Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Delayed norovirus epidemic in the 2009–2010 season in Japan: potential relationship with intensive hand sanitizer use for pandemic influenza

SUMMARY Norovirus (NoV) epidemics normally peak in December in Japan; however, the peak in the 2009–2010 season was delayed until the fourth week of January 2010. We suspected intensive hand hygiene that was conducted for a previous pandemic influenza in 2009 as the cause of this delay. We analysed the NoV epidemic trend, based on national surveillance data, and its associations with monthly output data for hand hygiene products, including alcohol-based skin antiseptics and hand soap. The delayed peak in the NoV incidence in the 2009–2010 season had the lowest number of recorded cases of the five seasons studied (2006–2007 to 2010–2011). GII.4 was the most commonly occurring genotype. The monthly relative risk of NoV and monthly output of both alcohol-based skin antiseptics and hand soap were significantly and negatively correlated. Our findings suggest an association between hand hygiene using these products and prevention of NoV transmission.
Effects of side-posture positioning and side-posture adjusting on the lumbar zygapophysial joints as evaluated by magnetic resonance imaging: a before and after study with randomization.

OBJECTIVE To test the a priori hypothesis that one of the positive mechanisms of action of chiropractic side-posture manipulation (adjusting) of the lumbar spine is to separate, or gap, the zygapophysial (Z) joints. DESIGN Before and after study with randomization. SETTING Chiropractic college clinic and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) facility. PARTICIPANTS Sixteen healthy student volunteers (8 men and 8 women) ages 22 to 29 years with no history of significant low back pain. Nineteen volunteers were screened, with 3 disqualified from the study. Subjects were randomized into 4 groups, each with 2 men and 2 women. INTERVENTIONS Lumbar side-posture spinal adjusting (manipulation) and side-posture positioning. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Comparison of anterior to posterior measurements of the Z joints from MRI scans taken before and after side-posture spinal adjusting and before and after side-posture positioning, and a rigorous subjective evaluation protocol of the Z joints by 3 radiologists blinded to the randomized groups. MAIN RESULTS Observers making measurements were blinded to what group subjects were placed in and whether they were measuring first or second scans; radiologists were blinded to what group subjects were assigned. Differences were found between the groups. Those receiving side-posture spinal adjusting and remaining in side posture showed the greatest increase in gapping (0.7 mm vs 0.0 mm for controls). CONCLUSIONS Lumbar side-posture spinal adjusting produced increased separation (gapping) of the zygapophysial joints. Side-posture positioning also produced gapping, but less than that seen with lumbar side-posture adjusting. A larger clinical trial should be performed to further define the results of this study.
The Beer Store , Monopoly Profits and the Potential for Government Revenue : An Economic Analysis

In a recent study conducted for the Ontario Convenience Store Association I find evidence of significant average price differences in specific beer products between Ontario and Quebec, which I attribute to the near monopoly status enjoyed by The Beer Store (TBS). Back of the envelope calculations suggest the existence of significant profits enjoyed by TBS. In this paper, I study differences across specific brands. Employing data on 24 bottle (341 ml) packs collected from major Quebec grocery retailers over many weeks, my results suggest median differences ranging from roughly $3-$6, without accounting for variation in province specific commodity taxes. The need to account for commodity taxes is conditional on whether the beer is manufactured in Ontario. Using the conservative approach of applying a commodity tax correction to all products, I find that median estimates of price differences for a majority of domestic brands, reduces to $1.3-$3.3 However, data from Costco reveals large differences for major imported brands, in comparison to corresponding prices posted by TBS. Specifically, median estimates imply differences ranging from roughly $9-$11, after adjusting for deposit fees, sales taxes, and commodity taxes. A weighted average of price differences between domestic and imported brands suggests a 17% in beer prices between the two provinces. In tandem with the likely existence of significant economies of scale, my results indicate that TBS experiences significant retail profits, which under some assumptions, may be even larger than $700 million. The implications for government revenue are obvious. 1 The opinions expressed in this paper do not reflect the opinions of the Department of Economics at the University of Waterloo or the University of Waterloo. I did not accept any funding from the Ontario Convenience Store Association (OCSA) or from any other organization to write this paper. I take exclusive responsibility for all errors.
Development of joint venture partner capabilities assessment model: The case of Eskom Enterprises, South Africa

One of the main challenges in joint ventures collaboration is how to assess partners¿ capabilities so as to have a win-win business venture. The success of a joint venture depends on the technological, financial and cultural synergy created by individual contributions of partners. Experience shows that it is easy to achieve financial parity in terms of capital outlay, but rather more difficult to achieve strategic parity in terms of technological and human capital investments. This paper discuses the joint venture partner model for partners¿ capabilities assessment. The focus will be on assessment of the partners¿ technological capabilities. For clarity, a single partner capabilities assessment is discussed, the modalities of assessment are explained, and the case study of Eskom Enterprises (EE) (Pty) Ltd and an African power sector is discussed.
Changing the american diet. Impact on cancer prevention policy recommendations and program implications for the american cancer society

In 1984, the American Cancer Society (ACS) determined that a substantial proportion of new cancer cases could be avoided if seven dietary guidelines were followed. Education programs were developed for the general public, young people, and the mass media. In 1989, a Working Group of the Society reviewed the guidelines and found them to be valid, the only change being to combine two of them. This paper summarizes recent dietary recommendations of other health authorities, describes progress in meeting ACS dietary recommendations, analyzes the barriers to and opportunities for dietary improvement, and proposes new leadership opportunities for the Society. Concern is expressed that the current guidelines lack the clarity and specificity needed for public education, and that they are inconsistent with recent dietary recommendations of other authorities such as the US Department of Health and Human Services and the National Academy of Sciences. Revisions to the ACS Dietary Recommendations and implications for ACS programs are proposed.
ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF BACTERIOCIN PRODUCING LACTIC ACID BACTERIA FROM A SOUTH INDIAN SPECIAL DOSA (APPAM) BATTER

Summary Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) commonly used as starter cultures in food are known to produce antimicrobial substances such as bacteriocins, having great potential as food biopreservatives. The present study was aimed at isolating bacteriocinogenic LAB from a traditional fermented food, “Appam”. Twenty five colonies of LAB were isolated and screened for bacteriocin production potential. Ten isolates showed good antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive viz., Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes as well as Gram-negative viz., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Aeromonas hydrophila microorganisms. During characterization of these strains two of them were found to resemble two other strains. One of the bacilli has been reported earlier. Therefore, in this study characterization of 7 isolates through morphological, physiological, biochemical and carbohydrate fermentation tests as well as cell wall protein profiles have been reported. Five of them were cocci, identified as Pediococcus pentosaceous (4 strains) and the other as Tetragenococcus halophilus, while the remaining two being rods and were found to be Lactobacillus plantarum.
Migration of nurses from sub-Saharan Africa: a review of issues and challenges.

OBJECTIVE To assess the impact of out-migration of nurses on the health systems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). SETTING The countries of SSA. DESIGN AND METHODS Review of secondary sources: existing publications and country documents on the health workforce; documents prepared for the Joint Learning Initiative Global Human Resources for Health report, the World Health Organization (AFRO) synthesis on migration, and the International Council of Nurses series on the global nursing situation. Analysis of associated data. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS The state of nursing practice in SSA appears to have been impacted negatively by migration. Available (though inadequate) quantitative data on stocks and flows, qualitative information on migration issues and trends, and on the main strategies being employed in both source and recipient countries indicate that the problem is likely to grow over the next 5-10 years. CONCLUSIONS Multiple actions are needed at various policy levels in both source and receiving countries to moderate negative effects of nurse emigration in developing countries in Africa; however, critically, source countries must establish more effective policies and strategies.
Implementing Electronic Document Management System for a Lean Design Process

This paper analyzes how the implementation of the Electronic Document Management (EDM) can contribute for a lean management in AEC sector, particularly in the design process. The main concepts of EDM are presented and illustrated with examples of its application in the design process. Some considerations are show on the document management problems in design process. The most common errors embedded on documents are: Inconsistency in design information, mismatch between connected parts, component malfunction. The authors propose how to use EDM systems for a lean design process based on the ideas proposed earlier by Koskela and Tzortzopoulos and Formoso. The lean concepts discussed here are: Reduce the share of non-value-add ing activities, reduce variability, reduce cycle time, simplify by minimizing the number of steps and parts, increase output flexibility, increase process transparency, balance flow improvement with conversion improvement. The paper ends with a brief description of an implementation of EDM for a lean design process. The purpose of the paper is to bring the discussion on Information Technology (IT) usage on a lean management context. The ideas presented here is an initial step on this research in order to have a theoretical framework to analyse case study under development in a construction company in Curitiba.
Algebraic Fault Analysis on GOST for Key Recovery and Reverse Engineering

GOST is a well-known block cipher as the official encryption standard for the Russian Federation. A special feature of GOST is that its eight S-boxes can be secret. However, most of the researches on GOST assume that the design of these S-boxes is known. In this paper, the security of GOST against side-channel attacks is examined with algebraic fault analysis (AFA), which combines the algebraic cryptanalysis with the fault attack. Three AFAs on GOST, which have different attack goals in different scenarios, are investigated. The results show that 8 fault injections are required to recover the secret key when the full design of GOST is known, which is less than 64 fault injections required in previous work. 64 fault injections are required to recover the eight unknown S-boxes assuming the key is known. 270 fault injections are required to recover the key and the eight S-boxes when both are unknown. The results prove that AFA is very effective and keeping some components in a cipher secret cannot guarantee its security against fault attacks.
ปัจจัยที่มีผลต่อความสำเร็จของธุรกิจครอบครัว Factors Affecting Success of Family Business

ธรกจครอบครวเปนรปแบบพนฐานทสำคญของธรกจทวโลก แตคำถามทสำคญเกยวกบธรกจครอบครว คอ ปจจยอะไรทมผลตอการจดการธรกจครอบครวใหประสบความสำเรจ พนฐานวฒนธรรมครอบครวเปนจดแขงทสำคญของธรกจครอบครว บทความนตองการศกษาเพอคนหาปจจยสความสำเรจของธรกจครอบครว บนพนฐานจดแขง คานยม และการดำเนนงานของธรกจครอบครว ซงประกอบไปดวยความเปนครอบครวและธรกจ ซงเปนองคประกอบของธรกจครอบครว ผลการศกษาไดแสดงใหเหนวาภาวะผนำในธรกจครอบครว การจดการเชงกลยทธ วฒนธรรมครอบครว และความไดเปรยบในการแขงขน เปนปจจยทสำคญทอยเบองหลงความสำเรจของธรกจครอบครว และมผลตอผลการประกอบการของธรกจ
A symmetrical 6-GHz fully integrated cascode coupling CMOS LC quadrature VCO

A fully symmetrical integrated quadrature LC oscillator with a wide tuning range of 1.2GHz is presented. The quadrature voltage-controlled oscillator (QVCO) is implemented using a symmetrical coupling method which has been used to produce the large tuning range with a low control voltage and to achieve good phase noise performance in 0.18/spl mu/m complementary metal oxide semiconductor technology. The measured phase noise at 1MHz offset from the center frequency (5.5GHz) is -115 dBc/Hz. The QVCO draws 3.2mA from a 1.8V supply. The equivalent phase error between I and Q signal was at most 0.5/spl deg/.
A methodological bias toward overestimation of molecular evolutionary time scales

There is presently a conflict between fossil- and molecular-based evolutionary time scales. Molecular approaches for dating the branches of the tree of life frequently lead to substantially deeper times of divergence than those inferred by paleontologists. The discrepancy between molecular and fossil estimates persists despite the booming growth of sequence data sets, which increasingly feeds the interpretation that molecular estimates are older than stratigraphic dates because of deficiencies in the fossil record. Here we show that molecular time estimates suffer from a methodological handicap, namely that they are asymmetrically bounded random variables, constrained by a nonelastic boundary at the lower end, but not at the higher end of the distribution. This introduces a bias toward an overestimation of time since divergence, which becomes greater as the length of the molecular sequence and the rate of evolution decrease.
A study of in situ and squamous‐cell cancer of the uterine cervix

HE HisroLocicAL CHANGES comprising carT cinoma in situ have been recognized lor almost one half a century under a varied terminology including surface or incipient cancer, Bowen’s disease, intraepidermal epithelioma, noninvasive or intraepithelial cancer, potential cancer, and carcinomatoid change. Broders advocated the use of the term “carcinoma in situ,” which literally means cancer in its normal or original location. He defined the lesion as “a condition in which malignant epithelial cells and their progeny are found in or near positions occupied by their ancestors before the ancestors underwent malignant transformation. ” Such changes may exist in any site in which cancer arises and, i n the female genital tract, have been observed in the uterine tube, endometrium, vulva, vagina, and uterine cervix. T h e earliest description of the lesion in the uterine cervix is generally credited to Schauenstein, although Pronai and later Rubin made similar observations, while Schottlaencler and Kermauner noted in situ cancer at the margin of invasive cancer. In more recent years there is accumulated evidence to indicate that in situ cancer represents the preinvasive stage of outspoken cancer. This is well summarized by Hertig and Younge. McKelvey, however, cites some of the arguments that are against such a concept. This study was made to acquire a detailed knowledge of in situ cancer so that comparison with squamous-cell cancer would be possible and additional evidence suggesting relationship might be obtained. To be considered are . the: (1) prevalence: (2) incidence: (3) age and (4) racial distribution; (5) relative frequency in the Jewish and non-Jewish woman: (6) niorphology; (7) anatomical distribution; and (8) possible histogenesis of carcinoma in situ of thc uterine cervix.
Nitric oxide inhalation and high frequency oscillatory ventilation for hypoxemic respiratory failure in infants.

BACKGROUND High frequency oscillatory ventilation has proved valuable in recruiting and sustaining lung volume; the combined treatment may augment nitric oxide delivery to target vessels. NO therapy lowers pulmonary resistance and improves oxygenation. OBJECTIVE To retrospectively review data on changes in oxygenation-indicated by arterial/alveolar PO2 ratio, oxygenation index, and outcome--in a cohort of 10 infants with hypoxemic respiratory failure in whom nitric oxide inhalation was instituted in a compassionate-use protocol after deteriorated oxygenation. METHODS NO inhalation was administered at a range of 0.12-122 days of life using the SensorMedics system in 10 infants who developed hypoxemic respiratory failure associated with a variety of lung diseases while on HFOV. RESULTS The infants' birthweight was 1,717 +/- 1,167 g and their gestational age 31.1 +/- 6.5 weeks. Mean exposure to NO inhalation was 14.2 days and ranged from 3-59 days. Oxygenation index decreased from 39.3 +/- 13.2 to 12.7 +/- 6.9 (P < 0.0002) after NO therapy. Despite an initial prompt response to NO inhalation, two patients died of progressive intractable respiratory failure and one term infant died of extrapulmonary complications (hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy grade III and multiorgan failure). CONCLUSION Our results indicate that the combined treatment of HFOV and NO inhalation is superior to HFOV alone for improving oxygenation in a selected cohort of infants ventilated for a variety of lung diseases.
Decompositions of representations of exceptional affine algebras with respect to conformal subalgebras.

We use modular-invariance and conformal-invariance constraints on the highest-weight representations of affine algebras as well as asymptotic behavior of their characters to deduce an algorithm for the decomposition of these representations with respect to conformal subalgebras. We use the algorithm to find explicit decompositions of level-1 representations of all affine exceptional algebras with respect to all their conformal subalgebras. The crucial point of this work is a connection of the decomposition problem with the Frobenius theory of positive matrices, which hints to a possible connection with Markov chains. The problem of computing branching coefficients for conformal subalgebras arises in the string compactifications. We show that a solution to this problem allows one to construct modular-invariant partition functions on a group manifold. An important new general theoretical result of the paper is the uniqueness of the vacuum state in the basic representation of an affine algebra for its conformal subalgebra.
Cellular Localization of Brain‐derived Neurotrophic Factor and Neurotrophin‐3 mRNA Expression in the Early Chicken Embryo

Degenerate primers from conserved regions in nerve growth factor, brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and neurotrophin‐3 (NT‐3) were used in the polymerase chain reaction to isolate DNA fragments from the chicken BDNF and NT‐3 genes. A genomic clone coding for chicken NT‐3 was isolated and the structure of the chicken NT‐3 mature protein was subsequently deduced from nucleotide sequence analysis of the isolated chicken NT‐3 gene. Comparison of the chicken BDNF and NT‐3 with the corresponding rat molecules showed that the avian molecules are very similar to their mammalian homologues. Northern blot analyses of messenger RNA (mRNA) from chicken embryos from embryonic day 3.5 (E3.5), E4.5, E8, E12 and E18 showed that expression of both BDNF and NT‐3 mRNA peaked at E4.5 and decreased at later stages of development. Both probes revealed two transcripts; larger mRNAs of 4.5 kilobases (kb) for BDNF and 4.0 kb for NT‐3 predominated over the smaller transcripts of 1.4 and 1.3 kb, respectively. The cellular localization of BDNF and NT‐3 mRNA in the E4 and E6 embryos was studied by in situ hybridization. In the E4 embryo, labelling for BDNF was seen over cells in restricted parts of the epithelium of the otic vesicle. Analysis of adjacent sections for the low‐affinity nerve growth factor receptor mRNA showed that regions in the otic vesicle epithelium which labelled for BDNF mRNA also labelled for low‐affinity nerve growth factor receptor mRNA. No labelling for NT‐3 was detected in the otic vesicle. Labelling for BDNF mRNA was also found over mesenchyme dorsal to the wing bud, in the wing bud and in the splanchnopleural lining of the stomach. Labelling for NT‐3 mRNA was found at E4 over the epidermis on the ventral side in the region of the branchial arches. The labelling extended up the maxillary processes to Rathke's pouch. The closely located infundibulum was weakly labelled for NT‐3 mRNA. NT‐3 mRNA was also detected in the mesenchyme surrounding the oesophagus and lung buds. The regional expression pattern is in agreement with the established role for BDNF and NT‐3 as target‐derived neurotrophic factors, but the results also suggest that BDNF may be an intrinsic factor important for the development of the inner ear. The results support the emerging view that neurotrophic factors can play a role in early differentiation of both neuronal and non‐neuronal tissues.
Correlations among Social Anxiety, Self-Esteem, Impulsivity, and Game Genre in Patients with Problematic Online Game Playing

Objective Recent studies of online game addiction have suggested that social interaction and impulsivity are critical factors for the etiology and progress of online game addiction. We hypothesized that the genre of the online game is associated with impulsivity and sociality in individuals with online game addictions. Methods In total, 212 patients with problematic online game playing were divided into four groups by game genre: 1) massive multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG), 2) real-time strategy (RTS), 3) first-person shooter (FPS), and 4) other. Their symptoms and characteristics were assessed using 8 scales and 2 tests to estimate self-esteem, impulsiveness, comorbidity, social interaction status, and cognitive function. Results The mean social anxiety score was highest in the MMORPG group and lowest in the FPS group. The mean self-esteem score was highest in the RTS group. Social anxiety score was positively correlated with Internet addiction score in the MMORPG group, and the self-esteem score was positively correlated with Internet addiction score in the RTS group. Conclusion The genre of online game was not associated with impulsivity, but social anxiety status varied significantly with game genre, and differences in social anxiety were especially pronounced in patients playing the MMORPG (highest social anxiety) and FPS (lowest social anxiety) game genres. In addition, self-esteem was highest in the RTS game genre.