Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EDUCATIONAL EQUITY FOR MALAYSIAN URBAN POOR MUSLIM STUDENTS

This study aims at determining the contribution of zakat in improving educational equity of Muslim urban poor students in Malaysia. This research was carried out based on quantitative methodology using a survey questionnaire on a sample of 462 urban poor students. The students were recipients of full assistance from zakat institutions in the cities of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and state of Selangor. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics of Spearman correlations and Kruskal-Wallis H test. Based on analysis, respondents were highly agreed that zakat funds had contributed to the input, process and output of their education. A moderately strong correlation was found between input from zakat and the education output of the poor students (r = 0.598, p < 0.05) similar with the correlation between education process provided by zakat and the education output of the poor students (r = 0.604, p < 0.05). There was no significant difference in education output of the poor students for five categories of family members’ highest level of education [χ2(4, N = 462) = 5.412, p = 0.05]. The study highlighted the contribution of zakat in improving educational equity among Muslim urban poor students. It is also emphasized the role of zakat institutions in assisting the government in implementing education policy and providing better opportunity for education of urban poor students
The effects of a fluctuating Fio2 on metabolic measurements in mechanically ventilated patients

The determination of minute oxygen consumption (Vo2) for metabolic studies on patients using either the Beckman Metabolic Cart (MMC) or the Respiratory Monitoring System (RMS) requires a stable fractional inspired oxygen concentration (Fio2). Measurement of Vo2 on mechanically ventilated patients using the Bourns BEAR 1 and the Engstrom 311 and 312 was unsuccessful due to Fio2 variations greater than the acceptable limits. The inspiratory and expiratory O2 and CO2 waveforms were studied using various methods of supplying source gas to the ventilators. A method using an external air/oxygen blender was found that provided a stable Fio2 for metabolic measurements for each of the ventilators tested.
Acute plant poisoning: Analysis of clinical features and circumstances of exposure

Introduction. Human contact with potentially toxic plants, which may occur through abuse or by accident or attempted suicide, is frequent and sometimes results in clinically significant toxicity. Objective. The aim of the present study was to identify which plants may lead to severe poisoning, and to define the clinical relevance of plant toxicity for humans in Switzerland. Methods. We analyzed 42 193 cases of human plant exposure and 255 acute moderate, severe, and lethal poisonings, which were reported to the Swiss Toxicological Information Centre between January 1995 and December 2009. Results. Plant contact was rarely responsible for serious poisonings. Lethal intoxications were extremely rare and were caused by plants with cardiotoxic (Taxus baccata) or mitosis-inhibiting (Colchicum autumnale) properties. Conclusions. Most often, plant contact was accidental and patients remained asymptomatic or developed mild symptoms, which fully resolved within a short time.
Persistent Income Gaps in an Occupational Choice Model with Multi‐Goods

In this study, we propose a theory to explain why income gaps persist. We model a simple overlapping‐generations economy with three consumption goods and two types of workers. We find that high‐skilled workers have comparative advantage in skill‐intensive jobs and low‐skilled workers in less skill‐intensive jobs. This pattern of comparative advantage determines occupational choices by workers. Combined with human capital accumulation, the occupational choices widen income gaps between families. At the same time, the relative price of skill‐intensive goods declines owing to productivity improvement. The decline holds back income gaps from exploding. The implications of skill‐biased technological change are also examined.
Comparison of interlaboratory variation in absolute T‐cell counts by single‐platform and optimized dual‐platform methods

Previous studies have reported that the adoption of a single‐platform flow cytometry cell counting method resulted in lower interlaboratory variation in absolute T cell counts as compared to predicate dual‐platform flow cytometry methods which incorporate independent automated lymphocyte counts (Schnizlein‐Bick et al., Clin Diagn Lab Immunol 2000;7:336–343; Reimann et al., Clin Diagn Lab Immunol 2000;7:344–351). In the present study, we asked whether use of a single‐platform method could reduce variation in absolute cell counts across the laboratories in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) (n = 4), as suggested by the studies cited.
Highly Epileptiform Bursts Are Associated With Seizure Recurrence

Purpose: Pharmacologic sedation is often used to induce burst suppression in cases of refractory status epilepticus, but there is little evidence to guide the weaning of sedation. Similarly, the morphologic feature of bursts is of unknown clinical relevance. Recently, the standardized American Clinical Neurophysiology Society terminology of critical care EEG introduced the term highly epileptiform bursts (HEBs). Knowing the association of HEBs with seizure may direct the therapy for refractory status epilepticus. Methods: Consecutive adult patients classified as having burst suppression were identified in our EEG database. Those of an anoxic etiology were excluded. Available EEG records were reviewed, both visually and quantitatively, for the presence of burst suppression. Using the American Clinical Neurophysiology Society terminology, burst suppression was dichotomized into HEBs or nonepileptiform bursts. Periods of transition out of burst suppression were identified, and whether burst suppression was followed by seizure or a continuous slow EEG within 24 hours was determined. Results: Twenty-four patients were identified with a burst suppression pattern followed by either seizure or a continuous slow EEG within 24 hours, with some patients having multiple (maximal 5) transitions out of burst suppression, for a total of 33 examples of burst suppression. HEBs were associated with subsequent seizure (P = 0.0001), independent of medication exposure. Conclusions: Whether or not HEBs are indeed predictive of recurrent seizure or may be used to direct the therapy for status epilepticus, specifically the weaning of anesthetic medications, requires further prospective study in a larger cohort of patients.
Breakdown Characteristics of Liquid Nitrogen in Strongly Inhomogeneous Electric Fields

Resistive superconducting fault current limiters (R-SCFCLs) based on second-generation superconducting tapes (2G tapes) are successfully used in the medium-voltage level. To develop R-SCFCLs for the high-voltage application exceeding 100 kV, it is necessary to know the dielectric properties of liquid nitrogen more in detail, particularly if sharp edges, occurring for example at 2G tapes or at connection conductors, cannot be avoided. Consequently, in this work, the breakdown characteristics of strongly inhomogeneous electrode systems in liquid nitrogen were investigated. An electrode configuration of a plane electrode and a needle electrode with a tip radius r of approximately 0.1 mm and sphere electrodes with radii r from 1 to 3 mm were used. The distance d between the electrodes was adjusted in the range of up to 15 mm. The electrode configuration was immersed in liquid nitrogen within an open isolated vessel, and the ac breakdown voltage was measured in dependence on the rounding radius r of the high-voltage electrode and the electrode distance d. For each combination of r and d, the mean breakdown voltage was calculated from 15 single measurements. The measuring results using sphere electrodes reveal that the mean breakdown voltage VBD approximately follows the empirical law VBD = c · db with b = 0.46. For the needle electrode with a radius of roughly 0.1 mm, the mean breakdown voltages are remarkably smaller and increase with distance d only with an exponent b = 0.28.
Geoclimatic influences on invasive aspergillosis after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

BACKGROUND Aspergillus species are ubiquitous. We hypothesized that climatic variables that affect airborne mold counts affect the incidence of invasive aspergillosis (IA). METHODS Patients who received hematopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCTs) in geographically and climatically diverse regions (Seattle, WA, and Houston, TX) were examined. Cumulative incidence function, Kaplan-Meier analysis, and Cox proportional hazards regression were performed to examine the association between IA and season. Poisson regression analysis was performed to evaluate the seasonal patterns in IA rates and association with spore counts and climate. RESULTS In Seattle, the 3-month incidence of IA was 4.6% (5.7% in allograft recipients and 0.8% in autograft recipients). During the 10-year study period, there was a decrease in the incidence of IA among allogeneic HSCT recipients, corresponding to decreased risks during the nonsummer months; receipt of HSCTs during the summer months was associated with an increased hazard for IA (hazard ratio, 1.87; 95% confidence interval, 1.25-2.81) after adjustment for other known risks. The person-month IA rate in Seattle was positively associated with environmental spore counts, which increased with high temperature and low precipitation. No seasonal effect on IA was observed in Houston, where total spore counts were lower and not variable by climate. CONCLUSIONS Climatic variables differentially affect airborne spore counts and IA risk in geographically disparate centers.
Mood-congruent bias in affective go/no-go performance of unmedicated patients with major depressive disorder.

OBJECTIVE Neuropsychological studies of major depressive disorder have described attentional biases for affectively laden stimuli, but these reports were based on measures obtained from medicated subjects. This study investigated performance of unmedicated depressed patients on the Affective Go/No-Go Task. METHOD Twenty depressed patients and 20 healthy comparison subjects, matched for age, gender, and IQ, performed the Affective Go/No-Go Task as well as tests of attention and memory for nonaffective stimuli. RESULTS Depressed patients did not differ from healthy subjects on memory task performance, but they made more omission errors on the attention task. On the Affective Go/No-Go Task, depressed patients made more omission errors during happy than sad word blocks and required more time to respond to happy than to sad words. In contrast, healthy subjects required more time to respond to sad than to happy words. CONCLUSIONS Unmedicated depressed patients do not show a pattern of generalized cognitive impairment but, rather, specifically display an attentional deficit and a mood-congruent bias toward salient stimuli.
Leadership Practices of Council Secretaries in Turbulent Times; A Case Study

There is an increased interest among scientists and practitioners in leadership in complex and adaptive systems (adaptive leadership). Here we present qualitative research into the leadership styles and functions of a small sample of council secretaries in the Netherlands. The results from in-depth interviews show that in practice the formal and bureaucratic leadership functions are still dominant, leaving little room for adaptive and enabling leadership. This paper explores the extent to which the public and political circumstances influence the execution of these leadership functions. The main conclusion of our research is that leadership theory and practice diverge greatly.
Brain White Matter Involvement in Hereditary Spastic Paraplegias: Analysis with Multiple Diffusion Tensor Indices

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The hereditary spastic paraplegias are a group of genetically heterogeneous neurodegenerative disorders, characterized by progressive spasticity and weakness of the lower limbs. Although conventional brain MR imaging findings are normal in patients with pure hereditary spastic paraplegia, microstructural alteration in the cerebral WM can be revealed with DTI. Concomitant investigation of multiple intrinsic diffusivities may shed light on the neurobiologic substrate of the WM degeneration pattern in patients with pure hereditary spastic paraplegia across the whole brain. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Tract-based spatial statistics analysis was performed to compare fractional anisotropy and mean, axial, and radial diffusivities of the WM skeleton in a group of 12 patients with pure hereditary spastic paraplegia and 12 healthy volunteers. Data were analyzed counting age and sex as nuisance covariates. The threshold-free cluster-enhancement option was applied, and the family-wise error rate was controlled by using permutation tests for nonparametric statistics. RESULTS: In pure hereditary spastic paraplegia, group widespread fractional anisotropy decreases and radial diffusivity and mean diffusivity increases (P < .05, corrected) were found. No voxelwise difference was observed for the axial diffusivity map. Percentage of voxels within the WM skeleton that passed the significance threshold were 51%, 41.6%, and 11.9%, respectively, for radial diffusivity, fractional anisotropy, and mean diffusivity clusters. An anteroposterior pattern with preferential decrease of fractional anisotropy in the frontal circuitry was detected. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with pure hereditary spastic paraplegia, alterations in multiple DTI indices were found. Radial diffusivity seems more sensitive to hereditary spastic paraplegia–related WM pathology and, in line with the lack of axial diffusivity changes, might indicate a widespread loss of myelin integrity. A decrease of fractional anisotropy alone in the frontal circuitry may reflect subtle disruption of the frontal connections.
Complementing Open Innovation in Multi‐Business Firms: Practices for Promoting Knowledge Flows Across Internal Units

Over the past decades open innovation (OI) practices have gained prominence among both scholars and practitioners as a mean to accelerate time&#8208;to&#8208;market and reduce development costs of innovations. Thereby scholars have nearly exclusively focused on cross&#8208;boundary knowledge flows between the focal firm and (its) external collaborators. This paper argues that such a focus limits our understanding of how multi&#8208;business firms with a diverse knowledge base profit from internally applied open innovation practices that in turn provide complementary benefits to OI. We build on the current literature by investigating and describing OI activities that are conducted within the boundaries of the multi&#8208;business firm. Based on a multiple case study of 23 collaboration practices conducted across 14 firms, our findings reveal 5 archetypal forms of internally applied open innovation activities. We draw on the literature of cross&#8208;divisional innovation and crowdsourcing to highlight how these archetypes differ in terms of their purpose and underlying managerial processes. Multi&#8208;business firms regularly rely on internal practices due to lower transaction costs and for stimulating a collaborative culture. We conclude that internally applied OI practices are effectively stimulated by a combination of non&#8208;monetary reward systems and purposive integration mechanisms.
Cybercrime and cloud computing. A game theoretic network model

In this paper, a network model is developed in which three playersâ€”a profitâ€ maximizing provider of cloud computing services, its consumers, and a hackerâ€”sequentially choose their strategies. Several scenarios with different levels of data security and public prosecution of the hacker are analyzed. Especially for the case when no security measurements are available, a firm's strategy to limit the network size in order to render hacking unattractive is discussed in detail. Finally, policy implications are given implying better international cooperation of the law enforcement authorities.
What Australians Know and Believe About Bird Flu: Results of a Population Telephone Survey

The avian influenza A (A/H5N1) virus has attracted the attention of governments and health organizations throughout the world because of its pandemic potential. Despite the emerging nature of A/H5N1, there is limited research on public knowledge and perceptions of this disease. This study is based on a computer-assisted telephone interviewing survey conducted in May 2006 to determine the Australian public's knowledge of A/H5N1, their willingness to engage in preventive behaviors, and their acceptance of potential messages for communication campaigns. Awareness and concern about bird flu is low (lower than a recent survey of U.S. residents). There appears to be widespread support for bird flu control measures initiated by the federal government, although less agreement regarding personal protective behaviors. Our study and those examining the severe acute respiratory syndrome epidemic suggest that governments, including the Australian government, will encounter a number of significant communication challenges in the event of a bird flu outbreak.
Tariffs and the Composition of Employment: Evidence from the Canada–US Free Trade Agreement

Abstract:L’auteur analyse l’incidence de l’Accord de libre-échange entre le Canada et les États-Unis (ALECEU) sur la composition de l’emploi au niveau des marchés du travail locaux au Canada. Il établit des indicateurs de la variation des tarifs douaniers au niveau des marchés du travail locaux tant pour les exportations que pour les importations, en exploitant les différences régionales dans la composition industrielle antérieure à l’ALECEU afin de déterminer dans quelle mesure l’ALECEU a touché les localités du Canada. L’auteur constate que les divisions de recensement ayant connu des réductions plus importantes des tarifs douaniers canadiens sur les importations américaines affichent des taux plus élevés de travail indépendant. Les divisions de recensement ayant connu des réductions plus importantes des tarifs douaniers américains sur les produits canadiens affichent parallèlement des taux plus faibles de travail indépendant. Ces répercussions sur le travail indépendant s’atténuent dans les divisions de recensement présentant des proportions initiales plus élevées de personnes instruites, d’immigrants et de travailleuses. L’auteur ne relève aucune donnée qui démontrerait que les réductions de tarifs de l’ALECEU ont eu une incidence sur le travail à temps partiel. Les constatations de l’auteur témoignent du fait que l’ouverture accrue des échanges entre deux pays développés peut avoir une incidence sur la prévalence du travail indépendant. Abstract:I analyze the effect of the Canada–US Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA) on the composition of employment at the local labour market level in Canada. I construct local labour-market-level changes in tariffs for both exports and imports, exploiting regional differences in pre-CUSFTA industrial composition to obtain variation in the degree to which CUSFTA affected localities across Canada. I find that Census Divisions (CDs) that experienced larger Canadian tariff cuts against US imports experienced higher rates of self-employment. CDs with larger American tariff cuts against Canadian goods correspondingly experienced lower rates of self-employment. These self-employment effects are dampened in CDs with higher initial shares of educated people, immigrants, and female workers. I do not find any evidence that part-time employment is affected by CUSFTA tariff cuts. The findings in this article provide evidence that increasing trade openness between two developed countries can affect the prevalence of self-employment.
Geographic information systems, spatial network analysis, and contraceptive choice

How does family planning accessibility affect contraceptive choice? In this paper we use techniques of spatial analysis to develop measures of family planning accessibility, and evaluate the effects of these geographically derived measures in a multilevel statistical model of temporary method choice in Nang Rong, Thailand. In our analyses we combine spatial data obtained from maps and Global Positioning System (GPS) readings with sociodemographic data from surveys and administrative records. The new measures reveal (1) important travel time effects even when family planning outlets are close by; (2) independent effects of road composition; (3) the relevance of alternative sources of family planning supply; and (4) the importance of the local history of program placement.
Methodological Considerations When Studying the Association between Patient-Reported Care Experiences and Mortality.

OBJECTIVE To illustrate methodological considerations when assessing the relationship between patient care experiences and mortality. DATA SOURCE Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data (2000-2005) linked to National Health Interview Survey and National Death Index mortality data through December 31, 2006. STUDY DESIGN We estimated Cox proportional hazards models with mortality as the dependent variable and patient experience measures as independent variables and assessed consistency of experiences over time. DATA EXTRACTION METHODS We used data from respondents age 18 or older with at least one doctor's office or clinic visit during the year prior to the round 2 interview. We excluded subjects who died in the baseline year. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS The association between overall care experiences and mortality was significant for deaths not amenable to medical care and all-cause mortality, but not for amenable deaths. More than half of respondents were in a different care experience quartile over a 1-year period. In the five individual experience questions we analyzed, only time spent with the patient was significantly associated with mortality. CONCLUSIONS Deaths not amenable to medical care and the time-varying and multifaceted nature of patient care experience are important issues to consider when assessing the relationship between care experience and mortality.
Novel transgenic rat for in vivo genotoxicity assays using 6‐thioguanine and Spi− selection

Transgenic rodents are valuable models for investigating the genotoxicity of chemicals in vivo. Here, we report the establishment of a novel transgenic rat for genotoxicity analysis. In this model, about 10 copies of λEG10 DNA carrying the gpt gene of E. coli and the red/gam genes of λ phage are integrated per haploid genome of Sprague‐Dawley rats at position 4q24‐q31. After recovery of λEG10 phage, point mutations in the gpt gene and deletions in the red/gam genes are identified by 6‐thioguanine and Spi− selection, respectively. To examine the suitability of these rats for performing in vivo mutagenicity assays, rats were treated with single intraperitoneal injections of ethylnitrosourea (ENU; 100 mg/kg) or benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P; 62.5 and 125 mg/kg), and the mutant frequencies (MFs) in the liver were determined 7 days after the treatment. ENU enhanced the gpt MF about 7‐fold over the control while it did not significantly increase the Spi− MF. B[a]P increased both the gpt and Spi− MFs several‐fold in a dose‐dependent manner. To examine the kinetics of MF, ENU was administered (50 mg/kg/day for 5 successive days) and gpt MFs in the liver were determined 7, 21, 35, and 70 days after the last injection. The MF increased to 8‐fold and 13‐fold over the control at 7 and 35 days, respectively, after the last injection and then slightly declined at 70 days. These kinetics are similar to those reported for ENU‐treated lacZ transgenic mice. This novel transgenic rat could be useful for investigating species differences between rats and mice in their response to genotoxic agents. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 41:253–259, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.