Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The impact of cultural and political dynamics on web site design, development, and implementation: An exploration of potential pitfalls

Purpose – The aim of this article is to contribute to extant management and internet literature through exploring the impact of human dynamics, interaction, and influence on web site design, development, and implementation within the context of broader internet operations development.Design/methodology/approach – Given the nature of the subject area under investigation and the need for both depth and rich understanding, an in‐depth, longitudinal case study approach was considered appropriate for this study.Findings – The evaluation of the process of web site design, development, and implementation identifies six cultural gaps and numerous instances of hierarchical political influence that combined with the medium of communication to shape both the articulation and the understanding of messages.Originality/value – This study will have significant appeal not only to management and culture theorists and practitioners, but also to those executives and academics interested in the processes and pitfalls of web .
Severity of Injury and Service Utilization Following Traumatic Brain Injury: The First 3 Months

Objective:To describe the medical and rehabilitation service use of model systems by brain injured participants 1 to 3 months postdischarge from inpatient rehabilitation. Design:Prospective follow-up study. Setting:Georgia Model Brain Injury System (GAMBIS). Participants:Seventy-three GAMBIS subjects consenting to participate in the utilization substudy. Main Outcome Measures:Receipt of services and intensity of service use. Analysis:Chi-square analysis of receipt of services by severity of injury. Results:The likelihood of service use did not vary with severity of injury. Data suggest that intensity of service use was a function of injury severity. Conclusions:Subjects with mild and moderate injuries were as likely to use a range of medical and rehabilitation services during the 3-month postdischarge period as those with severe injuries. Traditional rehabilitation services, such as physical therapy, were far more likely to be used, than nontraditional services, such as psychological counseling, in spite of the high level of cognitive and social disability associated with traumatic brain injury.
Performability of an Algorithm for Connection Admission Control

Connection admission control (CAC) in broadband, ATM-based telecommunication networks is a problem of recognized importance. Its solution calls for real-time algorithms that can accurately decide whether a connection request may be granted without compromising specified quality of service (QoS) requirements. We consider an algorithm for this purpose that accommodates variable bit rate (VBR) connections and is based on effective bandwidth computations. Arriving VBR traffic streams are assumed to be leaky-bucket regulated and are represented by worst-case, periodic, on-off, fluid sources that are randomly phased. Moreover, certain traffic classes may benefit from statistical multiplexing (S-VBR), while others may not (NS-VBR). We then evaluate the ability of such a CAC algorithm to perform in the presence of fluctuating channel capacity, where the performability variable Y/sub T/ is the fraction of some specified busy period T during which the quality of service requirement is violated. A general base model that supports Y/sub T/ is then formulated and instances of the resulting performability model are constructed and solved using UltraSAN. In particular, the evaluation experiments reveal some interesting differences in how QoS degrades with respect to the control of S-VBR vs. NS-VBR traffic.
Differential effects of dopamine agonists upon stimulated limbic and striatal dopamine release: in vivo voltammetric data

1 Fast cyclic voltammetry at carbon fibre microelectrodes was used in rats anaesthetized with chloral hydrate to monitor dopamine release in the caudate and nucleus accumbens evoked by electrical stimulation of the median forebrain bundle. Stimulation trains (50 Hz sinusoidal current, 100 ± 10 μA r.m.s., 2 s duration) were repeated every 5 min throughout the experiment. 2 The actions of the dopamine agonists quinpirole, pergolide, SKF 38393, bromocriptine, (+)‐3‐(3‐hydroxyphenyl)‐N‐n‐propylpiperidine ((+)‐3PPP) and (−)‐3PPP were compared in the two nuclei. 3 Bromocriptine (10 mg kg−1, i.p.) did not affect release in either nucleus while SKF 38393 caused a fleeting decrease in limbic but not striatal dopamine release at a high dose (20 mg kg−1, i.p.). 4 Quinpirole and pergolide (both 1 mg kg−1, i.p.) decreased stimulated dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens while in the caudate the drugs each caused a transient, though not quite significant, elevation of stimulated dopamine release followed by decrease in release of the same magnitude as that seen in the nucleus accumbens. 5 The (−)‐enantiomer of 3PPP (20 mg kg−1, i.p.), a partial agonist at the dopamine autoreceptor, increased stimulated dopamine release in both nuclei although the action in the caudate was larger and more prolonged. (+)‐3PPP (20 mg kg−1, i.p.), a full agonist, decreased release in the nucleus accumbens. A small, transient and not significant increase in the caudate was followed by decreased release. 6 The results are interpreted as being evidence for differences in the dopamine autoreceptor in the two nuclei, possibly in the affinity state of the receptor in each nucleus.
Brand proneness versus experiential effect? Explaining consumer preferences towards labeled food products

Consumers' fears and anxiousness, triggered by recent food scares and crises, and technological developments such as GMOs, have led to serious concerns about food safety, ever-increasing demands for quality assurance, more information about product origin food labels, and more particularly designation-of-origin labels, such as PDO (protected designation of origin) and PGI (protected geographic indication). Region of origin food labels have become increasingly frequent and apposed to a large variety of food products. The objective of this study is to analyze consumer preferences towards labeled food products on the basis of a consumer scanned data panel.
Performance of Operational Policy Rules in an Estimated Semi-Classical Structural Model

This paper reports results of simulation exercises that explore several questions relating to the design of rules for monetary policy. Emphasis is given to issues raised by the concept of rule operationality, i.e., reliance on feasible instrument variables and information sets. Many of the results pertain to rules of the Taylor type -- i.e., with an interest rate instrument set in response to inflation and output-gap measures -- but some are reported for rules using a nominal income target and/or a monetary base instrument. The macroeconomic model utilized is small in scale but features a specification designed to represent rational dynamic optimizing choices by the economy's private agents. Saving and portfolio-balance behavior are expressed by optimizing versions of exceptional IS and LM functions, with gradual price adjustments specified differently in two variants of the model. One variant uses the well-known Calvo-Rotemberg price adjustment relation, whereas the second employs a newly-rationalized version of the Mussa-McCallum-Barro-Grossman P-bar model. Parameter values are estimated by instrumental variables on U.S. quarterly data for 1995-1996.
Stock market reactions to announcements of the board of directors: evidence from Italy

The board of directors plays an important role in corporate governance. It is an internal mechanism that controls and monitors the actions of managers and aligns the utility functions between corporate owners and managers. The board of directors performs multiple functions that concern, for example, the replacement of the managers, financial policy, the preparation of strategic plans and other actions that affect the performance of the company. The board plays an important role since on the one hand it controls the actions of management and on the other it advises the management regarding the strategies to be adopted. In this study, 100 announcements regarding the appointment of the board of directors of 100 Italian listed companies during the period 2012–2014 are investigated. The results show a positive reaction within 20 days around the announcement date. In four of the six time windows, cumulative abnormal returns (CARs) are positive and statistically significant. The positive reaction of the market would appear, however, to be linked more to the composition of the board of directors than to the size of the board of directors.
The impact of remote patient monitoring (telehealth) upon Medicare beneficiaries with heart failure.

OBJECTIVE To study the impact of remote patient monitoring (RPM) upon the most frequent diagnosis in hospitalized patients over 65 years of age-heart failure (HF). We examined the effect of RPM on hospital utilization and Medicare costs of HF patients receiving home care. MATERIALS AND METHODS Two studies were simultaneously conducted: A randomized and a matched-cohort study. In the randomized study, 168 subjects were randomly assigned (after hospitalization) to home care utilizing RPM (live nursing visits and video-based nursing visits) or to home care receiving live nursing visits only. In the matched-cohort study, 160 subjects receiving home care with RPM (live nursing visits and video-based nursing visits) were matched with home care subjects receiving live nursing visits only. RESULTS Regardless of whether outcomes were being analyzed for all subjects (intention to treat) or for hospitalized subjects only, hospitalization rates, time to first admission, length of stay, and costs to Medicare did not differ significantly between groups in either study at 30 or 90 days after enrollment. A notable trend, however, emerged across studies: Although time to hospitalization was shorter in the RPM groups than the control groups, RPM groups had lower hospitalization costs. CONCLUSIONS RPM, when utilized in conjunction with a robust management protocol, was not found to significantly differ from live nursing visits in the management of HF in home care. Shorter hospitalization times and lower associated costs may be due to earlier identification of exacerbation. These trends indicate the need for further study.
Expatriate practices in German, Japanese, U.K., and U.S. multinational companies: A comparative survey of changes

In this article we present expatriate management policies and practices of 136 large multinational companies (MNCs) based in four different countries: Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The findings we focus on include staffing, selection, training, and success. By analyzing our own results as well as comparing them to previous findings, we examine the changes in expatriate practices over time. In the managerial and research implications sections, we share additional findings and our thoughts about future issues and trends in expatriation. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Signaling Managerial Optimism through Stock Dividends and Stock Splits: A Reexamination of the Retained Earnings Hypothesis

Abstract The retained earnings hypothesis predicts that stock distributions accounted for by reducing retained earnings are a more credible signal of managerial optimism than stock distributions that do not reduce retained earnings. This study examines the costs of false signaling that are a necessary pre-condition for the hypothesis and finds them to be generally very small, calling the validity of the hypothesis into question for most firms. However, prior studies report broad-based market evidence consistent with the hypothesis. To resolve this apparent inconsistency, the study replicates and extends tests of the retained earnings hypothesis contained in three prior studies, and shows that the findings in support of the retained earnings hypothesis can be attributed to specification and measurement choices that bias the results in favor of the hypothesis. The support for the retained earnings hypothesis is weaker when the sources of the bias are removed. However, some support for the hypothesis remains for a limited set of distributing firms.
Biologics-induced autoimmune diseases

Purpose of reviewBiological agents are therapies designed to target a specific molecular component of the immune system, and are currently licensed for use in autoimmune rheumatic, digestive, dermatological and systemic diseases. However, their use has been linked with the paradoxical development of autoimmune processes. Recent findingsMore than 1500 cases of autoimmune diseases induced by biologics have been reported, including a wide variety of both systemic (lupus, vasculitis, sarcoidosis, antiphospholipid syndrome and inflammatory myopathies) and organ-specific (interstitial lung disease, uveitis, optic neuritis, peripheral neuropathies, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease and autoimmune hepatitis) autoimmune processes. Although these processes are overwhelmingly associated with anti-TNF agents, recent cases have been associated with therapies directed against other cytokines, B or T-cells, illustrating that even though targeting a particular immune molecule may be associated with an excellent clinical response in most patients, an unexpected autoimmune response may arise in some cases. SummaryAs the use of biological therapies expands, the number and diversity of induced autoimmune disorders should be expected to increase. Paradoxically, for many of these drug-related processes, current treatment indications include the very biological agent producing the adverse event.
Negative regulation of the RIG-I signaling by the ubiquitin ligase RNF125

Retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I) plays a pivotal role in the regulation of cytokine production induced by pathogens. The RIG-I also augments the production of IFN and other cytokines via an amplification circuit. Because the production of cytokines is closely controlled, up- and down-regulation of RIG-I signaling also needs strict regulation. The mechanism of this regulation, however, remains elusive. Here, we found that RIG-I undergoes proteasomal degradation after conjugation to ubiquitin by RNF125. Further, RNF125 conjugates ubiquitin to MDA5, a family protein of RIG-I as well as IPS-1, which is also a downstream protein of RIG-I signaling that results in suppressing the functions of these proteins. Because RNF125 is enhanced by IFN, these functions constitute a negative regulatory loop circuit for IFN production.
Effect of R&D investments on persistence of abnormal earnings

Purpose – This paper sets out to test the effects of firms’ and industry's R&D intensity on persistence of abnormal earnings. Design/methodology/approach – Ohlson's valuation model is used with pooled regressions along with Fama–Macbeth methodology on yearly regressions and partitioning on Herfindahl index to conduct the tests. Findings – It was found that firms’ and industries’ R&D intensities are both positively correlated with persistence of abnormal earnings. The evidence suggests that the positive effect on earnings persistence caused by R&D's effectiveness in mitigating competition dominates the negative effect brought by more risk from R&D projects Practical implications – The fact that the firm's own R&D investment leads to incremental earnings persistence beyond that of the industry suggests the importance of incorporating both industry and firm's R&D intensity in earnings persistence. While industry R&D investment leads to competition mitigation via creation of entry barriers, a firm's own investment in R&D differentiates its products from those of its competitors, and thereby results in further competition mitigation by creating replacement barriers. Originality/value – Finally, since R&D intensity is correlated with earnings persistence, inclusion of R&D intensity in future earnings persistence studies may lead to better model specification by reducing the problem of correlated omitted variables.
Hepatic ischemia reperfusion injury is associated with acute kidney injury following donation after brain death liver transplantation

Donation after cardiac death liver transplant recipients have an increased frequency of acute kidney injury (AKI). This suggests that hepatic ischemia‐reperfusion injury may play a critical role in the pathogenesis of AKI after liver transplantation. The aim of this single‐center study was to determine if hepatic ischemia‐reperfusion injury, estimated by peak peri‐operative serum amino‐transferase (AST), is associated with AKI following donation after brain death (DBD) liver transplantation. A total of 296 patients received 298 DBD liver transplants from January 2007 to June 2011. The incidence of AKI was 35.9%. AKI was a risk factor for chronic kidney disease (P = 0.037) and mortality (P = 0.002). On univariate analysis, peak AST correlated with peak creatinine (P < 0.001) and peak change in creatinine from baseline (P < 0.001). Peak AST was higher in AKI patients (P < 0.001). The incidence of AKI in patients with a peak AST of <1500, 1500–2999 and ≥3000 U/l was 26.1%, 39.8% and 71.2%, respectively (P < 0.001). On multiple logistic regression analysis, peak AST was independently associated with the development of AKI (P < 0.001). In conclusion, hepatic ischemia‐reperfusion injury demonstrates a strong relationship with peri‐operative AKI in DBD liver transplant recipients.
Hydrological change detection using modeling: Half a century of runoff from four rivers in the Blue Nile Basin

Land cover changes can have significant impacts on hydrological regime. The objective of this study was to detect possible hydrological changes of four watersheds in the Blue Nile Basin using a model‐based method for hydrological change detection. The four watersheds, Birr, Upper‐Didesa, Gilgel Abbay, and Koga range in size from 260 to 1800 km2. The changes were assessed based on model parameters, model residuals, and in the overall function of the watersheds in transferring rainfall into runoff. The entire time series (1960–2004) was divided into three periods based on political and land management policy changes. A conceptual rainfall‐runoff model, the HBV (Hydrologiska Byråns Vattenbalansavdelning) model, was used for the analysis, and suitable parameter sets for each period were found based on a Monte Carlo approach. The values of six out of nine parameters changed significantly between the periods. Model residuals also showed significant changes between the three periods in three of the four watersheds. On the other hand, the overall functioning of the watersheds in processing rainfall to runoff changed little. So even though the individual parameters and model residuals were changing, the integrated functioning of the watersheds showed minimal changes. This study demonstrated the value of using different approaches for detecting hydrological change and highlighted the sensitivity of the outcome to the applied modeling and statistical methods.
Coping with an emerging market competition through strategy-human resource alignment: case study evidence from five leading Japanese manufacturers in the People's Republic of China

This paper documents how PRC-based Japanese affiliates can align their human resource management (HRM) policies and practices with their business strategies based on in-depth interview surveys of the five leading Japanese manufacturers in China. In particular, using a multiple-informant research design to interview both top and human resource managers in each site, the study has attempted to clarify the strategic fit between the business strategies pursued and HRM practices adopted in China. Our interviews with top management for each affiliate revealed three types of business strategies that the PRC-based affiliates adopt to gain competitiveness in the Chinese market. Separate interviews with HR managers further clarified that affiliates' HRM efforts are aligned with the strategy each affiliate is pursuing. The findings are used to suggest several hypothesized relationships between the particular strategies pursued and the HRM practices adopted in China. Furthermore, this study has provided some important insights as to how the choice of affiliate-level business strategies in China affects the ‘hybridization’ processes of the HRM policies and practices used in the cross-national business environment.
'Best practice' in focus group research: making sense of different views.

AIM The aim of this paper is to identify the broad epistemological debates which underpin conflicting statements on 'rigour' and 'good practice' in qualitative research; to relate divergences in statements of 'good practice' in focus group design made by the pre-eminent commentators on focus group methodology to these broader epistemological debates; and to stimulate further reflection on the range of possible uses for focus groups in health services research. Considerations of the analysis of focus group data are beyond the scope of this paper. DISCUSSION Focus groups are a popular form of qualitative data collection, and may be defined as a particular form of group interview intended to exploit group dynamics. While qualitative research may be broadly characterized as concerned with exploring people's lived experiences and perspectives in context, it is a heterogeneous field incorporating many theoretical traditions. Consequently, qualitative researchers may be informed by a wide range of assumptions about the nature of knowledge (epistemology). These assumptions, whether implicit or explicit, have important consequences for claims about rigour and 'good practice' in data collection. Thus, while there is broad agreement over the general form of focus groups, statements of 'good practice' in terms of its application are varied. A close reading of texts by the two pre-eminent commentators on the practical application of focus groups identifies differences in 'best practice' focus group design related to their respective epistemological assumptions, and differences principally related to sampling techniques, composition of groups, the perceived role of group interaction and the nature of inference. CONCLUSION Explicit consideration of the epistemological basis of divergent statements of 'best practice' in focus group design forces health services researchers to balance the demands of theory with the practicalities of conducting focus group research within complex host organisations; and encourages readers to apply appraisal criteria appropriate to the stated intentions of researchers.