Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of time and temperature on 48 routine chemistry, haematology and coagulation analytes in whole blood samples

Background Phlebotomy for the purpose of blood analysis is often performed at remote locations, and samples are usually temporarily stored before transport to a central laboratory for analysis. The circumstances during storage and shipment may not meet the necessary requirements. If analysed anyway, false results may be generated. We therefore examined the influence of precentrifugation time and temperature of the most frequently requested tests in whole blood. Methods Healthy volunteers donated blood in which 48 analytes were tested. Routine chemistry was performed in lithium heparin tubes, haematology in ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid tubes, coagulation in citrate tubes and glucose in sodium fluoride tubes. One tube was measured directly. The others were kept at different temperatures (4, 8, 20 or 30℃) and stored for 4, 6, 8 or 24 h before analysis. Additionally, some analytes were examined at 12, 16, 24 and 28℃. The mean percentage deviation was compared with different decision levels, including the total allowable error. Results When using the total allowable error as an acceptable limit, most of the investigated analytes remained stable. However, bicarbonate is unstable at almost all tested time-points and temperatures. Calcium, lactate dehydrogenase, potassium and sodium are particularly affected at low temperatures, while phosphate is mainly affected at and above room temperature after 8 h. Conclusion We established the influence of time and temperature on a broad range of analytes, which may be applied to set the limits in transportation and storage of whole blood samples.
Therapeutic treatments potentially mediated by melatonin receptors: potential clinical uses in the prevention of osteoporosis, cancer and as an adjuvant therapy

Abstract: Melatonin's therapeutic potential is grossly underestimated because its functional roles are diverse and its mechanism(s) of action are complex and varied. Melatonin produces cellular effects via a variety of mechanisms in a receptor independent and dependent manner. In addition, melatonin is a chronobiotic agent secreted from the pineal gland during the hours of darkness. This diurnal release of melatonin impacts the sensitivity of melatonin receptors throughout a 24‐hr period. This changing sensitivity probably contributes to the narrow therapeutic window for use of melatonin in treating sleep disorders, that is, at the light‐to‐dark (dusk) or dark‐to‐light (dawn) transition states. In addition to the cyclic changes in melatonin receptors, many genes cycle over the 24‐hr period, independent or dependent upon the light/dark cycle. Interestingly, many of these genes support a role for melatonin in modulating metabolic and cardiovascular physiology as well as bone metabolism and immune function and detoxification of chemical agents and cancer reduction. Melatonin also enhances the actions of a variety of drugs or hormones; however, the role of melatonin receptors in modulating these processes is not known. The goal of this review is to summarize the evidence related to the utility of melatonin as a therapeutic agent by focusing on its other potential uses besides sleep disorders. In particular, its use in cancer prevention, osteoporosis and, as an adjuvant to other therapies are discussed. Also, the role that melatonin and, particularly, its receptors play in these processes are highlighted.
Efficiency of Indian commercial banks during the reform period

This article contributes to the banking efficiency literature by measuring technical efficiency of banks in four different ownership groups in India during the reform period, 1992–1999. It employs the stochastic frontier function methodology for panel data. The results indicate that the efficiency of raising interest margin is time invariant while the efficiencies of raising other outputs-non-interest income, investments and credits are time varying. The state bank group and foreign banks are more efficient than their counterparts. The reform period witnessed a relatively high efficiency for augmenting investments, which is consistent with economic growth objective of the reform measures. However, there are still larger gaps between the actual and potential performances of banks.
Evaluating emergency programs

Emergency programs are designed to soften the impact of economic crises-income shocks experienced by an entire community or country-on consumption and human capital accumulation. Of particular concern are poor people: as a result of inadequate savings or inadequate access to credit or insurance markets, the poor are unable to draw on resources from better times to offset a loss in income today. Further, the systemic nature of the shocks means that risk cannot be effectively pooled through local informal insurance mechanisms. Emergency interventions have included social funds, workfare programs, training programs, conditional transfers (linked to health center visits or children's school attendance, for example), and traditional direct, unconditional transfers in kind (such as communal tables or targeted food handouts). The author highlights some conceptual problems in choosing among these options and evaluating one program of a certain type relative to another. It argues that most such interventions can be thought of as containing both a transfer and an investment component and that their evaluation as emergency programs needs to more explicitly incorporate the intertemporal nature of their design. More specifically, the mandated investments in physical or human capital will benefit the poor, but only in the future-after the crisis-and their implementation diverts resources from alleviating present hardship. This needs to be reflected in the discount factor used to evaluate these investments. Maloney argues that the way emergency programs are financed, particularly the way the burden is shared between central and municipal governments, also has important implications for the criteria for evaluation. The analysis suggests that most conventional means of evaluating projects-net present value at market discount rates, labor intensity, cost per job created-may not be relevant or are at least ambiguous in the context of emergency programs. As a result, policymakers are left with few"hard"indicators with which to evaluate such programs. Maloney argues for an approach in which the policymaker weighs the appropriateness of deviations from the theoretically"ideal"benchmark program, which delivers a"smart"transfer costlessly to the target beneficiary, and discusses the arguments for or against these deviations. The modest goal of the proposed approach is to clarify the key issues and provide more solid grounding for the necessarily subjective judgment calls that policymakers will inevitably have to make.
Couldn't or Wouldn't? The Influence of Privacy Concerns and Self-Efficacy in Privacy Management on Privacy Protection

Sampling 515 college students, this study investigates how privacy protection, including profile visibility, self-disclosure, and friending, are influenced by privacy concerns and efficacy regarding one's own ability to manage privacy settings, a factor that researchers have yet to give a great deal of attention to in the context of social networking sites (SNSs). The results of this study indicate an inconsistency in adopting strategies to protect privacy, a disconnect from limiting profile visibility and friending to self-disclosure. More specifically, privacy concerns lead SNS users to limit their profile visibility and discourage them from expanding their network. However, they do not constrain self-disclosure. Similarly, while self-efficacy in privacy management encourages SNS users to limit their profile visibility, it facilitates self-disclosure. This suggests that if users are limiting their profile visibility and constraining their friending behaviors, it does not necessarily mean they will reduce self-disclosure on SNSs because these behaviors are predicted by different factors. In addition, the study finds an interaction effect between privacy concerns and self-efficacy in privacy management on friending. It points to the potential problem of increased risk-taking behaviors resulting from high self-efficacy in privacy management and low privacy concerns.
Physiologically-Based Pharmacokinetic-Pharmacodynamic Modeling of 1 a , 25-Dihydroxyvitamin D 3 in Mice

1a,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25(OH)2D3] concentrations are regulated by renal CYP27B1 for synthesis and CYP24A1 for degradation. Published plasma and tissue 1,25(OH)2D3 concentrations andmRNA fold change expression of Cyp24a1 andCyp27b1 following repetitive i.p. injections to C57BL/6 mice (2.5 mg 3 kg every 2 days for 4 doses) were fitted with a minimal and full physiologically-based pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic models (PBPK-PD). The minimal physiologically-based pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic linked model (mPBPK-PD) related Cyp24a1 mRNA fold changes to linear changes in tissue/tissue baseline 1,25(OH)2D3 concentration ratios, whereas the full physiologically-based pharmacokineticpharmacodynamic model (PBPK-PD) related measured tissue Cyp24a1 and Cyp27b1 fold changes to tissue 1,25(OH)2D3 concentrations with indirect response, sigmoidal maximal stimulatory effect/maximal inhibitory effect functions. Moreover, the intestinal segregated flow model (SFM) that describes a low and partial intestinal (blood/plasma) flow to enterocytes was nestedwithin both models for comparison with the traditional model for intestine (TM) where the entire flow perfuses the intestine. Both the mPBPK(SFM)PD and full PBPK(SFM)-PD models described the i.p. plasma and tissue 1,25(OH)2D3 concentrations and fold changes in mRNA expression significantly better than the TM counterparts with F test comparisons. The full PBPK(SFM)-PD fits showed estimates with good precision (lower percentage of coefficient of variation), and the model was more robust in predicting data from escalating i.v. doses (2, 60, and 120 pmol) and the rebound in 1,25(OH)2D3 tissue concentrations after dosing termination. The full PBPK(SFM)-PD model performed the best among the tested models for describing the complex pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic interplay among Cyp27b1, Cyp24a1, and 1,25(OH)2D3.
A Comparison of Multinational and Domestic Firms in an Emerging Market: A Strategic Choice Perspective

Building upon the MNE theory and strategy literature, this study compares the strategic choice in response to environment between multinational and domestic firms operating in an emerging market. We theorize that the strategic choice of multinational firms in response to a changing environment is not necessarily isomotphic with that of local firms because they have different organizational capabilities and perceptions of environmental dimensions. Canonical analysis is conducted based on data collected from foreign businesses and state firms in China. We observe that among foreign firms, managerial perceptions of increased environmental complexity, dynamism, and hostility are positively associated with an analyzer strategy. In contrast, a defender strategy is preferred by local state firms during economic transition. Multiple regression analysis also demonstrates that the analyzer strategy drives up profitability and competitive position for MNEs. When operating in an emerging economy, it is important for MNEs to formulate and implement right strategies that align with environmental dynamics and lead to superior performance. The complex and uncertain environment in emerging economies generally has a strong and sustainable influence over the strategic choices for both foreign and local businesses there. As MNEs and local firms are heterogenous in organizational capabilities, market orientations, strategic objectives, and institutional support, such strategic choices will not, and should not, be the same between them. MNEs need to be more innovative and adaptive than local companies in order to offset their liabilities of foreignness and compensate for their disadvantages in the lack of governmental supports that are important to business success in emerging economies. Nevertheless, MNEs should not become enormously proactive and aggressive in order to mitigate unnecessary instabilities in a volatile environment. This hybrid (or Analyzer) orientation can lead to superior performance in both sales and profitability for MNEs because it fits well with the objective to exploit emerging market potentials as well as daunting challenges they face. The defensive orientation is advisable for such local state firms that intend to pursue profitability when they are institutionally protected by the government. Although many state firms are now restructuring and reorganizing to keep pace with economic transformation, they are inherently less innovative because their industrial property rights are owned and controlled by the central government.
Health-related quality of life in kidney transplant patients and non-renal replacement therapy patients with chronic kidney disease stages 3b-4.

BACKGROUND Patients with a functioning kidney transplant (Tx) and patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) not in dialysis report better health-related quality of life (HRQoL) than patients requiring dialysis, but poorer than the general population. HRQoL is associated with kidney function, but it is unknown whether the kidney function per se is the main determinant of HRQoL. The aim of this study was to compare the HRQoL in 2 groups of patients with CKD: 1 group with native kidneys only (non-renal replacement therapy [non-RRT] group) and 1 group with a functioning kidney transplant (Tx group). MATERIAL/METHODS The study was designed as a paired cross-sectional single-center study including 38 stable Tx patients age- and gender-matched with 38 non-RRT patients with the same kidney function, CKD stages 3b–4. HRQoL was evaluated using the short form-36 (SF-36) and a visual analogue scale (VAS). RESULTS The multi-item scales and summary scores in SF-36 were not significantly different between the 2 groups of patients or the general Norwegian population. However, the non-RRT group scored significantly better than the Tx group when HRQoL was evaluated by VAS. The main determinants for HRQoL in both groups of patients were depression estimated by Beck depression inventory scores and comorbidity expressed by Davies comorbidity index scores. CONCLUSIONS HRQoL evaluated by SF-36 in a group of stable Tx patients in CKD stages 3b–4 is comparable to that of a group of non-RRT patients. However, HRQoL VAS was better in the non-RRT group, suggesting that VAS and SF-36 may evaluate different aspects in HRQoL in the same group of patients.
The Role of the Coach in Action Sports: Using a Problem-based Learning Approach

Action sports (e.g., snowboarding, skateboarding, windsurfing, BMX) have traditionally celebrated antiauthoritarian, do-it-yourself and anticompetition cultural values. With the institutionalization and commercialization of action sports over the past two decades, and the introduction of mega-sports events such as the X Games, and the inclusion of some action sports into the Olympic Games (i.e., snowboarding, freestyle skiing, BMX), action sport athletes are increasingly working with coaches, psychologists, agents, managers and personal trainers to improve their performances. In this Insights paper we consider coaching in action sports via the case of Finnish professional snowboarders’ attitudes to coaches. Drawing upon conversations with elite freestyle snowboarders we briefly present insights into their perceptions of the various positions of coaches in professional snowboarding before we offer suggestions built upon a Problem-based learning approach for coaches interested in working with action sport a.
Summary of human responses to ventilation.

UNLABELLED It is known that ventilation is necessary to remove indoor-generated pollutants from indoor air or dilute their concentration to acceptable levels. But as the limit values of all pollutants are not known the exact determination of required ventilation rates based on pollutant concentrations is seldom possible. The selection of ventilation rates has to be based also on epidemiological research, laboratory and field experiments and experience. The existing literature indicates that ventilation has a significant impact on several important human outcomes including: (1) communicable respiratory illnesses; (2) sick building syndrome symptoms; (3) task performance and productivity, and (4) perceived air quality (PAQ) among occupants or sensory panels (5) respiratory allergies and asthma. In many studies, prevalence of sick building syndrome symptoms has also been associated with characteristics of HVAC-systems. Often the prevalence of SBS symptoms is higher in air-conditioned buildings than in naturally ventilated buildings. The evidence suggests that better hygiene, commissioning, operation and maintenance of air handling systems may be particularly important for reducing the negative effects of HVAC systems. Ventilation may also have harmful effects on indoor air quality and climate if not properly designed, installed, maintained and operated. Ventilation may bring indoors harmful substances or deteriorate indoor environment. Ventilation interacts also with the building envelope and may deteriorate the structures of the building. Ventilation changes the pressure differences across the structures of building and may cause or prevent infiltration of pollutants from structures or adjacent spaces. Ventilation is also in many cases used to control the thermal environment or humidity in buildings. The paper summarises the current knowledge on positive and negative effects of ventilation on health and other human responses. The focus is on office-type working environment and residential buildings. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS The review shows that ventilation has various positive impacts on health and productivity of building occupants. Ventilation reduces the prevalence of airborne infectious diseases and thus the number of sick leave days. In office environment a ventilation rate up to 20-25 L/s per person seem to decrease the prevalence of SBS-symptoms. Air conditioning systems may increase the prevalence of SBS-symptoms relative to natural ventilation if not clean. In residential buildings the air change rate in cold climates should not be below app. 0.5 ach. Ventilation systems may cause pressure differences over the building envelope and bring harmful pollutants indoors.
Varieties of Capitalism and Employment Relations: Informally Dominated Market Economies

The varieties of capitalism and employment relations literature have largely focused on formally regulated market economies, with a general neglect of the informal economy and of emerging markets where this work arrangement is dominant. In this article, however, the intention is to propose the Informally Dominated Market Economy as a form of capitalism that could be usefully incorporated into the industrial relations literature. To start to unpack this variety of capitalism, this article explores institutions and employment relations practices in the African economy of Mozambique. The outcome is a conceptual framework that includes both formal and informal institutions and considers the implications for work and employment relations.
Do Federal Funds Futures Need Adjustment for Excess Returns? A State-Dependent Approach

This paper utilizes a Markov-switching framework to model excess returns in federal funds futures contracts. This framework identifies a high-volatility state where excess returns are large, positive, and volatile and a low-volatility state where excess returns have a lower volatility and are small in absolute value. Federal funds futures rates require adjustment for excess returns only in the high-volatility state. Intermeeting rate cuts of the federal funds rate target always correspond with the high-volatility regime and can explain much of the variation in excess returns. This paper also examines previous return models and helps clarify the relationship between excess returns, business cycles, and intermeeting rate cuts. In real-time forecasting, however, the unadjusted futures rates outperform three different forecasting models. This result strengthens the case for unadjusted futures rates as a measure of monetary policy expectations.
A Different Approach to Using Neural Response Telemetry for Automated Cochlear Implant Processor Programming

Objective: This study explores the theoretical relation between the psychophysically measured current levels required for sound processor fitting in cochlear implants and the objectively measured compound action potential threshold (as measured by Neural Response Telemetry, NRT). The objective was to gain understanding of the variability across implantees in this relation and determine possible ways (using objective measures) of improving the predictability of NRT thresholds for behavioral levels needed for mapping. Design: A model of how rate of stimulation affects loudness is presented. The model can be used to understand differences among implantees in the way that rate affects loudness and hence explain the disappointing correlation between NRT and psychophysical measures. Suggestions are made, based on the model, for additional information that may improve the usefulness of NRT measurements. One such option (measuring the effect of interphase gap on NRT amplitude) was experimentally explored in eight subjects (26 electrodes). It was hypothesized that the current change required to maintain equal NRT amplitude when interphase gap was changed from 8 to 45 &mgr;sec would be correlated with the offset between behavioral and NRT thresholds. Results: The above hypothesis was not supported by the data, and several possible reasons for this outcome are discussed. Conclusions: The loudness model provides useful insights into why NRT thresholds are not good predictors of the behavioral levels needed for mapping and how NRT might be made more useful by additional objective information. These insights should be investigated in further experimental studies.
Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts?

In recent years, infrastructure promoters have become interested in translating the Toyota lean management paradigm into new infrastructure development projects. This approach assumes client and project suppliers are willing to work cooperatively. To enable this prerequisite, clients have started to experiment with relational contracts. An empirical study on the use of a relational contract in the £4.2bn extension of Heathrow airport in London confirms, however, the old adage that the devil is in the details. Unarguably, relational contracts enable the project client and suppliers to work together for a common purpose. However, the interwoven ways in which the client implements the contract—writing up the commercial details, as well as adjusting and interpreting these details throughout the project—are critical to encourage the suppliers to work cooperatively and meet the expectations of the client. This study unpacks five factors for making relational contracts work in projects: suppliers are keen to reap reputation benefits from project participation; suppliers have flexibility in their production processes; client and suppliers choose the right people for the jobs; client learns to relationally contract in response to supplier feedback; and client aligns its practices to control and improve performance with the suppliers' skills.