Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efficacy of a whole-body vibration intervention on functional performance of community-dwelling older adults.

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to investigate efficacy of a whole-body vibration (WBV) intervention on functional performance of community-dwelling older adults. DESIGN The study was designed as a randomized controlled trial. SETTING The setting was in community centers. SUBJECTS There were 37 total subjects (21 women and 16 men) (age 69 +/- 8 years; mean +/- standard deviation). INTERVENTION Participants were randomized to a WBV intervention (INT) group and control (CON) group. Whole-body vibration was administered for five 1-minute bouts per session, 3 days per week, for 6 weeks. The CON group was asked not to commence any form of physical training. OUTCOME MEASURES Functional performance was measured with the timed-up-and-go-test (TUG) and sit-to-stand-test (STS). RESULTS After WBV, TUG and STS time was less for INT than CON (INT, TUG 7.6 +/- 0.3 seconds, STS 11.9 +/- 2.0 seconds; CON, TUG 8.6 +/- 0.9, STS 13.5 +/- 1.1 seconds; p < 0.05). Within INT, TUG improved 0.9 +/- 0.4 seconds; p = 0.01 and STS improved 3.0 +/- 0.9 seconds; p = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS The efficacy of this WBV intervention was established. Functional performance improvement after WBV may be attributed to a number of biological mechanisms that remain speculative. Further research is required to mechanistically understand the effects of WBV on older adults.
Leadership characteristics of declining firms attempting turnaround: An empirical examination

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the relationship between chief executive officer characteristics and corporate turnaround performance of declining firms attempting turnaround.Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 60 US manufacturing firms that experience severe performance decline and turnaround from 1985 to 2000 are selected from a population of declining manufacturing firms in the COMPUSTAT database. Data on leadership characteristics are collected and analyzed using ordinary least square regression analysis and ANOVA.Findings – The general findings of the study provide empirical support for the upper echelons theory that emphasizes leadership characteristics as predictors of organizational outcomes. More specifically, the findings suggest the strong and adverse influence of long executive tenure on corporate turnaround performance. The findings also indicate that executives with output‐related functional background positively influence corporate turnaround performance .
Needed: a theory of total factor productivity

This paper evaluates the argument that differences in physical and intangible capital can account for the large international income differences that characterize the world economy today. The finding is that they cannot. Savings rate differences are of minor importance. What is all-important is total factor productivity (TFP). In addition, the paper presents industry evidence that TFPs differ across countries and time for reasons other than differences in the publicly available stock of technical knowledge. These findings lead the author to conclude a theory of TFP is needed. This theory must account for differences in TFP that arise for reasons other than growth in the stock of technical knowledge. Copyright 1998 by Economics Department of the University of Pennsylvania and the Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association.
Simple Method for Determination of the Number of Helicobacter pylori CagA Variable-Region EPIYA Tyrosine Phosphorylation Motifs by PCR

ABSTRACT Helicobacter pylori strains possessing the cag pathogenicity island are associated with the development of gastric cancer. The CagA protein is translocated into epithelial cells and becomes phosphorylated on tyrosine residues within EPIYA motifs, which may be repeated within the variable region of the protein. Strains possessing CagA with greater numbers of these repeats have been more closely associated with gastric carcinogenesis. Phosphorylated CagA leads to epithelial cell elongation, which is dependent on the number of variable-region EPIYA motifs. Thus, determination of the degree of CagA phosphorylation and the number of EPIYA motifs appears to be more important than detection of cagA alone. Determination of the number of EPIYA motifs by nucleotide sequencing, however, is a laborious and expensive process. We describe here a novel and rapid PCR method for determination of the pattern of repeats containing the EPIYA motif. This will aid in the identification of those strains that may be more likely to cause disease.
Six-Month Multicenter Study on Invasive Infections Due to Streptococcus pyogenes and Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis in Argentina

ABSTRACT During a 6-month period, 95 invasive infections due to Streptococcus pyogenes and group C or group G Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis were recorded from 40 centers of 16 cities in Argentina. We describe here epidemiologic data available for 55 and 19 patients, respectively, associated with invasive infections due to S. pyogenes and S. dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis. The associated isolates and 58 additional pharyngeal isolates were genotyped and subjected to serologic and/or antibiotic susceptibility testing. Group A streptococcal emm type distribution and strain association with toxic shock appeared to differ somewhat from results found within the United States; however, serologic characterization and sof sequence typing suggested that emm types found in both countries are reflective of shared clonal types.
Industrialization in an open economy: Nigeria, 1945-1966

Introduction Part I: 1. Growth of the Nigerian Economy 1900-1966 2. The Market Part II: 3. From Trade to Manufacture: The Mechanics of Import Substitution 4. Import Substitution: Case Studies and Policy Implications Part III: 5. Utilizing Domestic Resources: Processing for Export 6. Utilizing Domestic Resources: Applied Industrial Research Part IV: 7. The Supply of Labour 8. Education and Skill Formation 9. Industrial Relations and Wage Determination: Failure of the Anglo-Saxon Model Part V: 10. Indigenous Enterprise Part VI: 11. Conclusion: A Strategy for Industrialization.
Factors impacting on adoption of Technology-enhanced Learning techniques by universities in Nairobi, Kenya

While infrastructure has improved and students state a preference for blended learning, there were few eLearning courses provided by Kenyan Higher Education Institutions in the 2012/2013 academic year. It is unclear what factors impact on the adoption of Technology-enhanced Learning (TEL) techniques in Nairobi Universities. Using semi-structured interviews and purposive and snowball sampling with ten institutions in Nairobi (4 public and 5 private Universities and the NREN) from 18 December 2014 to 12 January 2015, we explored the level of TEL usage, perceived benefits and challenges of using TEL from both an institutional and instructor perspective and the primary reasons why TEL is not being leveraged. Informants agreed that wider adoption of TEL is the way forward but this requires addressing current challenges and factors currently limiting uptake. These include: infrastructure challenges, need for training to up-skill faculty members; institutional policies; insufficient leadership and need to develop a strategic plan for eContent development. The findings highlight a number of practical issues that can be undertaken to mitigate the factors identified.
Fuel Economy Rebound Effect for U.S. Household Vehicles

This paper presents an econometric estimation of the "rebound effect" for household vehicle travel in the United States based on analysis of survey data collected by the Energy Information Administration (ELA) at approximately threeyear intervals over a 15-year period. The rebound effect measures the tendency to "take back" potential energy savings from fuel economy improvements as increased travel. Vehicle use models were estimated for one-, two-, three-, four-, and five-vehicle households. The results confirm recent estimates based on national or state-level data: a long-run "take back" of about 20 percent of potential energy savings. Consumer responses to changes in fuel economy or fuel price per gallon appear to be equal and opposite in sign. Recognizing the interdependencies among miles of travel, fuel economy and price is key to obtaining meaningful results.
Isolating the Family Cap Effect on Fertility Behavior: Evidence From New Jersey's Family Development Program Experiment

This study examines the unbundled impacts of a family cap policy and enhanced JOBS program on the fertility of 2100 women on welfare who were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups as part of New Jersey's welfare reform program. Data were collected quarterly from December 1992 through March 1997 on births, abortions, contraceptive pill use, and contraceptive sterilizations from welfare and Medicaid claim files. Results indicate that the family cap lowered births and increased abortions and contraception use but only for women who were short-time welfare users. Enhanced JOBS exerted an independent effect on fertility of more chronic recipients. (JEL "I38") Copyright 2004 Western Economic Association International.
Multifactor Portfolio Efficiency and Multifactor Asset Pricing

Abstract The concept of multifactor portfolio efficiency plays a role in Merton's intertemporal CAPM (the ICAPM), like that of mean-variance efficiency in the Sharpe-Lintner CAPM. In the CAPM, the relation between the expected return on a security and its risk is just the condition on security weights that holds in any mean-variance-efficient portfolio, applied to the market portfolio M. The risk-return relation of the ICAPM is likewise just the application to M of the condition on security weights that produces ICAPM multifactor-efficient portfolios. The main testable implication of the CAPM is that equilibrium security prices require that M is mean-variance-efficient. The main testable implication of the ICAPM is that securities must be priced so that M is multifactor-efficient. As in the CAPM, building the ICAPM on multifactor efficiency exposes its simplicity and allows easy economic insights.
Measuring Household Financial Risk

The authors use U.S. panel data covering the 1999-2009 period to investigate the link between portfolio risk and household characteristics. They find wide heterogeneity of risk, with about 40% of the households not willing to undertake any risk. They also find some regularities: Whatever indicator they take, risk shows a flat age profile and correlates with wealth and income. Alternative risk indicators provide similar insights, although they vary differently over time. In particular, the measure of implicit risk tolerance grew abnormally in 2009–at the beginning of the recent financial crisis.
Corporate Investing as a Response to Economic Downturn: Prospect Theory, the Behavioural Agency Model and the Role of Financial Slack

This study examines innovation investment during the major economic downturn of 2008–2009. Drawing from prospect theory, it suggests that increasing levels of slack resources enhance innovation investment during a crisis; slack resources also moderate the impact of historical performance on investment. This study also examines how, during global crises, the board of directors can affect the CEO's proclivity to invest by leveraging performance management devices, such as target‐setting and behavioural evaluation criteria. A test based on a sample of Italian companies provides support for the hypothesized effects. Results suggest that firms may respond to global crisis with innovation investment, and that organizational factors, as well as the board of directors, may play a major role in this response.
Alzheimer’s-specific effects of soluble b -amyloid on protein kinase C- a and - g degradation in human fibroblasts

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a multifactorial disease in which b -amyloid peptide ( b AP) plays a critical role. We report here that the soluble fraction 1–40 of b AP differentially degrades protein kinase C- a and - g (PKC a and PKC g ) isoenzymes in normal (age-matched controls, AC) and AD fibroblasts most likely through proteolytic cascades. Treatment with nanomolar concentrations of b AP(1–40) induced a 75% decrease in PKC a , but not PKC g , immunoreactivity in AC fibroblasts. In the AD fibroblasts, a 70% reduction of the PKC g , but not PKC a , immunoreactivity was observed after b AP treatment. Preincubation of AC or AD fibroblasts with 50 m M lactacystine, a selective proteasome inhibitor, prevented b -AP(1–40)-mediated degradation of PKC a in the AC cells, and PKC g in the AD fibroblasts. The effects of b AP(1–40) on PKC a in AC fibroblasts were prevented by inhibition of protein synthesis and reversed by PKC activation. A 3-hr treatment with 100 nM phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate restored the PKC a signal in treated AC cells but it did not reverse the effects of b AP(1–40)
School connectedness and the transition into and out of health-risk behavior among adolescents: a comparison of social belonging and teacher support.

Supportive and caring relations within families promote academic achievement and protect against involvement in health-risk behaviors by adolescents. ' " Similarly, supportive and caring relationships within schools (henceforth, school connectedness) promote academic motivation among adolescents. ^" Much less is known, however, about the infiuence of school connectedness on adolescent healthrisk behaviors. Previous research generally suffers from two limitations. First, most research is cross-section al.'^" The longitudinal research that does exist does not distinguish between initiation or escalation or reduction of health-risk behaviors. "^'' Second, school connectedness has generally been treated as a broad construct that combines students' perceptions of safety, support, belonging and engagement. '^""^" Such a broad conceptualization does not provide clear guidance to policy makers and practitioners on how to increase school connectedness. This paper addresses these limitations by exploring the association between two dimensions of school connectedness perceived teacher support and social belonging - and the initiation, escalation and reduction of participation in six adolescent health-risk behaviors. BACKGROUND Cross-sectional studies show that school connectedness is associated with mental health and lower rates of involvement in multiple health-risk behaviors, including substance use, sexual intercourse, violence, delinquency, and suicidaljfy 12 15 Qjjg quasi-experimental study, the Seattle Social Development Study, evaluated the effects of increasing the school social bond among elementary school students. The intervention group had significantly higher levels of school connectedness than the control group at ages 13 and 18, and was less likely to engage in violence or substance use. '*" Three dimensions of school connectedness are emphasized in educational research: social support, belonging and engagement. ""'^^ When young people receive empathy, praise, and attention in a clear and consistent fashion, they experience social support. The experience of social support generates a sense of belonging which, in turn, leads to increased engagement and academic motivation. Although this theoretical model, originally laid out by Connell and Wellborn," has been empirically supported for academic outcomes, it has not been tested for health outcomes. Most previous studies linking school connectedness to health-risk behaviors combine the different dimensions of school connectedness into a single measure or explore the effect of a single dimension. Drawing on the theoretical framework
Recent declines in China’s largest freshwater lake: trend or regime shift?

Poyang Lake is China’s largest freshwater lake with a high degree of spatio-temporal variation. The lake has shrunk in size in recent years, resulting in significant hydrological, ecological and economic consequences. It remains unknown whether the shrinkage is a trend or a regime shift, which is of high importance for policymakers as it may lead to different decisions. This study constructed a four-decade record of the lake area using multi-temporal satellite images and hydrological data. The Mann–Kendall analysis revealed a decreasing trend of Poyang Lake but it was statistically insignificant. The Rodionov sequential approach disclosed an abrupt change of the lake in 2006, implying a regime shift. Basically, the lake change was a synthetic result of precipitation, evapotranspiration and outflow discharge. However, precipitation and outflow did not show any significant trend or abrupt change, and evapotranspiration had an increasing trend in addition to an abrupt change in 1998. The trigger for the recent lake declines was principally ascribed to a weakened blocking effect of the Yangtze River. The findings provide an example of hydrologic non-stationarity and are valuable for effective promotion of climate adaptation and water resource management.
Evaluating the multi-dimensional view of employee commitment: a comparative UK–Chinese study

This study evaluates the contribution of the multiple constituencies of commitment framework to the explanation of work attitudes and behaviours among samples of manufacturing workers in the United Kingdom (UK) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). Our findings suggest that the organization, the supervisor, co-workers and the union were seen by respondents as separate commitment foci. Consistent with the ‘compatibility hypothesis’, the relationship between commitment and outcome was stronger where the constituency focus was matched. However, the ‘cultural hypothesis’, on the greater salience of person- or group-based commitments in the PRC context, was generally not accepted. The findings are discussed in the light of the comparative cultural and industrial relations contexts of the two countries.
A Note on Economies of Scale and Natural Monopoly in the Distribution of Public Utility Services

This note presents a simple model of the determination of the cost of distributing a public utility service to customers spread over a single urban area. Total distribution cost depends on the cost of transmitting services and on the spatial pattern of demand. Everywhere decreasing average cost of transmissions is found to be sufficient but not necessary for natural monopoly. With decreasing average transmission cost, marginal cost pricing (appropriately defined) does not cover total distribution cost, but average distribution cost need not fall with increases in total demand in the area.
A double-blind, randomized, controlled trial to compare the efficacy and tolerability of fixed doses of ropinirole, bupropion, and iron in treatment of restless legs syndrome (Willis–Ekbom disease)

Background: We aimed to compare the efficacy of fixed doses of bupropion and ropinirole and iron alone for the treatment of restless legs syndrome (RLS) and to look for the tolerability of these medications. Materials and Methods: Patients diagnosed with RLS were randomly divided into three groups with thirty patients in each group (Group A: Bupropion [300 mg/day], Group B: Ropinirole [0.25-0.5 mg/day], and Group C: Oral iron [150 mg elemental iron] along with folic acid [500 μg]). Each participant was then assessed for severity of RLS, as well as RLS-related quality at the baseline, and thereafter, every 14 th day till 6 weeks based on the International Restless Legs Scale (IRLS) severity rating scale and Restless Legs Syndrome Quality of Life (RLSQoL) Questionnaire, respectively. Results: IRLS scores differed significantly from baseline visit to last (F = 4.85; P = 0.01). The interaction between the time x treatment group was significant (F = 10.37; P < 0.001) showing an improvement with the therapy in all the groups. Pair-wise comparison depicted that ropinirole group differed from other two groups in IRLS score (F = 7.06; P = 0.001), which were comparable to each other. Regarding quality of life of these cases, within each group scores differed among all the four visits (F = 5.12; P = 0.002). Unlike IRLS, there was no significant difference among the RLSQOL scores between groups at any point of time (F = 1.2; P = 0.28). Conclusion: RLS severity decreased across time in all three groups; however, the ropinirole treatment was better than the bupropion and iron-folate therapy. Moreover, RLS-related quality of life although improved among all groups, it was comparable among three groups.
UMDeep at SemEval-2017 Task 1: End-to-End Shared Weight LSTM Model for Semantic Textual Similarity

We describe a modified shared-LSTM network for the Semantic Textual Similarity (STS) task at SemEval-2017. The network builds on previously explored Siamese network architectures. We treat max sentence length as an additional hyperparameter to be tuned (beyond learning rate, regularization, and dropout). Our results demonstrate that hand-tuning max sentence training length significantly improves final accuracy. After optimizing hyperparameters, we train the network on the multilingual semantic similarity task using pre-translated sentences. We achieved a correlation of 0.4792 for all the subtasks. We achieved the fourth highest team correlation for Task 4b, which was our best relative placement.
Potassium‐transporting proteins in skeletal muscle: cellular location and fibre‐type differences

Potassium (K+) displacement in skeletal muscle may be an important factor in the development of muscle fatigue during intense exercise. It has been shown in vitro that an increase in the extracellular K+ concentration ([K+]e) to values higher than approx. 10 mm significantly reduce force development in unfatigued skeletal muscle. Several in vivo studies have shown that [K+]e increases progressively with increasing work intensity, reaching values higher than 10 mm. This increase in [K+]e is expected to be even higher in the transverse (T)‐tubules than the concentration reached in the interstitium. Besides the voltage‐sensitive K+ (Kv) channels that generate the action potential (AP) it is suggested that the big‐conductance Ca2+‐dependent K+ (KCa1.1) channel contributes significantly to the K+ release into the T‐tubules. Also the ATP‐dependent K+ (KATP) channel participates, but is suggested primarily to participate in K+ release to the interstitium. Because there is restricted diffusion of K+ to the interstitium, K+ released to the T‐tubules during AP propagation will be removed primarily by reuptake mediated by transport proteins located in the T‐tubule membrane. The most important protein that mediates K+ reuptake in the T‐tubules is the Na+,K+‐ATPase α2 dimers, but a significant contribution of the strong inward rectifier K+ (Kir2.1) channel is also suggested. The Na+, K+, 2Cl− 1 (NKCC1) cotransporter also participates in K+ reuptake but probably mainly from the interstitium. The relative content of the different K+‐transporting proteins differs in oxidative and glycolytic muscles, and might explain the different [K+]e tolerance observed.
How different are the determinants of population versus labour migration in Germany?

This paper studies whether population migration data can be used to answer questions on labour mobility between regions. Using regional data of the Statistisches Bundesamt for population and labour migration, panel data estimations are conducted for the period 1993–1995, as the high average migratory flows of the earlier period, 1989–1992, had settled down. The conclusion emerges that if normalized population and labour migration data are used, the discrepancy in the results is small and this study's results on elasticity coefficients for identical models in each of the cases by and large produce similar results. The major difference emerges with the elasticity coefficient of the housing variable. In general, one may conclude that population migration may be used to examine labour migration issues.