Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Invasive amoebiasis: an emerging parasitic disease in patients infected with HIV in an area endemic for amoebic infection.

OBJECTIVES To describe the incidence and presentations of invasive amoebiasis (IA) in patients with HIV infection in an area endemic for amoebic infection and to assess the role of the indirect haemagglutination (IHA) assay in the diagnosis of IA in HIV-infected patients. DESIGN Retrospective study of 18 cases of IA and HIV infection. SETTING A university hospital, the largest centre for management of HIV-associated complications in Taiwan. METHODS Medical, microbiological and histopathological records of 296 HIV-infected patients and serological data of IHA assay of 126 HIV-infected patients were reviewed to identify cases of IA from 23 June 1994 to 31 March 1999. An IHA titre > or = 1 : 128 was considered positive. Clinical characteristics of HIV-infected patients with IA and without IA were compared. RESULTS Eighteen of the 296 patients (6.1%) with HIV infection were diagnosed with IA: 12 patients were diagnosed with definite IA and six with probable IA. The clinical manifestations included amoebic colitis (13 patients), amoebic liver abscess (nine), both colitis and abscess (four), and pleural effusion (two). IA was the initial presentation of HIV infection in nine patients. Co-infection with other enteric pathogens was diagnosed in six patients with IA. Compared with the 161 patients without IA who were newly diagnosed with HIV infection, the nine patients with IA had a higher median CD4+ lymphocyte count (202 x 10(6)/l versus 33 x 10(6)/l; P = 0.0017), were less likely to be diagnosed with AIDS (55.6% versus 85.4%; P = 0.039), and had fewer concurrent AIDS-defining illnesses (median number 0 versus 2; P = 0.003). Estimated mean survival duration was not significantly different between the two groups (597 days versus 611 days). Fourteen out of 126 patients (11.1%) had an IHA titre > or = 1 : 128. Of the 18 patients diagnosed with IA, 13 had a titre > or = 1 : 128. The sensitivity of IHA assay in the diagnosis of IA was 72.2% (13 out of 18) and the specificity was 99.1% (107 out of 108). The positive predictive value of IHA test for IA of this patient population was 92.9% (13 out of 14) whereas the negative predictive value was 95.5% (107 out of 112). CONCLUSION IA is an increasingly important parasitic disease among patients with HIV infection in Taiwan. IHA assay has a good specificity and high negative predictive value in diagnosis of IA.
2018 Klein Lecture: Individual and Aggregate Labor Supply in Heterogeneous Agent Economies with Intensive and Extensive Margins

We study business cycle fluctuations in heterogeneous agent general equilibrium models featuring intensive and extensive margins of labor supply. A nonlinear mapping from time devoted to work to labor services generates operative extensive and intensive margins. Our model captures the salient features of the empirical distribution of hours worked, including how individuals transit within this distribution. We study how various specifications influence labor supply responses to aggregate technology shocks and find that abstracting from intensive margin adjustment can have large effects on the volatility of aggregate hours even if fluctuations along the intensive margin are small.
Perception of the Benefits and Features of Health Insurance Policies Offered by the Employers: Empirical Findings from Saudi Arabia

Government of Saudi Arabia is concerned and committed to improve the living standards of its people by enhancing, and standardizing healthcare service and education industry of the country which accounted for 36 percent of the budget in 2017, however, the spending was influenced by drop in oil revenues. The spending on healthcare services was reduced by 34% in 2016, from $42.67 billion in 2015 to $27.97 billion in 2016 (MOH, 2016). The decrease in government spending came as a strategy to increase the participation of private healthcare sector expenditure. Consequently, Ministry of Health (MOH) and Council of Cooperative Health Insurance (CCHI) have made medical insurance a must for non-Saudi residents (Expatriates) and their families. It’s the responsibility of Sponsor (Employer) to provide medical insurance to the expatriate and his/her family in Saudi Arabia. Accordingly, Health insurance in the form of Compulsory Employment-Based Health Insurance (CEBHI) was introduced in Saudi Arabia to regulate and ensure the provision of healthcare for expatriates working in the private sector, whilst providing financial protection against their healthcare expenses. It is prohibited for any employer not to participate in CEBHI, non-compliance to this law is punishable offence. However, despite these strong regulation, which comes in favor of expatriates, a number of complains been raised by expatriates of poor health care services due to employer unwillingness to provide proper health insurance policy, as a result of expensive premium. No studies have been conducted to systematically document expatriates’ perceptions in the health insurance industry. This paper attempts to fill the gap. The paper reports results about the perceptions of 324 expatriates at private sector in Saudi Arabia. The research found that most expatriates’ bout their policy from an intermediary with a weak knowledge about the insurance business, they also indicate their willingness to attend awareness lessons to educate themselves about the features of their health insurance policy. Expatriates also clarified that the policy they possess have a weak quality with limited benefits. The results indicated that there is a need to launch a measuring and controlling mechanisms, to control employer compliance with CEBHI regulations, to protect expatriates’ rights in getting proper health care service by having the right health insurance policy.
Molecular clocks.

A convenient and precise mass spectrometric method for measurement of the deamidation rates of glutaminyl and asparaginyl residues in peptides and proteins has been developed; the rates of deamidation of 306 asparaginyl sequences in model peptides at pH 7.4, 37.0 degrees C, 0.15 M Tris.HCl buffer have been determined; a library of 913 amide-containing peptides for use by other investigators in similar studies has been established; and, by means of simultaneous deamidation rate measurements of rabbit muscle aldolase and appropriate model peptides in the same solutions, the use of this method for quantitative measurement of the relative effects of primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary protein structure on deamidation rates has been demonstrated. The measured rates are discussed with respect to the hypothesis that glutaminyl and asparaginyl residues serve, through deamidation, as molecular timers of biological events.
Mineral and casein equilibria in milk: effects of added salts and calcium-chelating agents

We have investigated the effects of adding a range of mineral salts and calcium-chelating agents on the distribution of casein and minerals between the non-pelleted and pelleted phases of milk obtained upon centrifugation at 78000 g for 90 min. Adding CaCl2 or mixtures of NaH2PO% and Na2HPO% to reconstituted skim milk (90 g milk solids/kg) at pH 6·65 increased both pelleted casein and pelleted calcium phosphate. Opposite effects were obtained by adding citrate or EDTA. The change in pelleted calcium phosphate was not simply related to casein release from the micelle. Upon adding 5 mmol EDTA/kg milk, 20% of the pelleted Ca, 22% of the pelleted phosphate and 5% of the micellar casein were removed. Increasing the concentration of EDTA to 10 mmol/kg milk decreased the pelleted Ca by 44% and the pelleted phosphate by 46%, and caused 30%of the micellar casein to be released. The effects of adding phosphate, citrate or EDTA at pH 6·65, followed by the addition of CaCl2, demonstrated the reversibility of the dissolution and formation of the micellar calcium phosphate. There were limits to this reversibility that were related to the amount of colloidal calcium phosphate removed from the casein micelles. Adding CaCl2 to milk containing [ges ] 20 mmol EDTA or [ges ] 30 mmol citrate/kg milk did not result in complete reformation of casein micelles. Light-scattering experiments confirmed that the dissolution of moderate amounts of colloidal calcium phosphate had little effect on micellar size and were reversible, while the dissolution of larger amounts of colloidal calcium phosphate resulted in large reductions in micellar size and was irreversible.
Identifying Farm Pond Habitat Suitability for the Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus): A Conservation-Perspective Approach

The purpose of this study was to establish a habitat-suitability assessment model for Gallinula chloropus, or the Common Moorhen, to be applied to the selection of the most suitable farm pond for habitat conservation in Chiayi County, Taiwan. First, the fuzzy Delphi method was employed to evaluate habitat selection factors and calculate the weights of these factors. The results showed that the eight crucial factors, by importance, in descending order, were (1) area ratio of farmlands within 200 m of the farm pond; (2) pond area; (3) pond perimeter; (4) aquatic plant coverage of the pond surface; (5) drought period; (6) coverage of high and low shrubs around the pond bank; (7) bank type; and (8) water-surface-to-bank distance. Subsequently, field evaluations of 75 farm ponds in Chiayi County were performed. The results indicated that 15 farm ponds had highly-suitable habitats and were inhabited by unusually high numbers of Common Moorhens; these habitats were most in need of conservation. A total of two farm ponds were found to require habitat-environment improvements, and Common Moorhens with typical reproductive capacity could be appropriately introduced into 22 farm ponds to restore the ecosystem of the species. Additionally, the habitat suitability and number of Common Moorhens in 36 farm ponds were lower than average; these ponds could be used for agricultural irrigation, detention basins, or for recreational use by community residents. Finally, the total habitat suitability scores and occurrence of Common Moorhens in each farm pond were used to verify the accuracy of the habitat-suitability assessment model for the Common Moorhen. The overall accuracy was 0.8, and the Kappa value was 0.60, which indicates that the model established in this study exhibited high credibility. To sum up, this is an applicable framework not only to assess the habitat suitability of farm ponds for Common Moorhens, but also to determine whether a particular location may require the implementation of conservation practices. Furthermore, the findings in this research can provide useful information to all relevant stakeholders involved in the implementation of wildlife-habitat conservation and restoration at farm ponds.
Dual-class shares, external financing needs, and firm performance

Whereas the agency theory predicts that dual-class shares decrease firm performance, the stewardship theory predicts that dual-class shares increase firm performance. The cumulative findings on the performance consequences of dual-class shares have been weak and/or inconclusive. Because endogeneity is a constant challenge in empirical corporate governance studies, this study uses a unique law change in Switzerland as a source of exogenous variation in the fraction of firms with dual-class shares. Controlling for firm fixed effects and time-varying confounders, we find that dual-class shares neither harm nor benefit firm performance on average. However, dual-class shares increase firm performance if the firm requires external finance and dual-class shares decrease firm performance if the firm does not require external finance. External financing needs mitigate the agency costs between controlling and minority shareholders and create a context in which dual-class shares facilitate firm-specific investments instead of private perquisites. The study’s results have both managerial and policy implications.
Evaluation of Retinal Function and Morphology of the Pink-Eyed Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) Rat: A Comparative Study of in Vivo and in Vitro Methods

ABSTRACT Purpose: To characterize the course of retinal degeneration in the pink-eyed RCS rat in vivo and in vitro. Methods: Retinal function of RCS rats at the age of 2 to 100 weeks was determined in vivo using full-field electroretinography (ERG). Retinal morphology was evaluated in vivo using spectral domain Optical Coherence Tomography (sd-OCT) and Fluorescence angiography (FA) as well as postmortem using immunohistochemistry (IH). As a control, retinal function and morphology of non-dystrophic Wistar rats were analyzed. Results: RCS rats showed an extinction of the ERG beginning with the age of 4 weeks. In the OCT, the outer part of the retina (OPR) could be clearly distinguished from the inner part of the retina (IPR) until the age of 8 weeks. However, at this age, it was impossible to determine from OCT images whether the OPR was formed by the outer nuclear layer (ONL) or by cellular debris built in the course of retinal degeneration. In contrast, immunohistochemistry always enabled to differentiate between ONL and debris (RCS 4 weeks of age: OPR mainly formed by ONL; RCS 8 weeks of age: OPR consisted mainly of cell debris, only 1–2 cell rows of photoreceptor somata were left). Conclusions: In general, data obtained in vivo were confirmed by data obtained post mortem. Apart from the problem to differentiate between debris and ONL at the age of 8 weeks in the RCS rat, ERG and OCT are useful methods to evaluate retinal function and structure in vivo and to complement immunohistochemical analysis of the degeneration process.
Does Gender Equality Affect Municipal Transparency: The Case of Spain

ABSTRACT The influence of women in organizational transparency is an understudied vein of representative bureaucracy. Literature claims that the increase of women in formal political representation opened the opportunity to bring to public organizations gender diversity, experiences, and values different from those of men. It highlights the beneficial leadership styles and the legitimacy of public bureaucracies. Since gender equality in Spanish local government has increased in recent years, it was the trigger and the aim for this study: to understand the influence of women’s political representation on the level of Spanish municipalities’ transparency. The analysis draws on panel data econometric techniques. The results reinforce the discussion that the representation of women in local political life will increase information transparency and reduce information asymmetry in municipalities.
Optimal Hemodialysis Vascular Access in the Elderly Patient

The optimal vascular access for elderly patients remains a challenge due to the difficulty balancing the benefits and risks in a population with increased comorbidity and decreased survival. Age is commonly associated with failure to mature in fistula and decreased rates of primary and secondary patency in both fistula and grafts. In the elderly, at 1 and 2 years, primary patency rates range from 43% to 74% and from 29% to 67%, respectively. Secondary patency rates at 1 and 2 years range from 56% to 82% and 44% to 67%, respectively. Cumulative fistula survival is no better than grafts survival when primary failures are included. Several observational studies consistently demonstrate a lower adjusted mortality among those using a fistula compared with a catheter; however, catheter use in the elderly is increasing in most countries with the exception of Japan. Both guidelines and quality initiatives do not acknowledge the trade‐offs involved in managing the elderly patients with multiple chronic conditions and limited life expectancy or the value that patients place on achieving these outcomes. The framework for choice of vascular access presented in this article considers: (1) likelihood of disease progression before death, (2) patient life expectancy, (3) risks and benefits by vascular access type, and (4) patient preference. Future studies evaluating the timing and type of vascular access with careful assessments of complications, functionality, cost benefit, and patients’ preference will provide relevant information to individualize and optimize care to improve morbidity, mortality, and quality of life in the elderly patient.
Social Movements and ICTs: Addressing Complexity and Contingency

It is hard to deny that how Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are used by social movements is an issue of great importance. However, it is equally difficult to ascribe meaning to such use it remains a contested topic within academia and in popular media. In this thesis I develop, demonstrate, and test a unique approach to studying ICT use in social movements. The approach is informed by complexity theory and Bent Flyvbjerg’s phronetic social science. Phronetic social science sees the uncertainty contained in issues such as the use of ICTs by social movements as an inherent part of the social, while complexity theorists go on to argue that this means social scientists should concentrate their efforts on producing heuristics – imperfect working principles. In the thesis I advocate using the communicative ecologies conceptual model developed by Jo Tacchi and Don Slater, in concert with the emphasis on processes and mechanisms found in the influential sociological text Dynamics of contention, to produce such heuristics. An emphasis on processes and mechanisms provides specificity as to what ICTs can help social movements with, while the communicative ecologies model provides a holistic framework to understand ICTs as part of a complex system – an ecology – rather than in isolation. Applying this approach to case studies on South African movement Abahlali baseMjondolo and the Australian Socialist Alliance, three heuristics are produced which are then related to other cases of ICT-aided activism. I argue that my approach makes an important contribution to the field of social movement studies by providing am analytical framework that properly accounts for complexity and contingency, producing heuristic statements that are explicitly reliant on certain communicative-ecological conditions. Due to this specificity, when tested the heuristics hold up as expected, supporting my argument.
Estimating HIV Prevalence in Zimbabwe Using Population-Based Survey Data

Estimates of HIV prevalence computed using data obtained from sampling a subgroup of the national population may lack the representativeness of all the relevant domains of the population. These estimates are often computed on the assumption that HIV prevalence is uniform across all domains of the population. Use of appropriate statistical methods together with population-based survey data can enhance better estimation of national and subgroup level HIV prevalence and can provide improved explanations of the variation in HIV prevalence across different domains of the population. In this study we computed design-consistent estimates of HIV prevalence, and their respective 95% confidence intervals at both the national and subgroup levels. In addition, we provided a multivariable survey logistic regression model from a generalized linear modelling perspective for explaining the variation in HIV prevalence using demographic, socio-economic, socio-cultural and behavioural factors. Essentially, this study borrows from the proximate determinants conceptual framework which provides guiding principles upon which socio-economic and socio-cultural variables affect HIV prevalence through biological behavioural factors. We utilize the 2010–11 Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey (2010–11 ZDHS) data (which are population based) to estimate HIV prevalence in different categories of the population and for constructing the logistic regression model. It was established that HIV prevalence varies greatly with age, gender, marital status, place of residence, literacy level, belief on whether condom use can reduce the risk of contracting HIV and level of recent sexual activity whereas there was no marked variation in HIV prevalence with social status (measured using a wealth index), method of contraceptive and an individual’s level of education.
Imaging of the major salivary glands

The major salivary glands, submandibular, parotid and sublingual glands play an important role in preserving the oral cavity and dental health. Patients with problems of the major salivary glands may present with symptoms such as dry mouth, dysphagia and obstruction of duct, inflammation, severe dental caries or swelling. Imaging plays an important role in visualization of morphology and function, to establish a diagnosis, for treatment, and for surgical planning. There are several options for diagnostic imaging: plain radiography, sialography, ultrasound (US), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), salivary gland scintigraphy and 18F‐FDG positron emission tomography (PET). We present an overview of the modalities in relation to common salivary gland disease.
Comparing challenging behavior in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders according to the DSM-IV-TR and the proposed DSM-5

Objective: The aim of the current study is to investigate challenging behavior in children who may no longer meet criteria for an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis according to the proposed fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5). Method: Children and adolescents (n = 459) were separated into three groups including those who met criteria for ASD according to the DSM-5 criteria (n = 219); those who will no longer qualify for an ASD diagnosis according to the DSM-5 but met criteria according to the DSM-IV-TR (n = 109); and a control group (n = 131). Scores on the Autism Spectrum Disorders – Problem Behaviors for Children (ASD-PB-C) were compared among groups. Results: The DSM-5 captured a slightly more impaired population in terms of problem behavior. Conclusion: Implications regarding access to treatment for those no longer meeting criteria need to be taken into consideration in the coming months.