Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The impact of coffee consumption on blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus

ABSTRACT Introduction: Coffee is the most widely consumed beverage, next to water. However, there has been a long-standing controversy regarding its safety on blood pressure (BP) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) and intuitively, physicians dissuaded their patients from coffee drinking. Areas covered: This controversy was, primarily, based on older prospective studies or case reports, which showed a positive association of coffee drinking with the incidence of hypertension and CVD. In contrast to these reports, recent, well controlled, studies have demonstrated either a neutral or beneficial effect of moderate coffee consumption (3–4 cups/day), on BP, CVD, heart failure (HF), cardiac arrhythmias, or diabetes mellitus (DM). For the preparation of this special report, an English language focused search of the Medline database was conducted between 2010 and 2016 on studies with data on effect on the coffee consumption in patients with high BP, CVD, HF, cardiac arrhythmias or DM. Of the 94 abstracts reviewed, 34 pertinent papers were selected, and the findings from these papers together with collateral literature will be discussed in this special report. Expert commentary: Based on the evidence from these studies, coffee consumption in moderation, is safe and is beneficial in both healthy persons as well as patients with high BP, CVD, HF, cardiac arrhythmias or DM. Therefore, coffee restriction is not warranted for these patients, although some caution should be exercised.
Teamworking: a new dynamic in the pursuit of management control

This article examines the introduction of teamworking in the pharmaceutical industry. It was found that the organisation of work contained a mix of benefits and costs. The balance between the two was not random; employees' response was influenced by and connected to prior experiences and expectations, management's business strategies and approach to industrial relations and HRM. The article argues that there was a new dynamic, but one cast within the familiar terrain of management seeking to maintain control and generate consent.
Local manufacturing multiplier and human capital in Italian local labor markets

This paper quantifies the effect of a local labor demand shock in the tradable sector on the employment in the non-tradable sector for Italy. Following Moretti (2010) and Moretti and Thulin (2013) we analyse for Italy’s case the effect on the employment in tradable and nontradable sector due to an exogenous shift in the number of jobs in the tradable sector in local labor market area. Using Italian census data at LLM level for 1981, 1991, 2001 and 2011, evidences suggest that, on average, the effect of an exogenous shift in local tradable employment upon non-tradable employment is zero. We believe that in this baseline model the absence of evidence of a positive impact of new jobs in the tradable sectors on the remaining parts of the local economy can be explained in particular focusing on excess of regulation, on labor mobility, on the lack of variability of wages, on the rigidity of housing supply and on the Italian familistic welfare system. In addition to the baseline model, we account for the technology level of the manufacturing sector using the EUROSTAT classification. We want to test if the jobs multiplier effect in the high-tech sector is significantly different/higher than for almost any other sector. High-tech workers, with their high opportunity cost of time, are expected to be net buyers of non-tradable goods. Accounting for the technology level, as Moretti, Moretti and Thulin predict, we find evidence that high-tech jobs have a positive and significant local employment multiplier of 0.7 additional jobs. These results bear important implications for the Italian growth path and its regional divide, in terms both of labor market and industry competitiveness.
Characterization of a cancer/testis (CT) antigen gene family capable of eliciting humoral response in cancer patients

Cancer/testis (CT) antigens are immunogenic proteins expressed in normal gametogenic tissues and in different types of tumors. CT antigens are promising candidates for cancer immunotherapy, and the identification of novel CT antigens is a prerequisite for the development of cancer vaccines. We have identified a CT antigen, named CTSP-1, with partial similarity to the breast differentiation antigen NY-BR-1. CTSP-1 presents several splicing and polyadenylation variants and has a very restricted expression pattern among normal tissues. CTSP-1 is exclusively expressed in normal testis and is aberrantly expressed in 47.6% (10 of 21) of tumor cell lines and in 44.4% (75 of 169) of tumors from different histological types. The highest percentages of positive expression were observed in melanomas (59.0%) followed by prostate (58.0%) and lung (57.0%) tumors. CTSP-1 is part of a highly conserved gene family, and members of this family also have a restricted expression pattern and similar protein structure. Antibodies against members of this gene family were detected in 10% (14 of 141) of plasma samples from patients with a wide spectrum of tumors. The highest percentages of antibody response were observed in patients with prostate (20.8%), thyroid (20.0%), and breast (16.6%) tumors. Because of its very restricted expression pattern in normal tissues and immunogenicity in different types of tumors, CTSP-1 should be considered a promising candidate for cancer immunotherapy.
Sprint running: how changes in step frequency affect running mechanics and leg spring behaviour at maximal speed

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes in selected biomechanical variables in 80-m maximal sprint runs while imposing changes in step frequency (SF) and to investigate if these adaptations differ based on gender and training level. A total of 40 athletes (10 elite men and 10 women, 10 intermediate men and 10 women) participated in this study; they were requested to perform 5 trials at maximal running speed (RS): at the self-selected frequency (SFs) and at SF ±15% and ±30%SFs. Contact time (CT) and flight time (FT) as well as step length (SL) decreased with increasing SF, while kvert increased with it. At SFs, kleg was the lowest (a 20% decrease at ±30%SFs), while RS was the largest (a 12% decrease at ±30%SFs). Only small changes (1.5%) in maximal vertical force (Fmax) were observed as a function of SF, but maximum leg spring compression (ΔL) was largest at SFs and decreased by about 25% at ±30%SFs. Significant differences in Fmax, Δy, kleg and kvert were observed as a function of skill and gender (P < 0.001). Our results indicate that RS is optimised at SFs and that, while kvert follows the changes in SF, kleg is lowest at SFs.
Spatially resolved monitoring of neutrophil elastase activity with ratiometric fluorescent reporters.

However, in diseases charac-terized by chronic neutrophilic inflammation such as ciga-rette-smoke-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) and cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease, excessive NEactivity has been implicated in proteolytic damage of theairways and lung parenchyma causing bronchiectasis andemphysema, ultimately leading to respiratory failure anddeath.
The Commercial Banking Firm: A Simple Model

A commercial bank must decide its volume of illiquid loans and investments without full knowledge of its deposits. In case withdrawals exceed its defensive position in liquid assets, the bank incurs extra costs in meeting reserve requirements, penalties in borrowing or losses in disposing of illiquid assets. In case of good luck on deposits, an unnecessarily large defensive position sacrifices profits from more remunerative but less liquid assets. The paper presents a simple model of this precautionary portfolio decision by a profit-maximizing bank. The effects of variations in monetary policy, banking regulations, and competitive structure are traced: reserve requirements, access to central bank credit, deposit interest rate ceilings, monopolistic power in loan and deposit markets, relative importance of capital and time deposit liabilities, size and nature of illiquidity penalties, and degree of deposit uncertainty. Commercial banks are the most important kind of financial intermediary. Their liabilities are the closest privately issued substitutes for government currency. Demand deposits serve as means of payment generally acceptable for most transactions. For several reasons, depositors bear very little of the risks of the loans the banks make. There are economies of scale in pooling of default risks specific to borrowers and in specialized administration and appraisal of the loans. The banks' shareholders assume the residual risk; only after their equity is wiped out would depositors' claims be jeopardized. Finally, the government stands behind bank deposit liabilities, both as ))lender of last resort>> to tide banks over crises of illiquidity and as insurer of deposits against the contingency of insolvency. Government monetary and credit policy operates mainly through the commercial banking system, and this is the main reason today to give special attention to commercial banks. Historically the first reason for government intervention in the banking business was to protect depositors (or in older times bank note holders) against the risks of bank illiquidity and insolvency. But the public regulations and institutions established for this purpose can also be used to regulate credit markets in the interests of economic stabilization, maintenance of the value of the currency, or other government objectives. As the protective purpose of government intervenScand. J. of Economics 1982 This content downloaded from 207.46. 13.172 on Fri, 07 Oct 2016 06:13:42 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor. org/terms
Value-at-Risk for Long and Short Positions of Asian Stock Markets

Empirical research shows that stock market returns distributions can be asymmetric and the auto-correlations of its absolute returns are stronger than that of its squared returns. An asymmetric returns distribution means that the left and right tails would have different thickness, whereas higher auto-correlation of absolute returns implies that better volatility forecasts are possible. This has significant economic implication for risk management that requires accurate estimation of Value-at-Risk (VaR). In this paper, we therefore investigate the performance of VaR models that take into consideration of the skewness of the innovation process and utilize the Box-Cox transformation of conditional variance in a flexible ARCH-type model. Specificaly, we use the Asymmetric Power Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (APARCH) model based on the skewed Student density to model the VaRs of daily returns of those Asian markets found to exhibit both skewness and kurtosis in the innovation process. We apply the likelihood ratio tests of proportional failure rates to such VaR model and compare the results with other VaR models, in particular, APARCH with symmetric distributions and APARCH with skewed Student distributions. It is found that the APARCH model with skewed Student distribution performs the best for the Asian markets considered.
Reinterpretation of a metaphor: from stakes to claims

Stakeholder theory is a necessary approach to managing successful firms in today's complex economic, social, ethical and environmental context. Strategists wishing to apply stakeholder theory need to have a full understanding of the intricacies of this developing concept. A thorough application of stakeholder management requires a culture of openness and dialogue and awareness of organizational values. It is proposed that an ethically defensible approach to stakeholder theory is one that identifies key stakeholders by considering those with legitimate claims on the firm rather than just those with significant stakes in it. Stakeholder theory is a potentially important perspective in the successful management of the firm. This entails acknowledging the importance of groups other than stockholders, to encompass those who have an effect on, or are affected by, the organization. The theory has been adopted by those concerned with business ethics, as a means of leveraging consideration of corporate responsibilities into management discourses. In reviewing the development of stakeholder theory, it is held to be lacking in its normative foundations. Rather than focus on stakeholders, it is argued that managers should seek to engage with claimholders — those who have a legitimate claim on the firm. Key stakeholders need to be identified in line with organizational values. The mechanisms for ensuring an open dialogue need to be established and maintained. The stakeholder model when applied properly is a complex undertaking involving full commitment by participating organizations, coupled with a detailed understanding of the intricacies of the concept. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Risk Factors of Nontunneled Noncuffed Hemodialysis Catheter Malfunction

Background: The use of noncuffed nontunneled central venous catheters is a widely accepted method of gaining temporary vascular access for hemodialysis. Malfunction and bacteremia are the main factors limiting catheter survival. Methods: We followed up prospectively 73 hemodialysis catheters (HC) (40 internal jugular, 33 femoral) in order to establish factors influencing HC malfunction. HC malfunction was defined as a catheter that was unable to attain and maintain blood flows of at least 150 ml/min. 73 HC were used for a total 1,100 days. Results: HC malfunction occurred in 23 cases (31.51%) during the study period, giving an overall rate of 21 episodes per 1,000 catheter days at risk. An analysis revealed a higher risk of HC malfunction with the catheterization of the femoral vein compared to the internal jugular vein (hazard ratio (HR) 6.3; 95% confidence interval (CI) 5.3–7.3). After correction for confounding factors in multivariate Cox analysis, the site of the catheterization remained a statistically significant predictor of HC malfunction (HR 5.03, 95% CI 3.83–6.23). After the first week malfunction rate was 42 and 8% for femoral and internal jugular site, respectively (relative risk (RR) for malfunction 5.3 (95% CI, 2.5–8). After the second and third week, the incidence of malfunction was 51 and 14% for femoral and internal jugular vein, respectively (RR 3.6, 95% CI 2.2–5.1). Conclusions: Catheterization of the internal jugular vein is associated with longer catheter survival when compared to the femoral vein. Hemodialysis catheters should be placed, if possible, in internal jugular vein to prevent their premature malfunction.
Microvessel density of malignant and benign hepatic lesions and MRI evaluation.

AIM To study the difference of microvessel density (MVD) between malignant and benign hepatic lesions and study the relationship between MVD and dynamic enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for evaluation of microvessels within malignant and benign hepatic lesions. METHODS A total of 265 specimens of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), 122 cirrhosis tissues and 22 hepatic benign lesions were enrolled for MVD by immunohistochemistry on tissue microarray, of which 49 underwent MRI examination before surgery, then contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR) and enhancement index (EI) in all the phases were calculated. Pearson correlation was performed for correlation analysis between CNR, EI and MVD. RESULTS MVD of HCC was 22.7+/-15.8 (mean+/-SD), which was obviously higher than that of cirrhosis tissue (8.3+/-7.6, P<0.01), but was not statistically different from that of benign lesions (31.3+/-22.7, P>0.05). Among HCC, MVD of grades I-II was 29.9+/-18.6, which was much higher than those of grade III (22.2+/-18.2, P<0.01) and grade IV (22.9+/-19.0, P<0.01). MVD of HCC (P=0.018) and of benign lesions (P=0.014) were both correlative with CNR in arterial phase. CONCLUSION Neoangiogenesis is an important feature for malignant tumor, and MVD may act as a biological marker in differentiating malignant from benign hepatic lesions. Dynamic enhanced MRI, especially image in arterial phase, may act as an MVD evaluation criterion for malignant and benign hepatic lesions.
Serum bone sialoprotein in patients with primary breast cancer is a prognostic marker for subsequent bone metastasis.

Bone sialoprotein (BSP) is a noncoflagenous bone matrix protein that is important for both mineralization and cell-cell interactions. Tissue studies in primary breast cancers have shown that immunohistochemical expression of BSP is associated with a high incidence of bone metastases in the course of the disease. We used a RIA to investigate the importance of serum BSP as a marker for subsequent bone metastases. Between 1994 and 1996, preoperative blood samples were collected from 388 consecutive patients with nonmetastatic breast cancer and from 30 control patients with benign breast disease. Serum BSP concentrations were measured in a blinded fashion by RIA. The cutoff for elevated serum BSP values was 24 ng/ml, ie. , two SDs above the normal mean value. Serum BSP was correlated with the risk of metastasis and analyzed with regard to its prognostic value. After a median follow-up period of only 20 months, 28 patients had developed metastases. Fourteen patients had bone metastases only, 9 visceral metastases only, and 5 a combination of osseous and visceral metastases. Of the 19 women with skeletal metastases, 17 had preoperative serum BSP values in excess of 24 ng/ml (median BSP values: 48.3 ng/ml for isolated metastatic bone disease, 30.6 ng/ml for combined metastases), whereas none of the women with visceral metastases only had elevated serum BSP concentrations (median BSP value: 12.3 ng/ml). The median serum BSP value in the control group (benign breast disease) was 8.8 ng/ml serum BSP; levels correlated with the size of the primary tumor, but not with any other prognostic factors. Using a multivariate regression analysis, serum BSP was found to be the most important independent prognostic factor for the development of skeletal metastasis (P < 0.001; relative risk, 94); its specificity was 96.7%, and its sensitivity was 89.5%. Our study shows that patients with preoperatively elevated serum BSP levels are at high risk of subsequent bone metastases in the first years after primary surgery. The mechanism of BSP in the pathogenesis of skeletal metastases is unclear. Because BSP contains an integrin recognition sequence, its expression in tumor cells may facilitate their adhesion to the bone surface. However, it is possible that a proportion of circulation BSP is derived from normal or tumor-induced bone turnover. Breast cancer patients with elevated serum BSP levels may benefit from osteoprotective adjuvant therapy with bisphosphonates.
Determinants of the Travel Demand Model for Canadian Tourists to the U.S.

ABSTRACT The objective of this study is to identify the determinants of the travel demand and to assess their impacts on the number of international tourist arrivals from Canada to the U.S. Annual time data (1960-2002) of tourist arrivals, real per capita income, relative prices and real exchange rates were used throughout the study. The Dummy variables of 9-11, the Olympic Games, the Open Skies Agreement, the Gulf War, the Free Trade Agreement, the World Economic Recession and the Oil Crisis were used to measure the impacts of special incidents on the number of Canadian arrivals. Multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the data. The results showed that real per capita income, relative price, the Gulf War and the Oil Crisis were the determinants of the travel demand from Canada to the U.S.
Industry, Organizational Age, and Size as Predictors of Organizational Values in the Context of a Transition Society: The Case of Estonian Organizations

The objective of the article is to outline the regularities in the formation of organizational values in the context of a transition society. An Organizational Values Questionnaire (Reino 2009), based on the Competing Values Framework (Quinn and Cameron 1983), was used to analyze organizational values. A regression analysis was applied to test the impact of industry, organizational size, and age on organizational values. It was found that industry and organizational size had an important effect on values, but organizational age did not significantly predict organizational values in the context of a transition society.
Understanding Bond Risk Premia Uncovered by the Term Structure

This paper makes a step towards understanding the term-structure forecasts of bond risk premia. Two economically interpretable variables, the level of nominal forward rates, and one-year-ahead expected inflation extracted from the forwards (IE factor) are enough to summarize virtually all of predictive power for excess bond returns contained in the factor of Cochrane and Piazzesi [2005] (CP). The IE is constructed by regressing realized inflation on five forward rates, which improves substantially upon predictive regressions for inflation that use the term spread and the spot rate only. The intuition can be well explained in terms of natural cointegration between nominal level and the IE factor. Deviations from this long-term relation explain 95 percent of the variation in the CP factor, and have clear business cycle properties. Apart from that, they are large around inflationary 70's and 80's, and more moderate in the 50's, 60's, and in the most recent period which includes the financial crisis. This explains weaker predictability of excess bond returns in the subsamples that cover the most recent years.
Vocationalization of secondary and higher education: Pathways to the world of work

This paper examines the changing nature of vocationalization within the human resource development (HRD) agenda that came to the fore several decades ago. Although originally it included a broader interpretation (education and training, health, standards of living), gradually, over time, a narrower definition has come to prevail (Kelly, 2001). Therefore, the economic aspect of HRD, that is the development of employability skills, is currently the main emphasis within policy development. This employability focus has changed the nature of vocationalization from 'educational' to 'functional'. However, in many cases this brings general and vocational education together at both secondary and higher education1 levels. This paper also reveals that vocationalization depends on the level of economic development and cultural specificities. Analysis of vocationalization at secondary level is followed by a brief examination of post-secondary technical and vocational education and training (TVET) that through articulation pathways are linked to higher education and lastly, vocationalization of higher education.
Dual Purpose Antenna for Hybrid Free Space Optics/RF Communication Systems

The concept of hybrid free space optical/radio frequency (FSO/RF) communications has been considered for the last mile access network applications. The existing schemes mostly use two separate transceiver antennas for outdoor terrestrial links of few kilometres long. In this paper, we propose and investigate a single hybrid FSO/RF antenna that could be used in high-speed access networks. We outline the design procedures based on the concept of Cassegrain antenna, and show how the FSO transceiver is incorporated into the original design. The proposed antenna is fabricated and extensive measurements are carried out for the radiation pattern, return loss, RF signal-to-noise ratio and the FSO received power. By performing link budget analysis and the results obtained from experiments, we demonstrate the operation of proposed hybrid antenna with 1 × 3 single-input multiple-output configuration and an equal gain combining at the receiver under moderate regime turbulence regime.