Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Detection of immunoglobulin G antibodies to Helicobacter pylori in urine by an enzyme immunoassay method

Urine and serum samples from 306 patients undergoing upper endoscopy were evaluated prospectively to determine the presence of immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies to Helicobacter pylori by an enzyme immunoassay method. Forty-nine selected urine specimens were also tested by Western blotting (immunoblotting). When compared with bioptic methods (culture, stain, urease testing), the sensitivity and specificity of the assay for urine IgG to H. pylori were 95.9 and 90%, respectively. Results of testing of serum and urine for IgG to H. pylori were concordant for 95% of samples. Western blot analysis revealed a highly variable antibody response to H. pylori antigens among patients. Detection of IgG antibody to H. pylori in urine is simple and reflects the presence or absence of H. pylori infection.
Explaining the Whistle-Blowing Process: Suggestions from Power Theory and Justice Theory

Review of research concerning whistle-blowing suggests that legal sanctions have been singularly unsuccessful in encouraging whistle-blowing but that legalistic responses by organizations seem to have been somewhat more successful. Below, we review three sets of studies that illustrate this point. The first set includes federal employees, both before and after a legal change intended to encourage whistle-blowing. The second study examines the effects of state laws, by comparing states with whistle-blowing statutes to those without such statutes. The third study focuses on whistle-blowers who are role prescribed and therefore have legalistic protections but not legal protections. Results from these three sets of studies suggest that legal procedures seem not to be effective in encouraging positive organizational responses to whistle-blowing, but legalistic responses designed by the organizations themselves have more positive effects both for the whistle-blowers and for the organizations themselves. We attempt to resolve this apparent paradox by considering two theoretical frameworks, power relations and justice theory, and using these frameworks to predict the behaviors of both whistle-blowers and their organizations when legal mechanisms are involved and when legalistic mechanisms are used. Finally, drawing on the implications of our theoretical analysis, we provide policy suggestions for the encouragement of legalistic mechanisms, in addition to legal mechanisms, to persuade organizations to respond positively to whistle-blowers.
Designing and Evaluation of Skin Extract Agar for Isolation of Microflora from Raw Buffalo Hide

Present study was aimed to design nutrient medium most suitable for isolation and enumeration of microbial flora associated with raw buffalo hide. Skin extract agar (SEA) was designed and standardized on the basis of its chemical analysis. SEA and nutrient medium supplemented with skin extract was inoculated with buffalo hide wash. Total viable count as well as diversity of microbial colonies were enumerated on SEA as well as on nutrient agar and standard plate count agar both supplemented with skin extract (1% v/v). Bacterial strains forming diverse types of colonies on the media tested were identified on the basis of their 16S rRNA gene sequences. The SEA was found to yield higher number of bacteria and to support growth of Acinetobacter, Exiguobacterium and Stenotrophomonas which otherwise difficult to selectively isolate from buffalo hide using nutrient agar and standard plate count agar. Diversity of microbial colonies formed on SEA was significantly higher than that observed on nutrient agar or standard plate count agar. Feasibility of utilizing SEA as a microbiological medium for isolation and identification of microflora from raw buffalo hide was successfully demonstrated. Use of skin extract medium can maximize recovery of taxonomically distinct bacteria from raw buffalo hide. This basic study, with proper manipulations could lead to development of product for enumeration and isolation of bacteria from buffalo hides especially cattle pathogens related to skin diseases.
Modelling the measures of supply chain performance in the Indian automotive industry

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the interactions among the key factors of supply chain (SC) in the Indian automotive industry. These key factors are helpful to measure supply chain performance (SCP) and to improve the firm’s effectiveness. Design/methodology/approach – In this paper, an interpretive structural modeling with a fuzzy cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification-based approach is used to examine the interactions among the key factors of SCP measurement. Findings – The authors have identified the most dominant key factors used for measuring the performance in automotive SC. The results exhibit that the order lead-time and order entry method are the most significant key factors. These key factors have high driving power to measure SCP whereas the post-transaction measure of customer service and customer query time are highly dependent on other factors. Such relationships among the key factors can help a firm’s top management to make essential judgments in .
Translation of Mobile Phone User Manual with Computer-Aided Translation Technology

Based on the similarity of camera operation among different brands of mobile phones, we proposed a relevance and quantity assumption of translation memory (TM) in this paper. As TM assists translation in actual work, this paper aimed to verify whether these assumptions could facilitate translation of different source inputs. Through the adoption of Computer-aided Translation (CAT) Tool Déjà Vu X2, we built two translation memories of camera usage in user manual from various mobile phones and applied them to different text samples. The factors observed and concluded as follows proved that the more relevant the text was to the TM or the larger the TM was, the better matching rate could be retrieved, despite that the matching rate was much lower than expected. This result will be of great commercial value to merchants. Whenever a new brand of mobile phone comes into markets, translation of camera user manual can be conducted with the aid of the built TM, which will be efficient and convenient.
The tax treatment of funded pensions

This report makes an international comparison of the tax treatment of funded pensions and finds that the expenditure-tax system is the best way of taxing pensions because it does not distort the decision whether to consume now or save and consume in the future, unlike the comprehensive income tax; rather it taxes pensions once: either when contributions are made or when benefits are withdrawn. Moreover, it is easy to administer and the tax burden does not vary arbitrarily with inflation. The report also finds that in the context of the design and implementation of a pension reform, it is important to take the cost of tax relief, measured by tax expenditures, into account. The report is structured as follows: Section 1 considers a number of different ways to tax pensions. Section 2 describes the tax treatment of pensions in a range of countries. Section 3 extends the analysis to compute a summary measure of the generosity of tax incentives. Section 4 considers the link between the taxation of pension funds and the tax treatment of the underlying assets in which they invest. Section 5 examines the deductibility of contributions. Sections 6 and 7 look at the importance of pension funds and associated tax incentives in the aggregate. Section 8 assesses the objectives for taxing pensions, the options, and the arguments while section 9 concludes.
Burden of cervical cancer in the United States, 1998–2003

Recent interest in human papillomavirus (HPV)‐associated cancers and the availability of several years of data covering 83% of the US population prompted this descriptive assessment of cervical cancer incidence and mortality in the US during the years 1998 through 2003. This article provides a baseline for monitoring the impact of the HPV vaccine on the burden of cervical cancer over time.
An object oriented data model for Web and its algebra

XML (eXtensible Markup Language) has drawn significant attention as a standard for representation and exchange of data on the Web. But existing semistructured data models, such as OEM, cannot support XML naturally and fully. A new object oriented data model named XOM is proposed in this paper as the common data model for the Web data source. Based on rooted connected directed graph both cyclic and acyclic, whose nodes are labeled and edges are ranked, XOM can describe the aggregation relationship as well as the general reference relationship (linkage) between XML elements. Through ranked closure operation, both tree-oriented and graph-oriented models can be unified in XOM. As the formal foundation for query processing and optimization for Web data, a new algebra called XOM algebra, which includes six operations, i.e., object union, difference, select, project, paste and cut, is also proposed. In comparison with relational algebra, XOM algebra is more flexible and powerful.
Failing to Meet Analysts’ Expectations: How Financial Markets Contribute to Corporate Short-Termism

Recent research has shown that earnings pressure from financial analysts and investors encourage managers to make decisions that over-prioritize short-term profits relative to long-term value. According to this body of research, these pressures cause managers to shorten their time horizons, focusing their attention in the present and ignoring the long run implications of their decisions. However, many competing studies have shown that managers are often short term even when investors are not, and analysts and investors reward firms that make long-term investments. The equivocal findings may arise because the relationship between financial market pressures and managerial behaviors is distal. We theorize and test a more proximal relationship by arguing that the mechanism through which analysts influence managers is analysts' recommendations, and that the direct relationship is with managerial cognition. To test our hypotheses, we use textual analysis to analyze 3,136 quarterly earnings conference call transcripts of 98 firms in extractives industries between 2006 and 2013. The results suggest that organizational time horizons shorten when analysts downgrade firms, and lengthen following upgrades. However, this effect is asymmetric -- downgrades have a more potent effect than upgrades on organizational time horizons. Furthermore, these relationships change depending on the sequences of downgrades and upgrades and investors’ investment horizons.
Corporate Acquisitions: Motivation and Consequence

Corporations commonly seek growth and/or investment opportunities through the acquisition of other companies. In times of increasing international scrutiny of the corporate governance practices of corporations, managers and directors of companies may well be dismayed that a large body of empirical research contends that corporate acquisitions may not be motivated by efficiency gains and are generally not wealth enhancing for the shareholders of acquiring companies. The purpose of the paper is to critically review the literature within financial economics and strategic management that investigates the factors motivating corporate acquisitions and the determinants of the financial gains (losses) associated with corporate acquisitions. This appeal to the literature reveals that, while there are numerous competing theories for the motivation for corporate acquisitions, the generation of efficiencies due to synergistic gains provides the most widely accepted explanation. It is also a conclusion of this review that it is not defensible to claim that market forces would permit the prevalence of inefficient corporate acquisitions in the long-term.
Portfolio Insurance and Other Investor Fashions as Factors in the 1987 Stock Market Crash

Robert Shiller asserts that investors already had a "crash mentality" before October 19, associated with views about borrowing, government debt, and the perception that portfolio insurance was affecting markets. The proximate cause of the crash, he believes, was a response to price declines: the assumption by investors that the crash had arrived. In Shiller's opinion, the crash was as much a sociological or psychological phenomenon as an economic one.
An examination of potential backdating of executive share option grants in South Africa

This study investigates whether executives backdate share option grants to their advantage in South Africa. Using data of 175 option grants to executives among the 41 top companies in South Africa between 2001 and 2006, a pattern of negative cumulative abnormal stock returns before the grant dates but positive and increasing returns thereafter is observed. This pattern is much more pronounced for unscheduled grants. Statistical testing shows the mean cumulative abnormal returns are significantly different from zero after the grant date, but are not significantly different from zero before the grant date. The mean differences in average cumulative abnormal stock returns between preand postgrant periods are significantly different. The results suggest that some opportunistic behavior might have taken place around the executive option grants, including backdating.
Obesity, Diet, Exercise and Asthma in Children

During the past decades, an increase in several pediatric morbid conditions has been well documented. Two of the most important of these conditions are obesity and asthma. While the increase of asthma prevalence has been explained in part by the so-called hygiene hypothesis, which claims for a shift from a Th1 to a Th2 environment (if the immunological system does not have to deal with infections –Th1due to a much more aseptic environment, it will turn to an allergic predisposition –Th2) (von Mutius, 2007). However, this hypothesis does not explain the high prevalences among inner city populations (PlattsMills et al., 2005) or developing countries as found in the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) (Asher et al., 2006). On the other hand, the increased prevalence of obesity is most probably due to an imbalance between the energy intake (both in quantity as well as quality) and the expenditure, in which the lack of exercise is a key point. In this chapter we will explore the complex relationship between asthma, obesity diet and exercise in children.
A survey into the use of derivatives by Australian property funds

Derivatives have gained an increasing attention by academics and practitioners in recent years. However, there is relatively little evidence on the patterns of use and the property funds’ attitudes with respect to derivatives. Therefore, this study seeks to address this shortfall and aims to examine the usage of derivatives by property funds in Australia. A survey of Australian property fund managers was undertaken. The results show that different types of property funds have dissimilar patterns of derivatives use. Besides, the results also reveal that large property funds are more likely to use derivatives. The motivation factors and risk factors for using derivatives are also identified. In addition, significant differences are found between the perceptions of derivative users and non-users. The findings have offered some insights into the knowledge base of property investors towards derivatives.
SPARQL Template : un langage de pretty printing pour RDF

RDF est un langage de representation de connaissances base sur des graphes etiquetes, concu par le W3C pour le Web semantique et le Web des donnees. En tant que langage d'echange pivot, il peut etre utilise pour representer des arbres de syntaxe abstraite (AST) de langages. Par exemple le langage OWL a plusieurs syntaxes dont une syntaxe fonctionnelle et une syntaxe RDF, de meme que le langage RIF (Rule Interchange Format) ; SPIN est une notation qui permet de representer des requetes SPARQL en RDF. Cet article traite du probleme de la transformation d'un arbre abstrait RDF d'un langage dans sa syntaxe concrete (appelee pretty print). Nous proposons une approche g'en'erique pour ecrire des pretty printers bases sur SPARQL pour des AST RDF. Nous definissons un pretty printer comme un ensemble de regles de transformation traitees par un moteur de pretty print. Nous proposons une extension syntaxique de SPARQL, appelee SPARQL Template, pour faciliter l'ecriture des regles de transformation et l'implementation du moteur de transformation. Nous montrons la faisabilite de notre approche en presentant deux exemples de pretty printers operationnels pour les langages OWL et SPIN.
The Application of Pareto Principle in a Product Marketing System

This research is all about developing software that applies the Pareto Principle in the marketing of bank products. The Proposed system adopts an object oriented methodological approach in its development. The input requirement used in designing this system includes customer details such as the account name, residential address, telephone number, State of origin etc. The system outputs account number, customer identity and names of the 20% customer that generate 80% profit as transaction progresses. The result shows that the 80/20 Principle is actually obtainable from the developed software as 14 and 18 customers from a total of 70 and 90 customers respectively generated close to 80% of the profit. In conclusion, the developed system will technically assist bank management in business decisions as it relates to customer transaction profitability, performance tracking and budgeting of resources.
The family planning programme in Pakistan.

Although Pakistan has had a national family planning program since 1955 its population growth rate is 3.3% a year and without effective interventions the population can be expected to double by the year 2005. Administrative problems appear to be the major factor behind this lack of progress in population control. In the initial phase of the national campaign (1955-65) family planning services were supposed to be delivered as part of an already overburdened health system that only reached 10% of the population. In 1965-69 a "target approach" was adopted to bring the crude birth rate down from 55/1000 to 45/1000 by 1970--an unrealistic goal and one that was based on the exclusion of the faster growing eastern part of the country. During this phase traditional midwives (dais) were selected to carry out field activities. Inadequately trained and unmotivated to eliminate the births that provided their main source of income these dais reached only 4% of eligible women with an efficient contraceptive method. In 1970 another approach--the Continuous Motivation System--was introduced to have a male-female team visit potential acceptors 4 times a year. Again the field workers especially males showed an appalling lack of knowledge of contraception and were vulnerable to corruption. The 1975 Pakistan Fertility Survey exposed the failure of this program through its findings that only 5% of women were current contraceptive acceptors and only 30% had ever met a family planning field worker. When Zia-ul-Haq came into power in 1979 family planning was integrated with schemes in agriculture and primary health care. This approach too was unsuccessful due to reliance again on dais and Zias anti-family-planning Islamization program. Lacking has been any education aimed at convincing the Pakistani population of the benefits of smaller family size.
QoE-based service differentiation: Business models analysis for the mobile market

submitted to 26 European Regional ITS Conference, San Lorenzo de El Escorial (Spain), 24-27 June 2015 Title: QoE-based service differentiation: Business models analysis for the mobile market Luis Martinez Wireless@KTH Royal Institute of Technology Electrum 229, S-164 40 Kista, Sweden lgmb@kth.se phone: + 46 72 326 35 71
Employees' Attitudes Towards family Friendly Policies

ABSTRACT As employees increasingly face challenges in balancing work with family commitments, the workplace could provide support and practical solutions to their stressful lives. Thus family friendly policies could play an important role in attracting and retaining workers. Family friendly policies are considered as any benefit or working condition that employees enjoy in order to achieve some balance in their family and working life. This study was conducted to determine the extent to which family friendly policies are practised in organizations in the Klang Valley, as well as the perceptions of employees towards such policies. A questionnaire was designed for the study. Based on the data collected from a sample of 113 workers, the findings revealed that a gap existed between what employees actually wanted and what organizations were offering in terms of these policies. Respondents favoured these policies, whether male or female, as well as with or without dependents. The findings have implications for employers, as a greater emphasis on these policies could affect the productivity and morale of workers. ABSTRAK Pekerja pada masa kini kian menghadapi cabaran dalam usaha menyeimbangkan tugas di tempat kerja dengan komitmen keluarga. Oleh itu, organisasi boleh menyediakan kemudahan dan penyelesaian praktikal untuk membantu menghadapi tekanan ini. Polisi berorientasi keluarga adalah penting untuk menarik dan menyimpan pekerja. Polisi berorientasi keluarga merupakan sesuatu faedah atau keadaan bekerja yang dinikmati oleh kakitangan supaya kehidupan dari segi keluarga dan kerja dapat diseimbangkan. Kajian ini adalah dijalankan untuk menentukan sejauhmanakah dasar berorientasi keluarga dipraktikkan di organisasi di Lembah Kelang, dan juga untuk mengetahui persepsi responden terhadap polisi itu. Satu soal selidik telah direkabentukkan untuk kajian ini. Berdasarkan data yang dikumpul daripada sampel seramai 113 pekerja,keputusan telah menunjukkan bahawa jurang terdapat di antara kehendak pekerja dan polisi yang ditawar oleh majikan mereka. Responden berharap menikmati faedah ini, tanpa mengira jantina dan sama ada mempunyai penanggung atau tidak. Keputusan kajian in; mempunyai implikasi bagi majikan kerana ia mempengaruhi produktiviti dan semangat pekerja.