Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CSF levels of carnitine in children with meningitis, neurologic disorders, acute gastroenteritis, and seizure

Carnitine concentrations in CSF, serum, and urine in normal febrile children and children with meningitis, neurologic disorders, and dehydration were studied. Carnitine levels in CSF were 1/10 compared with serum in normal febrile children. These levels increased two- to threefold in the pathologic conditions studied. Since damage to the blood-brain barrier occurs in these conditions, higher blood-brain barrier permeability might explain CNS carnitine accumulation.
On-hired Workers in Australia: Motivations and Outcomes

The report sought to quantify a number of views and perceptions regarding on-hired workers using a rigorous and unbiased survey research methodology. The report was based on survey responses of industry participants such as workers, host employers and providers (employment agency vendors) regarding: - Motivations to participate in on-hired work; - Implications and outcomes. In addition, the study reviewed Australian and overseas literature and was initially guided by depth interviews of both employees and employment agencies.
Contextual Determinants of Reward Systems' Success: An Exploratory Study

Data were collected on successful and unsuccessful reward initiatives. The initiatives included new and modified base pay, short- and long-term incentive, benefits, and perquisite/lifestyle rewards. Initiative success was measured on seven factors, and ten conditions were measured for initiative success. Follow-up telephone calls to most respondents provided more detail for examples. Analysis suggests that a common set of criteria can be used to judge the success of different kinds of programs. Surprisingly, success in plan design was not a significant explanatory variable in reaching success on any criterion of rewards initiative success. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Does good corporate governance matter? Best practice in Poland

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between compliance with corporate governance best practice and corporate performance within Poland.Design/methodology/approach – The analysis is based on the regression of corporate governance compliance rating and corporate performance on a sample of Polish public listed companies for years 2004‐2006.Findings – The research indicates that complying with corporate governance best practice in Poland is associated with lower return on investment (the whole sample). However, the tendency changes into negative but statistically insignificant for the second and third years, and positive but statistically insignificant when only rated companies are included in the research sample. The relationship between proxy of Tobin's q and corporate governance rating remains statistically insignificant and is negative for the whole sample and positive for first and third year as well as for rating companies.Research limitations/ implications – The next .
Tobin's "Q", Debt Overhang, and Investment

Incorporating debt in a dynamic real options framework, we show that underinvestment stems from truncation of equity's horizon at default. Debt overhang distorts both the level and composition of investment, with underinvestment being more severe for long-lived assets. An empirical proxy for the shadow price of capital to equity is derived. Use of this proxy yields a structural test for debt overhang and its mitigation through issuance of additional secured debt. Using measurement error-consistent GMM estimators, we find a statistically significant debt overhang effect regardless of firms' ability to issue additional secured debt. Copyright 2004 by The American Finance Association.
Prevalence of the Panton-Valentine Leukocidin in Staphylococcus aureus associated with Upper Respiratory Tract Infections

S. aureus with lukS-PV and lukF-PV genes, responsible for encoding the cytotoxin panton valentine leukocidin (PVL) becomes a growing problem throughout the world. Initially, this pore-forming cytotoxin in human leukocytes was associated with skin and soft tissue infections, especially in recurrent abscesses. However, in the last decade a growing association of these PVL positive strains has been verified, with devastating pneumonia with a high mortality rate affecting mainly young adults, apparently healthy. In this study we were to determine the prevalence of PVL in S. aureus associated with upper respiratory tract infections. We were isolated 60 strains of S. aureus from respiratory tract infections in humans; these were tested for different antibiotics. Then, from DNA we analyzed the presence or absence of the lukS-PV and lukF-PV using the PCR technique. The phenotypic profile for different antibiotics tested revealed only one strain sensitive for all, 59 strains showed resistance: 2 (34%) to gentamicin and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, 46 (78%) to levofloxacin, 51 (86.4%) to oxacilin and all (100%) to Penicilin G. The lukS-PV gene was detected only in 2 strains (3.3%), the lukF-PV gene was detected in 20 strains (33.3%) and both genes were detected simultaneously in only two strains, which were classified as PVL positive (3.3%). The average age of the infected individuals with PVL positive strains is 11 years, which may indicate that PVL positive strains infect younger individuals. The 18 positive strains for the lukF-PV gene suggest the use of other techniques to confirm the non gene amplification for lukS-PV gene. The 60 strains showed a high resistance pattern to β-lactam antibiotics including penicillin and oxacillin, however, it was not established a link between PVL positive strains and resistance to a specific antibiotic or MRSA phenotype.
Advances in economics of marketing and implications for aquaculture development

Abstract This paper builds on an earlier review by Kinnucan and Wessells (1997) by discussing in some detail product differentiation, market integration, and generic advertising. The goal is to identify approaches and findings in each topical area that would appear to have relevance for aquaculture. Selected applications are given to highlight principles and to demonstrate usefulness.
The family gap and family friendly policies: the case of Norway

Norway has among the most generous family policies in the world. The most recent is the cash-for-care reform, which was implemented in 1998. We answer two main questions in this article: What is the level of the family gap in such a generous regime and how has it developed as a consequence of the latest reform? Results suggest that the family gap is rather modest in Norway compared to many other countries and we find no evidence of a worsening of the gap in recent years. A positive interpretation of these results is that the Norwegian labour market is fairly flexible, in the sense that it seems to be able to absorb even more generous family policies.
Administrative Perspectives on Technology Integration: the Globaloria: MyGLife Program in West Virginia

Administrative Perspectives on Technology Integration: the Globaloria: MyGLife Program in West Virginia The reputed benefits of using technology in schools have been the topic of many research studies. When the World Wide Workshop Foundation implemented their Globaloria program into a group of pilot public secondary schools in West Virginia in the fall of 2008, another opportunity for study was created. The perceptions of principals relating to: 1) the effect(s) of the Globaloria program on students‘ academic outcomes; 2) the purpose(s) of the program; 3) the principal‘s role in the program 4) the benefits; and/or 5) the liabilities of having the program in their schools were examined in this mixed-method study. Analysis of student data indicated that there was no statistically significant change in students‘ academic outcomes following the program‘s implementation, although data were available for only the year immediately prior to and the year immediately after their enrollment in Globaloria . Principals indicated that they believed the program had an overall positive effect upon students‘ academic outcomes, behavior and attendance. A majority of the participating principals also reported that they would like to continue the program in their schools. These findings were viewed through Lev Vygotsky‘s (1978) cultural-historical activity theory in order to generate conclusions and recommendations for further study.
Estimating the social value of higher education: willingness to pay for community and technical colleges

Abstract Much is known about private financial returns to education in the form of higher earnings. Less is known about how much social value exceeds this private value. Associations between education and socially-desirable outcomes are strong, but disentangling the effect of education from other causal factors is challenging. The purpose of this paper is to estimate the social value of one form of higher education. We elicit willingness to pay for the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) directly and compare our estimate of total social value to our estimates of private value in the form of increased earnings. Our earnings estimates are based on two distinct data sets, one administrative and one from the U.S. Census. The difference between the total social value and the increase in earnings is our measure of the education externality and the private, non-market value combined. Our work differs from previous research by focusing on education at the community college level and by eliciting values directly through a stated-preferences survey in a way that yields a total value including any external benefits. Our preferred estimates indicate the social value of expanding the system exceeds private financial value by at least 25% with a best point estimate of nearly 90% and exceeds total private value by at least 15% with a best point estimate of nearly 60%.
Locus coeruleus neurons originate in alar rhombomere 1 and migrate into the basal plate: Studies in chick and mouse embryos

We investigated in the mouse and chick the neuroepithelial origin and development of the locus coeruleus (LoC), the most important noradrenergic neuronal population in the brain. We first studied the topography of the developing LoC in the hindbrain, using as markers the key noradrenergic marker gene Dbh and the transcription factors Phox2a and Phox2b (upstream of Dbh). In both mouse and chicken, LoC neurons first appear arranged linearly along the middle one‐third of the alar plate of rhombomere 1 (r1), collinear to a reference ventricular longitudinal band that early on expresses Phox2a and Phox2b in the alar plate of r2 and later expands to r1. Double‐labeling experiments with LoC markers (Dbh or Phox2a) and either alar (Pax7 and Rnx3) or basal (Otp) genetic markers suggested that LoC cells migrate from their origin in the alar plate to a final position in the lateral basal plate. To corroborate these suggestions experimentally and determine the precise origin of the LoC, we fate mapped the LoC in the chick at stage HH11 by using quail‐chick homotopic grafts. The experimental results confirmed that the LoC originates in the alar plate throughout the rostrocaudal extent of r1 and ruled out a rostrocaudal translocation. They also corroborated a ventralward tangential migration of LoC cells into the lateral basal plate, where the postmigratory LoC primordium is located. Comparisons with neighboring alar r1‐derived cell populations established that LoC neurons originate outside the cerebellum, in a matrix area intercalated dorsoventrally between the sources of the prospective vestibular and trigeminal columns. J. Comp. Neurol. 496:802–818, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Health, Health Insurance and the Labor Market

". that the labor force status of an individual will be affected by his health is an unassailable proposition [because] a priori reasoning and casual observation tell us it must be so, not because there is a mass of supporting evidence. " (Bowen and Finegan, 1969) "Despite the near universal finding that health is a significant determinant of work effort, the second major inference drawn from [this] review is that the magnitude of measured health effects varies substantially across studies. " (Chirikos, 1993) This chapter provides an overview of some of the literature linking health and labor market behavior. The question is important because for groups as diverse as single mothers and older people, health is thought to be a major determinant of wages, hours, and labor force participation. Thus, an understanding of the effects of health on labor market activity is necessary for evaluations of the cost effectiveness of interventions designed to prevent or cure disease. Moreover, since the relationship between health and the labor market is mediated by social programs, an understanding of this relationship is necessary if we are to assess the effectiveness and solvency of these programs. In countries with aging populations, these questions will only become more pressing over time as more individuals reach the age where health has the greatest impact of labor market outcomes. The two quotations above, one from 1969 and one from 1993, illustrate that a good deal of empirical evidence linking health and labor market activity has sprung up over the last 25 years. Indeed, the literature we review suggests that health has a pervasive effect on most outcomes of interest to labor economists including wages, earnings, labor force participation, hours worked, retirement, job turnover, and benefits packages. But unfortunately there is no consensus about the magnitude of the effects or about their size relative to the effects of other variables. We will, however, be able to shed some light on factors that cause the estimates to disagree. Much of the best work linking health and labor market outcomes focuses on developing countries. This may be because the link between health and work is more obvious in societies in which many prime age adults are under-nourished and in poor health, and also because the theory of efficiency wages provides a natural starting point for investigations of this issue. However several excellent recent surveys of health and labor markets in developing countries already exist (dee Behrman and Deolalikar 1988 and Strauss and Thomas 1998). In order to break newer ground, this survey will have as its primary focus papers written since 1980 using U.S. data, although we will refer to the developing country literature where appropriate.
Business Strategy and Performance: An Assessment of Retailers in Guatemala

ABSTRACT Although competitive strategy has attracted much attention in the literature, a limited number of studies have attempted to investigate the strategy-performance nexus within the context of local business units in emerging economies. This study investigates the relationship between competitive strategies and business performance among industry in Guatemala, Central America. Data from 364 retail firms in Guatemala suggest that in terms of both financial and operating performance retailers employing a combination of the cost leadership and differentiation strategies outperformed those adopting only one of the two pure strategies.
An analysis of the impact of locus‐of‐control on internal auditor job performance and satisfaction

Purpose – To examine whether internal auditors' job performance and/or job satisfaction are related to differences in the personality variable locus‐of‐control (LOC) and its relation to perceived audit structure.Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 50 internal auditors drawn from six US firms completed a survey instrument used to identify respondents' degree of LOC, perceived audit structure and job satisfaction. Performance ratings were provided by participants' managers.Findings – The study finds that those internal auditors with more internal LOC tendencies appear to outperform cohorts with more external traits. Contrary to expectations, reported job satisfaction levels for internals are not significantly different from sample members with more external LOC. However, internal auditors with an apparent conflict between their LOC and their perceived level of audit structure do report significantly lower levels of job satisfaction than cohorts without such conflict.Research limitations/implications –.
Liver transplantation using elderly donors: a risk factor analysis

Kim DY, Moon J, Island ER, Tekin A, Ganz S, Levi D, Selvaggi G, Nishida S, Tzakis AG. Liver transplantation using elderly donors: a risk factor analysis. Clin Transplant 2011: 25: 270–276. © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S.
Interferon-Inducible Protein Mx1 Inhibits Influenza Virus by Interfering with Functional Viral Ribonucleoprotein Complex Assembly

ABSTRACT Mx1 is a GTPase that is part of the antiviral response induced by type I and type III interferons in the infected host. It inhibits influenza virus infection by blocking viral transcription and replication, but the molecular mechanism is not known. Polymerase basic protein 2 (PB2) and nucleoprotein (NP) were suggested to be the possible target of Mx1, but a direct interaction between Mx1 and any of the viral proteins has not been reported. We investigated the interplay between Mx1, NP, and PB2 to identify the mechanism of Mx1's antiviral activity. We found that Mx1 inhibits the PB2-NP interaction, and the strength of this inhibition correlated with a decrease in viral polymerase activity. Inhibition of the PB2-NP interaction is an active process requiring enzymatically active Mx1. We also demonstrate that Mx1 interacts with the viral proteins NP and PB2, which indicates that Mx1 protein has a direct effect on the viral ribonucleoprotein complex. In a minireplicon system, avian-like NP from swine virus isolates was more sensitive to inhibition by murine Mx1 than NP from human influenza A virus isolates. Likewise, murine Mx1 displaced avian NP from the viral ribonucleoprotein complex more easily than human NP. The stronger resistance of the A/H1N1 pandemic 2009 virus against Mx1 also correlated with reduced inhibition of the PB2-NP interaction. Our findings support a model in which Mx1 interacts with the influenza ribonucleoprotein complex and interferes with its assembly by disturbing the PB2-NP interaction.
Who Blows the Whistle and Why?

This study examines the effects of a number of perceptual variables on internal auditors' reporting of wrongdoing by employees and managers in their organizations. Survey responses of 653 Directors of Internal Auditing who observed what they perceived to be incidents of wrongdoing show that they were less likely to report these incidents when they did not feel compelled morally or by role prescription to do so, when they evaluated their job performance as below average, or when they were employed by highly bureaucratic organizations. Also, the auditors were more likely to report incidents to external agencies (as opposed to authorities within the organization) when they felt that the public or their co-workers were harmed by the wrongdoing, the wrongdoing involved theft by relatively low-level workers, there were few other observers, or the organization was highly regulated.
Low density lipoprotein - rosiglitazone - chitosan-calcium alginate/nanoparticles inhibition of human tenon's fibroblasts activation and proliferation

Anti-fibrotic therapeutic methods with safety and efficiency after glaucoma filtration surgery (GFS) are desirable. In our previous study, by using Human Tenon's Fibroblasts (HTFs) as a model, we proved the expression of peroxisome proliferator activates receptor-γ (PPAR-γ) in HTFs; in addition, rosiglitazone (RSG), an agonist of PPAR-γ, can inhibit transforming growth factorsβ1 (TGF-β1)-induced reactivation of HTFs, thus to inhibit specifically scarring after GFS through intervening TGF-β/Smads signal pathway. However, a better drug delivery way of RSG, to prolong the duration of its function, and to reduce the toxicity of RSG to ocular tissue still remains challenges. Low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLr) is strongly expressed in hyper-proliferation HTFs after GFS. Therefore, we structured targeting LDL-RSG complexes and channel them into HTFs through LDL-LDLr pathway in order to promote anti-proliferation of HTFs and reduce the toxicity to ocular tissue. Meanwhile, in order to improve the release properties of LDL-RSG complexes, we structured slow release system of LDL-RSG/chitosan-calcium alginate - nanoparticles (CSNP), which effectively inhibited TGF-β1-induced HTFs proliferation, synthesis of extracellular matrix and activation of TGF-β1/SMAD pathway. These data suggested that LDL-RSG/CSNP can be a new anti-fibrotic therapeutic method on scarring after GFS and also a novelty administration of RSG.
Survival Analysis Employed in Predicting Corporate Failure: A Forecasting Model Proposal

In face of the current economic and financial environment, predicting corporate bankruptcy is arguably a phenomenon of increasing interest to investors, creditors, borrowing firms, and governments alike. Within the strand of literature focused on bankruptcy forecasting we can find diverse types of research employing a wide variety of techniques, but only a few researchers have used survival analysis for the examination of this issue. We propose a model for the prediction of corporate bankruptcy based on survival analysis, a technique which stands on its own merits. In this research, the hazard rate is the probability of ‘‘bankruptcy’’ as of time t, conditional upon having survived until time t. Many hazard models are applied in a context where the running of time naturally affects the hazard rate. The model employed in this paper uses the time of survival or the hazard risk as dependent variable, considering the unsuccessful companies as censured observations.
Skin Disease and Stigma in Emerging Adulthood: Impact on Healthy Development

Background: Visible skin disorders can limit healthy psychosocial development in several domains owing to the stigma these disorders create. Objective: To assess if emerging adults with acne and eczema perceive stigma in diverse developmental domains resulting from their visible skin conditions. Methods: A convenience sample of 336 emerging adults attending a diverse public university in northern California completed a Web-based survey. Multivariate modeling was used to determine if eczema and acne result in perceived stigma. Results: The mean (SD) age of respondents was 20.1(1.5) years; most were white (43.2%) and female (62.5%). Almost half (47%) reported acne and 16.4% reported eczema. The likelihood of experiencing perceived stigma was 1.6 (95% CI 1.13–2.27, p < .001) times higher for those with eczema compared to those without eczema, and the likelihood of experiencing perceived stigma was 3.19 (95% CI 2.41–4.22, p < .0001) times higher for those with acne compared to those without acne. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that emerging adults perceive stigma as a result of their acne and eczema in several important developmental domains. The results suggest that acne may have a stronger relationship with perceived stigma than eczema, perhaps owing to its greater visibility on the body. University-based activities are recommended to support those with skin disease.