Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effect of a multicomponent literacy instruction model on literacy growth for kindergartners and first-grade students in Chile.

In the present study we examined the impact of a comprehensive literacy instruction model called Collaborative Language and Literacy Instruction Project (CLLIP) on language and literacy achievement over the course of a year by Spanish-speaking children in Chile. Participants included kindergartners (N = 312) from high and low socioeconomic backgrounds and first-grade students (N = 305) from high SES families. The CLLIP model targeted phonological awareness, alphabetics and phonics, fluency, vocabulary, reading comprehension and writing, and included coaching and sustained follow-up as key elements for teacher professional development. The results showed promise for the CLLIP model in the Chilean context. Kindergartners in CLLIP classrooms had faster growth rates in letter naming, word reading, vocabulary, and phonemic segmentation fluency than those in control classrooms, and had higher scores at the end of the year in phonemic segmentation fluency, letter naming, and word reading. In addition, kindergartners from high SES families had faster growth rates than kindergartners from low SES families in letter naming and word reading. Effect sizes ranged from small (d = .18 in word reading) to fairly large (d = .70 in letter-naming fluency). First-grade students in CLLIP classrooms had faster growth rates than students in control classrooms in vocabulary, nonword reading fluency, word reading, and reading comprehension. Effect sizes were small in vocabulary, nonword reading fluency, and reading comprehension (.23 ≤ d ≤ .28) and medium in word reading (d = .50). These results suggest that the present multicomponent literacy instructional model had a positive impact on Chilean children's literacy acquisition.
Submucosal gland secretions in airways from cystic fibrosis patients have normal [Na+] and pH but elevated viscosity

Fluid and macromolecule secretion by submucosal glands in mammalian airways is believed to be important in normal airway physiology and in the pathophysiology of cystic fibrosis (CF). An in situ fluorescence method was applied to measure the ionic composition and viscosity of freshly secreted fluid from airway glands. Fragments of human large airways obtained at the time of lung transplantation were mounted in a humidified perfusion chamber and the mucosal surface was covered by a thin layer of oil. Individual droplets of secreted fluid were microinjected with fluorescent indicators for measurement of [Na+], [Cl−], and pH by ratio imaging fluorescence microscopy and viscosity by fluorescence recovery after photobleaching. After carbachol stimulation, 0.1–0.5 μl of fluid accumulated in spherical droplets at gland orifices in ≈3–5 min. In gland fluid from normal human airways, [Na+] was 94 ± 8 mM, [Cl−] was 92 ± 12 mM, and pH was 6.97 ± 0.06 (SE, n = 7 humans, more than five glands studied per sample). Apparent fluid viscosity was 2.7 ± 0.3-fold greater than that of saline. Neither [Na+] nor pH differed in gland fluid from CF airways, but viscosity was significantly elevated by ≈2-fold compared to normal airways. These results represent the first direct measurements of ionic composition and viscosity in uncontaminated human gland secretions and indicate similar [Na+], [Cl−], and pH to that in the airway surface liquid. The elevated gland fluid viscosity in CF may be an important factor promoting bacterial colonization and airway disease.
The Political Economy of the Resource Curse

How does a state's natural resource wealth influence its economic development? For the past fifty years, versions of this question have been explored by both economists and political scientists. New research suggests that resource wealth tends to harm economic growth, yet there is little agreement on why this occurs. This article reviews a wide range of recent attempts in both economics and political science to explain the “resource curse. ” It suggests that much has been learned about the economic problems of resource exporters but less is known about their political problems. The disparity between strong findings on economic matters and weak findings on political ones partly reflects the failure of political scientists to carefully test their own theories.
Chlamydia trachomatis - the agent.

Chlamydiae are obligate intracellular bacteria, parasitizing eukaryotic cells. Chlamydia trachomatis, C. psittaci and C. pneumoniae are the three species of chlamydiae pathogenic to humans. C. trachomatis shows a tropism for the genital and conjunctival epithelia and consists of 19 different serovars which are pathogenic predominantly for the urogenital tract.A distinguishing feature of chlamydiae is their transition between the infectious elementary body that enters the host cell and the non-infectious reticulate body that replicates intracellularly within an inclusion that does not fuse with lysosomes. Chlamydiae depend for some functions upon the host cell; in particular, chlamydiae have little capacity for generating energy. The complete sequence of the 1000-kb chromosome of C. trachomatis is known, as are most of the genes located on the 7.5-kb cryptic plasmid. Recently, several concepts about the biology and the metabolic pathways of C. trachomatis have been revised in relation to the genome sequence, and different novel proteins have been described.
Prospective randomized trial of two different immunoadsorbers in severe systemic lupus erythematosus.

Experiences with extracorporeal therapy in systemic lupus erythematosus have been published over the last 20 years and more. In addition to plasmapheresis, specific adsorption columns have been developed to deplete pathogenic antibodies and immune complexes in the plasma of patients with SLE. We conducted a prospective randomized trial to compare the efficacy of a disposable adsorption column, which contained a specific ligand, phenylalanine (IMPH-350|Pt, Diamed, Köln, Germany) with a regenerable Ig-adsorbing column containing sheep anti-human antibodies (Ig-Therasorb|Pt, Therasorb, München, Germany). Twenty SLE patients inadequately controlled with corticosteroids, anti-malarials, azathioprine or cyclosporine A, had strong evidence of disease in general, or an organ related SLAM score. They were randomized to receive either a perfusion of IMPH-350, or Ig-Therasorb, immunoadsorbed with 2.5 ml of plasma, three times each. The treatment regime was repeated after 4 weeks when the response was limited or non-existent. Response was defined as a reduction in the SLAM score of at least 30%. SLAM scores in the IMPH group decreased from 14.3+/-5.6 to 9.2+/-6.2 after 1 month and to 9.4+/-3.9 after 6 months; corresponding scores in the Ig-Therasorb group were 18.3+/-5. 5 to 11.2+/-7.6, decreasing to 9.2+/-2.9. After 1 month, 8/10 patients in both groups showed a response; after 6 months, 5/10 patients in the IMPH-350 group and 8/10 in the Ig-Therasorb group fulfilled the response criteria. Reduction of dsDNA antibodies directly after treatment was 50.8+/-6.6% in the IMPH-350 group and 61.0+/-8.0% in the IgTherasorb group. Results indicate that immunoadsorption is an additional option in the treatment of severe SLE. Choice of type of immunoadsorber and immunosuppressive treatment has to take into account the severity and chronicity of common disease activity and organ involvement, as well as economic aspects.
Managerial Enterprise and Competitive Capabilities

This article relates the managerial enterprise (a firm in which decisions as to current production and distribution and allocation of resources for future production and distribution are made by salaried managers with little or no equity in the firms they operate in) to competitive success in the new capital-intensive industries that began to appear in the United States and Western Europe after the completion of modern transportation and communication networks. It begins by examining the reasons for the rapid rise of managerial firms in these industries, the global oligopolistic competition that ensued, and the organisational capabilities such competition engendered. It then reviews the competitive performance of such firms in global markets in chemicals, metals, electrical equipment, and heavy and light machinery in the early years of the century, motor vehicles in the inter-war years, and computers and semiconductors after World War II. These managerial firms grew by moving into foreign or related produ.
Investment principles of the Bible: How Christian businesses cultivate wealth and attain relevance in the 21st century

The aim of this paper is to establish the relevance of major investment principles of the Bible in today's business world. Approached from the Sowing and Reaping Principle, the paper identifies an uncertainty gap between sowing and harvest times and concludes that the Divine Presence completes the vacuum. The paper further asserts that investment in Biblical terms and today's investment methods have three important stages in common: sowing, tending and the harvest times. Finally, the paper illustrates that God's Hand is in all investments of resources whether in the Biblical times or today. The Christian investor operates by faith; the modern entrepreneur works by sight based on empirical statistics and logic. However, both achieve the bottom-line in measurable statistics. This paper would benefit not only Christian business people, but also, scholars of finance, religion and economics.
Post-Implementation Reviews for IASB and FASB Standards: A Comparison of the Process and Findings for the Operating Segments Standards

Abstract The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) have recently completed post-implementation reviews (PIRs) for their converged standards on operating segments IFRS 8 and SFAS 131. The two accounting bodies use PIRs as an additional standard assessment mechanism. This paper (1) provides an overview of the main differences and similarities between the two PIR processes and (2) compares the findings of the PIRs on the operating segment standards supplemented with insights from a survey of the segment information notes of a sample of STOXX Europe 600 companies. The IASB and the FAF set the specific PIR objectives and conduct the information gathering phase differently. For the IFRS 8 and SFAS 131 PIRs, these differences meant that the FAF focused more narrowly on how SFAS 131 performs compared to the previous standard, while the IASB is aimed to more broadly assess constituents' views on whether IFRS 8 works well in practice. Comparing the PIR findings for the operating segments standards is warranted given that the standards are converged and that the standard setters re-expressed their commitment to keep them substantially converged. Uniform PIR processes could have eased the cooperation in maintaining convergence. Given the different scope of the reviews, standard setters will need to find a common ground on how to proceed and which issues to address further.
Road map for Africa's recovery : challenges and recommendations for structural reform

A road map for the reversal of Africa's marginalisation and under-development, to put the continent on a sustainable growth and development path, should be guided by both framework conditions and factors that promote economic growth and structural change. This article investigates structural reform in developing countries, including strategic frameworks like NEPAD and the APRM. The author accordingly suggests the inclusion of various policy initiatives, including political stability; the dynamic transformation of production structures; development of and improvement in the quality of institutions; improvement in the quality of human resources; and broader macro-economic stability, and improvement in infrastructure. Nevertheless, even an ideal framework would face the long and diffi cult task of overcoming the marginalisation and backwardness in Africa. African Insight Vol. 36 (3&4) 2006: pp. 11-25
Impact of Migration on Economic and Social Development: A Review of Evidence and Emerging Issues

This paper provides a review of the literature on the development impact of migration and remittances on origin countries and on destination countries in the South. International migration is an ever-growing phenomenon that has important development implications for both sending and receiving countries. For a sending country, migration and the resulting remittances lead to increased incomes and poverty reduction, and improved health and educational outcomes, and promote economic development. Yet these gains might come at substantial social costs to the migrants and their families. Since many developing countries are also large recipients of international migrants, they face challenges of integration of immigrants, job competition between migrant and native workers, and fiscal costs associated with provision of social services to the migrants. This paper also summarizes incipient discussions on the impacts of migration on climate change, democratic values, demographics, national identity, and security. In conclusion, the paper highlights a few policy recommendations calling for better integration of migration in development policies in the South and the North, improving data collection on migration and remittance flows, leveraging remittances for improving access to finance of recipient households and countries, improving recruitment mechanisms, and facilitating international labor mobility through safe and legal channels.
Development and validation of an improving prescribing in the elderly tool.

OBJECTIVE To apply recently published consensus panel guidelines to a series of hospital inpatient charts to develop and validate a brief screening tool for potentially inappropriate prescriptions in the elderly. SETTING A 400-bed acute care hospital in London, Ontario. METHODS Three hundred and sixty-one consecutive inpatient charts, 185 from a clinical teaching unit (CTU) and 176 from a geriatric assessment unit (GAU) were examined for potentially inappropriate prescriptions as listed by McLeod et al. The potentially inappropriate prescribing practices detected were used to develop the Improving Prescribing in the Elderly Tool (IPET). Construct validity was examined by looking for a predicted difference in the rate of potentially inappropriate prescriptions between the CTU and the GAU. Interrater reliability was determined by applying the IPET to a new series of 100 charts. RESULTS Forty-two of 361 individuals (12.5%) had 45 potentially inappropriate prescriptions representing 14 different potential drug/disease interactions; these were used to construct the IPET. A demonstrated difference in the rate of potentially inappropriate prescriptions between the CTU and GAU indicated construct validity. The interrater reliability of the IPET (kappa) when applied to a new series of 100 charts was 1.0. INTERPRETATION The IPET is a brief, reliable and valid tool based on the published literature that may be used to screen for potentially inappropriate prescriptions in the elderly.
Testing unbiasedness in futures markets: A clarification

where 5,,^ is the spot price at maturity time, m, for the j-th futures contract, and Fi,m-n is the futures price of the i-th contract n days prior to maturity time, m. The empirical test of the unbiasedness involves the use of an OLS estimate of the eq. (1) to perform an F test on the joint null hypothesis: a = 0 and b = 1. The collective evidence from previous studies suggest that a > 0 and b < I; i.e., the unbiasedness hypothesis is rejected in the futures markets. In a recent article of this Journal, Maberly (1985) questions the validity of an OLS procedure estimating eq. (1). Maberly argues that the OLS estimates are biased as a result of an ex-post censored data problem related to the forecast error. Ex-post the forecast error and the forecast are negatively correlated. More recently, Elam and Dixon (1988) disagree with this characterization of the source of the problem. They argue that if the spot/futures price changes follow a random walk, eq. (1) turns in a regression model with a lagged dependent variable and it is then this lagged dependent variable which has caused an excessively higher number of rejections of the unbiasedness hypothesis in previous studies. Based on Elam and Dixon (1988), if the spot price is described by the following nonstationary process,
Low voltage system state estimation based on smart metering infrastructure

The accurate monitoring of distribution grids is essential to enable the intelligent management and control of future Smart Grids. Several challenges prevent an easy development of the state estimation tools needed to assess the operating conditions of distribution networks. The lack of a suitable measurement infrastructure is one of the most challenging aspects to face. However, in last years, several utilities started a massive deployment of smart meters in their networks. The proper use of these measurements is key to enhance the performance of distribution system state estimators. This paper presents a two-level approach conceived to efficiently include smart meter measurements in low voltage grid state estimation. The proposed solution relies on a cloud-based smart metering architecture, which allows scalability and interoperability among different off-the-shelf meters. Moreover, a suitable design of the estimation algorithm, using the uncertainty propagation theory, is proposed in order to maximize the accuracy of the estimation results. Tests performed on a sample low voltage network show the performance and the main features of the proposed state estimation solution.
Government Contracts and “Managing the Market”

Theory tells us that competition is the chief driver of improved efficiency and effectiveness in government contracting, yet contract provider markets are often noncompetitive. This study offers a detailed, contextualized examination of public administrative responses to thin contract markets. Following an inductive approach with data from semistructured interviews with contract administrators, the authors offer a preliminary typology of the conditions that give rise to thin markets, and the “market management” strategies used to create, enhance, and sustain competition in the markets from where governments purchase goods and services. The authors then review the efficacy and implications of these strategies for public services to citizens.
Business Cycles under Monetary Union: A Comparison of the EU and US

This paper documents business cycle similarities and differences among the 12 Federal Reserve districts in the USA and the 15 countries that make up the EU. The comparison is suggestive of what might be expected to emerge in the way of business cycle synchronization from a monetary union between the member states of the EU. Copyright 2000 by The London School of Economics and Political Science
A Periodic Review Inventory Model with Demand Influenced by Promotion Decisions

In this paper, we use a Markov decision process (MDP) to model the joint inventorypromotion decision problem. The state variable of the MDP represents the demand state brought about by changing environmental factors as well as promotion decisions. The demand state in a period determines the distribution of the random demand in that period. Optimal inventory and promotion decision policies in the finite horizon problem are obtained via dynamic programming. Under certain conditions, we show that there is a threshold inventory level P for each demand state such that if the threshold is exceeded, then it is desirable to promote the product. For the proportional ordering cost case, the optimal inventory replenishment policy is a base-stock type policy with the optimal base-stock level dependent on the promotion decision.
Autonomous drone control system for object tracking: Flexible system design with implementation example

This paper contains presentation of the flexible control system for an autonomous UAV (unmanned air vehicle). The complete description of hardware and software solutions used to realize autonomous flight are presented in this work. Main objective of the research was to develop software which provides ease of adjustment and extendibility to drone system with different equipment. Presented system is utilizable on various hardware platforms and is capable of realizing different missions with minimal adjustments. Described concept significantly simplifies designing complex system by introducing modular architecture. Presented method of dividing software components into modules with single functionality minimizes amount of work necessary to adjust system in case of changes in hardware. Presented general concept of system architecture is backed up with real life working model designed for tracking and landing on moving target. This paper contains detailed description of algorithms used in the project. Landing area detection is accomplished with vision system. Canny's edge detection algorithm with contour shape analysis algorithm is used for marker detection. Lucas-Kanade optical flow algorithm is applied for tracking detected pattern. Mission planning is realized as dedicated state machine developed for this particular task. System design is built with use of ROS (Robot Operating System) and is utilizing its subscriber-publisher method of data exchange between separated software units. Especially designed frame is used as hardware platform. Exemplary system is realized with Raspberry Pi 3 as onboard computer and Pixhawk flight controller. This concept and the exemplary system is a result of preparation for Mohamed Bin Zayed International Robotic Challenge 2017 in Abu Dhabi. Results from experiments performed as trials for the competition and future prospects are presented in this paper.
Can pharmacogenetics help smokers quit?

Cigarette smoking is the largest preventable cause of death and morbidity in the USA, Europe and the rest of the developed world [1]. Despite decades of research to develop effective smoking cessation treatments, a large proportion of smokers who attempt to quit are doomed to fail [2]. Nicotine is the principal addictive chemical in tobacco smoke, but despite the addicting properties of nicotine there is nevertheless substantial interindividual variation in the level of nicotine dependence among cigarette smokers, as well as in therapeutic response to smoking cessation pharmacotherapies [2]. Therefore, the public health impact of cigarette smoking remains substantial, which means that any improvement in the currently modest success rates achieved by smokers attempting to quit would have the potential to afford a considerable improvement in public health. These observations have prompted a growing interest in pharmacogenetics research to determine whether the efficacy of different pharmacotherapies for the treatment of nicotine dependence is influenced by inherited variation in drug-metabolizing enzymes and drug targets [3,4]. To date, only a limited number of pharmacogenetic studies of smoking cessation pharmacotherapies have been published. Two studies have investigated nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), one an open-label trial of transdermal patch versus nasal spray [5–7], and the other a randomized controlled trial of transdermal patch versus placebo [8,9]. Three studies have investigated sustained-release bupropion, including two randomized controlled trials of bupropion versus placebo [5,10–12], and one open-label effectiveness trial [13]. Finally, one study has investigated venlafaxine versus placebo in a randomized controlled trial [14]. Based on the neurobiology of reward [15,16], these pharmacogenetic analyses have focused on genes in the dopamine pathway, the