Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Consumption of antibiotics in Chinese public general tertiary hospitals (2011-2014): Trends, pattern changes and regional differences

Background China has a high rate of antibiotic use. The Chinese Ministry of Health (MOH) established the Center for Antibacterial Surveillance (CAS) to monitor the use of antibacterial agents in hospitals in 2005. The purpose of this study was to identify trends, pattern changes and regional differences in antibiotic consumption in 151 public general tertiary hospitals across China from 2011–2014. Materials and methods Valid data for antibiotic use were collected quarterly, and the antibiotic consumption data were expressed as the defined daily dose (DDD) per 100 inpatient days (ID). We compared the patterns of antibiotic use in different classes and geographical clusters. Results Total antibiotic use significantly decreased (P = 0.018) from 75.86 DDD/100 ID in 2011 to 47.03 DDD/100 ID in 2014. The total consumption of flomoxef sodium and cefminox increased from 1.31 DDD/100 BD in 2011 to 8.6 DDD/100 BD in 2014. Cephalosporins were the most frequently used antibiotics in all regions. Third-generation cephalosporins accounted for more than 45% of the cephalosporins used. Carbapenem use substantially increased (P = 0.043). Penicillin combinations with inhibitors accounted for 50% of the penicillin used, and prescribed meropenem accounted for most of the carbapenems used in all regions in 2014. The subclasses in each antibiotic group were used differently between the seven regions, and the total hospital antibiotic use in 2014 differed significantly by region (P = 0.014). Conclusion Although the volume and intensity of total antibiotic use decreased, the antibiotic use patterns were not optimal, and broad-spectrum antibiotics were still the main classes. The aggregate data obtained during the study period reveal similar antibiotic consumption patterns in different regions. These findings provide useful information for improving the rational use of antibiotics. More detailed data on antibiotics linked to inpatient diseases need to be collected in future studies.
The effects of on‐the‐job training on wages in Sweden

On‐the‐job training has a large positive effect on wages for employees in Sweden, and employees in jobs that require long on‐the‐job training earn significantly more than workers in jobs with short training requirements. The effects of training are large for recently hired and low for senior employees. There are significant wage effects of general and specific on‐the‐job training, and the effect is significantly larger for general training. Separate estimates for the public and private sectors show significant effects of specific training only for public‐sector employees and large effects of general training for private‐sector employees. The results suggest that the distinction between general and specific training matters, that firms are willing to pay for general training and that there is heterogeneity in the returns to these forms of training.
Counterfactual Multi-Agent Policy Gradients

Many real-world problems, such as network packet routing and the coordination of autonomous vehicles, are naturally modelled as cooperative multi-agent systems. There is a great need for new reinforcement learning methods that can efficiently learn decentralised policies for such systems. To this end, we propose a new multi-agent actor-critic method called counterfactual multi-agent (COMA) policy gradients. COMA uses a centralised critic to estimate the Q-function and decentralised actors to optimise the agents' policies. In addition, to address the challenges of multi-agent credit assignment, it uses a counterfactual baseline that marginalises out a single agent's action, while keeping the other agents' actions fixed. COMA also uses a critic representation that allows the counterfactual baseline to be computed efficiently in a single forward pass. We evaluate COMA in the testbed of StarCraft unit micromanagement, using a decentralised variant with significant partial observability. COMA significantly improves average performance over other multi-agent actor-critic methods in this setting, and the best performing agents are competitive with state-of-the-art centralised controllers that get access to the full state.
1 Moving Beyond Schumpeter: Management Research on the Determinants of Technological Innovation

AbstractSchumpeter’s conjecture that large monopolistic firms were the key source of innovation in modern industrial economies has been the underpinning for much work on the topic of innovation. In this review paper we consciously move beyond the Schumpeterian tradition of focusing on firm size and market structure as the primary determinants of innovation to identify a broader set of innovation determinants that have been investigated by the management literature. We make a distinction between innovative efforts and innovative output and for each of these outcomes we group the determinants of innovation into four broad headings—industry structure, firm characteristics, intra‐organizational attributes, and institutional influences. We examine four aspects of the industrial structure and how they influence innovation: the horizontal market structure which reflects the influence of competition and collaboration, as well as the role of buyers, suppliers and complementors. Under the rubric of firm characteris.
Segmentation by motivation of Hong Kong Global Geopark visitors in relation to sustainable nature-based tourism

Individuals’ motivations explain visitors’ tourism decisions, and deciphering innate needs is the bedrock to developing strategies for sustainable management in natural protected areas. Established in 2009, the Hong Kong Global Geopark (HKGP) boasts high-order geological landscapes and features that lure both local and overseas tourists. This is a market segmentation study of HKGP visitors’ motivations; 647 respondents rated the strengths of 27 motivations in a questionnaire survey and also recorded their views on various park aspects. Factor analysis identified three main motivation categories relating to nature ambience, heritage, and social and accessibility aspects. Cluster analysis unearthed five visitor clusters. Nature-seeking escapists, heritage enthusiasts, and want-it-alls were the enthusiastic groups, whereas convenience-oriented socializers and passive visitors were less motivated. Stark contrast in acquisition of geological knowledge and site satisfaction were observed between groups. Modification of site (e.g., map display) and interpretative provisions were suggested to enhance visitor experiences and educational benefits. The notion of upkeeping the HKGP’s natural ambience and integrity of geological heritage is emphasized for a sustainable vision of the study area and natural protected areas as a whole. The findings could inform site and visitor management of geoparks and other protected areas and are applicable to other forms of nature-based tourism.
Experimental and Simulated Effective Dose for Some Building Materials in France

The specific radioactivity of several building materials used in France, which is considered a direct exposure to radiation, has been assessed by γ-ray spectrometry. Corrected for coincidence summing and self-absorption effects, the values for 226Ra, 232Th and 40K were in the ranges 4 - 56, 3 - 72 and 9 - 1136 Bq·kg-1, respectively. The samples were found to have radium-equivalent activities between 5 and 245 Bq·kg-1. Values of 0.02 - 0.67 for the external and 0.03 - 0.82 for the internal hazard indexes were estimated. The calculated absorbed dose in air agrees closely with MCNPX simulations. The conversion of absorbed dose to annual effective dose gave values between 0.03 - 1.09 mSv·y-1. All these values are below action limits recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection. The materials examined would not contribute a significant radiation exposure for an occupant and thus are acceptable for construction.
Effect of long-term low dose prednisolone administration on bone mineral density: Relating to non-compliant women with rheumatoid arthritis

Background: Long-term treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with prednisolone (PRED) is associated with bone mineral density (BMD) loss. This study aimed to determine the status of BMD in non-compliant women who used PRED alone for RA. Methods: Non-adherent RA taking < 7.5 mg daily PRED without DMARDs for > 6 months, and RA patients taking methotrexate +PRED (RA control) were compared with age-matched non-RA controls. BMD was measured by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) method and osteoporosis (OP) was diagnosed by WHO criteria. Influence of PRED on RA bone mass, and the risk of OP in RA was assessed by comparing PRED users RA and RA control,versus non-RA controls. Results: Sixty-four PRED user RA, 39 RA controls and 111 non RA-controls, with respective mean (±SD) age of 52±11; 8, 51±11; and 52±7.5 years (P=0.91) were studied. Median duration of treatment in PRED users and RA control was 2.5 and 4 years, respectively. BMD g/cm2 at the femoral neck (FN-BMD) and lumber spine (LS-BMD) in PRED users and RA control was significantly lower than non-RA control (P=0.001). The prevalence of OP at either FN or LS in both RA groups was significantly higher than controls (P=0.001). In PRED users, the risk of OP increased by OR=4.9, P=0.001) and in RA controls by OR=1.7 (P=0.20). The risk of OP in PRED user RA was 2.89 times (P=0.014) greater than RA controls. Conclusions: These findings indicate significantly lower BMD, and higher prevalence of osteoporosis in non-compliant women with RA taking low-dose PRED alone for a median period of 2.5 years, as compared with patients taking standard treatment comprising methotrexate +PRED.
Understanding the Price of New Lending to Households

During the recent financial crisis Bank Rate was reduced sharply, but in general the interest rates charged on new lending to households did not fall by as much and indeed some interest rates rose. This article assesses the factors that have influenced new lending rates using a simple decomposition of new lending rates into lenders’ funding costs, credit risk charges and a residual (which includes both operating costs and the mark-up). Applying the decomposition to two indicative lending products suggests that funding costs have been an important driver of new lending rates and the residual has also risen. The residual needs to be interpreted with caution — by definition it reflects all the remaining unmodelled factors. But among other things, a larger residual is consistent with lenders increasing mark-ups over marginal costs for new lending, which may reflect a need to build higher capital levels within the banking sector.
Gender, careers and flexibility in consultancies in the UK and the USA: a multi-level relational analysis

Management consultants are a core group of knowledge workers, and interest in their work and the organisational environment in which they operate has intensified. However, the role of policies at a national and organisational level in influencing gender regimes in this field of work remains unclear. This paper examines the organisation of careers and flexibility from the perspective of management consultants from the UK and US offices of two case study firms. The findings cast light on the role of macro- and meso-level policies together with the characteristics of the occupation and its client-focus in gendering careers and flexibility. These outcomes point to the need for the structures and policies supporting women and flexible working in these types of firms to be modified accordingly, particularly given that these firms make recommendations to clients nationally and internationally.
The efficacy of liquidation and bankruptcy prediction models for assessing going concern

Recent research questions whether bankruptcy is the best proxy for assessing going concern since filing for bankruptcy is not synonymous with the invalidity of the going concern assumption. Furthermore, in contrast to debtor‐oriented countries such as the USA, liquidation is the most likely outcome of corporate insolvency in creditor‐oriented countries such as the UK, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. This suggests that bankruptcy prediction models have limited use for assessing going concern in creditor‐oriented countries. This study examines the efficacy of a corporate liquidation model and a benchmark bankruptcy prediction model for assessing company liquidation. It finds that the former is more accurate in predicting company liquidations in comparison with the latter. Most importantly, Type 1 errors for the liquidation prediction model are significantly lower than for the bankruptcy prediction model, which indicates its greater efficacy as an analytical tool for assessing going concern. The results also suggest that bankruptcy prediction models might not be appropriate for assessing going concern in countries where the insolvency code is creditor‐oriented.
Characterization of extracted lignin of bamboo (Neosinocalamus affinis) pretreated with sodium hydroxide/urea solution at low temperature

Ball-milled bamboo (Neosinocalamus affinis) was first treated under ultrasound at 20 oC in 95% ethanol solution for 0 to 50 min, dissolved in sodium hydroxide/urea solution (7% NaOH/12% urea) at –12 oC, and then extracted with ethanol and dioxane to isolate lignin. The structure of the isolated lignin was characterized with a set of wet chemical and spectroscopic methods, including UV, FT-IR, 13C NMR, and HSQC spectroscopies. The results showed that the lignin extracted from bamboo consisted of p-hydroxyphenyl (H), guaiacyl (G), and syringyl (S) type lignins with minor cinnamate units. The predominate lignin inter-units were β-O-4´ ether linkages, followed by phenylcoumaran and a lower proportion of resinol and spirodienone. It was also found that the ester groups of lignin were cleaved during the pretreatment process with cold alkaline solution.
Electronics Contract Manufacturing: Global Production and the International Division of Labor in the Age of the Internet

The paper examines recent developments in the international division of labor in the electronics industry resulting from the emergence of electronics contract manufacturing. The transnational production networks of major contract manufacturers are analyzed before the background of the seminal shift to vertical specialization in the information technology industry, as epitomized by the "Wintelist" model of competition and technology development. The author discusses the development of contract manufacturing in the USA and Germany and in low-cost locations in Southeast Asia, Mexico, and Eastern Europe, and the possible impact of e-commerce-based supplier relationships on international knowledge diffusion and local capability formation.
Pursuing post-secondary education in the host country and the occupational attainment of highly educated immigrants to Canada

This paper examines the occupational attainment of highly educated adult immigrants by employing a secondary analysis of three waves of the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada that provide data on immigrant arrivals in 2000–2001. Occupational attainment is described in terms of matching immigrants’ pre-migration occupation with the main occupation reported 4 years since arrival. An occupational match typology based on skill level and skill type is developed and examined in the study in relation to socio-demographic factors, human capital characteristics, cultural factors and dispositional and situational factors. The primary focus is on the relationship between occupational matching and choice of post-secondary education (PSE) (including non-participation) pathways in Canada. Study findings show that occupational match rates are relatively low. However, notable differences are obtained for highly educated immigrants choosing to take further education in Canada, particularly at university level, which supports the argument that investment in host country PSE is a strategy to improve employment and occupational outcomes.
The influence of quarterly earnings announcements on investor decisions as reflected in common stock price changes

Although the major securities exchanges have been the prime source of organized demand for quarterly accounting data, they have not been particularly active in assessing the significance of the reports they require to the investing public. Accountants have made attempts to assess both the usefulness of quarterly data and the degree to which they are used by or influence investors. Some of their major efforts will be reviewed later. But it will be seen that past investigations into the significance of actual use and/or influence of quarterly accounting data have not satisfactorily answered the research questions listed below. The purpose of this study is to provide information and motivation to accountants and managers who have to make decisions affecting the resources devoted to improving quarterly accounting measurements by attempting to answer the following two empirical research questions: 1. Do quarterly accounting data, in the form of public earnings announcements, have a significant effect on investor decisions as reflected in market price changes? 2. Does there appear to be a significant difference between the influence on investors of quarterly and annual earnings announcements? Does the difference, if any, reflect investor awareness of the lesser quality of measurement widely attributed to measurements of quarterly income?
Online Learning Persistence and Academic Achievement

Student persistence in online learning environments has typically been studied at the macro-level (e.g., completion of an online course, number of academic terms completed, etc.). The current examines student persistence in an adaptive learning environment, ALEKS (Assessment and LEarning in Knowledge Spaces). Specifically, the study explores the relationship between students' academic achievement and their persistence during learning. By using archived data that included their math learning log data and performance on two standardized tests, we first explored student learning behavior patterns with regard to their persistence during learning. Clustering analysis identified three distinctive patterns of persistence-related learning behaviors: (1) High persistence and rare topic shifting; (2) Low persistence and frequent topic shifting; and (3) Moderate persistence and moderate topic shifting. We further explored the association between persistence and academic achievement. No significant differences were observed between academic achievement and the different learning patterns. We interpret this result in addition to a preliminary exploration of topic mastery trends, to suggest that "wheel-spinning" behaviors coexist with persistence, and is ultimately not beneficial to learning.
The Relationships between School Personnel Attitudes about At Risk Students, the At Riskness of the Student Population, and Effort Expended for At Risk Students

AUTHOR Russell, Jill F. ; And Others TITLE The Relationships between School Personnel Attitudes about At Risk Students, the At Riskness of the Student Population, and Effort Expended for At Risk Students. SPONS AGENCY Ford Foundation, New York, N.Y. ; John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Chicago, IL. ; Phi Delta Kappa, Bloomington, Ind. PUB DATE Dec 91 NOTE 114p. PUB TYPE Reports Research/Technical (143)
Reproductive strategies and genetic variability in tropical freshwater fish

We estimated the genetic variability of nine fish species from the Brazilian upper Parana River floodplain (Astyanax altiparanae, Hoplias malabaricus, Leporinus lacustris, Loricariichthys platymetopon, Parauchenipterus galeatus, Pimelodus maculatus, Rhaphiodon vulpinus, Roeboides paranensis and Serrasalmus marginatus) based on data for 36 putative allozyme loci obtained using corn starch gel electrophoresis of 13 enzymatic systems: aspartate aminotransferase (EC 2.6.1.1), acid phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.2), esterase (EC 3.1.1.1), glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.8), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.49), glucose-6-phosphate isomerase (EC 5.3.1.9), Iditol dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.14), isocitrate dehydrogenase - NADP+ (EC 1.1.1.42), L-lactate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.27), malate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.37), malate dehydrogenase-NADP+ (EC 1.1.1.40), phosphoglucomutase (EC 5.4.2.2) and superoxide dismutase, (EC 1.15.1.1). The mean expected heterozygosity varied from zero to 0.147. When data from the literature for 75 species of tropical fish were added to the nine species of this study, the heterozygosity values differed significantly among the groups of different reproductive strategies. The highest mean heterozygosity was for the non-migratory without parental care, followed by the long-distance migratory, and the lowest mean was for the non-migratory with parental care or internal fecundation.
Population Dispersal From Major Metropolitan Regions: Great Britain Is No Exception

an exception to this general trend on the basis of regional population data showing an increase in the share of national growth going to the southernmost regions of Great Britain between the periods 1961-71 and 1971-75. This conclusion is not warranted. It is perfectly possible to have an increase in the share of total population growth going to a region in tandem with a decrease in the net migration of persons to it, most notably when there has been a substantial decline in the national rate of population growth. Such a decline has indeed occurred. ’ A recent paper by Rees (1978) contains annual estimates of net migration (unavoidably including net immigration from abroad) to the ten standard regions of Great Britain for the period 1966-76. These statistics show a decline in net migration to the South between the periods 1965-70 and 1971-76 from 13,900 to 700. Similarly, they show an increase in net migration to Wales from -3,400
Intimate Partner Violence and Depressive Symptoms Before Pregnancy, During Pregnancy, and After Infant Delivery

Women who experience intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy also tend to experience depressive symptoms. Unfortunately, little is known about how victimized women’s levels of depressive symptoms change longitudinally before pregnancy, during pregnancy, and after infant delivery. In addition, few studies have used a comparison group of women to determine if levels of depressive symptoms among victimized women differ from depressive symptom levels in women who have not experienced IPV. To help address these knowledge gaps, we examined longitudinal trends in levels of depressive symptoms among a sample of 76 women who did (n = 33) and did not (n = 43) experience physical IPV during pregnancy. Using multilevel analysis, we estimated the relationship of physical IPV victimization and women’s depressive symptom levels across six time periods: (a) the year before pregnancy, (b) first and second trimesters, (c) third trimester, (d) the first month postpartum, (e) Months 2 to 6 postpartum, and (f) Months 7 to 12 postpartum. Women who experienced physical IPV victimization during pregnancy had significantly higher levels of depressive symptoms during each time period (p < .05). No significant difference between the two groups was found in the rate of change in levels of depressive symptoms over time. These findings point to the importance of screening for IPV within health care settings and suggest that women physically abused during pregnancy need safety interventions that are coordinated with interventions targeting symptoms of depression.