Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prospective assessment of pain and functional status after vertebroplasty for treatment of vertebral compression fractures

Background and purpose There has been no prospective evaluation of vertebroplasty using a validated instrument. We describe the pain and functional status of 72 patients before and after vertebroplasty, as prospectively evaluated by the Vertebral Compression Fracture Pain and Functional Disability Questionnaire. Methods Of 161 consecutive patients, 72 consented to participate in the study and self-completed the questionnaire prior to undergoing vertebroplasty. Differences in pain and distress before and after vertebroplasty, and between the first and second follow-up intervals, were evaluated. Mean scores for each of 24 activities of daily living (ADLs) were plotted at the baseline and first and second follow-up intervals. Results The mean (SD) patient age was 74 (10) years; 80% were female. On the 0 (no pain) to 10 (pain as bad as it could be) visual analog pain scale, patients reported significantly more pain, on average, before undergoing percutaneous vertebroplasty (PV) than at the first follow-up interval (mean 5.8 vs 3.5, p<0.001). The reduction in reported pain following vertebroplasty persisted at the second follow-up on both the visual analog and adjectival pain scales. Among the 24 ADLs, between 25% and 69% of patients reported a mean improvement of at least 1 level on the 5-point ADL scale, and between 14% and 55% reported a mean improvement of at least two levels. The majority of the improvement in reported functional status following vertebroplasty was sustained at the second follow-up interval. Conclusion PV resulted in substantial, lasting reduction in pain and improvement in ability to perform ADLs.
Evaluation of railway surrounding areas: the case of Ostrava city

The status of railway stations depends not only on a nodal position in the transport network, but also on the conditions, structure and capacity of its local surroundings. The level and potential of railway stations surroundings is studied on the case of Ostrava, the third largest city of the Czech Republic. Various data sources are used in the context of the Bertolini node-place model to reach a complex evaluation. The original methodology was adapted to national conditions due to significant differences in transport behaviour of passengers between post-communist countries and highest-ranked economies. The place aspect of the Bertolini’s methodology is considerably enlarged. Parameters of buffers around all railway stations respects original values (700 metres long perimeter, etc.), but other features are properly adjusted. The place conditions are analyzed mainly from the socio-demographical (population, unemployment, etc.), economical (structure of companies, retail, etc.) and urban (land use, land price map, etc.) points of view. The node aspect is described by various transport indicators as number of departing trains, parking capacity, accessibility of stations by urban transport, etc. Also other factors which helped to start the regeneration process of important European railway stations are discussed. The results show significant differences among these localities, different temporal trends and requirements for regeneration which lead to optimization of transport services. The adapted methodology with extended and adjusted range of place and nodal indicators seems to provide satisfactory inputs for re-engineering of transport nodes essential for further successful development of any city.
Adopting Energy Saving Technology: Inertia or Incentives?

In an effort to improve efficiency of electrical markets the U.S. government hopes to encourage changing household use patterns, such as dishwasher and clothes dryer use, to off-peak times. One strategy has been to subsidize the installation of smart meters. In addition the government has encouraged electrical energy conservation by providing incentives for energy saving technologies such as the purchase of energy star appliances or increased insulation in the home. Households have sometimes been slow to respond. Using a survey of public opinion, we explore which individuals are more likely to adopt energy saving technologies and smart meters. We also explore the incentives required to adopt smart meters in the home. Key Words:
Genetic algorithm based Neuro Fuzzy tuning of PID controller for a nonlinear temperature water bath with feedforward control

Temperature control is an important task in the modern industries like chemical, pharmaceutical etc. considering the real time load and set point variations in their plants. The present work gives experimental results for the control of a constant level stirred nonlinear temperature water bath with continuous inlet and outlet flow under load and set point disturbances. When the inlet temperature becomes comparable to the desired set point their effect becomes that much prominent in terms of rise time, overshoot and short term stability. In the present system, the level plays an important factor in the heat distribution. The slight variation in the inlet flow rate disturbs the system by varying its level assumed to be constant. Also the fluctuation in the mains voltage plays a major role in the short term stability of the system. In the work presented here, all these three disturbances have been considered using feedforward control. A real time PID controller taken with a fixed bias voltage has been used and tuned by Genetic Algorithm based Neuro Fuzzy Controller (GANFC) developed on the platform of Visual BASIC 6.0. The PID controller was designed and developed based on 89C51 microcontroller around MK-70 MLW bath with 10Litre capacity. A 1500W heater was operated between 0-240Vac with 256 different firing angles for the Triac. Fluke Hydra 2625A Data acquisition unit has been used for acquiring the data. The load disturbances have been created by varying inlet flow rate from 100ml/min to 500ml/min at 28°C for a set point of 40°C. Also the set point disturbance was induced by changing the set point from 35.0°C to 45.0°C. The constant level is maintained by keeping the outflow rate same as the inflow rate. Results for the modified GANFC, including feedforward control, were compared with GANFC controller without feedforward control.
Collateral and repeated lending

Lending is often associated with significant asymmetric information issues between suppliers of funds and their potential borrowers. Banks can screen their borrowers, or can require them to post collateral in order to select creditworthy projects. We find that the potential for longer-term relationships increases banks' preference for screening. This is because posting collateral only provides the information that the current project of a given borrower is of good quality, whereas screening provides information that can be used in evaluating future projects as well as the current ones.
Culinary Tourism as a Destination Attraction: An Empirical Examination of Destinations' Food Image

This article illustrates the food image of France, Italy, and Thailand, countries known for their popular cuisine. An online survey was conducted; the population consisted of members of online travel and food groups from Yahoo.com and MSN.com. A total of 294 individuals responded to the online survey. A series of multiple regressions were conducted to determine (a) the relationship between destinations' food image and travelers' visit intention, and (b) the relationship between information sources and travelers' purchase decisions. The results revealed that in general, Italy had the most favorable food image and the highest potential to be visited in the future. Significant positive relationships were found between food image and visit intentions. The study also confirmed that travelers' purchase decisions were significantly influenced by different types of information sources. Conclusions and implications were drawn based on the research findings. This information would be particularly useful for destinations interested in promoting culinary tourism.
Opacity and executive compensation

We develop and test the hypothesis that …rms’opacity induces increased risk sharing by managers, in particular by taking more risk in executive compensation contracts. We test this hypothesis in a manner robust to errorsin-variables bias and reverse-causality by using institutional trading as an instrument for …rms’opacity. Consistent with the hypothesis, we …nd a positive relation between pay-performance sensitivity and measures of the opacity of …nancial reporting and stock prices. Our …ndings suggest that institutional trading can act as a substitute for risky executive compensation by limiting opacity.
The Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans Autotransporter Adhesin Aae Exhibits Specificity for Buccal Epithelial Cells from Humans and Old World Primates

ABSTRACT Cells of the gram-negative periodontopathogen Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans express a surface-exposed, outer membrane autotransporter protein, designated Aae, which has been implicated in epithelial cell binding. We constructed a mutant strain of A. actinomycetemcomitans that contained a transposon insertion in the Aae structural gene (aae) and tested the mutant to determine its ability to bind to buccal epithelial cells (BECs) isolated from healthy volunteers. Significantly fewer mutant cells than wild-type cells bound to BECs. A broad-host-range plasmid that contained an intact aae gene driven by a heterologous tac promoter restored the ability of the mutant strain to bind to BECs at wild-type levels. This plasmid also conferred upon Escherichia coli the ability to express the Aae protein on its surface and to bind to human BECs. Aae-expressing E. coli also bound to BECs isolated from six Old World primates but not to BECs isolated from four New World primates or nine other nonprimate mammals, as well as to human gingival epithelial cells but not to human pharyngeal, palatal, tongue, bronchial, or cervical epithelial cells. Our findings indicate that Aae mediates binding of A. actinomycetemcomitans to BECs from humans and Old World primates and that this process may contribute to the host range specificity and tissue tropism exhibited by this bacterium.
Can subjective comfort be used as a measure of plantar pressure in football boots?

ABSTRACT Comfort has been shown to be the most desired football boot feature by players. Previous studies have shown discomfort to be related to increased plantar pressures for running shoes which, in some foot regions, has been suggested to be a causative factor in overuse injuries. This study examined the correlation between subjective comfort data and objective plantar pressure for football boots during football-specific drills. Eight male university football players were tested. Plantar pressure data were collected during four football-specific movements for each of three different football boots. The global and local peak pressures based on a nine-sectioned foot map were compared to subjective comfort measures recorded using a visual analogue scale for global discomfort and a discomfort foot map for local discomfort. A weak (rs = −0.126) yet significant (P < 0.05) correlation was shown between the peak plantar pressure experienced and the visual analogue scale rated comfort. The model only significantly predicted (P > 0.001) the outcome for two (medial and lateral forefoot) of the nine foot regions. Subjective comfort data is therefore not a reliable measure of increased plantar pressures for any foot region. The use of plantar pressure measures is therefore needed to optimise injury prevention when designing studded footwear.
Evaluation and management of hyponatraemia in children

Paediatric hyponatraemia is usually caused by an excess of antidiuretic hormone and may lead to serious neurological complications. It is challenging for clinicians to differentiate between conditions causing excess water and salt loss. This review analyses individual causes of hyponatraemia and focuses on optimal diagnostic algorithms and treatment strategies.
ASYMMETRIC INTERACTIONS BETWEEN FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC BANKS: EFFECTS ON ORGANIZATIONAL ENTRY

To understand the competitive interactions between foreign and domestic firms, we examine the organizational entry of foreign and domestic banks in California over the 197988 period. In contrast to the conventional assumption of direct competition between these two groups of banks, we propose an alternative hypothesis that the presence of foreign banks in the United States may encourage new entry by domestic banks and thereby stimulate the overall market growth. The U-shaped effect of foreign bank density on the entry of domestic banks confirms this hypothesis. The deregulation in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the banking industry created a shift in the institutional logic, with the decline of the regulatory logic and the rise of a new market logic. This process of institutional transformation fundamentally affected the population dynamics of the banking industry, leading to an inverted U-shaped effect of density dependence for both domestic and foreign bank entries over the study period.
Opportunity and/or Necessity Entrepreneurship? The Impact of the Socio-Economic Characteristics of Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs have often been considered as either belonging to the necessity or to the opportunity category based on their motivations when they started their organization. However, the necessity/opportunity entrepreneurship dichotomy is too limiting and the boundary between opportunity and necessity is certainly not as clear-cut as it is assumed. Moreover, the interpretation of the entrepreneurial motivation must be considered as a product of the interaction between a specific situation and a specific individual. Depending on the individual’s characteristics, the same motivation could be interpreted either as a necessity motivation or as an opportunity motivation. In this paper, based on an original dataset of 538 Belgian nascent entrepreneurs, we thus explore the impact of entrepreneurs’ background and socio-economic characteristics on the way they position themselves on the necessity–opportunity axis. We point out that individuals who become involved in an entrepreneurial process have encountered a situation of necessity and/or opportunity and that the latter can take various forms. We show the impact of the socio-economic characteristics of entrepreneurs on the alignment of their project with a necessity or opportunity entrepreneurial dynamic. The existence of sub-profiles of entrepreneurs within the necessity–opportunity typology is also highlighted. We stress, for instance, that not all jobseekers are necessity entrepreneurs and that new venture creation based on family influence may convey both a necessity and an opportunity dimension. Finally, our study reveals a new kind of entrepreneurship, i.e., hobby entrepreneurship.
Injection of Molecules into Cells using a pH-Triggered Molecular Nanosyringe

We have engineered a molecular nanosyringe that enables injection of molecules into a target cell at acidic pH, but not at normal, physiological pH. The nanosyringe consists of a water-soluble membrane peptide (pHLIP ‐ pH (Low) Insertion Peptide), a link and a cargo molecule. Injection is driven by pHLIP, which inserts as a heli x across the cell membrane and translocates one of its termini into the cytoplasm. The peptide does not exhibit any elements of secondary structure in solution or when loosely bound on the cell membrane at neutral pH. We show the injection of cell-impermeable molecules into cancer cells at pH6.5. T he nanosyringe offers a novel technology for selective de livery of cargo-molecules into cancer cells by exploiting the acidic extracellular environment that is a characterist ic feature of many tumors.
Osteoclast stimulatory transmembrane protein and dendritic cell–specific transmembrane protein cooperatively modulate cell–cell fusion to form osteoclasts and foreign body giant cells

Cell–cell fusion is a dynamic phenomenon promoting cytoskeletal reorganization and phenotypic changes. To characterize factors essential for fusion of macrophage lineage cells, we identified the multitransmembrane protein, osteoclast stimulatory transmembrane protein (OC‐STAMP), and analyzed its function. OC‐STAMP–deficient mice exhibited a complete lack of cell–cell fusion of osteoclasts and foreign body giant cells (FBGCs), both of which are macrophage‐lineage multinuclear cells, although expression of dendritic cell specific transmembrane protein (DC‐STAMP), which is also essential for osteoclast/FBGC fusion, was normal. Crossing OC‐STAMP–overexpressing transgenic mice with OC‐STAMP–deficient mice restored inhibited osteoclast and FBGC cell–cell fusion seen in OC‐STAMP–deficient mice. Thus, fusogenic mechanisms in macrophage‐lineage cells are regulated via OC‐STAMP and DC‐STAMP. © 2012 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
How Do Italian Biotech Startups Survive

This study was carried out in order to better understand the economic and managerial characteristics of the biotechnology industry, which has taken hold in Italy at a much slower rate than in other industrialized countries. In particular, the specific aims of this paper are to analyse the business models of new Italian biopharmaceutical firms and to examine how these firms, with their different business models, successfully overcome the initial stage of starting up. On the basis of interviews conducted with sector experts and managers, we will conclude that the success factors behind the startups comprise a diverse range of distinct competencies that depend on the type of business model adopted.
Reduction of Endothelial Nitric Oxide Increases the Adhesiveness of Constitutive Endothelial Membrane ICAM-1 through Src-Mediated Phosphorylation

Nitric oxide (NO) is a known anti-adhesive molecule that prevents platelet aggregation and leukocyte adhesion to endothelial cells (ECs). The mechanism has been attributed to its role in the regulation of adhesion molecules on leukocytes and the adhesive properties of platelets. Our previous study conducted in rat venules found that reduction of EC basal NO synthesis caused EC ICAM-1-mediated firm adhesion of leukocytes within 10–30 min. This quick response occurred in the absence of alterations of adhesion molecules on leukocytes and also opposes the classical pattern of ICAM-1-mediated leukocyte adhesion that requires protein synthesis and occurs hours after stimulation. The objective of this study is to investigate the underlying mechanisms of reduced basal NO-induced EC-mediated rapid leukocyte adhesion observed in intact microvessels. The relative levels of ICAM-1 at different cell regions and their activation status were determined with cellular fractionation and western blot using cultured human umbilical vein ECs. ICAM-1 adhesiveness was determined by immunoprecipitation in non-denatured proteins to assess the changes in ICAM-1 binding to its inhibitory antibody, mAb1A29, and antibody against total ICAM-1 with and without NO reduction. The adhesion strength of EC ICAM-1 was assessed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) on live cells. Results showed that reduction of EC basal NO caused by the application of caveolin-1 scaffolding domain (AP-CAV) or NOS inhibitor, L-NMMA, for 30 min significantly increased phosphorylated ICAM-1 and its binding to mAb1A29 in the absence of altered ICAM-1 expression and its distribution at subcellular regions. The Src inhibitor, PP1, inhibited NO reduction-induced increases in ICAM-1 phosphorylation and adhesive binding. AFM detected significant increases in the binding force between AP-CAV-treated ECs and mAb1A29-coated probes. These results demonstrated that reduced EC basal NO lead to a rapid increase in ICAM-1 adhesive binding via Src-mediated phosphorylation without de novo protein synthesis and translocation. This study suggests that a NO-dependent conformational change of constitutive EC membrane ICAM-1 might be the mechanism of rapid ICAM-1 dependent leukocyte adhesion observed in vivo. This new mechanistic insight provides a better understanding of EC/leukocyte interaction-mediated vascular inflammation under many disease conditions that encounter reduced basal NO in the circulation system.
SMEs AND PERFORMANCE: THE ROLE OF TRUST AND DEPENDENCE IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN

This study examines the extent to which trust and dependence in the supply chain relationship are predictive of performance for small and medium sized vendors. Utilizing a sample of 134 university vendors in the southwest region of the U.S., regression was used to test hypotheses related to both constructs while controlling for the organizational attributes of size, years working as a supplier to the buyer, and years working with the existing company. Results indicate that both trust and dependence are significant predictors of supplier performance for SMEs. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Research has shown that the supply chain management can be affected by numerous variables, regardless of organizational size and resources. If small businesses are to be successful in logistical integration they must rely on a strategic approach that allows them to be viable partners with larger firms. Much of the supply chain management literature has focused on models and practices that work best for large multinational firms. Additional research is needed to better understand the supply chain management strategies and processes used by small businesses that result in success. As such, researchers continue to examine variables that may impact organizational performance. In terms of relational variables, trust (Nooteboom, 2000; Johnston et al., 2004) and dependence (Pfeffer & Salancik, 1978) are two important aspects of interorganizational relationships that can affect firm performance. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between performance and trust and dependence among small and medium-sized enterprises. Utilizing a sample of 134 university vendors in the southwest region of the U.S., regression was used to test hypotheses related to both constructs while controlling for the organizational attributes of size, years working as a supplier to the buyer, and years working with the existing company. Results indicate that both trust and dependence are significant predictors of supplier performance for SMEs.
NPD COMPLEXITY AND TECHNOLOGY NOVELTY AS ANTECEDENTS OF DESIGN-MANUFACTURING INTEGRATION: EFFECTS ON PRODUCT DESIGN QUALITY.

This research examines direct and indirect effects on new product design quality of certain controllable aspects of new product development (NPD). The study is based on data gathered from 137 NPD projects in firms drawn from manufacturing industries across the continental United States. We use structural equation modeling to compare three competing conceptual models, each suggesting a different role for DMI in NPD. The "zero effect model" suggests that design quality outcomes are largely the direct result of NPD complexity and technology novelty, with DMI playing no substantial role. The "mediation" model identifies DMI as a mediator of the effects of complexity and technology novelty on product design quality. The "intervention" model suggests that DMI is a strong driver of design quality, while complexity and technology novelty affect product design quality only indirectly. The results support our hypotheses arguing for the superiority of the intervention model. We discuss the implications of these find.
A construction of supermagic graphs

A graph is called supermagic if it admits a labelling of the edges by pairwise different consecutive positive integers such that the sum of the labels of the edges incident with a vertex is independent of the particular vertex. In this paper we will introduce a new construction of supermagic graphs using the special structure of their subgraphs. The supermagic complements of some bipartite graphs and joins of some graphs are presented.