Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical practice and risk factors for immediate complications of endotracheal intubation in the intensive care unit: A prospective, multiple-center study*

Objectives:To describe the current practice of physicians, to report complications associated with endotracheal intubation (ETI) performed in THE intensive care unit (ICU), and to isolate predictive factors of immediate life-threatening complications. Design:Multiple-center observational study. Setting:Seven intensive care units of two university hospitals. Patients:We evaluated 253 occurrences of ETI in 220 patients. Interventions:From January 1 to June 30, 2003, data related to all ETI performed in ICU were collected. Information regarding patient descriptors, procedures, and immediate complications were analyzed. Measurements and Main Results:The main indications to intubate the trachea were acute respiratory failure, shock, and coma. Some 148 ETIs (59%) were performed by residents. At least one severe complication occurred in 71 ETIs (28%): severe hypoxemia (26%), hemodynamic collapse (25%), and cardiac arrest (2%). The other complications were difficult intubation (12%), cardiac arrhythmia (10%), esophageal intubation (5%), and aspiration (2%). Presence of acute respiratory failure and the presence of shock as an indication for ETI were identified as independent risk factors for occurrence of complications, and ETI performed by a junior physician supervised by a senior (i.e., two operators) was identified as a protective factor for the occurrence of complications. Conclusions:ETI in ICU patients is associated with a high rate of immediate and severe life-threatening complications. Independent risk factors of complication occurrence were presence of acute respiratory failure and presence of shock as an indication for ETI. Further studies should aim to better define protocols for intubation in critically ill patients to make this procedure safer.
Single Error Correcting Finite Field Multipliers Over GF(2m)

This paper presents a new method for designing single error correcting Galois field multipliers over polynomial basis. The proposed method uses multiple parity prediction circuits to detect and correct logic errors and gives 100% fault coverage both in the functional unit and the parity prediction circuitry. Area, power and delay overhead for the proposed design technique is analyzed. It is found that compared to the traditional triple modular redundancy (TMR) techniques for single error correction the proposed technique is very cost efficient.
Traumatic Labial Bladder Diverticulum and Vesico-Vulvar Fistula

Background Injuries to the female urinary tract are rare after pelvic trauma. The sequelae of these injuries are often delayed, and misdiagnosis is common. Case A woman with a history of pelvic trauma presented with a labial mass that was found to be a large bladder diverticulum. In addition, she was ultimately diagnosed with a traumatic vesico-vulvar fistula that was successfully repaired using a novel surgical technique. Conclusions In patients with a history of pelvic trauma and genitourinary symptoms, it is important to consider injury to the female bladder and urethra. Further, successful repair of vesico-vulvar fistulas can be accomplished with cystoscopic fulguration and dissection of the supraurethral fistulous tract.
Elevation of the Extracellular Concentrations of Glutamate and Aspartate in Rat Hippocampus During Transient Cerebral Ischemia Monitored by Intracerebral Microdialysis

Abstract: Rats were implanted with 0.3‐mm‐diameter dialysis tubing through the hippocampus and subsequently perfused with Ringer's solution at a flow rate of 2 (μ1/min. Samples of the perfusate representing the extracellular fluid were collected over 5‐min periods and subsequently analyzed for contents of the amino acids glutamate, as‐partate, glutamine, taurine, alanine, and serine. Samples were collected before, during, and after a 10‐min period of transient complete cerebral ischemia. The extracellular contents of glutamate and aspartate were increased, respectively, eight‐and threefold during the ischemic period; the taurine concentration also was increased 2.6‐fold. During the same period the extracellular content of glutamine was significantly decreased (to 68% of the control value), whereas the concentrations of alanine and serine did not change significantly during the ischemic period. The concentrations of γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) were too low to be measured reliably. It is suggested that the large increase in the content of extracellular glutamate and aspartate in the hippocampus induced by the ischemia may be one of the causal factors in the damage to certain neurons observed after ischemia.
Break‐through bleeding in relation to predicted factor VIII levels in patients receiving prophylactic treatment for severe hemophilia A

Summary. Background: The role of prophylactic factor VIII (FVIII) to decrease hemophilic bleeding and arthropathy is well established. The rationale for this strategy is to convert patients with severe hemophilia A to a moderate clinical phenotype by reducing time spent with a FVIII level <1 IU dL−1. Studies to date, however, have not demonstrated a strong link between FVIII level and the bleeding rate. Objectives: To assess the effect of FVIII level on break‐through bleeding in patients with severe hemophilia A on prophylaxis. Patients/methods: This study analysed data from 44 patients aged 1–6 and 99 patients aged 10–65 years with severe hemophilia A (FVIII <1 IU dL−1) who were treated with prophylactic FVIII as part of clinical studies assessing pharmacokinetics, safety and efficacy of a recombinant FVIII (Advate®). Each patient had pharmacokinetic measurements and FVIII infusions recorded, and these were used to calculate time spent with a FVIII below 1, 2 and 5 IU dL−1. Results: The data demonstrate that increasing time with a FVIII below 1 IU dL−1 is associated with increased total bleeds and hemarthroses. Lack of adherence to the intended frequency of FVIII infusion was the most important determinant of low FVIII and increased bleeding. In children aged 1–6 years, the rate of bleeding was also influenced by FVIII half‐life and clearance. Conclusions: These data have important implications for the management of patients with severe hemophilia.
Collusion Detection in Public Procurement with Limited Information

Public procurement data sets usually lack detailed data that are needed to implement existing methods. We design a method to identify and test for bid rigging in procurement auctions with limited information. The method can be applied to limited data sets using standard econometric tools and software. We implement the methodology to a unique data set about all Turkish public procurement auctions in years 2005-2012, numbering 565,297. We uncover the structure of collusive behavior in Turkish public procurement auctions. We find that collusion significantly increases procurement costs and decreases procurement efficiency.
Local food in China: a viable destination attraction

Purpose The subject of food has been well researched by academics, and is often employed by tourism destination practitioners. However, a review of relevant literature indicates that there is a lack of research reported and written in English on the importance of food in Chinese local regional development. The purpose of this paper is to assess the potential of local food to act as a destination attraction, and contribute to the development of local regions in China, by examining the food-related motivation, involvement, satisfaction, and behavioural intentions of Chinese domestic tourists. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected using interviewer-completed questionnaire from a sample of 1,353 domestic tourists at eight destinations geographically spread or in one region in China. Findings The results reveal three types of food-related behaviour (which are described and evaluated below). While gender is seen to be significant, other demographical factors, such as ages and educational levels, do not appear to influence the level of interests and involvement in local food for Chinese domestic tourists. Originality/value This study is a contribution towards assessing the potential for using local food as a tool to develop local regions in China, and to obtain a better understanding of the market segmentation of Chinese local food tourists. It assists in identifying potential food tourists towards whom marketing should be addressed.
The mediating effect of attitude on direct and indirect determinants of Internet banking usage in Malaysia

Internet banking in Malaysia has been in existence for more than two decades. However, there is still lack of studies in discovering the aspects of attitude and behavior of the retail banking customers towards the adoption of the internet banking services. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the determinants of the internet banking usage from the angle of attitude and behavior of these customers in the internet banking usage. This study employed the Technology Acceptance Model by Davis as the underpinning theory and further enhanced it to the Extended Technology Acceptance Model by taking into account factors such as trust, internet self-efficacy, and subjective norm as the additional predictors of internet banking usage via the mediating effect of attitude towards usage. The study setting was based on five top commercial banking in Malaysia and systematic random sampling of data collection was done through households via self–administered questionnaire and analysis was done by using the structural equation modelling as the statistical tool. The findings show that perceived ease of use and attitude have a positive significant effect on internet banking usage while perceived usefulness and internet self-efficacy have a positive impact on attitude. The findings further reveal that perceived usefulness and internet self-efficacy mediate through attitude on the internet banking usage while trust, perceived ease of use, and subjective norm do not mediate through attitude on the internet banking usage. These results are immeasurably valuable to practitioners for managing and executing their marketing strategy. Furthermore, it contributes and enriches knowledge pertaining to the predictors of internet banking usage.
Exenatide-Induced Chronic Damage of Pancreatic Tissue in Rats

Objective The study aimed to explore exenatide-induced damage of pancreatic tissue in rats. Methods At first stage, 30 male rats were randomly divided into exenatide and control groups. At second stage, 10 male and 10 female rats were treated according to sex, exenatide dose and time, and with or without inhibitor. Exenatide was injected subcutaneously twice a day, and body weights were measured once a week. At approximately 10 weeks, blood and pancreatic tissue samples were harvested. Amylase, lipase, interleukin 1, interleukin 6, and tumor necrosis factor &agr; in serums were determined. Pancreatic tissues were divided for dry-wet ratio, myeloperoxidase, hematoxylin-eosin staining, and electric microscope imaging. Results Compared with the control group, myeloperoxidase in pancreatic tissue of rats administered with exenatide exhibited a significantly high level; dry-wet ratio of pancreatic tissue in rats administered with exenatide exhibited a significantly low level. Chronic pancreatic damage was observed in 30% of rats from exenatide group for both sexes and showed pycnosis of acinar cells, increased cytoplasmic vacuoles, widened cellular gap, and inflammatory cell infiltration in pancreatic tissue. No pancreatic damage was observed in the control and the inhibitor groups. Histopathological evaluation scores in exenatide group were significantly higher than those of the control group. Conclusion Long-term administration of exenatide in rats can result in chronic pancreatic damage.
EFFECT OF ORGANISATIONAL CAPABILITIES ON SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN AUDIT FIRMS: A CASE STUDY OF DELOITTE LIMITED

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of organizational capabilities on sustainable competitive advantage in audit firms using a case study of Deloitte Limited Methodology: A descriptive research design was used. The study population was drawn from the offices at Deloitte Place on Waiyaki Way. The study conducted a census of all the 106 staff from the target population. Primary data was used and was collected using questionnaires. Quantitative data analysis conducted using SPSS. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistical methods. Correlation analysis was also conducted. The qualitative analysis was used to make conclusions on the open ended questions. Results: The study findings revealed that generally, the human resource capabilities, infrastructure and technology capabilities as well as the reputation capability of the firm could be described as average. Only the leadership capabilities were found to be above average based on the responses given. The study established that the firm had attained sustained competitive advantage mostly in the areas of brand identity and protection, organizational culture and the quality of services delivered. The study further established that HR capabilities, leadership capabilities, infrastructure and technology capabilities as well as reputation capability positively and significantly affected the level of sustainable competitive advantage at Delloite Kenya. Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: The study recommended that the firm needed to modify and develop its existing organizational capabilities of the firm beyond the average level. The study also recommended the firm needed to increase the level of utilization of information systems in streamlining/interlinking its processes so that there was quicker and increased information sharing within the firm for efficiency and flexibility in responding to customer needs. It was further recommended that the firm’s organization constructs that is, an innovation-oriented organizational structure and an innovation friendly organizational culture be advanced to support and enhance the firm’s capabilities.
Evidence for Recent Polygenic Selection on Educational Attainment and Intelligence Inferred from Gwas Hits: A Replication of Previous Findings Using Recent Data

Genetic variants identified by three large genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of educational attainment (EA) were used to test a polygenic selection model. Weighted and unweighted polygenic scores (PGS) were calculated and compared across populations using data from the 1000 Genomes (n = 26), HGDP-CEPH (n = 52) and gnomAD (n = 8) datasets. The PGS from the largest EA GWAS was highly correlated to two previously published PGSs (r = 0.96–0.97, N = 26). These factors are both highly predictive of average population IQ (r = 0.9, N = 23) and Learning index (r = 0.8, N = 22) and are robust to tests of spatial autocorrelation. Monte Carlo simulations yielded highly significant p values. In the gnomAD samples, the correlation between PGS and IQ was almost perfect (r = 0.98, N = 8), and ANOVA showed significant population differences in allele frequencies with positive effect. Socioeconomic variables slightly improved the prediction accuracy of the model (from 78–80% to 85–89%), but the PGS explained twice as much of the variance in IQ compared to socioeconomic variables. In both 1000 Genomes and gnomAD, there was a weak trend for lower GWAS significance SNPs to be less predictive of population IQ. Additionally, a subset of SNPs were found in the HGDP-CEPH sample (N = 127). The analysis of this sample yielded a positive correlation with latitude and a low negative correlation with distance from East Africa. This study provides robust results after accounting for spatial autocorrelation with Fst distances and random noise via an empirical Monte Carlo simulation using null SNPs.
Derivatives of the Mouse Cathelicidin-Related Antimicrobial Peptide (CRAMP) Inhibit Fungal and Bacterial Biofilm Formation

ABSTRACT We identified a 26-amino-acid truncated form of the 34-amino-acid cathelicidin-related antimicrobial peptide (CRAMP) in the islets of Langerhans of the murine pancreas. This peptide, P318, shares 67% identity with the LL-37 human antimicrobial peptide. As LL-37 displays antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity, we tested antifungal and antibiofilm activity of P318 against the fungal pathogen Candida albicans. P318 shows biofilm-specific activity as it inhibits C. albicans biofilm formation at 0.15 μM without affecting planktonic survival at that concentration. Next, we tested the C. albicans biofilm-inhibitory activity of a series of truncated and alanine-substituted derivatives of P318. Based on the biofilm-inhibitory activity of these derivatives and the length of the peptides, we decided to synthesize the shortened alanine-substituted peptide at position 10 (AS10; KLKKIAQKIKNFFQKLVP). AS10 inhibited C. albicans biofilm formation at 0.22 μM and acted synergistically with amphotericin B and caspofungin against mature biofilms. AS10 also inhibited biofilm formation of different bacteria as well as of fungi and bacteria in a mixed biofilm. In addition, AS10 does not affect the viability or functionality of different cell types involved in osseointegration of an implant, pointing to the potential of AS10 for further development as a lead peptide to coat implants.
Electrical small meander line patch antenna

A novel electrically small compact meander line antenna is reported. The antenna consists of a meander line which acts as a capacitively loaded patch with complementary split ring resonators (CSRRs) cell etched on the ground plane. The antenna has shown significantly size reduction in comparison to a conventional microstrip patch antennas. The antenna was designed to work at 1.73 GHz and fabricated on Roger/RO3010 substrate. The antenna has a very compact size of the patch at 16.4×16.4 mm2, being less than 74% of the size of conventional patch antenna.
The Ability of Chloroquine To Prevent Tat-Induced Cytokine Secretion by Monocytes Is Implicated in Its In Vivo Anti-Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Activity

ABSTRACT Hydroxychloroquine at 1 μM reduces the load of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in patients, whereas chloroquine (CQ) concentrations above 3 μM are required for inhibition of HIV-1 replication in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Exogenous HIV-1 Tat reaches the cytosol of T cells by using low endosomal pH, and endosome neutralization by CQ prevents Tat from entering and affecting T cells. We show here that 0.6 μM CQ inhibits cytokine secretion induced by Tat in monocytes without affecting lipopolysaccharide-triggered cytokine release. This finding suggests that the in vivo anti-HIV-1 effect of CQ results not from a direct effect on the infected cell but rather from the capacity of CQ to prevent Tat from perturbing the cytokine balance.
Transepithelial Pathogen Uptake into the Small Intestinal Lamina Propria1

The lamina propria that underlies and stabilizes the gut lining epithelium is densely populated with strategically located mononuclear phagocytes. Collectively, these lamina propria macrophages and dendritic cells (DC) are believed to be crucial for tissue homeostasis as well as the innate and adaptive host defense. Lamina propria DC were recently shown to gain direct access to the intestinal lumen by virtue of epithelium-penetrating dendrites. However, the role of these structures in pathogen uptake remains under debate. In this study, we report that entry of a noninvasive model pathogen (Aspergillus fumigatus conidia) into the murine small intestinal lamina propria persists in the absence of either transepithelial dendrites or lamina propria DC and macrophages. Our results suggest the existence of multiple pathogen entry pathways and point at the importance of villus M cells in the uptake of gut lumen Ags. Interestingly, transepithelial dendrites seem altogether absent from the small intestine of BALB/c mice suggesting that the function of lamina propria DC extensions resides in their potential selectivity for luminal Ags, rather than in general uptake or gut homeostasis.
Public Private Partnership (PPP) project performance in Malaysia: Identification of issues and challenges

Public Private Partnership (PPP) in Malaysia as an innovative procurement mechanism aims to undertake the public sector infrastructure project construction in order to overcome the weaknesses of conventional system. PPP is seen significantly viable to enhance the quality of public services and stimulate economic growth. After the decades of its implementation, many arguments have been reported along the lively growth of PPP project development. Within that context, this study provides a review of issues and challenges for PPP pertaining to project performance in Malaysia. The objective of this study is to highlight the loophole of PPP implementation in Malaysia through a qualitative approach. A qualitative approach was used to analyse contextual literature review and to investigate four selected performance measurement models as the precedent study to provide a basis for improvement of PPP in Malaysia. The findings showed that the issues and challenges were almost similar between the literature and selected models in which the guideline / framework, Key Performance Indicator (KPI), risk allocation, efficiency & flexibility were perceived as dominant issues. Apart from that, a technical factor had proven as the most threated factor that could hinder the implementation of PPP project in Malaysia. Hence, the structure of PPP model should be more viable towards the stakeholders by developing a clear, realistic and concise guideline in order to improve the service delivery performance and return value for money.
The Influence of Size of Firm and Leverage Toward Dividend Payout Policy with TheType of Companies as Controlling Variable

The study is entitle “The Influence of Size of Firm and Leverage Toward Dividend Payout Policy with The Type of Companies as Controlling Variable”. The purposes of this study were: first to determine the influence of size of firm and leverage towards dividend payout policy, Second to determine that type of companies impact to the result of size of firm and leverage toward dividend payout policy. The hypothesis purposed in this study were: first is size of firm has significant and positive effect on the dividend payout policy, Second is leverage has significant and negative effect on the dividend payout policy, third is type of company as controlling variable the relationship between size of firm and leverage towards dividend payout policy. Based on the results of the analysis and discussion, it can be concluded that size of firm has significant and positive effect and leverage has significant and negative effect on the dividend payout policy and type of companies do not act as controlling variable on the relationship between size of firm and leverage towards dividend payout policy. The implications of this study are the management of manufacturing and non manufacturing companies listed on Indonesia Stock Exchange needs to consider variable that affect dividend payout policy namely size of firm Moreover managers should minimize be amount of debt financing because leverage has negative influence on dividend payout policy.
T-duality of current algebras and their quantization

In this paper we show that the T-duality transform of Bouwknegt, Evslin and Mathai applies to determine isomorphisms of certain current algebras and their associated vertex algebras on topologically distinct T-dual spacetimes compactified to circle bundles with $H$-flux.