Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
New Public Management from a Human Resource Perspective: The Case of Thailand

This article examines twelve reformed agencies in Thailand, referred to as Autonomous Public Organizations, by focusing on human resource-related initiatives under New Public Management. Drawing upon qualitative data, an investigation on hands-on professional management and progressive human resource practices that are evolving within these organizations is conducted, focusing on management and employees with direct experiences. Although respondents are generally positive about the reform, several unintended consequences resembling those found in other New Public Management contexts are emerging. The fragmentation of human resource practices and internal policies among the organizations, the lack of alignment between different human resource practices and the larger organizational strategy, and an increasing roll-back to bureaucracy provide a wake up call for policy makers and reformed agencies to reassess the reform approach and outcomes that they wish to obtain.
Post–Liver Transplant Leptin Results in Resolution of Severe Recurrence of Lipodystrophy‐Associated Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis

We describe the first case of a patient undergoing orthoptic liver transplantation for acquired generalized lipodystrophy‐related nonalcoholic steatohepatitis who developed severe recurrence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in the first few months posttransplant but responded rapidly to the administration of exogenous leptin. The beneficial effects of therapy were supported by histology along with magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies, which demonstrated that leptin therapy greatly reduced fat deposition in the liver. Leptin therapy may have a role to play in preventing patients with lipodystrophy developing end‐stage liver disease or in rescuing such patients who develop disease recurrence postliver transplantation.
Fast Analysis of Transient Electromagnetic Scattering Using the Taylor Series Expansion-Enhanced Time-Domain Integral Equation Solver

This paper concentrates on an efficient fast algorithm for accelerating the marching-on-in-time-based time-domain integral equation method for the analysis of the transient electromagnetic scattering from perfect electrically conducting bodies. Taking advantage of the approximate evaluation of the vector and scalar potential terms and the Taylor series expansion of far field, the computational complexity and memory requirement of the proposed algorithm scale as O(Nt Ns log Ns) and O(N1.5s), respectively, where Nt and Ns denote the number of simulation time steps and spatial basis functions, respectively. Several numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed algorithm.
Hotel Restaurant Co-branding: The Impact of Consumer Evaluation on Perceived Risk, Perceived Value and Intention to Purchase

The purpose of this conceptual paper is to develop an understanding the role of consumer evaluation of hotel restaurant co-branding and consider how this impacts intention to purchase. Developed from the existing co-branding literature, a conceptual model of hotel-restaurant co-branding is provided. This model describes the relationship between consumer perceived risk and perceived value and their influence on consumer intention to purchase. The outcomes of the consumer evaluation of hotel restaurant co-branding are influenced by both consumer characteristics and the nature of the brand alliance. From the consumer perspective an important influential factor is the involvement with the brands (consumer accumulated brand knowledge) which is developed from past experience. The nature of the brand alliance and the consistency of brand extension attributes are also factors that influence the consumer evaluation outcome.
Noninvasive Electromagnetic Source Imaging and Granger Causality Analysis: An Electrophysiological Connectome (eConnectome) Approach

Objective: Combined source-imaging techniques and directional connectivity analysis can provide useful information about the underlying brain networks in a noninvasive fashion. Source-imaging techniques have been used successfully to either determine the source of activity or to extract source time-courses for Granger causality analysis, previously. In this work, we utilize source-imaging algorithms to both find the network nodes [regions of interest (ROI)] and then extract the activation time series for further Granger causality analysis. The aim of this work is to find network nodes objectively from noninvasive electromagnetic signals, extract activation time-courses, and apply Granger analysis on the extracted series to study brain networks under realistic conditions. Methods : Source-imaging methods are used to identify network nodes and extract time-courses and then Granger causality analysis is applied to delineate the directional functional connectivity of underlying brain networks. Computer simulations studies where the underlying network (nodes and connectivity pattern) is known were performed; additionally, this approach has been evaluated in partial epilepsy patients to study epilepsy networks from interictal and ictal signals recorded by EEG and/or Magnetoencephalography (MEG). Results: Localization errors of network nodes are less than 5 mm and normalized connectivity errors of ~20% in estimating underlying brain networks in simulation studies. Additionally, two focal epilepsy patients were studied and the identified nodes driving the epileptic network were concordant with clinical findings from intracranial recordings or surgical resection. Conclusion: Our study indicates that combined source-imaging algorithms with Granger causality analysis can identify underlying networks precisely (both in terms of network nodes location and internodal connectivity). Significance: The combined source imaging and Granger analysis technique is an effective tool for studying normal or pathological brain conditions.
Homeownership in urban China: An empirical study of the Housing Provident Fund

The relentless effort of the government to control rising house prices in urban China have differential impacts on the various segments of the population due to their differential demand for homeownership. Hence, it is important for the government to have a better understanding of the underlying demand for homeownership, especially with respect to the different demographic variables and accessibility to loans and housing providence funds (HPF), in order to provide a more comprehensive strategy and to address some of the equity issues that may arise from these countermeasures. To this effect, this paper develop and estimate a binary logit model of homeownership and accessibility to HPF loans using a variety of demographic variables. Our findings document that high school graduates are less likely to own a house while people with longer duration of employment and households who are married and with children are more likely to own a house. The results also show that gender, marital status, education level, high annual income and duration of employment are significantly related to HPF loan use for homeownership. JEL Classification: G10, G20, G21
Impact of Sleep Extension and Restriction on Children’s Emotional Lability and Impulsivity

OBJECTIVE: To examine the impact of moderate sleep extension and restriction on child behavior in school. METHODS: We conducted a randomized parallel group study to determine the impact of an experimental sleep extension (addition of 1 hour of sleep relative to baseline habitual sleep duration on weekdays) and experimental sleep restriction (elimination of 1 hour of sleep relative to baseline habitual sleep duration on weekdays) on child behavior in school. The primary outcome measures were scores on the Conners’ Global Index Scale, as determined by teachers blinded to sleep status of the participants. A sample of 34 typically developing children aged 7 to 11 years with no reported sleep problems and no behavioral, medical, or academic issues participated in the study. RESULTS: Our main findings were that (1) a cumulative extension of sleep duration of 27.36 minutes was associated with detectable improvement in Conners’ Global Index–derived emotional lability and restless-impulsive behavior scores of children in school and a significant reduction in reported daytime sleepiness; and (2) a cumulative restriction of sleep of 54.04 minutes was associated with detectable deterioration on such measures. CONCLUSIONS: A modest extension in sleep duration was associated with significant improvement in alertness and emotional regulation, whereas a modest sleep restriction had opposite effects.
Efficacy and safety profile of treatment with etoricoxib 120 mg once daily compared with indomethacin 50 mg three times daily in acute gout: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy and safety of etoricoxib and indomethacin in the treatment of patients with acute gout. METHODS A randomized, double-blind, active-comparator study was conducted at 42 sites. A total of 189 men and women (> or =18 years of age) who were experiencing an acute attack (< or =48 hours) of clinically diagnosed gout were treated for 8 days with etoricoxib, 120 mg/day (n = 103), or indomethacin, 50 mg 3 times a day (n = 86). The primary efficacy end point was the patient's assessment of pain in the study joint (0-4-point Likert scale) over days 2-5. Safety was assessed by adverse experiences (AEs) occurring during the trial. RESULTS Etoricoxib demonstrated clinical efficacy comparable to that of indomethacin in terms of the patient's assessment of pain in the study joint. The difference in the mean change from baseline over days 2-5 was -0.08 (95% confidence interval -0.29, 0.13) (P = 0.46), which fell within the prespecified comparability bounds of -0.5 to 0.5. Secondary end points over the 8-day study, including the onset of efficacy, reduction in signs of inflammation, and patient's and investigator's global assessments of response to therapy, confirmed the comparable efficacy of the two treatments. The etoricoxib-treated patients had a numerically lower incidence of AEs (43.7%) than did the indomethacin-treated patients (57.0%) and a significantly lower incidence of drug-related AEs (16.5% versus 37.2%; P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Etoricoxib at a dosage of 120 mg once daily was confirmed to be an effective treatment for acute gout. Etoricoxib was comparable in efficacy to indomethacin at a dosage of 50 mg 3 times daily, and it was generally safe and well tolerated.
Conditions for Luxury Branding by Japanese and French Companies

We aimed to define the requirements for achieving luxury branding by evaluating and comparing leading brand companies. We analyzed and considered the conditions needed to achieve luxury branding through case studies and comparative analyses of the brand companies Louis Vuitton (the leading French luxury brand company), Goyard (a French premium brand company), and SOMES SADDLE in Japan. We also use the tools of marketing strategy and customer experience for the case studies. We propose here the main points that contribute to the development of luxury brands in Japan. This information should be useful for Japanese companies interested in developing luxury brands.
Assessment of Fitness in Cerebral Palsy : Focus in Body Composition and Balance

In Cerebral Palsy (CP) increased stretch reflexes and muscle tone, weakness of involved musculature, and severe limitation of movement reduce the capacity to perform normal movements creating ambulation barriers limiting physical activity. The dependency on mobility devices, common in all disabilities, and the frequent periods of immobilization after multiple operative procedures contribute to the hypo-activity status of such children. Under these conditions, body composition may be significantly compromised. The evaluation of balance in Cerebral Palsy (CP) is an extremely difficult and complex procedure. Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Time Up and Go (TUG) and Bruininks -Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOTMP) are considered to be reliable and valid tests, able to objectively define the quantitative mutation of the balance of the child in test with CP.
Auditor Experience and the Timeliness of Litigation Loss Contingency Disclosures

This paper hypothesizes and finds that firms audited by city-level industry specialists have more timely and useful disclosures of contingent losses from litigation, a result which we show is explained by the specialist auditor’s prior experience with other clients in the same industry. A closer examination reveals that auditor quality plays no role if prior disclosures exist in other disclosure channels. In addition, firms audited by city specialists are more likely to make a litigation loss accrual even if they face meet-or-beat pressures.Investors have complained for many years that public companies fail to warn them early enough, or at all, about risks relating to litigation and other claims that ultimately result in large losses. In response to these criticisms, the FASB proposed two exposure drafts in its unsuccessful attempts to improve the timeliness and usefulness of loss contingency disclosures. The SEC has now confronted the issue and is currently seeking ways to enforce greater compliance with SFAS 5 disclosure requirements. Thus, our evidence informs the ongoing regulatory debate surrounding SFAS 5 and potentially enhances the regulatory oversight strategies of the SEC and PCAOB.
The effects of hypoxic bradycardia and extracellular HCO3−/CO2 on hypoxic performance in the eel heart

ABSTRACT During hypoxia, fishes exhibit a characteristic hypoxic bradycardia, the functional significance of which remains debated. Here, we investigated the hypothesis that hypoxic bradycardia primarily safeguards cardiac performance. In preparations from the European eel (Anguilla anguilla), a decrease in stimulation frequency from 40 to 15 beats min−1, which replicates hypoxic bradycardia in vivo, vastly improved cardiac performance during hypoxia in vitro. As eels display dramatic shifts in extracellular HCO3−/CO2, we further investigated the effect this has upon hypoxic cardiac performance. Elevations from 10 mmol l−1 HCO3−/1% CO2 to 40 mmol l−1 HCO3−/4% CO2 had few effects on performance; however, further, but still physiologically relevant, increases to 70 mmol l−1 HCO3−/7% CO2 compromised hypoxia tolerance. We revealed a four-way interaction between HCO3−/CO2, contraction frequency, hypoxia and performance over time, whereby the benefit of hypoxic bradycardia was most prolonged at 10 mmol l−1 HCO3−/1% CO2. Together, our data suggest that hypoxic bradycardia greatly benefits cardiac performance, but its significance may be context specific. Summary: Bradycardia (slowed heart rate) substantially improves hypoxia tolerance of eel myocardium, but its specific effect is dependent on extracellular bicarbonate and CO2 concentrations.
Principles of Metalevel Control

Author(s): Hay, Nicholas James | Advisor(s): Russell, Stuart | Abstract: Intelligent agents perform computations to help them decide how to act. But which computations will best inform these decisions? How long should an agent think before acting? Given the impracticality of performing all possible relevant computations, AI systems need effective strategies for metalevel control—that is, for choosing computations that contribute most to the (object-level) action selection problem.This thesis presents a theoretical basis for metalevel control problems, situating it within the frameworks of Bayesian selection problems and Markov decision processes. We present some fundamental results concerning the structure of these problems and the nature of their solutions. These results establish bounds on the number of computations performed by optimal policies and clarify how the context of multiple actions affects the choice of computation.For a more empirical investigation of metalevel control, we apply reinforcement learning techniques to the problem of controlling Monte Carlo tree search. This requires learning a metalevel policy to choose which computation to perform as a function of the internal state of the tree search. To represent an learnable class of efficient policies, we describe how Monte Carlo tree search can be implemented using pointed trees, a recursive data structure that allows efficient evaluation of recursive functions and their derivatives. We propose a concrete class of policies that includes UCT and AlphaGo as special cases, along with a method for providing metalevel shaping rewards. We show that by initializing the metalevel policy to UCT, reinforcement learning can find metalevel policies that outperform UCT for smaller numbers of computations in the domain of computer Hex.These results demonstrate the benefits of a solid theoretical understanding of metalevel control, as well as the potential for using metalevel reinforcement learning to replace hand- crafted algorithm design.
Structured treatment interruptions in antiretroviral management of HIV-1

The consequences of treatment interruptions have been investigated in various patient populations. For patients with controlled viraemia, treatment interruption allowing viral rebound may boost HIV-1-specific immunity. The hypothesis that this will be sufficient to control HIV replication in the absence of treatment has received support in studies of patients initiating treatment during primary infections. In patients with chronic infection, treatment interruption has been shown to boost HIV-1-specific immunity in some cases. In patients with virological failure, despite drug-resistant virus, treatment appears to provide benefit, in that interruption results in a decrease in the CD4 cell count and increases in plasma HIV-1-RNA levels. The removal of drug pressure allows the rapid shift to wild-type virus. Whether this will be of benefit to the patient is not clear. Treatment interruption may help reduce the accumulation of long-term toxicities.
Role in Virulence of a Brucella abortus Protein Exhibiting Lectin-Like Activity

ABSTRACT Brucella abortus is a facultative, intracellular zoonotic pathogen which can cause undulant fever in humans and abortions in cattle. A 14-kDa protein of B. abortus was previously identified to be immunogenic in animals infected with Brucella spp. In this study, we discovered that the 14-kDa protein possessed immunoglobulin binding and hemagglutination properties that appeared to be based on the protein's lectin-like properties. Hemagglutination inhibition experiments suggested that the 14-kDa protein has affinity towards mannose. Disruption of the gene encoding the 14-kDa protein in virulent B. abortus strain 2308 induced a rough-like phenotype with an altered smooth lipopolysaccharide (LPS) immunoblot profile and a significant reduction in the bacterium's ability to replicate in mouse spleens. However, the mutant strain was stably maintained in mouse spleens at 2.0 to 2.6 log10 CFU/spleen from day 1 to week 6 after intraperitoneal inoculation with 4.65 log10 CFU. In contrast to the case for the smooth virulent strain 2308, in the rough attenuated strain RB51 disruption of the 14-kDa protein's gene had no effect on the mouse clearance pattern. These findings indicate that the 14-kDa protein of B. abortus possesses lectin-like properties and is essential for the virulence of the species, probably because of its direct or indirect role in the synthesis of smooth LPS.
Analyses of the impact of current load change on a current-mode constant on-time buck converter regulator

For recent energy-saving computer power converter products, it's required to provide a very tightly regulated voltage under very stringent current load change conditions. In this paper, this issue is dealt with for a current-mode constant on-time buck converter. An issue about beat frequency effects analysis is first given using modulation spectrum theory and small-signal frequency-domain model. This analysis provides insight into the complexity of the issue. Then a time-domain approach is used to derive converter output voltage ripple in terms of converter load current excitation. The results are verified in experiments. A mathematical solution is established for estimating the worst-case output ripple voltage due to repetitive large-step AC load current excitation of wide-range frequencies.
Differential Effect of White-Matter Lesions and Covert Brain Infarcts on the Risk of Ischemic Stroke and Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Background and Purpose— We examined the association of white-matter hyperintensity (WMH) volume and covert brain infarcts, which are the 2 major magnetic resonance imaging markers of covert cerebrovascular disease in older adults, with long-term risk of ischemic stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in the general population. Methods— Participants were 1731 individuals aged ≥65 years from the Three-City Dijon study. We studied the association of WMH volume and brain infarct, with incident ischemic stroke overall, and by subtype, and with incident ICH. Results— High total, periventricular, and deep WMHs were associated with incident ICH. Extensive periventricular WMH volume was associated with increased risk of ischemic stroke (hazard ratio, 1.94; 95% confidence interval, 1.12–3.35), particularly cardioembolic stroke. Covert brain infarcts were associated with incident ICH but not with incident ischemic stroke or its subtypes. Conclusions— Although of ischemic nature, both WMH volume and covert brain infarcts portend a major risk of ICH. If confirmed in independent studies, these findings could have important implications for the clinical management of covert vascular brain lesions.
Predictive model for the growth of Yersinia enterocolitica under modified atmospheres

A quadratic response surface model is presented to describe the maximum specific growth rate of Yersinia enterocolitica, at refrigeration temperatures, under modified atmospheres. The presence of CO2 affected mainly the lag phase of the organism. The length of the lag phase increased with higher levels of CO2 in the atmosphere, and this effect was more noticeable at low temperatures. The effect of oxygen was similar but less pronounced. The observed growth was slower with higher CO2. Oxygen also decreased the growth rate, but its effect was significant only when its proportion in the atmosphere was greater than about 40%. Model predictions were compared with growth rates obtained in sea food inoculated with Y. enterocolitica and packaged under modified atmospheres. Predictions were also checked to determine whether they were inside the strict interpolation region of the model.
Deoxycytidine Triphosphate Deaminase: Identification and Function in Salmonella typhimurium

The biosynthesis of 2′-deoxyuridine monophosphate (dUMP) has been studied in a cytidine- and uracil-requiring mutant of Salmonella typhimurium (DP-55). The dUMP pool and the thymidine monophosphate (dTMP) pool of DP-55, grown in the presence of 3H-uracil and unlabeled cytidine, are found to have the same specific activities. However, only 30% of the dUMP and the dTMP is synthesized from a uridine nucleotide. Seventy per cent is derived directly from a cytosine compound. The identification and partial purification of a Mg2+-dependent 2′-deoxycytidine triphosphate (dCTP) deaminase from S. typhimurium suggests that the combined action of dCTP deaminase and 2′-deoxyuridine triphosphate pyrophosphatase accounts for 70% of the dUMP, and therefore the dTMP, synthesized in vivo. The introduction of a thymine requirement (i.e., a block in thymidylate synthetase) into DP-55 results in a 100-fold increase in the size of the dUMP pool. However, the relative contribution of the uridine and cytidine pathways to dUMP synthesis is unaltered. The high dUMP pool is accompanied by extensive catabolism of dUMP to uracil. Partial thymine starvation of the cells results in a significant increase in the dUMP and dCTP pools. Moreover, an increase in the contribution of the dCTP pathway to dUMP synthesis is observed. As a result of these changes the catabolism of dUMP to uracil is augmented.