Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Age-associated changes in quantitative ultrasonometry (QUS) of the os calcis in Lebanese women-assessment of a Lebanese reference population.

OBJECTIVE This study was aimed to assess age changes in quantitative ultrasonometry (QUS) in a large sample of Lebanese women to determine a Lebanese reference population. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA) and speed of sound (SOS) and the stiffness index (SI) of the os calcaneus was measured in 4,320 women with a mean age of 52.5 years (age range 20 to 79 years) using three identical Achilles Express (GE/Lunar) and one Achilles Plus (GE/Lunar) ultrasonometry devices. Women were randomly selected and asked to participate in a nationwide screening program using the media, conferences, telephone calls etc. Measurements were performed at Red Cross centers located all over the country. No inclusion or exclusion criteria were used. RESULTS There was an overall decline of 19.2% for BUA, 3.1% for SOS and 30.3% for SI between late adolescence and old age. In premenopausal women, BUA decreased only slightly by 3%, while postmenopausal women showed a significant decline of 16.2%. In contrast, SOS continuously decreased from the age of 42; there was a decline of 0.8% from adolescence to the menopause; postmenopausal women showed a larger decline of 2.4%. The SI of premenopausal women decreased by 6%, while postmenopausal women showed a significantly larger decline of 24.3%. SI value for the female Lebanese young adult reference is 8% lower than that of the American and European women (92 SI units compared to 100). At the age of 42, SI value for the Lebanese women is 10.4% lower than the American women and 7.5% lower than the European women (86 SI units compared to 96 and 93, respectively). At the age of 75, SI values for the Lebanese women is 4.4% lower than the American women and the European women (65 SI units compared to 68). The decline in stiffness index for the Lebanese women between age 20 and 75 years is about 30.3% compared to 32% for the American or European reference curves. The rate of decrease for the Lebanese women was 0.2 SI units per year for the premenopausal period, and 0.7 SI units per year for the postmenopausal period. CONCLUSION The age-related female, Lebanese reference curve was significantly different from the American and the European reference curves used by the manufacturer. Therefore, the use of our standardized reference data instead of the proposed US or European database reduces the risk of overestimating osteoporosis in the Lebanese population. The impact of our results on the prevalence of osteoporotic fracture in Lebanon has to be evaluated later on.
Paediatric tracheostomy

Abstract Fifty-seven operations on 53 patients represents the total experience of tracheostomy in children under 13 years during 1964–1985 in an area with half a million inhabitants. No complications occurred during surgery and no deaths were related to the operations. Complications followed 16 out of 30 (53%) operations on children under three years and four out of 27 (15%) of the remainder, an overall complication rate of 35%. Many fewer operations have been required since 1973 because of the successful employment of nasotracheal intubation in the treatment of upper and lower airway obstruction caused by acute infection. Obstruction by-pass remains the commonest function of tracheostomy, with congenital lesions and trauma now the commonest causes of obstruction as opposed to acute infection in the earlier years. Despite the successful use of nasotracheal intubation there were absolute indications for tracheostomy—blockage of the nasotracheal tube; inability to intubate a child with epiglottitis; and necessity for an artificial airway of long duration.
Corporate governance and the timeliness of financial reporting: a comparative study of the People's Republic of China, the USA and the European Union

Purpose – Timeliness of financial reporting is one of the attributes of good corporate governance identified by the OECD and World Bank. Shareholders and other stakeholders need information while it is still fresh and the more time that passes between year‐end and disclosure, the more stale the information becomes and the less value it has. This paper aims to examine the timeliness of financial reporting in the People's Republic of China and to compare it to timeliness in the USA and the European Union (EU). Design/methodology/approach – The timeliness of financial reporting was measured by counting the number of days that elapsed between year‐end and the date of the independent auditor's report for Chinese companies listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and a selection of public companies in the USA and EU. Results were then compared to determine whether there was a significant difference. This study also compares timeliness data on the basis of audit firm to determine whether companies audited by one of .
Fiscal Marksmanship in Pakistan

Using Theil’s inequality coefficient based on the mean square prediction error, this paper evaluates the forecasting efficiency of the central government budget and revised budget estimates in Pakistan for the period 1987/88 to 2007/08 and decomposes the errors into biasedness, unequal variation and random components to analyze the source of error. The results reveal that budgetary forecasting is inefficient in Pakistan and the error is due mainly to exogenous variables (random factors). We also find that neither the budget nor revised budget estimates of revenue and expenditure satisfy the criteria of rational expectations of forecasting. Further, there is very little evidence of improvement in the efficiency of budgetary forecasts over time.
Retinoic acid-dependent eye morphogenesis is orchestrated by neural crest cells

Using genetic approaches in the mouse, we show that the primary target tissue of retinoic acid (RA) action during eye morphogenesis is not the retina nor the corneal ectoderm, which both express RA-synthesizing retinaldehyde dehydrogenases (RALDH1 and RALDH3), but the neural crest cell-derived periocular mesenchyme (POM), which is devoid of RALDH. In POM, the effects of the paracrine RA signal are mediated by the nuclear RA receptors heterodimers RXRα/RARβ and RXRα/RARγ. These heterodimers appear to control: (1) the remodeling of the POM through activation of Eya2-related apoptosis; (2) the expression of Foxc1 and Pitx2, which play crucial roles in anterior eye segment development; and (3) the growth of the ventral retina. We additionally show that RALDH1 and RALDH3 are the only enzymes that are required for RA synthesis in the eye region from E10.5 to E13.5, and that patterning of the dorsoventral axis of the retina does not require RA.
AccountAbility 1000: a new social standard for building sustainability

The pressing need to build common frameworks to redefine the performance and sustainability of organisations, has led to the development of a new standard, AccountAbility 1000 (AA1000). AA1000 is a quality framework that aims to make clear how principles of accountability and sustainability are related and complementary. Accountability is founded in democracy and is also the principle used as the basis of financial and other forms of accounting, auditing and reporting. In accountability’s relationship to sustainability, however, there has been little clarity. Sustainability – defined broadly by the concept of the triple bottom line – is underpinned by three forms of accountability: social‐ethical, environmental and economic accountability. With the introduction of a new social standard AA1000, the difficult‐to‐bridge gaps within the sustainability debate – between morality and science, measurement and performance, inclusion and exclusion – are addressed using a model of accountability. AA1000, it is argued, represents an innovation for sustainability by linking the development of accounting, auditing and reporting of sustainability with the need to create legitimacy for outcomes, through a process of stakeholder engagement and inclusion.
Changes in whole-tree water relations during ontogeny of Pinus flexilis and Pinus ponderosa in a high-elevation meadow.

We measured sap flux in Pinus ponderosa Laws. and Pinus flexilis James trees in a high-elevation meadow in northern Arizona that has been invaded by conifers over the last 150 years. Sap flux and environmental data were collected from July 1 to September 1, 2000, and used to estimate leaf specific transpiration rate (El), canopy conductance (Gc) and whole-plant hydraulic conductance (Kh). Leaf area to sapwood area ratio (LA/SA) increased with increasing tree size in P. flexilis, but decreased with increasing tree size in P. ponderosa. Both Gc and Kh decreased with increasing tree size in P. flexilis, and showed no clear trends with tree size in P. ponderosa. For both species, Gc was lower in the summer dry season than in the summer rainy season, but El did not change between wet and dry summer seasons. Midday water potential (Psi(mid)) did not change across seasons for either species, whereas predawn water potential (Psi(pre)) tracked variation in soil water content across seasons. Pinus flexilis showed greater stomatal response to vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and maintained higher Psi(mid) than P. ponderosa. Both species showed greater sensitivity to VPD at high photosynthetically active radiation (PAR; > 2500 micromol m-2 s-1) than at low PAR (< 2500 micromol m-2 s-1). We conclude that the direction of change in Gc and Kh with increasing tree size differed between co-occurring Pinus species, and was influenced by changes in LA/SA. Whole-tree water use and El were similar between wet and dry summer seasons, possibly because of tight stomatal control over water loss.
An Introduction to Risk Communication for International Agricultural and Extension Educators

Interest in risk communication by Extension has mushroomed in recent years (Hutcheson, 1999). One explanation for this increased interest is the passage of right-toknow laws related to exposures to agricultural and environmental risk agents. Another stems from increased public fear and concern about exposure to agricultural and environmental risk agents and the corresponding demand for risk information. A third reason is the increased number of media reports focused on agricultural and environmental issues. The fourth reason underlies the first three - the loss of trust in government and industry as credible sources of information about agricultural and environmental risks. The purpose of this report is to review the main findings from literature on risk, risk perceptions, and risk communication. The objective is to provide the agricultural and Extension educator with a general outline of the literature on risk communication and to relate this research to specific techniques and approaches that can be put into practice for building international partnerships for sustainable Extension and rural development.
The Rise of China and the Demise of the Capitalist World-Economy: Exploring Historical Possibilities in the 21st Century

China's rising importance in the capitalist world- economy raises questions of world-historic significance. How is China's internal social structure likely to evolve as China assumes different positions in the existing world system? Will China's cur- rent regime of accumulation survive the potential pressures aris- ing out of the transformation? How will other peripheral and semi-peripheral states be affected? Can the reemerging China- centered civilization provide solutions to the problems left be- hind by U. S. hegemony? If not, how will the rise of China affect the underlying dynamics of the existing world system? The exist- ing world system may have entered into a structural crisis. Can the system survive the rise of China? In the age of transition, in- stead of expecting the same pattern of systemic dynamics with which we have become familiar, it may be more appropriate to expect bifurcation, chaos, transformations, and the "turns" and "tricks" of history.
Does location matter? An empirical investigation of flexibility patterns in foreign and domestic companies in five European countries

A major field of discussion about globalization is the role multinational enterprises play in an international economy. The essence of the debate lies in the distribution of power between the two centres of influence – multinational corporations, on the one hand, and the institutional setting of nation states, on the other. Is it the local environment (country-specific settings) that exerts the decisive influence on the organization of employment and production or is it the corporate environment (corporate settings) of the companies in question? The aim of this contribution is to analyze flexibility patterns of foreign owned companies compared with domestic owned companies in five European countries with respect to the aforementioned debate. The analysis uses the EUCOWE dataset which is based on an enterprise survey in six countries (France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom) in 2003. By comparing foreign owned with domestic owned companies, similarities and differences between companies and between countries were analysed. The results show a hierarchy of effects influencing the flexibility patterns of enterprises. The analysis gives strong support to the argument that the institutional framework of countries is still a key factor for the organization of labour even within multinational corporations.
Genomic Characterization of Ralstonia solanacearum Phage φRSA1 and Its Related Prophage (φRSX) in Strain GMI1000

ABSTRACT φRSA1 is a wide-host-range bacteriophage isolated from Ralstonia solanacearum. In this study, the complete nucleotide sequence of the φRSA1 genomic DNA was determined. The genome was 38,760 bp of double-stranded DNA (65.3% G+C) with 19-bp 5′-extruding cohesive ends (cos) and contained 51 open reading frames (ORFs). Two-thirds of the φRSA1 genomic region encodes the phage structural modules, and they are very similar to those reported for coliphage P2 and P2-like phages. A φRSA1 minireplicon with an 8.2-kbp early-expressing region was constructed. A late-expression promoter sequence motif was predicted for these φRSA1 genes as 5′ TGTTGT-(X)13-ACAACA. The genomic sequence similarity between φRSA1 and related phages φ52237 and φCTX was interrupted by three AT islands, one of which contained an insertion sequence element, suggesting that they were recombinational hot spots. φRSA1 was found to be integrated into at least three different strains of R. solanacearum, and the chromosomal integration site (attB) was identified as the 3′ portion of the arginine tRNA(CCG) gene. In the light of the φRSA1 gene arrangement, one possible prophage sequence previously detected on the chromosome of R. solanacearum strain GMI1000 was characterized as a φRSA1-related prophage (designated φRSX). φRSX was found to be integrated at the serine tRNA (GGA) gene as an att site, and its size was determined to be 40,713 bp. φRSX ORFs shared very high amino acid identity with their φRSA1 counterparts. The relationships and evolution of these P2-like phages are discussed.
App-Based Bradykinesia Tasks for Clinic and Home Assessment in Parkinson's Disease: Reliability and Responsiveness.

BACKGROUND Clinical rating of bradykinesia in Parkinson disease (PD) is challenging as it must combine several movement features into a single score. Additionally, in-clinic assessment cannot capture fluctuations throughout the day. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the reliability and responsiveness of a motion sensor-based tablet app for objective bradykinesia assessment in clinic and at home as compared to clinical ratings. METHODS Thirty-two PD patients treated with subthalamic deep brain stimulation (DBS) were outfitted with a motion sensor on the index finger of the more affected hand to perform two repetitions of finger-tapping, hand opening-closing, and arm pronation-supination tasks with DBS on and 10, 20, and 30 minutes after turning DBS off. Tasks were videotaped for blinded clinician rating using the Modified Bradykinesia Rating Scale (MBRS). Participants were then sent home with an app-based system to perform two repetitions of the same tasks six times per day spaced two hours apart, three days per week, for two weeks. Intraclass correlation (ICC) and minimal detectable change (MDC) were calculated. RESULTS As the effects of DBS wore off, motion sensors detected worsening of amplitude sooner than did clinician-rated MBRS for all three tasks. ICCs were significantly higher and MDCs were significantly lower for motion sensors in the clinic and at home than for clinician ratings (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS The tablet-based app demonstrated higher reliability and responsiveness in capturing bradykinesia-related tasks in the clinic and at home than did clinician ratings. This tool may enhance the assessment of novel therapies.
On the mechanism of protein fold‐switching by a molecular sensor

Alternate frame folding (AFF) is a mechanism by which conformational change can be engineered into a protein. The protein structure switches from the wild‐type fold (N) to a circularly‐permuted fold (N′), or vice versa, in response to a signaling event such as ligand binding. Despite the fact that the two native states have similar structures, their interconversion involves folding and unfolding of large parts of the molecule. This rearrangement is reported by fluorescent groups whose relative proximities change as a result of the order–disorder transition. The nature of the conformational change is expected to be similar from protein to protein; thus, it may be possible to employ AFF as a general method to create optical biosensors. Toward that goal, we test basic aspects of the AFF mechanism using the AFF variant of calbindin D9k. A simple three‐state model for fold switching holds that N and N′ interconvert through the unfolded state. This model predicts that the fundamental properties of the switch—calcium binding affinity, signal response (i.e., fluorescence change upon binding), and switching rate—can be controlled by altering the relative stabilities of N and N′. We find that selectively destabilizing N or N′ changes the equilibrium properties of the switch (binding affinity and signal response) in accordance with the model. However, kinetic data indicate that the switching pathway does not require whole‐molecule unfolding. The rate is instead limited by unfolding of a portion of the protein, possibly in concert with folding of a corresponding region. Proteins 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Partner Choice

Travel agencies seeking to improve their product development performance increasingly engage in collaborative product development with their suppliers. From the perspective of collaboration, the independent travel agent has a future, provided it makes appropriate investment in technology and creates competitive differentiation. The research goals of this study were to investigate how market-focused strategic adaptation among the members of travel agent collaborations affects perceived market performance. Data were obtained via a mailed questionnaire survey of a sample of travel agencies. The model and the hypotheses were tested using a structural equation modeling approach. The findings of this study provide interesting insights for travel agencies interested in partner choice. Customer competence has emerged as an important asset in travel agent collaboration, which can be used to increase the productivities of knowledge works through the management of product and service innovation; different strategies are discussed in terms of different segments of customers within the collaboration.
Dynamics of Tourism Development and Aspects of Sustainability: A Case Study of Ladakh

In a region like Ladakh which is an arid, high altitude, ecologically fragile, strategically located, culturally rich but sensitive area known for its unique Tibetan Buddhist culture, tourism was abruptly introduced with inadequate planning primarily to foster economic development and growth. In a short span of about two-and-a-half decades the self-sufficient agricultural economy following the barter system of trade has been converted to a cash economy, with a high dependence on the tourist industry for revenue and employment generation. It has also resulted in the degradation of physical and socio-cultural environment, which is the prime attraction for tourists. If this trend continues tourists will no longer be motivated to visit this region thus adversely impacting the tourism industry and consequently the economy of the region. Ways have to be found where tourism and environment can co-exist without damaging each other. The need of the hour is to formulate, develop and implement a pragmatic policy of sustainable tourism with the help and active participation of the local community by adopting the ‘bottom-up’ approach.
Operating characteristics, risk, and performance of born‐global firms

Purpose – To determine what characteristics distinguish firms that conduct international business within three years of going public and six years from founding, and how these firms perform. Design/methodology/approach – A logistic regression analysis is used to identify characteristics that distinguish firms that are international at the time they go public, versus those that are not. The paper also assesses post-IPO performance and apply multivariate analysis to determine how performance varies among these firms. Findings – Compared to firms of similar age who do not pursue rapid internationalization, born-global firms are generally larger, more diversified, and have more venture capital backing. Their founders, board members and managers exhibit more international experience. The returns 12 and 18 months post-IPO are significantly higher for born-global firms than for a control sample of firms who do not engage in rapid internationalization. Furthermore, those born-global firms with joint ventures or acquisitions in several countries perform better than those that only export within the first six years since their inception. Research limitations/implications – Managerial implications include having a board of directors with sound international business experience as well as using a venture capital firm to provide monitoring and oversight of operations at home and in the foreign market. Originality/value – This paper is original in that it is the first to provide a financial markets-oriented empirical investigation of the “born-global” phenomenon using a sample of newly public American firms.
Inferring semantic similarity through correlating information contents of gene ontology terms

Successful applications of the gene ontology to infer functional relationships between gene products in recent years have raised the need for computational methods to automatically calculate semantic similarity between gene products based on the gene ontology. To meet this challenge, several methods have been proposed to derive semantic similarity between gene products based on semantic similarity of gene ontology terms. However, these methods, though having been widely used in a variety of applications, may significantly overestimate semantic similarity between genes that are actually not functional related, thereby yielding misleading results in applications. To overcome this limitation, we propose to represent a gene product as a vector that is composed of information contents of gene ontology terms annotated for the gene product. Results show that semantic similarity scores calculated using our proposed method are more consistent with known biological knowledge than those derived using a list of existing methods, suggesting the effectiveness of our method in characterizing functional relationships between gene products.