Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Factors affecting inter-organisational coordination: a case of policy implementation in rural Bangladesh

ABSTRACT This article explores factors affecting coordination among actors involved in policy implementation at the upazila level in Bangladesh. Based on qualitative studies in 2009 and 2016, it suggests that inter-organisational coordination has been problematic at the upazila level due to the lack of use of both formal and informal procedures of coordination. Delayed execution, lack of quality, and wastage of resources are significant symptoms of when coordination of policy implementation is lacking among implementing actors. The article argues that formal procedures are required in combination with informal procedures to ensure better coordination.
Calculation of Optical Flow Using Color Models to Improve the Accuracy of the Identification of Objects in Motion

Currently, many applications require following objects through a sequence of images. Typically, the motion is estimated by calculating the optical flow on monochrome images because it involves fewer computational cost. However, sometimes the intensity of the pixels may not be sufficient to successfully achieve the objective of identifying moving objects. In this paper, it is proposed to use models of color, as RGB and HSV, for motion estimation method using the Lucas and Kanade method of calculation of optical flow, to improve motion estimation. As part of our contribution, it is also proposed a metric to measure the goodness of the results in order to evaluate the reliability and accuracy of optical flow calculation in each method. Finally three scenarios with different characteristics are presented to evaluate the results under different conditions.
Bacteriophage and bacteriophage-like structures carried by Bacillus medusa and their effect on sporulation

Bacillus medusa was found to carry three phages or phagelike structures named phi med-1, phi med-2, and phi med-3. phi med-1 is a minute, 25-nm-diameter particle without a tail. It was extracted from the sporulation lysate of a phi med-2-minus strain of B. medusa and purified by differential centrifugation. The nucleic acid from this structure was shown to be orcinol positive, alkali sensitive, RNase sensitive, and DNase resistant. An RNase-resistant core of nucleic acid was not found, indicating that it was single-stranded RNA. A host strain has not yet been found for phi med-1. Phage phi med-3 was induced with mitomycin C or UV light and consisted of empty heads of 57 nm in diameter, whereas phi med-2 induced with mitomycin was a phage of 60-nm head diameter and 220-nm tail length. The sporulation sequence proceeded faster in those mutants lacking phi med-2, and when the phage was reintroduced to B. medusa the extended wild-type sporulation sequence was observed. B. thuringiensis var. schwetzova was sensitive to phi med-2 and yielded small turbid plaques. B. medusa produced small numbers of phi med-2 during growth. The other phage may be produced at the same time but were not detected. Phi med-1 was found in sporulating cells by electron microscopy techniques. Its release from these was demonstrated by both electron microscopy techniques and a radioactive assay. It appears to participate in the formation of a surface layer on the parasporal inclusion of B. medusa.
When the Patient Says No

The need to ascertain appropriate decision-making capacity is greatest when dealing with refusals of lifesaving or life-prolonging treatment. This may be complicated by delirium, concurrent depression, metabolic disturbances or significant symptom burden, family conflicts, and social issues. This is a case of a 48-year-old patient with a long-standing history of a symptomatic pan-invasive pituitary adenoma who refused life-prolonging treatment. Ultimately, a patient must be able to understand the information given to him, evaluate the consequences of the options presented, deliberate on these options based on his values, communicate this choice, and maintain consistency overtime. These refusals of treatment may fluctuate with time and intensity of the illness. Denial of this right of autonomy and self-determination may worsen the individual’s physical and existential suffering.
Brain anatomy in non-affected parents of autistic probands: a MRI study

Background. Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder with an estimated genetic origin of 90%. Previous studies have reported an increase in brain volume of approximately 5% in autistic subjects, especially in children. If this increase in brain volume is genetically determined, biological parents of autistic probands might be expected to show brain enlargement, or at least intracranial enlargement, as well. Identifying structural brain abnormalities under genetic control is of particular importance as these could represent endophenotypes of autism. Method. Using quantitative anatomic brain magnetic resonance imaging, volumes of intracranial, total brain, frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital lobe, cerebral and cortical gray and white matter, cerebellum, lateral ventricle, and third ventricle were measured in biological, non-affected parents of autistic probands (19 couples) and in healthy, closely matched control subjects (20 couples). Results. No significant differences were found between the parents of the autistic probands and healthy control couples in any of the brain volumes. Adding gender as a factor in a second analysis did not reveal a significant interaction effect of gender by group. Conclusions. The present sample of biological, non-affected parents of autistic probands did not show brain enlargements. As the intracranium is not enlarged, it is unlikely that the brain volumes of the parents of autistic probands have originally been enlarged and have been normalized. Thus, increased brain volume in autism might be caused by the interaction of paternal and maternal genes, possibly with an additional effect of environmental factors, or increased brain volumes might reflect phenotypes of autism.
An empirical investigation of tax policy in G-7 countries

This dissertation consists of three essays on the effects of fiscal policy on the economic activity. The first and second chapters investigate the response of major macroeconomic variables to four different types of tax policy innovations within a VAR framework using contemporaneous restrictions and long-run restrictions, respectively. Although G-7 countries seem to react differently to tax policy innovations, we do not find any evidence for the existence of negative corporate tax multipliers (for output) or positive income tax multipliers (for output) with both identification schemes. The crosscountry variation in the signs of indirect tax is considerably higher. The effects of social security tax innovations on output exhibit cross-country heterogeneity with contemporaneous restrictions. We do not find any significant effects of social security tax innovations on output with a SVAR approach that uses long-run restrictions. We conclude that the composition of the total tax response is even more important than the magnitude of the total tax response, and thus should be taken into consideration in explaining cross-country variation in the sign and magnitude of tax multipliers. The third chapter of this dissertation uses an unbalanced panel data set that includes annual estimates of cyclically adjusted government expenditures, capital outlays, income tax revenues, indirect tax revenues, corporate tax revenues and social security tax revenues. The percentage share of these estimates in GDP is used to investigate the effects of fiscal policy on economic growth, and results are compared with regression results that use 5-year averages of cyclically unadjusted variables. The empirical results from both sets of regressions suggest that only taxes on household income have negative effects on per capita income growth. We also show that government expenditures that v include the government wage bill have significant negative effects on economic growth. These results are consistent with the recent literature that emphasizes the non-Keynesian effects of fiscal policy through labor market, firm profits and private investment. We consolidate our findings by showing that both government expenditures and income taxes have distortionary effects on private investment.
The Dynamics of Discrimination: Theory and Evidence

We model the dynamics of discrimination and show how its evolution can identify the underlying source. We test these theoretical predictions in a field experiment on a large online platform where users post content that is evaluated by other users on the platform. We assign posts to accounts that exogenously vary by gender and evaluation histories. With no prior evaluations, women face significant discrimination. However, following a sequence of positive evaluations, the direction of discrimination reverses: women’s posts are favored over men’s. Interpreting these results through the lens of our model, this dynamic reversal implies discrimination driven by biased beliefs. (JEL C93, D83, J16, J71)
Introduction of novel substrate oxidation into cytochrome c peroxidase by cavity complementation: oxidation of 2-aminothiazole and covalent modification of the enzyme.

The binding and oxidation of an artificial substrate, 2-aminothiazole, by an engineered cavity of cytochrome c peroxidase is described. The W191G mutant has been shown to create a buried cavity into which a number of small heterocyclic compounds will bind [Fitzgerald, M. M. , Churchill, M. J., McRee, D. E. , & Goodin, D. B. (1994) Biochemistry 33, 3807-3818], providing a specific site near the heme from which substrates might be oxidized. In this study, we show by titration calorimetry that 2-aminothiazole binds to W191G with a Kd of 0.028 mM at pH 6. A crystal structure at 2.3 A resolution of W191G in the presence of 2-aminothiazole reveals the occupation of this compound in the cavity, and indicates that it is in van der Waals contact with the heme. The WT enzyme reacts with H2O2 to form Compound ES, in which both the iron center and the Trp-191 side chain are reversibly oxidized. For the W191F (and perhaps the W191G) mutants, the iron is still oxidized, but the second equivalent exists transiently as a radical on the porphyrin before migrating to an alternate protein radical site [Erman, J. E. , Vitello, L. B. , Mauro, J. M. , & Kraut, J. (1989) Biochemistry 28, 7992-7995]. Two separate reactions are observed between 2-aminothiazole and the oxidized centers of W191G. In the one reaction, optical and EPR spectra of the heme are used to show that 2-aminothiazole acts as an electron donor to the ferryl (Fe4+&dbd;O) center of W191G to reduce it to the ferric oxidation state. This reaction occurs from within the cavity, as it is not observed for variants that lack this artificial binding site. A second reaction between 2-aminothiazole and peroxide-oxidized W191G, which is much less efficient, results in the specific covalent modification of Tyr-236. Electrospray mass spectra of the W191G after incubation in 2-aminothiazole and H2O2 show a modification of the protein indicative of covalent binding of 2-aminothiazole. The site of modification was determined to be Tyr-236 by CNBr peptide mapping and automated peptide sequencing. The covalent modification is only observed for W191G and W191F which form the alternate radical center. This observation provides an unanticipated assignment of this free radical species to Tyr-236, which is consistent with previous proposals that it is a tyrosine. The oxidation of 2-aminothiazole by W191G represents an example of how the oxidative capacity inherent in the heme prosthetic group and the specific binding behavior of artificial protein cavities can be harnessed and redirected toward the oxidation of organic substrates.
Phase locked loop-free sliding-mode-based power control for grid-connected voltage-sourced inverters under unbalanced network conditions

In this paper, a phase locked loop-free power control method is presented for grid-connected voltage-sourced inverters under unbalanced network conditions. The main advantages of the proposed technique are low implementation cost and simplicity of the control strategy. These advantages are achieved through elimination of phase locked loop (PLL) function by the proposed compensation strategy. Phase locked loop functions are considered as an expensive part of a system. Hence, PLL elimination leads to simpler implementation of the power control as well as reduction of the system cost. The proposed power control method is based on modification of normal sliding mode power control using compensation feedbacks for active and reactive powers. Two scenarios including unbalanced angles for three phase voltages and nonidentical voltage amplitudes are considered for unbalanced network conditions. The performance of the modified sliding mode control (SMC) in the mentioned unbalanced conditions is evaluated using simulations in MATLAB/Simulink. The results confirm that the proposed technique reduces the pulsations of active and reactive powers considerably in comparison with the normal SMC strategy.
Recombinant polymer‐protein fusion: a promising approach towards efficient and targeted gene delivery

Synthetic vectors such as polymers have the potential to reduce the safety problems associated with viral vectors; however, their low transfection efficiency limits their clinical utility. To study the critical steps involved in an efficient transgene expression, there is a need for creative approaches that allow a systematic correlation between gene carrier structure and properties necessary for successful gene transfer. Using recombinant techniques a prototype vector comprised of tandem repeating units fused to a targeting moiety was biosynthesized to mediate gene transfer in mammalian cell lines. The carrier was designed to have the structure of (KHKHKHKHKK)6‐FGF2 where lysine (K) residues would allow complexation with plasmid DNA, basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF2) to target cells over‐expressing FGF2 receptors (FGFR), and histidine (H) residues to facilitate escape from the endosomal compartments.
Heterogeneous Effects of Competitiveness Shocks on Macroeconomic Performance Across Euro Area Countries

This paper considers how competitiveness impacts macroeconomic performance in 11 euro area countries. VAR models are estimated for the individual countries using quarterly data from 1995Q4 to 2013Q4. Besides unit labour costs as a competitiveness measure, the models include GDP, the current account balance and domestic credit. The empirical analyses show that changes in unit labour costs help explain GDP dynamics in the short and medium term in most countries, whereas they have little explanatory power for the current account balance or domestic credit for most countries. Overall, the effects of the unit labour costs vary substantially across the countries in the euro area. The heterogeneity suggests that policy measures aiming to improve economic growth, correct current account imbalances and ensure financial stability need to take country‐specific features into account.
[The diagnosis of COPD is recommendation dependent].

BACKGROUND Different spirometric criteria are recommended to diagnosis chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): -American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society (ATS/ERS), Global initiative for chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD): a post bronchodilator (PBD) ratio between the 1st second Forced Expiratory Volume and Forced Vital Capacity (FEV1/FVC) < 0.70; -Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (ANZTS): a PBD FEV1/FVC < 0.70 and a PBD FEV1 < 80%; -British Thoracic Society (BTS): a before BD (BBD) FEV1/FVC < 0.70 and a BBD FEV1 < 80%; -Old criterion retained, till 2010, by the French Society of Pneumology (SPLF): a PBD ratio between FEV1 and slow vital capacity < 0.70. AIM To determine, according to the different recommendations, the percentage of smokers having COPD among a population of smokers of more than 40 Packets/Year (PY) addressed for plethysmography. METHODS The plethysmographic data of 531 consecutive stable male smokers that underwent reversibility testing (400 µg of Salbutamol®) were analyzed. RESULTS The mean ± SD of age, cigarettes consumption, PBD FEV1 (%), were, respectively, 61 ± 11 Yr, 64 ± 20 PY and 52 ± 21%. The percentages of subjects having COPD according to the above criteria were 75.5% (SPLF old criterion); 71.2% (ATS/ERS, GOLD); 70.8% (BTS) and 69.7% (ANZTS). CONCLUSION The diagnosis of COPD depends on which guidelines are used for defining the disease. This forms a barrier to early diagnosis, affects public health decisions and wrong planning strategies.
A novel technique for fabricating an ear prosthesis in a patient with congenital ear deformity

Background and aim: Microtia is one of the forms of ear loss and deformity. A prosthesis that is simple to apply, and which has adequate suspension and acceptable aesthetics, can be useful in the rehabilitation of patients with this deficit and can improve the social and psychological effects of patients with ear amputation. The aim of this article was to describe a novel technique for fabricating ear prosthesis in a patient with congenital ear deformity. Technique: This method involves a novel method to produce an ear prosthesis using clips that were located within the layers of the final silicone ear. Discussion: This study demonstrated ease of use and acceptance by the patient. Design and fabrication of silicone ear prosthesis via this new method of suspension could also be suitable for provision to children with ear microtia who are not yet suitable for surgery or would not be suited to other methods of suspension. Clinical relevance The new method of suspension demonstrated that this approach could be used to provide low cost and acceptable silicone ear prosthesis for patients with microtia and partial ear amputation.
Hippocampal Characteristics and Invariant Sequence Elements Distribution of GLRA2 and GLRA3 C-to-U Editing

Glycine receptor α2 and α3 subunit (GLRA2/GLRA3) high- affinity variants, of which the subjacent amino acid substitutions issue from C-to-U RNA editing, are thought to influence tonic inhibition and pathophysiology. In light of the detection of GLRA3 NM_006529:r.1157C>U and GLRA2 NM_002063:r.1416C>U exchanges in hippocampus explants of temporal lobe epilepsy patients, we now examine the healthy situation and relate it to the epileptic situation by ascertaining controls in a legitimate reanalysis. The GLRA2 and GLRA3 editing events that would ultimately result in a glycine receptor with increased affinity occur in the postmortem nonepileptic hippocampus. Most notably, their relative amounts do not significantly differ from those in increased damaged hippocampus explants, whereas curbed relative amounts in epileptic explants without cell loss come out statistically significant. Local sequence alignment reveals invariant sequence stretches consistent in GLRA2/ GLRA3 and other edited transcripts that coincide with known APOB sequence elements. Concerning the essential mooring element, GLRA2/GLRA3 comply strictly only with the motif's 5′ part. While this lack of canonical mooring elements and uncertain action of the famous deaminase APOBEC1 suggest a specific regulation of GLRA2/GLRA3 editing, its reduction in the less-damaged epileptic hippocampus could be attributed to anomalous epileptic neurogenesis.
Empowerment in the Public Sector: Testing the Influence of Goal Orientation

Empowerment has emerged as an important new issue in the public sector organization setting in the wake of mainstream new public management (NPM). Nevertheless, few studies in this frame have combined structural (managerial) and psychological (individual) approaches in an integrative study of empowerment. There is also a need to examine the moderating variables involved in this relationship, as well as to extend research on work motivation in public management. This study explores the effect of structural empowerment on psychological empowerment, and it also draws on goal orientation (GO) theory to examine the moderating role of employees’ GO in this link. The model is tested on a sample of 521 Spanish local authority employees. The results do not confirm the direct link between structural and psychological empowerment, but show that learning GO has considerable moderating power in this relationship, and its interaction with structural empowerment affects employees’ psychological empowerment levels.
MRI neuroanatomy in young girls with autism: a preliminary study.

OBJECTIVE To test the hypothesis that young girls and boys with autism exhibit different profiles of neuroanatomical abnormality relative to each other and relative to typically developing children. METHOD Structural magnetic resonance imaging was used to measure gray and white matter volumes (whole cerebrum, cerebral lobes, and cerebellum) and total brain volume in nine girls (ages 2.29-5.16) and 27 boys (ages 1.96-5.33) with autism and 14 girls (ages 2.17-5.71) and 13 boys (ages 1.72-5.50) with typical development. Structure size and the relationship between size and age were examined. Diagnostic and cognitive outcome data were obtained after the children reached 4 to 5 years of age. RESULTS Girls with autism exhibited nearly every size-related abnormality exhibited by boys with autism. Furthermore, additional sites of abnormality were observed in girls, including enlargement in temporal white and gray matter volumes and reduction in cerebellar gray matter volume. Significant correlations were observed between age and white matter volumes (e.g., cerebral white matter rs = 0.950) for the girls with autism, whereas no significant age-structure size relationships were observed for the boys with autism. CONCLUSIONS Results suggest sex differences in etiological factors and the biological time course of the disorder.
Intestinal Antiinflammatory Effects of Thiazolidenedione Peroxisome Proliferator‐Activated Receptor‐&ggr; Ligands on T Helper Type 1 Chemokine Regulation Include Nontranscriptional Control Mechanisms

&NA; Crohn's disease is associated with an excessive T helper (TH) type 1 inflammatory immune response. Reducing the influx of disease‐associated CD4+ TH1 cells into the inflamed intestine is likely to be beneficial in preventing a disease flare‐up and even possibly in reducing the effect of acute disease. Thiazolidenedione (TZD) ligands, which activate peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor‐&ggr; (PPAR&ggr;), have been shown to reduce TH1 inflammation in murine models of colitis, primarily in a preventative fashion. To determine whether PPAR&ggr; ligands reduce this inflammation in part by reducing TH1 chemoattractant levels in vivo, the TZD pioglitazone was tested for its effects on a TH1 chemokine (CXCL10) in 2 models of colitis (i.e., dextran sodium sulfate and 2,4,6‐dinitrobenzene sulfonic acid‐mediated colitis). In both models, CXCL10 levels were significantly reduced by pioglitazone. Because TZDs can affect gene expression either directly, by regulating the binding of PPAR&ggr; to consensus promoter elements, or indirectly, by modulating other signaling pathways that can affect gene transcription, the regulation of CXCL10 by TZDs was investigated in vitro in both HT‐29 colon epithelial cells and THP‐1 monocyte/macrophage cells. TZDs significantly reduced CXCL10 protein levels from activated HT‐29 cells and THP‐1‐derived macrophages in a dose‐dependent manner at nanomolar concentrations. However, TZDs did not affect messenger RNA levels or nuclear factor‐&kgr;B activation at these concentrations in these cells. These findings imply the existence of a novel posttranscriptional regulatory antiinflammatory mechanism by TZDs that is not associated with reductions in nuclear factor‐&kgr;B activation.