Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Regulatory T cell populations in sepsis and trauma

Sepsis syndrome remains the leading cause of mortality in intensive care units. It is now believed that along with the body’s hyperinflammatory response designated to eliminate the underlying pathogen, mechanisms are initiated to control this initial response, which can become deleterious and result in immune dysfunctions and death. A similar state of immune suppression has been described after numerous forms of severe trauma/injury. Although the evidence for immune dysfunctions after sepsis has grown, much remains to be understood about mechanisms underpinning its development and how it acts to increase the morbid state of the critically ill patient. In this context, although the majority of clinical and basic science conducted so far has focused on the roles of myeloid cell populations, the contribution of T lymphocytes and in particular, of regulatory T cells has been somewhat ignored. The studies presented here support the concept that regulatory T lymphocytes (CD4+CD25+ regulatory, γδ, and NK T cells) play a role in the control of immune responses and are affected by injury and sepsis. This may be related to their capacity to interact with components of the innate and adaptive immune responses and to their ability to be activated nonspecifically by bacterial products and/or cytokines and to regulate through direct cell–cell and/or soluble mediators. It is our hope that a better understanding of the mechanism through which those rare lymphocyte subsets exert such a profound effect on the immune response may help in improving our ability not only to diagnose but also to treat the critically ill individual.
Dywersyfikacja branżowa versus ekspansja geograficzna - dylemat strategiczny przedsiębiorstw z sektora MSP działających na rynku polskim

The article presents the results of research on the strategic choices of the SME sector. We took into account the two strategic dilemmas: the level of diversification and the geographic scope of action. The study was conducted in 2013 on a group of 356 SME enterprises operating in Poland. We identified the dominant variants of the choices made by enterprises from the SME sector based on a matrix of strategy options. As a result of studies we found that the majority of SMEs operating in Poland decide to geographical expansion, including the internationalisation of its activities, rather than diversification. So the dilemma: diversification versus geographical expansion, in the case of SMEs operating in the Polish market is clearly adjudicated in favour of geographic expansion.
Serum Bone Markers and Coronary Artery Calcification in End Stage Renal Failure Patients and Kidney Transplant Recipients

Background: Variety of growth factors and cytokines are involved in the process of bone turnover. Evidences are showing that alterations in OPG/RANK/RANKL system form the basis of many metabolic diseases. So, we evaluated the relationship between OPG and RANKL levels, to establish a possible relationship with other bone markers and coronary artery calcification. Methods: Patients with chronic kidney disease and patients during the first year after transplantation had coronary artery scan and their blood was analyzed for serum bone markers. The following serum markers were measured: OPG, RANKL, BAP, TRAP5b and iPTH. Results: All measured bone markers values increased with the disease progression and return to normal values during the first year after transplantation. Serum values of OPG, BAP, TRAP5b and iPTH are influenced by gender, age and dialysis duration. There is a significant negative correlation between PTH and OPG, and positive between PTH, BAP and TRAP5b values. No correlation between OPG and sRANKL, or OPG/sRANKL levels with other tested markers was found. In multivariate analysis of CACS revealed that OPG is significantly correlated with calcification in entire study population. Conclusions: This study shows that increased bone turnover markers are present in chronic kidney disease but mainly depending on gender, age and dialysis duration. The effects of those factors are overridden by glucocorticoids effect in transplanted patients. The correlation of OPG with arterial calcification presents it as a possible calcification marker. This is the first study on bone metabolism that covered Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) patients, both predialysed and hemodialysed, as well as kidney transplant recipients. Results of our study demonstrate that serum levels of all investigated bone markers as well as calcification of coronary arteries are increased during CKD, with highest measured values in HD population.
New approach for thrust ripple reduction on permanent magnet flux-switching linear motor

Permanent magnet flux-switching linear motor (PMFSLM) has widely potential application for railway, servo, and electromagnetic launch device and so on. However, it suffers large thrust fluctuation and flux leakage, which brings ill influence to its output performance. In this paper, a novel topology with the back iron and permanent magnets placed above the mover is proposed. First, it analyzes the defects of traditional PMFLSM, such as large flux leakage, high thrust ripple. Then 2-D finite element algorithm (FEA) is applied on both traditional topology and the proposed one to get comparative performance analysis. Simulation results demonstrate that the new topology can get higher thrust, lower thrust ripple and less flux leakage in response to those of conventional structures.
Development of a technology valuation method for buyers in technology transfer

Technology valuation is necessary for determining the feasibility of technology commercialization. However, existing methods focus only on technology evaluation, with limitation in sufficiently reflecting buyer viewpoint. In addition, it causes a gap between estimated value and market value. Therefore, this research suggests a new technology valuation method which focuses on the perspectives of buyers. Technology factors, buyer factors and market factors are first determined and their relationships are analyzed. Second, based on the relationships, profit projections are calculated using the discount cash flow method. Finally, profit projections for each year are discounted. The proposed method was applied using the ubiquitous home network system and audio service and illumination control method and results compared with the value of a technology valuation guide distributed by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The technology valuation approach used in this research is quantitative and systematic and can be used as a decision making support tool in technology transfer, reflecting various perspectives of stakeholders.
E-Government Payoffs: Evidence from Cross-Country Data

Using secondary data from 99 countries and IT impact literature as the guiding theoretical perspective; we examine the payoffs from e-government in the form of national performance. We do this by initially examining the relationship of e-government development with the first order government process efficiency parameters (resource spending efficiency and administrative process efficiency). Subsequently we examine the association of these first order efficiency outcomes with the two second order dimensions of national performance (reduction of social divide and business competitiveness). Our analysis reveals significant association of â€˜e-government developmentâ€™ with both the first order â€˜government efficiency parametersâ€™. Further analysis reveals significant relationships of â€˜government efficiency parametersâ€™ with the dimensions of â€˜national performanceâ€™. Important role of â€˜national business competitivenessâ€™ in the reduction of â€˜social divideâ€™ is brought forth through post-hoc analysis. Through this research, we make some important contributions which have implications for researchers, practitioners, public administrators, and policy makers.
Why the World Needs Organisational Design

We have edited two collections of articles devoted to organisational design. The first of these, "Prescriptive Models of Organizations"(2), began with a widespread search for manuscripts. Eighteen journals and newsletters announced that we were seeking manuscripts: ones prescribing properties organisations should have, or ones prescribing how to induce desirable changes in organisations. We received 47 manuscripts in response. In view of the published announcements, the most striking characteristic of these manuscripts was their irrelevance to organisational design. Only a handful paid any attention to prescriptive issues. Had we judged the manuscripts solely for their existing contents, we would have had to cancel the project. Consequently, we looked for ways the manuscripts could be made relevant to design, and we urged the authors of the more promising manuscripts to make revisions of that type. The revised manuscripts showed more relevance; but some still said nothing about prescriptive issues, and several authors tried to prescribe indirectly, without using the words should and ought to. So we asked for revisions again. And sometimes again.
Manifold Ranking using Hessian Energy

In recent years, learning on manifolds has attracted much attention in the academia community. The idea that the distribution of real-life data forms a low dimensional manifold embedded in the ambient space works quite well in practice, with applications such as ranking, dimensionality reduction, semi-supervised learning and clustering. This paper focuses on ranking on manifolds. Traditional manifold ranking methods try to learn a ranking function that varies smoothly along the data manifold by using a Laplacian regularizer. However, the Laplacian regularization sufiers from the issue that the solution is biased towards constant functions. In this work, we propose using second-order Hessian energy as regularization for manifold ranking. Hessian energy overcomes the above issue by only penalizing accelerated variation of the ranking function along the geodesics of the data manifold. We also develop a manifold ranking framework for general graphs/hypergraphs for which we do not have an original feature space (i.e. the ambient space). We evaluate our ranking method on the COREL image dataset and a rich media dataset crawled from Last.fm. The experimental results indicate that our manifold ranking method is efiective and outperforms traditional graph Laplacian based ranking method.
Role of Pulmonary Macrophages in Resistance to Experimental Metastasis

Intranasal inoculation of C3H/HeN mice with Propionibacterium acnes activates pulmonary macrophages but not splenic or peritoneal macrophages. When mice so treated were injected IV with tumor cells, no protection against the challenge was seen. Conversely, inoculation of C3H/HeN mice with P. acnes by the IP route activated splenic and peritoneal macrophages but not pulmonary macrophages. When mice with activated splenic and peritoneal macrophages were challenged with an IV injection of tumor cells, the mice demonstrated an increased resistance to the formation of pulmonary tumors. Thus, activation of splenic and peritoneal macrophages correlated better with protection against IV tumor challenge than activation of pulmonary macrophages. Experiments were done that demonstrated that the effect was not due to the augmentation of NK cell activity.
Detection of disgust in the EEG sub-gamma band

This research is based on detecting the emotion disgust from an EEG signal. We analyse the spectral characteristics of the sub-gamma band between 30 to 45 Hz of eight subjects exposed to audio-visual stimuli intended to evoke certain emotions. The signal was divided into 1 s epochs where each epoch underwent frequency averaging over 4 segments similar to Welch's technique. It was observed that power in the selected sub-gamma band has a high correlation with the subjects' experience of the emotion, and therefore can be used as marker to use to detect the feelings of disgust from the EEG signal.
A Research on HRM Factors Affecting Employee Retention at Huawei Senegal

This study puts emphasis on the relationship between human resource management practices (recruitment and selection, training and development, performance appraisal, rewards and recognition…etc.) and employee retention at Huawei in Senegal. Relatively, there is little published research on HRM practices and employee retention in Telecom industry. Such factors have necessitated this research to analyze HRM practices and employee retention at Huawei in Senegal, the influential factors on employee retention at Huawei, the impact of HRM practices on employee retention and organizational success. Data was collected through a survey research methodology. The principal instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire through a quantitative method. The instrument contained questions that included multiple indicators of human resource management practices and employee retention. Copies of the questionnaire were administered to a convenience sample of 100 of respondents drawn from staff managers and other remaining employees at Huawei in Senegal. Out of this sample, 72 questionnaires were properly answered and returned. The data collected were analyzed using SPSS 20. Data were collected from both primary (questionnaires) and secondary (reviews, articles, journals.etc.) The findings have shown that, first of all, Huawei still uses effective recruitment and selection activities for the purpose of better organizational performance and employee retention in Senegal. Then, research results also show that at Huawei company employee can get access to the necessary training and career development they expect for their job. As far as performance evaluation is concerned, results have shown the two following aspects: on the one hand, respondents’ neutrality to the question, which somehow highlights the existence of performance appraisal by a supervisor and on the other hand the fairness of performance appraisal system at Huawei in Senegal. However, as regards to rewards and recognition, respondents avoided part-taking or just consider that the rewards and recognition was not enough at Huawei. Besides, results show that training and career development and salary are among the main factors which contribute more in retaining employees at Huawei. Finally results highlighted, for better employee retention at Huawei, HR should consider the revision of salary scheme, job security, job contract, working conditions, better recognition and reward. Keywords: HRM Practices, Employee Retention, Impact, effective, Senegal
Coping with spinal cord injury: tenacious goal pursuit and flexible goal adjustment.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the correlation of higher-order coping strategies of tenacious goal pursuit and flexible goal adjustment with adjustment after rehabilitation in spinal cord injury. DESIGN Cross-sectional correlational study. SUBJECTS/PATIENTS All 397 eligible patients entered for spinal cord rehabilitation between 1999 and 2009 were contacted and 130 (33%) agreed to complete a self-report questionnaire. METHODS Partial correlations were computed between tenacious goal pursuit and flexible goal adjustment and affective and cognitive psychological adjustment. Demographics, spinal cord injury related variables, social support and coping were used as control variables. RESULTS After controlling for relevant demographic, medical and social support indices, partial correlations between tenacious goal pursuit and indices of adaptation were not significant. Significant partial correlations were observed between flexible goal adjustment and each of the indices of adjustment (r = -0.33, -0.42, 0.51, -0.38, respectively, for depression, anxiety, acceptance, and helplessness) after controlling for all relevant variables in the model. Flexible goal adjustment explained significant additional proportions of variance for each of the adjustment indices (7%, 11%, 18%, and 7%, respectively). CONCLUSION Flexible goal adjustment, but not tenacious goal pursuit, is associated with psychological adjustment in spinal cord injury. Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms of flexible goal adjustment. Interventions targeting flexible goal adjustment might be of benefit for the patient.
Investigating prosodic ability in Williams syndrome

This paper investigates whether people with Williams syndrome (WS) have prosodic impairments affecting their expression and comprehension of four main uses of intonation. Two adolescent males with WS were assessed using the PEPS‐C battery, which considers prosodic abilities within a psycholinguistic framework, assessing prosodic form and function in both the input and output domains. The performances of the subjects with WS were compared with control data for age and language‐comprehension matched children. The results revealed significant prosodic impairment affecting all areas of the profile. Crucially, however, different profiles of strengths and weaknesses were revealed for the two subjects. The results support the growing view that WS is a heterogeneous population in terms of linguistic abilities.
Applicability of Land Sharing Scheme to Korail Slum, Dhaka, Bangladesh

There are many slums and squatter settlements in Dhaka. Sometimes, slums are found in prime locations and inhabitants are under fear of eviction. Slum inhabitants play an important role in the national economy as cheap labors in the center of Dhaka. This paper aims to investigate whether the land sharing approach can be applied in a Dhaka’s slum to provide formal land tenure for slum residents in two aspects: acceptability to both slum dwellers and landowners, and financial feasibility. Additionally, this study aims to identify the appropriate design and tenure type for land sharing. In this study, the contingent valuation method (CVM) was applied and a questionnaire survey was conducted to inhabitants in Korail slum and an interview survey was carried out with the government officials whose organizations are land owners of the area. As for the results, inhabitants and landowners showed acceptance of land sharing in Korail. Both prefer to middle-rise buildings, but their preference for land tenure differs. Regarding with financial feasibility, the only scenario that proposes middle-rise apartment houses with full tenure ship is feasible financially, and other land sharing scenarios need some fundraising.
Influenza A Virus Can Undergo Multiple Cycles of Replication without M2 Ion Channel Activity

ABSTRACT Ion channel proteins are common constituents of cells and have even been identified in some viruses. For example, the M2 protein of influenza A virus has proton ion channel activity that is thought to play an important role in viral replication. Because direct support for this function is lacking, we attempted to generate viruses with defective M2 ion channel activity. Unexpectedly, mutants with apparent loss of M2 ion channel activity by an in vitro assay replicated as efficiently as the wild-type virus in cell culture. We also generated a chimeric mutant containing an M2 protein whose transmembrane domain was replaced with that from the hemagglutinin glycoprotein. This virus replicated reasonably well in cell culture but showed no growth in mice. Finally, a mutant lacking both the transmembrane and cytoplasmic domains of M2 protein grew poorly in cell culture and showed no growth in mice. Thus, influenza A virus can undergo multiple cycles of replication without the M2 transmembrane domain responsible for ion channel activity, although this activity promotes efficient viral replication.
QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND ORGANIZATIONAL EXCELLENT FOR TEACHERS JOB SATISFACTION

ABSTRACT This research seeks to measure the level of job satisfaction and the impact among teachers of a school that implement the Quality Management System (QMS) IS0 9001: 2008 certification. The factors studied job satisfaction and it relationship between related factors such as QMS Responsibilities, Work environment, Colleagues, Quality Culture, Quality Management, Quality Improvement, Training and Certification and Job Satisfaction. In meeting the objectives of the research, data has been collected by running a survey via questionnaire among teachers in Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Chalok (Model Khas), Setiu, Terengganu. Quantitative research method is use in this research for comparison and analyses of statistical data by utilize IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS 20) and Minitab 16 software which use Descriptive statistic, T- test, correlation. In conclusion, the teachers and employees is an important asset for the education institute. While almost every teacher works in order to satisfy their needs in life and constantly agitates for need satisfaction. Job satisfaction in this context is the ability of the teaching job to meet teacher’s need and improve their job/ teaching performance. The knowledge of QMS in the future will achieve job satisfaction of teachers and encourage them to work in earnest.
Big Data in Mobile Commerce: Customer Relationship Management

The purpose of this chapter is to identify the opportunities of big data application that allows Customer Relationship Management (CRM) strategy to gain deeper insights into customer retention and let the businesses make innovation in term of sales, service, and marketing. This chapter is motivated from the concept of big data in CRM by proposing a conceptual model to address mobile commerce in an organization. It examines the progress of big data in creating value for m-commerce. Researchers employed thematic literature analysis and discussed broader issues related to customer behavior in using smartphone and its internet habit activities. Despite the limitation of the study, CRM with big data remains an important area for future research in mobile commerce setting.
Factors Influencing Mobile E-commerce Consumers’ Preferences: An Empirical Study

: [ Objective ] This paper tries to explore the impacts of motivation, product types, and marketing strategy, as well as their interactions on the shopping preferences of mobile e-commerce consumer’s. [ Methods ] We used scene-based questionnaire to collect the needed data. [ Results ] We found that the interaction between product types and marketing strategy posed significant effects to mobile e-commerce consumer’s purchase preferences. [ Limitations ] We did not include other influencing factors such as product involvement, individual cognitive demand and perceived risks in this study. [ Conclusions ] This paper provides advice to mobile E-commerce product vendors from the perspectives of consumers, products and marketing strategies.
The influence of contour line size and location on the reproducibility of topographic measurement with the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph

Background: the recommended contour line (CL) location with the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph (HRT) is on the inner edge of Elschnig's scleral ring. This study investigated HRT parameter reproducibility when: (i) the CL size is altered relative to Elschnig's ring; (ii) the CL is either redrawn or imported between images.