Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Internal locus of control, health literacy and health, an Israeli cultural perspective

The association between health literacy (HL) and health outcomes, including self-perceived health (SPH) has been well documented. Yet the complexity of this association is not yet completely clear. Drawing on the Health Literacy Scale (HLS) study in Israel, we examined the association between HL, Internal Health Locus of Control (IHLOC) and SPH among Jews and Arabs. A face-to-face survey was conducted among 242 Arabs and 358 Jews. The questionnaire measured SPH, IHLOC and two measures of HL: a European HLScale (HLS-EU-16) and the Hebrew/Arabic Health Literacy Test (H/AHLT), based on the Short Test Of Functional Health Literacy in Adults. Analysis included multivariable logistic regressions and bootstrapping to identify mediation effects. Among Jews, IHLOC seems to be a significant mediator between HL and SPH. IHLOC was strongly associated with SPH (OR = 6.13; CI = 3.2, 11.8), while HL was not significantly associated directly with SPH. Similar results were observed when using the H/AHLT as a measure of HL. Among Arabs a different pattern emerges; IHLOC was neither associated with SPH nor was it a mediator of the association between HL and SPH. The two measures of HL seem to have different associations with SPH among Arabs, as only H/AHLT was associated significantly with SPH, and not HLS-EU-16. Thus, those with higher levels of IHLOC assess their health as better than those with low IHLOC only among Jews, and not among Arabs. IHLOC seems to be a significant mediator between HL and SPH among some cultures. Among Arabs, only functional HL seems to be positively associated with SPH.
Postgraduate Educational Aspirations and Policy Implications: A case study of university students in western China

China's educational reform from the late 1990s, has substantially increased university capacity. This has been most evident in undergraduate enrolments. As an increasingly large cohort of university graduates enters the job market yearly, the demand for university graduates has not caught up with supply. Some university students plan to pursue postgraduate studies in order to delay their entry into the competition for jobs and to improve their educational credentials. This paper reports on findings from a survey of university students in Xi'an, China, identifying the types of students who aspire to postgraduate education. The findings confirm the importance of three sets of factors: (1) parents' education and financial capacity; (2) university attended; and (3) academic performance. The paper argues that educational policy change in China has resulted in students having to pay tuition fees and having responsibility for finding jobs, thus creating conditions conducive to students with better family and financial resources, and better academic standing, to aspire to postgraduate education. Further policy implications of these findings regarding the expansion, financing and affordability of graduate education in China are discussed.
SU (2) Landau gluon propagator on a 140^{3} lattice

We present a numerical study of the gluon propagator in lattice Landau gauge for three-dimensional pure-SU(2) lattice gauge theory at couplings beta = 4.2, 5.0, 6.0 and for lattice volumes V = 40^3, 80^3, 140^3. In the limit of large V we observe a decreasing gluon propagator for momenta smaller than p_{dec} = 350^{+ 100}_{- 50} MeV. Data are well fitted by Gribov-like formulae and seem to indicate an infra-red critical exponent kappa slightly above 0.6, in agreement with recent analytic results.
Disposable income differences between immigrants and natives in Sweden

This paper investigates whether there are differences in Sweden between immigrants and natives in disposable income and in the probability of having a low disposable income. By investigating disposable income and the probability of having a low disposable income, our study illuminates to what extent taxes and transfers in the Swedish welfare state manage to compensate for differences in income from work between immigrants and natives. The study shows that there are differences between different groups both in disposable income and in the probability of having a low disposable income and that these differences remain when we control for factors such as age, gender, education and civil status. Early immigrants from the Nordic countries have a higher disposable income than does the native population whereas recent immigrants have a substantially lower disposable income and a higher probability of remaining poor than both earlier immigrants and the native population. In summary, our study shows that the differences in disposable income between immigrants and natives are indeed smaller than the differences in income from work but that the differences are not completely counterbalanced through the tax and transfer system.
La planificación energética y su sometimiento a evaluación ambiental estratégica

Uno de los sectores con un mayor impacto ambiental lo constituye la generacion de energia. Se trata de un sector en el que la planificacion previa tradicionalmente ha tenido una gran importancia con el fin de garantizar el suministro, en unos casos con un caracter vinculante y en otros con caracter indicativo. En nuestros dias al necesario proceso de planificacion se le suma la preceptiva evaluacion ambiental estrategica de los diferentes planes y programas energeticos aprobados por cada una de las Administraciones, dado que constituyen el marco de ulteriores proyectos sometidos a evaluacion de impacto ambiental.
Dynamics of mentoring relationships in India: A qualitative, exploratory study

To supplement the extant mentoring literature that has taken a predominantly Western/U.S. perspective, the present study examined the nature of mentoring relationships in a highly power-distant and collectivistic culture such as India. Twenty-nine Indian masters of business administration (MBA) students participated in a qualitative study (using in-depth interviews) regarding Indian conceptualizations of mentors, the dynamics of mentoring relationships, their mentoring experiences in India, and the practice of mentoring as a career management tool. Content analysis revealed that while some aspects of mentoring seem culturally invariant, other aspects might be influenced by careers and socio-cultural contexts. The findings are discussed from relational and cultural perspectives with theoretical and practical implications for cross-cultural management and human resource practice. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Use of a Murine O-Antigen-Specific Monoclonal Antibody To Identify Acinetobacter Strains of Unnamed Genomic Species 13 Sensu Tjernberg and Ursing

ABSTRACT A monoclonal antibody against the O-antigenic polysaccharide chain of the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Acinetobacter strains belonging to the unnamed genomic species 13 Sensu Tjernberg and Ursing (13TU) was obtained after immunization of BALB/c mice with heat-killed bacteria and was characterized by enzyme immunoassay and Western blot analysis, by use of LPS and proteinase K-treated bacterial lysates, analyses in which the antibody was shown to be highly specific for the homologous antigen. In addition, when tested in dot and Western blots, reactivity was observed with 9 of 18 Acinetobacter strains of genomic species 13TU which had been isolated in Germany and Denmark; no reactivity was observed with strains of other genomic species, including the closely related genomic groups 1 (A. calcoaceticus), 2 (A. baumannii), and 3 (unnamed), or with other gram-negative bacteria. The antibody described here represents a convenient reagent for the simple, economical, and accurate differentiation of clinical isolates of genomic species 13TU from other Acinetobacter strains. Although the antibody does not identify all isolates of this genomic group, it is evident that it will be a useful reagent in the development of a serotyping scheme for clinical laboratories.
of acceSSibiliTy and aPPlicabiliTy: hoW heaT- relaTed cueS affecT belief in "global WarMing" verSuS "cliMa Te change"

research shows that exposure to heat-related cues (e.g., warm temperatures, “fry” and “boil”) influences the belief that global warming exists and poses a serious threat to humans. drawing on social-cognitive principles of concept accessibility and applicability, we hypothesized that these effects may depend on how the issue is framed, given that heat-related concepts are more compatible with “global warming” than “climate change. ” Exploring this possibility, we asked campus passersby about their belief in global warming or climate change shortly after a real-life unseasonably cold weather event (i.e., snowfall during Spring; Study 1). A controlled Web experiment posed the same questions after participants viewed photographs depicting either unseasonable or seasonable temperatures in their locale (Study 2). results suggest that priming cold weather decreases belief in “global warming” but not “climate change” among likely climate skeptics (i.e., conservatives, the environmentally unconcerned). Implications for motivated reasoning and the climate debate are discussed.
Liquidity and Firm Characteristics: Evidence from Mergers and Acquisitions

We explore factors affecting liquidity by examining the relation between liquidity changes and changes in firm characteristics around mergers and acquisitions. We find that spreads decline as the number of analysts, number of shareholders, number of market makers, firm size, and volume increase or as volatility decreases. Increased volume and firm size, and decreased volatility, are associated with increased depth. We find no evidence diversifying and non-diversifying mergers affect liquidity differently. We note that mergers and acquisitions are associated with reductions, on average, in spreads but that the reductions are fully explained by the accompanying changes in firm characteristics.
THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN ORIENTATIONS: ENTREPRENEURIAL, TECHNOLOGY AND CUSTOMER ORIENTATIONS IN SOFTWARE COMPANIES

This study examines the interplay between entrepreneurial, technology and customer orientations and company performance using data from 164 software companies. To conduct the analysis, the study applies PLS (partial least squares) modeling to understand the direct and indirect effects of entrepreneurial, customer and technology orientations on the performance of a software company. The results indicate that entrepreneurial and customer orientations directly affect performance, but, in this context, they do not support the view that a technology orientation directly enhances performance. More importantly, results suggest that an entrepreneurial orientation positively affects both customer and technology orientations. It appears that software companies need a capability to serve customers well, but also need to recognize new business opportunities from within their current customer relationships. The results suggest that to achieve high levels of performance, software companies need to balance the elements of entrepreneurial proactiveness and innovation with customer needs.
Understanding multi-level institutional convergence effects on international market segments and global marketing strategy

Dynamic changes in the global marketplace have increased opportunities for marketing strategy standardization due to the convergence of cross-national market segments. An oversimplified understanding of the complexities of this convergence could lead to ineffective global marketing strategy execution. This study develops a multi-level institutional approach to address level-based convergence effects necessary to understanding market segment convergence and its influence on global marketing strategy. A model of influential level effects on global marketing strategy is developed having implications for global marketing academics and practitioners.
Nonmyeloablative conditioning with total lymphoid irradiation and antithymocyte globulin: an update

Purpose of reviewThe immune modulatory effects of total lymphoid irradiation (TLI) for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) protection and transplantation tolerance following allogeneic bone marrow and organ transplantation have been studied for years in animal models. In preclinical models nonmyeloablative TLI conditioning alters residual host T cell subsets to favor regulatory natural killer T cells that suppress GVHD and prevent organ allograft rejection. These preclinical models have been recently adapted to human transplantation. Recent findingsPatients receiving allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation for hematological malignancies conditioned with TLI and depletive T cell antibodies showed sustained donor chimerism, a reduced incidence of acute GVHD yet retained graft antitumor activity. As in the preclinical models, nonmyeloablative TLI conditioning significantly altered residual host T cell subsets favoring natural killer T cells, and the low incidence of GVHD was associated with increased IL-4 secretion by chimeric donor T cells. The TLI regimen used in cancer patients was modified to determine conditions for stable mixed chimerism and tolerance induction following combined hematopoietic cell and kidney transplantation. SummaryThis review summarizes the evolution of the preclinical TLI protocols and their recent translation to clinical trials, and discusses the mechanisms involved in protection from GVHD and the induction of tolerance following mixed chimerism.
Objects First with Java - A Practical Introduction Using BlueJ (5th Edition)

The BlueJ development environment was specifically designed to support introductory teaching of object-orientations and helps users grasp the complicated concepts of class structure. Unlike most books on the subject, this text uses BlueJ to get readers started on object-oriented programming from day one. Uses a spiral approach that introduces a topic in a simple context early on, then revisits it later to increase understanding; Offers an abundance of projects for hands-on practice; Chapters are ordered around software development concepts rather than language features; Languagefeature introduction is naturally driven by problems to be solved; Chapters are based around distinct projects for more variety; Does not cover traditional topics like control structures. A useful reference for programmers.
Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and the Regulation of Bone Metabolism

The role of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in the regulation of bone remodeling is well established. There is increasing evidence that various long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs), as well as nonprostanoid LCPUFA metabolites, also have critical roles in regulating bone metabolism and may have therapeutic potential in the management of postmenopausal osteoporosis. Although only the 18-carbon precursors for the n-3 and n-6 LCPUFAs are deemed “dietary essential,” the ability of the body to convert these precursor fatty acids into the more highly unsaturated 20- and 22-carbon LCPUFAs decreases with aging, menopause, and various lifestyle factors (e.g., smoking). Increasing dietary LCPUFA intake increases tissue and blood LCPUFA concentrations, as well as the concentrations of their metabolites. Modification of dietary LCPUFA content, particularly increasing the intake of n-3 LCPUFAs, has been shown to minimize the decline in bone mass caused by menopause in women and ovariectomy in animal models. This review summarizes findings from both in vivo and in vitro studies and outlines the effects of LCPUFAs and their metabolites on calcium balance, osteoblastogenesis, osteoclastogenesis, and osteoblast and osteoclast function.
Rapid Detection of Listeria monocytogenes in Ground Turkey Meats by Immunomagnetic Separation (IMS) and Real Time- Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR)

An immunomagnetic separation (IMS) and real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method was used to detect Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) in ground turkey meats. The IMS beads coated with monoclonal anti-Lm antibodies were used for bacterial separation. The primers and probes targeting the hemolysin O (hyl A) gene were used in the RT-PCR. The following five sets of samples containing Lm at dilutions of (10 0 ,10 2 , 10 3 , 10 4 CFU) were tested by RT-PCR: 1) bacterial suspension without food sample and not subjected to IMS, 2) bacterial suspension without food sample but subjected to IMS, 3) bacterial sample with food sample but not subjected to IMS, and 4) bacterial suspension with food sample and subjected to IMS. In the RT-PCR, all samples that were spiked with 10 CFU and higher, showed positive signals. A drop in RT-PCR sensitivity varying from 5.0% to 9.3% was observed when the bacterial suspension was subjected to IMS. With respect to food samples spiked with Lm, the drop in sensitivity ranged from 11.1% to 14.0% as compared to samples containing the bacterial suspension alone. A total of 60 ground turkey meat samples were then studied without culture enrichment. This study suggests that combining IMS with RT-PCR significantly reduced the detection time of Lm to approximately 4 hours in ground turkey meats.
Massive-scale processing of record-oriented and graph data

Many data-driven applications perform computations on large volumes of data that do not fit on a single computer. These applications typically must use parallel shared-nothing distributed software systems to perform their computations. This thesis addresses challenges in large-scale distributed data processing with a particular focus on two primary areas: (i) theoretical foundations for understanding the costs of distribution; and (ii) processing large-scale graph data. The first part of this thesis presents a theoretical framework for the MapReduce system, to analyze the cost of distribution for different problems domains, and for evaluating the ``goodness'' of different algorithms. We identify a fundamental tradeoff between the parallelism and communication costs of algorithms. We first study the setting when computations are constrained to a single round of MapReduce. In this setting, we capture the cost of distributing a problem by deriving a lower-bound curve on the communication cost of any algorithm that solves the problem for different parallelism levels. We derive lower-bound curves for several problems, and prove that existing or new one-round algorithms solving these problems are optimal, i.e., incur the minimum possible communication cost for different parallelism levels. We then show that by allowing multiple rounds of MapReduce computations, we can solve problems more efficiently than any possible one-round algorithm. The second part of this thesis addresses challenges in systems for processing large-scale graph data, with the goal of making graph computation more efficient and easier to program and debug. We focus on systems that are modeled after Google's Pregel framework for large-scale distributed graph processing. We begin by describing an open-source version of Pregel we developed, called GPS (for Graph Processing System). We then describe new static and dynamic schemes for partitioning graphs across machines, and we present experimental results on the performance effects of different partitioning schemes. Next, we describe a set of algorithmic optimizations that address commonly-appearing inefficiencies in algorithms programmed on Pregel-like systems. Because it can be very difficult to debug programs in Pregel-like systems, we developed a new replay-style debugger called Graft. In addition, we defined and implemented a set of high-level parallelizable graph primitives, called HelP (for High-level Primitives), as an alternative to programming graph algorithms using the low-level vertex-centric functions of existing systems. HelP primitives capture several commonly appearing operations in large-scale graph computations. We motivate and describe Graft and HelP using real-world applications and algorithms.
The Citation Practices of Doctorates in Economics

The citations of doctorates in economics (who received the degree between 1950 and 1955) from six major universities are analyzed for articles published in the period 1950-68 in the two fields of value theory (microeconomics) and monetary and fiscal theory (macroeconomics). The citations are examined for commonality in the use of authorities and for parochialism with regard to the faculty of their Ph.D.-granting institution. The citation practices of the "authorities" cited by the doctorates are also examined, compared with those of the doctorates, and used to define scientific associates and adversaries.
Investigation of the frequency of chromosomal aneuploidy using triple fluorescence in situ hybridization in 12 Chinese infertile men.

BACKGROUND Chromosomal aberrations are the major cause of pre- and post-implantation embryo wastage and some studies suggest that half of all human conceptions have a chromosomal abnormality. A chromosomal aberration in human sperms is also one of the causes of failure of in vitro fertilization. This study was designed to ascertain whether chromosomal aneuploidy in spermatozoa is a risk factor for male infertility. METHODS Twelve infertile men were divided into two groups: 10 with oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (OAT, Group A) and two with a normal semen analysis (Group B). Two normal healthy sperm donors acted as controls (Group C). We used fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and probes for chromosomes X, Y and 18 to determine the frequency of aneuploidy. RESULTS The frequencies of spermatozoa disomy for chromosomes X, Y and 18 were 0.30% and 0.30%, respectively, in Group B. The percentages were not significantly different from those of Group C (0.15% and 0.16%). The frequencies of nullisomy for chromosomes X, Y and 18 were 0.15% and 0 for Group B, and 0 and 0.15% for Group C (P > 0.05). In Group A, the incidences of disomy were 1.13% and 0.96% and the frequencies of nullisomy were 1.13% and 1.60%. In these three groups, the incidences of diploidy were 0.60%, 1.00%, and 0.30%, respectively. Both the frequencies of disomic and nullisomic spermatozoa for chromosomes X, Y, and 18 and of diploid spermatozoa were significantly higher in Group A than in Groups B and C. The estimated total aneuploidy rates in the sperm from the three groups were 42.44%, 6.05%, and 2.59%, respectively. CONCLUSION These results indicate that chromosomal aneuploidy in spermatozoa may be a risk factor for infertility.
Treatment of amoebic liver abscess with metronidazole alone or in combination with ultrasound‐guided needle aspiration: a comparative, prospective and randomized study

Thirty‐nine patients with amoebic liver abscess (ALA), admitted to the Central Hospital of Hué (Vietnam), were evaluated in a comparative, prospective and randomized study for the treatment of ALA. Adult patients with an abscess located in the right liver lobe and an abscess diameter of 6 to 10 cm were included. Bacterial abscesses were excluded by microbiological examination of abscess fluid in all patients. Nineteen patients were treated with metronidazole for 10 days alone and 20 patients were punctured under ultrasound guidance with aspiration of abscess fluid in addition to drug administration. The clinical symptoms fever, pain in right upper abdomen and liver tenderness, and the laboratory parameters erythrocyte sedimentation rate, white blood cells, haemoglobin and C‐reactive protein and the abscess size were determined on the day of admission and followed during an observation period of 38 days. Improvement of liver tenderness was significantly faster in the aspiration group during the first 3 days (P < 0.001), whereas all the other parameters showed no differences between the two groups. This minor benefit is obviously not sufficient to justify routine needle aspiration and advocates drug treatment alone for uncomplicated amoebic liver abscesses with a diameter up to 10 cm located in the right liver lobe.