Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
“She Was a Little Social Butterfly”: A Qualitative Analysis of Parent Perception of Social Functioning in Adolescent and Young Adult Brain Tumor Survivors

Psychosocial sequelae of diagnosis and treatment for childhood brain tumor survivors are significant, yet little is known about their impact on adolescent and young adult (AYA) brain tumor survivors. Interviews were conducted with parents of AYA brain tumor survivors with a focus on social functioning. Semistructured interviews were conducted with English- and Spanish-speaking parents of AYA brain tumor survivors ≥10 years of age who were >2 years postdiagnosis, and analyzed using emergent themes theoretically integrated with a social neuroscience model of social competence. Twenty parents representing 19 survivors with a survivor mean age 15.7 ± 3.3 years and 10.1 ± 4.8 years postdiagnosis were interviewed. Several themes relevant to the social neuroscience social competence model emerged. First, parents’ perceptions of their children’s impaired social functioning corroborated the model, particularly with regard to poor social adjustment, social withdrawal, impaired social information processing, and developmentally inappropriate peer communication. Second, ongoing physical and emotional sequelae of central nervous system insults were seen by parents as adversely affecting social functioning among survivors. Third, a disrupted family environment and ongoing parent psychosocial distress were experienced as salient features of daily life. We document that the aforementioned framework is useful for understanding the social impact of diagnosis and treatment on AYA brain tumor survivorship. Moreover, the framework highlights areas of intervention that may enhance social functioning for AYA brain tumor survivors.
Technological Complexity and Country-of-Origin Effects on Binational Product Evaluation: Investigation in an Emerging Market

ABSTRACT Research into the impact of the country of origin (COO) dimensions on product perceived quality in emerging markets is limited and does not distinguish between technologically complex/simple products. This paper investigates country-of-design (COD) and country-of-manufacture (COM) effects through their two subconstructs (global country image and the perceived capacity of the country to design/manufacture products), on the perceived quality of four products varying in their level of technological complexity. Findings indicate that consumers are more sensitive to COM than COD for complex and for simple products, and that COD only affects product quality for products carrying symbolic meaning. The findings have marketing implications for binational products entering emerging markets.
Survey of ENT services in Africa: need for a comprehensive intervention

Background: Burden of disease (BOD) is greatest in resource-starved regions such as Africa. Even though hearing disability ranks third on the list of non-fatal disabling conditions in low- and middle-income countries, ear, nose, and throat (ENT) disorders are not specifically coded for within the framework governing global BOD estimates, and in discussions about health challenges, non-communicable diseases receive scant attention. Implementing cost-effective interventions to address conditions largely neglected by global estimates of BOD such as hearing loss are important contributors to health and economic development. Objectives: Establish a database of ENT, audiology, and speech therapy services in Sub-Saharan Africa; create awareness about the status of these services; propose effective intervention; gather data to lobby African governments, donor countries, and aid organizations; determine need for Developing World Forum for ENT, Audiology, and Speech Therapy services. Design: Survey of ENT, audiology, and speech therapy services and training in 18 Sub-Saharan Africa countries. Results: There is an alarming paucity of services and training opportunities, and there is a large gap between higher technology, expensive health care in high-income countries and lower technology, low-cost practice in low-income countries. Conclusions: Lower technology and lower cost Developing World medical practice should be recognized and fostered as a field of medical practice, teaching, and research. Developing World centers of excellence must be fostered to take a lead in teaching, training, and research. A Developing World Forum for ENT Surgery, Audiology, and Speech Therapy, directed and driven by Africa and the Developing World, supported by the First World, should be established, to develop a comprehensive intervention to turn around the severe shortage of services and expertise in the Developing World. Global health policies and practices should include new norms and standards which serve the interests of the global community, and are based on current realities of global health.
Assessing Participation in the State‐Sponsored Local Government Investment Pool During the Recession: An Examination of North Carolina Counties

This study examines county government participation in the state‐sponsored investment pool, the North Carolina Capital Management Trust (NCCMT), during the recession years. Using panel data of all 100 counties in North Carolina with additional survey data from finance officers concerning annual practices between fiscal years 2008–2011, findings suggest that county sales taxes were the most influential revenue stream on NCCMT cash portfolio participation while the accumulation of alternative revenue sources decreased participation. The findings also determined that the NCCMT was the safest investment option for idle local government funds during the recession.
The Interaction of Solvency with Liquidity and its Association with Bankruptcy Emergence

Prior research has shown that accounting information available prior to a bankruptcy is associated with the likelihood of bankruptcy. We show that additionally, the accounting information available prior to bankruptcy is associated with whether or not a firm will "emerge" from bankruptcy. We predict that firms that exhibit low solvency risk and high liquidity risk are most likely to emerge from bankruptcy. Firms that exhibit high solvency risk and high liquidity risk are predicted to be least likely to emerge from bankruptcy. Cross-sectionally, our results support these predictions, but our findings differ across large and small firms. Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd 2002.
A Behavioural Approach to Understanding Semi-subsistence Farmers' Technology Adoption Decisions: The Case of Improved Paddy-Prawn System in Indonesia

Abstract Purpose. This study traced the origins of subsistence Farmers' technology adoption attitudes and extracted the critical elements in their decision making systems. Design/Methodology/Approach. The analysis was structured using a model based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). The role of a ‘bargaining process’ was particularly explored to partially represent the socio-cultural influences, as it became clear social influences were important to decision-making in subsistence situations. The adoption of an improved paddy-prawn system in Indonesia was used as a case study. Findings. The results highlighted the Farmers' use of rational strategies and the socio-cultural interactions in decision-making. Before they would fully adopt the farmers needed to confirm that a new technology was significantly superior to the existing system and could provide a secure income. The role of, largely, a family bargaining process was found to be important. Practical Implications. The model parameters offer a realistic description of the subsistence farmers' decision-making process and consequently provide food for thought when developing extension programmes. Originality/Value. The use of the bargaining process has not been considered in previous studies using a TPB model. This bargaining process seemed to integrate different sets of decision criteria the farmers had learned and in which they believed. Such a process indicated the importance of considering the adoption decision and the relevant changes resulting from the farmers' cognition and interaction.
Reflections on sustaining Open Educational Resources: an institutional case study

This paper reviews some of the literature on the sustainability of Open Educational Resources (OER) and what it has to say about successful or sustainable open content projects on the internet. It goes on to argue that OER need to be considered with respect to the different types of economy market, public and social that operate for educational materials in particular and education in general. The paper then examines what sustainability means to different actors in these economies and the relationships between them, notably within organisations, between organisations and amongst communities and individuals, but not within or with political institutions. This is followed by a case study of one project within one higher educational organization: OpenLearn at The Open University in the UK. The case study outlines the objectives of the OpenLearn project; notes its relationship to The Open University`s mission; lists the major internal and external benefits that have arisen from the project; and sets out the future directions for the project. These traits are then compared with some key factors for successful projects listed in Guthrie et al (2008). The paper concludes by looking at the different sources of funding for OER projects and issues of both financial and social sustainability. It notes that sustainability for these projects, at least within organizations, depends upon the activity fitting closely with the goals of the organization such that most of the activity is absorbed into existing systems and practices. It also argues that they can act as a test bed for extending activities and securing a mix of new or improved funding streams.
A 100K well screen for a muscarinic receptor using the Epic® label-free system – a reflection on the benefits of the label-free approach to screening seven-transmembrane receptors

Seven-transmembrane receptors (7TMRs) are a family of proteins of great interest as therapeutic targets because of their abundance on the cell surface, diverse effects in modulating cell behavior and success as a key class of drugs. We have evaluated the Epic® label-free system for the purpose of identifying antagonists of the muscarinic M3 receptor. We compared the data generated from the label-free technology with data for the same compounds in a calcium flux assay. We have shown that this technology can be used for high throughput screening (HTS) of 7TMRs and as an orthogonal approach to enable rapid evaluation of HTS outputs. A number of compounds have been identified which were not found in a functional HTS measuring the output from a single pathway, which may offer new approaches to inhibiting responses through this receptor.
Finance and Hunger: Empirical Evidence of the Agricultural Productivity Channel

Using cross-country and panel regressions, the authors show that financial sector development significantly reduces undernourishment (hunger), largely through gaining farmers and others access to productivity-enhancing equipment, translating into beneficial income and general effects. They show specifically that a deeper financial sector leads to higher agricultural productivity, including higher cereal yields, through increased fertilizer and tractor use. Higher productivity in turn leads to lower undernourishment. The results are robust to various specifications and econometric tests and imply that a 1 percentage point increase in private credit to GDP reduces undernourishment by 0.22-2.45 percentage points, or about one-quarter the impact of GDP per capita.
The Wolves and Lambs of the Creative City: The Sustainability of Film and Television Producers in London

ABSTRACT. The sustainability of creative producers‐businesses and individuals‐depends in part on the state of the urban environment, especially the one of the street. Relationships with the street differ among creative producers with different power positions and levels of embeddedness in street life. Thus an approach to the sustainability of the creative city needs to move beyond the simplistic ideals of “mixed use” and “vitality” to an understanding of the complexity and continuity inherent in the production of creative spaces with respect to the multiple transactions of both the strong and weak stakeholders involved‐the “wolves” and “lambs. ” The example used in this article, which draws on evidence from interviews with producers, is the film and television industry in Camden Town, London, in relation to the “experience” economy.
Urban Primacy and Government Effectiveness: Theory and Evidence

This paper explores the relationship between geography and intra-governmental rent-seeking. Drawing on the Principal-Supervisor-Agent model as well as the classic Tullock rent-seeking model, a stylized model of rent-seeking within government is created where geographic proximity between public goods-providing agents and the agents who hire and supervise them affects the transaction costs of rent-seeking. From this model, several propositions are drawn about the effect of distance on government output. Results from an empirical analysis examining the relationship between capital city primacy and government effectiveness are largely consistent with the predictions of the model.
Characterization of phosphodiesterase catalytic sites by means of cyclic nucleotide derivatives.

Cyclic nucleotide derivatives have been used as a tool to characterize distinct catalytic sites on phosphodiesterase enzyme forms: the cGMP-stimulated enzyme from rat liver and the calmodulin-sensitive enzyme from rat or bovine brain. Under appropriate assay conditions, the analogues showed linear competitive inhibition with respect to cAMP (adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate) as substrate. The inhibition sequence of the fully activated cGMP-stimulated phosphodiesterase was identical to the inhibition sequence of the desensitized enzyme, i.e. the enzyme which has lost its ability to be stimulated by cGMP. The inhibition pattern could, therefore, not be attributed to competition with cGMP at an allosteric-activating site. Also, the inhibition sequence of the calmodulin-sensitive phosphodiesterase was maintained whether activity was basal or fully stimulated by calmodulin. When cAMP and cGMP, with identical chemical ligands substituted at the same position, were compared as inhibitors of the calmodulin-sensitive phosphodiesterase, the cGMP analogues were always the more potent suggesting that, for that enzyme, the catalytic site was sensitive to a guanine-type cyclic nucleotide structure. Comparing the two phosphodiesterases, it was possible to establish both similar and specific inhibitor potencies of cyclic nucleotide derivatives. In particular, the two enzymes exhibited large differences in analogue specificity modified at C-6, 6-chloropurine 3',5'-monophosphate or purine 3',5'-monophosphate.
Enteroadherent Escherichia coli and diarrhea in children: a prospective case-control study

The relative contribution of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli was examined during a 1-year prospective study of hospitalized children in Clermont-Ferrand, France, including 220 case patients (with diarrhea) and 211 matched controls. Fecal isolates were characterized by means of their pattern of adherence to HEp-2 cells and by colony hybridization with DNA probes specific for the six categories of diarrheagenic E. coli. No enteroinvasive or enterotoxigenic E. coli isolates were isolated. Twenty-eight (6.5%) eae-positive isolates and 39 (9%) enteroaggregative E. coli isolates characterized with the aggregative adherence probe and/or by their adherence pattern were detected; they were equally distributed among the patients and the controls. Diffusely adhering E. coli was the predominant pathotype: 30.7% were detected by their adherence pattern and 13.7% were detected with the daaC probe. They were isolated with similar frequencies from the patients and the controls, thereby showing no association with diarrhea. However, daaC-positive strains were significantly associated with a past record of urinary tract infections. These results suggest that the diffusely adhering E. coli organisms isolated in the present study are not true intestinal pathogens but may be regarded as resident colonic strains.
Leg Amyotrophic Diplegia: Prevalence and Pattern of Weakness at US Neuromuscular Centers

Objective: To identify the frequency of leg amyotrophic diplegia (LAD) at a US academic center, describe the pattern of weakness, and provide comparative data from 8 additional major US academic institutions. Background: LAD is a leg onset variant of progressive muscular atrophy (PMA). LAD weakness is confined to the legs for at least 2 years, and there are no upper motor neuron signs. Design/Methods: We present a retrospective chart review of 24 patients with the LAD presentation from the University of Kansas Medical Center ( n = 8 cases) and from 8 US academic institutions (n = 16 cases). Results: Of the 318 subjects identified in the University of Kansas Medical Center Neuromuscular Research Database, 82% (260 subjects) had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), 1.9% (6) had familial ALS, 6.6% (21) had primary lateral sclerosis, and 9.2% (29) had lower motor neuron (LMN) disease. Of these 29 cases, 16 had PMA, 5 had brachial amyotrophic diplegia, while 8 had LAD. The mean LAD age of onset was 58 years with a male/female ratio of 3/1. Onset was asymmetric in 7/8. We identified a pelviperoneal pattern of weakness (sparing of knee extension and/or ankle plantar flexion) in 4 cases and distal predominant weakness in 3 cases. All patients had electrodiagnostic findings consistent with motor neuron disease confined to the lower extremities. We present LAD disease duration and survival data from 8 major academic neuromuscular centers. At last follow-up, weakness progressed to involve the arms in 6/24 LAD cases and of these 6 cases, 2 patients died from progression to typical ALS. From onset of symptoms, mean survival in LAD is 87 months, with 92% of cases being alive. Conclusions/Relevance: The natural history of LAD differs from typical forms of ALS and PMA. LAD is a slowly progressive disorder that accounts for a fourth of LMN disease cases. An asymmetric pelviperoneal pattern of weakness should heighten the suspicion for LAD.
Managerial Ties and Firm Innovation: Is Knowledge Creation a Missing Link?†

Managerial ties, the personal networks of senior managers, have been found to be facilitators of firm performance because of their network benefits. However, social network theory suggests that managerial ties only play a "conduit" role by providing possibilities and opportunities to approach external resources. How can firms turn these possibilities and opportunities into internal knowledge assets and further transform them into firm innovation? Extant research constructs a direct mechanism for the managerial ties-firm innovation link. The research reported here, however, provides and investigates an indirect ties-innovation argument where organizational knowledge creation processes, including knowledge exchange and knowledge combination, are mediators. And managerial ties are examined through two traditional dimensions, business ties and political ties. This study employs empirical data from 270 firms in China and uses structural equation modeling techniques to reveal interesting findings. First, the results support the key argument that the influence of managerial ties on firm innovation is indirect. Second, knowledge exchange and knowledge combination are different constructs and the former positively influences the latter. More interestingly, business ties can exert a significant direct impact on both knowledge exchange and knowledge combination, while political ties can only influence knowledge exchange directly. Although both knowledge exchange and knowledge combination impact product innovation directly, only knowledge combination can directly influence process innovation. These findings indicate that the role of political ties is declining, but business ties still have substantial influence on firm innovation in transitional China. Different processes of organizational knowledge creation, such as knowledge exchange and knowledge combination, make distinct contributions to firm innovation. Product innovation, as opposed to process innovation, is more externally oriented and needs more organizational level knowledge creation activities. This article extends the understanding of the ties-innovation link, organizational knowledge creation theory, and firm innovation in a transitional economy by providing a more complete understanding of how firms can access and internalize external resources and then transform them into product innovation and process innovation. © 2011 Product Development & Management Association.
Farmers' Welfare and Changing Food Prices: Nonparametric Evidence from Rice in Madagascar

This paper uses nonparametric density estimation and kernel smoothing techniques to examine the instantaneous distributional implications of rice price changes in Madagascar. While many farmers do not participate in product markets as either buyers or sellers, and net sales or marketable surplus are fairly small for many others, the roughly one-third of rice farmers who fall below the poverty line face significant negative first-order welfare effects from increases in the mean or variance of rice prices. Conversely, the first-order gains from rice price increases are highly concentrated among the largest rice farmers and particular regions in Madagascar. Copyright 1996, Oxford University Press.
The implications of increased competition among ports for port policy and management

The increased competition faced by ports is more focused than previously on the performance of logistics systems of which the individual terminals in ports are critical hubs. The changes in competitive conditions raise issues about appropriate public port policies and strategies of port managements. This paper argucs that the port industry should (and is) moving in the direction of more harmonized policies based on economic principles. Port policies based on cost recovery from users of port facilities and services need to be adopted as the international standard. The competitive environment favours considerable local autonomy. Port management, in addition to possible direct responsibility for terminal management, needs to focus on activities with economies of scale or scope. Such activities, which span the requirements of terminals and may even warrant inter-port cooperation, enhance the services available for many port users.
The Effect of Governance Mechanisms on Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprise Cash Holdings: Evidence from the United Kingdom

This paper investigates the impact of governance mechanisms on small and medium‐sized enterprise () cash holdings from 2000 to 2009, employing static and dynamic panel data analyses. We find no evidence that firm governance index and insider ownership affect cash holdings. This might indicate that governance mechanisms in are relatively weak. We also report that chief executive officer compensation has a positive effect on cash holdings. Firm‐specific factors such as firm size, leverage, and liquidity negatively affect cash holdings, whereas the research and development ratio and operating risk are positively associated with them. Finally, have target cash holdings and adjust to these.