bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Reaching an entrepreneurial management system of amoebas. A qualitative insight into the European experiences
Authors: Urban Wiesław , Czerska Joanna 
Published: March 2016

Abstract
The aim of the study is an assessment of the Amoeba Management System (AMS) introduction advancements in some European companies. The study takes the practically focused research approach. The approaches, achievements and phases whilst introducing the AMS principles by companies are observed and critically assessed. First insight into the challenges of AMS introduction is taken basing on critical study of the literature output. The scientific studies and managerial publications are taken into consideration. The empirical part of the study is based on the qualitative approach. A multiple case study methodology is employed. The research objects are three companies, one of them operates in Sweden, the next two in Poland. Each of them have different experiences in AMS implementation, they also manifest different management styles and habits. The study demonstrates that AMS is a very prospective management methodology which can support companies in employees commitment during their journey towards operational excellence. The analysis results show different motivations for AMS introduction as well as different development paths, these are harmonized with different management styles in companies and culture occurring in countries. The study is particularly valuable because this is one of the first empirical investigations of AMS implementation in European companies. In the field of theory the study proposes the four level scale for amoebas system maturity. This scale allows to classify companies following AMS principles and, at the same time, this scale is also the kind of path of AMS implementation. The study points out basic tools for companies which support AMS implementation. These tools are already known in management literature, but experience of investigated companies shows that they are fundamental for successful AMS implementation.
Using radar interferometry and SBAS technique to detect surface subsidence relating to coal mining in Upper Silesia from 1993-2000 and 2003-2010
Authors: Nádudvari Ádám 
Published: March 2016

Abstract
In the presented research ERS1-2 and Envisat ASAR archive data were used for the periods 1993 – 2000 and 2003 – 2010. The radar images were acquired over Upper Silesia in southern Poland. DinSAR (Differential InSAR) and SBAS (Small Baseline Subset) methods were applied for the detection of the most subsided areas. The DinSAR images were layer stacked for an image using 26 interferometry pairs of ERS1-2 SAR and 16 pairs from Envisat ASAR images in an ascending-descending orbit combination. The stacking of these images showed the most subsided parts of these cities even under low coherent areas, but the results are less precise. In the Upper Silesian Coal Basin, intensive underground coal exploitation has resulted in several surface deformations under Bytom (~8-17 km2), Piekary Śląskie (~9-15 km2), Ruda Śląska (~32-42 km2) and Katowice (~20-23 km2) with 25-40 cm of subsidence (in general) in the studied time periods. The SBAS technique has also shown that coal mining caused subsidence in the cities of Bytom, Katowice, and Piekary Śląskie of 5-7 cm/yr. The presented SBAS method did not work for low coherent areas, e.g. dense forested areas. DInSAR data also pointed to several decreasingly less active mining areas, which relate to the mine closures in Bytom and Ruda Śląska, which is also verified by the time series analysis.
Metropolitan aspirations of cities in East Poland during the process of their development
Authors: Rodzoś Jolanta , Wesołowska Monika 
Published: March 2016

Abstract
Białystok, Lublin, and Rzeszów are the three largest cities in eastern Poland, and the capitals of their provinces. They each have metropolitan ambitions, and based on partner agreements with the authorities of their neighbouring districts they initiated the establishment of metropolitan areas where they became the main centres. This article undertakes an analysis of a number of elements of each of these metropolitan areas in order to compare their position, and to give an assessment of the development of their metropolitan functions. The analysis concerned their demographic, social, economic and cultural parameters. Results of this research show that none of these analysed cities has yet developed sufficient functions coherent with the European metropolitan network. Each of them is a strong regional centre of national importance. Statistical analysis of the data shows no strong leader among these three metropolitan areas. The weak position of the Białystok Metropolitan Area is evident due to its particularly disturbing demographic processes which offer no chance for population development in the area or growth of its social potential. The Rzeszów Metropolitan Area maintains the best social-demographic and economic indices and it is also the most compact, coherent area with the least distance to its metropolitan centre.
Do Strategic Alliances, Acquisitions, and R&D Investments Act as Complements or Substitutes?
Authors: Martynov Aleksey 
Published: March 2016

Abstract
This paper studies possible complementarities and substitution effects between such strategic choices as alliances, acquisitions and internal R&D investments. The findings indicate that a firm’s absorptive capacity affects the presence of complementarities and substitution effects among those strategic choices. Firms with high absorptive capacity exhibit substitution effects between alliances and acquisitions and between alliances and internal R&D investments. Firms with high absorptive capacity also exhibit complementarities between acquisitions and additional R&D investments. These results were obtained from panel data of large and medium U.S. companies spanning the years 1998-2009. The results are robust to the use of different measures of performance: profitability, market-to-book value, and sales growth. This paper contributes to our understanding of the role of absorptive capacity for the optimal choice of inter-organizational strategy vs. greater internal R&D investments.
Computational Intelligence for Estimating Cost of New Product Development
Authors: Relich Marcin 
Published: March 2016

AbstractThis paper is concerned with estimating cost of various new product development phases with the use of computational intelligence techniques such as neural networks and fuzzy neural system. Companies tend to develop many new products simultaneously and a limited project budget imposes the selection of the most promising new product development projects. The evaluation of new product projects requires cost estimation. The model of cost estimation contains product design, prototype manufacturing and testing, and it is specified in terms of a constraint satisfaction problem. The illustrative example presents comparative analysis of estimating product development cost using computational intelligence techniques and multiple regression model.
Summable Family in a Commutative Group
Authors: Coghetto Roland 
Published: March 2016

Summary
Hölzl et al. showed that it was possible to build “a generic theory of limits based on filters” in Isabelle/HOL [22], [7]. In this paper we present our formalization of this theory in Mizar [6].
First, we compare the notions of the limit of a family indexed by a directed set, or a sequence, in a metric space [30], a real normed linear space [29] and a linear topological space [14] with the concept of the limit of an image filter [16].
Then, following Bourbaki [9], [10] (TG.III, §5.1 Familles sommables dans un groupe commutatif), we conclude by defining the summable families in a commutative group (“additive notation” in [17]), using the notion of filters.
Construction of Measure from Semialgebra of Sets1
Authors: Endou Noboru 
Published: March 2016

Summary
In our previous article [22], we showed complete additivity as a condition for extension of a measure. However, this condition premised the existence of a σ-field and the measure on it. In general, the existence of the measure on σ-field is not obvious. On the other hand, the proof of existence of a measure on a semialgebra is easier than in the case of a σ-field. Therefore, in this article we define a measure (pre-measure) on a semialgebra and extend it to a measure on a σ-field. Furthermore, we give a σ-measure as an extension of the measure on a σ-field. We follow [24], [10], and [31].
Bifurcation Analysis and Dynamic Behaviour of an Inverted Pendulum with Bounded Control
Authors: Nikolov Svetoslav , Nedev Valentin 
Published: March 2016

Abstract
This paper presents an investigation on the behaviour of con- ventional inverted pendulum with an inertia disk in its free extreme. The system is actuated by means of torques applied to the disk by a DC mo- tor, mounted on the pendulum’s arm. Thus, the system is underactuated since the pendulum can rotate freely around its pivot point. The dynam- ical model is given with three ordinary nonlinear differential equations. Using Poincare-Andronov-Hopf’s theory, we find a new analytical formula for the first Lyapunov’s value at the boundary of stability. It enables one to study in detail the bifurcation behaviour of the above dynamic system. We check the validity of our analytical results on the first Lyapunov’s value by numerical simulations. Hence, we find some new results.
The Chemokine CCL2 Mediates the Seizure-enhancing Effects of Systemic Inflammation
Authors: Cerri Chiara , Genovesi Sacha , Allegra Manuela , Pistillo Francesco , Püntener Ursula , Guglielmotti Angelo , Perry V. Hugh , Bozzi Yuri , Caleo Matteo 
Published: March 2016

Epilepsy is a chronic disorder characterized by spontaneous recurrent seizures. Brain inflammation is increasingly recognized as a critical factor for seizure precipitation, but the molecular mediators of such proconvulsant effects are only partly understood. The chemokine CCL2 is one of the most elevated inflammatory mediators in patients with pharmacoresistent epilepsy, but its contribution to seizure generation remains unexplored. Here, we show, for the first time, a crucial role for CCL2 and its receptor CCR2 in seizure control. We imposed a systemic inflammatory challenge via lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administration in mice with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. We found that LPS dramatically increased seizure frequency and upregulated the expression of many inflammatory proteins, including CCL2. To test the proconvulsant role of CCL2, we administered systemically either a CCL2 transcription inhibitor (bindarit) or a selective antagonist of the CCR2 receptor (RS102895). We found that interference with CCL2 signaling potently suppressed LPS-induced seizures. Intracerebral administration of anti-CCL2 antibodies also abrogated LPS-mediated seizure enhancement in chronically epileptic animals. Our results reveal that CCL2 is a key mediator in the molecular pathways that link peripheral inflammation with neuronal hyperexcitability.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTSubstantial evidence points to a role for inflammation in epilepsy, but currently there is little insight as to how inflammatory pathways impact on seizure generation. Here, we examine the molecular mediators linking peripheral inflammation with seizure susceptibility in mice with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. We show that a systemic inflammatory challenge via lipopolysaccharide administration potently enhances seizure frequency and upregulates the expression of the chemokine CCL2. Remarkably, selective pharmacological interference with CCL2 or its receptor CCR2 suppresses lipopolysaccharide-induced seizure enhancement. Thus, CCL2/CCR2 signaling plays a key role in linking systemic inflammation with seizure susceptibility.
Multiplexed Population Coding of Stimulus Properties by Leech Mechanosensory Cells
Authors: Pirschel Friederice , Kretzberg Jutta 
Published: March 2016

Sensory coding has long been discussed in terms of a dichotomy between spike timing and rate coding. However, recent studies found that in primate mechanoperception and other sensory systems, spike rates and timing of cell populations complement each other. They simultaneously carry information about different stimulus properties in a multiplexed way. Here, we present evidence for multiplexed encoding of tactile skin stimulation in the tiny population of leech mechanoreceptors, consisting of only 10 cells of two types with overlapping receptive fields. Each mechanoreceptor neuron of the leech varies spike count and response latency to both touch intensity and location, leading to ambiguous responses to different stimuli. Nevertheless, three different stimulus estimation techniques consistently reveal that the neuronal population allows reliable decoding of both stimulus properties. For the two mechanoreceptor types, the transient responses of T (touch) cells and the sustained responses of P (pressure) cells, the relative timing of the first spikes of two mechanoreceptors encodes stimulus location, whereas summed spike counts represent touch intensity. Differences between the cell types become evident in responses to combined stimulus properties. The best estimation performance for stimulus location is obtained from the relative first spike timing of the faster and temporally more precise T cells. Simultaneously, the sustained responses of P cells indicate touch intensity by summed spike counts and stimulus duration by the duration of spike responses. The striking similarities of these results with previous findings on primate mechanosensory afferents suggest multiplexed population coding as a general principle of somatosensation.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTMultiplexing, the simultaneous encoding of different stimulus properties by distinct neuronal response features, has recently been suggested as a mechanism used in several sensory systems, including primate somatosensation. While a rigorous experimental verification of the multiplexing hypothesis is difficult to accomplish in a complex vertebrate system, it is feasible for a small population of individually characterized leech neurons. Monitoring the responses of all four mechanoreceptors innervating a patch of skin revealed striking similarities between touch encoding in the primate and the leech: summed spike counts represent stimulus intensity, whereas relative timing of first spikes encodes stimulus location. These findings suggest that multiplexed population coding is a general mechanism of touch encoding common to species as different as man and worm.
ABCA7 Deficiency Accelerates Amyloid-β Generation and Alzheimer's Neuronal Pathology
Authors: Sakae Nobutaka , Liu Chia-Chen , Shinohara Mitsuru , Frisch-Daiello Jessica , Ma Li , Yamazaki Yu , Tachibana Masaya , Younkin Linda , Kurti Aishe , Carrasquillo Minerva M. , Zou Fanggeng , Sevlever Daniel , Bisceglio Gina , Gan Ming , Fol Romain , Knight Patrick , Wang Miao , Han Xianlin , Fryer John D. , Fitzgerald Michael L. , Ohyagi Yasumasa , Younkin Steven G. , Bu Guojun , Kanekiyo Takahisa 
Published: March 2016

In Alzheimer's disease (AD), the accumulation and deposition of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides in the brain is a central event. Aβ is cleaved from amyloid precursor protein (APP) by β-secretase and γ-secretase mainly in neurons. Although mutations inAPP,PS1, orPS2cause early-onset familial AD,ABCA7encoding ATP-binding cassette transporter A7 is one of the susceptibility genes for late-onset AD (LOAD), in which itsloss-of-functionvariants increase the disease risk. ABCA7 is homologous to a major lipid transporter ABCA1 and is highly expressed in neurons and microglia in the brain. Here, we show that ABCA7 deficiency altered brain lipid profile and impaired memory in ABCA7 knock-out (Abca7−/−) mice. When bred to amyloid model APP/PS1 mice, plaque burden was exacerbated by ABCA7 deficit.In vivomicrodialysis studies indicated that the clearance rate of Aβ was unaltered. Interestingly, ABCA7 deletion facilitated the processing of APP to Aβ by increasing the levels of β-site APP cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1) and sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2 (SREBP2) in primary neurons and mouse brains. Knock-down of ABCA7 expression in neurons caused endoplasmic reticulum stress highlighted by increased level of protein kinase R-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK) and increased phosphorylation of eukaryotic initiation factor 2α (eIF2α). In the brains of APP/PS1;Abca7−/−mice, the level of phosphorylated extracellular regulated kinase (ERK) was also significantly elevated. Together, our results reveal novel pathways underlying the association of ABCA7 dysfunction and LOAD pathogenesis.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTGene variants inABCA7encoding ATP-binding cassette transporter A7 are associated with the increased risk for late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD). Importantly, we found the altered brain lipid profile and impaired memory in ABCA7 knock-out mice. The accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides cleaved from amyloid precursor protein (APP) in the brain is a key event in AD pathogenesis and we also found that ABCA7 deficit exacerbated brain Aβ deposition in amyloid AD model APP/PS1 mice. Mechanistically, we found that ABCA7 deletion facilitated the processing of APP and Aβ production by increasing the levels of β-secretase 1 (BACE1) in primary neurons and mouse brains without affecting the Aβ clearance rate in APP/PS1 mice. Our study demonstrates a novel mechanism underlying how dysfunctions of ABCA7 contribute to the risk for AD.
Auditory Brainstem Response Latency in Noise as a Marker of Cochlear Synaptopathy
Authors: Mehraei Golbarg , Hickox Ann E. , Bharadwaj Hari M. , Goldberg Hannah , Verhulst Sarah , Liberman M. Charles , Shinn-Cunningham Barbara G. 
Published: March 2016

Evidence from animal and human studies suggests that moderate acoustic exposure, causing only transient threshold elevation, can nonetheless cause “hidden hearing loss” that interferes with coding of suprathreshold sound. Such noise exposure destroys synaptic connections between cochlear hair cells and auditory nerve fibers; however, there is no clinical test of this synaptopathy in humans. In animals, synaptopathy reduces the amplitude of auditory brainstem response (ABR) wave-I. Unfortunately, ABR wave-I is difficult to measure in humans, limiting its clinical use. Here, using analogous measurements in humans and mice, we show that the effect of masking noise on the latency of the more robust ABR wave-V mirrors changes in ABR wave-I amplitude. Furthermore, in our human cohort, the effect of noise on wave-V latency predicts perceptual temporal sensitivity. Our results suggest that measures of the effects of noise on ABR wave-V latency can be used to diagnose cochlear synaptopathy in humans.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTAlthough there are suspicions that cochlear synaptopathy affects humans with normal hearing thresholds, no one has yet reported a clinical measure that is a reliable marker of such loss. By combining human and animal data, we demonstrate that the latency of auditory brainstem response wave-V in noise reflects auditory nerve loss. This is the first study of human listeners with normal hearing thresholds that links individual differences observed in behavior and auditory brainstem response timing to cochlear synaptopathy. These results can guide development of a clinical test to reveal this previously unknown form of noise-induced hearing loss in humans.
Respiratory Rate During the First 24 Hours of Life in Healthy Term Infants
Authors: Tveiten Lars , Diep Lien My , Halvorsen Thomas , Markestad Trond 
Published: March 2016

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE:Abnormal respiratory rate (RR) is a key symptom of disease in the newborn. The aim of this study was to establish the reference range for RR during the first 24 hours of life in healthy infants born at term.METHODS:Infants were included at the hospital postnatal ward when time permitted. During sleep or a defined quiet state, RR was counted at 2, 4, 8, 16, and 24 hours by placing the bell of a stethoscope in front of the nostrils and mouth for 60 seconds. Data on maternal health, pregnancies, and births were obtained from medical records and the Medical Birth Registry of Norway.RESULTS:The study included 953 infants. Median RRs were 46 breaths/minute at 2 hours, thereafter 42 to 44 breaths/minute. The 95th percentile was 65 breaths/minute at 2 hours, thereafter 58 to 60 breaths/minute. The fifth percentile was 30 to 32 breaths/minute. Within these limits, the intraindividual variation was wide. The overall mean RR was 5.2 (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.7 to 5.7, P &lt; .001) breaths/minute higher while awake than during sleep, 3.1 (95% CI, 1.5 to 4.8, P &lt; .001) breaths/minute higher after heavy meconium staining of the amniotic fluid, and 1.6 (95% CI, 0.8 to 2.4, P &lt; .001) breaths/minute higher in boys than girls. RR did not differ for infants born after vaginal versus cesarean deliveries.CONCLUSIONS:The RR percentiles established from this study allow for a scientifically based use of RR when assessing newborn infants born at term.
Attentional bias in excessive Internet gamers: Experimental investigations using an addiction Stroop and a visual probe
Authors: Jeromin Franziska , Nyenhuis Nele , Barke Antonia 
Published: March 2016

Background and aims
Internet Gaming Disorder is included in the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th edition) as a disorder that merits further research. The diagnostic criteria are based on those for Substance Use Disorder and Gambling Disorder. Excessive gamblers and persons with Substance Use Disorder show attentional biases towards stimuli related to their addictions. We investigated whether excessive Internet gamers show a similar attentional bias, by using two established experimental paradigms.

Methods
We measured reaction times of excessive Internet gamers and non-gamers (N = 51, 23.7 ± 2.7 years) by using an addiction Stroop with computer-related and neutral words, as well as a visual probe with computer-related and neutral pictures. Mixed design analyses of variance with the between-subjects factor group (gamer/non-gamer) and the within-subjects factor stimulus type (computer-related/neutral) were calculated for the reaction times as well as for valence and familiarity ratings of the stimulus material.

Results
In the addiction Stroop, an interaction for group × word type was found: Only gamers showed longer reaction times to computer-related words compared to neutral words, thus exhibiting an attentional bias. In the visual probe, no differences in reaction time between computer-related and neutral pictures were found in either group, but the gamers were faster overall.

Conclusions
An attentional bias towards computer-related stimuli was found in excessive Internet gamers, by using an addiction Stroop but not by using a visual probe. A possible explanation for the discrepancy could lie in the fact that the visual probe may have been too easy for the gamers.