Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Acute diarrhea due to enteropathogenic bacteria in patients at hospitals in Tehran.

During a study examining causes of diarrhea from May 2004 to May 2005, 808 stool specimens were collected from patients with acute diarrhea in Tehran. Fecal samples were cultured and identified according to the standard biochemical methods. Molecular identification of enteropathogens was carried out by amplification of their virulence genes by polymerase chain reaction. A total of 369 (45.6%) bacterial pathogens were recovered from 808 patients as follows: Shigella spp. , 155 (45.6%); diarrheagenic Escherichia coli 143 (38.8%); Salmonella spp. , 51 (13.8%); and Campylobacter spp. , 20 (5.4%). Most of the diarrheagenic E. coli were Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, with 64 (44.7%) isolates, followed by 47 (32.9%) enterotoxigenic E. coli isolates; among Shigella spp. isolates, 69 (44.5%) Shigella flexneri were predominant. The molecular diagnosis of enteropathogens yielded a more accurate characterization of the prevalence of diarrhea-causing bacterial strains in Iran. The present study revealed a high prevalence of Shigella and diarrheagenic E. coli as the predominant causes of bacterial diarrhea in this region of the world. These two types of bacteria should therefore be considered when designing preventive strategies for people living in Iran.
Bronchial provocation studies in farmers with positive RAST to the storage mite Lepidoglyphus destructor

Bronchial provocation studies with L. destructor (L. des.) extract were made on 12 farmers with asthma who were exposed daily to stored hay and grain and had positive radio‐allergo‐sorbent test (RAST) to L. des. All 12 farmers developed more than a 20 % fall in FEV1 to the extract. None of the symptomatic farmers who were also RAST positive to the L. des. culture medium developed an asthmatic reaction to the medium extract. Neither four healthy farmers nor two patients with asthma caused by D. pteronyssinus (D. pt.) responded to L. des. or the L. des. culture medium. Challenges with D. pt. extract were negative in two symptomatic farmers who were RAST positive to L. des. and negative to D. pt. The present study further supports our previous hypothesis that there is an IgE‐mediated immunological mechanism behind L. des. ‐induced asthma in farmers and that atopic farmers are liable to develop occupational asthma caused by allergy to L. des.
Entrepreneurship development and financial literacy in Africa

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the level of financial literacy in Africa based on previous studies and evidence from financial literacy surveys, with the aim of establishing how financial literacy impacts entrepreneurship development in Africa. The study specifically looks at how financial literacy affects the household behaviour regarding financial decision making, as well as the gender gap in financial literacy. As financial literacy is gaining momentum both in developed economies with sophisticated financial systems and developing countries with low levels of financial services, this research seeks to establish a formal relationship between financial literacy and access to finance and what impact both have for developing an entrepreneurship society in Africa. It also focuses on the relationship between financial decision making and gender as well as access to finance with the aim of carefully examining the implications on entrepreneurship development. Design/methodology/approach – To attain the above objective, the study employed a mixed methodology research design where both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. A survey method on financial literacy, conducted by: (Finscope, OECD) was thoroughly analysed in addition to previous work on entrepreneurship development, financial literacy, access to finance and poverty reduction in Africa. Findings – The results show that the difficulties in access to finance, access to market, policy support and entrepreneurship culture are the main problems and constraints on entrepreneurship development in Africa which has a very strong implication for financial literacy on the continent particularly on micro, small and medium enterprises. Other important problems include unfavorable investment climate, absence of entrepreneurship training programmes, unfriendly investment business environment, gender gap and lack of value chain in the entrepreneurship ecosystem. Research limitations/implications – The paper is limited to the established survey and mainly concentrates on Africa. Practical implications – African governments and other development partners should re-evaluate their intervention programmes to strengthen financial literacy skills while simultaneously supporting entrepreneurship development by promoting an entrepreneurship culture through the right policy that will actively stimulate the development of entrepreneurs that will contribute to entrepreneurship ecosystems and ultimately enhance Africa’s economic development. Originality/value – This paper aims at enhancing understanding of entrepreneurship development and financial literacy in Africa and will help policy makers and researcher fill the missing gap between financial literacy and entrepreneurship education. The recommendations made could significantly boost entrepreneurship activities as well as enhance financial literacy skills in the region, which can as well help increase access to finance on the continent.
Structural Change and the Current Account

Using empirical evidence from panel analysis of current account dynamics and of bilateral trade balances, the paper argues that the large German current account surplus during the 2000s can be explained by an increasing gap between productivity growth in manufacturing vis-a-vis services. Such a gap is due not only to improvements in the manufacturing sector but also to a significant slowdown of productivity growth in services. Therefore, despite the success in export markets, the German surplus may signal long-run weaknesses associated with constraints on service sector productivity growth and the inability of productivity growth in manufacturing to create positive spill-over effects on services. Persistence of barriers to liberalisation in services as well as the dominant type of technological progress in manufacturing, based on improving the efficiency of existing products, may partly explain these phenomena. A key factor behind these sectoral differences is the education system, which relies on highly specialised vocational schools, generating high returns for on the job training and creating incentives for efficiency gains in existing products and sectors. The paper concludes that there is room for comprehensive structural policies consistent with an equilibrium reduction in the current account surplus, accompanied by higher and more balanced growth.
Contrast enhanced CT attenuation correlates with the GAG content of bovine meniscus

We determined whether contrast‐enhanced computed tomography (CECT) attenuation obtained using a µCT scanner correlated with the glycosaminoglycan (GAG) content and distribution in ex vivo bovine menisci. Bovine samples were immersed in different concentrations of the contrast agents CA4+ and Ioxaglate, and the µCT images were compared to Safranin‐O staining. CA4+ and Ioxaglate diffusion‐in kinetics and the correlation between their CECT attenuations and GAG content were investigated. CA4+ and Ioxaglate both reached steady state in the meniscal regions within 95 h, with tau values of 20.6 ± 3.98 and 25.9 ± 3.71 h (mean ± SD), respectively. Both agents diffused preferentially through the proximal and secondarily through the distal surface. The CA4+ CECT attenuation was strongly and positively correlated with the GAG content of the meniscus regions (R2 = 0.89, p < 0.001) at low concentrations (12 mgI/ml), while the Ioxaglate CECT attenuation was moderately and negatively correlated with the GAG content (R2 = 0.51, p = 0.03) at 60 mgI/ml. CECT can image ex vivo menisci, and the CA4+, compared to Ioxaglate, enhanced attenuation strongly correlates with the GAG content and distribution in bovine meniscus. © 2013 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 31:1765–1771, 2013
Deep brain stimulation: indications and evidence

Deep brain stimulation is a minimally invasive targeted neurosurgical intervention that enables structures deep in the brain to be stimulated electrically by an implanted pacemaker. It has become the treatment of choice for Parkinson’s disease, refractory to, or complicated by, drug therapy. Its efficacy has been demonstrated robustly by randomized, controlled clinical trials, with multiple novel brain targets having been discovered in the last 20 years. Multifarious clinical indications for deep brain stimulation now exist, including dystonia and tremor in movement disorders; depression, obsessive–compulsive disorder and Tourette’s syndrome in psychiatry; epilepsy, cluster headache and chronic pain, including pain from stroke, amputation, trigeminal neuralgia and multiple sclerosis. Current research augurs for novel indications, including hypertension and orthostatic hypotension. The development, principles, indications and effectiveness of the technique are reviewed here. While deep brain stimulation is a standard and widely accepted treatment for Parkinson’s disease after 20 years of experience, in chronic pain it remains restricted to a handful of experienced, specialist centers willing to publish outcomes despite its use for over 50 years. Reasons are reviewed and novel approaches to appraising clinical evidence in functional neurosurgery are suggested.
Resistive Switching Performance Improvement of ${\rm Ta}_{2}{\rm O}_{5-x}/{\rm TaO}_{y}$ Bilayer ReRAM Devices by Inserting  ${\rm AlO}_{\delta}$ Barrier Layer

By inserting a thin AlOδ barrier layer between the electrode and tantalum oxide resistive switching layer, the triple-layer ReRAM devices with improved resistive switching performance are demonstrated. Pulsed programming measurements without external current compliance show 1011 cycle endurance without performance degradation. The ON/OFF ratio exceeds 1000. Low operation current is achieved using a smaller SET compliance current. Multilevel states are obtained through adjusting SET and RESET conditions, and retention longer than 104 s at 125°C is reported.
The Dilution Impact of Daily Fund Flows on Open-End Mutual Funds

We examine how fund flows that are correlated with subsequent fund returns can impact the performance of open-end mutual fund through a dilution effect. Since these flows tend to put cash into a fund just prior to positive returns on the fund? s risky assets, the cash dilutes the fund? s return. Our analysis reveals that active trading of open-end funds occurs and has a meaningful economic effect on the passive, non-trading shareholders in the fund. While in the overall sample of domestic equity funds we find no dilution impact from daily fund flows, we estimate an annualized benefit of nearly 5 basis points in low-flow funds. In examining the fund flows in international funds, we find an overall annualized negative impact of 0.48%. For the sub-sample of funds in which flows are particularly large, this negative impact is nearly 1% per year. Our results suggest that the structure and design of mutual funds, such as exchange and pricing policies, can have important performance-related implications independent of the value added by the portfolio manager.
Modernization of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award

Quality has been an important competitive strategy of organizations, especially since the 1980s when globalization became reality. In the USA, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) was established in 1987 to encourage organizations to deploy quality as a competitive strategy. It has recently been suggested that the MBNQA has lost sight of quality. This paper discusses the changing role of quality in the MBNQA criteria from 1988 to 2003 in approximately 5-year intervals in 1988, 1992, 1997 and 2003. The concept of quality is discussed in view of the changing global economy and technology. The evolving role of quality from order winner to order qualifier in the e-global economy is also discussed.
Which factors influence psychiatrists' selection of antidepressants?

OBJECTIVE There is little empirical evidence to guide clinicians in choosing among the diverse array of antidepressants available. In the absence of replicated empirical research guiding the selection of antidepressants, it is of interest to examine what factors psychiatrists consider when prescribing antidepressants. METHOD For 1,137 depressed patients who received a new antidepressant prescription, the treating psychiatrist completed a 43-item questionnaire listing factors that might have influenced the choice of antidepressant medication. The questionnaire was filled out immediately after an antidepressant was prescribed to treat a depressive disorder. RESULTS The most common factors influencing antidepressant selection were the avoidance of specific side effects, the presence of comorbid psychiatric disorders, and the presence of specific clinical symptoms. Prior treatment history, including prior positive or failed response to a drug, was the next most frequently endorsed factor influencing medication choice. Some factors that have been commonly discussed in the literature, such as concern about discontinuation syndrome and drug-drug interactions, rarely influenced antidepressant selection. CONCLUSIONS Because relatively little research has examined clinical features associated with differential response to the newer generation of antidepressants, a study of psychiatrists' prescribing practices highlights priorities for future controlled research. Our results suggest that two priority areas are the treatment of depression with coexisting anxiety symptoms/anxiety disorders and the influence of particular symptoms on response to different medications.
Using Laboratory Brand Preference Scales to Predict Consumer Brand Purchases

Laboratory measures of brand preferences and survey measures of demographic, media exposure, attitudinal, activity and opinion characteristics of individual consumers have been combined to predict brand purchases in the market. Brands in the tooth paste, liquid household cleaner and cake mix product categories were employed in a set of laboratory experiments. Preference scales derived from the experiments are used in three separate models to predict the subject's purchases recorded in seven months of diary data. The behavioral implications and predictive power of the models are interesting from both theoretical and applied points of view.
Efficacy and cognitive side effects after brief pulse and ultrabrief pulse right unilateral electroconvulsive therapy for major depression: a randomized, double-blind, controlled study.

OBJECTIVE To compare the efficacy and cognitive side effects of high-dose unilateral brief pulse electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) with those of high-dose unilateral ultrabrief pulse ECT in the treatment of major depression. METHOD From April 2007 until March 2011, we conducted a prospective, double-blind, randomized multicenter trial in 3 tertiary psychiatric hospitals. All patients with a depressive disorder according to DSM-IV criteria were eligible. Depression severity was assessed with the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale; primary efficacy outcomes were response, defined as a score decrease ≥ 60% from baseline, and remission, defined as a score < 10 at 2 consecutive weekly assessments. Total scores on the Autobiographical Memory Interview and Amsterdam Media Questionnaire were the primary outcome measures for retrograde amnesia. Other cognitive domains included category fluency (semantic memory) and letter fluency (lexical memory). Patients received twice-weekly unilateral brief pulse (1.0 millisecond) or ultrabrief pulse (0.3-0.4 millisecond) ECT 8 times seizure threshold until remission, for a maximum of 6 weeks. RESULTS Of the 116 patients, 75% (n = 87) completed the study. Among completers, 68.4% (26/58) of those in the brief pulse group achieved remission versus 49.0% (24/49) of those in the ultrabrief pulse group (P = .019), and the brief pulse group needed fewer treatment sessions to achieve remission: mean (SD) of 7.1 (2.6) versus 9.2 (2.3) sessions (P = .008). No significant group differences were found in the evaluation of the cognitive assessments. CONCLUSIONS The efficacy and speed of remission seen with high-dose brief pulse right unilateral ECT twice weekly were superior to those seen with high-dose ultrabrief pulse right unilateral ECT, with equal cognitive side effects as defined by retrograde amnesia, semantic memory, and lexical memory. TRIAL REGISTRATION Netherlands National Trial Register number: NTR1304.
Anti-G(D2) antibody treatment of minimal residual stage 4 neuroblastoma diagnosed at more than 1 year of age.

PURPOSE To eradicate minimal residual disease with anti-G(D2) monoclonal antibody 3F8 in stage 4 neuroblastoma (NB) diagnosed at more than 1 year of age. PATIENTS AND METHODS Thirty-four patients were treated with 3F8 at the end of chemotherapy. Most had either bone marrow (n=31) or distant bony metastases (n=29). Thirteen patients were treated at second or subsequent remission (group I) and 12 patients in this group had a history of progressive/persistent disease after bone marrow transplantation (BMT); 21 patients were treated in first remission following N6 chemotherapy (group II). RESULTS Before 3F8 treatment, 23 patients were in complete remission CR, eight in very good partial remission (VGPR), one in partial remission (PR), and two had microscopic foci in marrow. Twenty-five had evidence of NB by at least one measurement of occult/minimal tumor (iodine 131[(131)I]-3F8 imaging, marrow immunocytology, or marrow reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction [RT-PCR]). Acute self-limited toxicities of 3F8 treatment were severe pain, fever, urticaria, and reversible decreases in blood counts and serum complement levels. There was evidence of response by immunocytology (six of nine), by GAGE RT-PCR (seven of 12), and by (131)I-3F8 scans (six of six). Fourteen patients are alive and 13 (age 1.8 to 7.4 years at diagnosis) are progression-free (40 to 130 months from the initiation of 3F8 treatment) without further systemic therapy, none with late neurologic complications. A transient anti-mouse response or the completion of four 3F8 cycles was associated with significantly better survival. CONCLUSION Despite high-risk nature of stage 4 NB, long-term remission without autologous (A)BMT can be achieved with 3F8 treatment. Its side effects were short-lived and manageable. The potential benefits of 3F8 in consolidating remission warrant further investigations.
Human torovirus: A new virus associated with neonatal necrotizing enterocolitis

Aim: Toroviruses have been associated with gastroenteritis in both animals and humans. The aim of this study was to examine the fecal excretion of torovirus in infants with necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). Methods: We reviewed all infants with NEC admitted to our tertiary care NICU over a 5‐y period who had stool specimens sent for microbial culture and virology. Infants in the NICU during the same period with diagnoses other than NEC served as controls. Results: Forty‐four infants with NEC stages I–III were identified, and pathogenic organisms were identified in 27 (61%). Toroviruses were identified in stool cultures in 48% of patients with NEC, and 17% of the non‐NEC controls (p<0.001). There was no significant difference in illness severity or mortality between the torovirus‐positive and ‐negative infants with NEC.
Tax Evasion and Economic Growth

In this paper we analyze how the tax compliance policy affects the rate of economic growth. We consider a model of overlapping generations in which the paths of all the macroeconomic variables are endogenously determined and we perform the comparative statics analysis of changes in both the probability of inspection and the penalty fee imposed on tax evaders. We also show the nonoptimality from the growth viewpoint of an inspection policy inducing truthful revelation of income for exogenously given levels of both the penalty and the tax rates. Finally, we show that ”hanging evaders with probability zero” is the most growth enhancing policy among all the inspection policies inducing honest behavior by the taxpayers. JEL classification code: H26, O41.
The impact of the characteristics of the board of directors on the financial performance of Tunisian companies

The board of directors plays a key role as an internal mechanism of corporate governance. Indeed, its effectiveness is dependent on the presence of several factors, the most important are related to characteristics that relate primarily to the independence of its members, board size, the cumulative functions of decision and control, the degree of independence of the audit committee and the gender diversity of the board. To test the validity of our hypothesis, which states the existence of a certain deterministic between the board's characteristics and financial performance measured by three different ratios, namely ROA, ROE and Tobin's Q, we have developed three linear regression models. Our empirical validation was conducted on a sample of 26 companies listed on the Tunisian Stock Exchange (TSE) over a period that spans four years (2007-2010). The estimated models show satisfactory results showing the importance of the impact of board characteristics on financial performance of Tunisian companies.
Estimates of Productivity Change by Industry: An Evaluation and an Alternative

Government figures show that from 1948 to 1973 productivity increased at the same rate in the manufacturing and nonmanufacturing portions of American business. The same government figures indicate a dramatic shift in the 1980s, when productivity increased far more in manufacturing industries than in nonmanufacturing. Denison's analysis challenges the reality of this reported change. Denison focuses on the meaning and reliability of productivity series for industries within the business economy. His analysis divides into three parts. First, he finds that a large part of the difference between manufacturing and nonmanufacturing growth rates of output per hour stems from the computer industry. He argues that the effect of recent rapid productivity growth in computer production is greatly overstated because the weighting system used to combine products in output measurement exaggerates the importance of computers. Use of an output measure that does not deduct depreciation has the same effect. Denison also questions the way that output of computers is measured. Denison next examines the way changes in output per hour are allocated among industries. His evaluation leads to two major conclusions. One is that the information underlying the estimates is insufficient to warrant confidence in indicated differences among industries. The other is that, quite apart from the computer, the estimated increase in output per hour in the U.S. manufacturing in recent years is almost surely overstated and the increase in nonmanufacturing is correspondingly understated. The size of bias has, in all likelihood, increased over time. Denison recommends that the government introduce an alternative way of dividingthe economy for productivity measurement, one that measures productivity in the production of different types of final goods instead of by industry. He describes a methodology that could provide such estimates. The results, Denison contends, are more enlightening and the problems encountered in estimating productivity by industry can be avoided.