Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Carisoprodol abuse: a report from India

Carisoprodol, a centrally acting muscle relaxant, has recently been noticed to be abused. A series of 16 cases with carisoprodol abuse or dependence is described. Carisoprodol was started by the majority of patients as a substitute for opiates, although its independent distinct effects, similar to the features of hypomania, were recognized and described by most users. The drug is currently available freely over the counter and is a much cheaper substitute for the legally prohibited “harder” drugs. Unless awareness spreads and cautionary measures are taken, carisoprodol abuse might become a great menace in the near future.
Detection of Bovine Torovirus in Neonatal Calf Diarrhoea in Lower Austria and Styria (Austria)

Summary Faeces of 230 calves with and without diarrhoea collected during the winter period 2004/2005 in 100 Austrian farms (Styria and Lower Austria) were examined for viral, bacterial and parasitic enteropathogens. Torovirus‐specific nucleic acid confirmed by reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction was found in 12 of 230 calves (5.2%). Ten of these calves were clinically ill, several of them showing signs of dehydration and abnormal faecal consistency at the time of sampling. Computer assisted analysis of two nucleotide sequences obtained from Austrian bovine samples revealed 93% similarity to Breda strain, but only 71% or 52% similarity to Equine Berne or Porcine Markelo torovirus strains respectively. Phylogenetic analysis grouped Austrian torovirus samples into the Bovine torovirus cluster indicating the first detection of Bovine torovirus in Austria. In addition, the following agents were detected in bovine faecal samples: Bovine coronavirus, 25.7%; Escherichia coli, 17%; Cryptosporidium spp. , 11.7%; Eimeria spp. , 10.4%; Rotavirus, 9.1%; Clostridium perfringens, 9.1% and Giardia spp. , 6.1%. Salmonella spp. was not detected.
Product Line Pricing

A fi rm in modern economy is more likely to sell a line of products than a single product. Product line pricing is a challenging marketing mix decision as products in a line demonstrate complicated demand and cost interdependence. In the last three decades researchers from different disciplines have made signifi cant progress in addressing various issues relating to the topic of product line pricing. In this chapter, I discuss the literature on product line pricing with the focus on recent research development. The discussion starts with a general framework of the product line pricing problem and a brief description of the decision support models for product line pricing. It is then followed with extensive discussions on the pricing of vertically differentiated product lines and the pricing of horizontally differentiated product lines respectively. Finally, I conclude the chapter with a discussion on future research directions.
Comparison of ginger with vitamin B6 in relieving nausea and vomiting during pregnancy

Background: Nausea and vomiting are the most common complicated issues in pregnancy period, but they have not been paid much attention. Herb based formulations can be effectively used for the treatment nausea and vomiting observed during pregnancy. Aim: To investigate the effect of ginger in nausea and vomiting during pregnancy in comparison with vitamin B6 and placebo. Materials and Methods: This is a randomized and double-blind clinical trial. The women who had nausea and vomiting and did not take any medications were included in this study. 120 women were selected by simple random sampling method, and divided into three groups and were given vitamin B6, placebo, and ginger, respectively. 97 women completed the treatment. They were given treatment for 4 days and were followed after a week. The instrument used in this study was a questionnaire, including demographic characteristic and determining severity nausea and vomiting based on the analog visual scale. Data were analyzed with SPSS software and t-test and Kruskal-Wallis test. Results: There was significant difference between groups in severity of nausea and frequency of vomiting (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Ginger was effective in treating nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, but its use needs further studies to determine the proper dosage and the confirmation about the safety of this drug for a pregnant mother and her fetus.
Adherence to Guidelines by French Psychiatrists in Their Real World of Clinical Practice

The treatment modalities of bipolar disorder and adherence to international guidelines recommendations in France were investigated. We conducted an observational survey among 210 French psychiatrists concerning their prescribing practice in bipolar disorder, and whether they use guidelines or not. Simple mania is mainly treated with valproate, whereas second-generation antipsychotics are preferred for delusional mania. Lithium is mostly used as second-line treatment by “young psychiatrists. ” Personal experience appears in the foreground (41% of psychiatrists) in the choice of therapy. Young psychiatrists refer more to guidelines (32% of responders) as compared with other psychiatrists. The main reason for the lack of use of guidelines is because they refer mostly to an Anglo-Saxon medical practice, which is considered different from the French practice. Guidelines for treatment of bipolar disorder are not frequently used. French psychiatrists' age and practice type are the most important variables correlated to the level of use of guidelines.
Capital Market Financing, Firm Growth, and Firm Size Distribution

How many and which firms issue equity and bonds in domestic and international markets, how do these firms grow relative to non-issuing firms, and how does firm performance vary along the firm size distribution? To evaluate these questions, a new data set is constructed by matching data on firm-level capital raising activity with balance sheet data for 45,527 listed firms in 51 countries. Three main patterns emerge from the analysis. (1) Only a few large firms issue equity or bonds, and among them a small subset has raised a large proportion of the funds raised during the 1990s and 2000s. (2) Issuers grow faster than non-issuers in assets, sales, and employment, that is, firms do not simply use securities markets to adjust their financial accounts. (3) The firm size distribution of issuers evolves differently from that of non-issuers, tightening among issuers and widening among non-issuers.
Resonant response of deep convection to surface hot spots

Observations show substantial variations of the intensity of tropical and/or summertime deep convection on land that are not explained by standard measures of convecti ve instability. One feature that distinguishes land surfaces is their heterogeneity. The possible importance o f this is investigated here by calculating the response of a nonrotating atmosphere to localized, transient surfac e heating using both the linearized equations of motion and a cloud-resolving configuration of the WRF (Weather Rese arch and Forecasting) numerical model with moist physics, each in 2D. Both models predict that the depth of the resulting surface h eat low near storm center will be greatest for a particular horizontal scale of heating. The linear model re veals that this is a resonant scale determined by the product of the environmental buoyancy frequency, characte istic heating time scale, and thickness of the thermal boundary layer, the resonance occurring when the aspect rat io of the applied heating matches the ratio of vertical and horizontal wavenumbers demanded by the dispersion rela tion for buoyancy (gravity) waves. For realistic conditions the resonant horizontal scale is roughly 50 km. T he numerical model indicates that other measures of convective intensity, such as updraft speed and storm heigh t, are largely controlled by the depth of the heat low, despite the presence of conditional instability and the vig orous growth of moist convective plumes. Predictions here agree with reported observations of storm severity ove r islands of different sizes. These findings may help explain why observed geographical variations in storm inte nsity defy parcel theory, and indicate that phenomena often attributed to parcel entrainment may instead be due la rg ly to storm-scale dynamical constraints.
CuInSe2 solar cells prepared by using seleno-amide as selenium source

CuInSe2 (CISe) absorber films were prepared by selenizing Cu-In metallic films with seleno-amide in a tube furnace for solar cell fabrication. Seleno-amide used in this study is stable at room temperature and decomposes into H2Se at below 150 °C. Chalcogen amides allow safe transportation and the handling of chalcogen sources that can produce chalcogen hydrides at reasonably low temperature. Post-selenization annealing at 500°C for various time periods were carried out to reverse the indium inhomogeniety created during selenization and to promote further phase transformation. Cu/In ratio of CISe thin films was reduced from ~1.6 down to ~0.9 through the post-selenization annealing at 500°C for up to 3 hours. The first batch of cells fabricated with soda-lime glass/Mo/CISe/CdS/ZnO/ZnO:Ga structure exhibited power conversion efficiency up to 1.6% without any optimization.
The importance of socio-economic status in determining educational achievement in South Africa

The needs to find ways of lifting people out of poverty and to transform the existing patterns of inequality in South Africa are high on the country’s development agenda. Much hope is often vested in education as an opportunity for children from poor households to overcome the disadvantage of their background and escape poverty. The logic of this is often conceived of in terms of the human capital model, according to which education improves an individual’s productivity, which in turn is rewarded on the labour market by higher earnings. However, there is a circularity in the relationship between socio-economic status (SES) and education, in that it is well known that a student’s SES has an important influence their educational achievement. Drawing on data from the recent Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS 2006), this paper investigates the extent to which SES affects educational achievement in the case of South Africa, and moves on to consider the implications of this for the ability of the education system to be an institution that transforms existing patterns of inequality rather than reproducing such patterns.
Passive immunity with multi‐serotype heat‐killed Shigellae in neonatal mice

The short‐ and long‐term passive protective efficacy of a mixture of heat‐killed cells of six serogroups/serotypes of Shigella strains (Shigella dysenteriae 1, S. flexneri 2a, S. flexneri 3a, S. flexneri 6, S. boydii 4, and S. sonnei) were studied in neonatal mice. Neonatal mice from immunized dams exhibited significant short‐ and long‐term passive protection against individual challenge by each of the six Shigella strains. High IgG and IgA titers against the lipopolysaccharide from each of the six Shigella strains were observed in sera from immunized dams.
A High-Performance HOG Extractor on FPGA

Pedestrian detection is one of the key problems in emerging self-driving car industry. And HOG algorithm has proven to provide good accuracy for pedestrian detection. There are plenty of research works have been done in accelerating HOG algorithm on FPGA because of its low-power and high-throughput characteristics. In this paper, we present a high-performance HOG architecture for pedestrian detection on a low-cost FPGA platform. It achieves a maximum throughput of 526 FPS with 640x480 input images, which is 3.25 times faster than the state of the art design. The accelerator is integrated with SVM-based prediction in realizing a pedestrian detection system. And the power consumption of the whole system is comparable with the best existing implementations.
Knowledge Management Systems Acceptance

This chapter introduces a framework of knowledge management systems acceptance labeled Requirements of Acceptance Model (RAM). It argues that acceptance of knowledge management systems is dependent on perceived relevance, systems accessibility, and management support. Together these components constitute the RAM. Further, it argues that implementation of systems is at large a process of acceptance where the requirements of acceptance are attained. Finally, it argues that to achieve the requirements of acceptance, implementation should be iterative and cooperative between users and developers by continually developing, implementing, and testing prototypes.
Clinical significance of nailfold capillaroscopy in systemic lupus erythematosus: correlation with endothelial cell activation markers and disease activity

Objective: To evaluate whether nailfold capillaroscopy (NC) changes are associated with the main serum endothelial cell activation markers and the disease activity of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods: Serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), endothelin‐1 (ET‐1), soluble E‐selectin (sE‐selectin), and soluble thrombomodulin (sTM) were determined by an enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 80 SLE patients and 33 healthy controls. Results: Nailfold capillary abnormalities were seen in 74 out of 80 (92.5%) SLE patients. A normal capillaroscopic pattern or mild changes were found in 33 (41.25%) and moderate/severe abnormalities in 47 (58.75%) of all SLE patients. In SLE patients a capillaroscopic score >1 was more frequently associated with the presence of internal organ involvement (p<0.001) as well as with immunosuppressive therapy (p<0.01). Significant differences were found in VEGF (p<0.001), ET‐1 (p<0.001), sE‐selectin (p<0.01), and sTM (p<0.001) serum concentrations between SLE patients with a capillaroscopic score >1 and controls. SLE patients with severe/moderate capillaroscopic abnormalities showed significantly higher VEGF serum levels than patients with mild changes (p<0.001). Moreover, there was a significant positive correlation between the severity of capillaroscopic changes and the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) (p<0.005) as well as between capillaroscopic score and VEGF serum levels (p<0.001). Conclusions: Our findings confirm the usefulness of NC as a non‐invasive technique for the evaluation of microvascular involvement in SLE patients. A relationship between changes in NC, endothelial cell activation markers and clinical features of SLE suggest an important role for microvascular abnormalities in clinical manifestation of the disease.
Protective role of cisplatin in ischemic liver injury through induction of autophagy

High mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is a nuclear protein released from stressed or damaged cells that activates inflammatory cascades involved in the pathogenesis of liver ischemia reperfusion (I/R) injury. In efforts to develop strategies aimed at preventing its release from ischemic cells following I/R, we studied the use of cisplatin, a member of the platinating chemotherapeutic agents capable of inducing DNA lesions that have high binding affinities for high mobility group proteins inside the nucleus of cells. In addition to demonstrating that cisplatin can prevent liver damage associated with liver I/R by sequestering HMGB1 inside the nucleus of ischemic cells, cisplatin can also alter cell survival signaling through autophagy. Our results provide a potential approach involving the use of platinating agents and their effects on autophagy in mitigating the deleterious effects of ischemia reperfusion-mediated disease processes.
Machine Learning for Real-Time Prediction of Damaging Straight-Line Convective Wind

AbstractThunderstorms in the United States cause over 100 deaths and $10 billion (U.S. dollars) in damage per year, much of which is attributable to straight-line (nontornadic) wind. This paper describes a machine-learning system that forecasts the probability of damaging straight-line wind (≥50 kt or 25.7 m s−1) for each storm cell in the continental United States, at distances up to 10 km outside the storm cell and lead times up to 90 min. Predictors are based on radar scans of the storm cell, storm motion, storm shape, and soundings of the near-storm environment. Verification data come from weather stations and quality-controlled storm reports. The system performs very well on independent testing data. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve ranges from 0.88 to 0.95, the critical success index (CSI) ranges from 0.27 to 0.91, and the Brier skill score (BSS) ranges from 0.19 to 0.65 (>0 is better than climatology). For all three scores, the best value occurs for the smallest dist.
Supply Chain Security – Threats and Solutions

In recent years, the cargo transport process has improved mainly in the areas of logistics efficiency and documentation handling. The World Trade Centre terror attack in 2001 changed the world and with it the conditions for logistics world-wide. The logistics consequences were according to[1]: It is instructive to note that these disruptions were not caused by the attack itself, but rather by the government’s response to the attack: closing borders, shutting down air traffic and evacuating buildings throughout the country. The aftermath to the attack brought needed attention to the vulnerability of modern supply chains. Supply chain vulnerability reflects sensitivity of the supply chain to disruption [2]. This vulnerability can in many cases be described as “unwanted effects” in the supply chain caused either by internal or external forces that create disturbances larger than the supply chain is designed to handle. The objective of Supply chain security is to prevent antagonistic threats from affecting the supply chain performance. Antagonistic threats and other risks and uncertainties are demarcated by three key words: deliberate (caused), illegal (defined by law), and hostile (negative impact for transport network activities) [3]. This chapter presents first the major antagonistic threats to the supply chain and secondly how these threats should be prevented. This leads to the current development of different supply chain security programs.
The effect of chronic stress on prenatal development of the central nervous system

Abstract The survival of developing embryos depends on the control and maintenance of homeostasis. Stress caused by chronic immobilization during pregnancy in rats may alter the normal development of the nervous system and increase susceptibility to psychiatric disorders. We investigated the effects of chronic stress on cell proliferation in the forebrains of embryos at 12 days of gestation, and in the hippocampus, dentate gyrus and cortex in embryos at 17 and 21 days of gestation. We examined serial sections of the embryonic brains of control and stressed rats at days 12, 17 and 21 of gestation. Brain sections were immunolabeled with anti-PCNA and stereological analysis was performed on 540 images. The results showed no statistical differences on days 12 and 17 of gestation in the proliferation area of the structures studied, whereas on day 21 of gestation, proliferation decreased in the cortex and dentate gyrus of embryos of the stressed group. These changes were related to decreased prolactin and increased corticosterone concentrations in the plasma.
Faktor-Faktor yang Mempengaruhi Pendapatan Petani Jeruk pada Desa Gunung Bau Kecamatan Kintamani Kabupaten Bangli

Agriculture sector is a sector that is very important role in the economy of most of the countries that are developing. Agricultural development needs to get better attention, despite the priority at the discretion of industrialization had been dropped, but the agricultural sector has the ability to generate increased revenue. The primary data used in this research is data collected by a structured interview. Secondary data used in this study was obtained from the BPS Provincial Office of Agriculture and Village Office Gunung Bau. Methods of data analysis used in this study were multiple linear regression. The study states that the land area of ? positive and significant influence simultaneously and partially on the income, the amount of production has positive effect simultaneously and partially on the income, and the cost of farming positive and significant effect simultaneously on the income, while the cost of farming has negative and significant partial on income. This shows that increasing land area, the amount of production and the cost of farming, the farmers' income will also increase. To increase the income can be done by providing assistance such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and agricultural equipment from the government in order to increase citrus production and maximum quality so as to increase farmers' income.
Board Capital Diversity and Firm Value: Evidence from Latin-America

This paper analyzes the effects of diversity of boards of directors’ human and relational capital on the performance of firms in Latin America. Using a large database of 442 firms in 6 countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru) from 2001 to 2012, we construct a Board Capital Diversity Index that includes educational backgrounds and work experiences for each board member. We find a positive relationship between board capital diversity and firm performance, as measured by Tobin’s Q. In particular, we find that both human capital diversity (educational background) and relational capital diversity (experience in the private and public sector) increase the value of the company. Our results confirm the resource dependence theory, where the board, in addition to its monitoring role, is seen as a provider of resources.
Conduct problems co-occur with hyperactivity in children with language impairment: A longitudinal study from childhood to adolescence

Background Language impairment is a common developmental disorder which is frequently associated with externalising problems. In this study, we investigate for the first time, joint trajectories of conduct problems and hyperactivity in children with language impairment from childhood to adolescence. We determine patterns of co-occurrence of symptoms and identify specific risk and protective factors. Methods We develop a trajectory grouping method to examine simultaneously the conduct and hyperactivity problem scores of 164 children with language impairment at 7, 8, 11 and 16 years of age. Results We identified five groups of children with distinct trajectories of symptoms. Three trajectory groups all had different conduct/hyperactivity problems: a persistent problems group (15%), an adolescent-onset group (24%) and a childhood-limited group (17%). There were two trajectory groups that did not show conduct problems. Conclusions Conduct problems always co-occurred with hyperactivity in children with language impairment regardless of differences in the onset of symptoms (childhood versus adolescence) or their persistence (persistent versus childhood limited). Reading difficulties were strongly associated with mixed conduct/hyperactivity problems that started early (childhood) and continued into adolescence (the persistent trajectory group). Prosocial behaviours were found to be protective against conduct problems.
Deteksi financial statement fraud: Pengujian dengan fraud diamond

This research is an empirical research that aims to determine the effect of fraud diamond toward financial statement fraud on the public companies LQ-45 listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) from 2010 to 2014. The test is performed by using multiple linear regression on the 22 data samples. The results show that external pressure and rationalization variables proved to be significantly positive, while financial stability, financial targets, change of auditors, personal financial need, nature of industry, ineffective monitoring and capability were not proven against financial statement fraud. The results of this study are expected to be a reference for further researchers and users of other financial information in detecting fraud on the financial statements.