Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reduction in prevalence of chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection at a regional pediatric cystic fibrosis center

Various management strategies were introduced at the Leeds Regional Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Unit in an attempt to reduce the prevalence of chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa respiratory infection, previously thought to be inevitable in most children with CF. These included neonatal screening (1975), regular microbiological monitoring (1975), early antibiotic treatment of first isolations of P. aeruginosa (1985), intensive intravenous antibiotic treatment where nebulized antibiotics failed to eradicate P. aeruginosa (1988), and separate clinics for patients chronically infected with P. aeruginosa and uninfected patients (1991). The aim of this study was to assess the impact of these interventions. All 232 patients receiving full‐time care at the Leeds Paediatric CF Centre during the period January 1990–December 2000 were categorized into four groups: never grown P. aeruginosa; free of P. aeruginosa for at least 1 year; intermittent grower of P. aeruginosa with ≤50% of months with samples positive for P. aeruginosa over the previous 12 months; and chronic P. aeruginosa infection with >50% of months with samples positive for P. aeruginosa over the previous 12 months. The yearly prevalence of patients having chronic P. aeruginosa infection fell significantly during the study, from 24.5% in 1990 to 18.1% in 2000 (P < 0.05), despite an increase in mean age of patients from 7.73 to 9.42 years. The number of patients aged less than 11 years who had chronic P. aeruginosa infection fell from 23.8% in January 1990 to only 4.3% by December 2000. The annual incidence and mean age of first acquisition of P. aeruginosa did not alter significantly. In conclusion, antipseudomonal management strategies were associated with both reduced prevalence, and an increase in the mean age of onset of chronic P. aeruginosa infection. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2004; 37:104–110. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Mind the Intended-Implemented Gap: Understanding Employees’ Perceptions of HRM

This study aims to shed light on the implementation of HR practices as a key piece of the human resource management (HRM)�performance puzzle. Although the literature suggests that discrepancies between the organization's intended and implemented HR practices are essential to understanding employees� perceptions of and reactions to HRM, little attention has been devoted to this issue. Drawing upon a multiple-case study of German health and social services organizations, we therefore explore the linkages (and potential gaps) between intended, implemented, and perceived HR practices. Our study provides new insights into the underlying mechanisms of this relationship, highlighting an organization's ability to leverage its resources as playing a crucial moderating role in implementing intended HR practices, while employees� expectations of HRM moderate the link between implemented and perceived HR practices. We advance a set of propositions that contributes to a more nuanced, multilevel understanding of the complex phenomenon of HRM implementation. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Total Dust and Endotoxin in Poultry Operations: Comparison Between Cage and Floor Housing and Respiratory Effects in Workers

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess respiratory outcomes and environmental exposure levels of workers in cage-housed and floor-housed poultry operations. Methods: Poultry operations were evaluated for total dust, endotoxin, and ammonia, and respiratory symptoms and lung function tests of workers were conducted. Results: Workers in floor-housed poultry operations had significantly greater exposures to total dust and ammonia, whereas workers from cage-housed poultry operations reported greater frequency of current and chronic symptoms overall and significantly greater current and chronic phlegm (39% vs 18% and 40% vs 11%, respectively). Endotoxin concentration (EU/mg) was a significant predictor (P = 0.05) of chronic phlegm for all poultry workers. Conclusions: Greater endotoxin concentration in the presence of significantly lower total dust, in conjunction with greater respiratory symptoms in workers from cage-housed poultry operations, as compared with workers from floor-housed poultry operations, appears to indicate that differences in environmental exposures may impact respiratory outcomes of workers.
A 60 GHz SiGe-HBT Power Amplifier With 20% PAE at 15 dBm Output Power

A monolithic power amplifier (PA) operating in the 60 GHz band is presented. The circuit has been designed utilizing an advanced 0.25 SiGe-heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) technology, featuring npn transistors with and . A two-stage cascode architecture has been chosen for the implementation. Design techniques and optimization procedure are explained in detail. Measurements show a small signal gain of 18.8 dB and an output power of 14.5 dBm under 1 dB gain compression at 61 GHz. At this frequency, the saturated output power is 15.5 dBm and the peak power added efficiency (PAE) is 19.7%. To our knowledge, this is the highest PAE reported so far for a monolithic 61 GHz PA in SiGe-HBT technology.
African economic development in a comparative perspective

Conventional explanations of poor African economic performance generally fail to pay adequate attention to causal mechanisms of growth, decline and stagnation. Many African countries experienced investment booms after independence but, in contrast to East Asian newly industrialising economies, these were not sustained owing to failure to establish a virtuous growth circle involving complementary increases in savings and exports. Structural adjustment programmes dismantled stat-mediated mechanisms of accumulation without putting viable alternatives in place, and failed to tackle the structural constraints which impede productivity growth in agriculture. A new policy approach, drawing on the experience of both post-colonial and adjustment periods, is necessary. Copyright 2001 by Oxford University Press.
Board performance and organizational effectiveness in nonprofit social services organizations

This article examines the tasks and responsibilities of nonprofit boards of directors and explores the relationship between board performance and organizational effectiveness. Thirty-three activities in nine areas of board responsibility were examined through questionnaires and interviews with board members and chief executive officers of sixteen nonprofit organizations serving developmentally disabled adults. Rankings of organizational effectiveness were determined using external evaluators and accreditation surveys. A significant relationship between board performance and organizational effectiveness was found, and the board activities most strongly correlated with organizational effectiveness are reported, including policy formation, strategic planning, program monitoring, financial planning and control, resource development, board development, and dispute resolution.
A REFLECTIVE SELF-INQUIRY INTO MY TEACHING PRACTICES WITH NON-ENGLISH-MAJOR TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Action research allows teachers to evaluate and gain insight into their own practices in their teaching contexts through reflection, and inquire into ways to improve their practices and student learning outcomes. This study is a reflective self-inquiry in which the research team engages in a deliberate and retrospective analysis of the principal investigator’s teaching practices. The purpose is to identify possible factors that cause the low performance of non-major “English as a Foreign Language” students in her university English classes and propose alternative instructional practices and evaluative measures to manage their learning problems.
Humeral epicondylitis among gas- and waterworks employees.

OBJECTIVES In this cross-sectional study 290 male employees of the public gas- and waterworks of Hamburg, Germany, were examined for symptoms of epicondylitis. Forty-one workers were diagnosed with symptoms of lateral or medial epicondylitis. The effect of employment in different job categories on the prevalence of epicondylitis was explored. METHODS The diagnosis of epicondylitis was based on the study's own criteria and compared with criteria used in former studies. Jobs were categorized into high, moderate, and no exposure groups according to tasks regarded as strenuous for the elbow. The data were analyzed with the help of multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS With the study's diagnostic criteria, the prevalence odds ratio (OR) for 10 years of high exposure to elbow straining work was 1.7 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.04-2.68] for currently held jobs and 2.16 (95% CI 1.08-4.32) for formerly held jobs. For workers regarded as moderately exposed in current jobs the odds ratio for 10 years was 1.4 (95% CI 1.00-1.93). Very similar results were obtained for current exposure when stricter diagnostic criteria were employed. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest a cumulative exposure effect with length of employment. Workers with high exposure in former jobs compared with employees with high exposure in their current job exhibited more residual or slight epicondylitis symptoms upon examination.
Is human chorionic gonadotropin supplementation beneficial for frozen and thawed embryo transfer in estrogen/progesterone replacement cycles?: A randomized clinical trial

Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is used frequently for luteal support in fresh in vitro fertilization cycles as it induces progesterone secretion from the ovaries after oocyte retrieval and modulates the endometrium for implantation in fresh cycles. In contrast, hCG is not usually used for the transfer of cryopreserved‐thawed embryos in estrogen/progesterone replacement cycles because ovulation is suppressed. However, several studies have shown that luteinizing hormone and hCG receptors are present in the human endometrium and that hCG can directly induce the decidualization of endometrial stromal cells in vitro. Thus, this study evaluated whether hCG supplementation can be beneficial for cryopreserved‐thawed embryo transfer in estrogen/progesterone replacement cycles.
Bracing MNC Competition Through Innovative HRM Practices: The Way Ahead for Indian Firms

With increasing globalization, firms are entering a dynamic world of international business that is marked by liberalization of economic policies in a large number of emerging economies like India. To face the challenge of increasing competition that has resulted from liberalization, Indian organizations have initiated adoption of innovative human resource management practices both critically and constructively to foster creativity and innovation amongst employees. With the help of eleven in-depth case studies this article tries to understand how innovative HRM practices are being adopted by Indian firms to brace competition in the post liberalization scenario.
The birth of industrial accounting in France: the role of Pierre-Antoine Godard-Desmarest (1767–1850) as strategist, industrialist and accountant at the Baccarat Crystalworks

In France, the main effects of the industrial revolution were not felt until the beginning of the nineteenth century. Figuring among these effects was the elaboration of a new accounting technique, industrial accounting, which allowed the integration of cost calculation within the double entry system of bookkeeping. Accounting systems incorporating this technique were introduced by certain large firms in the 1820s in response to the new competitive environment facing them. Several accounting texts were also published which began to spell out these ideas more fully, among which that of Pierre Antoine Godard-Desmarest is singled out as being of special significance in the development of this new accounting technique. This article examines the man, his early career as an army administrator between 1792 and 1821, and thereafter as the principal director of the Baccarat Crystalworks from 1822 to 1839. More particularly we outline the strategy which he implemented to make Baccarat the foremost crystalworks in F.
The Fiscal Effects of Aid in Malawi

Working Paper 7 is the first of three ESAU monographs on the fiscal effects of aid - the two others covering Uganda (Working Paper 9) and Zambia (Working Paper 10). Their methodology and general conclusions are summarised in a separate Survey and Synthesis paper (Working Paper 11). The purpose of this research was to find out how aid has been absorbed through recipients’ fiscal processes with a view to better understanding how aid is effective in promoting growth. Each country paper combines historical and institutional analysis with the econometric analysis of time series data. In Malawi, growth has been slow and fitful, and there has been a record of uneven macroeconomic management, poor fiscal control and debt problems, often leaving public services underfunded. The government has practised fiscal dichotomy – allocating aid to the development budget, while financing its recurrent budget from revenue and domestic borrowing. The econometric evidence confirms that aid has been used to finance the development budget. It also shows that aid has, if anything, been a stabilising influence, being associated with higher domestic revenues and lower borrowing.
Corporate governance and strategic information on the internet

Purpose - The purpose of this study is twofold: to evidence the disclosure practices of Spanish companies in relation to a voluntary typology of strategic information; and to determine the factors that explain these practices. Among the factors considered, the study seeks to focus on the role of the Board of Directors in depth. According to Agency Theory, strategic information has positive consequences on external funds costs. On the other hand, Proprietary Costs theory limits these practices, given that they can lead to competitive disadvantages. Design/methodology/approach - First, online strategic information disclosure practices are analysed by examining non-financial quoted Spanish firms. A disclosure index is created, and subsequently, certain factors related to corporate governance – Activity, Size and Board Independence – as well as other factors traditionally analysed, are used to explain the volume of strategic information disclosed on the internet. Findings - The results indicate that Spanish companies, on average, give out little strategic information, mainly related to objectives, their mission, and the company's philosophy. “Company annual planning” and “Information on risks” are scarcely disclosed. The findings also emphasise that companies where the Chairperson of the Board is the same person as the CEO and, moreover, in which there is a lower frequency of meetings, disclose a greater amount of strategic information on their web sites. Practical implications - The findings suggest that the disclosure of strategic information is a decision taken by executives with the aim of satisfying the demands of creditors and investors. The Board of Directors represents the shareholders' interests, but it does not participate in strategic decision-making disclosure, maybe due to the fact that the proprietary costs lack influence. Originality/value - The link between corporate governance and strategic information disclosed online has scarcely been analysed in previous literature. This study provides interesting insights into how several Board characteristics can affect the disclosure of strategic information on the internet.
Protection and the Product Line: Monopoly and Product Quality

Thereare three points made in this paper. The first is that the question concerning choice of a product line by a monopolist is similar in structure to other adverse selection problems -- and can be analyzed in an elementary way by adapting techniques recently developed for such problems. Such an analysis is developed in the first section. The second is that when a foreign monopolist produces a product line, protection will change the composition of the entire product line.The nature of such effects is studied in the second section and this analysis is greatly simplified by the results of the first sectton. In line with empirical work on the subject, quotas are shown to raise the average quality of imports, while the effects of tariffs are ambiguous.The third concerns the possibility of profit shifting protection which is welfare increasing. The welfare consequences of protection are analyzed in the third section, and are shown to depend crucially on the distribution of consumers.
In the land of the blind the one-eyed are king: how financial economics contributed to the collapse of 2008-2009

The purpose of this article is to discuss why finance went from being a useful, albeit not all knowing, discipline to a state where its pronouncements presently not only are not useful but can be absolutely harmful. Before the 1950s, research in finance was essentially taxonomic and descriptive. It was assumed that finance as an area of study was supposed to describe practical phenomena (stocks, bonds, credit arrangements, etc.). By the 1950s, however, constructs of questionable value replaced the practical wisdom that had developed earlier, and these constructs put blinders on the discipline. The root cause was the reaction to the Gordon and Howell Report and the Pearson Report on business school education, which concluded that finance and business subjects generally were "backwater" areas of study with little intellectual content. The result was a major change in business school curricula and research methodology. In finance, the consequence has been the development of a façade that has fooled practitioners and helped produce various financial collapses, including the recent collapse of 2008-9.
Protective Effects of Caffeic Acid Phenethyl Ester on Retinal Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury in Rats

Purpose: To investigate whether caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) has a protective effect on retinal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in rats, and to determine the possible antioxidant mechanisms. Methods: Seventy-six female Wistar rats were randomized evenly into Sham, I/R injury model (M group), model plus vehicle (MV), and model plus CAPE (MC) groups. Retinal ischemia/reperfusion injury was induced by increasing the intraocular pressure to 110 mmHg for 60 min. Rats in the MV and MC groups were injected with vehicle and CAPE (10 µmol/kg i.p.), respectively, before reperfusion and once a day for one or seven days after I/R. The levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and catalase (CAT) in the retinal tissues were determined 24 hr after I/R. Retinal cells apoptosis was detected 24 hr after I/R injury by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated digoxigenin-dUTP nick-end labeling staining. On day 7 after reperfusion, the electroretinogram (ERG) was recorded, and the retinal histology was examined and quantified using light microscopy. Results: CAPE significantly decreased the MDA levels and increased the activities of SOD, GSH-Px, and CAT in the retina compared with the ischemia group (p < 0.05). CAPE attenuated the I/R-induced apoptosis of retinal cells in the inner nuclear and ganglion cells of the rat retina. CAPE also suppressed the I/R-induced reduction in the a- and b-wave amplitudes of the ERG (p < 0.05). The thickness of the entire retina, inner nuclear layer, and inner plexiform layer and the number of cells in the ganglion cell layer in the MC group were significantly greater than those in the M group (p < 0.05). Conclusions: CAPE can protect the rat retina from I/R injury by enhancing the antioxidation ability and inhibiting the apoptosis of retinal cells, which suggests that CAPE is potentially useful for treating I/R-induced eye disorders.
Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment Among “Guest-Worker” Salesforces: The Case of Saudi Arabia

Abstract The authors explore the nature of job satisfaction and organizational commitment among “guest-worker” expatriate sales-forces in Saudi Arabia. This relatively novel type of expatriate sales-force has become a dominant feature in countries with shortages of domestic labor. An examination of 504 guest-worker salespersonnel reveals that they are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with their jobs with a slight inclination toward being satisfied. Likewise, they are neither committed nor uncommitted to their organizations with an inclination toward being uncommitted. Results also provide support for the influence of the overall job satisfaction on the organizational commitment. Specifically, three types of job satisfaction, i.e., security, general, and feedback appear to be the strongest determinants of guest-worker salespersonnel's level of organizational commitment.
Mentoring Connections between Coaches and Female Athletes

M ore and more women are securing leading positions in business, politics, and education, yet the number of women who have achieved the position of head coach lags in comparison to the increase in participation opportunities for female athletes. Why do women who aspire to become leaders in sport continue to face a struggle? Could the connection needed to encourage young women to coach be established through mentoring by veteran coaches? This article will examine the role that mentoring could have in helping female athletes become leaders in their sports through coaching.
Market Structure and Trading Volume

Historically, trading volume reported for NASDAQ stocks has been overstated vis-a-vis New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) stocks, both because of the dealer's participation in trades as a market maker and because of interdealer trading. Beginning in 1997, the Securities and Exchange Commission changed order-handling rules and trade-reporting rules, which may have reduced or eliminated the overstatement of NASDAQ trading. We examine trading volumes of firms changing from NASDAQ to the NYSE since 1997 and document that reported trading volume for NASDAQ stocks continues to be overstated. Moreover, the degree of overstatement is much larger for firms with high trading volume. 2005 The Southern Finance Association and the Southwestern Finance Association.
Integration of Persons With HIV in a Problem-Based Tutorial: A Qualitative Study

Background: This qualitative study examined the effect of using persons with HIV-AIDS (PHAs) as facilitators of learning in an interdisciplinary problem-based learning curriculum. Description: Ten students representing 5 professions (medicine, occupational therapy, physical therapy, nursing, and social work) volunteered to participate in an 8-week course on rehabilitation issues in HIV. Two tutorial groups met weekly to discuss problems with the assistance of a faculty tutor and a PHA. Students completed a weekly journal outlining their experiences. At completion of the course, students participated in semistructured interviews. A qualitative analysis of the transcribed interviews and the journals was undertaken. Evaluation: The PHA provided a unique perspective on living with HIV, acted as a resource, and challenged the students' values and assumptions. The presence of the PHA also presented challenges in that the students worried their comments might offend them. Conclusions: PHAs contributed significantly to students' learning and can be successfully incorporated into problem-based tutorials.