Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A managerial economist's forecast for meat consumption in Malaysia: Implications to farmers and investors

In this consumer driven chain, the changes in meat consumption at consumer level indeed provide implication for upstream production. While econometrics based analysis and forecast are hard to be understood and digested by farmers or investors, a simple forecast from the perspectives of managerial economics as laid down in the objective of this study perhaps provide valuable insights on the future movement of meat consumption and demand. By using simple forecasting technique using mathematical model, farmers and investors can expect that poultry is to be continuing its vital role as the main source for meat in the country. This is to be coupled with increasing consumption in beef and mutton. However, it is likely the decreasing trend in pork is to be continued. Alternative pig farming system is identically the main concern in promising consumers food safety, freedom of disease, and a way of reclaiming the joy of eating by growing pig that is environmentally sustainable and socially responsible. The challenge is certain, extra efforts must be contributed to reduce the cost of supply chain amid of the increasing retail price of pork that drives consumers away to seek for cheaper substitution.
Communication in the boardroom

Communication is at the core of good governance, yet, because of data constraints, research on boardroom communication is almost nonexistent. I examine communication in the boardroom using a survey of the entire population of directors and CEOs of publicly-traded firms in Sweden during 2006. The survey contained questions about information exchange, debate, the directors' relationship with management and directors' roles and was linked to firm and director characteristics. I received responses from 628 directors and CEOs representing all but 12.59% of publicly-traded firms. Amongst others the data suggests that a) directors vary in their perceptions of their roles and directors' roles affect their perceptions of communication, b) directors who agree more that they primarily monitor management consistently perceive that they contribute less to boardroom discussion than directors who agree that the CEO often asks them for advice, c) directors with a stronger personal relationship with management perceive their advisory role to be more important, and d) directors on larger boards perceive that they contribute less to boardroom discussions than directors on smaller boards. The results are robust to using Heckman selection techniques to address sample selection bias. Overall, the data suggest that monitoring alone may not be sufficient for good governance.
Hypercholesterolemia attenuates the anti-ischemic effect of preconditioning during coronary angioplasty.

BACKGROUND Cardioprotection by preconditioning is limited in some animal models of hypercholesterolemia. We studied ischemic preconditioning induced by coronary angioplasty in hypercholesterolemic and normocholesterolemic patients by means of a beat-to-beat analysis of ST segments. METHODS Thirty coronary disease patients were classified into normocholesterolemic and hypercholesterolemic groups. Intracoronary ECG was recorded during three consecutive balloon inflations of 2-min duration with 5-min intervals. RESULTS In normocholesterolemic patients, the ST segment was continuously elevated during the occlusions and rapidly normalized after balloon deflations. Repeated occlusions significantly attenuated ST-segment elevation from 1.28 +/- 0.67 to 0.88 +/- 0.51 mV (p < 0.001) and decreased the time to normalization of ST segment. In hypercholesterolemic patients, the ST segment was rapidly elevated in the first 30 s of the first occlusion, and normalization of the ST segment was longer on the first reperfusion. However, in these patients, repeated occlusions abolished the initial elevation of the ST segment but did not attenuate maximal ST-segment elevation (1.24 +/- 1.11 mV vs 1.21 +/- 1.09 mV) and failed to decrease the time to normalization of the ST segment. CONCLUSIONS Hypercholesterolemia accelerates the evolution of myocardial ischemia, delays recovery on reperfusion, and deteriorates the anti-ischemic effect of preconditioning in humans.
UNDERSTANDING A BIDDER'S ESCALATION OF COMMITMENT IN THE ONLINE C2C AUCTION

There has been little previous studies which investigates dark-side factors such as overbidding behavior in the online C2C transactions. For this reason, this study attempts to find situations with the escalation of commitment to bids using Internet auction systems and also examines whether the bidder’s bidding is irrational. Therefore, this study applies escalation of commitment to explain the auction process such as the “going, going, gone period” with competition in Internet C2C auctions. In order to describe the auction process in terms of escalation of commitment, this study proposes psychological sunk costs, completion effect, and self-justification as the key factors of escalation of commitment and also willingness to continue bidding reflecting the decision maker’s escalation behavior in terms of persistence perspective as final dependent variable. The results of PLS analysis indicate that a bidder’s overbidding behavior is explained by the escalation of commitment.
Genotypic Study of Pneumocystis jirovecii in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Positive Patients in Thailand

ABSTRACT Pneumocystis jirovecii is one of the common opportunistic infections in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients in Thailand. Information regarding genotypic and epidemiological of this organism in Thai patients is not available. We analyzed the genotypes of 28 P. jirovecii-positive specimens from bronchoalveolar lavage and sputum samples from HIV-infected Thai patients based on nucleotide variations of the internal transcribed spacer regions 1 and 2 of the rRNA gene. Thirteen genotypes were the same as previously reported outside Thailand. Ten genotypes, which included Bp, Er, Eq, Ic, Ir, Ip, Rc, Rp, Qb, and Qq, were new. Ir and Rp were unique and dominant types observed in HIV-infected Thai patients. Thirteen specimens (46.4%) were infected with a single type of P. jirovecii, and fifteen (53.6%) were mixed infections. These differences may be used as genotypic markers for studying the epidemiology and transmission of P. jirovecii in the Thai population.
Nebulized amphotericin B concentration and distribution in the respiratory tract of lungtransplanted patients

Background. A criticism of using nebulized amphotericin B (nAB) as prophylaxis against Aspergillus infection after lung transplantation is the lack of knowledge of its pharmacokinetics and distribution in the lung. The aim of this study was to ascertain the concentrations and distribution of nAB in the respiratory tract of patients receiving lung transplantations. Methods. In the drug-concentration study, 120 bronchoscopies were performed in 39 patients receiving lung transplantions after administration of 6 mg of nAB once daily for a minimum of 7 days. Mean nAB concentration in bronchial aspirated secretions (BAS) and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) was determined at 4, 12, 24, and 48 hours postnebulization. In the distribution study, 17 patients inhaled 6 mg of 99mtechnetium-labeled AB, and pulmonary distribution was measured using a gamma camera. Pulmonary perfusion was also measured. Both tests were quantitatively evaluated. Results. In the drug-concentration study, mean concentrations of 1.46 &mgr;g/mL in BAS and 15.75 &mgr;g/mL in BAL were reached at 4 hours. At 24 hours, concentrations were 0.37 &mgr;g/m and 11.02 &mgr;g/mL in BAS and BAL, respectively. In the distribution study, 99mtechnetium-labeled AB distribution was uniform in 12 of 13 allografts without bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) and in 1 of 4 allografts with BOS. A close correlation was observed between regional drug distribution and regional perfusion (r =0.82, P <0.01). Conclusions. nAB concentrations remained high for the first 24 hours in BAL and for less time in BAS, with distribution of the drug being uniform in patients without BOS. Furthermore, lung-perfusion studies appear to be useful to ascertain nAB distribution in patients receiving lung transplantions.
Permutation (d, k) codes: Efficient enumerative coding and phrase length distribution shaping

We introduce a new enumerative encoding method for (d,k) codes. The encoding algorithm, which is based on enumeration of multiset permutations, is conceptually simpler and computationally less expensive than other algorithms proposed thus far. We also describe a new application of enumerative encoding methods for phrase length distribution shaping of run-length-limited (RLL) sequences. We demonstrate that by reducing the probability of occurrence of long phrases in maxentropic RLL sequences, the frequency of patterns that account for most of the errors in magnetic recording systems can be decreased.
Human Detection and Activity Classification Based on Micro-Doppler Signatures Using Deep Convolutional Neural Networks

We propose the use of deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) for human detection and activity classification based on Doppler radar. Previously, proposed schemes for these problems remained in the conventional supervised learning paradigm that relies on the design of handcrafted features. Whereas these schemes attained high accuracy, the requirement for domain knowledge of each problem limits the scalability of the proposed schemes. In this letter, we present an alternative deep learning approach. We apply the DCNN, one of the most successful deep learning algorithms, directly to a raw micro-Doppler spectrogram for both human detection and activity classification problem. The DCNN can jointly learn the necessary features and classification boundaries using the measured data without employing any explicit features on the micro-Doppler signals. We show that the DCNN can achieve accuracy results of 97.6% for human detection and 90.9% for human activity classification.
Serum Level of Vitamin D and Autoantibodies Level in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ( SLE ) Patients

The involvement of vitamin D has been reported in immune response regulation, especially to inhibit B cell differentiation and activation. The objective of our study was to determine the association between serum vitamin D level with the concentration of anti-dsDNA, anti-Sm, IgG-IgM anti-cardiolipin and anti-vitamin D antibodies in SLE patients in Dr Saiful Anwar Hospital, Malang. Our subjects were fifty four female SLE (ACR 1992 revised criteria) out patients recruited from the Rheumato-Immunology Division, Dr Saiful Anwar Hospital, Malang, from January-June 2011. The mean age of the patients was 31.12 years (12-55 yo), duration of illness was 18,4 months (2-54 mo). ELISA method was used to assesessed serum vitamin D [25(OH)D3] level, anti-dsDNA, anti-Sm, IgG IgM ACA and anti-vitamin D antibodies. Correlation of serum vitamin D and autoantibodies level were analyzed using Pearson correlation test. Our study showed that 70.63 % of SLE patients had low vitamin D serum level ( < 30 ng/mL). We found the frequency of the positive antibodies as follow: anti-dsDNA in 70.30%, anti Sm in 35.55%, anti IgG ACA in 21.15%, anti IgM ACA in 25% and anti vitamin D in 64.81%. Serum level of 25(OH)D3 was negatively correlated to the level of anti-dsDNA and anti-vitamin D antibodies (r: 0.416, p: 0.032 and r:0.537, p: 0.041 respectively). There was no correlation between serum level of vitamin D with ACA and anti Sm antibodies. The low level of vitamin D in patients with SLE was related to anti-dsDNA and anti-vitamin D antibodies production . The low level of serum vitamin D in patients with SLE may be caused by the presence of anti vitamin D antibody.
Town hall eGovernment: a study of local government electronic service delivery

Australian municipal councils recognize the need to use the Internet to deliver information and services. The move to eGovernment has been prompted both by local government reform and pressure from controlling State governments. Only recently, however, have there been more significant moves towards local eGovernment. This research paper reports on the progress local governments in Victoria, have made towards electronic service delivery. The paper provides a background to types of electronic information and services provided by local government and the stages of electronic maturity. The research found that although the web sites of Victorian municipal councils provide far more information and services than they did two years ago there still is a heavy focus on governance issues.
Leishmania donovani complex: genotyping with the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer and the mini-exon

Intergenic region typing by restriction analysis of the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and mini-exon provide diagnostic markers for some Leishmania. Here, we evaluate restriction analysis of these targets for genotyping and phylogenetic analysis within the Leishmania donovani complex (agents of visceral leishmaniasis). Each method was useful for genotyping of both L. donovani complex strains and Old World Leishmania species. The targets produced less robust groups than gp63 intergenic regions, but support the need for re-evaluation of the taxonomy of the L. donovani complex.
Experience, Learning & Collaborative Returns in R&D Alliances

Focusing on the link between prior alliance experience and firm benefits from RD and (2) to diminish at high levels of experience. Results from a sample of 464 R&D alliances in the telecom equipment industry generally match these expectations. The positive benefits of prior experience in complex alliances suggests that a broader set of alliance management processes allows the firm to manage situations of ambiguity more readily. The lack of cumulative benefits from prior experience appears to be partly due to knowledge depreciating over time, since only recent experience has a positive impact on collaborative returns. Overall, these results provide empirical evidence of the effect of prior experience on collaborative benefits, both directly and conditional on alliance characteristics, and have implications for learning to manage organizations more generally.
The Relationship between Business Intelligence and Business Success: An Investigation in Firms in Sharjah Emirate

The aim of this study is to analyze the extent to which there is relationship between business intelligence and Business Success . Four dimensions of business intelligence as Environmental Intelligence (EI), Consumer Intelligence (CI), Market Intelligence (MI) and Organizational Intelligence (OI) are measured, using survey data from (49) managers of different firms in Sharjah Emirate, UAE, the ninth surveys were cancelled because they were incomplete. We used regression and correlation analysis to test the relationship between business intelligence and business success. The results indicate that there is a positive relationship between the business intelligence and business success. Managers are in general satisfied with the business intelligence system in their organization but they are mainly unsatisfied with marketing activities done by their marketing departments, study gives insight to important of business intelligence to a success of business and it implies that marketing intelligence is critical dimension in business intelligence. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE AR-SA /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:8.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:107%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
Epidemiological characteristics of cognitive impairment of multiple sclerosis patients in a Latin American country

We assessed cognitive performance and physical disability in 111 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and 222 healthy controls in a multicenter study in Argentina to obtain the prevalence of cognitive impairment (CI) in a population of MS outpatients in Argentina. MS patients presented significantly lower scores in all Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychology (BRB-N) tests than did the control group. The prevalence of CI was 43.2%. This study allowed us to obtain actual figures on the number of MS patients with CI in a Latin American sample. This validation is a very useful tool for clinical practice and for research studies to assess cognition in MS.
Role of prostaglandin E2 and indomethacin in the febrile response of pigeons.

Intravenous (i.v.) injection of 10 microg/kg Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS), applied at 13:00, evoked in pigeons a biphasic rise of core temperature (T(core)), so that LPS induced with a latency of 30 min first a decrease of T(core), and 90 min after LPS, T(core) increased, obtaining maximum values from 18:00 to 20:00. Prostaglandins have been considered to be importantly involved in fevers in mammals. To investigate an involvement of prostaglandins in the cyclic variations of T(core) in birds, pigeons were injected i.v. with either 10 mg/kg indomethacin (INDO) or 100 mg/kg aspirin, or they were treated with intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injections of 100 microg/kg INDO at various times before or after LPS. When INDO or aspirin was i.v. injected 30 or 15 min before LPS, it diminished the initial decrease of T(core) by more than 50%, whereas the i.v. injection of these drugs 2 and 4 h after LPS did not affect the febrile rise of T(core). i.c. v. injections of INDO given either before or after LPS neither influenced the initial drop of T(core) nor the following febrile hyperthermia. Both the i.v. injection of 1 mg/kg prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) and the i.c. v. injection of 1 microg/kg PGE(2) lowered T(core). Our observations suggest that prostaglandins are not involved in the febrile elevation of T(core) in pigeons, but appear to participate in the decrease of T(core), which shortly follows the i.v. injection of LPS. This initial drop of T(core) following LPS may be caused by a peripheral action of prostaglandins because it was not influenced by the i.c. v. injection of indomethacin.
The Relationship between Human Capital Efficiency and Financial Performance: An Empirical Investigation of Quoted Nigerian Banks

It has become a common phrase included in banks annual reports and accounts that; “Our employee are our greatest asset”, yet there have not been adequate attention given to the value and contribution of this “great asset” on the overall performance of the banks. Two hypotheses Human capital efficiency has no significant impact on the EPS of Nigerian banks and Human capital efficiency has no significant impact on the ROE of Nigerian banks were tested. The study found that efficient utilisation of human capital does not have any significant impact on the return of equity of banks. Also the size of a bank has no significant impact on it return on equity, while the return on equity of banks cannot be predicted by human capital efficiency and size of the banks. Keywords: Human capital, Human capital Efficiency, Earnings per share, Return on Equity, Value Added
Inside Russia's Imperial Relations: The Social Constitution of Putin-Kadyrov Patronage

This article analyzes how Moscow has extended its rule over Chechnia since the beginning of this century. Within the larger understanding of this rule as imperial in form, the current distinct contractual relationship between the Russian center and Chechnia is substantiated as one based on kinship. I argue that the Putin-Kadyrov relationship is a generic case of patronage but highlight the local imprint that such relations acquire by tracing how Chechen kinship practices inform this case.
The Role of Coping Appraisal in Reactions to Fear Appeals: Do We Need Threat Information?

Fear appeal theory postulates a multiplicative relationship between threat information and coping appraisal on fear control (e.g. avoid thinking about breast cancer to reduce feelings of fear) and danger control (e.g. motivation to perform monthly breast self-examination to detect breast cancer). That is, the effects of threat information on measures of both coping modes are moderated by beliefs about one’s ability to cope with the presented threat. However, in the present study no support for an interaction between threat information and coping appraisal was found on both coping modes. Instead threat information seems to contribute positively to fear control and not to danger control, whereas coping appraisal contributed positively to danger control and negatively to fear control. The results thus suggest that we might do without threatening information in persuading peopo adopt healthpromoting behaviours.
Evaluating the implicit guarantee to fannie mae and freddie mac using contingent claims

This paper uses contingent claims analysis to evaluate the implicit government guarantee to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac prior to their placement into conservatorship. The main findings of the paper indicate that the expected value of the guarantee was in line with the size of capital injections under the Treasury Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement and that the market expected the government to cover nearly all expected losses on senior debt. However, simulations reveal that the eventual total cost to recapitalize the GSEs may be significantly higher than provided for under the original terms of the conservatorship.
Relationship of three lysosomal enzymes to the Golgi zone and secretory activity in the rat pituitary and thyroid glands

A high activity of acid phosphatase (a characteristic lysosomal enzyme) de Duve, '59; Novikoff, '59) has been noted in many secreting cells, in particular in endocrine organs. Since acid phosphatase activity was found in the Golgi zone and surrounding cytoplasmic granules, and seemed to parallel hormone secretion in the pituitary and thyroid glands of the rat (Sobel, '61a, b) a role of the acid phosphatase containing cytoplasmic granules (lysosomes? ) in secretion was postulated. Because the enzyme appeared to be associated with the Golgi zone a relationship of this apparatus to the lysosome was implied. To investigate the assumed relationship of the Golgi apparatus and these acid phosphatase containing granules to lysosomes, and the relationship of other lysosomal enzymes to secretion, E 600 (pnitrophenyl phosphate) resistant esterase( s) and 8-glucuronidase activities were studied histochemically. Both enzymes are at least partly associated with lysosomes (de Duve, '59; Wachstein et al., '61; Goldfarb and Barka, '60).