Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quantitative Analysis of Cell-free Epstein-Barr Virus Genome Copy Number in Patients with EBV-associated Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis

To determine whether the EBV genome content in serum or plasma reflects clinical features and outcome in EBV-associated hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (EBV-HLH), we quantified the cell-free EBV genome copy number by real-time PCR in 38 patients with EBV-HLH, and compared this to the values from 15 patients with infectious mononucleosis (IM). The median (range) cell-free EBV genome copy number at diagnosis was 3.0 × 10 3 (undetectable m 5.5 × 10 7 ) copies/ml in EBV-HLH, which was significantly higher than the 6.6 × 10 1 (undetectable m 1.0 × 10 3 ) copies/ml in IM (P =0.0008). We serially analyzed cell-free EBV genome copy number in 10 cases of EBV-HLH up to 4 months from diagnosis. In four patients who achieved remission, the EBV genome became undetectable soon after starting therapy. In the remaining six patients who responded poorly to therapy, the EBV genome copy number in the serum or plasma remained at high levels except for one case. In addition, we confirmed that the EBV genome became undetectable after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in 4 EBV-HLH cases. These results suggest that the quantitative analysis of cell-free EBV genome copy number is useful for evaluating disease activity and for predicting the response to therapy in EBV-HLH.
Business plans in bank decision-making when financing new ventures in South Africa

This article focuses on the position that South African commercial banks adopt when evaluating an application for finance of new business ventures. The role and importance of the business plan in the decision-making process is highlighted and investigated. This article begins to qualitatively describe the decision-making processes, criteria and processes instituted by the four major South African commercial banks that between them serve 96 per cent of the banking services for small business. It then questions the barriers placed on applicants applying for finance and recommends how these barriers can be removed. The article concludes that banks finance business ventures with poor potential for success if the applicant is creditworthy or has the necessary security rather than assist applicants with good plans and ventures with potential, but lacking sufficient security.
A longitudinal study of cycloplegic refraction in a cohort of 350 Japanese schoolchildren. Cycloplegic refraction

We performed a 5 year longitudinal study of cycloplegic refraction in a cohort of 350 Japanese schoolchildren from 6 to 11 years of age in a rural area of southwestern Japan. The spherical refraction was measured under cycloplegia with an infrared autorefractometer. The grouped data from 350 right eyes showed leptokurtic frequency distributions, and the median was +0.91 D at age 6 yrs, shifted towards emmetropia with increasing age and reached +0.34 D at age 11 years. The prevalence of myopia of −1.0 D or more was 0.3%, 0.6%, 2.0%, 2.6%, 2.9%, and 4.9% from age 6 to 11 years, and the prevalence of myopia of more than −2.0 D was less than 1% at age 6–9 years and thereafter increased up to 6.0% at age 11 years. Linear regression analysis for the longitudinal refractive data revealed that 247 (70.6%) of the 350 eyes exhibited first‐order linear decrease in hyperopia or increase in myopia with an average annual change of −0.15 D/year, 14 (4%) showed second‐order curvilinear change, and 89 (25.4%) remained unchanged. In the eyes with linear change, there was a significant relationship between the refraction at age 6 years and the rate of subsequent change such that the less hyperopic or emmetropic at age 6 years, the larger the change. The refraction at birth was estimated by extrapolation of the linear regression analysis results, implying that 88% of newborns have hyperopia of +1.0 D or greater and myopia is rare. These results indicate the current state of refraction in Japanese schoolchildren of a rural area.
Global Value Chains and Open Networks: The Case of Italian Industrial Districts

Italian district small and medium enterprises (SMEs) developed aggressive strategies to extend their sales networks and supply chains abroad. Literature on districts offered alternative explanations about the impacts of internationalization on local manufacturing systems. The authors consider the evolution of Italian districts in the framework of global value chain approach, focusing on the role of leading firms. Based on a survey of 650 Italian SMEs and financial indicators, the paper describes the rise of a new district firm model, the open network, which becomes a key node of global value chains. The paper also analyses the relationships among internationalization, innovation strategies and performance of SMEs.
Wellbeing of professionals at entry into the labour market: a follow up survey of medicine and architecture students

STUDY OBJECTIVE Knowledge about changes in wellbeing during the passage from professional studies to working life is scarce and controversial. This study examined these changes among university graduates with good and poor employment prospects. DESIGN A longitudinal study with four postal questionnaire surveys of a closed cohort. SETTING Cohorts of graduating Finnish physicians and architects were followed up from 1994 to 1998. In 1994 Finland's national economy was still struggling to break loose from a period of severe recession, and unemployment rates were high even among educated professionals. As economic growth eventually got under way the unemployment situation began to ease for physicians but not for architects. PARTICIPANTS Architecture students (n = 189) from Finland's three technical universities and medical students (n = 638) from Finland's five medical faculties. Both had started their studies in 1989. RESULTS In the first questionnaire survey there were no differences between the professions in strain resistance resources, as indicated by Sense of Coherence (SOC), or in psychological distress, as indicated by General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Profession emerged as a significant between subject factor in analysis of variance for repeated measures of both SOC and GHQ. Physicians' scores on the 13 item SOC questionnaire improved during the follow up from 62.6 to 67.5 and on the 12 item GHQ questionnaire from 24.2 to 22.2. Among architects the corresponding scores remained unchanged (62.5–62.2 and 23.1–22.6). The significance of profession remained unchanged when gender and individuals' graduation and total work experience were introduced to the statistical models as between subject factors. CONCLUSIONS Improved SOC in physicians but not in architects supports the hypothesis that good employment prospects are important to employee wellbeing. Although less consistent, indicating fluctuations in day to day psychological distress, GHQ findings are also in line with the hypothesis. In both professions the indicators studied were independent of individuals' graduation and career. It is concluded that rather than individually, the mechanisms that connect employment prospects with wellbeing operate collectively within the whole profession. Highly educated professionals do not complete their studies until almost 30, and if for reasons of insecure employment they are unable to develop their SOC to the optimum level at that age, their resources for resisting health endangering strain may remain permanently poor.
Vision in children with autism spectrum disorder: a critical review

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a common neurodevelopmental condition with approximately 1–2 per cent prevalence in the population. The condition has lifelong effects for the individual and family, and early intervention and management helps maximise quality of life and outcomes. Many studies of vision in ASD have attempted to link the behavioural and sensory deficits in ASD with underlying visual processing. From this work, it is clear that individuals with ASD ‘see’ and process the world differently, but there remain gaps in our understanding. This review will summarise our current knowledge of key aspects of visual functions and the optometric profile of ASD. This includes findings regarding visual acuity and contrast sensitivity, refractive error, eye movements, binocular vision, near visual functions and retinal structure in ASD. From this, a pattern of knowledge emerges for children with ASD: we should expect normal visual acuity; there will likely be atypical eye movements and susceptibility for subtle visuo‐motor deficits, there is an increased prevalence of strabismus; an increased likelihood of astigmatism and possibly other refractive errors; attention, crowding and task complexity will likely be problematic; and retinal structure and function may be compromised. Bringing this together, these findings highlight that further work is necessary, not only to understand how higher‐level functions link to behaviours, but also to ensure there is a sound understanding of the building‐blocks of vision to fully grasp the profile of visual processing as a whole in ASD. This review will give a translational viewpoint for clinicians, and underline the benefits of comprehensive vision care in ASD.
Does the Centrality Degree of Latin American Countries Predict their Citation Based Performance on Management Research

The aim of this paper is to determine if the centrality degree and density of Latin-American and Caribbean countries (LA-C) predicts their citation based performance in academic research in the management discipline. For our analysis, we use publication data of the Social Science Citation Index in the field of ‘‘Management’’ between 1988 and 2013, extracted from ISI Web of Science. The resulting database contained 1,079 articles reflecting the contributions of 19 LA-C countries. For the quantitative analysis we used a combination of Bibliometric and Social Networks Analysis techniques. To test the hypothesis a Multiple Linear Regression model with bootstrapping was run. The results show that the centrality degree of LA-C countries is positively associated to their citation based performance. The centrality degree of LA-C countries predicts a 54% of variance in their citation based research performance within the management discipline.
The ACCEPTABILITY of Caregiver Robots in Elderly People

During the last few years, due to the aging of the population, many scientists have developed ICT tools to offer elderly people an independent life at home as long as possible. Most of these researchers focused their efforts on problem solving without adequate care to the agreeability and/or the acceptability of these ICT objects for their users. These resulting artifacts will hardly be used in real life by the users for which they have been developed. In this paper, we will present an experiment done on 202 over 65 elderly people on the acceptability and the likeness features a caregiver robot must have. From the classification and analysis of the emotions elicited by the physical/appearance characteristics of 25 different real robot pictures we found some interesting results for appealing or unpleasant features for caregiver robot design.
User involvement in radical innovation: are consumers conservative?

Purpose – Consumers are sometimes unexpectedly resistant toward radically innovative product concepts, and it is often argued that this is due to their difficulties in understanding the novel products. Thus, marketing research has focused on new ways to make consumers familiar with new product concepts. The purpose of this study is to present the argument that educating consumers may not solve all problems, and may sometimes even address the wrong question.Design/methodology/approach – The authors' previous research on consumer responses to new product concepts for the purchasing and consumption of food is drawn upon to explore the reasons for consumers' acceptance of and resistance to radical product innovations.Findings – Ignorance about radical product concepts is not the sole reason for consumers' resistance to novelties. In many cases, consumers understand the product concepts fairly well. Their lack of enthusiasm stems from other reasons, including the innovation's instrumentalism, its impact on con.
The role of circle of Willis anomalies in cerebral aneurysm rupture

Background and purpose Limited data exist to guide patient selection for preventive treatment of unruptured cerebral aneurysms. Cerebral aneurysms have been associated with circle of Willis anomalies but whether this association is also related to aneurysm rupture is not known. The occurrence of cerebral aneurysm rupture when a circle of Willis anomaly was present or absent was compared. Methods Patients admitted over a 2 year period with a diagnosis of a cerebral aneurysm and an anterior communicating artery (ACoA) or posterior communicating artery (PCoA) aneurysm were included in the analysis. Brain vascular imaging was reviewed for aneurysm size, morphology and presence of circle of Willis anomaly. Relevant medical history and demographics were obtained from the medical records. Results Of the 113 patients with ACoA or PCoA aneurysms, 85 (75.2%) cases were ruptured. There were 49 (43.4%) PCoA aneurysms and 64 (56.6%) ACoA aneurysms. Mean aneurysm size was 5.65 mm (SD 3.31). A circle of Willis anomaly was identified in 46 (40.7%) of all patients. Circle of Willis anomalies were present in 38 (46.9%) ruptured aneurysm cases and eight (29.6%) unruptured aneurysm cases. Multivariate analysis revealed a higher risk of aneurysm rupture when a circle of Willis anomaly was present (p=0.0245, OR 3.72 (CI 1.18 to 11.66)). Conclusions This series shows that circle of Willis anomalies are more commonly found in ruptured as opposed to unruptured cerebral aneurysms of the anterior and posterior communicating arteries. The presence of a circle of Willis anomaly may be an important characteristic for selecting patients for preventive aneurysm treatment.
Improved code defect detection with fault links

Fault links represent relationships between the types of code faults, or defects, and the types of components in which faults are detected. For example, our prior work validated that a fault link exists between Controller components and Control/Logic faults (such as unreachable code). Fault link information can guide code reviews, walkthroughs, testing, maintenance, and can advise fault seeding. In this paper, we use fault links to augment code reviews. Two experiments were undertaken to evaluate the usefulness of fault links, one with 26 Computer Science students and another with 24 software engineering professionals. The first experiment showed that fault link information assisted in finding more total defects and more ‘hard to detect’ defects, in the same amount of time, in a Java component of an online course management application. The experiment was repeated with professionals, adding a second Java component from the same application. For the second experiment, more total defects were found by the participants using fault link information for one of the two components and more hard to detect defects were found, in the same amount of time, in both Java components. The group using fault link information for code walkthroughs found, on average, 1.7–2 times more faults and 2–3 times more hard faults than the control group. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Two Models of Bid-Taker Cheating in Vickrey Auctions

Vickrey (second-price sealed-bid) auctions have attractive theoretical properties but standard first-price sealed bidding is far more common. Explanations of the rarity of Vickrey auctions rely on concern about revelation of private information and on fear of cheating. The authors present two models of bid-taker cheating: a static, game-theoretic model and a reputation-based model of repeated auctions. In the first, an honest bid-taker will not choose a Vickrey auction. In the second, a trusted bid-taker who cheats when it pays eventually destroys his or her reputation and the trust on which the use of Vickrey auctions depends. Copyright 1995 by University of Chicago Press.
A Study of the Career Paths and Leadership of Male Principals in the Elementary Schools of Onio

The purpose of this qualitative biographical study was to develop a profile of five men in elementary principalships in Ohio public schools and gather information about specific career paths followed by these men. The study examined the influence social role theory had on male elementary educator career paths. In addition, the study explored the role that adult development theory, leadership styles, and the ethic of care played in shaping the career paths of these school leaders. The majority of research dealing with career paths of elementary school principals has been conducted in the context of the female principal. Little research, if any, has been completed on the topic of male elementary school principals. Research conducted in this study attempted to define the life experiences that contributed to the career paths and leadership of male elementary school principals as well opportunities seized by male elementary school principals toward achieving personal and professional success. Furthermore, research involved the long term career goals of the male educator prior to and after attaining the elementary school principalship. The findings of this study support that male elementary school principal’s career paths are similar in nature. As they approached the time for a college education, personal and social forces repel the men away from a possible career in elementary education. After several years teaching at the secondary or primary education level or working in careers outside of education, some men feel a desire to work with young children in a school setting. This desire evolves from a decision that caring for the well-being of young children allows for personal and professional fulfillment. After several years administrating over the development of young children, the male elementary school principal may seek other opportunities in the field of education.
Readiness to Change Dietary Restriction Predicts Outcomes in the Eating Disorders

This study examined the relationship between readiness and motivation to change eating disorder symptoms and clinical outcomes during and following intensive residential eating disorder treatment. Sixty-four women completed the Readiness and Motivation Interview (RMI) at baseline, and a subset of participants were reassessed at post-treatment (n=45) and at 6month follow-up (n=38). The RMI provides readiness scores for each of four symptom domains: restriction, cognitive, bingeing, and compensatory strategies. RMI scores were used to predict decision to enroll in treatment, dropout, symptom change following treatment, and maintenance of symptom change at six-month follow-up. The extent to which participants did not want to make changes to their dietary restriction at baseline (restriction precontemplation) was the most consistent predictor of short-term clinical outcome. The extent to which participants reported changing their restriction for themselves versus others (restriction internality) predicted outcome at 6-month follow-up. These preliminary findings suggest that assessing client readiness and motivation to change dietary restriction is most useful in predicting short and long-term clinical outcomes.
Multi-Response Optimization in the Formulation of a Topical Cream from Natural Ingredients

The aim of this research was to study the effect of local raw materials on the formulation of a base cream formulation and determine the optimum proportion of each material that gives the required properties. Physicochemical properties of cream formulations can be affected by their viscosity, spreadability, and particle size. The quality of the base cream is directly linked to the basic material used in the formulation. Screening of independent factors, namely oil phase (sesame oil, soybean oil, and liquid paraffin), aqueous phase (Aloe vera gel, propylene glycol, and glycerol), and surfactant (soy lecithin, tween, and soy lecithin/tween) was done to choose the best raw material required for the preparation of the base cream. Based on the screening criteria, sesame oil, Aloe vera gel, and soy lecithin were chosen as the best local raw materials. Using a multi-response optimization, the mixing fractions of sesame oil, Aloe vera gel, and soy lecithin were found to be 24%, 28%, and 10%, respectively. This base cream can be used as a suitable matrix for formulation in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries.
Does poverty constrain migration in South Africa? Evidence, explanations and implications

There are indications that poor people may face obstacles to their rural–urban migration. This article pursues the question of whether this is the case in the South African context. It argues for the importance of longitudinal data, which are not available at present, to answer this question conclusively. Levels of education can be used as a proxy for income levels, and the article examines recently published multivariate data in this regard. However, using education as a proxy for income is problematic, because education has an independent effect on migration rates through its selection of those with the skill levels demanded by the labour market. The article develops an argument about the constraining effects of the costs of migration and the role of social networks in migration and ends by demonstrating how the costs of migration can solve a number of puzzles presented by empirical research on migration.
‘New realities’ and tenure reforms: land-use in worker-peasant communities of south-western Zimbabwe (1940s–2006)

This article1 is about rural people, what they value and consider as important in their lives, and state policy to ameliorate rural conditions. It is an analysis of the tenure system and landholding patterns in operation among a community of Zimbabwean worker-peasants vis-à-vis the post-colonial state's attempts to reform former Native Reserves (communal areas) after the country's independence in 1980. Based on ethnographic research on the semi-proletarian Gwayi Valley, in Lupane District, the article equates the communal tenure system in practice to Scott's hidden transcripts. The tenure system was a result of constant negotiations and manipulation by households, in response to environmental challenges, and over the years, became central to the very survival of households. The post-colonial state's attempts to reorganise communal areas to make them legible and productive, were opposed to the new culture. The deployment of land-use planning tools to redefine communal area agrarian systems represented a social engineering process which was geared at remoulding households’ livelihoods.
Spectral synchronicity in brain signals

This paper addresses the problem of identifying brain regions with similar oscillatory patterns detected from electroencephalograms. We introduce the hierarchical spectral merger (HSM) clustering method where the feature of interest is the spectral curve and the similarity metric used is the total variance distance. The HSM method is compared with clustering using features derived from independent‐component analysis. Moreover, the HSM method is applied to 2 different electroencephalogram datasets. The first was recorded at resting state where the participant was not engaged in any cognitive task; the second was recorded during a spontaneous epileptic seizure. The results of the analyses using the HSM method demonstrate that clustering could evolve over the duration of the resting state and during epileptic seizure.