Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Developing a taxonomy for the science of improvement in public health.

CONTEXT Quality improvement (QI) methods have been used for almost a decade in public health departments to increase effectiveness and efficiency. Although results are rapidly accumulating, the evidence for the science of improvement is shallow and limited. To advance the use and effectiveness of QI in public health, it is important to develop a science of improvement using practice-based research to build an evidence base for QI projects. OBJECTIVES This purpose of this study is to advance the science of improvement in public health departments with 3 objectives: (1) establish a taxonomy of QI projects in public health, (2) categorize QI projects undertaken in health departments using the taxonomy, and (3) create an opportunity modes and effects analysis. DESIGN This study is a qualitative analysis of archival data from 2 separate large databases consisting of 51 QI projects undertaken in public health departments over the last 5 years. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS The study involves 2 separate QI collaboratives. One includes Minnesota health departments; the other is a national collaborative. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES We propose a standardized case definition, common metrics, and a taxonomy of QI projects to begin building the evidence base for QI in public health and to advance the science of continuous quality improvement. RESULTS All projects created an aim statement and used metrics while 53% used a specific QI model with an average of 3.25 QI techniques per project. Approximately 40% of the projects incorporated a process control methodology, and 60% of the projects identified the process from beginning to end, while 11 of 12 PHAB (Public Health Accreditation Board) domains were included. CONCLUSIONS The findings provide a baseline for QI taxonomy to operationalize a science of improvement for public health departments.
A Comparison of Awake Versus Paralyzed Tracheal Intubation for Infants with Pyloric Stenosis

This prospective, nonrandomized, observational study of 76 infants with pyloric stenosis was conducted at an academic children's hospital and compared awake versus paralyzed tracheal intubation in terms of successful first attempt rate, intubation time, heart rate (HR) and arterial hemoglobin oxygen saturation (SpO2) changes, and complications.Three groups were determined by intubation method: awake (A) with an oxygen-insufflating laryngoscope, after rapid-sequence induction (R), or after modified rapid-sequence induction (M) including ventilation through cricoid pressure. Successful first attempt intubation rate was 64% for Group A versus 87% for paralyzed Groups R and M (P = 0.028). Median intubation time was 63 s in Group A versus 34 s in Groups R and M (P = 0.004). Transient, mild decreases in mean HR and SpO2 and incidences of significant bradycardia and decreased SpO2 did not vary by group. Complications, including bronchial or esophageal intubation, emesis, and oropharyngeal trauma, were few. Senior anesthesiologists intervened in four tracheal intubations. We advocate anesthetized, paralyzed tracheal intubation because struggling with conscious infants takes longer, often requires multiple attempts, and prevents neither bradycardia nor decreased SpO2. After induction, additional mask ventilation with O2 confers no advantage over immediate tracheal intubation in preserving SpO2. Implications: In our children's hospital, awake tracheal intubation was not superior to anesthetized, paralyzed intubation in maintaining adequate oxygenation and heart rate or in reducing complications, and should be abandoned in favor of the latter technique for routine anesthetic management of otherwise healthy infants with pyloric stenosis. (Anesth Analg 1998;86:945-51)
Markets in Financial Instruments Directive - The Way Forward in European Securities Market Integration?

European financial market integration and investor protection are the main objectives of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive. The public discussion on the effectiveness of MiFID is still controversial before its entry into force in November 2007. We contribute to this discussion by comparing MiFID against selected aspects of regulatory and financial market integration theory and provide empirical evidence on MiFID driving changes in securities market structure. Four new initiatives in trade reporting and transaction business are discussed with their likely impacts. We conclude that MiFID is generally in line with theoretical requirements and therefore suitable to achieve its objectives. On the empirical side, new initiatives will increase competition. The market for trade reporting services will change significantly whereas new initiatives in transaction services are not able to differentiate themselves successfully in existent competition.
Extrachromosomal amplification of the epidermal growth factor receptor gene in a human colon carcinoma cell line

In situ hybridization, using a biotinylated cDNA probe for the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene, indicates that the amplified EGFR genes in the colon tumor cell line, DiFi, are localized in many small double minute chromosomes (dmin) of varying size and visibility. Analysis of the electrophoretic mobility of γ‐irradiated DNA from DiFi by pulsed‐field gel electrophoresis and Southern blot hybridization using EGFR probe, indicates that the amplified EGFR in DiFi exists in extrachromosomal, covalently closed circular episomes, presumably equivalent to dmin. Two major and one minor species were observed which had estimated sizes of 650, 1,300, and 2,000 kb, respectively. The DiFi cell line appears to represent a unique case of extrachromosomal EGFR gene amplification in human cells.
Brand and country of origin valuations of automobiles

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to quantify the value of brands and countries of origin in monetary units. The automobile industry in Thailand is chosen because of the variety of brands and the intense competition within the industry. Both the pick up truck and passenger car market shares have been dominated by Japanese brands for decades, whilst the luxury market has been dominated by German brands.Design/methodology/approach – The data are collected from an authors' survey carried out during the “Thailand International Motor Expo 2007”. A total of 244 models are chosen from 20 brands, and from 7 countries of origin. The hedonic price model is applied to ascertain the price premiums of these different brands, taking into account their countries of origin, since each automobile brand offers several models with distinguishably different features.Findings – The results indicate that different brand names affect consumers' “Willingness to Pay,” in which Mercedes, BMW, and Audi brands are ranked the hi.
Perennial biomass feedstocks enhance avian diversity

Federal mandates to increase biofuel production in North America will require large new tracts of land with potential to negatively impact biodiversity, yet empirical information to guide implementation is limited. Because the temperate grassland biome will be a production hotspot for many candidate feedstocks, production is likely to impact grassland birds, a group of major conservation concern. We employed a multiscaled approach to investigate the relative importance of arthropod food availability, microhabitat structure, patch size and landscape‐scale habitat structure and composition as factors shaping avian richness and abundance in fields of one contemporary (corn) and two candidate cellulosic biomass feedstocks (switchgrass and mixed‐grass prairie) not currently managed as crops. Bird species richness and species density increased with patch size in prairie and switchgrass, but not in corn, and was lower in landscapes with higher forest cover. Perennial plantings supported greater diversity and biomass of arthropods, an important food for land birds, but neither metric was important in explaining variation in the avian community. Avian richness was higher in perennial plantings with greater forb content and a more diverse vegetation structure. Maximum bird species richness was commonly found in fields of intermediate vegetation density and grassland specialists were more likely to occur in prairies. Our results suggest that, in contrast to corn, perennial biomass feedstocks have potential to provide benefits to grassland bird populations if they are cultivated in large patches within relatively unforested landscapes. Ultimately, genetic improvement of feedstock genets and crop management techniques that attempt to maximize biomass production and simplify crop vegetation structure will be likely to reduce the value of perennial biomass plantings to grassland bird populations.
Optimal control of influenza pandemics : The role of antiviral treatment and isolation

The implementation of control measures during a pandemic must be carefully assessed particularly in the case of a fast transmitting disease like influenza in resource-limited situations. Optimal control strategies that rely on the use of antiviral treatment or isolation strategies can reduce the number of clinical cases. A model for the transmission dynamics model of influenza that incorporates hospitalizations is used to evaluate the impact of isolation and/or antiviral drug delivery in unlimited and resource limited scenarios. Five pre-selected control strategies for influenza pandemics involving antiviral treatment and isolation are evaluated under the “unlimited” resource assumption. We explore scenarios that required the identification of “optimal” policies under resource limited situations. Naturally, the implementation of antiviral treatment at the start of a pandemic tends to reduce the magnitude of the epidemic peak often resulting on less localized increases in the number secondary cases over the outbreak’s time horizon. In other words, controls’ timing and intensity can reduce the pressures placed on the health care infrastructure during peak epidemic times. The role of isolation strategies as a component of pandemic mitigation policies particularly when the access to antiviral resources is limited, is highlighted. Identifying the
High surface hydrophobicity of autoaggregating Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from human infections studied with the salt aggregation test

A total of 209 strains of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from infections and 23 strains from nose cultures of healthy laboratory personnel were compared for relative surface hydrophobicity in the salt aggregation test (Lindahl et al., Biochim. Biophys. Acta 677:471-476, 1981). In the standard method, bacterial cell suspensions from blood agar-grown cultures were tested for visible aggregation by "salting out" in serial dilutions of ammonium sulfate (0.1 to 1.6 M [final concentration]). Bacteria were defined as extremely hydrophobic when showing autoaggregation in saline or in 0.002 M sodium phosphate buffer (pH 6.8). Using this definition, we found a large number of strains isolated from various infections to be very hydrophobic: 123 of 135 strains from patients with septicemia (91%), 54 of 60 strains from wound infections (90%), and 12 of 14 strains from urinary tract infections (86%). In contrast, only 9 of 23 strains from nose cultures of healthy carriers (39%) were autoaggregating. A total of 12 autoaggregating strains were grown on various solid and liquid media. Only growth on hematin agar was found to completely suppress surface hydrophobicity as revealed by our salt aggregation test method, and growth in liquid media prevented the expression of hydrophobicity in most strains. Growth at 20 or 42 degrees C or under anaerobic conditions did not affect hydrophobicity. Cells harvested from various phases of growth did not differ significantly in surface hydrophobicity. Heating washed cell suspensions at 56 degrees C did not affect the salt aggregation test values, whereas heating the cell suspensions at 80 and 100 degrees C caused a significant decline in hydrophobicity. The addition of ethylene glycol (25% [vol/vol] final concentration) prevented the autoaggregation of 10 of the 12 strains. Likewise, treating the cell suspensions with proteolytic enzymes decreased the surface hydrophobicity, indicating that surface proteins contribute to high surface hydrophobicity of autoaggregating strains.
Contextual Sentiment Analysis With Untrained Annotators

This work presents a proposal to perform contextual sentiment analysis using a supervised learning algorithm and disregarding the extensive training of annotators. To achieve this goal, a web platform was developed to perform the entire procedure outlined in this paper. The main contribution of the pipeline described in this article is to simplify and automate the annotation process through a system of analysis of congruence between the notes. This ensured satisfactory results even without using specialized annotators in the context of the research, avoiding the generation of biased training data for the classifiers. For this, a case study was conducted in a blog of entrepreneurship. The experimental results were consistent with the literature related annotation using formalized process with experts.
Creating an effective reverse supply chain in China: the publishing industry

Asia is expected to play a very important role in the future global economy and much of the focus of current developments and interest is in China. It is thus likely that the use of Chinese will be of increasing significance in the years to come. Research on the reverse logistics of China's publishing industry is still in its infancy. This paper, based on the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) analysis, is an attempt to explore the key factors of the reverse logistics of Chinese book publishing and the preferred solutions to its current problems.
Knowledge management implementation in public services

Knowledge has become a critical asset for nation's pursuit of development. Globalization and the advancements in information and communication technology (ICT) during the 1980s and 1990s facilitated the growth in knowledge or learning networks. For effective public administration it is vital to promote integrative management culture by fostering a knowledge-supportive culture - including safe environment, ethical and mutually respectful behavior, minimal politicking, collaboration, and a common focus on delivering quality work without delay. The paper intends to analyze some possibilities of knowledge management exploitation in public administration as well as in various public services. On the basis of the case of Pakistan some steps are recommended that could help developing countries to achieve higher quality of public services.
Quantum feedback control for the deterministic generation of Schrödinger-cat states

Continuous measurement and feedback hold tremendous potential for producing non-Gaussian quantum states that are useful for quantum communication and computation. We present a new feedback scheme to deterministically produce quantum non-Gaussian states from linear optical elements and feedback. In our scheme, measurement outcomes are used in two different ways. One implements a multiplicative feedback control which produces nonlinear effects in the system. The other stabilizes the system to produce a desired state deterministically. A design example of the multi-loop feedback structure is demonstrated for the deterministic generation of Schrödinger-cat states as the practical use of quantum feedback control.
Goal instability, self-esteem, and vocational identity of high school Portuguese students

According to the self-psychology of Heinz Kohut, development of a healthy narcissism that is reflected in a secure sense of self, permits individuals to set and pursue meaningful life goals and maintain a sense ofwell-being, particularly in periods of transition and change. Based on this perspective, the primary purpose of this study was to assess the contribution of goal instability and self-esteem to the vocational identity of Portuguese high school students using a sample of 375 individuals. Additionally, the effect of gender and age on vocational identity was assessed. A regression equation accounted for 32% of the variance of the dependent variable with goal instability emerging as the strongest predictor. Implications for career theory and counseling are discussed.
Examination of The Relationship Between Institutional Ownership And Dividend Policy

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between institutional ownership and dividend policy of the companies listed in Tehran Stock Exchange. The importance of this study is that it demonstrates the relationship between Dividends and institutional ownership to managers, investors, and other decision makers; based on these conclusions, they can make better decisions. Investors can also considerinstitutional ownership of the company and promote the rights of shareholders and stakeholders and the Stock Exchange can develop properregulations to implementfor organizations and its management, according to the obtained results.Scope of the present investigation is a six-year period between 2007 and 2012. Providing the results of the study of the impact of institutional investors on dividend policy helps investors, actual and potential creditors, and also organization‟s managersmake correct and reasonable financial decisions.
Reforming Competitive Electricity Markets to Meet Environmental Targets

The UK and other EU countries are concerned to deliver secure, sustainable and affordable electricity, to meet challenging targets for decarbonisation and renewable energy. The UK Government has consulted and concluded that the present electricity market arrangements will not deliver all three goals, and has proposed a major Electricity Market Reform (EMR). This article describes the reasons for, and the nature of, the EMR, pointing to the need for further market and institutional reforms.
Recovery from lactacidosis‐induced glial cell swelling with the aid of exogenous anion channels

Hypotonic challenge induces transient swelling in glial cells, which is typically followed by a regulatory volume decrease (RVD). In contrast, lactic acidosis (lactacidosis) induces persistent cell swelling in astrocytes without an accompanying RVD. In the present study, we studied the mechanisms by which lactacidosis interferes with normal volume regulation in rat astrocytic glioma C6 cells. Following exposure of C6 cells to a hypotonic challenge, a current was detected that exhibited properties consistent with those of volume‐sensitive outwardly rectifying (VSOR) anion channels. When exposed to in vitro conditions designed to simulate lactacidosis, C6 cells failed to respond to hypotonic stress with an RVD, and VSOR anion currents were not activated. When added to C6 cells, an anion channel‐forming protein purified from Helicobacter pylori, VacA, was found to form anion‐selective channels in the plasma membrane, and the activity of the VacA channel was not affected by lactacidosis (pH 6.2). Cells preincubated with VacA and then exposed to lactacidotic conditions underwent transient swelling followed by RVD. In contrast, application of a cation ionophore, gramicidin, failed to inhibit lactacidosis‐induced persistent cell swelling. From these results, we conclude that inhibition of a volume‐sensitive anion channel contributes to persistent swelling induced by lactacidosis in glial cells. Introduction of anion channel activity into glial cells might provide a novel approach for treating cerebral edema, which is associated with lactacidosis in cerebral ischemia or head injury. GLIA 41:247–259, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Representing Dockerfiles in RDF

Containers – lightweight, stand-alone software executables – are everywhere. Industries exploit container managers to orchestrate complex cloud infrastructures and researchers in academia use them to foster reproducibility of computational experiments. Among existing solutions, Docker is the de facto standard in the container industry. In this paper, we advocate the value of applying the Linked Data paradigm to the container ecosystem’s building scripts, as it will allow adding additional knowledge, ease decentralized references, and foster interoperability. In particular we defined a vocabulary Dockeronto that allows to semantically annotate Dockerfiles.
Band-specific temporal periodicity enhancement for Cantonese tone perception with noise-excited vocoder

This paper describes a study on the effectiveness of expanding the temporal envelope and periodicity component (TEPC) for Cantonese tone perception. The ultimate goal is to develop speech processing techniques that can improve speech perception of hearing prosthesis users. Cantonese is a popular Chinese dialect with a complex lexical tone system. TEPCs are extracted from a few predefined frequency bands. A nonlinear expansion method is applied to increase the modulation depth of the TEPCs, in order to make the temporal periodicity information more salient. To simulate the speech processing procedures of a cochlear implant, the TEPC is used to modulate a noise carrier. Psychophysical listening tests on Cantonese lexical tone identification are carried out with expanded and unexpanded TEPCs. The experimental results show that: (1) expansion of TEPC from high-frequency band leads to noticeable improvement on tone identification accuracy; (2) the effectiveness of TEPC expansion is more significant for female voice than male voice; (3) the presence of noise carrier in low-frequency band negatively affects tone identification accuracy.
The Herschel exploitation of local galaxy Andromeda (HELGA) V: Strengthening the case for substantial interstellar grain growth

In this paper, we consider the implications of the distributions of dust and metals in the disc of M31. We derive mean radial dust distributions using a dust map created from Herschel images of M31 sampling the entire far-infrared peak. Modified blackbodies are fit to approximately 4000 pixels with a varying, as well as a fixed, dust emissivity index (beta). An overall metal distribution is also derived using data collected from the literature. We use a simple analytical model of the evolution of the dust in a galaxy with dust contributed by stellar sources and interstellar grain growth, and fit this model to the radial dust-to-metals distribution across the galaxy. Our analysis shows that the dust-to-gas gradient in M31 is steeper than the metallicity gradient, suggesting interstellar dust growth is (or has been) important in M31. We argue that M31 helps build a case for cosmic dust in galaxies being the result of substantial interstellar grain growth, while the net dust production from stars may be limited. We note, however, that the efficiency of dust production in stars, e.g. in supernovae ejecta and/or stellar atmospheres, and grain destruction in the interstellar medium may be degenerate in our simple model. We can conclude that interstellar grain growth by accretion is likely at least as important as stellar dust production channels in building the cosmic dust component in M31.
PUBLIC PROCUREMENT AND COMPETITION

Public procurement is a key sector of the EU economy accounting for about 16% of GDP. The Directives adopted in March 2004 provide a legal framework aimed at modernising and opening up procurement markets - including through the expansion of electronic procurement - that is crucial to Europe's competitiveness and for creating new opportunities for EU businesses. The correct and early implementation of the new provisions is essential to avoid legal, technical and electronic barriers to and distortion of competition. Barriers in the procurement may exist at different levels: restrictions economic operators access to the tendering procedure (e.g. the "in house" regime); lack of transparency and proportionality (content of advertising); anticompetitive collusion and restrictive agreements. Using information technology appropriately can contribute to making the procurement market more open, competitive and efficient.