Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Management of Secondary Hydrocephalus Associated with Posterior Fossa Lesions in Children ( Different Modalities of Treatment )

© 2016 Egyptian Journal of Neurosurgery. All rights reserved Background: Posterior fossa is a common site for various tumors to occur during childhood. It is es mated that they comprise 54-60% of childhood brain tumors . The proximity to the fourth ventricle and therefore CSF pathways predisposes patients with posterior fossa tumors to the development of obstructive hydrocephalus (HCP). Therefore, some patients with posterior fossa tumors will require a cerebrospinal fluid diversion procedure at some time during the course of their illness. Objective: The aim of this study is to analyze the different modalities used in the perioperative management of hydrocephalus associated with posterior fossa tumors in pediatric patients. Patients and Methods: 30 cases diagnosed as posterior fossa tumor and secondary hydrocephalus treated at Ain Shams University Hospitals were retrospectively evaluated regarding different modalities in manegement. The manegement varied from V-P shunt to endoscopic third ventriculostomy or direct tumor exicion. Results: In Ventriculoperitoneal shunt (ten patients), two mortality cases (20%), clinical improvement (as regard Increase ICP manifesta on) occurred in mean period 1.8±1.3 days. Postopera ve decrease in Evan's ra o in rela on to preopera ve value is very highly significant. (P=0.00006) In Endoscopic third ventriculostomy (eight patients), one mortality case (12.5%), clinical improvement (as regard Increase ICP manifesta on) occurred in mean period 4.8±3.5 days. Postopera ve decrease in Evan's Ratio in relation to preoperative value is significant (P=0.0116) . In Direct tumor surgery with or without external ventricular drain (EVD) (twelve pa ents), two mortality cases (16.7%) died from postoperative hydrocephalus without using EVD. Clinical improvement (as regard Increase ICP manifesta on) occurred in mean period 2.7±1.9 days. Postopera ve decrease in Evan's Ratio in relation to preoperative value is very highly significant. (P=0.00006). Conclusion: While managing the hydrocephalus associated with posterior fossa lesions, endoscopic third ventriculostomy should be considered first . When choosing to directly attack the tumor, an external ventricular drain should be applied. Site of the tumor and degree of resection are predictive factors for the need of post-operative shunt in patients with direct tumoral attack.
Ownership Structure and Capital Structure: Evidence from Indian Firms

This paper examines the cross sectional variation in the capital structure of 1314 Indian firms from the ownership structure perspective. Ownership structure is defined as promoters' shareholding and institutional investors' shareholding. The study finds a negative relationship between the variables ownership structure and capital structure. This could be because the average promoters' shareholding for the sample firms is around 50%. Hence, the concentration of the promoters' shareholding increases the risk of the promoters and prompts them to reduce the assumption of financial risk by debt employment. Institutional investors' shareholding and debt are also inversely related. This may be because the institutional investors choose to avoid high debt firms as they have a higher probability of suffering from financial risk in the future.
A Re-Examination of the Costs (and Benefits) to Equity Investors from Including Accruals in Financial Reporting

Based on assertions that unreliable accruals can be "extremely costly" to investors (Richardson et al. 2005), we re-examine how the accrual component of earnings is associated with current-period and future-period returns to better understand if accruals can be beneficial in investment decisions. We find that accruals exhibit significantly positive associations with current-period returns, insignificant negative associations with future-period returns, and significantly positive associations with two-year returns cumulated over current and future periods. The results using current-period and two-year returns indicate that accruals contain beneficial information about corporate performance. The insignificant associations with future returns contradict prior conclusions that accruals impose future trading losses on investors. When the results from all three returns periods are considered together, the evidence fails to support prior conclusions that the costs and benefits to investors are explained by accrual reliability.
HEPARINIZED CADAVERIC ORGAN DONORS (HCOD)–A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF HEMATOPOIETIC CELLS FOR TRANSPLANTATION AND GENE THERAPY1

Background. Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) from unrelated HLA-matched heparinized cadaveric organ donors (HCOD) are a new potential source of cells for transplantation and gene therapy. In addition, these cells could also be used as adjuvant therapy to increase microchimerism and graft tolerance after transplantations of various solid organs. Our purpose was to develop an efficient method for harvesting hematopoietic cells from HCODs, Methods. Bone marrow cells were harvested from pelvic bones and/or vertebral bodies from 50 adult HCODs before or up to 3 hr after disconnecting the donor from the respirator. Subsequently, we evaluated the hematological and gasometric parameters of aspirated marrow samples as well as the proliferative potential, viability, and expression of CD34 and AC133 antigens on these cells. Results. We noticed that up to 2–3 hr after disconnecting the donor from the respirator bone marrow cavities do not clot and remain uninfected and that it is possible to aspirate bone marrow mononuclear cells in quantities sufficient to perform allotransplantation. Nevertheless, due to the developing hypoxia and acidosis of the hematopoietic microenvironment the number and proliferative potential of CD34+ and AC133+ cells gradually decreases. Hence, to obtain viable early hematopoietic cells, bone marrow should be aspirated without delay; optimally before HCOD is disconnected from the respirator or at the very latest 2 hr after organ harvest. Conclusions. Collectively, our results show that early hemopoietic cells may be efficiently harvested from HCOD in large quantities and used for research and/or transplantation purposes. We postulate to create an international network of banks in which hemopoietic stem cells from HCODs could be preserved for therapeutic purposes.
A New Algorithm of ISAR Imaging for Maneuvering Targets with Low SNR

Inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) imaging is one of the important high- resolution radar applications for moving target detection and identification. The radial velocity, radial acceleration, and acceleration rate of maneuvering targets can cause range cell migration and Doppler variation in the received signals, which will degrade the imaging quality. Therefore, these parameters should be estimated and compensated before imaging. In low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) conditions, the conventional motion parameter estimation and compensation algorithms for maneuvering targets do not work properly. To effectively detect and identify the maneuvering targets in low SNR conditions, a new radar imaging algorithm is proposed. The major contributions are as follows: 1) a novel algorithm for envelope migration correction is proposed with adjacent cross correlation function; 2) the target's motion parameters are estimated with the operations of Keystone transform and time-frequency transform to the adjacent cross correlation; 3) a theoretical analysis of the impact of motion parameters on the envelope migration is made, then cross-range phase estimation with the adjacent cross function is presented; 4) based on the estimated motion parameters of targets, a new algorithm for high-resolution ISAR imaging is developed.
The Determinants of Investment in Private Equity and Venture Capital: Evidence from American and Canadian Pension Funds

This paper provides a comparative analysis of pension plan allocations to private equity and to venture capital in the United States and in Canada. Although the assets of American funds in our data are worth 10 times those of Canadian funds, their investment in private equity is about 20 times larger. In both countries, asset size is an important determinant of both the decision to invest in private equity and of how much to invest in that asset class. However, asset size does not appear as a significant determinant of investment in venture capital. The difference in pension fund asset sizes appears to explain well the differences in the decision to invest in private equity, but it is not sufficient to explain the differences in the amount invested in this type of assets. We examine other possible explanatory factors, such as geographical location, the institutional environment, and regulatory constraints.
Lender of last resort versus buyer of last resort - the impact of the European Central Bank actions on the bank-sovereign nexus

In summer 2011, elevated sovereign risk in Eurozone peripheral countries increased the solvency risk of Eurozone banks, precipitating a run on their short-term debt. We assess the effectiveness of different European Central Bank (ECB) interventions that followed - lender of last resort vs. buyer of last resort - in stabilizing the European financial sector. We find that (i) by being lender of last resort to banks via the long-term refinancing operations (LTRO), ECB temporarily reduced funding pressure for banks, but did not help to contain sovereign risk. In fact, banks of the peripheral countries used the public funds to increase their exposure to risky domestic debt, so that when solvency risk in the Eurozone worsened the run of private short-term investors from Eurozone banks intensified. (ii) In contrast, ECB's announcement of being a potential buyer of last resort via the Outright Monetary Transaction program (OMT) significantly reduced the bank-sovereign nexus. The OMT increased the market prices of sovereign bonds, leading to a permanent reversal of private funding flows to Eurozone banks holding these bonds.
A Pilot Study Testing Aspects of the Integrated Marketing Communications Concept

This article describes a pilot study testing some aspects of the integrated marketing communications concept. The study is timely and relevant to the field because it employs an empirical approach to addressing the heated controversy over the validity of the integrated marketing communications concept. This controversy is based upon doubt about the theoretical basis for integrated marketing communications and the lack of empirical research in the field identified in the integrated marketing communications literature. In an effort to address the conceptual validity controversy directly, the study adopted the first use of an experimental approach in the integrated marketing communications field. The results of the experiment suggest that messages employing some of the key aspects of an integrated marketing communications strategy (i.e. messages with a common theme that are executed across multiple media in a visually consistent manner) may prompt a stronger attitude towards the brand level than the same messages employing a more traditional strategy (executions with less visual consistency), although other dependent measures were not similarly impacted upon. The study is limited in its scope, but is intended to stimulate more empirical research in the integrated marketing communications field.
Intimate partner violence in early adolescence: The role of gender, socioeconomic factors and the school.

BACKGROUND Intimate partner violence (IPV) among adolescents is common worldwide, but our understanding of perpetration, gender differences and the role of social-ecological factors remains limited. OBJECTIVES To explore the prevalence of physical and sexual IPV perpetration and victimisation by gender, and associated risk and protective factors. METHODS Young adolescents (N=2 839) from 41 randomly selected public high schools in the Western Cape region of South Africa (SA), participating in the PREPARE study, completed a self-administered questionnaire. RESULTS The participants' mean age was 13.65 years (standard deviation 1.01), with 19.1% (541/2 839) reporting being victims/survivors of IPV and 13.0% (370/2 839) reporting perpetrating IPV. Girls were less likely to report being a victim/survivor of physical IPV (odds ratio (OR) 0.72; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.57 - 0.92) and less likely to be a perpetrator of sexual IPV than boys (OR 0.33; 95% CI 0.21 - 0.52). Factors associated with perpetration of physical and sexual IPV were similar and included being a victim/survivor (physical IPV: OR 12.42; 95% CI 8.89 - 17.36, sexual IPV: OR 20.76; 95% CI 11.67 - 36.93), being older (physical IPV: OR 1.26; 95% CI 1.08 - 1.47, sexual IPV: OR 1.36; 95% CI 1.14 - 1.62 ), having lower scores on school connectedness (physical IPV: OR 0.59; 95% CI 0.46 - 0.75, sexual IPV: OR 0.56; 95% CI 0.42 - 0.76) and scoring lower on feelings of school safety (physical IPV: OR 0.66; 95% CI 0.57 - 0.77, sexual IPV: OR 0.50; 95% CI 0.40 - 0.62). CONCLUSIONS Physical and sexual IPV was commonly reported among young adolescents in SA. Further qualitative exploration of the role of reciprocal violence by gender is needed, and the role of 'school climate'-related factors should be taken into account when developing preventive interventions.
Quality and Purchase Intention Percieved Towards low Cost Energy- Saving Cars

Low cost car does not mean having low quality. This is the assumption that the producers or sellers of especially energy-saving car want to push away. This research on the desire and expectation of every car producer and dealer in Indonesia who try to be perceived as having the best quality in the eyes of their consumers and on the increase of consumer buying intention is carried out using a qualitative method as well as the concept of perceived service quality—which shows the difference between bibliographic study and the actual condition.
Neopterin and oxidative stress markers in the diagnosis of extrapulmonary tuberculosis

Abstract Background: Extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) often presents with nonspecific signs and symptoms. Further the paucibacillary nature of extrapulmonary specimens and irregular distribution of bacilli lower the sensitivity of conventional diagnostic methods making EPTB, a diagnostic dilemma. Objective: To study neopterin, protein carbonyl and malondialdehyde (MDA) in EPTB. Methods: Sixty nine clinically confirmed cases with an equal number of age and sex matched healthy controls were enrolled. Ziehl–Neelsen staining for acid fast bacilli and culture on Lowenstein–Jensen medium were performed on all the extrapulmonary specimens. Serum neopterin and protein carbonyl levels were estimated using commercial ELISA kits. Malondialdehyde was determined by measuring thiobarbituric acid reactive substances. Results: Serum neopterin, protein carbonyl and MDA levels were significantly discriminative for cases of EPTB from healthy controls (p < 0.05). Levels of all the three biomarkers under study significantly differed between culture as well as smear positive and negative cases. A positive correlation between neopterin and protein carbonyl was seen among the cases. Conclusions: So far few studies have integrated combination of validated host biomarkers for active disease in EPTB. Our study suggests the potential diagnostic role of neopterin, protein carbonyl and MDA in EPTB.
Using Delphi to Forecast in New Technology Industries

Presents a case which suggests that companies in new‐technology‐based industries have a greater need for long‐term planning than those in other industries at other stages of development. During the period of an industry′s infancy, there is also a greater need for an industry, rather than a company, perspective. Judgemental forecasting techniques are suggested to be more suitable in new industries because of the problems associated with other forecasting methods. However, problems such as time pressure on executives and the need for confidentiality are more acute when using judgemental forecasting techniques in new industries. The Delphi technique has been used many times as a method of forecasting the future of established industries, but it has never been used to consider the future of a new industry. Discusses ten problems which can be encountered when Delphi is used in this situation and provides practical hints on procedures to overcome them, gained from its use to forecast changes in one new industry.
Corporate Social Responsibility: An Overview from Malaysia

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a worldwide issue that results an increasing number of studies on CSR globally as well as in Malaysia. Furthermore, the importance of CSR practices was emphasized by companies in order to ensure its sustainability in corporate world. Therefore, this paper provides general overview on CSR literature that has been conducted in Malaysia to evaluate the implementation of CSR among companies in Malaysia. From the previous literature, it was found that CSR literature in Malaysia can be divided into two categories, namely disclosure; and awareness and perception towards CSR. In conclusion, most of the studies in Malaysia widely focused on the disclosure and less on awareness and perception. Therefore, future research should more focus on the perception towards CSR so that the existing gap can be minimized.
Corporate Social Responsibility and Marketing: What Works and What Doesn’t

Many companies choose to portray themselves as seeking the moral high ground and playing active role in society. This introduces an idea of corporate social responsibility. It has been argued that corporate social responsibility enhances corporate image (attitudinal dimension) and financial performance. However, some studies find negative impact of corporate social responsibility. Thus, it is debatable whether or not it pays organizations to play active role in society. This paper explores the importance of trust for making corporate social responsibility works. This paper also evaluates attitude and intention within relative attitudinal framework. The associations between trust, attitude and intention are also discussed and reviewed. Finally, a set of managerial implications is developed to address the problems peculiar to the corporate social responsibility and marketing.
Threat of Entry, Asymmetric Information and Pricing

This paper examines the impact of asymmetric information on incumbent firms’ propensity to engage in limit pricing when faced with threat of entry. I draw from information economics to argue that incumbents will use price to respond ex ante to entry in situations characterized by asymmetric information. I suggest two situations in which asymmetric information can arise: when potential entrants are from outside the primary industry and when incumbent firms are members of R&D consortia. I then study pricing in the US cable TV industry to show that pricing patterns of incumbent cable TV systems are consistent with limit pricing when the relationship between the incumbent and potential entrant is characterized by asymmetric information.
The nature and consequences of price unfairness in services: a comparison to tangible goods

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore consumers' perceptions of price unfairness in services, what are its antecedents and when it is important for the consumer. Thus, the central question of this research is whether consumers care about how much profit the service company is making and whether there are significant differences to physical goods.Design/methodology/approach – Building on justice and equity theory, a causal model is developed – which analyses the main antecedents (seller profits vs customer value), moderators and consequences of perceptions of price unfairness. Structural equation modelling has been applied to test the proposed model.Findings – The lack of specific tools to measure perceptions of price fairness required the development of a multi‐item scale to capture the complexity of the evaluation. This instrument has been tested for reliability and validity in a variety of settings, with excellent results, and can be appropriate when using the survey as a data collection met.
PENGETAHUAN AKUNTANSI PELAKU USAHA MIKRO, KECIL DAN MENENGAH (UMKM) ATAS PENGGUNAAN INFORMASI AKUNTANSI

In order to encourage small businesses to conduct and use of accounting information, needs to start from the small entrepreneur'sÂ Â knowledgeÂ Â ofÂ theÂ accountingÂ Â information. Â Â knowledgeÂ Â ofÂ SMEÂ Â entrepreneursÂ Â onÂ accounting information is also determined by their experience in organizing and using accounting information. The purpose of this studyÂ for to determineÂ how muchÂ influenceÂ accountingÂ knowledgeÂ micro,Â smallÂ and mediumÂ on accounting information. The data used is primary data obtained through questionnaires to the owners of SMEs. The population in this study were all industrial convection in District Tingkir Salatiga. The sampling method used in this research is purposiveÂ samplingÂ with 60 ownersÂ of SMEs. Â AnalysisÂ toolsÂ usingÂ descriptiveÂ statisticsÂ and regressionÂ analysis using simple tools. The results showed that the perceptionÂ does not affect the accountingÂ informationÂ while hadil indicatesÂ thatÂ accountancyÂ WhatÂ KnowledgeÂ affectÂ the accountingÂ informationÂ on SMEsÂ ConvectionÂ in District Tingkir Lor Salatiga. Â Keywords : knowledge of accounting, accounting information and SME
Health Hazards and Socioeconomic Effects of Stone Crushing Industry on Its Workers: A Case Study of Sargodha, Pakistan

Stone crushing industry is a dominant but still environmentally unorganized sector in Pakistan. Its different operations cause significant environmental impacts including air and noise pollution in the vicinity as well as vibration effects far-off. A questionnaire survey was conducted in stone crushing industrial area of Sargodha, Pakistan to assess its harmful health and economic impacts on workers engaged in different activities of stone crushing and production. According to this survey, many workers were aged, which increases the probability of health effects due to air pollutants. It was found that most of the workers were illiterate. Industrial section engaging maximum number of workers was hammering.The questionnaire results showed that there was no provision of any Personal Protection Equipment to the majority of laborer (94%). It means that most of the workers had no protection facility provided by the employer while working in the polluted industrial environment. Major health effects in workers of the industry were hearing problem (82%), skin irritation (75%) and respiratory problem (69%). Most of workers in the industry were on daily wages and their monthly salary was in the range of PKR. 8,000 to PKR 10,000, that is lesser than the minimum monthly salary fixed by the government for unskilled workers. It is concluded that stone crushing industry has harmful effects on workers’ health and there is urgent need to provide training and Personal Protection Equipmentto them to minimize the health effects.
A new look at logistics business performance: intellectual capital perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to empirically explore the causal relationships between human capital, structure capital, and customer capital (CC) with intellectual capital (IC) in the logistics industry.Design/methodology/approach – Factor analysis and path analysis were conducted on 27 major third‐party logistics providers in Europe and America.Findings – The findings of the study show that human capital, structure capital, and CC have a positive association with IC performance. Also, IC performance does not differ between regions.Originality/value – This paper takes a novel approach to look at the “intangible” logistics performance from the IC perspective by proposing a preliminary research model based on existing literature and empirical data.