Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Acute Otorrhea in Children with Tympanostomy Tubes: Prevalence of Bacteria and Viruses in the Post-Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Era

Background: Acute tympanostomy-tube otorrhea is a common sequela in children with tympanostomy tubes. Acute tympanostomy-tube otorrhea is generally a symptom of an acute middle ear infection, whereby middle ear fluid drains through the tube. The widespread use of pneumococcal conjugate vaccination (PCV) has changed the bacterial prevalence in the upper respiratory tract of children, but its impact on bacterial and viral pathogens causing acute tympanostomy-tube otorrhea is yet unknown. Methods: This study was performed in the post-PCV7 era parallel to a randomized clinical trial of the clinical and cost–effectiveness of ototopical and systemic antibiotics and initial observation in 230 children aged 1 to 10 years with untreated, uncomplicated acute tympanostomy-tube otorrhea. Otorrhea and nasopharyngeal samples were collected at baseline (before treatment) and at 2 weeks (after treatment). Conventional bacterial culture was performed followed by antimicrobial-resistance assessment. Viruses were identified by polymerase chain reaction. Results: At baseline, Haemophilus influenzae (41%), Staphylococcus aureus (40%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (18%) were the most prevalent bacteria in otorrhea, followed by Streptococcus pneumoniae (7%) and Moraxella catarrhalis (4%). Most pneumococci were non-PCV7 serotypes. Viruses were detected in 45 otorrhea samples at baseline (21%). Most infections were polymicrobial and overall antimicrobial resistance was low. Conclusions: H. influenzae, S. aureus and P. aeruginosa are the most common microorganisms in children with untreated uncomplicated acute tympanostomy-tube otorrhea. Prevalence of S. pneumoniae has decreased since the introduction of PCV and most pneumococci are nonvaccine serotypes.
Anion exchanger and the resistance against thermal haemolysis

4,4′-Diiso-thiocyanato stilbene-2,2′-disulphonic acid (DIDS) is a membrane-impermeable, highly specific covalent inhibitor and powerful thermal stabiliser of the anion exchanger (AE1), the major integral protein of erythrocyte membrane (EM). Suspensions of control and DIDS-treated (15 µM, pH 8.2) human erythrocytes were heated from 20° to 70°C using various but constant heating rates (1–8°C/min). The cellular electrolyte leakage exhibited a sigmoidal response to temperature as detected by conductometry. The critical midpoint temperature of leakage, Tmo, extrapolated to low heating rate (0.5°C/min) was used as a measure for EM thermostability. Tmo was greater for DIDS-treated erythrocytes, 63.2° ± 0.3°C, than for intact erythrocytes, 60.7° ± 0.2°C. The time, t1/2, for 50% haemolysis of erythrocytes, exposed to 53°C was used as a measure for the resistance of erythrocytes against thermal haemolysis. The t1/2 was also greater for DIDS-treated erythrocytes, 63 ± 3 min, than for intact erythrocytes, 38 ± 2 min. The fluorescent label N-(3-pyrenyl)maleimide and EPR spin label 3-maleimido-proxyl, covalently bound to sulphydryl groups of major EM proteins, were used to monitor the changes in molecular motions during transient heating. Both labels reported an intensification of the motional dynamics at the denaturation temperatures of spectrin (50°C) and AE1 (67°C), and, surprisingly, immobilisation of a major EM protein, presumably the AE1, at Tmo. The above results are interpreted in favour of the possible involvement of a predenaturational rearrangement of AE1 copies in the EM thermostability and the resistance against thermal haemolysis.
Support context-aware IoT content request in Information Centric networks

In Internet of Things (IoT) applications such as smart home and remote car maintenance, etc., a client usually requests a content with certain contextual requirements. Such contextual requirements need to be fulfilled by the returned content, otherwise the network bandwidth is wasted in transmitting the content that the client does not want. The Information-Centric Networking (ICN) has regarded as the promising network architecture for IoT applications. But it lacks of the support of context-aware content retrieval. The paper proposes a context-aware solution that is integrated into the ICN infrastructure. The simulation results show the significant performance improvement of the proposed solution over random selection and round robin with different network settings.
Recession fears as self-fulfilling prophecies? Influence on stock returns and output

Market participants must rely upon probability assessments of the current state of the economy, that is, their rational ex-ante estimates of recession fears, when making financial and investment decisions. This paper explores whether ex-ante recession fears, modelled using probit analysis of coincident indicators, affect stock returns and output during recessions as well as upturns. Ex-ante recession fears are unrelated to stock returns, an unexpected result that is explained by the lead-lag relationship between recession turning points and subsequent stock market recoveries. Ex-ante recession fears have important dampening effects on output during and, especially, prior to recessions, thus suggesting that recession fears can potentially become self-fulfilling.
Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Evaluation of the Prostate

Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) is a novel MR technique that allows to interrogate pharmacokinetic processes in the tissues at a voxel level and to generate parametric maps that can be displayed for clinical interpretation. Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI is an important imaging technique for the imaging of angiogenesis and vasculogenesis because it probes the microvascular networks at a microscopic level by being sensitive to the compartmentalization of tissue into the vascular and extravascular-extracellular space and to the diffusion of contrast molecules across the vascular endothelium and capillary boundaries. Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI has already shown to improve detection and localization of prostate cancer, to improve prediction of extracapsular extension, determination of tumor volume, and after treatment follow-up. In this article, we outline the fundamental principles of DCE-MRI and describe the application of DCE methods in the imaging of the prostate.
Efficiency And Productivity Growth Across The Italian Regions: The Regional Divide Revisited

In this paper we study the efficiency and total factor productivity growth of Italian regions by implementing a bootstrap Data Envelopment Analysis method. This approach allows us to perform a sensitivity analysis of the efficiency scores at regional level, in which human capital is included besides traditional inputs. Higher levels of average years of schooling were important for efficiency and TFP growth in the Northern and Central regions. Conversely, the overall scarce human capital accumulation in Southern regions negatively affected their performances. However, both DEA and analysis of decomposition of productivity growth, conducted by means of Malmquist’s index, highlighted that also in Southern regions, in which the growth rate of human capital and TFP was remarkable, the contribution of the improvement in pure efficiency to economic growth was totally nonessential.
On Some Auction Rules for Amicable Divorce in Equal Share Partnerships

Partnerships form and dissolve. Dissolution often requires a change in property rights, from joint to single ownership, in the hands of one of the partners. This calls for a dissolution rule that assigns full property rights to the partner who makes the best use of these assets, and assures fair compensation of those who give up their ownership rights. The present paper analyzes two simple auction rules to solve these problems.
To Reveal or Not to Reveal: Know-How Disclosure and Joint Ventures in Procurement Auctions

Firm's incentives to form joint ventures are analyzed in an incomplete-information framework when technological know-how is private information. Firms first decide on cooperation and then compete in a second-price procurement auction. Provided that firms indicate their willingness to cooperate by revealing a fraction of their know-how, it can be shown that noncooperation is always an equilibrium. If spillovers are sufficiently low, cooperation can also occur in equilibrium. For intermediate levels of spillovers there exists an equilibrium in which only firms with low know-how cooperate.
Employer disability practice in Britain: assessing the impact of the Positive About Disabled People ‘Two Ticks’ symbol

This article assesses the extent to which employers displaying the Positive About Disabled People ‘Two Ticks’ symbol adhere to the five commitments they are expected to uphold and whether adherence to these commitments is greater in Two Ticks than non-Two Ticks workplaces. It also assesses levels of employer support for and dialogue with Disability Champions in Two Ticks workplaces. These issues are explored in the public and private sectors separately. The analysis finds only limited adherence to the five commitments in Two Ticks workplaces, no consistent evidence that adherence is higher in Two Ticks than non-Two Ticks workplaces and limited evidence of support for and dialogue with Disability Champions in Two Ticks workplaces. It also finds little evidence of variation between public and private sector workplaces.
Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Effects of Epidural Anaesthesia

Epidural anaesthesia has been used since the early 1900s. Consequently the general characteristics of these procedures have been well defined. More studies have provided a better understanding of the cardiopulmonary changes produced by epidural anaesthesia. The cardiovascular effects observed with epidural anaesthesia are complex and variable, depending on a multitude of factors. The extent of sympathetic denervation, balance of sympathetic and parasympathetic activity, the pharmacological effect of systemically absorbed local anaesthetic agents, inclusion of adrenaline in the anaesthetic solution, the distribution of blood in relation to cardiac filling and cardiovascular function of the patient must be taken into account when considering the circulatory effects of epidural anaesthesia. Individual cardiovascular response to different levels of sympathetic blockade varies widely, depending on the degree of sympathetic tone before the block. Epidural anaesthesia that is restricted to the level of the low thoracic and lumbar region (T5-L4) results in a “peripheral” sympathetic blockade with vascular dilatation in the pelvis and lower limbs. High thoracic epidural anaesthesia, from the first to fifth thoracic, blocks the cardiac afferent and efferent sympathetic fibres with loss of chronotropic and inotropic drive to the myocardium. Thoracic epidural anaesthesia appears to at least partly reverse the diaphragmatic dysfunction that is a major determinant of the decrease in lung volumes observed after upper abdominal surgery. This article summarizes cardiovascular and pulmonary responses to epidural anaesthesia. Details of clinical management are not included in the review.
Biology and action of colony‐stimulating factor‐1

Colony‐stimulating factor‐1 (CSF‐1), also known as macrophage colony‐stimulating factor, controls the survival, proliferation, and differentiation of mono‐nuclear phagocytes and regulates cells of the female reproductive tract. It appears to play an autocrine and/or paracrine role in cancers of the ovary, endometrium, breast, and myeloid and lymphoid tissues. Through alternative mRNA splicing and differential post‐translational proteolytic processing, CSF‐1 can either be secreted into the circulation as a glycoprotein or chondroitin sulfate‐containing proteoglycan or be expressed as a membrane‐spanning glycoprotein on the surface of CSF‐1‐producing cells. Studies with the op/op mouse, which possesses an inactivating mutation in the CSF‐1 gene, have established the central role of CSF‐1 in directly regulating osteoclastogenesis and macrophage production. CSF‐1 appears to preferentially regulate the development of macrophages found in tissues undergoing active morphogenesis and/or tissue remodeling. These CSF‐1 dependent macrophages may, via putative trophic and/or scavenger functions, regulate characteristics such as dermal thickness, male fertility, and neural processing. Apart from its expression on mononuclear phagocytes and their precursors, CSF‐1 receptor (CSF‐1R) expression on certain nonmononuclear phagocytic cells in the female reproductive tract and studies in the op/op mouse indicate that CSF‐1 plays important roles in female reproduction. Restoration of circulating CSF‐1 to op/op mice has preliminarily defined target cell populations that are regulated either humorally or locally by the synthesis of cell‐surface CSF‐1 or by sequestration of the CSF‐1 proteoglycan. The CSF‐1R is a tyrosine kinase encoded by the c‐fms proto‐oncogene product. Studies by several groups have used cells expressing either the murine or human CSF‐1R in fibroblasts to pinpoint the requirement of kinase activity and the importance of various receptor tyrosine phosphorylation sites for signaling pathways stimulated by CSF‐1. To investigate post‐CSF‐1R signaling in the macrophage, proteins that are rapidly phosphorylated on tyrosine in response to CSF‐1 have been identified, together with proteins associated with them. Studies on several of these proteins, including protein tyrosine phosphatase 1C, the c‐cbl proto‐oncogene product, and protein tyrosine phosphatase‐phi are discussed. Mol Reprod Dev 46:4–10, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Can Simple Informational Nudges Increase Employee Participation in a 401(K) Plan?

We report results from a field experiment in which a randomized subset of newly hired workers at a large financial institution received a flyer containing information about the employer's 401(k) plan and the value of contributions compounding over a career. Younger workers who received the flyer were significantly more likely to begin contributing to the plan relative to their peers in the control group. Many workers do not participate in their employers' supplemental retirement savings programs, even though these programs offer substantial tax advantages and immediate returns due to matching contributions. From a survey of new hires, we find that many workers choose not to contribute to the plan because they have other financial priorities. However, some nonparticipants lack the financial literacy to appreciate the benefit. These findings indicate that simple informational interventions can nudge workers to participate in retirement saving plans and enhance individual well-being and retirement income security.
Harvest-Time Protein Shocks and Price Adjustment in U.S. Wheat Markets

Dynamic relationships among three classes of wheat are investigated using threshold VAR models that incorporate the effects of protein availability. Changes in the stock of protein are found to generate significant responses in the prices of hard red spring wheat and hard red winter wheat, but not soft red wheat. The responses to identical changes in protein stocks are larger when the magnitudes of deviations of protein stocks from normal levels are large. Shocks to the prices of individual classes of wheat result in complex responses in the prices of the other wheat classes. Notably, however, a shock to the price of hard red winter wheat appears to result in little or no response in the price of hard spring wheat, though importantly, the opposite is not true.
Collateral cerebral vascular resistance in patients with significant carotid stenosis.

This study tests, the hypothesis that asymptomatic patients with hemodynamically significant internal carotid artery stenosis have a lower ipsilateral collateral cerebral vascular resistance and hence greater blood flow than their symptomatic cohorts. We measured internal carotid artery blood flow and cerebral perfusion pressures intraoperatively prior to and after carotid endarterectomy in 35 symptomatic and 10 asymptomatic patients with hemodynamically significant internal carotid artery stenosis. When the stenosis produced 30% or greater reduction in blood flow the calculated nondimensional normalized ratio of collateral cerebral vascular resistance of ipsilateral hemisphere cerebral vascular resistance was 1.15 +/− 0.83 (mean +/− SD) for the 10 asymptomatic patients and 2.98 +/− 1.89 for the 35 symptomatic patients (p = 0.0044). For the subgroup of 22 patients with 50% or greater reduction in internal carotid artery blood flow the resistance ratios were 0.782 +/− 0.541 for the 5 asymptomatic patients and 3.21 +/− 2.26 for the 17 symptomatic patients (p = 0.029). These results suggest that asymptomatic patients with hemodynamically significant internal carotid artery stenoses have a lower collateral cerebral vascular resistance than their symptomatic cohorts. The low collateral resistance may provide an adequate collateral cerebral blood flow to prevent ischemia and symptoms.
Arbitrage, Factor Structure, and Mean-Variance Analysis on Large Asset Markets

We examine the implications of arbitrage in a market with many assets. The absence of arbitrage opportunities implies that the linear functionals that give the mean and cost of a portfolio are continuous; hence there exist unique portfolios that represent these functionals. These portfolios span the mean-variance efficient set. We resolve the question of when a market with many assets permits so much diversification that risk-free investment opportunities are available. Ross 112, 141 showed that if there is a factor structure, then the mean returns are approximately linear functions of factor loadings. We define an approximate factor structure and show that this weaker restriction is sufficient for Ross' result. If the covariance matrix of the asset returns has only K unbounded eigenvalues, then there is an approximate factor structure and it is unique. The corresponding K eigenvectors converge and play the role of factor loadings. Hence only a principal component analysis is needed in empirical work.
Politics of Financial Reporting and the Consequences for the Public Sector

This article examines the political processes surrounding public sector accounting standard setting, in particular, the Australian decision to adopt sector-neutral International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). It contends that the history of private and public sector involvement in the accounting standard setting process to date, and recourse to regulatory theory, assist in understanding these contemporary developments. The article reveals that private sector interests have dominated accounting standard setters at all important stages of standard setting in Australia. It concludes by arguing that, given this continued neglect by standard setters, if public sector financial reporting standards are to remain relevant to the public sector, then it may be necessary for public sector regulators to set their own standards.
RETHINKING RESTRICTIONS ON PLAYER MOBILITY IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

This article considers the possibility that transactions costs and asymmetric income effects have altered the distribution of talent in the aftermath of institutional changes in Major League Baseball. This contradicts the invariance principle of Coase's theorem. Empirical evidence tracking player movement and competitive balance over the past 50 years conclusively supports these stands. Free agency, when permitted to proceed with limited intereference, has increased the rate that productive players transfer and has also improved some measures of competitive balance. Competitive balance is also shown to have improved with the implementation of the draft. Policy prescriptions calling for increased restrictions on player mobility are ill advised. Copyright 2002 Western Economic Association International.
The educational leadership challenge : redefining leadership for the 21st century

Part I of the National Society for the Study of Education's 101st yearbook explores the changing context of educational leadership in the twenty-first century through the lenses of school improvement, social justice, and democratic community. Authors discuss topics such as leadership roles for teachers, principals, and superintendents; rethinking professional development for school leaders; school improvement processes for building instructional capacity; and the evolving role of leadership in education over time.
Performance appraisal: essential characteristics for strategic control

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the need for and propose a more aligned and integrated standard for performance evaluation to enhance effective strategic control.Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews the various issues creating discontent with the performance appraisal systems within many organizations and demonstrates how these problems inhibit successful strategic control. It attempts to cogently incorporate the performance appraisal characteristics needed for the exercise to function as a critical organizational control metric and a useful feedback mechanism for strategic management of the firm.Findings – The paper finds that, whereas performance evaluation has received reasonably robust examination in the human resources literature, explicit guidance toward the integration with strategic control is inadequate. Without consistent alignment between these functions, however, performance appraisal becomes an exercise in futility instead of a vital control measurement, often.
Developing Tamil emotional speech corpus and evaluating using SVM

Finding the user's emotion it can be used for business development and psychological analysis. The motivation of this paper is to build the Tamil emotional corpus for being base for the emotional analysis based on the acoustic variations present and to make Tamil emotional corpus available in public domain. Tamil Play will be used as main resource for building the emotional corpus. Basically, emotions like Happy, Neural, Sad, Fear and Anger are taken for this analysis purpose. And also for the accuracy purpose from the play both Male and Female Speakers emotional speech have been considered. The observer's perception test result will be used to evaluate annotation of emotion. Tamil emotional speech corpus have been built and Emotion Recognition engine has been constructed using Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier with the features like MFCC and Energy.