Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association between Moderate-to-Severe Diarrhea in Young Children in the Global Enteric Multicenter Study (GEMS) and Types of Handwashing Materials Used by Caretakers in Mirzapur, Bangladesh

Handwashing practices among caretakers of case and control children < 5 years of age enrolled in the Global Enteric Multicenter Study in Mirzapur, Bangladesh were characterized and analyzed for association with moderate-to-severe diarrhea. Soap or detergent ownership was common, yet 48% of case and 47.7% of control caretakers also kept ashes for handwashing, including 36.8% of the wealthiest households. Soap, detergent, and ash were used for multiple hygiene purposes and were kept together at handwashing areas. Caretakers preferred soap for handwashing, but frequently relied on ash, or a detergent/ash mixture, as a low-cost alternative. Moderate-to-severe diarrhea was equally likely for children of caretakers who kept soap versus those who kept ash (matched OR = 0.91; 0.62–1.32). Contact with ash and water reduced concentrations of bacterial enteropathogens, without mechanical scrubbing. Thus, washing hands with ash is a prevalent behavior in Mirzapur and may help diminish transmission of diarrheal pathogens to children.
An Economic Survey

For Europe the most fundamental problem is the density of population and its persistent increase. Millions died and were crippled during the war. For a time there was a marked decline in the birth rate, and even now the number of births per 1,000 of population is less than in pre-war days. But population, already of great density, is still growing. There is no one explanation for the involved state of Europe in 1927, but this fact of growing numbers should be listed first. Even before the war Europe, particularly Western Europe, was a closely settled area. The accompanying map’ marked to indicate comparative population density shows that Europe in this particular is rivaled only by parts of Asia. In fact, if national boundary lines are taken as the basis the countries
An examination of methods of improving audit judgment

This study examined three methods of improving audit judgment, namely inoculation, the group process, and counterexplanation. Prior research found that auditors' judgments were not always optimum. An important question this study asked was whether the use of inoculation, the group process and counterexplanation leads to more effective judgments. In Experiment One, I proposed that inoculation will reduce the effect of framing so that participants exposed to the inoculation treatment will not display a framing effect, while participants not exposed to the treatment will. In addition, I hypothesised that the relation between audit experience and responsiveness to training has an inverted-U shaped value function. The results showed this to be the case. No interaction effect between framing and inoculation was observed, but the order of writing supporting and opposing arguments as required by the inoculation treatment led to a primacy effect. The second experiment posited ~hat the use of audit groups will improve individual auditors' judgments in a going-concern evaluation task. The results showed that not only were audit group judgments more conservative, but consensus was also higher among audit group judgments. To explain the hypothesised differences between audit group and individual auditor judgments, I examined groups' and individuals' self-reported cue usage, cue selection and cue weighting. The results showed that both groups and individuals were equally proficient in cue weighting, but the groups selected more
TRANSFERS OF CELL SODIUM AND POTASSIUM IN EXPERIMENTAL AND CLINICAL CONDITIONS.

In recent years much interest has been manifested in transfers of cellular electrolytes in various disease states. Loss of the main cation, potassium, in "excess" of nitrogen has been found in fasting (1), diarrhea (2), diabetic coma (3, 4), and dehydration (5). It has further been shown that at least partial replacement of deficits of cell potassium by increments of extracellular sodium occurs in animals on low potassium-high sodium diets (6, 7), in animals treated with desoxycorticosterone (8), in subjects with alkalosis (9, 10) and in some infants with diarrhea (11 ). Furthermore, the administration of potassium as well as sodium and water has been found to be therapeutically advantageous in some of these conditions (4, 12). Not only do extensive transfers of electrolytes across the cell boundaries take place, but alterations in osmotic activity of the constituents of the cells occur as well (13 to 15). Presumably this is due to changes in the degree of dissociation of the cations bound with protein, phosphates, or other organic complexes. The conditions governing such phenomena and their relation to transfers of cations across the cell membrane are not known. In this paper data are analyzed from a large number of experiments in dogs and human subjects with various alterations of body water and electrolytes. It is our purpose to identify factors which condition transfers of cations, to seek relationships between sodium and potassium during movements into and out of cells, and to calculate the osmotic adjustments which accompany such exchanges.
Microfinance and poverty reduction

This book sets forth the most important lessons learned in recent years about how microfinancial activities especially the provision of microcredit can be used to alleviate poverty. After an introduction the first chapter provides background material by reviewing the current debates about microfinance. Chapter 2 describes the array of informal financial services (IFSs) by covering such topics as user-owned IFSs IFSs for profit turning IFSs into formal services what can be learned from IFSs intervention decisions innovative services and promotion of use of formal financial services. Chapter 3 relays the design of savings and credit schemes for poor people by looking at women as users of financial services lending through groups forms of loans loan disbursement and repayment schedules interest rates and integrating financial services with other activities. The fourth chapter covers financial performance and sustainability issues such as managing and assessing financial performance financial sustainability and managerial and organizational sustainability. Chapter 5 deals with the difficulties involved with assessing the impact of IFSs as well as innovations in impact assessment and adaptability. Chapter 6 presents the background design financial performance and sustainability impact assessment and conclusions about five case studies: the Union Regional de Apoyo Campesino in Mexico the SUNGI Development Foundation in Pakistan the Ladywood Credit Union in the UK ACTIONAID in the Gambia and Casa Campesina Cayambe in Ecuador. The final chapter concludes that development of microfinance interventions may be a challenge for nongovernmental organizations but that meeting this challenge may play an important role in reducing poverty. Appendices offer a table providing details on six microfinance institutions and a description of repayment arrears and default rates.
Patterns of e-commerce adoption and intensity. Evidence for the european union-27

One of the most significant economic trends of recent years is the growing use of the Internet for conducting business, and in particular to purchase and sell online without temporal or spatial restrictions. In this context the aim of this paper is to explore both the adoption of e-commerce and the extent of its use across EU-27 firms. We analyze in parallel the factors driving online buying and selling. The intensity of adoption is examined by looking at the percentage of sales and purchases, respectively, made online. Our results show that the decision to adopt e-commerce depends mainly on the perceived impact ICT adoption would have for the firm. Furthermore, size, absorptive capacity, market environment, and competitive pressures are positively correlated with adoption. Our results also throw some light on the cross-country diffusion of ecommerce. The substantial differences in adoption rates are mainly explained by income levels. In addition, countries that are more open to trade tend toward higher e-commerce
Evidence against a direct role for the induction of c-jun expression in the mediation of drug-induced apoptosis in human acute leukemia cells.

Previous reports have demonstrated that a variety of anticancer drugs, e.g., 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine (ara-C), mitoxantrone, etoposide, camptothecin, and cisplatin, induce the expression of c-jun oncogene in leukemic cells prior to producing internucleosomal DNA fragmentation and the morphological features of apoptosis. This has led to the impression that the induction of c-jun expression may be directly involved in the molecular signaling of the final common pathway of programmed cell death or apoptosis. In the present study, we examined the role of c-jun expression in three different settings of anticancer drug-induced apoptosis in human leukemic cells. First, exposure of human myeloid leukemia HL-60 cells to high-dose ara-C for 4 h produced internucleosomal DNA fragmentation preceded by c-jun induction. However, pretreatment of HL-60 cells with staurosporine, a protein kinase C inhibitor, repressed c-jun yet enhanced DNA fragmentation and apoptosis due to ara-C. Second, in human pre-B leukemia 697/BCL-2 cells which are transfected with the cDNA of the bcl-2 oncogene and overexpress p26BCL-2, although ara-C or mitoxantrone treatment caused greater c-jun induction than in the 697/neo cells, significantly reduced endonucleolytic DNA fragmentation and apoptosis was observed in 697/BCL-2 cells. Finally, taxol-induced internucleosomal DNA fragmentation and morphological features of apoptosis in HL-60 cells were not associated with the induction of c-jun expression. These lines of evidence indicate that the induction of c-jun expression may not have a direct role in the molecular signaling of anticancer drug-induced apoptosis, and that the anticancer drug-induced apoptosis can occur by a mechanism that does not involve the induction of c-jun expression.
High association of human herpesvirus 8 in large-plaque parapsoriasis and mycosis fungoides.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the presence of human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) in lesional skin of German patients with large-plaque parapsoriasis (LPP) or mycosis fungoides (MF). The pathogenetic relevance of HHV-8 in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma is controversial. Recently, a highly significant association of HHV-8 in LPP was found, which suggests a role in the pathogenesis of this disease. DESIGN Retrospective study of the presence of HHV-8 in German patients with lymphoproliferative diseases. SETTING Dermatologic clinic at a university hospital of the Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany. PATIENTS Fifty-three patients treated for lymphoproliferative skin diseases were included in the study, including 14 patients with LPP, 31 with different stages of MF, and 8 with lymphomatoid papulosis (LyP). Twenty-three patients with Kaposi sarcoma (KS) made up the positive control group, and 10 patients with atopic dermatitis served as negative controls. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The presence of HHV-8 was analyzed from paraffin-embedded lesional tissue samples using a nested polymerase chain reaction for the open reading frame (ORF) 26 and with immunohistochemical staining for the latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA) encoded by ORF 73. RESULTS A high association of HHV-8 infection in both lymphoproliferative skin diseases was observed: 87% of LPP and 70% of MF tissue samples tested positive for HHV-8 DNA from ORF 26. However, HHV-8 was not detectable in LPP and MF by using the immunohistochemical marker LANA. CONCLUSIONS A virus unambiguously associated with KS, HHV-8 was frequently detected at low amounts in LPP and MF specimens. However, based on the methods of HHV-8 detection used in this study, no conclusion can be drawn on the etiologic and pathogenetic role of HHV-8 in these diseases.
Caught in the ACT: The Timing of Aspiration and Voicing in East Bengali

East Bengali is a language that displays a four-way contrast of voiced/voiceless and aspirated/unaspirated oral stops and affricates in all word positions. Additionally, in intervocalic position there is a quantity contrast between long and short obstruents. In this production study we investigate medial palato-alveolar affricates and stops at the labial, dental, retroflex, and velar places of articulation and address the problems of VOT measurements. We introduce a different approach of measuring lag times, henceforth called after closure time (ACT). The results show that this approach can do away with the extra notion of breathy voice to distinguish between the voiced aspirates and unaspirates. Moreover, as a result of analyzing the aspirated stops and affricates, an additional term (superimposed aspiration—SA) had to be introduced. The results of combining the notions of ACT and SA show that aspiration, measured from the point of release, is timed equally for voiced and voiceless stops. However, the difference in voice emerges in a trade-off relationship between ACT and SA. The factors used for analysis were voice, aspiration, quantity, and place of articulation in correlation to closure duration, the length of the preceding vowel, ACT, and SA.
Does firm reporting quality and analyst forecasting skill influence the analyst choice to issue revenue forecasts

This study documents that analysts are more likely to issue revenue forecasts to complement earnings-per-share estimates (EPS) when the quality of firm financial reporting is low. This is because compared to EPS forecasts accuracy, revenue forecast accuracy is less adversely affected by poor reporting quality, and as a result, investors rely more on revenue than EPS estimates in their investment decisions when the reporting quality is low. The result is robust to using five proxies for the quality of firm financial reporting: the variation in discretionary accruals, the absolute level of discretionary accruals, earnings persistence, absolute total accruals, and earnings volatility. Further, we document that better earnings forecasters are more likely to issue revenue estimates. This is because only better quality analysts would want their forecasts to be subject to higher market scrutiny, and because a combination of accurate revenue and EPS forecasts is a stronger signal of the analyst forecasting skill compared to an accurate stand-alone EPS estimate only.
Cloninger's temperament dimensions and epidermal growth factor A61G polymorphism in Finnish adults

This study examines a link between human temperament and epidermal growth factor (EGF). There is evidence that dopaminergic neurotransmission in the central nervous system has a role in temperament, especially in novelty seeking. Functional polymorphism in EGF gene has an impact on EGF production, and EGF, in turn, appears to affect the development of midbrain dopaminergic neurons. Epidermal growth factor gene A61G polymorphisms were studied in a randomly selected sample of 292 Finnish adults. Their temperaments were assessed twice (with a 4‐year test–retest interval) with Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory consisting of four dimensions, i.e. novelty seeking (NS), harm avoidance (HA), reward dependence (RD) and persistence (P). The findings on men showed a significant association between a presence of the G/G polymorphism and scoring in the highest tertile on NS in both test and retest. The same was true with men who scored high on RD, especially on sensitivity, in both tests. Among women, G/G polymorphism was associated with a stable high level of P. Importantly, temperament dimensions, as assessed with one test only, did not provide replicable associations with EGF polymorphism across the two measurements. Our results demonstrate the importance of reliable phenotype assessment and lend support to the hypothesis that dopaminergic activity is one factor underlying stable temperament.
Exploration of internet use: profile and preferences of transition-aged adolescents with spina bifida.

PURPOSE A pilot study was conducted to learn about the Internet usage of adolescents with spina bifida. The purpose of this study is to investigate the feasibility for developing an online health care transition intervention. METHODS Use of the Internet was examined in a convenience sample of 50 adolescents with spina bifida in the Spina Bifida Clinic at Children's Hospital, Los Angeles. Participants were between 14 to 18 years of age. Data are reported as percentages and frequency distributions. RESULTS Ninety-two percent of adolescents with spina bifida used the Internet, and of those, 87% used it at home, with an average rate of 2.4 hours per dat. The majority of adolescents used the Internet for homework purposes (83%). Leisure activities, such as listening to music (76%), playing games (70%), meeting new friends/social networking (63%), and watching YouTube videos (61%), were also reported. Most participants have never used the Internet to obtain spina bifida information (67%) or to meet other adolescents with spina bifida (85%). CONCLUSION Internet application as an outreach tool for education and transition planning should be further explored in future studies. Given the widespread reported access to the Internet among our participants, results suggest that a Web-based outreach tool for education and health care transition planning have the potential to be accessible and beneficial to adolescents with spina bifida with the facilitated support of health care professionals.
Glutamine Protects Mice from Lethal Endotoxic Shock via a Rapid Induction of MAPK Phosphatase-11

The nonessential amino acid l-glutamine (Gln) is the most abundant amino acid in plasma. Clinical trials have demonstrated that Gln therapy is safe and improves clinical outcomes in critically ill patients. We have previously shown that Gln protect animals from endotoxic shock through the inhibition of cytosolic phospholipase A2 activity. In this study, we investigated how Gln regulates MAPK activation, as the molecular mechanism underlying Gln-induced cytosolic phospholipase A2 inactivation. Gln rapidly (within 10 min) inactivated p38 and JNK, but not ERK, by dephosphorylating them only when these MAPKs were phosphorylated in response to LPS in vivo as well as in vitro. Western blot analysis revealed that Gln administration resulted in rapid (∼5 min) phosphorylation and protein induction of MAP kinase phosphatase-1 (MKP-1). MKP-1 siRNA abrogated the Gln-mediated 1) inactivation of p38 and JNK, 2) induction of MKP-1, and 3) protection against endotoxic shock. The ERK inhibitor U0126 blocked Gln-induced MKP-1 phosphorylation and protein induction, as well as Gln’s protective activity against endotoxic shock. These data suggest that Gln exerts a beneficial effect on endotoxic shock by inactivating p38 and JNK via a rapid induction of MKP-1 protein in an ERK-dependent way.
Sodium intake prediction with health promotion model constructs in rural hypertensive patients.

BACKGROUND Hypertension is the most common cause of cardiovascular disease, and the growing epidemic is a serious warning to pay more attention to this disease. The aims of this study were to examine the relationships between the health promotion model (HPM) constructs and sodium intake, and to determine the predictive power of the HPM constructs as the possible mediators of sodium intake in rural Iranian hypertensive patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS This cross-sectional study was conducted on 671 hypertensive patients in Ardabil, Iran in 2013. The data were obtained during a 25-40 min face-to-face conversation by validated and reliable instruments. The nutritional data were assessed with Nutritionist version 4 (N4) software. Descriptive statistics, Spearman's correlations were calculated using SPSS Statistics version 18.0. Structural equation modeling was conducted using AMOS version 18. RESULTS Sodium intake was negatively correlated with perceived benefits (r = -0.707; P < 0.01), perceived self-efficacy (r = -0.719; P < 0.01), situational influences (r = -0.590; P < 0.01), interpersonal influences (r = -0.637; P < 0.01), commitment to action (r = -0.605; P < 0.01), affects related behavior (r = -0.499; P < 0.01), and positively associated with the perceived barriers score (r = 0.563; P < 0.01). The structural equation modeling showed that the model explained 63.0% of the variation in sodium intake. CONCLUSIONS HPM constructs were significantly associated with sodium intake and dietary perceptions based on HPM constructs can predict acceptable rate of the variation of sodium intake. Therefore, we suggest using this model constructs to improve the effectiveness of nutritional interventions.
A Comparative Study Between the Wingate and Force-Velocity Anaerobic Cycling Tests: Effect of Physical Fitness.

PURPOSE To verify the hypothesis that the peak power (PP) of a Wingate test (WT) is an underestimation of maximal power (P(max)) computed from the force-velocity test (FVT), to examine possible fatigue effect on P(max), and to investigate the effect of load on mean power (MP) and fatigue index (FI) during a WT in trained and recreational men. METHODS Ten recreational (22.9 ± 1.7 y, 1.81 ± 0.06 m, 73.3 ± 10.4 kg) and 10 highly trained subjects (22.7 ± 1.4 y, 1.85 ± 0.05 m, 78.9 ± 6.6 kg) performed 2 WTs with 2 loads (8.7% and 11% of body mass [BM]) and an FVT on the same cycle ergometer, in randomized order. RESULTS Optimal load was equal to 10% BM in recreational participants. Given the quadratic relationship between load and power, the underestimation of P(max) was lower than 10% for the average values of trained and recreational participants with both loads. However, PP with a load equal to 8.7% BM was a large underestimation (~30%) of P(max) in the most powerful individuals. In addition, PP was not greater than P(max) of FVT for the same load. FI was independent of the load only if it was expressed relative to PP. The optimal load for MP during WT was close to the optimal load for PP. CONCLUSIONS The optimal load for WT performance should be approximately equal to 10% BM in recreational subjects. In powerful subjects, the FVT appears to be more appropriate in assessing maximal power, and loads higher than 11% BM should be verified for the WT.
The Impact of Financial Market Frictions on Trade Flows, Capital Flows and Economic Development

We introduce financial frictions in a two sector model of international trade with heterogeneous agents. The level of specialization in the economy (economic development) depends on the quality of financial institutions. Underdeveloped financial markets prohibit an economy to specialize in sectors where finance is important. Capital flows and international trade are complements when countries differ in the degree of development of their financial sectors. Capital flows to countries with more robust financial institutions which in turn allow their economies to develop sectors that are financially dependent.
Recasts, Modified Output and L2 Development: A Case of Persian EFL Learners

The current study compared the effectiveness of recasts which triggered learners’ modification to their incorrect forms with recasts which triggered no modified output. To this end, 60 Iranian EFL learners randomly selected from two EFL classes received recasts for their errors during task-based interactions with their interlocutors. Using a tailor-made design, we compared the efficacy of recasts which were followed by learners’ modified output with the efficacy of recasts which triggered no modified output. The results indicated that recasts which were followed by learners’ modified output were more effective than recasts which prompted no modified output on promoting L2 development.