011 annual reports of non-registered companies. Various specific categories based on the nature of GHG disclosure and consistent with prior GHG disclosure studies are defined to distinguish “hard” to mimic disclosure items and “soft talk” disclosure items.Findings – This research highlights that the average level of GHG disclosure from “hard” to mimic disclosure items increased by non-GHG registered companies in less carbon-intensive industries and over time. In General, non-GHG registered companies seem to improve their disclosure by incorporating more “behavioural management” actions rather than “symbolic” actions. Consistent with voluntary disclosure and signalling theories, companies having good news to tell disclose their superior GHG information to promote their superior environmental performance. Research limitations/implications – The findings should be useful for stakeholders who are interested in GHG disclosure strategies. Also, the content analysis of the annual reports provides some clarity in respect of the most common aspects of GHG disclosure by non-GHG registered companies which is helpful in the evaluation of correspondence between carbon disclosure strategies and the objectives of carbon abatement.Originality/value – Previous studies mostly investigate the differences in the type of GHG disclosure (narrative and numeric) over time, among companies subject to mandatory GHG regulations. However, this study examines the changing rationale in the nature of GHG disclosure of non-GHG registered companies over time and among industries by a mixture of quite contrary theories.
Mergers, acquisitions, and the pruning of managerial deadwood

This research investigates the role that mergers and acquisitions may play in the disciplining of entrenched and inefficient managers. The relationship between a company's performance history and its subsequent top management turnover is assessed for a sample of target companies, their parents, and a control group of companies not involved in merger and acquisition activity. The results reveal that target company top management turnover is higher than ‘normal’ in the 2 years immediately following a merger or acquisition, but there is no relationship between previous target company performance and its subsequent top management turnover. Further analyses indicate that first‐year target company turnover rates are associated with a history of relatively poor parent company performance, while second‐year turnover rates are associated with a history of relatively good parent company performance.
Effect of ascorbic acid supplementation during the inhalation exposure of guinea‐pigs to industrial dust on bronchoalveolar lavage and pulmonary enzymes

The aim of this study was to investigate the interaction between ascorbic acid (AA) and inhaled particles separated from the dumped waste of a nickel smelter and refinery. Tricoloured male guinea pigs were exposed in an inhalation chamber to 50 mg kg−1 of <5 μm particles that mainly consisted of metal oxides. Exposure lasted for 4 weeks (5 days per week and 5 h per day). The drinking water of half of the exposed and half of the control groups was supplemented with 1 g l−1 AA. Each group received 0.4 mmol kg−1 AA in their food. Ascorbic acid supplementation increased the pulmonary AA concentration in both exposed and control groups to the same extent, but in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid the increase was higher in control than in exposed guniea pigs. The number of alveolar macrophages was increased by exposure and AA increased the number only in the exposed group; the acid phosphatase activity of the alveolar macrophages was increased only by AA, and more in the exposed than in the control group. Alkaline phosphatase activity in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was the same in both supplemented groups, but it was enhanced in the exposed group with a low intake of AA. Effects on lactate dehydrogenase were not consistent. Neither exposure nor AA influenced significantly this enzyme in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, but in the lung both AA and exposure caused an increase in the activity. The levels were similar in the AA‐treated control and exposed guinea pigs.
Targeting interleukin-17 in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis: rationale and clinical potential

Clinical and experimental evidence suggest that interleukin-17A (IL-17A; also known as IL-17) is an attractive therapeutic target in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Rheumatoid synovial tissue produces IL-17A, which causes cartilage and bone degradation in synovial and bone explants. Overexpression of IL-17A induces synovial inflammation and joint destruction in animal RA models. These effects are attenuated in IL-17A-deficient animals and by agents that block IL-17A. Serum IL-17A levels and, to a greater extent, synovial fluid IL-17A levels are elevated in many patients with RA. In some RA cohorts, higher IL-17A levels have been associated with a more severe clinical course. Several IL-17A blockers, including the anti-IL-17A monoclonal antibodies secukinumab and ixekizumab, and the anti-IL-17 receptor subunit A monoclonal antibody brodalumab have been evaluated in phase II clinical trials. Of these, secukinumab is the most advanced with respect to clinical evaluation in RA, with phase III trials ongoing in patients on background methotrexate who had inadequate responses to previous tumor necrosis factor blocker therapy.
Psychopathologic Features among Drug Addicts and Homosexuals with HIV Infection

Personal and familial psychopathological histories and information about early losses were collected and the results of the locus of control test and tests for psychological responses were determined for a series of ninety-two HIV-infected subjects (58 drug addicts; 26 homosexuals; 8 heterosexuals, partners of drug addicts). A higher percentage of drug addicts reported past histories of attempted suicide than the homosexuals. Early loss events were more frequent for homosexuals than for drug addicts. There was a higher psychopathological risk for asymptomatic HIV seropositivity in homosexuals, drug addicts who had attempted suicide, subjects that acknowledged that they have serious illness and subjects with external coping mechanisms rather than internal.
Ribonucleotides in bacterial DNA

Abstract In all living cells, DNA is the storage medium for genetic information. Being quite stable, DNA is well-suited for its role in storage and propagation of information, but RNA is also covalently included in DNA through various mechanisms. Recent studies also demonstrate useful aspects of including ribonucleotides in the genome during repair. Therefore, our understanding of the consequences of RNA inclusion into bacterial genomic DNA is just beginning, but with its high frequency of occurrence the consequences and potential benefits are likely to be numerous and diverse. In this review, we discuss the processes that cause ribonucleotide inclusion in genomic DNA, the pathways important for ribonucleotide removal and the consequences that arise should ribonucleotides remain nested in genomic DNA.
Do Alcohol Advertisements for Brands Popular among Underage Drinkers Have Greater Appeal among Youth and Young Adults?

Background No previous study has determined whether there are differences in the youth appeal of alcohol advertisements for popular versus unpopular brands among underage drinkers. This paper provides a systematic investigation of the differential appeal of brand-level alcohol advertisements among underage youth and young adults in the United States. Methods We examined 3 issues of 8 magazines popular among underage youth. From the advertised alcohol brands, we selected the ads for the top 10 and bottom 10 brands by prevalence of underage youth consumption, based on the results of a previous national survey. We assessed the ads’ appeal using a sample of 211 students recruited from 1 graduate and 2 undergraduate courses at Boston University. Respondents rated the appeal of each advertisement on 4 dimensions: physical and social appeal, appeal to underage youth, perceived effectiveness, and liking. Using random-effects linear regression, we compared the appeal of advertisements for popular versus unpopular brands. Results On each dimension, the ads for popular youth alcohol brands were rated as significantly more appealing than the ads for unpopular brands. The magnitude of this difference was 0.26 standard deviation for the physical and social appeal score, 0.25 for the appeal to underage youth score, 0.21 for the perceived effectiveness score, and 0.16 for the liking score. Conclusions Advertising for alcohol brands that are popular among youth contain elements that are more likely to appeal to underage youth and young adults than ads for brands that are relatively unpopular among young drinkers.
ИНФОРМАЦИОНО-КОМУНИКАЦИОНЕ ТЕХНОЛОГИЈЕ КАО ПОДСТИЦАЈНИФАКТОР ЕВОЛУЦИЈЕ ЕЛЕКТРОНСКЕ КА 'LEAN' УПРАВИ (Information and Communication Technology as a Motivational Factor of Evolution from Electronic Toward 'Lean' Government)

Serbian Abstract: Комплексност државне управе, као један од горућих проблема са којим се сусрећу грађани Републике Србије, довела је до њене неефикасности и нереспонзивности, као и незадовољства грађана који немају алтернативне могућности за задовољавање својих потреба. Под утицајем финансијске кризе, Владе су приморане да смањују своје трошкове, обим администрације, изграде online везе и односе са грађанима и привредом. Схвативши да се и оне као што су то учиниле компаније, морају трансформисати како би испуниле све захтеве и стекле задовољство својих грађана, Владе су у информационо-комуникационим технологијама (ИКТ) нашле моћног савезника за превазилажење проблема са којима су се суочиле кроз изградњу електронске управе. Циљ овог рада је да укаже да еволуција електронске управе у lean управу треба да буде окосница сваког савременог информационог друштва и кључна конкурентска предност која ће донети виши степен ефикасности друштва у целини. English Abstract: The complexity of public administration, as one of the most pressing problems which citizens of the Republic of Serbia are facing, led to inefficiency and non-responsiveness, as well as the dissatisfaction of citizens who do not have alternative options to meet their needs. Under the impact of financial crisis, governments are forced to reduce their costs, volume of administration, to build online connections and relationships with citizens and businesses. Realizing that they, like the companies, must transform themselves to meet requirements and obtain satisfaction of citizens, governments have found very powerfull tool for overcoming the problems – information and communication technology (ICT) and electronic government. The aim of this paper is to show that the evolution from electronic government toward lean government should be the backbone of any modern information society and a key competitive advantage that will bring greater efficiency of society as a whole.