Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Blood Transfusion: Knowledge, Perspectives, and Experience of Individuals With Sickle Cell Disease

Patient voice and perspective were needed to inform effective, comprehensive strategies for reducing preventable transfusion-associated complications. This report presents the results of interviews with sickle cell disease (SCD) patients and implications for strategies to reduce transfusion complications in this population. Twenty-two participants were recruited from 2 comprehensive SCD treatment centers in Georgia and interviewed regarding knowledge about transfusions and potential complications, attitudes about data storage and sharing, and the transfusion experience. Participants had general knowledge of physiology, blood products, and blood transfusions, including knowing the risk of complications, but varied in comprehension of complex health information and level of misinformation. Patients also varied in preferences for how they would like their transfusion information stored. They saw both advantages and disadvantages to wallet cards, smartphone applications, and registries. There is a need for a patient-centered approach that involves transfusion education and shared decision-making. Education should range from essential and simple to more in-depth to accommodate varying education and comprehension levels. Multiple tracking methods should be offered to store sensitive patient information.
Prevalence and molecular epidemiology of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing and carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae, acinetobacter baumannii and pseudomonas aeruginosa in Port Elizabeth

Multidrug resistant (MDR) extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing and carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria have become an international health issue limiting treatment options. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of carbapenem-susceptible (CS) and carbapenem-resistant (CR) Enterobacteriaceae, Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and investigate clinical isolates for their resistant genes/ determinants. A total of 98 bacterial isolates (59 CS and 39 CR) were collected between February 2012 and February 2013 at NHLS, after being recovered from various clinical specimens from PE hospital complex. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed using the VITEK 2® system, E-test and microbroth dilution method. PCR and DNA sequencing were used to investigate: (i) ESBLs: CTX-M, TEM, SHV and OXA-1; (ii) plasmidmediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) genes: qnrA, qnrB, qnrC, qnrD, qnrS, qepA and aac(6’)-lb-cr; (iii) Escherichia coli sequence type 131 (ST131); (iv) carbapenemases: NDM, VIM, IMP, KPC, BIC, SME, IMI, NMC-A, GES, OXA-23, OXA-24, OXA-48, OXA-51 and OXA-58; and (v) insertion sequence ISAba1 upstream blaOXA-23/-24/-51/-58 genes. Porin loss in CR isolates was determined by SDSPAGE while genetic relatedness between E. coli ST131 isolates was determined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). MDR ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae (mainly K. pneumoniae) and CR A. baumannii isolates were recovered from neonatal/ infant specimens. The majority of CS and CR isolates were MDR, possessing multiple ESBL genotypes (CTX-M, TEM, SHV and OXA-1). ESBL variants identified included: CTX-M-1, CTX-M-3, CTX-M-15, CTX-M-22, CTX-M-9, CTX-M-14, TEM-1, SHV-1, SHV-11 and OXA-1. PMQRs identified included: aac(6’)lb-cr, qnrB1, qnrB2, qnrB13 and qnrS1. Twelve of 21 (57.1%) E. coli isolates belonged to the ST131 clonal complex and were genetically diverse, mainly producing CTX-M-15. Carbapenem resistance mechanisms identified included: (i) OXA-23 preceded by ISAba1 in 10 A. baumannii and 2 P. aeruginosa isolates; (ii) IMI-2 carbapenemase in an E. asburiae isolate; and (iii) combination of porin loss and ESBL production in 1 K. pneumoniae and 1 E. coli isolate. This is the first report in South Africa describing the occurrence of CTX-M-9, CTX-M-22 and IMI-2 among Enterobacteriaceae; CTX-M-15 in A. baumannii; and OXA-23 in combination with OXA-51 in P. aeruginosa. However, resistance determinants could not be detected for 24 carbapenem-resistant isolates which requires further investigation.
The Role of Children in SARS-CoV-2 Transmission

Contact tracing studies reported that children younger than 10 years of age are less likely to test positive for SARS-CoV-2. These studies can underestimate the infection rate in children if infected children are more likely to be asymptomatic than infected adults. In a retrospective analysis of outbreak investigations in Ontario, young children were three times more likely to be asymptomatic after SARS-CoV-2 infection than older individuals.
Abstentions and Social Networks in Congress

We study the extent to which personal connections among legislators influence abstentions in the US Congress. Our analysis is conducted by observing representatives’ abstentions for the universe of roll call votes held on bills in the 109th–113th Congresses. Our results show that a legislator’s propensity to abstain increases when the majority of his or her alumni connections abstains, even after controlling for other well-known predictors of abstention choices and a large set of fixed effects. We further reveal that a legislator is more prone to abstain than to take sides when the demands from personal connections conflict with those of the legislator’s party.
Biochemical Clinical and Pathological Profile of Pancreatic Head Carcinoma in North Africa

Objective: A statistical clinical assessment of the effects of bilirubin and others hem catalyze biochemical parameters over the main signaling pathways involved in pancreatic head cancer to determine their carcinogenic impact using a molecular approach. Material and Methods: Patients’ data were collected at surgery department Sidi bel Abbes University Hospital (North Africa) patients were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer between 2013 and 2016. The data inclusion criteria were: Age, gender, medical history, surgical history, the year of diagnosis, as well as biological records such as: bilirubin, fibrinogen, creatinine and urea rates. Results: 44 patients with pancreatic cancer were included in our study (sex ratio=1.75). The mean age was 67.61 years. The most recorded medical history was diabetes with a rate of 43.2%, concerning surgical histories, 27.3% patients underwent a cholecystectomy. M1 was the most common diagnosis stage (27%). 81.81% of patients had hyperbilirubinemia, 6.81% had a normal bilirubinemia, 25% had high level of fibrinogen, 3.6% had a normal level. 77.3% had normal ureanemia, 18.2% had hyper-ureanemia and 15.9% had hypocreatininemia, 68.2% had normal level, 13.6% had hypercreatininemia. We matched patients’ groups with bilirubin level using Spearman’s correlation test and found a significant P value (P=0.015). We calculated the correlation between bilirubinemia and the stage of diagnosis, using the one-way ANOVA test and we found a significant P value (P=0.013). Conclusion: Our results represent an interesting shortcut to synthetize specific biochemical antibodies for bio-marking and diagnosis use, or even to lower serum level to reduce cancer aggressiveness.
Asymptomatic Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Carriers: Are They Infectious?

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is highly contagious in symptomatic patients as it is thought to be transmitted through respiratory droplets. However, it is debatable whether asymptomatic COVID-19 patients are contagious due to lack of data. From 1st March to 15th April 2020, a total of 247 COVID-19 cases were admitted to Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital and 1010 close contacts were identified. We studied the epidemiological and clinical outcomes in asymptomatic subjects, as well as estimated the metrics of disease transmission between asymptomatic, symptomatic, and pneumonia subjects. From a total of 125 asymptomatic subjects, majority (n=116, 92.8%) remained asymptomatic upon discharge. Only 9 (7.2%) subjects developed mild symptoms after admission. Seven subjects had abnormal chest radiograph suggestive of pneumonia, and 22 subjects (17.6%) were found to have mild liver impairment. None of the asymptomatic subjects required oxygen support, inotropic support or ICU care during admission. Fifteen second generation COVID-19 cases were found transmitted from the asymptomatic group, with an attack rate of 3.9%, which was statistically significantly lower compared to the symptomatic (7.6%) or pneumonia groups (25.7%, p<0.001). In conclusion, asymptomatic COVID-19 patients show excellent clinical outcome. They are infectious but had a lower transmission risk compared with symptomatic or pneumonia patients.
Broadband Internet and Household Welfare in Senegal

Senegal has experienced a rapid expansion in fixed and mobile broadband internet infrastructure over the past decade. This paper examines the relationship between access to broadband internet and household welfare between 2011 and 2018 by integrating the latest two rounds of household budget surveys with data on the location of fiber-optic transmission nodes and coverage maps of 3G mobile technology. The results show that 3G coverage is associated with a 14 percent increase in total consumption and a 10 percent decline in extreme poverty. These results are robust to controlling for household demographics and other spatial characteristics, such as region fixed effects, road density, nighttime lights, and elevation above sea level, as well as for access to complementary digital infrastructure, such as 2G coverage or fixed broadband internet. The findings are also robust to an instrumental variable approach that relies on distance to 3G coverage in neighboring areas. These effects are larger among households in urban areas and households headed by men or younger cohorts. Although they are in the same direction, the welfare effects of proximity to fixed broadband infrastructure are not statistically significant.
Space and time‐resolved monitoring of phosphorus release from a fertilizer pellet and its mobility in soil using microdialysis and X‐ray computed tomography

Abstract Phosphorus is an essential nutrient for crops. Precise spatiotemporal application of P fertilizer can improve plant P acquisition and reduce run‐off losses of P. Optimizing application would benefit from understanding the dynamics of P release from a fertilizer pellet into bulk soil, which requires space‐ and time‐resolved measurements of P concentration in soil solutions. In this study, we combined microdialysis and X‐ray computed tomography to investigate P transport in soil. Microdialysis probes enabled repeated solute sampling from one location with minimal physical disturbance, and their small dimensions permitted spatially resolved monitoring. We observed a rapid initial release of P from the source, producing high dissolved P concentrations within the first 24 h, followed by a decrease in dissolved P over time compatible with adsorption onto soil particles. Soils with greater bulk density (i.e., reduced soil porosity) impeded the P pulse movement, which resulted in a less homogeneous distribution of total P in the soil column at the end of the experiment. The model fit to the data showed that the observed phenomena can be explained by diffusion and adsorption. The results showed that compared with conventional measurement techniques (e.g., suction cups), microdialysis measurements present a less invasive alternative. The time‐resolved measurements ultimately highlighted rapid P dynamics that require more attention for improving P use efficiency.
Derivation of Indicators for Value Assessment of School Gardens

Background and objective: The boom in urban agriculture has also resulted in the creation of many school gardens. With the increase in various hands-on education programs, people are interested in assessing the value of school gardens. This study was conducted to derive indicators for service value assessement of educational farming experience using school gardens. Methods: Through literature review, we selected assessment items and sub-factors. The indicators for evaluating the effectiveness of school gardens are classified using the Delphi method that involve a focus group experts. In order to increase the reliability and validity of the selected and classified items, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted. In addition, the relative importance and priority of each factor in each field were assessed using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). Results: We classified the indicators into 4 criteria and come up with 13 items and 33 sub-factors in educational value, health value, economic value, and ecological and environmental value. Most of the items for the 4 value criteria derived were significant for assessing the value of agricultural experience services with content validity ratio (CVR) higher than 0.59 and reliability higher than . 6 . In the value criteria, the experts rated educational value as the most important, followed by health value, ecological and environmental value, and economic value. In the assessment items, the most important was improvement of social functions. In the sub-factors, the most important was strengthening of ties (friendly interactions). Conclusion: Among the derived indicators assessing the value of school gardens, 4 criteria, 12 evaluation items and 29 sub-factors showed significance. The schematic index would be useful for the assessment.
Analyst Following, Disclosure Quality, and Discretionary Impairments: Evidence from China

Financial statement preparers’ discretion in fair value measurements is integral to asset impairment accounting. Firms may misuse this discretion to report more or less impairment loss than is warranted by underlying economic circumstances. Using data from a sample of publicly listed firms in China, this study finds that analyst following reduces abnormal impairment loss, the portion of reported impairment loss that cannot be explained by corporate economic circumstances and that this effect is more pronounced for firms with lower information disclosure quality. However, the reducing effects of analyst following and its interaction with disclosure quality are greater for income‐decreasing than for income‐increasing abnormal impairment loss. Additional analyses support the argument that these differences are attributable to the dominance of accounting’s contracting role over its informational role. Overall, the findings indicate that the influence of analyst following on discretionary impairment accounting decisions is moderated by disclosure quality and by the relative importance of accounting’s contracting and informational roles in an emerging market setting.
The effect of servant leadership on employee turnover in SMEs in Nigeria: the role of career growth potential and employee voice

PurposeEmployee turnover has been established as a major cause of the abysmal performance of SMEs in Nigeria. Hence, the study explored the role of servant leadership and the work climate created by the leader in the reduction of employee turnover in SMEs.Design/methodology/approachThe study involved 1,000 participants drawn from 200 SMEs in the city of Lagos. Cross-sectional data was acquired through questionnaire designed in such a way as to minimise common method variance.FindingsResults indicate that servant leadership reduced employee turnover, and that employee voice and the career growth dimensions partially mediated this relationship. The study variables explained 59% of the variance in employee turnover.Practical implicationsThe paper highlights that SMEs leaders who adopt servant leadership behaviour can reduce employee turnover directly and through the positive work environment they create. SMEs leaders must not only be servant leaders but must ensure that the entire organisation is managed by servant leaders. They achieve this through recruitment and promotion process.Originality/valuePast studies in Nigeria were in the area of government intervention and the effects of turnover on the productivity of SMEs. This appears to be the only paper that studied the effects of leadership on employee turnover in SMEs in Nigeria. This study advances research by studying the effect of servant leadership and the work environment created by leaders on employee turnover. Thus, the study advances past studies by suggesting possible ways to reduce employee turnover and enhancing the needed productivity of SMEs in Nigeria.
Awareness, Policy, Privacy, and More: Post-Secondary Students Voice Their Solutions to Cyberbullying

This paper discusses solutions to cyberbullying posed by post-secondary students from four Canadian universities. The qualitative data used in this analysis were drawn from one open-ended question on an online student survey completed by 1458 undergraduate students, as well as 10 focus group transcripts involving a total of 36 students. Seven key themes emerged: awareness and education; policy; protecting one’s privacy; technology-based solutions; empowering better choices and responses; university culture; and disciplinary measures. The findings show that post-secondary institutions need to make preventing and curtailing cyberbullying more of a priority within their campus communities, including engaging in responsive consultation with key stakeholder groups, such as students, to develop meaningful solutions.
The Role of Protein S-glutathionylation on Ca2+ Signaling in Cultured Aortic Endothelial Cells

By JEFFREY THOMAS LOCK In non-excitable cells, oxidative stress impacts both basal and agonist-mediated changes in cytosolic free Ca concentration ([Ca]i). An increase in protein Sglutathionylation is a common response to oxidative stress; however, the role of glutathionylation in Ca homeostasis and Ca signaling processes is not well understood. Diamide, a membrane-permeable oxidizing reagent, rapidly and reversibly converts glutathione (GSH) to its disulfide (GSSG), and promotes glutathionylation. In the present Dissertation, the acute effect of diamide on the [Ca]i of cultured aortic endothelial cells (ECs) was examined at the single-cell level using the fluorescent Ca indicator, fura-2 and time-lapse video microscopy. Low concentrations (50, 100 μM) of diamide reversibly increased spontaneous Ca oscillations, whereas high concentrations (250, 500 μM) of diamide caused an immediate, synchronized Ca oscillation in essentially all cells examined followed by a time-dependent rise in basal [Ca]i. Most strikingly, diamide evoked a dose-dependent increase in single-cell Ca oscillations in both the presence and absence of extracellular Ca. Oscillations in [Ca]i were due to inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) receptor (IP3R) activation, since they were attenuated by pharmacological inhibition of either phospholipase C or IP3Rs themselves. However,
Isolation and Identification of Local Bactria Produced from Soil-Borne Urease

The hydrolysis of urea by the enzyme urease is significant for increasing the irroles in human pathogenicity, biocementation, soil fertilizer, and subsequently in soil improvement. This study devoted to the isolation of urease from urea-rich soil samples collected from seven different locations. Isolation of the various bacterial species was conducted using nutrient agar. The identity of isolated urease was based on morphological characteristics and standard microbiological and biochemical procedures. The urease producing strains of bacteria were obtained using the urease hydrolysis test. The bacterial isolates produced from soil samples collected from different environments and treated by different morphological processes helped in precipitation of large calcium carbonate (CaCO3) crystal aggregates precipitated within bacterial colonies grown on agar. The different microbial species and functional attributes produced striking differences in the morphology of precipitated crystals. The phylogenetic sequencing of 16S ribosomal RNA genes produced several isolates that are mostly related to the Bacillus group. One strain of promising results was selected and the environmental and nutritional conditions were characterized. The growth curve of the selected strain with an optimized condition was investigated.
How engaging leaders foster employees' work engagement

PurposeThe current study investigates the mediating role of job resources (JRs) (i.e. person-–ob fit, value congruence, alignment, job control, use of skills, participation in decision-making, coworker support and performance feedback) and basic psychological need satisfaction at work (i.e. autonomy, relatedness, competence and meaningfulness) in the relationship between engaging leadership (EL) (i.e. inspiring, strengthening, empowering and connecting) and work engagement.Design/methodology/approachStructural equation analysis was used to test the mediation hypotheses, using a two-wave longitudinal design and an Indonesian sample of 412 employees from an agribusiness state-owned company.FindingsThe results show that EL at baseline 2017 (T1) predicts T1–T2 increase in work engagement (WE) directly, as well as indirectly through T1 JRs, and T1–T2 increase in basic psychological need satisfaction.Originality/valueThis research extends the job demands-resources (JD-R) model by showing the important role of ELfor fostering WE through increasing JRs and satisfying basic psychological needs at work.
Trade and Geography

This paper reviews recent research on geography and trade. One of the key empirical findings over the last decade has been the role of geography in shaping the distributional consequences of trade. One of the major theoretical advances has been the development of quantitative spatial models that incorporate both exogenous first-nature geography (natural endowments) and endogenous second-nature geography (the location choices of economic agents relative to one another) as determinants of the distribution of economic activity across space. These models are sufficiently rich to capture first-order features of the data, such as gravity equations for flows of goods and people. Yet they remain sufficiently tractable as to permit an analytical characterization of the properties of the general equilibrium and facilitate counterfactuals for realistic policy interventions. We distinguish between models of regions or systems of cities (where goods trade and migration take center stage) and models of the internal structure of cities (where commuting becomes relevant). We review some of key empirical predictions of both sets of theories and show that they have been remarkably successful in rationalizing the empirical findings from reduced-form research. Looking ahead, the combination of recent theoretical advances and novel geo-coded data on economic interactions at a fine spatial scale promises many interesting avenues for further research, including discriminating between alternative mechanisms for agglomeration, understanding the implications of new technologies for the organization of work, and assessing the causes, consequences and potential policy implications of spatial sorting.
Assessment of the Abundance of Airborne Fungi in Cattle Barn of Dairy Farm

The presented research aimed at determination of the species composition and the concentration of colony forming units (CFU) in two types of cattle barns for dairy cows and in a calf barn. The study was carried out in winter and in summer 2012. The measurements took place in free stall and tie stall barn and, additionally, in a calf barn. The mycological analysis of the air was conducted using impact method, with Air Ideal 3P apparatus. Spores of 45 species of fungi were found in cattle barn air, among them 36 species were collected in winter and 30 – in summer. The fungal population was characterized by considerable variation across the seasons of the year and between the bar types. The species most abundant irresepectively of the season was Cladosporium herbarum. Winter conditions favored Penicillium nigricans whereas summer season was conducive to development of Rhodotorula glutinis. The concentration of fungal spores determined in the study had not been a direct hazard to barn workers or animals.