Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
[Obesity and its' influence on reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the blood of patients with varicose veins of the lower limbs].

INTRODUCTION Oxidative stress is considered as a probable mechanism in the pathogenesis and development of many diseases, including chronic venous disease (CVD). Local increased production of reactive oxygen species is taken into account as a mediator in vessel wall changes leading to damage of the endothelium and may be the mechanism leading to its' decreased blood flow and venous stasis. Obesity is a known clinical factor influencing venous blood flow from the lower limbs. AIM Research aim was to evaluate the local production of ROS on the basis of malonylodialdehyde (MDA) production--a product of lipid peroxidation in blood samples taken from varicose veins of the lower limbs; as well as from blood taken from the forearms of patients that undertook surgery for lower limb varicose veins. The correlation between MDA level and body mass index (BMI) was also examined. MATERIALS AND METHODS The examined group consisted of 31 patients with diagnosed CVD of the 2nd and 3rd degree according to CEAP qualified for surgical procedure. The analyzed group consisted of 23 females and 8 males between the ages of 26-68 years (mean age 49.9 +/- 12.5). The control group included 31 patients (20 females and 11 males) between the ages of 51-72 years (mean age 60 +/- 12); volunteers were without signs and symptoms of CVD whom had MDA levels measured from forearm veins during routine exam. Lipid peroxidation products were identified by measuring reactive species reaction with thiobarbital, measured by the spectro-fluorometrical method given by Austa. MDA concentration were expressed as nmol of MDA per ml of plasma and measured using the fluorometric method at fluorescence emission at 553 nm and ebullition at 532 nm. RESULTS Significant increase in the MDA level in blood with various veins was noted in comparison to peripheral blood in patients with signs and symptoms of CVD (p < or = 0.0001). Overall MDA concentrations was higher in venous blood plasma in patients with CVD than in healthy volunteers (p < or = 0.0005). BMI substantially correlated with increased MDA concentration in blood plasma. MDA concentration was higher in obese patients than in patients with normal BMI. These results were substantially significant (p < or = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS CVD is associated with increased oxidative stress measured by the level of MDA in blood plasma. Measurement of MDA may be a useful marker in evaluation of vessel changes in patients with CVD. 3. Obesity increases risk of lipid peroxidation and influences increment of oxidative stress in the group of patients with CVD.
Challenges in the design of a Home Telemanagement Trial for patients with ulcerative colitis

Background Nonadherence, inadequate monitoring, and side-effects result in suboptimal outcomes in ulcerative colitis (UC). We hypothesize that telemanagement for UC will improve symptoms, quality of life, adherence, and decrease costs. Purpose This article describes the challenges encountered in the design of the home telemanagement in patients with UC trial. Methods In a randomized trial to assess the effectiveness of telemanagement for UC compared to best available care, 100 patients will be enrolled. Subjects in the intervention arm will complete self-testing with telemanagement weekly; best available care subjects will receive scheduled follow up, educational fact sheets, and written action plans. Telemanagement consists of a home-unit, decision support server, and web-based clinician portal. The home-unit includes a scale and laptop. Subjects will respond to questions about symptoms, side-effects, adherence, and knowledge weekly; subjects will receive action plans after self-testing. Outcome variables to be assessed every 4 months include: disease activity, using the Seo index; quality of life, using the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire; adherence, using pharmacy refill data and the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale; utilization of healthcare resources, using urgent care visits and hospitalizations. Results We encountered several challenges during design and implementation of our trial. First, we selected a randomized controlled trial design. We could have selected a quasiexperimental design to decrease the sample size needed and costs. Second, identification of a control group was challenging. Telemanagement patients received self-care plans and an educational curriculum. Since controls would not receive these interventions, we thought our results would be biased in favor of telemanagement. In addition, we wanted to evaluate the mode of delivery of these components of care. Therefore, we included written action plans and educational materials for patients in the control group (‘best available care’). Third, we could not blind subjects to group assignment. In an attempt to decrease bias, staff was masked to group assignment to decrease measurement bias. Fourth, we selected outcome measures that were not invasive to decrease risks to subjects and to enhance recruitment. Limitations Our results may not be generalizable as our program is a tertiary center. Further, subjects are not blinded to the intervention potentially resulting in bias; we attempt to minimize this bias by having staff masked to treatment group at the time of assessment of outcome measures. Conclusions To the best of our knowledge, our trial will be the first randomized controlled trial to evaluate telemedicine in subjects with gastrointestinal disease. We describe several issues encountered in design and implementation of our trial that will aid investigators when planning telemedicine trials in inflammatory bowel disease. Clinical Trials 2009; 6: 649–657. http://ctj.sagepub. com
Growth Capital‐Backed IPOs

Growth capital investing is the financing of growing businesses that are investing in tangible assets and the acquisition of other companies. Growth capital is common in retailing, restaurant chains, and health care management, and represents 12% of all venture capital (VC)-backed initial public offerings (IPOs). Since 1980, investing in growth capital-backed IPOs has produced mean three-year style-adjusted buy-and-hold returns of +25.2%, in contrast to style-adjusted returns of approximately zero for other VC-backed and buyout-backed IPOs. One-third of growth capital-backed IPOs are rollups and these have produced much higher returns for investors than rollups without a financial sponsor.
Abstract: The Investment Banking Contract for New Issues Under Asymmetric Information: Delegation and the Incentive Problem

In placing a new security issue, an investment banker has an opportunity to obtain private information by conducting preselling activities during the registration period. The task of the issuer is to design a contract that both induces the banker to use this information to the issuer's advantage and provides a disincentive for the banker to price the issue too low in order to reduce the effort required to sell the issue. This paper characterizes the class of price response functions that the issuer can induce the banker to choose under a delegation scheme and demonstrates that delegating the pricing decision to the banker can be optimal.
The opportunistic approach to monetary policy and financial market conditions

We test the concept of the opportunistic approach to monetary policy in South Africa post-2000 inflation targeting regime. The article contributes to the current debate on central banks having additional objectives over and above inflation and output by incorporating a measure of financial conditions in the modelling framework. Our findings support the two features of the opportunistic approach. First, we find that the models that include an intermediate target that reflects the recent history of inflation rather than simple inflation target improve the fit of the models. Second, the data supports the view that the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) behaves with some degree of nonresponsiveness when inflation is within the zone of discretion but react aggressively otherwise. Recursive estimates from our preferred model reveal that overall there has been a subdued reaction to inflation, output and financial conditions amidst the increased economic uncertainty of the 2007–2009 financial crisis.
For business or the good of all? A Finnish approach to corporate social responsibility

The study suggests that the prominent driving force behind corporate social responsibility (CSR) is companies’ long‐term profitability, supported by company leadership and efficiency, competitiveness, and the ability to anticipate the future. The long evolution of Finnish companies since the 18th century has created fertile ground for responsibility. Despite the absence of significant moral or ethical guidance, the thinking of the participating companies was for the most part business‐oriented. The management and organization of CSR appeared to be professional and efficient. CSR was found to be optimal at the highest level of the organizations studied, and the commitment of the top management unquestionable. The present status of CSR seemed to exist more on the theoretical than the practical level. Implementation was seen as a major challenge for the future. The jungle of standards and measurement instruments is a serious problem. Communication was narrowly viewed and technical, and the prevailing paradigm was rather mechanistic.
The Simultaneous Identification of Strategic/Performance Groups and Underlying Dimensions for Assessing an Industry's Competitive Structure

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to integrate aspects of the literature on strategic and performance groups and explicitly derive strategic/performance groups which exhibit differences with respect to both strategy and performance, as well as display associations and potential interrelationships between the two sets of variables.Design/methodology/approach – A two‐way clusterwise bilinear spatial model was formulated (e.g. a scalar products or vector multidimensional scaling model (MDS)) for the analysis of two‐way strategic and performance data which simultaneously performs MDS and cluster analysis. An efficient alternating least‐squares procedure was devised that estimates conditionally globally optimum estimates of the model parameters within each iterate in analytic, closed‐form expressions.Findings – This bilinear MDS methodology was deployed in the context of strategic/performance group estimation using archival data for public banks in the NY‐NJ‐PA tri‐state area. For this illustration, four .
Optimal Experimental Design for Double-Bounded Dichotomous Choice Contingent Valuation

The double-bounded dichotomous choice model is becoming popular in the contingent valuation literature. This technique considers the responses to two bids, the second one being determined according to the response to the first, and it has been shown to be statistically more efficient than the standard, single-bounded model. In this paper, the issue of the optimal choice of bid values for the double-bounded logit model is addressed. These designs are derived to satisfy the D-optimal, C-optimal, and Fiducial Method criteria.
The Role of Negotiations in Corporate Governance: Evidence from Withdrawn Shareholder-Initiated Proposals

We examine shareholder proposals that are withdrawn by the sponsor during the period 1989 to 1995 to identify factors that affect the relative ability of shareholders and managers to negotiate. We determine factors that affect withdrawal probability and investigate the effect of relaxations in the regulatory environment brought about by the 1992 SEC Proxy reforms. We find that proposals sponsored by institutional shareholders and coordinated groups are more likely to be withdrawn indicating that larger entities have greater ability to negotiate. Likelihood of withdrawal also increases as the number of corporate governance proposals filed by a sponsor increases. Managers are more successful in negotiating a compromise that leads to a withdrawal prior to 1992, whereas proposal sponsors are more successful in achieving proposal adoptions without a compromise after 1992. We also find that withdrawn proposals are associated with a positive valuation effect before 1992 and a negative valuation effect after 1992. We conclude that negotiations between managers and shareholders are most effective when both parties can contribute to the negotiation process and that tilting the process in favor of one party has adverse effects.
Bank competition and efficiency: empirical evidence from Indian market

Purpose – The study aims to investigate the relationship between competition and efficiency. Using bank-level data for Indian banks, relationship between competition and efficiency is examined by applying the Granger causality test for the period 1996 to 2011. Design/methodology/approach – Lerner Index is a measure of market power and is applied for estimation of competition. Data envelopment analysis technique is applied for measuring efficiency in the Indian banking system along with the Granger causality test to look at the relationship between competition and efficiency. Findings – Results show an increasing trend for competition for the period 1996 to 2004, and after that there is fall in competitive levels. Granger causality tests show that competition positively effects efficiency and vice-versa. Practical implications – This study gives an insight into the relationship between competition and efficiency, thus providing an alternative view to the structure–conduct–performance paradigm. An efficient banking system can positively impact the growth of an economy and, hence, competition and efficiency are important decision parameters for regulators and could help them in decision-making and policy formulation. Originality/value – This study has covered more than 90 per cent of the banking assets for looking at competition and efficiency in the banking sector. Policymakers can try to improve competitive levels in banking so as to improve efficiency in the banking sector which can further help in developing the investment-savings cycle.
Residential mobility, neighbourhood quality and life-course events

Neighbourhood characteristics affect the social and economic opportunities of their residents. While a number of studies have analysed housing adjustments at different life stages, little is known about neighbourhood quality adjustments. Based on a model of optimal housing consumption we analyse the determinants of residential mobility and the neighbourhood quality adjustments made by those who move, drawing on data from the British Household Panel Survey and Indices of Multiple Deprivation. We measure neighbourhood quality both subjectively and objectively and find that not all life-course events that trigger moves lead to neighbourhood quality adjustments. Single people are negatively affected by leaving the parental home and couples by a husband s unemployment. Couples having a new baby move into better neighbourhoods.
Paying for Permanence: An Economic Analysis of EPA's Cleanup Decisions at Superfund Sites

We analyze EPA's cleanup decisions at over 100 Superfund sites and examine whether and how EPA trades off the cost against the permanence of cleanup. EPA's decisions reveal both a preference for permanent solutions and an aversion to cost. For example, EPA prefers incinerating soils to isolating and containing them in place, but not at any price. At larger sites EPA appears willing to accept additional costs of as much as $40 million to incinerate. With regard to environmental equity, we find little evidence that EPA's cost-permanence tradeoff is affected by socioeconomic characteristics in the communities surrounding the sites.
Management of refractory hepatic hydrothorax

Purpose of review Treatment of hepatic hydrothorax is challenging because of its rapid symptomatic recurrence. This review will focus on potential therapeutic approaches to hepatic hydrothorax. Recent findings Hepatic hydrothorax is refractory to salt restriction and diuretics in approximately 25% of cases. Primary management options for these patients include serial thoracenteses, transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) placement, and insertion of an indwelling pleural catheter (IPC). Response rate to TIPS, being the first choice whenever possible, is about 80%. IPC is emerging as a feasible alternative in patients who require frequent therapeutic thoracenteses, particularly if TIPS is contraindicated. Pleurodesis is not advocated because of the low likelihood of a pleural symphysis owing to the rapid re-accumulation of pleural fluid. The only cure for hepatic hydrothorax, a defined complication of end-stage liver disease, is liver transplantation. Summary No single treatment option for refractory hepatic hydrothorax is ideal. However, in patients with contraindications to or who are awaiting liver transplantation, TIPS seems the most beneficial therapy, whereas IPC promises to be an alternative second-line consideration.
Technological capabilities and firm performance: The case of small manufacturing firms in Japan

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between technological capabilities and firm performance. We divide technological capabilities into two types—refinement capability, which involves the improvement of the existing asset portfolio, and reconfiguration capability, which involves the restructuring of the asset portfolio through the integration of new assets. The results of an analysis of a sample of 302 small and medium-sized manufacturing firms in Japan suggest that refinement capability relates more positively to operational efficiency than does reconfiguration capability, and that reconfiguration capability relates more positively to strategic performance than does refinement capability. The results also suggest that firms with superior refinement capability tend to possess superior reconfiguration capability. Our findings show that both external and internal factors, such as technological volatility, inter-firm collaboration, and firm age and size, are significantly associated with the level of refinement and reconfiguration capabilities possessed by a firm.
PREDICTING PROBABILITIES: INHERENT AND SAMPLING VARIABILITY IN THE ESTIMATION OF DISCRETE‐CHOICE MODELS

In this paper, we address two issues: the small sample variability in estimation of the parameters of female labor force participation models with dichotomous dependent variables due to random variation across small samples; and whether large-sample estimates of discrete-choice models yield the same results. In the first case, both logit and profit models exhibit similar patterns of parameter instability in 'small' samples and that a sample size of over 10,000 observations is required to reduce the issue of sampling variability to acceptable levels. In the second case, both models generate similar qualitative results in large samples; however, even in the largest samples, the quantitative results generated by these models diverge significantly. Coauthors are Zhengxi Lin, Lars Osberg, and Shelley Phipps. Copyright 1994 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Is Abortion Illegal

While waiting to see a doctor recently, I read an article on abortion in an old copy of Cleo. The article was published some time after the 1994 trial of CES v. Superclinics Australia. This case involved a civil action by a woman against doctors who had initially failed to diagnose her pregnancy and who had then failed to communicate to her the correct diagnosisÐ a pregnancy for which she said she would have sought an abortion had she known at that time. Justice Newman in the NSW Supreme Court ruled that the woman could not recover damages for a missed opportunity to perform what he said, on the available evidence, would have been an illegal act. Justice Newman was much criticised in the press for his (alleged) contention that abortion is illegal, and renewed calls were made for the removal of references to abortion from the criminal law. The Cleo article mentioned this case, and went on to note that most of the estimated 80,000 abortions performed in Australia each year are ` technically illegal’ (Os® eld 1995, p. 125). I do not want to claim that we should take Cleo as an authoritative source on what is the law in NSW or in Australia. But of course, thousands of young women (and men) who read it will do just that. 2 Nor do I want to condescend to those readers. However, it is important to be clear, especially at this level of popular perception, about just what is the legal position on abortion. There are after all some areas of politics and the law where a misunderstanding or error presented by Cleo might not matter much at all to the lives of its readers. But perhaps one out of three female readers of Cleo will at some point in their lives have at least one of these ` technically illegal’ abortions, and probably all of its female as well as its male readers will be asked for their advice and counsel by a friend, sister, mother, partner etc. considering an abortion. Although the legal status of abortion does not exhaust the range of advice one might give or expect to receive in the making of
Follow‐up study of MS patients treated with high‐dose intravenous methylprednisolone

In a longitudinal prospective study, we followed 56 patients (17 men, 29 women) with definite multiple sclerosis (MS), who were treated with high‐dose intravenous methylprednisolone (IVMP), 10 consecutive days with 1000 mg IVMP daily. Mean follow‐up period after entry was 2.6 years (range 1.7–3.5 yrs.). All patients were treated because of a symptomatic deterioration. Independent of the disease courses (RR‐relapsing remitting/CP‐chronic progressive/CP + RR‐ mixed course), 65% of the 46 MS patients (30/46) showed a clinical improvement after the first IVMP course, expressed by a decrease in the EDSS rating (1.0 point or more). During the follow‐up period 59 additional IVMP courses (range 0–5 courses per patient) were given; 8 patients were treated with a combination of cyclophosphamide and prednisone, because of strong continuous progression. During the follow‐up period 19 patients (41%) showed an increase in the EDSS‐rating (1.0 point or more) compared with the EDSS level just after the first IVMP; 22 patients (48%) had no changes in the EDSS‐rating, and 5 patients (11%) showed a clinical improvement (decrease of 1.0 point or more). In the relapsing MS patients (RR and CP + RR, n = 38) mean relapse rate/patient/year prior to the first IVMP was 2.6, which significantly (p< 0.0001) decreased to 0.8 during the follow‐up period. Statistically no significant difference was found between baseline EDSS and EDSS ratings after the follow‐up period in relapsing MS patients. In the CP MS patients clinical decline (increase of 1.0 point or more on the EDSS) during the follow‐up period was most prominent: 11 (58%) of the CP MS patients showed an increase of the EDSS‐rating, followed by 3 (37.5%) of the CP + RR MS group. Clinical deterioration was lowest for the RR MS patients (26%; 5/19). After the follow‐up period a significant (p< 0.05) increase in the mean EDSS was noted compared with baseline EDSS (3.8 to 4.6) in chronic progressive MS (CP and CP + RR). The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) variables (CSF mononuclear cells, CSF myelin basic protein (MBP), number of oligoclonal bands on iso‐electric focusing (IEF), IgG index and intrathecal IgG synthesis) decreased significantly after the initial IVMP. After the follow‐up period, all variables showed a persistent decrease compared with the levels prior to the first IVMP, both in patients receiving a single as well as multiple courses of IVMP. Our study suggest, that (repeated) IVMP reduces the relapse rate in relapsing MS patients, although development of disability is not prevented in RR disease. In chronic progressive MS (repeated) IVMP seems not decrease the clinical deterioration in comparison with the natural course. Prolonged effects are noted in the CSF of MS patients treated with IVMP, 1.6 years after the initial treatment.