Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cervical dystonia. Prognostic factors for long‐term botulinum toxin response

Sir, At present, botulinum A toxin (BTX) is the most successful treatment for focal dystonias, including cervical dystonia (Bnn el al., 1987; Grandas el al., 1988; Blackie and Lees, 1990; Jankovic and Schwartz, 1990; Lees er al., 1992; Elston, 1992). Several open and controlled studies have shown that BTX is effective in 60-90% of patients with cervical dystonia (Brh et al., 1987 and 1990; Gelb et al., 1989; Blackie and Lees, 1990; Jankovic and Schwartz, 1990; Greene et al., 1990; Lees et al., 1992), the remainder showing poor or no response. To date, no consistent indicators of response to BTX have been found (Blackie and Lees, 1990; Jankovic and Schwartz, 1990; Greene et al., 1990), although some studies suggest that the pattern of torticollis (Tsui, 1992), duration of cervical dystonia (Jankovic and Schwartz, 1991) and gender (Karp et al., 1994) may predict the response. In order to determine whether clinical variables may predict response to BTX, we prospectively studied all patients with cervical dystonia treated with BTX over the last 3 years. All patients were evaluated at baseline conditions, including clinical assessment using the Columbia Rating Scale (Fahn, 1989). BTX was obtained from Allergan and stored frozen at -20°C until reconstitution with sterile saline at the time of injection. The sites of injections, dose per muscle and total dose were determined by clinical assessment according to previously suggested guidelines (Blackie and Lees, 1990; Jankovic and Schwartz, 1990). EMG was used only in complex cases. Patients were re-evaluated at the third week after each set of injections. Clinical response was scored according to the following scale: 0, no evident improvement; 1, moderate improvement (including pain relief if present); 2, marked improvement (including pain relief if present plus evident aesthetic improvement); 3, h l l improvement, patient asymptomatic. We obtained maximum response, defined as the response achieved at the most
A Simple Option-Theoretic Approach to the Lease Versus Purchase Decision

Existing approaches to the financial lease versus purchase decision assume, at least implicitly at the moment of the decision, that purchase entails ownership of the leasable asset over its entire remaining economic life. At any subsequent moment in time, however, if a firm already owns the leasable asset, it can retain long-term use of the asset by deciding to either retain ownership or enter into a sale and leaseback agreement. The purpose of this chapter is to detail the derivation of an innovative, yet intuitive, theoretical approach to analyze a firm's financial lease versus purchase decision in asset markets conducive to future sales and leaseback of owned assets.
The effect of entrepreneurial orientation, willingness to change, and development culture on new product exploration in small enterprises

Purpose This study aims to assess the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and development culture and the role of willingness-to-change in this relationship and analyzes their effect on new product exploration in small enterprises. Design/methodology/approach A model based on structural equations with partial least squares (PLS) analysis is used to test the hypotheses. This model was tested on a sample of 250 respondents from 125 small enterprises, with less than 50 employees, located in all seven emirates of the UAE. Findings The results suggest that EO will induce organizational members’ willingness-to-change and will favor the advancement of a development culture in small enterprises; in addition, EO, willingness-to-change and development culture can lead to new product exploration in small enterprises. Research limitations/implications The study findings are subject to potential limitations. First, the research design for the quantitative study was cross-sectional and self-reported, which could cause problems of common method and inflation bias. Second, the conceptual model may not be completely representative of the perspective the authors aim to elucidate. Third, as this study is country-specific, further research investigation in other developing economies is recommended to further understand the possible influences of cultural or socioeconomic contexts on the relationships presented in the model. Practical implications The article includes several practical implications about the relationships between willingness-to-change and development culture. It sheds light on the controversial link between EO and new product exploration in small enterprises. Originality/value The present study expands current knowledge on the EO–new product exploration relationship by investigating some key mediating variables such as willingness-to-change and development culture in an under-researched context such as UAE.
An Investigation on the Effect of Light Color and Stocking Density on Some Blood Parameters of Broilers and Layers

2in the room. The results showed a significant interaction (P< 0.05) of light color and stocking density on Red blood cells (RBC) and White blood cells (WBC) under BGL at 12 birds/m 2 and Platelets (PLT) under 15 birds/m 2 , whereas hemoglobin concentration (Hb) and packed cell volume (PCV) showed a significant difference under BGL treatment. No differences were revealed in all blood traits of layers under different light colors and bird densities except for WBC in layers reared under WL.
Conditional information analysis

We propose a conditional information analysis in which information on important patterns is selectively detected. The selection is realized by /spl alpha/-information which can be used to maximize or minimize selectively conditional information, according to the important or characteristics of input patterns. The information analysis was applied to two feature detection problems: an alphabet character recognition and medical data. In both problems, experimental results confirmed that conditional information is flexibly maximized or minimized, depending upon input patterns. They also showed that the conditional information is a good measure to distinguish between different classes.
Foreign Ownership, Manager Monitoring, and Firm Value: Evidence from Japanese Firms

We investigate the effects of foreign ownership on a monitoring mechanism, a monitoring outcome, and firm value for a sample of Japanese firms in a recent period. We find that foreign ownership is (i) significantly positive associated with the appointment of independent directors, (ii) significantly negatively associated with both accrual and real earnings management, and (iii) significantly positively associated with firm value. Our results are robust to an extensive set of control variables and controls for endogeneity between foreign ownership and firm value. Overall, our evidence suggests that foreign investors enhance monitoring, reduce agency costs, and enhance firm value.
Programmable Multiring Butterworth Filters With Automated Resonance and Coupling Tuning

We demonstrate a bandwidth and wavelength programmable silicon double microring optical filter that can be automatically, accurately, and repeatably set to an optimal Butterworth shape for maximum passband flatness. The algorithm uses a critical coupling condition to set the Butterworth shapes, followed by bandwidth tuning using a calibration dataset for the coupling coefficients. Silicon microrings with independently tunable phase shifts and coupling coefficients were designed for and fabricated at a foundry to demonstrate the method. Fabrication variations and thermal crosstalk are also compensated automatically.
A low-voltage, low-power CMOS fifth-order elliptic GM-C filter for baseband mobile, wireless communication

The design and performance of a rail-to-rail low-voltage CMOS fifth-order elliptic low-pass GM-C filter for baseband mobile communication are presented. The operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) used in this filter is a low-voltage rail-to-rail voltage-to-current converter (V-I converter). In this V-I converter, an N-type V-I converter cell is connected in parallel with its counterpart, a P-type V-I converter cell, to achieve common-mode (CM) rail-to-rail operation. Two maximum-current selecting circuits and an output current subtraction circuit are utilized to generate constant-g/sub m/ output currents for this OTA. This fifth-order elliptic low-pass GM-C filter operates at a supply voltage of 3 V and has a cutoff frequency of 280 to 405 kHz. It provides up to 700 mV/sub pp/ output with 1% total harmonic distortion (THD), dissipates 2.48 mW at V/sub cm/=1.5 V, and occupies 1.62 mm/sup 2/ in a 1.2-/spl mu/m CMOS technology.
Some Analytic Tools for the Design of Relational Database Systems

Making use of arguments from information theory it is shown that a boolean function can represent multivalued dependencies. A method is described by which a hypergraph can be constructed to represent dependencies in a relation. A new normal form called generalized Boyce-Codd normal form is defined. An explicit formula is derived for representing dependencies that would remain in a projection of a relation. A definition of join is given which makes the derivation of many theoretical results easy. Another definition given is that of information in a relation. The information gets conserved whenever lossless decompositions are involved. It is shown that the use of null elements is important in handling data.
Un modèle Bayésien pour l'Agrégation des documents XML

In this paper, we are interested in aggregated search in structured XML documents. We present a structured information retrieval model based on the Bayesian networks theory. Relations query-terms and terms-elements are modeled through probability. In this model, the user’s query starts a process of propagation to recover the elements. Thus, instead of retrieving a list of elements that are likely to answer partially the user’s query, our objective is to build a virtual elements that contain relevant, non-redundant and complementary elements, that are likely to answer better the query that elements taken separatelly. We evaluated our approach using INEX 2005 collection and presented some empirical results for evaluating the impact of the aggregation approach. MOTS-CLES : recherche agregee, reseaux bayesiens, redondance, complementairite.
Financial Systems, Growth, and Volatility: Searching for the Perfect Fit

This paper builds on recent research examining the impact of finance on growth, looking at the effect of the financial system on volatility in gross domestic product per capita and consumption per capita growth. It also examines the impact of credit on the composition of growth. The findings show that financial development smooths growth in gross domestic product and consumption per capita, but only up to a point. At high levels of credit, further credit is positively associated with volatility even after controlling for the quality of institutions and periods of financial crises. In large financial systems, finance may not help individuals smooth consumption volatility. The threshold at which finance's effect may be volatility enhancing may be lower than previously thought. In terms of the impact on growth, total credit (and credit to firms) has a nonlinear relationship, with rising credit supporting higher growth up to a point, beyond which the additional impact of finance on growth is negative. This can be explained by finance flowing into less productive activities (or drawing other resources into less productive activities). In addition, household credit is negatively related to manufacturing sector growth, although credit to firms has a positive relationship to manufacturing growth. This may be explained by the fact that much of household credit is used to finance the consumption (including imports) of goods and services broadly (not just manufacturing sector goods) or investment in housing.
Modification of the Pig CFTR Gene Mediated by Small Fragment Homologous Replacement

Abstract: The generation of a pig model of cystic fibrosis (CF) is a multistep process. Initial steps in this process involved the design and cloning of a small DNA fragment (SDF) or large oligodeoxynucleotide (LODN) that contains the F508del mutation and a silent restriction fragment length polymorphism causing mutation. This SDF/LODN was transfected into wild‐type (WT) pig fetal fibroblast with the intention of modifying the pig genomic DNA by small fragment homologous replacement (SFHR). The targeted deletion (F508del) was detected in a subpopulation of transfected cells by allele‐specific polymerase chain reaction (AS‐PCR)
Molybdenum as a Micronutrient for Nitrobacter

Finstein, M. S. (University of California, Davis), and C. C. Delwiche. Molybdenum as a micronutrient for Nitrobacter. J. Bacteriol. 89:123–128. 1965. —The requirement of Nitrobacter for molybdenum was investigated by use of a medium purified by chemical means, as well as by depletion by the prior growth of this autotrophic bacterium. During 5 days of growth, added molybdenum induced an approximately 11-fold increase in both nitrite utilization and cell-mass development. In short-term studies, maximal response was obtained with concentrations as low as 10−9m. No other metal tested substituted for molybdenum. It is estimated that a minimum of 2,000 atoms of molybdenum is required for the synthesis of one Nitrobacter cell. Molybdenum did not directly influence the thermodynamic efficiency of Nitrobacter. The efficiency of molybdenum-deficient cultures and of cultures supplied with the micronutrient declined equally during the early stage of development, despite large differences in the amount of nitrite consumed. After the utilization of about 100 μmoles of nitrite per ml, cultures supplied with molybdenum became relatively less efficient. A procedure is described whereby large masses of Nitrobacter cells can be obtained with relative ease.
Is Closed Communication a Major Hindrance in an Enterprise Resource Planning Implementation? A Case Study of an Indonesian Family-Owned Company

The high risk of failure associated with the implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) system relates to resistance among employees by rejecting or sabotaging the system. Communication has been identified as a critical success factor on ERP implementation in several studies, whereas, many others do not depict any relation at all. The current study, however, argues that communication regarding the benefits of ERP system is the most critical success factor for the accomplishment of ERP implementation in family-owned company in Indonesia. Empirical data from 116 ERP users were examined by using logistic regression, which reveals that communication has significant negative effect on ERP implementation. It means the more company practices closed communication, the lesser success of ERP implementation will be achieved. Findings show that closed communication leads to poor coordination between departments which reduces the speed of problem solving in the field and causes ERP implementation in PT ABC to not be fully utilized.
High-pressure strucfure of anorthite

The crystal structure of anorthite, CaAlrsiror, has been determined by refinement to single-crystal X-ray diffraction data collected at 1 bar, 25 kbar, and 3l kbar. Over this pressure range there are no significant reductions in Al4 or Si4 bond lengths, and no significant changes in GT-O bond angles. The phase transition at about 26.1 kbar is accompanied by the almost complete disappearance of c and d reflections, suggesting that the high-pressure phase has 11 symmetry. Further evidence for this symmetry change is provided by the structural analysis based upon the data set collected at 3l kbar that ihows single sites for the Ca atoms, in contrast to the split sites observed in the 11 refinements of the low-pressure phase. The mechanism of the phase transition may be described as the tilting ofessentially rigid tetrahedra.
Are Screening Guidelines for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms Being Implemented within a Large VA Primary Health Care System?

Abstract Background: Screening men aged 65 to 75 years who have ever smoked for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) has been recommended to reduce AAA-related mortality. However, it is unknown whether the evidence-based recommendation has been implemented within primary care. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether screening for AAA is being performed within a large Veterans Affairs (VA) primary health care system. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study examining AAA screening practices within the VA Connecticut Healthcare System. Any of the following imaging procedures were considered screening tests for AAA: abdominal ultrasound, computed tomography (CT) of the abdomen, CT colography, or magnetic resonance imaging of the abdomen. Results: A total of 279 patients were included in the cohort: 83 (30%) were offered screening for AAA or had recent imaging performed that would have allowed for detection of an AAA. Seventy-three patients (26%) underwent AAA screening or had recent imaging of their abdomens, while 10 patients either refused imaging or were awaiting ultrasonographic screening at the time of this study. Of the 73 patients who had undergone screening or other abdominal imaging evaluations, 9 (12.3%) were found to have AAAs. Conclusions: There appears to be a low rate of screening for AAA within 1 primary care setting in a large VA health care system. If this finding is replicated within other VA primary health care settings, then the VA health care system should consider implementing a performance metric within primary care to improve AAA screening rates.
Interaction patterns among global software development learning teams

This paper describes a study of the impact of communication behaviors on the performance of global software teams. Using a content analysis technique developed by [10], the researchers first characterized the asynchronous communications among student teams in Panama, Turkey and the US as they worked to complete a global software development project. Cluster analysis was then used to identify groups with similar communication patterns, which is defined as the proportion of time spent on each of the behaviors. Results suggest that particular patterns of communication behaviors are associated with higher performance. More specifically, it appears that communications related to the “contributing” category seem to have the strongest relationship to high performance.
Elevated Cytosolic Na+ Decreases Mitochondrial Ca2+ Uptake During Excitation–Contraction Coupling and Impairs Energetic Adaptation in Cardiac Myocytes

Mitochondrial Ca2+ ([Ca2+]m) regulates oxidative phosphorylation and thus contributes to energy supply and demand matching in cardiac myocytes. Mitochondria take up Ca2+ via the Ca2+ uniporter (MCU) and extrude it through the mitochondrial Na+/Ca2+ exchanger (mNCE). It is controversial whether mitochondria take up Ca2+ rapidly, on a beat-to-beat basis, or slowly, by temporally integrating cytosolic Ca2+ ([Ca2+]c) transients. Furthermore, although mitochondrial Ca2+ efflux is governed by mNCE, it is unknown whether elevated intracellular Na+ ([Na+]i) affects mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake and bioenergetics. To monitor [Ca2+]m, mitochondria of guinea pig cardiac myocytes were loaded with rhod-2–acetoxymethyl ester (rhod-2 AM), and [Ca2+]c was monitored with indo-1 after dialyzing rhod-2 out of the cytoplasm. [Ca2+]c transients, elicited by voltage-clamp depolarizations, were accompanied by fast [Ca2+]m transients, whose amplitude (Δ) correlated linearly with Δ[Ca2+]c. Under β-adrenergic stimulation, [Ca2+]m decay was ≈2.5-fold slower than that of [Ca2+]c, leading to diastolic accumulation of [Ca2+]m when amplitude or frequency of Δ[Ca2+]c increased. The MCU blocker Ru360 reduced Δ[Ca2+]m and increased Δ[Ca2+]c, whereas the mNCE inhibitor CGP-37157 potentiated diastolic [Ca2+]m accumulation. Elevating [Na+]i from 5 to 15 mmol/L accelerated mitochondrial Ca2+ decay, thus decreasing systolic and diastolic [Ca2+]m. In response to gradual or abrupt changes of workload, reduced nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide (NADH) levels were maintained at 5 mmol/L [Na+]i, but at 15 mmol/L, the NADH pool was partially oxidized. The results indicate that (1) mitochondria take up Ca2+ rapidly and contribute to fast buffering during a [Ca2+]c transient; and (2) elevated [Na+]i impairs mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake, with consequent effects on energy supply and demand matching. The latter effect may have implications for cardiac diseases with elevated [Na+]i.
Postmenopausal Osteoporosis

OBJECTIVE To describe the etiology, diagnosis, and nonprescription interventions for the prevention and treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis. BACKGROUND Osteoporosis affects more than 20 million individuals in North America and is responsible for more than 1.5 million fractures in the United States. About 50% of white women in the United States will have an osteoporotic fracture during their lifetime. SUMMARY Postmenopausal osteoporosis is the result of estrogen deficiency, which results in up-regulation of several cytokines and excessive bone resorption. Various bone mineral density (BMD) testing methods are available, but the World Health Organization based the diagnosis of postmenopausal osteoporosis on the presence of a BMD T-score that is 2.5 standard deviations or greater below the mean for young women as assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) at the hip, spine, and mid-radius. Ensuring adequate calcium and vitamin D intake is the cornerstone of any regimen aimed at preventing or treating postmenopausal osteoporosis. Other nonpharmacologic measures address modifiable risk factors for the disease and include exercise, smoking cessation, reducing consumption of caffeine and alcohol, and avoiding medications known to decrease bone mass. CONCLUSIONS Postmenopausal osteoporosis is the result of estrogen deficiency and excessive bone resorption. Ensuring intake combined with lifestyle changes to address modifiable risk factors for the disease may help in the prevention and treatment of this condition.
From Personal Trust to Professional Behavior: A Study of the Impact of Trust and Enjoyment on Behavior Intentions in Business Analytics

ii Acknowledgments. iv List of Tables . viii List of Illustrations . ix List of Abbreviations . x Chapter 1: Introduction . 1 Justification . 1 Research Purpose and Research Questions . 5 Potential Research Contributions . 6 Dissertation Structure. 8 Chapter 2: Literature Review . 9 IT Consumerization . 9 Business Analytics/Big Data. 10 Trust in Information Systems. 11 Cognitive Trust/trusting beliefs . 12 Emotional Trust . 14 Antecedents to trust. 16 Consequences of Trust . 21 Theoretical Model and Hypotheses . 23
Investigating the Applicability of a Moving Target Defense for SCADA systems

As computer attacks become more sophisticated and the rise of advanced persistent threats, moving target defense (MTD) is a new strategy being developed to reduce attacker success and provide for system resiliency. This work has been focused on standard IT infrastructures. In this paper we put forward how current MTD techniques may be applicable to the SCADA environment.
Allelic polymorphism and site‐specific recombination in the opc locus of Neisseria meningitidis

The opc gene is widespread in epidemic and endemic Neisseria meningitidis, but most strains of certain epidemic clones (ET‐37 complex, Cluster A4) and a few random endemic isolates lack an opc gene. Four percent of the 1148 bp that contain opc plus the surrounding intergenic region was polymorphic (18 alleles), and many of the alleles contained a 230 bp insertion at a fixed location in the intergenic region. The presence or absence of the insertion reflects site‐specific recombination. The alleles are stably inherited within clonal groupings for up to at least 50 years, with rare cases of horizontal genetic exchange. Most statistical methods indicated significant intragenic recombination events within this dataset.