Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tax-Financing of Budget Deficits in LDCs: Re-Validation of Laffer Curve Theory

Urgent need for quick action to put Nigeria and other developing economies back to the path of economic recovery has almost imposed state of emergency on these economies. Most LDCs are faced with acute shortage of development funds due to recessions accompanying incessant crashes in international financial market. Raising existing tax rates to finance budget deficit in LDCs often generates public debate on pros and cons of such policy option. Study considered Nigeria as typical case of LDCs. Study focused on establishing the effectiveness of tax-financing of budget deficit under Laffer curve theory. Study spanned across 1970-2015. Data were analyzed using ADF, CUSUM, heteroskedasticity, multiple regression, Johansen cointegration and ECM. Results indicate that: (1) Custom and exercise duties, petroleum profit tax and value-added tax contributed significantly to the reduction in budget deficit while company income tax had nonsignificant impact(2)Total government revenue constituted major chunk of planned income for budget deficit financing(3) Deficit financing of capital health expenditure yielded high returns while that of recurrent education expenditure and capital education expenditure was accompanied by low returns (4)Growth and employment generation accelerated deficit financing while private investment decelerated it (5) There were long and short-run relationships among budget deficit, taxes, human capital investment and macroeconomic indicators with significant rate of adjustment of short-run disequilibrium. Study concluded that tax-financing of budget deficit was effective under Laffer curve effect. It was recommended, among others, that LDCs should enlarge their tax bases through inclusion, to finance budget deficit.
Stimulatory and Inhibitory Killer Ig-Like Receptor Molecules Are Expressed and Functional on Lupus T Cells1

T cells from lupus patients have hypomethylated DNA and overexpress genes normally suppressed by DNA methylation that contribute to disease pathogenesis. We found that stimulatory and inhibitory killer cell Ig-like receptor (KIR) genes are aberrantly overexpressed on experimentally demethylated T cells. We therefore asked if lupus T cells also overexpress KIR, and if the proteins are functional. T cells from lupus patients were found to overexpress KIR genes, and expression was proportional to disease activity. Abs to the stimulatory molecule KIR2DL4 triggered IFN-γ release by lupus T cells, and production was proportional to disease activity. Similarly, cross-linking the inhibitory molecule KIR3DL1 prevented the autoreactive macrophage killing that characterizes lupus T cells. These results indicate that aberrant T cell KIR expression may contribute to IFN overproduction and macrophage killing in human lupus, and they suggest that Abs to inhibitory KIR may be a treatment for this disease.
Judgment Processes for Medication Acceptance

In the present study college students (N = 186) made judgments of the likelihood of accepting a medication for treatment of a hypothetically experienced clinical depression. Three types of information were manipulated: effectiveness of the medication for alleviating the symptoms of depression, potential side effects of the medication, and severity of depression hypo thetically being experienced. The functional-measurement approach was used to examine whether self-reports are related to judgments and whether there is configurality in judging likelihood of medication acceptance. The results showed that subjects who reported different variables to be most important had predictably different effects of the variables in their judgments. There was also evidence for configural combination of information, and the nature of the configurality differed between subjects who reported Depression versus Side Effects as the most important type of information, respectively. The results show how the same information can be used differently by different individuals in making judgments, and that self-reports may reveal some important aspects of how information is used. The implications of the individual differences for health care consumer decision making and health care professionals' assessments and interventions are discussed. Key words: judgment and decision making processes; configurality; self-reports; mental health treatment; information use. (Med Decis Making 1994;14:137-145)
Minimization of Torque Ripple in the DFIG-DC System Via Predictive Delay Compensation

Torque ripple caused by stator current and flux harmonics is one of the main issues in the doubly fed induction generator (DFIG)-dc system, which inherently has to operate with distorted waveforms produced by the diode commutation. This paper proposes a torque-ripple mitigation strategy based on a predictive estimation of the reciprocal of flux linkage. The predictive estimation compensates for the intrinsic delay in the actuation of the torque-ripple rejection signal through the rotor current control loops. Unlike other approaches relying on complex current regulators with selective harmonic tracking, this strategy is based on well-established proportional-integral (PI) controllers for the rotor currents. PI current controllers can then still have bandwidth values typical of usual DFIG systems. Simulations and experiments on a test-rig show that the compensation strategy achieves a strong torque ripple reduction and is very robust against stator frequency variations.
Influenza A virus infections among hospitalized adult bone marrow transplant recipients.

Although influenza virus continues to cause annual epidemics of respiratory diseases, surprisingly little is known about the frequency and clinical course of influenza among adult patients with cancer. During the 1991-92 influenza epidemic in Houston, Texas, we followed all adult BMT recipients hospitalized at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. None of these 68 patients had received prophylaxis for influenza. Influenza virus type A was isolated from 8 (29%) of 28 BMT recipients with an acute respiratory illness. Five of these infections were acquired in the hospital. All 8 patients presented with an upper respiratory tract illness. In 6 patients, the infection was complicated by pneumonia. The frequency of influenza was similar among autologous (5 of 18) and allogeneic (3 of 10) BMT recipients. The risk of developing pneumonia was not related to the type of transplant or to the engraftment status. All patients received broad-spectrum antibiotics. The 2 patients who did not develop pneumonia also received amantadine. The mortality with pneumonia was 17%. During community outbreaks, influenza is a frequent cause of acute respiratory illness among hospitalized adult BMT recipients and is frequently complicated by pneumonia. Studies are needed to define the optimal means of preventing and treating influenza in BMT recipients.
Risk Factors for Early Failure of Native Arteriovenous Fistulas

Introduction: Current guidelines recommend native arteriovenous fistulas (AVF) as the vascular access of choice for hemodialysis on account of the lower incidence of complications. However, this kind of vascular access has a high rate of early failure (early thrombosis or non-maturation). Our aim was to examine whether clear risk factors for early AVF failure could be identified in our patients. Subjects and Methods: Data of all patients who underwent creation of an AVF at the Geneva University Hospital from January 1998 to December 2002 were reviewed. Early failure was defined as a non-functioning fistula (thrombosis or absence of fistula maturation). Results: 119 patients underwent the creation of 148 native AVF, 88 (59.5%) in the forearm and 60 (40.5%) in the upper arm. 48 (32.4%) fistulae were created in diabetic patients. In a multiple logistic regression analysis, significant predictive factors of early failure were a distal location (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 8.21, 95% CI = 2.63–25.63, p < 0.001), female gender (aOR = 4.04, 95% CI = 1.44–11.30, p = 0.008), level of surgical expertise (aOR = 3.97, 95% CI = 1.39–11.32, p = 0.010) and diabetes mellitus (aOR = 3.19, 95% CI = 1.17–8.71, p = 0.024). Conclusion: Early failure of AVF occurs mainly in forearm sites among women and diabetic patients. Surgical expertise has also a significant influence. These results suggest that selection of a distal site for a native AVF has to be rigorously made for women and diabetic patients and that surgeon’s dedication is of primary importance to avoid early AVF failure occurrence.
PD‐1 expression on Melan‐A‐reactive T cells increases during progression to metastatic disease

Programmed death 1 (PD‐1) is known as an important factor for the development of tolerogenicity. This has been proven in chronic viral infections and different tumor models. To address the role of PD‐1 and its ligand programmed death ligand 1 (PD‐L1) in different stages of malignant melanoma, we investigated peripheral blood and tumor tissues in regard to overall survival (OS) and prognostic relevance. One hundred samples of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from HLA‐A2+ patients with malignant melanoma (Stages I–IV) were analyzed in seven color FACS combined with multimer analyses for the immunodominant epitope of Melan‐A (peptide A2/Melan‐Ap26‐35mod). Corresponding formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded tissues of primary tumor and distant organ metastases from 37 cases were analyzed by immunohistochemistry for Melan‐A, PD‐L1 and PD‐1 expression. Compared to the total CD8+ T cell population, PD‐1 expression by A2/Melan‐A+ CD8+ T cells was over‐represented in melanoma stages III and IV (p < 0.001). Although elevation of PD‐1+ Melan‐A+ CD8+ T cells had no significant influence on OS, a positive correlation was observed between PD‐L1 expression on melanoma cells and OS (p = 0.05). Correlation of advanced tumor stage with increased A2/Melan‐A‐multimer+ PD‐1+ T cells in the peripheral blood suggest that blocking of PD‐1 could have therapeutic potential in advanced stage melanoma.
Who terminates from ACT and why? Data from the National VA Mental Health Intensive Case Management Program.

OBJECTIVE One of the original principles of assertive community treatment (ACT) is that treatment should be time unlimited. Although termination is not uncommon in ACT, it has not been empirically studied. This study examined termination from a large program based on ACT. METHODS This study used national data from the Department of Veterans Affairs Mental Health Intensive Case Management program modeled on ACT to compare veteran characteristics, patterns of service delivery, and early clinical changes among veterans who terminated early (less than one year) and later (one to three years) with those of veterans had not terminated after three years. Bivariate comparisons and multinomial logistic regression analyses were used to identify factors associated with early and later termination. RESULTS Among 1,402 veterans enrolled in fiscal years (FY) 2002-2004, 16% terminated early, 26% terminated later, and 57% had not terminated after three years. Compared with those who had not terminated, those who terminated early showed higher suicidality scores, and participants who terminated early and those who terminated later were less likely to have a diagnosis of schizophrenia and were more likely to have lower quality of life at entry. Stronger differentiating effects were observed for program participation. Those who terminated received less intensive services during the first six months of participation and had a weaker therapeutic alliance. Although participants who terminated early showed more violent behavior at follow-up than the other two groups, there were no other differences in early clinical changes. CONCLUSIONS Rates of both early and later termination were substantial, and less active participation was a stronger predictor of termination than either patient characteristics or clinical changes. A diagnosis of schizophrenia was associated with continued treatment. Further research is needed to determine the impact of termination on longer-term outcomes.
COMPARISON OF LEAST ABSOLUTE SHRINKAGE AND SELECTION OPERATOR AND MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD ESTIMATORS TO ESTABLISH DETERMINANTS OF IMMUNIZATION IN TRANS-NZOIA COUNTY

The client factors that influence under-five child guardian compliance to the immunization schedule are interlinked based on household characteristics, socioeconomic status, and maternal health practices. An incentive to motivate the mothers to prioritize their child’s health practices especially on vaccination, works perfectly towards the achievement of full immunization coverage. A randomly sampled study carried out within Weonia Location– Trans Nzoia County in March 2014 with target population of under-five children showed the vital role an incentive innovation plays towards immunization coverage. Multinomial logistic regression model was used to analyze the determinant of partial or none-immunized and the parameters estimated using the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) and the shrinkage estimator-Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO). The shrinkage estimator method gave a sparse model that was easy to interpret and increased the estimated predictability accuracy. Maternal health practices and access to a motivating intervention are significant factors that ensure a guardian’s compliance to their child immunization.
The structure and evolution of ICT global innovation network

Abstract We look at the structure and evolution of an information and communication technology (ICT) global innovation network (GIN) by mapping the locations of R&D centres belonging to a group of multinational ICT enterprises. We found that the number of countries and connections have increased in a very short time, and that most of the newcomers have come from Africa, Asia and South America. We show that a country’s network position affects the creation and intensity of R&D linkages with other countries in the network. This suggests that the evolution of the ICT GIN is driven by, among other things, the preferential attachment mechanism, i.e. countries tend to connect to those countries which have more links. A country’s position in the network also moderates the effect of standard determinants of innovation i, such as geographic distance. Hence, network position explains the creation of R&D linkages between such distant countries as the US, China or India.
Genetic polymorphisms in sex hormone metabolizing genes and drug response in women with epilepsy.

AIMS It is hypothesized that functionally relevant polymorphisms in genes encoding metabolizing enzymes of sex steroids may influence drug response by directly predisposing women with epilepsy to seizure exacerbation. An alteration in estradiol:progesterone ratio is believed to play a role in seizure occurrence in women. CYP1A1 is a key enzyme involved in the metabolism of estradiol, with variants of the CYP1A1 gene having been reported to play a role in the alteration of sex hormone metabolism in women. The objective of the present study was to test for the association of genetic variants in CYP1A1 with seizure recurrence in patients diagnosed with epilepsy. MATERIALS & METHODS In the study, the association of five variants in CYP1A1 with seizure control in 228 patients with epilepsy on first-line antiepileptic drug therapy for a minimum period of 12 months was investigated. RESULTS A significant association of an intronic SNP, IVS1 +606C>A (rs2606345), with respect to seizure recurrence (genotypic: p = 3.3 × 10(-4); allelic: p = 7.2 × 10(-4); OR: 2.86; 95% CI: 1.5-5.3) in women with epilepsy from North India was observed. CONCLUSION Since CYP1A1 is not involved in the metabolism of any of the first-line antiepileptic drugs, these results imply that variants from genes encoding sex hormone metabolizing enzymes might act as markers for predicting response to antiepileptic drug therapy in women with epilepsy.
Screening, detection and management of depression in elderly primary care attenders. I: The acceptability and performance of the 15 item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS15) and the development of short versions.

One-hundred and ninety-eight elderly subjects attending their general practitioners (GPs) were asked to complete the 15 item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS15). Analysable results were obtained from 194 (98%). Of these, 67 (34%) scored above the GDS15 cut-off (4/5) for significant depressive symptomatology. 87.6% found the questionnaire to be acceptable and only 3.6% found it very difficult or very stressful. The GDS15 had a high level of internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.80). All the individual items of the GDS15 associated significantly (P < 0.01) with total score and 'caseness'. A single question "do you feel that your life is empty? " identified 84% of 'cases'. In an attempt to devise short scales to screen elderly primary care patients for depression, the data were subjected to logistic regression analysis. Ten (GDS10), four (GDS4) and on (GDS1) item versions were generated. Agreement between these short scales and the GDS15 in the original sample was 95, 91 and 79% respectively. Cronbach's alpha was 0.72 for the GDS10 and 0.55 for the GDS4. The short scales were then validated in an independent sample of 120 patients in whom both GDS data and the results of a detailed psychiatric interview (the Geriatric Mental Status Schedule, GMS) were available. The sensitivity and specificity of the GDS10 against GMS caseness were 87 and 77% (cut-off 3/4); those of the GDS4 were 89 and 65% (cut-off 0/1) and 61 and 81% (cut-off 1/2). Sensitivity and specificity for the GDS1 were 59 and 75%. It is concluded that these short scales may be useful in helping GPs and practice staff to identify elderly patients with significant depressive symptoms.
Surfactant administration without intubation in preterm infants with respiratory distress syndrome – our experiences

Abstract Background: Surfactant replacement therapy is crucial in the management of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in preterm infants. Classic strategies of surfactant administration required intubation. To reduce the need of intubation and mechanical ventilation (MV), we applied surfactant via a thin endotracheal catheter without intubation. Patients and methods: We compared 26 preterm infants threatened by RDS treated with surfactant via a thin endotracheal catheter without intubation (studied group – SG) with a retrospective group of preterm infants managed on MV with early surfactant treatment using INtubation SURfactant Extubation (INSURE) method (control group – CG). Study had an approval from the ethics committee (RNN/6/14/KE). Results: In the SG, 26 preterm infants were treated with one dose of surfactant (Curosurf®) administered via endotracheal catheter without intubation while receiving nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP)/SiPAP (Infant Flow). After surfactant administration, significantly less patients in SG required intubation and MV (19.2%) versus 65% necessity of second intubation in the CG. The median of time of MV in SG was 5 d versus 3.5 d in CG. Median time spent on nCPAP was 5.5 d versus 4.0 d in CG. The incidence of intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) in the SG was 53.9%, including 50% with ≥IVH II versus 36.7% (30% ≥IVH II) in CG. The incidence of other complications of prematurity in the SG, such as necrotizing enterocolitis was 11.5% versus 23.3% in CG, the hemodynamically important patent ductus arteriosus was observed in 53.9% in SG versus 45% in CG. Bronchopulmonary dysplasia level in SG was significantly lower (15.4%) than in CG (40%), and the incidence of retinopathy of prematurity in SG was also lower (3.9%) versus 11.7% in MV group. Conclusion: Surfactant application via a thin endotracheal catheter without intubation seems to be a beneficial therapy for preterm infants with slight and mild degree of RDS. This new method of surfactant application was associated with a lower prevalence of intubation and MV and better pulmonary outcome than implementation of traditional surfactant therapy (INSURE) and MV. Prospective randomized controlled trial is required.
Democracy and non-profit housing. The tensions of residents’ involvement in the Danish non-profit sector

Abstract Resident democracy as a special form of participatory democratic set-up is fundamental in the understanding, and self-understanding, of the non-profit housing sector in Denmark. Through a case study, the paper explores how resident democracy is perceived and narrated between residents and employees at a housing association. The study indicates that the meta-story of democracy is disconnected from practice and the lived lives of residents. Three analytical tensions structure the analysis, which relate to the conditions for realizing the democratic ideal embedded in the structure of the sector. The tensions are related to representative versus participatory democracy; collectivity versus individuality; and service versus welfare. The tensions elucidate how resident democracy is squeezed between different logics, which result in an ambiguous setting for practising democracy. Based on the results, the article discusses conditions for prospective democracy in the Danish non-profit housing sector.
Norepinephrine Mediates Acquisition of Transferrin-Iron in Bordetella bronchiseptica

ABSTRACT Previous research demonstrated that the sympathoadrenal catecholamine norepinephrine could promote the growth of Bordetella bronchiseptica in iron-restricted medium containing serum. In this study, norepinephrine was demonstrated to stimulate growth of this organism in the presence of partially iron-saturated transferrin but not lactoferrin. Although norepinephrine is known to induce transcription of the Bordetella bfeA enterobactin catechol xenosiderophore receptor gene, neither a bfeA mutant nor a bfeR regulator mutant was defective in growth responsiveness to norepinephrine. However, growth of a tonB mutant strain was not enhanced by norepinephrine, indicating that the response to this catecholamine was the result of high-affinity outer membrane transport. The B. bronchiseptica genome encodes a total of 19 known and predicted iron transport receptor genes, none of which, when mutated individually, were found to confer a defect in norepinephrine-mediated growth stimulation in the presence of transferrin. Labeling experiments demonstrated a TonB-dependent increase in cell-associated iron levels when bacteria grown in the presence of 55Fe-transferrin were exposed to norepinephrine. In addition, TonB was required for maximum levels of cell-associated norepinephrine. Together, these results demonstrate that norepinephrine facilitates B. bronchiseptica iron acquisition from the iron carrier protein transferrin and this process may represent a mechanism by which some bacterial pathogens obtain this essential nutrient in the host environment.
Cerebrospinal Fluid τ Protein in Differential Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease and Vascular Dementia in Chinese population

Background: To assess whether biomarker τ protein could differentiate between Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD). Methods: We conducted a comprehensive search to identify studies on τ protein, patients with AD, and patients with VaD. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) τ protein levels were compared to discriminate among patients with AD, healthy controls, and patients with VaD by a meta-analysis. Results: Patients with AD exhibit significantly higher CSF τ protein levels than healthy controls or patients with VaD in the Chinese population. Conclusion: Our findings suggested that CSF τ protein levels were found to be significantly associated with AD in the Chinese population. Measurement of τ protein could help in attenuating the strict distinction between AD and VaD.