Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Emerging Therapies for Acute Ischemic Stroke

Stroke is a major public health problem in the United States and the development of novel therapeutic strategies is an important research priority. Advances in this field are proceeding on several fronts, including the use of next-generation plasminogen activators and glycoprotein IIb/ IIIa inhibitors, refined patient selection with advanced magnetic resonance imaging sequences, endovascular approaches to thrombolysis and thrombectomy, and adjuvant use of ultrasound. There remains no proven therapy for intracerebral hemorrhage, but early results with recombinant activated factor VII look very promising. It is hoped that in the near future, physicians managing patients with acute neurological events will have a robust armamentarium of therapies to bring to bear on both ischemic and hemorrhagic vascular disease.
Advances in the Provision of Mathematics Teacher Professional Development in Botswana

Abstract Advances have been made into mathematics teacher professional development to attempt to address the complexities of professional development provision in Botswana. This paper presents a pilot study that sought to investigate the provision of mathematics professional development in Botswana by focusing on the services of professional development providers, the teachers as participants of the programs, the process of professional development provision, and the outcome of professional development provision. Employing the qualitative method of grounded theory, data was collected through the solicitation of teachers’ and providers’ views with the use of questionnaires and document analysis of the programs.The findings suggest that professional development programs are in place but the major challenge in professional development provision is the participants’ non-commitment and involvement in the implementation of the initiated objectives of the various programs proposed by the service providers.
The persistence of abnormal return on assets: an exploratory analysis of the performance of firms by country and sector

This study offers an exploratory statistical analysis of the persistence of annual abnormal returns across a sample of firms from different European Union countries. To this end, a hierarchical Bayesian dynamic model has been used that enables the annual behaviour of those profits to be broken down into a permanent structural component and a transitory component, while also distinguishing between general effects affecting the industry as a whole and specific effects impacting on each firm in particular. This breakdown of the behaviour of profits allows for a more accurate assessment of the relative importance of these fundamental components by country and sector. Furthermore, through the Bayesian approach, it is possible to test different hypotheses about the homogeneity of the dynamic behaviour of the aforementioned components with respect to the sector and the country where the firm develops its activity.
A Numerical Approach to American Currency Option Valuation

Option theory has produced models of increasing richness that are capable of incorporating many sources of randomness (“stochastic state variables,” as theorists would say). For interest rate dependent instruments, the highly flexible Heath-Jarrow-Morton (HJM) family provides some of the most widely used models. However, implementation of HJM models typically runs into serious computational problems as the number of state variables increases. Pricing a currency option, for example, requires at least three state variables, one for each country's interest rate and one for the exchange rate. American exercise makes the problem harder still. In this article, Choi and Marcozzi describe a numerical technique based on approximating the option value with radial basis functions that offers considerable efficiency improvement. They illustrate its use on HJM-style currency options. One large advantage of this approach is that the approximating functions are analytic, so that the Greek letter risk exposures can be obtained directly using calculus rather than requiring multiple runs through a pricing lattice to approximate them.
The trajectory primal sketch: a multi-scale scheme for representing motion characteristics

Conventional approaches to dynamic scene analysis do not use motion itself explicitly for recognition. The authors propose a different approach for the use of motion in a computer vision system which uses the motion characteristics of moving objects without actually recovering the structure. In this approach, the extended trajectories followed by the objects are considered. It is argued that in many cases, where an object has a fixed and predefined motion, the trajectory of several points may serve to uniquely identify the object. In this approach, the trajectories are analyzed at multiple scales to identify important events corresponding to discontinuities in direction, speed, and acceleration using scale space. These important events are recorded in a presentation called trajectory primal sketch. Experimental results are presented graphically, demonstrating the potential value of this approach. <<ETX>>
Thermal environment effects on construction workers’ productivity

This paper reports on a research study that focused on predicting the loss of construction workers’ productivity due to thermal environment variations. The paper utilises a statistical polynomial regression analysis to establish a relationship between productivity and the predicted mean vote (PMV) thermal comfort index. In doing so, it builds upon a substantial amount of data reported in the literature regarding construction productivity and thermal environment. A set of equations reflecting the nature of the construction task being performed as well as the thermal environment are proposed to predict the degree of change in workers’ productivity, according to a change in the thermal environment. The paper also reports on an experimental investigation undertaken to validate the developed equations. Validation results indicate that the developed equations can predict productivity with a reasonable level of accuracy. Furthermore, they show that the workers’ productivity decreases as the PMV index moves away from the optimum range for all the observed tasks.
Gene-dietary fat interaction, bone mineral density and bone speed of sound in children: a twin study in China.

SCOPE Dietary fat correlates with bone mineral density (BMD). We tested the association between fat intake and BMD, and tested if fat intake modified the degree of genetic influence on BMD and bone speed of sound (SOS). METHODS AND RESULTS We included 622 twins aged 7-15 from South China. Data on anthropometry, dietary intake, BMD, and SOS were collected. Quantitative genetic analyses of structural equation models were fit using the Mx statistical package. The within-pair intraclass correlations for BMD in dizygotic twins were nearly half of that for monozygotic twins (intraclass correlations = 0.39 versus 0.70). The heritability of BMD and SOS were 71 and 79%. Phenotypic correlation between fat intake and SOS was significant (r = -0.19, p = 0.04). SOS was negatively correlated with fat intake in boys (r = -0.11, p = 0.05), but not in girls. Full Cholesky decomposition models showed SOS has a strong genetic correlation with fat intake (rA = -0.88, 95% confidence interval = -0.94, 0.01); the environmental correlation between fat intake and SOS was weak (rE = -0.04, 95% confidence interval = -0.20, 0.13). Fat intake modified the additive genetic effects on BMD. CONCLUSION Genetic factors explained 71 and 79% of individual variance in BMD and SOS, respectively. Low fat intake counteracts genetic predisposition to low BMD.
Investigating the Patterns of Value-Oriented Innovations in Blue Ocean Strategy

Several scholars dealing with business innovation individuate a great role played by customer value in achieving market success. With this perspective the investigation of prescriptive means for New Value Proposition represents a promising, although still poorly explored, domain. The paper presents an original approach to investigating past success stories focused around approaches derived from "Blue Ocean Strategy", for this new dimensions of performance and value have been introduced. The lesson learned from this survey is that certain strategies based on the fulfilment of established or overlooked customer needs provide greater market appraisal. This article introduces some preliminary directions to support the rethinking of products and services.
Effect of Street Hawking On the Academic Performance Of Students in Social Studies in Junior Secondary Schools in Nassarawa State, Nigeria

The study sought to find out the effect of street hawking on academic performance of students of social studies in Nasarawa state. The sample comprises of 100 JSS III students, 50 females and 50 males. Quasi-experimental post-test design was employed. Test item; Social studies performance test (SSPT) instrument was use. Using t-test statistics the result shows that: the experimental group exposed to hawking performed significantly lower than the control group who are not exposed. The performances mean score of the experimental group is 10.50 while the control group is 15.60. The study found that street hawking has negative effect on students' academic performance in social studies. It recommends that government should create more job opportunities so that children would not have to contribute to family income.
Effects of Smoking on Productivity: Estimating Aggregate Production Technology Using Cross-Sectional Time Series Data

The negative health effects of smoking are substantial and well documented. There are, however, few studies that focus on another aspect of the costs of smoking, namely its impact on productive activities, specifically in terms of productivity loss as a result of smoking. Previous economic studies of smoking tend to focus on the effectiveness of various smoking control measures, and the externalities of smoking in the form of higher health care costs that smokers impose on the wider community. The present study make use of aggregate time-series and cross-sectional data to carefully examine the relationship between smoking and productivity as measured by a properly specified and estimated aggregate production function. The questions we examine are whether smoking affects productivity, and if so, by how much. The empirical analysis makes use of data of 14 OECD countries over a period of 23 years, from 1970 to 1992. The results indicate that smoking appears to be a statistically significant factor in explaining productivity, in both level and growth. There is, however, no firm evidence that smoking has an adverse effect on productivity, although results from the output growth model appear to indicate that the effects are mostly negative, especially for countries with high per capita tobacco use.
ISOLATION BY DISTANCE IN EQUILIBRIUM AND NON‐EQUILIBRIUM POPULATIONS

It is shown that for allele frequency data a useful measure of the extent of gene flow between a pair of populations is M∘=(1/FST‐1)/4 , which is the estimated level of gene flow in an island model at equilibrium. For DNA sequence data, the same formula can be used if FST is replaced by NST. In a population with restricted dispersal, analytic theory shows that there is a simple relationship between M̂ and geographic distance in both equilibrium and non‐equilibrium populations and that this relationship is approximately independent of mutation rate when the mutation rate is small. Simulation results show that with reasonable sample sizes, isolation by distance can indeed be detected and that, at least in some cases, non‐equilibrium patterns can be distinguished. This approach to analyzing isolation by distance is used for two allozyme data sets, one from gulls and one from pocket gophers.
A Study on the Economic Impacts of Korean Climate Industry - Focusing on Renewable Energy Industry -

The climate industry could be defined as the group of industries responding to world climate change compacts. This study confined it to renewable energy and analyzed the economic impacts of Korean renewable industry, using 2009 Input-Output Table. This study estimated that Korean renewable industry made the production-induced impact of 1.1644 won(Korean money), and the value-added-induced impact of 0.3544 won through an increase in output growth of 1 won. Its job-creation impact is analyzed to correspond to 10.065 labors through an increase in output growth of 1 billion won. And its industrial linkage effects including forward and backward ones are analyzed not to be so great as expected. According to these results, some policies vitalizing Korean renewable industry and relating industries to its value-chain as new growth engines are recommended.
Gating, Regulation, and Structure in K2P K+ Channels: In Varietate Concordia?

K2P K+ channels with two pore domains in tandem associate as dimers to produce so-called background conductances that are regulated by a variety of stimuli. Whereas gating in K2P channels has been poorly understood, recent developments have provided important clues regarding the gating mechanism for this family of proteins. Two modes of gating present in other K+ channels have been considered. The first is the so-called activation gating that occurs by bundle crossing and the splaying apart of pore-lining helices commanding ion passage. The second mode involves a change in conformation at the selectivity filter (SF), which impedes ion flow at this narrow portion of the conduction pathway and accounts for extracellular pH modulation of several K2P channels. Although some evidence supports the existence of an activation gate in K2P channels, recent results suggest that perhaps all stimuli, even those sensed at a distant location in the protein, are also mediated by SF gating. Recently resolved crystal structures of K2P channels in conductive and nonconductive conformations revealed that the nonconductive state is reached by blockade by a lipid acyl chain that gains access to the channel cavity through intramembrane fenestrations. Here we discuss whether this novel type of gating, proposed so far only for membrane tension gating, might mediate gating in response to other stimuli or whether SF gating is the only type of opening/closing mechanism present in K2P channels.
Productivity Growth and Worker Reallocation

Productivity dispersion across firms is large and persistent, and worker reallocation among firms is an important source of productivity growth. An equilibrium model of growth and firm evolution designed to clarify the role of worker reallocation in the growth process is studied. We show that it explains the correlations between size measures and labor productivity found in Danish firm data. Conditions under which the reallocation of workers from less to more productive firms contributes to aggregate productivity growth in the economy modeled are derived. Finally, a proof of existence of an equilibrium solution to the model is also provided.
An adult model of exclusive viral wheeze: inflammation in the upper and lower respiratory tracts

Background We have previously reported an experimental infection of young adults with a history of episodic and exclusive viral wheeze (EVW) using human coronavirus, in which 16 of 24 with EVW (15 atopic) and 11 of 19 healthy controls (seven atopic) developed a symptomatic cold with evidence of infection, but only those with EVW developed lower respiratory tract symptoms and increased airway responsiveness.
The Incidence of Payroll Taxation: Evidence from Chile

I provide new evidence on the incidence of payroll taxation by examining the experience of Chile before and after the privatization of its Social Security system. This policy change led to a sharp exogenous reduction in the payroll tax burden on Chilean firms; on average, payroll tax rates fell by 25% over 6 years. Using data from a census of manufacturing firms, I estimate that the incidence of payroll taxation is fully on wages, with no effect on employment. This finding is robust to a variety of empirical approaches to the problem of measurement error in firm‐level measures of taxes/worker.
Tendons and muscles of the mouse forelimb during embryonic development

The range and precision of limb movements are dependent on the specific patterns of muscles and tendons. To facilitate analyses of tendon and muscle phenotypes we compiled a description of these tissues in the forelimb of developing mouse embryos. Individual tendons, muscles, and ligaments were annotated in a series of transverse sections through the forelimb of an embryo at day 18.5 of embryonic development (E18.5). Transverse sections present a distinctive and highly reproducible pattern of the muscles and tendons at different limb levels that can be used as a simple reference in analyses of mutant phenotypes. A comparable set of sections from an embryo at E14.5 was included to highlight structural features that change during the maturation of the musculoskeletal system. The ability to define the precise position of transverse sections along the proximal–distal axis of the limb may also be useful in studies of other features in developing limbs. Developmental Dynamics 238:693–700, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Mutations Which Uncouple Transport and Phosphorylation in the d-Mannitol Phosphotransferase System of Escherichia coli K-12 and Klebsiella pneumoniae 1033-5P14

ABSTRACT Mutants of Escherichia coli K-12 were isolated which lack the normal phosphotransferase system-dependent catabolic pathway for d-mannitol (Mtl). In some mutants the pts genes for the general proteins enzyme I and histidine protein of the phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent carbohydrate phosphotransferase systems were deleted. Other mutants expressed truncated mannitol-specific enzymes II (IIMtl) which lacked the IIAMtl or IIBAMtl domain(s), and the mtlA genes originated either from E. coli K-12 or from Klebsiella pneumoniae 1033-5P14. The dalD gene from Klebsiella oxytoca M5a1 was cloned on single-copy plasmids and transformed into the strains described above. This gene encodes an NAD-dependent d-arabinitol dehydrogenase (DalD) which converts d-arabinitol into d-xylulose and also converts d-mannitol into d-fructose. The different strains were used to isolate mutations which allow efficient transport of mannitol through the nonphosphorylated IIMtl complexes by selecting for growth on this polyhydric alcohol. More than 40 different mutants were analyzed to determine their ability to grow on mannitol, as well as their ability to bind and transport free mannitol and, after restoration of the missing domain(s), their ability to phosphorylate mannitol. Four mutations were identified (E218A, E218V, H256P, and H256Y); all of these mutations are located in the highly conserved loop 5 of the IIC membrane-bound transporter, and two are located in its GIHE motif. These mutations were found to affect the various functions in different ways. Interestingly, in the presence of all IIMtl variants, whether they were in the truncated form or in the complete form, in the phosphorylated form or in the nonphosphorylated form, and in the wild-type form or in the mutated form, growth occurred on the low-affinity analogue d-arabinitol with good efficiency, while only the uncoupled mutated forms transported mannitol at a high rate.
The Trade Potential of Pakistan: An Application of the Gravity Model

This paper attempts to estimate Pakistan’s trade potential, using the gravity model of trade. Panel data for the period 1981-2005 across 42 countries is employed in the analysis. The coefficients obtained from the model are then used to predict the country’s trade potential worldwide as well as within specific trading regions. The results reveal that Pakistan’s trade potential is highest with countries in the Asia-Pacific region (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations [ASEAN]), the European Union (EU), the Middle East, Latin America, and North America. Specifically, the maximum potential exists with Japan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Malaysia, the Philippines, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Italy, and Denmark. Therefore, Pakistan should explore ways and means to further improve its trade relations with the countries concerned, and also concentrate on ASEAN, the Middle East, and the EU to increase its market share as far as possible. The volume of trade between Pakistan and other members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) is very low, despite the existence of significant potential. The main obstacles to this end are the political and social tensions among neighboring countries, particularly between Pakistan and India, which are the main players of SAARC. The same obstacles exist in the case of the EU and NAFTA, where Pakistani exports are adversely affected by political considerations.
"FROM THE WORST TO THE BEST": AN EXPLORATORY QUALITATIVE STUDY OF THE PROCESS OF SOCIAL CHANGE AT A SOUTH AFRICAN SECONDARY SCHOOL

As South Africa moves from the industrial age into the information age, all aspects of the socio-cultural, technoeconomic and political environment are changing. Therefore it is not surprising that the extensive legislative, societal and cultural changes that have characterised the educational environment since the late 1980s have significantly affected both the operational and developmental activities of previously disadvantaged schools in South Africa. Since the historic advent of a full democratic government in South Africa in 1994 education policies have been drastically restructured. The South Africa Schools Act 84 of 1996 brought changes in the school environment especially in as far as funding and school governance are concerned. The aim of this Act was to eradicate all disparities of the apartheid years. Prior to 1994 the country’s educational policy consisted of two main streams: white education and bantu education. The budget allocation ratio for white to bantu education was 4:1. This coupled with other racial policies led to the provision of inadequate resources and infrastructure and poorly qualified teachers, and resulted in a mass of disadvantaged and poorly educated South Africans. Previously disadvantaged schools, mostly situated in townships and on farms in South Africa, not only have to catch up technologically but also have to become centres of excellence where learners prepare for the global village and conform to the standards set internationally by employers (see the European IRDAC report (1993) and the USA SCANS report (1992)). According to Gray and Wilcox (1995, p. 6), education internationally and in South Africa is driven by common concerns: the spiraling costs of mass education and the consequent emphasis on value for money, the belief that education is an essential condition for achieving a competitive edge in the global economy, the need to meet the greater educational expectations of parents, and the growing awareness that the school remains the only institution for moral socialisation.
Evidence for p‐glycoprotein modification of insecticide toxicity in mosquitoes of the Culex pipiens complex

Abstract Pesticide resistance has parallels with multi‐drug resistance syndrome of tumours in clinical medicine, which has been linked to an ATP‐dependent pump, p‐glycoprotein (P‐gp). P‐gps pump drugs out of the cell, thereby reducing cellular concentrations of the chemical. P‐gps have been found in several invertebrate species and have been shown to provide a defence against environmental xenobiotics, including pesticides.
Equal opportunity affection games, critical design in Stolen Kisses

This brief paper outlines the design and development challenges of a critical design affection game. Affection games require players to flirt, kiss, hug or make love to meet their goals. The game described, named Stolen Kisses, allows players to kiss a wider variety of individuals. The game is played by placing your lips on a mobile device and balancing long kisses with short kisses across one of eight gender and racially diverse characters.