Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Diagnostic accuracy and clinical utility of a simplified low cost method of counting CD4 cells with flow cytometry in Malawi: diagnostic accuracy study

Objectives To assess the diagnostic accuracy and clinical utility of a simplified low cost method for measuring absolute and percentage CD4 counts with flow cytometry. Design A CD4 counting method (Blantyre count) using a CD4 and CD45 antibody combination with reduced blood and reagent volumes. Diagnostic accuracy was assessed by measuring agreement of the index test with two other assays (TruCount and FACSCount). Clinical utility was investigated by comparing CD4 counts with the new assay with WHO clinical staging in patients with HIV. Setting Research laboratories and antiretroviral therapy clinic at a medical school and large government hospital in southern Malawi. Participants Assay comparisons were performed on consecutive blood samples sent for CD4 counting from 129 patients with HIV. Comparison of CD4 count with staging was conducted on 253 consecutive new patients attending the antiretroviral therapy clinic. Main outcome measures Limits of agreement with 95% confidence intervals between index test and reference standards. Results The limits of agreement for Blantyre count and TruCount were excellent (cell count −48.9 to 27.0 cells/�l for absolute counts in the CD4 range <400 cells/�l and −2.42% to 2.37% for CD4 percentage). The assay was affordable with reagent costs per test of $0.44 (�0.22, €0.33) for both absolute count and CD4 percentage, and $0.11 for CD4 percentage alone. Of 193 patients with clinical stage I or II disease, who were ineligible for antiretroviral therapy by clinical staging criteria, 73 (38%) had CD4 counts <200 cells/�l. By contrast, 12 (20%) of 60 patients with stage III or IV disease had CD4 counts >350 cells/�l. Conclusions This simplified method of counting CD4 cells with flow cytometry has good agreement with established commercial assays, is affordable for routine clinical use in Africa, and could improve clinical decision making in patients with HIV.
The deficit in cataract surgery in England and Wales and the escalating problem of visual impairment: epidemiological modelling of the population dynamics of cataract

BACKGROUND The pool of old cases of cataract, the expected new cases, and the shortfall in cataract surgery and consequently the numbers dying with poor vision without the benefit of cataract surgery are regarded as escalating problems worldwide. Successive governments and the professional ophthalmic bodies have not had the wherewithal to estimate the magnitude or interaction of these elements in the population of the UK. This study has collected and applied the best available epidemiological data on cataract prevalence, incidence and service utilisation, and demography to address the problem of control of the cataract pool in the population of England and Wales. METHODS Data from recent surveys undertaken by the authors, both on prevalence of vision impairing cataract and on patterns of cataract surgery, were used together with demographic and service utilisation information obtained from government departments. These were integrated within a holistic model, which was run under varied assumed levels and patterns of service provision. RESULTS The study shows that there is a serious pool of unoperated vision impairing cataract in the population aged 65 and older, reflecting a shortfall in cataract surgery. Continuing with the present level and pattern of service provision, the pool will increase to over 2.5 million by the year 2001. In addition, more than 700 000 will die with unoperated impaired vision. CONCLUSIONS Targeting of existing or new additional operations to those below the visual acuity of 6/12 will have relatively little effect on numbers dying without surgery, but should have a substantial controlling effect on the pool of vision impairing cataract in the population.
High‐flow humidified nasal oxygenation vs. standard face mask oxygenation

Ten healthy volunteers received oxygen for 1 min, 2 min and 3 min at 10 l.min−1 via a face mask, or humidified oxygen at 60 l.min−1 via nasal prongs (OptiflowTM) with the mouth closed and with the mouth open. The mean (SD) end‐tidal oxygen partial pressure after 3 min face mask and Optiflow oxygenation, with mouth closed and open, were: 88.5 (6.2) kPa; 85.6 (6.4) kPa and 48.7 (26.4) kPa, respectively, p = 0.001. The equivalent mean (SD) transcutaneous oxygen partial pressures were: 34.6 (5.4) kPa; 36.4 (6.5) kPa and 25.5 (15.7) kPa, respectively, p = 0.03. High‐flow humidified nasal oxygenation for 3 min with the mouth closed was as effective as 3 min face mask oxygenation.
Observer, Analyser et Gérer la variabilité de la reproduction et du recrutement de l’huître creuse en France : Le Réseau Velyger. Rapport annuel 2012

La conchyliculture, et principalement l’elevage de l’huitre creuse, Crassostrea gigas, constitue la principale activite aquacole francaise. Cette activite repose, en grande partie, sur le recrutement naturel de l’espece qui assure 70% des besoins en jeunes huitres (naissain) : cette activite de collecte s’appelle le captage. Les deux principaux centres de captage en France sont les bassins d’Arcachon et de Marennes-Oleron. Or, depuis une dizaine d'annees, sur le Bassin d'Arcachon, le captage devient tres variable: a des annees de captage nul (par exemple les annees 2002, 2005, 2007) ou faible (2009, 2010, 2011) succedent des annees excellentes voire plethoriques (les annees 2003, 2006, 2008, 2012). A Marennes-Oleron, cette variabilite existe, mais s’avere beaucoup moins marquee. En outre, a la faveur du lent rechauffement des eaux, le captage peut desormais se pratiquer de plus en plus vers le nord. Ainsi, la Baie de Bourgneuf, mais aussi la Rade de Brest sont devenues, depuis quelques annees, des secteurs ou un nombre croissant d’ostreiculteurs pratiquent avec succes le captage, mais avec, la aussi, des irregularites dans le recrutement qu’il convient de comprendre. Enfin, depuis la crise des mortalites de 2008, il se developpe aussi sur l’Etang de Thau une volonte de pratiquer le captage. Afin de mieux comprendre les facteurs de variations du captage, l’Ifremer a mis en place, a la demande du Comite National de la Conchyliculture, un reseau national de suivi de la reproduction : le Reseau Velyger. Cree en 2008 sur fonds europeens et finance desormais par la Direction des Peches Maritimes et de l’Aquaculture, ce reseau apporte, chaque annee, sur les ecosystemes cites precedemment, une serie d’indicateurs biologiques (maturation, fecondite, date de ponte, abondance et survie larvaire, intensite du recrutement, survie du naissain) dont l’analyse croisee avec des indicateurs hydrologiques et climatiques permet progressivement de mieux apprehender les causes de v
Revealed Stock Preferences of Individual Investors: Evidence from Chinese Equity Markets

This study offers new evidence on the preferences of individual investors for certain stock characteristics. Based on 64.2 million trades executed by about 6.8 million Chinese investors, results show that stock preferences of individual investors vary with wealth levels. Wealthier individuals prefer highly liquid and volatile stocks, and stocks with greater state-ownership, growth potential, and good past return performance. However, less wealthy individuals prefer stocks with high beta, high liquidity, poor past return performance, and especially stocks with low price, and small capitalization. The strong preference for small and low-priced stocks reflects in part the regulatory constraints less wealthy individual investors face: the Chinese securities regulation prohibits investors from short selling and margin trading. Our overall results do not suggest that the investment choices of individual investors necessarily indicate only behavioral biases as existing studies might have implied, but instead, the findings reveal to some extent the rational investing behavior of Chinese individual investors. Finally, like institutions in developed markets, Chinese institutions also prefer large firms and firms with high earnings per share and large volatility.
Conservatism Flow and the Pricing of Credit Risk

I study the relation between the pricing of credit default swaps (CDSs) and three recently proposed firm-year measures of conditional conservatism or conservatism flow: asymmetric timeliness of earnings, asymmetric behavior of accruals, and conservatism ratio. Using CDS pricing data from Fitch, I show that there is a negative association between CDS price with maturities from one to ten years, and the first two metrics of conservatism flow. I also document that the strength of the association decreases as maturity increases. My results are consistent with the hypothesis that managers practicing timely accounting recognition of economic losses tend to avoid ex ante negative NPV projects and more quickly abandon projects that turn out to be negative NPV ex post. These, in turn, lead to an association with CDS price, via a reduction of information asymmetry between firm insiders and outsiders, the provision of a reliable estimate of future firm wealth, and a reduction in probability of bankruptcy. I also show that the effect of asymmetric timeliness is incremental to the book-to-tax ratio, which is thought to be a measure of conservatism by the literature on taxation.
How Has the Euro Changed the Monetary Transmission?

This paper characterizes the transmission mechanism of monetary shocks across countries of the euro area, documents how this mechanism has changed with the introduction of the euro, and explores some potential explanations. The factor-augmented VAR (FAVAR) framework used is sufficiently rich to jointly model the euro area dynamics while permitting the transmission of shocks to be different across countries. We find important heterogeneity across countries in the effect of monetary shocks before the launch of the euro. In particular, we find that German interest-rate shocks triggered stronger responses of interest rates and consumption in some countries such as Italy and Spain than in Germany itself. According to our estimates, the creation of the euro has contributed 1) to a greater homogeneity of the transmission mechanism across countries, and 2) to an overall reduction in the effects of monetary shocks. Using a structural open-economy model, we argue that the combination of a change in the policy reaction function -- mainly toward a more aggressive response to inflation and output -- and the elimination of an exchange-rate risk can explain the evolution of the monetary transmission mechanism observed empirically.
Ethical Practices of the Professional Accountant in Nigeria

There exists a gap between what is documented in form of ethical codes and what some professional accountants really practice. The main focus of this research is to examine the extent of ethical values reflected in professional practice of accountancy profession in Nigeria. Primary data were collected by means of questionnaire and the secondary data were sourced from professional journals of various accountancy bodies. The Z-score test was used in testing the hypotheses and it was analyzed using computer software (SPSS). The major finding from the study is that in the development of professional practices, compliance with well-grounded ethical values are a good prerequisite for an enduring practice and that penalties meted out to erring members are grossly inadequate. The researcher recommended that to provide remedy or improve the situation, there is the need for practicing accountant to pay attention to good ethical conduct and there is the need to adhere strictly to the ethical code of conduct. Keywords : ethical codes, professional accountants, ethical conduct
The Relationship Between Governance Structure and Audit Fees Pre-Cadbury: Some Empirical Findings

In this paper we provide new evidence on the relationship between internal governance structures (board composition and ownership concentration) and audit fees of UK industrial quoted companies, before the recommendations of the Cadbury Committee were implemented. We also develop a new hypothesis derived from agency theory, in an attempt to explain the puzzling positive relationship between audit and non-audit fees. In common with post-Cadbury research, we find no significant evidence that board structure variables, including chairman/chief executive officer split and the proportion of non-executive directors on the board, impact significantly on external audit fees. Also, while prior research has shown that the aggregated level of institutional and managerial ownership are negatively associated with audit fees, we find that only one constituent of this variable, namely directors' ownership, has a significant impact.
Acid-sensing pathways of rat duodenum

Akiba, Yasutada, Paul H. Guth, Eli Engel, Igor Nastaskin, and Jonathan D. Kaunitz. Acid-sensing pathways of rat duodenum. Am. J. Physiol. 277 (Gastrointest. Liver Physiol. 40): G268–G274, 1999. —We tested the hypothesis that the duodenal hyperemic response to acid occurs through activation of capsaicin-sensitive afferent nerves with subsequent release of vasodilatory substances such as calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and nitric oxide (NO). LaserDoppler flowmetry was used to measure duodenal blood flow in urethan-anesthetized rats. Duodenal mucosa was superfused with pH 7.0 buffer with capsaicin or bradykinin or was acid challenged with pH 2.2 solution, with or without vanilloid receptor antagonists, a CGRP receptor antagonist, an NO synthase (NOS) inhibitor, or a cyclooxygenase inhibitor. The selective vanilloid receptor antagonist capsazepine (CPZ) dose dependently inhibited the hyperemic response to acid and capsaicin but did not affect bradykinin-induced hyperemia. Ruthenium red was less inhibitory than capsazepine. Selective ablation of capsaicin-sensitive nerves, CGRP-(8— 37), and NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester inhibited acidinduced hyperemia, but indomethacin did not. We conclude that luminal acid, but not bradykinin, stimulates CPZsensitive receptors on capsaicin-sensitive afferent nerves of rat duodenum. Activation of these receptors produces vasodilation via the CGRP-NO pathway but not via the cyclooxygenase pathway. Acid appears to be the endogenous ligand for duodenal vanilloid receptors.
Bull market for IEEE 802.11 WLAM chipsets

W ireless LANs no longer constitute a niche market, used primarily by businesses unable to conveniently link devices with conventional cabling. As WLANs have become more popular, IEEE 802.11 technologies, designed to provide an Ethernet-like wireless networking environment, have become the dominant approach. Although the radio-based technology’s Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) security protocol is relatively weak, IEEE 802.11 is the most popular among WLAN approaches, as Figure 1 shows. IEEE 802.11 is faster and has more range than HomeRF (home radio frequency), while HiperLAN (highperformance radio LAN) has been plagued with standardization delays. As a result, there has been a boom in the market for IEEE 802.11 chipsets, which are used in network interface cards (NICs), access points (which function as wireless hubs), laptops, and PDAs to implement wireless LANs. During the first half of this year, unit sales of IEEE 802.11b and 802.11a access point equipment and NICs were 7.24 million and 210,000, respectively, said Allen Nogee, a senior analyst with In-Stat/MDR, a market research firm. In both cases, this represents a 14 percent increase over last year. IEEE 802.11g chipsets have just begun shipping. Tim Mahon, an analyst with the Credit Suisse First Boston investmentbanking firm, predicts that 1.5 million 802.11a chips and 200,000 combination chips that support 802.11b, g, and/or a will ship this year, and 11 million combination chips will ship in 2003.
Productivity, wages and intrinsic motivation in social enterprises

In our empirical analysis of wage differentials in a sample of workers in the cooperative not for profit sector we find that, consistently with the donative-labor hypothesis, more intrinsically motivated workers “donate more work” (unpaid overtime, arrear holidays) but are also more productive and earn significantly higher wages. Our results are robust to several measures of workers’ remuneration and controlled for endogeneity. We interpret these findings by arguing that the hypothesis of the static negative correlation between intrinsic motivations and wages (where intrinsic motivations work as a compensating differential) is dominated by the effect by which intrinsic motivations cause or are a signal of higher productivity.
Manoeuvring towards research decline: The RAE and the decline of Britain's international research standing

Purpose: This research paper aims to examine the global trends in publishing in the leading marketing journals between 1964 and 2008, focusing on how public policy intervention in the assessment and funding of academic research has influenced Britain's relative productivity in the world's leading marketing journals. Design/methodology/approach: The method was an audit of contributions to the leading journals based on the authors' affiliation, country of origin and country in which they obtained their doctoral training. Findings: The results show that the proportion of leading marketing publications by authors affiliated to British universities have held steady at about 2 per cent, while the productivity of several other countries has accelerated past Britain. However, to retain that share, Britain has increasingly depended upon importing people whose PhD is not British. This contrasts with some other European countries that are now more productive than Britain, but mainly recruit locals with local PhDs. The pattern of decline in the UK is related to the impact of Britain's research assessment exercise and the continuation of relatively weak social science research training. Research limitations/implications: The analysis is limited by only looking at one academic discipline and only the top few academic journals in the field. Practical implications: The findings have implications at several levels. At a national policy level it questions the value of the research assessment exercises that appear to have presided over a decline in research productivity. For institutions, it questions the value in investing in developing local talent when success has come to those who buy talent internationally. Perhaps, the major implication arises from Britain's academic productivity declining while neighbouring countries have grown in international excellence. Originality/value: At a time when the continuation of expensive university research assessments is being questioned the research findings add value to the current debate in showing how that very process has accompanied academic decline. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Childhood socio-economic status, school failure and drug abuse: a Swedish national cohort study.

AIM To investigate whether socio-economic status (SES) in childhood and school failure at 15 years of age predict illicit drug abuse in youth and young adulthood. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS Register study in a Swedish national cohort born 1973-88 (n = 1,405,763), followed from age 16 to 20-35 years. Cox regression analyses were used to calculate hazard ratios (HR) for any indication of drug abuse. MEASUREMENTS Our outcomes were hospital admissions, death and criminality associated with illicit drug abuse. Data on socio-demographics, school grades and parental psychosocial problems were collected from censuses (1985 and 1990) and national registers. School failure was defined as having mean school grades from the final year in primary school lower than -1 standard deviation and/or no grades in core subjects. FINDINGS School failure was a strong predictor of illicit drug abuse with an HR of 5.87 (95% CI: 5.76-5.99) after adjustment for age and sex. Childhood SES was associated with illicit drug abuse later in life in a stepwise manner. The lowest stratum had a HR of 2.28 (95% CI: 2.20-2.37) compared with the highest stratum as the reference, when adjusted for other socio-demographic variables. In the fully adjusted model, the effect of SES was greatly attenuated to an HR of 1.23 (95% CI: 1.19-1.28) in the lowest SES category, while the effect of school failure remained high with an HR of 4.22 (95% CI: 4.13-4.31). CONCLUSIONS School failure and childhood socio-economic status predict illicit drug abuse independently in youth and young adults in Sweden.
The effect of retinoic acid on the proportion of insulin cells in the developing chick pancreas

SummaryWe assessed the potential role of all-trans-retinoic acid on the developing chick pancreas, specifically with regard to the proportions of insulin cells. The endodermal component of the dorsal pancreatic bud of 5-d-old chick embryos was cultured on Matrigel. Retinoic acid (10−6 or 10−5M) was added to a standard serum-free medium, Ham's F12 containing insulin, transferrin and selenium (F12.ITS). Control grafts were cultured in F12.ITS alone or in F12.ITS with DMSO (the diluent for retinoic acid). After 7 d the explants were retrieved, freeze-dried, vapor-fixed, and embedded in resin. Endocrine cell types were identified by immunocytochemistry. The numbers of insulin cells were expressed as a proportion of the sum of insulin plus glucagon cells. Retinoic acid had a dose-related effect; the proportion of insulin cells in explants treated with the lower dose of retinoic acid (10−6M) was more than twice the proportion of insulin cells in explants treated with the higher dose (10−5M) of retinoic acid and more than three times that of the control grafts.
Multiple Standards and Critical Masses, and the Formation of New Industries: The case of the Japanese mobile Internet

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze standard setting and how a critical mass of users emerged in an industry in which multiple interface standards co‐exist and a critical mass of users was created multiple times.Design/methodology/approach – This paper is based on research conducted for almost ten years using the case study approach. Data were gathered through more than 100 interviews with Japanese firms and through analyses of published sources.Findings – The paper finds that growth in mobile internet services required agreements on multiple interface standards where some of these interface standards exhibited interdependencies and thus required integral design, while others have been built on top of these “basic” interface standards. Agreements on the former interface standards enable basic data connections between phones, services, and content and this required integral design. The latter interface standards connect the mobile phone with content and applications from other industries (e.g.
What Can Explain the Apparent Lack of International Consumption Risk Sharing?

Recent research in international business cycles finds that international consumption comovements do not match the risk-sharing predictions of standard complete markets models. In this paper, I ask whether two different types of explanations can help explain this result: (1) nonseparabilities between tradables and nontradable leisure or goods and (2) the effects of capital market restrictions on consumption risk sharing. I find that risk sharing cannot be resolved by either explanation alone. However, when I allow for both nonseparabilities and certain market restrictions, risk sharing among unrestricted countries cannot be rejected. This evidence suggests that a combination of these two effects may be necessary to explain consumption risk sharing across countries.