Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development of Items That Assess Physical Function in Children Who Use Wheelchairs

Purpose: To assess the content, format, and comprehension of the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) pediatric physical function related to mobility items for children who use wheelchairs (WCs). Methods: During a cognitive interview, 14 children, aged 8 to 12 years, who use WCs, verbalized their thoughts when answering PROMIS items. The Questionnaire Appraisal System was used to code summarized text from the interviews. Results: The children requested items be more specific and include options for reporting adaptive ways of performing and participating. How they would answer the item depended on the situation and specific environmental supports and constraints they may have experienced. Conclusions: As rehabilitation professionals develop and use self-reported outcome measures, they should explore what is important to children who use WCs regarding their views on physical functioning, the influences of the environment, and variability in the use of devices to assist with functional mobility.
The Sensitivity of Consumption to Transitory Income: Estimates from Panel Data on Households

We investigate the stochastic relation between income and consumption (specifically, consumption of food) within a panel of about 2,000 households. Our major findings are: 1. Consumption responds much more strongly to permanent than to transitory movements of income. 2. The response to transitory income is nonetheless clearly positive. 3. A simple test, independent of our model of consumption, rejects a central implication of the pure life cycle-permanent income hypothesis. The observed covariation of income and consumption is compatible with pure life cycle-permanent income behavior on the part of80 percent of families and simple proportionality of consumption and income among the remaining 20 percent. As a general matter, our findings support the view that families respond differently to different sources of income variations. In particular, temporary income tax policies have smaller effects on consumption than do other, more permanent changes in income of the same magnitude.
Why labor income shares seem to be constant?

Abstract The common assumptions that labor income share does not change over time or across countries and that factor income shares are equal to the elasticity of output with respect to factors have had important implications for economic theory. However, there are several theoretical reasons for why the elasticity of output with respect to reproducible factors should be correlated with the stage of development. In particular, the behavior of international trade and capital flows and the existence of factor saving innovations imply such a correlation. If this correlation exists and if factor income shares are equal to the elasticity of output with respect to factors then the labor income share must be negatively correlated with the stage of development. The existence of a labor intensive sector that produces non-tradable goods would explain why labor income share has no correlation with income per capita.
Legal Restrictions and Investment Growth

We analyze the impact of legal restrictions on investment growth at the firm level. With the help of a unique firm-level survey database, we analyze whether firm investments are related to the efficiency and quality of the judiciary. Furthermore, we analyze whether the investment behavior of large and small firms is influenced in the same manner and degree. Our results provide strong support for the hypothesis that investment growth may be hampered by laws that are experienced as negative by firms. We find that it especially is the smaller firms which are restricted by laws in their investment behavior. Larger (international) firms are better able to cope with the rules. These results are robust to different estimators.
Peer Social Networks After the Transition to Secondary School : Adolescents' Perspectives

The transition from prirr1ary to secondary school has a considerable impact upon the social and academic lives of adolescents. An adolescent's sense of belonging (SoB) is important for detennining school satisfaction and success during this transition. As SoB is partly developed through an individual's peer social network, this study explored the peer social networks for adolescents \V\to have a SoB. Using the Psychological Sense of School Membership (PSSM) scale (Goodenow, 1993a), five females and three males with a high SoB completed sociological maps and participated in interviews in order to detennine the structure and function of their peer social networks. The results indicate that peer social networks contribute to SoB primarily through their structure and the psychological functions they serve. Key results include the finding that those networks which have a degree of stability, and those in which the adolescent is able to identify a close friend whom they trust, are most valuable for promoting SoB. The value of having friends with whom the adolescent feels a sense of history was reported to be particularly important by the adolescents in this study. Furthermore, the results indicate that there is no single structure ofpt-. :r social networks that is most valuable in promoting SoB, as it is the psychological function of the network itself which fosters a SoB. Several areas for future research are identified, including a comparison between those students who report lower SoB at school and those who report high SoB, and a longitudinal study analysing trends in peer social networks across the school year after the transition to secondary school. Adolescent Peer Networks iii
Rosiglitazone as a Modulator of TLR4 and TLR3 Signaling Pathways in Rat Primary Neurons and Astrocytes

An antidiabetic drug of the thiazolidinedione class, rosiglitazone (RG) demonstrates anti-inflammatory properties in various brain pathologies. The mechanism of RG action in brain cells is not fully known. To unravel mechanisms of RG modulation of toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling pathways, we compare primary rat neuron and astrocyte cultures stimulated with the TLR4 agonist lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and the TLR3 agonist poly I:C (PIC). Both TLR agonists induced tumor necrosis factor (TNFα) release in astrocytes, but not in neurons. Neurons and astrocytes released interleukin-10 (IL-10) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in response to LPS and PIC. RG decreased TLR-stimulated TNFα release in astrocytes as well as potentiated IL-10 and PGE2 release in both astrocytes and neurons. RG induced phosphorylation of p38 and JNK MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) in neurons. The results reveal new role of RG as a modulator of resolution of neuroinflammation.
Improving the transition from pediatric to adult diabetes care: the pediatric care provider’s perspective in Quebec, Canada

Objectives The transition from pediatric to adult care is a high-risk period for the emerging adult with diabetes. We aimed to determine adequacy of pediatric transition care structures and explore the pediatric diabetes care provider's perceptions of transition care. Research design and methods In-depth interviews with pediatric diabetes care providers from 12 diabetes centers in Quebec were conducted. We queried alignment with Got Transition's six core elements of healthcare transition, experiences, and barriers to transition care. Interview transcripts were reviewed for themes. Results Three centers (25%) reported having any elements of formal and structured transition care preparation and planning. When referrals were within center (n=8), pediatric providers perceived that transition was smoother; information sharing relied heavily on verbal communication rather than documented medical summaries. Barriers included lack of adult providers, less flexibility in adult care scheduling, patient struggles with multiple new adult responsibilities, and insufficient understanding by adult providers of these challenges. There was a perception that the quality of pediatric care was better than adult care. Moving out of the pediatric care geographical region appeared to increase risk for poor follow-up. Patient satisfaction and regular follow-up in adult care were thought to be good measures of transition success. Programs that included overlap between pediatric and adult care were perceived as ideal. Conclusions Important gaps in transition care practices persist. Efforts should focus on improving education in transition practices for pediatric care providers and establishing formal transition policies and structures at the institutional level.
Thailand's Outward Foreign Direct Investment: The Case of the Garment Industry

Outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) of Thai garment industry and the differences between firms with and without OFDI are explored by interview and survey during June and December 2008. Efficiency seeking is the most important OFDI motive, while labour shortage and general cost pressure are the most important push factors. Incentives, capacity building, and market intelligence are home government measures that firms are looking for. Firms with OFDI have higher levels of management proficiency than firms without OFDI due to their larger size and being more ready in terms of market to serve and production technology. Most activities of OFDI are production based. Low labour costs and cultural proximity are among the most important criteria in investment location selection. Generally, the reasons for OFDI in garment industry from Thailand to be minimal can be both internal and external factors. For internal factors, it is shown that firms with no OFDI are far behind those with OFDI in terms of management proficiency, capital resources (size), and firm readiness. It is thus suggested that Thai garment firms need to upgrade their factors of production and focus more on management skills if they want to expand internationally. Regarding external factors, home government policies that incentivize firms pursuing OFDI are still lacking. It is therefore suggested that the Thai (home) government not only develop policies that help push OFDI in the short run but also need to improve the location (L) advantages which in turn will help indigenous firms to upgrade their ownership (O) specific competitive advantages in the long run.
Stakeholder management and human resources: development and implementation of a performance measurement system

Purpose – The premise on which the stakeholder approach toward employees is based is that stakeholder management actions bring a strengthening of internal legitimacy and therefore the possibility of creating better working conditions that will lead to improved company competitiveness in terms of intangible resources developed by company employees. The aims of the paper are: to determine and to measure the system of resources of value developed by employees of a company that has developed a stakeholder management policy; to create a model that permits the company to evaluate the factors which have a major effect on the development of such a system; and to define the applications of the tool as a company's performance measurement and control system.Design/methodology/approach – In order to pursue these aims two surveys were conducted in 2005 and 2006 on the employees of a leading Italian company in the agricultural food sector. Structural equation model methodology and multivariate analysis were used to def.
Combined Effects of Load Factors and Booking Time on Fares: Insights from the Yield Management of a Low-Cost Airline

Based on two strands of theoretical research, this paper provides new evidence on how fares are jointly affected by in-flight seat availability and purchasing date. As capacity-driven theories predict, it emerges that fares monotonically and substantially increase with the flights occupancy rate. Moreover, as suggested in the literature on intertemporal price discrimination, the adoption of advance purchase discounts is widespread as the departure date nears, but it may be part of a U-shaped temporal profile, where discounts are preceded by periods of relatively higher fares. Finally, the intervention of yield management analysts appears to play a substantial role.
Out of character: debating Dutchness, narrating citizenship

This is an inquiry into the public and political debates over Dutchness and citizenship in the Netherlands (1972-2008). It demonstrates how disagreements over nationhood and citizenship were deliberately transformed from disputes about character into debates about identity and its particular problems. As debates about Dutchness and belonging grew in intensity and political significance, national identity debates came to involve narratives and performative repertoires that were markedly different from previous modes of articulation. The study reconstructs the emergence of this discursive formation, while also showing its subsequent development into an exceptionalist imaginary of dialogical Dutchness. Across these debates, Dutchness is - again and again - performed to be liberal, expressive, plural and outspoken. Inclusion into this nation is imagined at once inevitable and liberating, while also demanding and unattainable. Along the way, citizenship politics devolves into a governmental project of retracing the public image of Dutchness with borderlines of protection. The deliberate move away from character's essentialism ends up being a potent conversation machine. However, it fails to produce struggles to win and instead revolves discussions around a native public to be defended.
IS THERE A FUTURE FOR SALMON FUTURES? AN ANALYSIS OF THE PROSPECTS OF A POTENTIAL FUTURES MARKET FOR SALMON

Many futures contracts for food commodities have been introduced; however, most of them have been withdrawn from the market due to poor liquidity. In this article, various known success factors for futures contracts are discussed with regards to a proposed futures contract for salmon. Criteria from the literature are used. The principal conclusion is that a salmon contract might have difficulty surviving for a long period of time. Alternative means to manage the price risk in the salmon industry are proposed.
Enhancing the Contracting Space: Collateral Menus, Access to Credit, and Economic Activity

A recent wave of reforms across Eastern European countries gave more flexibility and information for parties to engage in secured debt transactions, also reducing court involvement. Critically, the menu of assets accepted as pledges in secured transactions was increased to include “movable assets” (e.g., machinery and equipment). Contrasting firms operating in industries with differential use of movable and immovable assets, difference-in-differences tests show that firms operating more movable assets borrowed more, invested more, hired more, and became more efficient and profitable following those changes in contracting. The reforms also democratized access to credit, with more firms (particularly small ones) abandoning their zero-leverage status. Notably, results are modulated by the level of efficiency of local courts, with larger credit expansion taking place in jurisdictions where courts were previously less efficient. The financial deepening we document triggered important capital and employment reallocation effects: Firms whose assets are most sensitive to the reform observe a sharp increase in their share of capital stock and employment in the economy. JEL Classification Numbers: G32, K22, O16.
Comparative Study of Efficacy and Adverse Effect Profile of Theophylline and Etofylline Combination Verses Doxofylline in Patients with COPD

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), caused by chronic inflammation and destruction of the airways and lung parenchyma is usually associated with tobacco smoking or prolonged exposure to other noxious particles and gases. It is a major health problem characterized by progressive airflow obstruction that is sometimes partially reversible. Methylxanthines like theophylline have been used in combination for bronchodilation in COPD since many years. Doxofylline, a novel methylxanthine is claimed to be therapeutically similar but with better safety. This study was designed to compare the efficacy and safety of theophylline and etophylline fixed dose combination with doxofylline at doses commonly used in patients with stable COPD. The study was conducted in the department of Pulmonology. 204 patients were divided into two groups and randomly assigned to a 21 day oral treatment. Group I was administered theophylline 69 mg + etofylline 231mg (Deriphylline Retard 300 mg) once a day and group II was administered doxofylline 400 mg twice a day. Efficacy was measured objectively using spirometric parameters like FEV1 (Forced expiratory volume at the end of 1 second), FVC (Forced vital capacity) and % FEV. Adverse effects were subjectively recorded weekly. Statistical analysis showed no significant difference with respect to spirometric variables and symptom score in the two groups. But significant difference with respect to side effects was observed. Palpitation was the most common adverse effect followed by tremor, insomnia and dyspepsia. CONCLUSION: Though doxofylline has better safety profile, it has no advantage over theophylline and etofylline in terms of efficacy.
Hierarchical Deep Learning Architecture For 10K Objects Classification

Evolution of visual object recognition architectures based on Convolutional Neural Networks & Convolutional Deep Belief Networks paradigms has revolutionized artificial Vision Science. These architectures extract & learn the real world hierarchical visual features utilizing supervised & unsupervised learning approaches respectively. Both the approaches yet cannot scale up realistically to provide recognition for a very large number of objects as high as 10K. We propose a two level hierarchical deep learning architecture inspired by divide & conquer principle that decomposes the large scale recognition architecture into root & leaf level model architectures. Each of the root & leaf level models is trained exclusively to provide superior results than possible by any 1-level deep learning architecture prevalent today. The proposed architecture classifies objects in two steps. In the first step the root level model classifies the object in a high level category. In the second step, the leaf level recognition model for the recognized high level category is selected among all the leaf models. This leaf level model is presented with the same input object image which classifies it in a specific category. Also we propose a blend of leaf level models trained with either supervised or unsupervised learning approaches. Unsupervised learning is suitable whenever labelled data is scarce for the specific leaf level models. Currently the training of leaf level models is in progress; where we have trained 25 out of the total 47 leaf level models as of now. We have trained the leaf models with the best case top-5 error rate of 3.2% on the validation data set for the particular leaf models. Also we demonstrate that the validation error of the leaf level models saturates towards the above mentioned accuracy as the number of epochs are increased to more than sixty.
Implications of nonlinearity in environmental instrument choice

The classic paper by Weitzman (1974) on environmental instrument choice showed that relative efficiency of a price or quantity instrument depended on the elasticities of the marginal cost and benefit functions. Linear models with additive or multiplicative errors lent support for many of Weitzman's results. This paper investigates nonlinear functions and again shows Weitzman largely correct. Moreover it supports a conjecture he made about the relative efficacy of price versus quantity instruments.
Determinants of Mg2+-dependent activities of recombinant human immunodeficiency virus type 1 integrase.

The relationship between Mg(2+)-dependent activity and the self-assembly state of HIV-1 integrase was investigated using different protein preparations. The first preparations, IN(CHAPS) and IN(dial), were purified in the presence of detergent, but in the case of IN(dial), the detergent was removed during a final dialysis. The third preparation, IN(zn), was purified without any detergent. The three preparations displayed comparable Mn(2+)-dependent activities. In contrast, the Mg(2+)-dependent activity that reflects a more realistic view of the physiological activity strongly depended on the preparation. IN(CHAPS) was not capable of using Mg(2+) as a cofactor, whereas IN(zn) was highly active under the same conditions. In the accompanying paper [Deprez, E. , et al. (2000) Biochemistry 39, 9275-9284], we used time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy to demonstrate that IN(CHAPS) was monomeric at the concentration of enzymatic assays. Here, we show that IN(zn) was homogeneously tetrameric under similar conditions. Moreover, IN(dial) that exhibited an intermediary Mg(2+)-dependent activity existed in a monomer-multimer equilibrium. The level of Mg(2+)- but not Mn(2+)-dependent activity of IN(dial) was altered by addition of detergent which plays a detrimental role in the maintenance of the oligomeric organization. Our results indicate that the ability of integrase to use Mg(2+) as a cofactor is related to its self-assembly state in solution, whereas Mn(2+)-dependent activity is not. Finally, the oligomeric IN(zn) was capable of binding efficiently to DNA regardless of the cationic cofactor, whereas the monomeric IN(CHAPS) strictly required Mn(2+). Thus, we propose that a specific conformation of integrase is a prerequisite for its binding to DNA in the presence of Mg(2+).
STRATEGIC PLANNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

This concept paper discuss about the importance of strategic planning in higher education system. The literature review embarked on strategic planning and funding higher education with the intention on methods, policies, and global trends with comparisons from different perspectives to enhance understanding of the study. The integration of strategic planning in higher education has provided a framework to facilitate institutions vision, mission, values, goals, and strategies. Therefore, the desires to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of strategic planning by implementing the performance indictor in higher education institutions have generated policies and methods to promote long term benefit to the economic growth.
The utility of measles and rubella IgM serology in an elimination setting, Ontario, Canada, 2009–2014

In Canada, measles was eliminated in 1998 and rubella in 2000. Effective measles and rubella surveillance is vital in elimination settings, hinging on reliable laboratory methods. However, low-prevalence settings affect the predictive value of laboratory tests. We conducted an analysis to determine the performance of measles and rubella IgM testing in a jurisdiction where both infections are eliminated. 21,299 test results were extracted from the Public Health Ontario Laboratories database and 1,239 reports were extracted from the Ontario Integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS) from 2008 and 2010 for measles and rubella, respectively, to 2014. Deterministic linkage resulted in 658 linked measles records (2009–2014) and 189 linked rubella records (2010–2014). Sixty-six iPHIS measles entries were classified as confirmed cases, of which 53 linked to laboratory data. Five iPHIS rubella entries were classified as confirmed, all linked to IgM results. The positive predictive value was 17.4% for measles and 3.6% for rubella. Sensitivity was 79.2% for measles and 100.0% for rubella. Specificity was 65.7% for measles and 25.8% for rubella. Our study confirms that a positive IgM alone does not confirm a measles case in elimination settings. This has important implications for countries that are working towards measles and rubella elimination.