Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of standardized assessments for cognitive and receptive communication skills in young children with complex communication needs

This study compared estimates of receptive language development for children with complex communication needs to estimates of related skill domains. Subscores of the Battelle Developmental Inventory were compared with each other and the MacArthur Communication Developmental Inventory for 41 children with severe expressive impairments over a period of 18 months, beginning at ages 12 – 24 months. Across all ages studied, children with severe expressive impairments had better receptive language scores than expected for either their cognitive or overall developmental age equivalence scores. While receptive language measures were correlated with each other and age, scores for receptive language skills on the MacArthur were consistently more stringent than for the Battelle for this population. Implications for clinical application of these measures for children with expressive impairments are discussed.
Assessing the greenness effort for European firms

Purpose – The purpose of this study is twofold: first, to explore whether a linkage between environmental effects and financial performance exists; and second, to investigate whether firms displaying more environmental effort show a more significantly positive relationship between environmental performance and financial performance than those displaying less green effort.Design/methodology/approach – The study adopts correlation analysis of a sample comprising of 51 European companies from 14 industries across 15 countries to investigate the possible relationship between firm environmental performance (including three measures: sustainable value, sustainable value margin, and return to cost ratio) and financial performance.Findings – The paper does not find a positive relationship between firm environmental performance and financial performance. Both the Pearson correlations and Spearman's rho are statistically insignificant for both the full sample and the carbon‐intensive sectors. When the lag effect on.
Exploring No-Cost Opportunities for Public Sector Information Systems Energy Efficiency: A Tennessee Application

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) completed a pilot project within its Central Office spaces to test the utilization of computer power management (CPM) technologies to implement power saving settings on state-owned, network-connected computer equipment. Currently, the State of Tennessee has no clear protocol regarding energy-conserving power settings on state-owned machines. Activation of monitor sleep modes and system standby and hibernation modes on 615 Central Office computers over an 18-month period reduced energy consumption by an estimated 8093 kWh and $526 per month, amounting to approximately $6312 in cost savings for Tennessee annually. If implemented throughout State of Tennessee executive agencies across the state, energy cost savings could amount to an estimated $323,341 annually. The research endeavored to understand both positive and negative impacts that strategic power management approaches can have on energy consumption, worker productivity, network security, and state budgets. Nearly all impacts discussed were positive. Based on successful results within TDEC Central Office spaces in Tennessee Tower, and considering the potential cost savings that could be achieved, expansion of the implementation of computer power management policies to machines in offices across the state was recommended.
Maternal smoking impairs arousal patterns in sleeping infants.

OBJECTIVE Impairment of the arousal process from sleep is thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). We hypothesized that a greater propensity for cortical arousal in the prone position may, in a normal infant, be a protective mechanism to promote complete arousal in a vulnerable sleeping position, a protection that is absent in SIDS victims. We aimed to examine the arousal process in a group of infants exposed to maternal smoking, who are thus at higher risk for SIDS. DESIGN Twelve healthy, full-term infants born to smoking mothers were studied using daytime polysomnography at 2 to 4 weeks, 2 to 3 months and 5 to 6 months postnatal age. Data were compared with 13 healthy infants born to nonsmoking mothers. Arousal was induced by pulsatile air-jet stimulation to the nostrils during active and quiet sleep, in both supine and prone positions. For each stimulus, physiologic and electroencephalogram changes were visually assessed and arousal responses were classified as sub-cortical activation or cortical arousal. RESULTS In smoke-exposed infants, the progression from sub-cortical activation to cortical arousal was depressed at 2 to 4 weeks and 5 to 6 months. There was no effect of maternal smoking observed at 2 to 3 months; however, a significant dose-dependent relationship between cortical activation proportions and urinary cotinine levels was present in both supine and prone positions. CONCLUSION We have shown that maternal smoking is associated with impaired arousal processes to trigeminal stimulation that may increase the risk for SIDS. This further highlights the importance of public education of the risks of maternal smoking.
Impact of Gender and Academic Performance Differences on Financial Literacy

This paper studies the effects of gender and academic performance differences on overall financial literacy using a sample of 380 college students. Exploratory estimates using a series of Probit and Ordered Probit models indicate that academic performance – measured by GPA – and gender are significant determinants in observed differences across individuals relating to their financial literacy. In particular, our exploratory results provide robust evidence indicating that females are significantly much more likely to hold lower overall levels of financial literacy than males. Also, we find a strong positive relationship in favor of those holding the highest GPA to demonstrate a significantly much higher level of financial literacy than otherwise. Therefore female students holding lower GPA scores are ill equipped to successfully conduct efficient financial decisions. Also, empirical evidence from our sample indicates that people report higher levels of self-assessed financial literacy vis-a-vis actual financial literacy. Our results make evident an issue of great concern.
Tuberculosis and HIV: danse macabre.

For anyone who has practiced medicine in sub-Saharan Africa, the complex symbiosis of HIV and tuberculosis (TB) is all too familiar. The statistics are so staggering as to invoke a momentary sense of numb futility: one-third of 33 million HIV-infected individuals worldwide infected with TB, accounting for 23% of HIV deaths; TB risk 20– 30 times greater in HIV-infected individuals than among persons without HIV; increased TB-related mortality and drug resistance among HIV-infected TB cases [1]. What is more, HIV-infected individuals are more likely than HIVuninfected individuals to experience recurrent TB, largely as a result of exogenous reinfection [2].
Predictors of Early and Late Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV in a Breastfeeding Population: HIV Network for Prevention Trials 012 Experience, Kampala, Uganda

Objective:To determine the predictors for early versus later (breastfeeding) transmission of HIV-1. Methods:Secondary data analysis was performed on HIV Network for Prevention Trials 012, a completed randomized clinical trial assessing the relative efficacy of nevirapine (NVP) versus zidovudine in reducing mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV-1. We used Cox regression analysis to assess risk factors for MTCT. The ViroSeq HIV genotyping and a sensitive point mutation assay were used to detect NVP resistance mutations. Results:In this subset analyses, 122 of 610 infants were HIV infected, of whom 99 (81.1%) were infected early (first positive polymerase chain reaction ≤56 days). Incidence of MTCT after 56 days was low [0.7% per month (95% confidence interval, CI: 0.4 to 1.0)], but continued through 18 months. In multivariate analyses, early MTCT “factors” included NVP versus zidovudine (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.57, 95% CI: 0.38 to 0.86), pre-entry maternal viral load (VL, HR = 1.76, 95% CI: 1.28 to 2.41), and CD4 cell count (HR = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.05 to 1.28). Maternal VL (6-8 weeks) was associated with late MTCT (HR = 3.66, 95% CI: 1.78 to 7.50), whereas maternal NVP resistance (6-8 weeks) was not. Conclusions:Maternal VL was the best predictor of both early and late transmission. Maternal NVP resistance at 6-8 weeks did not predict late transmission.
Systemic diseases affecting osseointegration therapy.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the impact of systemic diseases and their treatment on the success of osseointegration therapy. MATERIAL AND METHODS A search was made to find human studies including subjects treated with osseointegrated oral implants, with a diagnosis of 11 systemic diseases, and reporting at least implant survival. RESULTS For most conditions, no studies comparing patients with and without the condition in a controlled setting were found. The evidence to recommend implant therapy was low and consisted in presentations of some successfully treated cases. With regard to diabetes, three types of reports were found: eight case series of diabetic patients treated with implants, six cross-sectional, longitudinal or retrospective evaluations of groups of subjects treated with implants, including some diabetic patients, and one matched control retrospective chart survey. The heterogeneity of the material and the method of data reporting precluded a formal meta-analysis. No unequivocal tendency for subjects with diabetes to have higher failure rates emerged, but the largest of these studies indicated a significant increase in the relative risk of implant failure with diabetes. The data obtained from 17 papers reporting data from osteoporotic patients were also heterogeneous. The evidence for an association of osteoporosis and implant failure was low. CONCLUSIONS The level of evidence indicative of absolute and relative contraindications for implant therapy due to systemic diseases is low. Many conditions have been listed as potentially critical, but studies comparing patients with and without the condition in a controlled setting are sparse.
Guiding principles on civil service reform in Africa: an empirical review

The Guiding Principles on Civil Service Reform were endorsed by the Special Programme of Assistance for Africa (SPA) as a tool for better co‐ordination of donor support. Because of the range of administrative problems, and the economic and political urgency of solving them, African governments need a strategic framework for civil service reform. This should be based on a vision of the role of the state, and take into account leadership, commitment, governance, economic reforms, sequencing, ministerial restructuring, decentralisation, downsizing, pay and incentives, capacity building, service delivery, aid mechanisms, and change management processes. Because of the enormity and political sensitivity of the task, and the severe limitations on capacity to manage reform, such a framework will take 10‐20 years to implement fully in most countries. Civil service reform is an art, not a science. Committed reformers within the concerned government know best what they need, and how to get there. The role of donors should be mainly facilitation: identifying committed reformers (or potentially committed ones), and then empowering them to design and carry out needed changes.
Statistical analysis of municipal bond ratings under spatial correlation

This study uses a spatial logit model to evaluate the statistical effect of conditions of communities on municipal bond ratings. It finds that private (non-farm) earnings in the community positively explain bond ratings with statistical significance, while earnings from personal transfers negatively affect ratings. Own source of revenues of local governments (local taxes) increase ratings and inter-governmental revenues (transfers to local governments) negatively impact ratings. Outstanding debt fails to significantly explain ratings. The composition of the local economy (e.g., the service sector) weights heavily in a rating, and proximity of the local government to areas with high municipal bond ratings increases ratings.
The many dimensions of poverty in Albania: income, wealth and perceptions

This paper aims at assessing poverty in Albania through the use of an asset index whose effectiveness is compared with consumption in explaining differences in results of health and educational outcomes. Firstly, an asset index is constructed by the use of factor analysis and principal component techniques; then, two probit models are estimated assessing enrolment rate for secondary education and chronic disability in Albania using the asset index as an independent variable to compare its effectiveness with expenditures. The World Bank LSMS Survey of 2002 is used in the analysis.
Land, Votes, and Violence: Political Effects of the Insecure Property Rights Over Land in Dagestan

How do insecure property rights over land affect electoral competition and the level of violence? To answer this question, I explore original empirical evidence from Dagestan, Russia’s most turbulent North Caucasian republic. The exploration is based on a statistical analysis of district-level data with special emphasis on chronological validity. Studying the relationship between land titles of the Soviet period and post-Soviet amounts of tenured land, the research demonstrates that the amount of unregistered land in each district has a profound effect on local electoral competition and indices of violence. A higher percentage of untenured land at the district level leads to less electoral competition and more intense violence. Consequently, the study finds that the insecurity of property rights creates an opportunity structure for electoral patronage and violent expression of conflicts and grievances. In theoretical perspective this study sheds light upon a relatively unexplored institutional factor that drives electoral process and violence in predominantly agrarian societies
Comparison of Clostridium difficile Ribotypes Circulating in Australian Hospitals and Communities

ABSTRACT Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is becoming less exclusively a health care-associated CDI (HA-CDI). The incidence of community-associated CDI (CA-CDI) has increased over the past few decades. It has been postulated that asymptomatic toxigenic C. difficile (TCD)-colonized patients may play a role in the transfer of C. difficile between the hospital setting and the community. Thus, to investigate the relatedness of C. difficile across the hospital and community settings, we compared the characteristics of symptomatic and asymptomatic host patients and the pathogens from these patients in these two settings over a 3-year period. Two studies were simultaneously conducted; the first study enrolled symptomatic CDI patients from two tertiary care hospitals and the community in two Australian states, while the second study enrolled asymptomatic TCD-colonized patients from the same tertiary care hospitals. A total of 324 patients (96 with HA-CDI, 152 with CA-CDI, and 76 colonized with TCD) were enrolled. The predominant C. difficile ribotypes isolated in the hospital setting corresponded with those isolated in the community, as it was found that for 79% of the C. difficile isolates from hospitals, an isolate with a matching ribotype was isolated in the community, suggesting that transmission between these two settings is occurring. The toxigenic C. difficile strains causing symptomatic infection were similar to those causing asymptomatic infection, and patients exposed to antimicrobials prior to admission were more likely to develop a symptomatic infection (odds ratio, 2.94; 95% confidence interval, 1.20 to 7.14). Our findings suggest that the development of CDI symptoms in a setting without establishment of hospital epidemics with binary toxin-producing C. difficile strains may be driven mainly by host susceptibility and exposure to antimicrobials, rather than by C. difficile strain characteristics.
Program Evaluation Competencies of Extension Professionals: Implications for Continuing Professional Development.

As states face tough economic times, extension organizations are increasingly emphasizing the importance of evaluation data to show program value. However, little is known about the evaluation skills and abilities of extension professionals expected to collect such data. This knowledge would help inform professional development opportunities designed to target evaluation–related deficiencies. A needs assessment was conducted with Georgia extension professionals to determine the evaluation competencies that provided the greatest opportunity for professional development. Results highlighted competencies within two constructs, analyzing questionnaire data and disseminating evaluation findings, which accounted for seven of the top 10 competencies with the greatest need. The continuing professional development needs of agents varied based on primary program area and experience level, indicating a need for even more targeted continuing professional development. Agents with five or fewer years of experience needed the most professional development in the areas of data collection whereas agents with more experience needed assistance with data analysis and reporting. Continuing professional development to build evaluation competencies in Georgia extension educators should also vary depending on the primary programming responsibilities of the participating extension professional. Although extension professionals with primary responsibilities in Agriculture and Natural Resources needed the most assistance with analyzing questionnaire data, those with primarily 4–H responsibilities needed help disseminating evaluation findings in reports.
Exploring Knowledge-Intensive Business Services: Knowledge Management Strategies

In the considerable range and variety of innovation systems studies carried out with a regional focus, surprisingly few have contained detailed anatomies of services innovation. One area where it might have been thought relevant to focus on this subject is knowledgeintensive business services or KIBS. As the book’s introduction, by the editors, notes KIBS has lately become a popular research focus, not least because services in general and KIBS in particular are now very important to most developed economies. KIBS especially grow fast at the firm level and at those of territorial GDP and employment. This was of course a pronounced feature of financial services in the decade up to the global crash from 2008. Equally though, such industries showed comparable rates of decline in key industry indicators. One task of the book is to better understand such volatility, but sadly it lacks a focused chapter on the fate of investment banking and its role in the Great Recession and related banking and sovereign debt (e.g. Eurozone) crises. Nevertheless, there is much else of interest in the book and a surprisingly high proportion of regional studies of KIBS reporting developments in Alsace, Catalonia, Baden-Wurttemberg, Lombardy and Veneto as well as broader studies of India and Russia. There are a number of emphases and themes pursued in the book. The main emphases are that it focuses on, first, knowledge and its management by firms and other organizations and, second, innovation and its ways of operating in relation to the principal-agent or client–supplier relationship with which service innovation has tended to be closely associated. The key themes include the extent to which the knowledge supply relationship is mainly linear or increasingly better understood as non-linear. That is, does knowledge flow mainly one-way between KIBS and the client or is the relationship more interactive? Another theme is whether services tend to be formed as standardized or customised innovations. A further one concerns the relationship between knowledge, innovation and territory. This is especially germane to the composition of value chains or as some prefer value networks in which the region’s ecosystems may be important to KIBS operations. Accordingly, the book expresses a number of aims, which include an assessment of the degree to which KIBS became autonomous in relation to the “real economy”. This is something most commentators agree had happened to a dangerous extent in the global credit crunch where the social value of such exotica as the collateralized debt obligation (CDO) squared or synthetic CDOs was widely questioned. A further aim of the book is to better understand multi-level (local and global) KIBS knowledge management relationships, especially in value networks. A yet further one involves non-customer relationships European Planning Studies Vol. 21, No. 1, January 2013
Is structural adjustment with a human face possible? The case of Mexico

The article attempts to model structural adjustment patterns in a single, middle‐income oil exporter, Mexico. It explores the economy‐wide costs, in terms of economic growth, income inequality and poverty, of Mexico's economic stabilisation policies of the 1980s. On the basis of counterf actual simulation, it also explores the likely impacts of alternative adjustment strategies. This analysis utilises a modified Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) approach designed to overcome one of the major shortcomings of the conventional SAM: the assumption of unitary expenditure elasticities in household accounts. The base model is calibrated to track the overall and sectoral growth performance of the Mexican economy from 1980 to 1986 and becomes the foundation upon which our policy experiments are built. The article is part of an on‐going study of economy‐wide impacts of alternative structural adjustment policies in Mexico [Adelman and Taylor, 1990], and proceeds as follows: the SAM framework and estimated SAM are descr.
Diverse Effects of Pathogenic Mutations of Parkin That Catalyze Multiple Monoubiquitylation in Vitro*

Mutational dysfunction of PARKIN gene, which encodes a double RING finger protein and has ubiquitin ligase E3 activity, is the major cause of autosomal recessive juvenile Parkinsonism. Although many studies explored the functions of Parkin, its biochemical character is poorly understood. To address this issue, we established an E3 assay system using maltose-binding protein-fused Parkin purified from Escherichia coli. Using this recombinant Parkin, we found that not the front but the rear RING finger motif is responsible for the E3 activity of Parkin, and it catalyzes multiple monoubiquitylation. Intriguingly, for autosomal recessive juvenile Parkinsonism-causing mutations of Parkin, whereas there was loss of E3 activity in the rear RING domain, other pathogenic mutants still exhibited E3 activity equivalent to that of the wild-type Parkin. The evidence presented allows us to reconsider the function of Parkin-catalyzed ubiquitylation and to conclude that autosomal recessive juvenile Parkinsonism is not solely attributable to catalytic impairment of the E3 activity of Parkin.