Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Deferred imitation and communication 1 Running head : DEFERRED IMITATION AND COMMUNICATION Deferred Imitation and Social Communication in Speaking and Non-speaking Children with Autism

The present study compares deferred imitation and early social communication skills among speaking and non-speaking children with autism and children with typical development. Overall, the children with autism showed a lower frequency on measures of both deferred imitation and social communication compared to typically developing children. Deferred imitation was observed at a significantly lower level among both the speaking and non-speaking groups of children with autism. However, when comparing the speaking autism group with the typical group many differences in observed social communication disappeared. The study points to the importance of considering the child’s verbal ability in autism research and indicates that specific difficulties in deferred imitation and in initiation of social communication are present in this group of children. Deferred imitation and communication 3 Deferred Imitation and Social Communication in Speaking and Non-speaking Children with Autism Children with autism usually have severe impairments in social interaction and communicative ability. Communicative problems are evidenced in social attention and regulation problems, and about a quarter of the children with autism never develop spoken communicative language (Hus, Pickles, Cook, Risi, & Lord, 2007). Joint attention is one of the prerequisites for the development of language, which is typically delayed in children with autism (e.g. Carpenter, Pennington, & Rogers, 2002). Another early emerging ability, which has not yet been well investigated in children with autism, is deferred imitation, although this capacity is related to both language (Heimann et al., 2006; Rose, Feldman, & Jankowski, 2009) and cognitive competence (Strid, Tjus, Smith, Meltzoff, & Heimann, 2006) in typically developing children. In the present, partly exploratory study, the main focus was to investigate deferred imitation and social communication in children with autism and children with typical development. The second aim was to investigate how these abilities differ between speaking and non-speaking children with autism.
A Note on Structuring Employability Skills for Accounting Students

The development of soft and technical skills as part of tertiary education courses is key to enhancing the employability skills of graduating students. Within the accounting profession there is little agreement over which skills should be developed and a wide range have been suggested as relevant. A sample (n = 62) of higher education educators and industry practitioners were surveyed to elicit their assessments of the importance of a range of employability skills. Exploratory Factor Analysis was used to group the skills into six factors that helped to provide a better understanding of the skills and how they could be grouped for teaching purposes.
Barriers to Employment Among Low-Income Mothers in Rural United States Communities

This article addresses potential barriers to sustained employment for rural low-income mothers. Drawing from a two panel longitudinal sample of 240 families from the Rural Families Speak project, it examines the extent to which human capital and family factors were related to these mothers' ability to be employed. Comparisons are made between mothers, who over a three-year period, were continuously unemployed, intermittently employed, or stably employed. Many of these rural low-income mothers faced multiple individual and family barriers that impacted their labor force participation. Notably food insecurity, mental health, caring for a young child, housing, and a family history of welfare were associated with less stable employment. The implications for public policy and service delivery are discussed.
The appropriateness of Gutman's means-end chain model in software evaluation

The primary objective of this paper was to examine the extent to which Gutman's Means-End Chain Model can be used to describe the influences given to the choice of characteristics used in software evaluation. This objective was accomplished by developing a theoretical model for software evaluation based on Gutman's Model, and empirically testing the model with quantitative techniques. The study utilized commercial Australian companies and involved a survey of 403 subjects, which were then analyzed quantitatively with bi-variate analysis. Results of the quantitative analysis provided a number of important insights and suggest several conclusions. The quantitative study showed that strong relationships between the characteristics and the values, affected by the use of the software, exist. The study also showed that desired consequences are related to both characteristics and values. The results provide a number of important insights and suggest several conclusions. The study showed (1) that there is support for applying Gutman's Means-end chain model in software evaluation; (2) that non-ISO9126 characteristics are also important for software evaluation; (3) that the characteristic, consequence, value relationship can be valuable to benefit the Goal Question Metric model.
Assessment of Common Preoxygenation Strategies Outside of the Operating Room Environment.

OBJECTIVES Preoxygenation prior to intubation aims to increase the duration of safe apnea by causing denitrogenation of the functional residual capacity, replacing this volume with a reservoir of oxygen. In the operating room (OR) the criterion standard for preoxygenation is an anesthetic circuit and well-fitting face mask, which provide a high fractional inspired oxygen concentration (FiO2 ). Outside of the OR, various strategies exist to provide preoxygenation. The objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of commonly used preoxygenation strategies outside of the OR environment. METHODS This was a prospective randomized unblinded study of 30 healthy staff volunteers from a major trauma center emergency department (ED) in Sydney, Australia. The main outcome measure is fractional expired oxygen concentration (FeO2 ) measured after a 3-minute period of tidal volume breathing with seven different preoxygenation strategies. RESULTS The mean FeO2 achieved with the anesthetic circuit was 81.0% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 78.3% to 83.6%), bag-valve-mask (BVM) 80.1% (95% CI = 76.5% to 83.6%), BVM with nasal cannula (NC) 74.8% (95% CI = 72.0% to 77.6%), BVM with positive end-expiratory pressure valve (PEEP) 78.9% (95% CI = 75.4% to 82.3%), BVM + NC + PEEP 75.5% (95% CI = 72.2% to 78.9%), nonrebreather mask (NRM) 51.6% (95% CI = 48.8% to 54.4%), and NRM + NC 57.1% (95% CI = 52.9% to 61.2%). Preoxygenation efficacy with BVM strategies was significantly greater than NRM strategies (p < 0.01) and noninferior to the anesthetic circuit. CONCLUSIONS In healthy volunteers, the effectiveness of BVM preoxygenation was comparable to the anesthetic circuit (criterion standard) and superior to preoxygenation with NRM. The addition of NC oxygen, PEEP, or both did not improve the efficacy of the BVM device.
Cross‐border interfirm cooperation: the influence of the performance context

Purpose – This study aims to examine the antecedents and consequences of a cooperative norm in exporter‐importer relationships. Moreover, it seeks to investigates the impact of the past economic performance of the venture on the effectiveness of interfirm cooperation.Design/methodology/approach – A survey was conducted among a sample of French exporters. Data on 283 exporter‐importer relationships were analyzed using structural equations modeling.Findings – Trust and continuity expectations foster the development of a cooperative norm, which in turn enhances importers' distributive performance. The study also shows that the effectiveness of cooperation increases in a low‐performance context.Practical implications – Exporters can improve the performance of their cross‐border business relationships by fostering the development of behavioral norms. The findings suggest that a norm of cooperation helps coordinate partners' behaviors in an international exchange. The effectiveness of such a norm increases in b.
Valuation and Communication: Two Conflicting Roles of Stock Price

In an environment where capital market participants collectively possess superior information about a decision faced by a firm manager, we use an experimental market to analyze the effectiveness with which the market communicates this information to the manager through stock price. We do so in a setting in which an inherent conflict exists between pricing that communicates information to the manager and pricing that accurately values the firm given the manager’s optimal response to the communicated information. Despite this conflict, we find that when the manager initially selects a low-value project, the stock price from the capital market is lower than the price that accurately values the firm given the manager’s optimal response to this price. Because managers often respond to this lower stock price by switching to a higher value project, firms with the lowest initial stock price generate the greatest future returns. Consistent with behavioral theory, we further highlight that imposing a small cost on the manager for switching projects decreases the communicative effectiveness of price leading to lower future returns in response to a low stock price. Collectively, our results potentially contribute to a better understanding of the seemingly anomalous book-to-market effect and results from the executive compensation literature.
Barriers to repeat patronage: the impact of spectator constraints

Purpose – The reason patrons cease to attend sporting events is not well understood. The purpose of this paper is to examine how factors motivate and inhibit patronage from continuing.Design/methodology/approach – A random sample of a sport franchise's fan database (n=308) is drawn. First, respondent data refines measures and tests a structural equation model of direct and indirect links to patronage. Next, content analysis classifies spectators according to self‐stated barriers to continuance. These groupings then check the moderating role constraints have on patron attitude and behaviour.Findings – Structural work confirms both direct and indirect links but notes that consumption primarily took an indirect route, with motivational desires rousing fan involvement and media use before increasing attendance. Group differences verify constraints and limit patronage but do not dampen product‐related attitude.Research limitations/implications – The study helps clarify the connection between media use and atte.
Marginally Stable Triangular Recurrent Neural Network Architecture for Time Series Prediction

This paper introduces a discrete-time recurrent neural network architecture using triangular feedback weight matrices that allows a simplified approach to ensuring network and training stability. The triangular structure of the weight matrices is exploited to readily ensure that the eigenvalues of the feedback weight matrix represented by the block diagonal elements lie on the unit circle in the complex ${z}$ -plane by updating these weights based on the differential of the angular error variable. Such placement of the eigenvalues together with the extended close interaction between state variables facilitated by the nondiagonal triangular elements, enhances the learning ability of the proposed architecture. Simulation results show that the proposed architecture is highly effective in time-series prediction tasks associated with nonlinear and chaotic dynamic systems with underlying oscillatory modes. This modular architecture with dual upper and lower triangular feedback weight matrices mimics fully recurrent network architectures, while maintaining learning stability with a simplified training process. While training, the block-diagonal weights (hence the eigenvalues) of the dual triangular matrices are constrained to the same values during weight updates aimed at minimizing the possibility of overfitting. The dual triangular architecture also exploits the benefit of parsing the input and selectively applying the parsed inputs to the two subnetworks to facilitate enhanced learning performance.
The Impact of Derivative Trading on the Liquidity of Stocks

Liquidity is an important factor for smooth trading for all assets including equities traded in the stock markets. Stock exchanges enable buyers and sellers to come together for transaction and in the process reduce the search cost and friction. Higher liquidity motivates more investors to participate in the stock market. Introduction of derivatives of the underlying stock increases the opportunity set available to investors and hence affect the liquidity of the underlying stock. This study examines the impact of derivative trading on the liquidity of underlying stock using price impact measure of liquidity. The price impact measure of liquidity, which actually measures illiquidity, is given by the average daily ratio of absolute return of the stock to the daily volume over a period of time. The advantage of this measure is that it is based on the observed price changes associated with trades. Two time periods have been chosen to examine the short-term and long-term impact of derivative listing on liquidity of underlying stocks. The first time period is one month pre- and post-listing and the second time period is one year pre- and post-listing. The results of this study show a shift in the volume from cash market to derivative market, decline in the number of trades, and lower volatility after the introduction of derivative trading. The illiquidity of the stocks also increased in the short run after the introduction of derivative trading and this is definitely not a desirable outcome of introduction of derivative trading. The sample has been divided into four quartiles on the basis of pre-liquidity levels to examine whether the change in liquidity is affected by the pre liquidity levels of the underlying stock. The results show that the impact of derivative trading on long-term liquidity of the market depends on the level of liquidity prior to the introduction of derivative trading. They also show an improvement in long-term liquidity after derivative trading when the liquidity of stocks prior to derivative trading was not high. In other words, derivative listing improved the liquidity of illiquid stocks significantly and served one of the basic objectives of risk management. On the other hand, long-term liquidity was marginally affected if the stocks were already liquid and it is not a matter of concern.
Assessment of Industrial Safety Education Programmes In Manufacturing Industries In Kaduna And Niger States Of Nigeria

Loss of working hours, low productivity and the loss of human and material resources due to negligence of safety and industrial safety education programme has become an incessant problem in manufacturing industries. This research study therefore focused on the assessment of industrial safety education programmes in the manufacturing industries of Kaduna and Niger states of Nigeria. The study sought to identify the industrial safety education training needs of the industries; the potential sources of industrial accidents in workshops/laboratories of manufacturing industries and the suitable instructional methods used by the industries to ensure safety and accident prevention in the industries. A 45 item questionnaire was used to collect data from management staff and factory workers from 24 manufacturing industries spread across Kaduna and Niger states of Nigeria. Mean (
Governance and Liquidity Commonality in Asset Pricing

Governance characteristics are potentially a proxy for information asymmetry that may be better captured by the market liquidity of a company’s shares. Although liquidity has been established as a risk factor in the asset-pricing paradigm, there is still an ongoing debate as to whether governance is a priced risk factor. Could they both be priced, despite the commonality between the two due to information asymmetry? We jointly examine both factors in a series of asset-pricing tests to see if clustering of liquidity is responsible for the governance premium. Our results reconfirm the importance of governance in explaining stock returns.
Service quality in maritime transport : conceptual model and empirical evidence

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to extend knowledge on service quality and how it is defined and thus, managed, in the context of maritime transport by proposing and testing a new conceptual model of service quality.Design/methodology/approach – The study used a sample of 197 shipping companies, port operators and freight forwarders/logistics service providers, employing the triangulation of both mail survey and in‐depth interview techniques. A total of 120 usable questionnaires were returned and 25 interviews conducted. Data were analysed using the SPSS 13.0 software and thematic analysis technique.Findings – It was found that service quality in maritime transport is a six‐dimensional construct consisting of resources, outcomes, process, management, image, and social responsibility (ROPMIS), with each dimension measured by a number of explaining factors making up a total of 24 factors. Findings also revealed that factors involving the outcomes and process of service provision, as well as the manag.
Regulation of TRAIL Expression by the Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase/Akt/GSK-3 Pathway in Human Colon Cancer Cells*

The intestinal mucosa is a rapidly-renewing tissue characterized by cell proliferation, differentiation, and eventual apoptosis with progression up the vertical gut axis. The inhibition of phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase by specific chemical inhibitors or overexpression of the lipid phosphatase PTEN enhances enterocyte-like differentiation in human colon cancer cell models of intestinal differentiation. In this report, we examined the role of PI 3-kinase inhibition in the regulation of apoptotic gene expression in human colon cancer cell lines HT29, HCT-116, and Caco-2. Inhibition of PI 3-kinase with the chemical inhibitor wortmannin increased TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL; Apo2) mRNA and protein expression. Similarly, overexpression of the tumor suppressor protein PTEN, an antagonist of PI 3-kinase signaling, resulted in the increased expression of TRAIL. Activation of PI 3-kinase by pretreatment with IGF-1, a gut trophic factor, markedly attenuated the induction of TRAIL by wortmannin. Moreover, overexpression of active Akt, a downstream target of PI 3-kinase, or inhibition of GSK-3, a downstream target of active Akt, completely blocked the induction of TRAIL by wortmannin. Consistent with findings that TRAIL is induced by agents that enhance intestinal cell differentiation, TRAIL expression was specifically localized to the differentiated cells of the colon and small bowel. Adenovirus-mediated overexpression of TRAIL increased DNA fragmentation of HCT-116 cells, demonstrating the functional activity of TRAIL induction. Taken together, our findings demonstrate induction of the TRAIL by inhibition of PI 3-kinase in colon cancer cell lines. These results identify TRAIL, a novel TNF family member, as a downstream target of the PI 3-kinase/Akt/GSK-3 pathway and may have important implications for better understanding the role of the PI 3-kinase pathway in intestinal cell homeostasis.
Medical WSN: Power, routing and selective forwarding defense

Different aspects of Wireless sensor networks (WSN) are currently being studied. Some of the important aspects would be clustering, routing and security. This paper looks at the problems arising due to wireless routing between nodes of a medical WSN. Here, the focus is on selective forwarding (SF) attacks. As a solution, we have described a secure routing protocol with test-bed simulation results. This protocol is capable of detecting and correcting the SF attack. The results show that the power consumed during the detection phase is only 152μW more than the power consumed during normal phase.
Intracellular Metabolism and Persistence of the Anti-Human Immunodeficiency Virus Activity of 2′,3′-Didehydro-3′-Deoxy-4′-Ethynylthymidine, a Novel Thymidine Analog

ABSTRACT The therapeutic benefits of current antiretroviral therapy are limited by the evolution of drug-resistant virus and long-term toxicity. Novel antiretroviral compounds with activity against drug-resistant viruses are needed. 2′,3′-Didehydro-3′-deoxy-4′-ethynylthymidine (4′-Ed4T), a novel thymidine analog, has potent anti-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) activity, maintains considerable activity against multidrug-resistant HIV strains, and is less inhibitory to mitochondrial DNA synthesis in cell culture than its progenitor stavudine (D4T). We investigated the intracellular metabolism and anti-HIV activity of 4′-Ed4T. The profile of 4′-Ed4T metabolites was qualitatively similar to that for zidovudine (AZT), with the monophosphate metabolite as the major metabolite, in contrast to that for D4T, with relatively poor formation of total metabolites. The first phosphorylation step for 4′-Ed4T in cells was more efficient than that for D4T but less than that for AZT. The amount of 4′-Ed4T triphosphate (4′-Ed4TTP) was higher than that of AZTTP at 24 h in culture. There was a dose-dependent accumulation of 4′-Ed4T diphosphate and 4′-Ed4TTP on up-regulation of thymidylate kinase and 3-phosphoglycerate kinase expression in Tet-On RKO cells, respectively. The anti-HIV activity of 4′-Ed4T in cells persisted even after 48 h of drug removal from culture in comparison with AZT, D4T, and nevirapine (NVP). The order of increasing persistence of anti-HIV activity of these compounds after drug removal was 4′-Ed4T > D4T > AZT > NVP. In conclusion, with the persistence of 4′-Ed4TTP and persistent anti-HIV activity in cells, we anticipate less frequent dosing and fewer patient compliance issues than for D4T. 4′-Ed4T is a promising antiviral candidate for HIV type 1 chemotherapy.
Optimal Financial Contracts and Product Market Competition under Imperfect Enforceability

This paper studies the optimal capital structure in a settin g with imperfect contract enforcement where the number of firms in the market is endogenous. The pape r shows that: (i) the optimal financial policy for a given entrepreneur depends on its initial wealt h as well as the quality of the contract enforcement; (ii) the choice of the capital structure depends on the number of firms in the market and the number of firms depends on the wealth distribution; (iii) the re is non-monotonic relationship between the quality of enforcement and market concentration.
Acupressure wristbands for the prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting in adults undergoing cardiac surgery.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether the application of acupressure bands would lead to a reduction in postoperative nausea and vomiting after cardiac surgery. DESIGN Prospective, randomized, double-blind clinical trial. SETTING University-affiliated tertiary care teaching hospital. PARTICIPANTS Adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery. INTERVENTIONS One hundred fifty-two patients were enrolled to receive either acupressure treatment (n = 75) or placebo (n = 77). All patients had acupressure bands placed on both wrists before induction of anesthesia; those in the treatment group had a bead placed in contact with the P6 point on the forearm. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Patients were assessed for nausea, vomiting, and pain scores during the first 24 hours of the postoperative period. The incidences of nausea, vomiting, pain scores, and analgesic and antiemetic requirements were similar between the 2 groups. A subgroup analysis by gender implied that acupressure treatment may be effective only in female patients. CONCLUSION Acupressure treatment did not lead to a reduction in nausea, vomiting, or antiemetic requirements in patients after cardiac surgery.