Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antecedents and Consequences of Public Procurement Non-compliance Behavior

This paper proposes a conceptualization of the antecedents and consequences of compliance/ noncompliance behaviour in public procurement. It was motivated by the paucity of studies on public procurement compliance in Uganda, despite the evidently rampant non-complaint behaviour exhibited and a realization by recent researchers that less research has been conducted on organizational misbehaviors and non-compliance in purchasing and supply management. There are also scanty (if any) studies that have incorporated antecedents and consequences of public procurement compliance in a comprehensive single framework such as proposed in this study. Through a review of existing scholarly works, documents, records and reports, a conceptual frame work was developed in which media publicity, enforcement, records management, organizational culture, political interference, professionalism, organizational incentives, perceived rule legitimacy, moral obligation, social influence, familiarity with rules and top management support were identified as antecedents while cognitive dissonance, low employee motivation, low corruption, better corporate governance and low service delivery were established as consequences. It is hoped that future researchers will utilize the current proposed conceptual model to conduct empirical studies on public procurement compliance in Uganda and other geographical contexts. This will provide practical implications that will assist to avert the unbridled squander of colossal amount of money through flouting public procurement procedures.
Prevention of intraoperative awareness in a high-risk surgical population.

BACKGROUND Unintended intraoperative awareness, which occurs when general anesthesia is not achieved or maintained, affects up to 1% of patients at high risk for this complication. We tested the hypothesis that a protocol incorporating the electroencephalogram-derived bispectral index (BIS) is superior to a protocol incorporating standard monitoring of end-tidal anesthetic-agent concentration (ETAC) for the prevention of awareness. METHODS We conducted a prospective, randomized, evaluator-blinded trial at three medical centers. We randomly assigned 6041 patients at high risk for awareness to BIS-guided anesthesia (with an audible alert if the BIS value was <40 or >60, on a scale of 0 to 100, with 0 indicating the suppression of detectable brain electrical activity and 100 indicating the awake state) or ETAC-guided anesthesia (with an audible alert if the ETAC was <0.7 or >1.3 minimum alveolar concentration). In addition to audible alerts, the protocols included structured education and checklists. Superiority of the BIS protocol was assessed with the use of a one-sided Fisher's exact test. RESULTS A total of 7 of 2861 patients (0.24%) in the BIS group, as compared with 2 of 2852 (0.07%) in the ETAC group, who were interviewed postoperatively had definite intraoperative awareness (a difference of 0.17 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.03 to 0.38; P=0.98). Thus, the superiority of the BIS protocol was not demonstrated. A total of 19 cases of definite or possible intraoperative awareness (0.66%) occurred in the BIS group, as compared with 8 (0.28%) in the ETAC group (a difference of 0.38 percentage points; 95% CI, 0.03 to 0.74; P=0.99), with the superiority of the BIS protocol again not demonstrated. There was no difference between the groups with respect to the amount of anesthesia administered or the rate of major postoperative adverse outcomes. CONCLUSIONS The superiority of the BIS protocol was not established; contrary to expectations, fewer patients in the ETAC group than in the BIS group experienced awareness. (Funded by the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research and others; BAG-RECALL ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00682825.).
Wirkung der Kommunikation von Preiserhöhungen auf das Verhalten von Verbraucherinnen und Verbrauchern

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Choroidal Neovascularization and Coincident Perforating Scleral Vessels in Pathologic Myopia

Purpose To describe the coincidence of perforating scleral vessels and choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in pathologic myopia. Methods Medical records and multimodal imaging were reviewed from patients with CNV secondary to pathologic myopia who presented to the Medical Retina and Imaging Unit of San Raffaele Hospital in Milan between October 2015 and March 2016. Main outcomes were the prevalence of coincident perforating scleral vessels and overlying CNV and association between perforating scleral vessels and CNV position within the macula and neovascular activity. Results Forty-one eyes of 39 patients (6 male, 33 female, mean age 63.7 ± 14.1 years) with CNV secondary to pathologic myopia were included in the study. Scleral perforating vessels (average number of perforating vessels per eye 2.1 ± 1.0) were found in 29 out of 41 eyes (70.7%) at the site of CNV. There was no association between presence of perforating vessels and neovascular activity or CNV position. Conclusions Perforating scleral vessels are often coincident with myopic CNV. We hypothesize that scleral vessels located beneath myopic CNV can play a role in neovascular development.
An Integrative Case Study of Positive Youth Development in a Recreational Community Sport Program

ii Co-Authorship. iv Acknowledgements . v List of Figures . viii List of Tables . ix Chapter 1: General Introduction . 1 Chapter 2: Literature Review . 3 Chapter 3: Just for the fun of it: Coaches’ perceptions of an exemplary community youth sport program 21 Abstract . 22 Introduction . 23 Method . 25 Results . 29 Discussion . 38 References . 44 Chapter 4: The organizational culture of a community youth sport program . 48 Abstract . 49 Introduction . 50 Method . 54 Results . 61 Discussion . 73 References . 78 Chapter 5: Positive youth development and observed athlete behaviour in recreational sport . 81 Abstract . 82 Introduction . 83 Methods . 86 Results . 93 Discussion . 98 References . 105 Chapter 6: General Discussion . 109 Appendix A Study 1: Letter of Information and Consent Form . 125 Appendix B Study 1: Interview Guide . 129 Appendix C Study 2: Letters of Information and Consent Forms . 132 vii Appendix D Study 2: Interview Guides . 139 Appendix E Study 3: Letters of Information and Consent Forms . 145 Appendix F 4 Cs Questionnaire Package . 153 Appendix G Athlete Behaviour Coding System – Coding Manual . 160 Appendix H Mean duration of observed behaviours . 170
Comparative metabolism of the tobacco-specific nitrosamines 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone and 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol by rat cytochrome P450 2A3 and human cytochrome P450 2A13.

The tobacco-specific nitrosamine 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) and its carbonyl-reduction product, 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL), are potent lung carcinogens in rats and are presumed human lung carcinogens. NNK and NNAL are bioactivated to DNA-binding intermediates via hydroxylation of the carbon atoms adjacent to the nitroso moiety (i.e., alpha-hydroxylation) by cytochrome p450s (p450s). Therefore, it is important to delineate which p450s are efficient catalysts of this metabolic transformation. In this study, the kinetic parameters for NNK and NNAL metabolism were determined for two extrahepatic p450s that are expressed in the lung: rat p450 2A3 and human p450 2A13. p450s 2A3 and 2A13 exhibited Vmax values for NNK 4-hydroxylation of 10.8 +/- 0.4 and 13.8 +/- 0.8 pmol min-1 pmol P450-1, respectively; the corresponding Km values were 4.6 +/- 0.5 and 3.6 +/- 0.7 microM. The respective Vmax values for p450 2A3- and 2A13-mediated N-methyl hydroxylation of NNK were 8.2 +/- 0.3 and 4.6 +/- 0.2 pmol min-1 pmol p450-1. These data indicate that p450s 2A3 and 2A13 are both efficient catalysts of the metabolic activation of NNK and are, along with mouse p450 2A5, the best catalysts of this reaction currently known. Both enzymes also catalyzed the alpha-hydroxylation and N-oxidation of NNAL, and its oxidation to NNK. In general, Vmax/Km values for NNAL metabolism were 1 to 2 orders of magnitude lower than those for NNK metabolism, and p450 2A3 was a slightly better catalyst of NNAL metabolism than was p450 2A13. Given the exquisite sensitivity of the rat lung to NNK-induced carcinogenesis, the efficient bioactivation of NNK by rat p450 2A3, and the similar catalytic efficiency of p450s 2A3 and 2A13, p450 2A13 may be an important contributor to NNK bioactivation in the human lung.
Density functional theory with dispersion corrections for supramolecular structures, aggregates, and complexes of (bio)organic molecules.

Kohn-Sham density functional theory (KS-DFT) is nowadays the most widely used quantum chemical method for electronic structure calculations in chemistry and physics. Its further application in e.g. supramolecular chemistry or biochemistry has mainly been hampered by the inability of almost all current density functionals to describe the ubiquitous attractive long-range van der Waals (dispersion) interactions. We review here methods to overcome this defect, and describe in detail a very successful correction that is based on damped -C(6). R(-6) potentials (DFT-D). As examples we consider the non-covalent inter- and intra-molecular interactions in unsaturated organic molecules (so-called pi-pi stacking in benzenes and dyes), in biologically relevant systems (nucleic acid bases/pairs, proteins, and 'folding' models), between fluorinated molecules, between curved aromatics (corannulene and carbon nanotubes) and small molecules, and for the encapsulation of methane in water clusters. In selected cases we partition the interaction energies into the most relevant contributions from exchange-repulsion, electrostatics, and dispersion in order to provide qualitative insight into the binding character.
Psychological well-being in relation to frailty: a frailty identity crisis?

ABSTRACT Background: Frailty can be defined as the presence of multiple, interacting medical and functional problems. Frailty is associated with psychiatric conditions but its relation to psychological well-being is unclear. A “frailty identity crisis” has been proposed as a maladaptive response to the sense of self as health deficits accumulate. We evaluated this so-called identity crisis by investigating associations between well-being, frailty, and mortality in community-dwelling older Canadians. Methods: In this secondary analysis of the Canadian Study of Health and Aging (N = 5,703; age 70+), frailty was defined by an index of 33 health deficits. Psychological well-being was measured using Ryff's 18-item scale, with six domains (autonomy, personal growth, environmental mastery, positive relations, purpose in life, and self-acceptance). Cognition was measured using the Modified Mini-Mental State Examination. Associations between well-being, frailty, and mortality were measured using linear regression, adjusting for age, sex, education, cognition, and mental health. Results: For each additional frailty-defining deficit, the psychological well-being score worsened by 0.3 points (0.29, 95% CI: 0.22–0.36, p < 0.001), independent of age, sex, education, cognition, and mental health. Among the six domains of well-being, only “purpose in life” and “autonomy” were not associated with frailty (all others, p < 0.001). Worse psychological well-being was associated with five-year mortality independent of age, sex, education, frailty, and mental health; this association was not statistically significant when adjusting for baseline cognition. Conclusions: Frailty was associated with low levels of well-being. Psychological well-being impaired by a frailty identity crisis may play an important role in defining subjective health in older adults.
Therapeutic Interventions for Aphasia Initiated More than Six Months Post Stroke: A Review of the Evidence

Abstract Background: Aphasia effects up to 38% of acute stroke patients. For many of these individuals, this condition persists far beyond the acute phase. The purpose of this review is to evaluate the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions for aphasia initiated more than 6 months post stroke. Methods: A literature search was conducted for articles in which aphasia treatments were initiated more than 6 months post stroke. Searches were conducted in multiple databases including MEDLINE, Scopus, CINAHL, and EMBASE. Results: A total of 21 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) met the inclusion criteria. There is good evidence to suggest that the use of computer-based treatments, constraint-induced therapy, intensity of therapy, group language therapies, and training conversation/communication partners are effective treatments for chronic aphasia. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, transcranial direct current stimulation, and the use of the drugs piracetam, donepezil, memantime, and galantamine have also demonstrated evidence that they are effective treatments of aphasia 6 months or more post stroke onset. Neither filmed language instruction nor the drug bromocriptine has been shown to be effective in treating chronic aphasia. Conclusions: There is evidence to support the use of a number of treatments for chronic aphasia post stroke. Further research is required to fully support the use of these interventions and to explore the effectiveness of other aphasia interventions in the chronic stage.
Factors affecting the capture of dietary nitrogen by micro-organisms in the forestomachs of the young steer. Experiments with [15N]urea

1. For a period of at least 2 weeks before an experimental collection each of four young steers received total daily intakes consisting of approximately (g/kg) 600 straw and 400 concentrates with the nitrogen provided mainly as urea and in which the main energy source was starch (tapioca) for diet 1 and glucose for diet 2. Concentrates were given twice daily at about 09·00 and 17·00 hours, straw at 17·00 hours only. The value for the ratio, rumen-degradable N: metabolisable energy (g/MJ) in the daily intake was estimated to be approximately 1·2. 2. On the day that an experimental collection was to be made the urea normally given in the feed at 09·00 hours was labelled with 15N. This urea and sometimes the appropriate energy source were added either as a single dose (SD) at 09·00 hours or in three equally-divided doses (DD) at 09·00, 11·00 and 13·00 hours. Treatments, given in a Latin-square design, were: (A), starch (SD)+ urea (SD); (B), starch (SD) + urea (DD); (C), glucose (SD) + urea (DD); (D), glucose (DD) + urea (DD). Doses of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and 144Ce (as cerous chloride) were given as markers with the urea. 3. After these doses were given, samples of abomasal and duodenal digesta were taken periodically for 72 h. It appeared that virtually all the PEG had left the rumen by this time and mean recovery of 144Ce relative to PEG was approximately 90%. From recoveries of non-ammonia-15N (microbial 15N) at the abomasum, estimated relative to PEG, values for mean fractional efficiencies of conversion of urea-N to microbial-N were calculated to be 0·59, 0·59, 0·40 and 0·41 for treatments A, B, C and D respectively. Values for treatments A and B were significantly greater than those for treatments C and D but no other differences were significant. Examination of duodenal samples led to similar conclusions. 4. It was concluded that starch was a more suitable energy source than glucose for maximal capture of ammonia-N for microbial synthesis but that spreading the urea and glucose doses in an attempt to match energy and ammonia release rates had no significant effect on capture efficiency.
Quality of life assessment among HIV‐positive persons entering the INSIGHT Strategic Timing of AntiRetroviral Treatment (START) trial

With HIV treatment prolonging survival and HIV infection now managed as a chronic illness, quality of life (QOL) is important to evaluate in persons living with HIV (PLWH). We assessed at study entry the QOL of antiretroviral‐naïve PLWH with CD4 counts > 500 cells/μL in the Strategic Timing of AntiRetroviral Treatment (START) clinical trial.
7B-2 Nonlinear Shear Elastic Moduli in Quasi-Incompressible Soft Solids

Dynamic elastography holds great promise for biological tissues characterization. Resulting from the radiation force induced by focused ultrasound beam, plane shear waves are generated within the medium and imaged with an ultrafast ultrasound scanner. Known as Supersonic Shear Imaging (SSI) technique, this method allows, from the measurements of shear wave velocities, to compute shear modulus (mu) maps. Beside, in order to improve tissue diagnostic, the evaluation of the nonlinear elastic moduli could be of some interest. Recently a new formulation of the nonlinear equation describing the propagation of plane shear waves in isotropic soft incompressible solids have been developed using a new expression, up to the fourth order, of the strain energy density (e): e = muI2 + A/3I3, + DI2 2. Where I2, I3 are invariants defined by Landau of the strain tensor and A, D the third and fourth order shear elastic constants. It has been shown that the nonlinearity parameter depends only on three coefficients betas = betas (mu, A, D). To date, no measurement of the parameter D have been carried out in incompressible media. In order to estimate the nonlinear parameter A, this theoretical background on soft incompressible solids is applied to the acoustoelasticity theory. Such analysis gives the variations of shear wave speed as a function of the applied stress and leads to measure both the linear shear modulus (mu) and the third order shear modulus (A). Taking advantages of the SSI technique, an acoustoelasticity experiment is performed in different incompressible soft media (agar-gelatin based phantoms). In addition, to create finite amplitude plane shear waves, the SSI technique is replaced by a vibrator applied at the surface of the phantoms. Thanks to the ultrasound ultrafast imaging system, the third harmonic component is generated by nonlinearity is measured as a function of the propagation distance. Then by comparing experiments and analytical expression of the third harmonic component given by a perturbation method, the nonlinear parameter betas is deduced. Finally, the combination of these experiments with results obtained in acoustoelasticity leads to the determination of the fourth order elastic modulus (D). First, measurements of the A modulus reveal that while the behavior of phantoms is quite close from a linear point of view, their nonlinear modulus A are quite different. Applied to acoustoelasticity, the SSI technique provides potential medical applications in in vivo conditions for nonlinear characterization of biological tissues. Second, results from the complete procedure reveal a variation of the nonlinear behavior as a function of the gelatin concentration increasing. This set of experiments provides the characterization, up to the fourth order, of the nonlinear shear elastic moduli in incompressible soft media.
Fertility, Migration, and Maternal Wages: Evidence from Brazil

In this paper, I examine whether child rearing curbs women’s geographic mobility. Using first-born twins as an instrument for fertility, I find that, in Brazil, an additional child reduces the migration rate by 6 percent. The effect is stronger among women with younger children: a 20 percent reduction in the migration rate. Consistent with previous studies, fertility has a negative impact on women’s labor supply and wages. Finally, two-stage least squares estimates reveal that migrant women are more likely to work and earn more than nonmigrant women, suggesting that the migration-deterrent effects of fertility might be one of the explanations for the inverse fertility-income relationship.
The importance of distribution-choice in modeling substance use data: a comparison of negative binomial, beta binomial, and zero-inflated distributions

Abstract Background: It is important to correctly understand the associations among addiction to multiple drugs and between co-occurring substance use and psychiatric disorders. Substance-specific outcomes (e.g. number of days used cannabis) have distributional characteristics which range widely depending on the substance and the sample being evaluated. Objectives: We recommend a four-part strategy for determining the appropriate distribution for modeling substance use data. We demonstrate this strategy by comparing the model fit and resulting inferences from applying four different distributions to model use of substances that range greatly in the prevalence and frequency of their use. Methods: Using Timeline Followback (TLFB) data from a previously-published study, we used negative binomial, beta-binomial and their zero-inflated counterparts to model proportion of days during treatment of cannabis, cigarettes, alcohol, and opioid use. The fit for each distribution was evaluated with statistical model selection criteria, visual plots and a comparison of the resulting inferences. Results: We demonstrate the feasibility and utility of modeling each substance individually and show that no single distribution provides the best fit for all substances. Inferences regarding use of each substance and associations with important clinical variables were not consistent across models and differed by substance. Conclusion: Thus, the distribution chosen for modeling substance use must be carefully selected and evaluated because it may impact the resulting conclusions. Furthermore, the common procedure of aggregating use across different substances may not be ideal.
Antivenom activity of triterpenoid (C34H68O2) from Leucas aspera Linn. against Naja naja naja venom induced toxicity

The isolated and identified triterpenoid, 1-hydroxytetratriacontane-4-one (C34H68O2), obtained from the methanolic leaf extract of Leucas aspera Linn. was explored for the first time for antisnake venom activity. The plant (L. aspera Linn.) extract significantly antagonized the spectacled cobra (Naja naja naja) venom induced lethal activity in a mouse model. It was compared with commercial antiserum obtained from King Institute of Preventive Medicine (Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India). N. naja naja venom induced a significant decrease in antioxidant superoxide dismutase, glutathione (GSH) peroxidase, catalase, reduced GSH and glutathione-S-transferase activities and increased lipid peroxidase (LPO) activity in different organs such as heart, liver, kidney and lungs. The histological changes following the antivenom treatment were also evaluated in all these organs. There were significant alterations in the histology. Triterpenoid from methanol extract of L. aspera Linn. at a dose level of 75 mg per mouse significantly attenuated (neutralized) the venom-induced antioxidant status and also the LPO activity in different organs.
Assessing emotions in a cross-cultural context

Emotion recognition systems could support professionals in a wide range of areas. Several work in emotion recognition has been carried out in the last decades, yet few attention has been payed to cross-culture context emotion recognition. Multimodal emotional expressions from 36 subjects with different cultural backgrounds were collected. In the experiment, participants observed and assessed emotional images in a 5 point positive and negative emotional valence scale. This information was used as ground truth for the recorded information. The dataset was segmented for all the participants and partially labeled for 8 of them, for a total of 160 segments. Recognition of positive and negative emotions was obtained from the dataset suggesting agreement points in expression of emotion between cultures.