Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Industrial Relations Climate and Union Commitment: An Evaluation of Workplace‐Level Effects

This paper examines the relationship between industrial relations (IR) climate and union commitment. Using a multi-workplace sample from North East England, aggregation analysis provided support for treating IR climate as a workplace-level variable, and workplace IR climate was negatively associated with union commitment. However, IR climate moderated none of the relationships between individual-level antecedents and union commitment.
Facial Nerve Dehiscence and Cholesteatoma

Objectives: We evaluated the incidence of facial nerve dehiscence in a group of patients with cholesteatoma who underwent otologic surgery. Methods: We performed a retrospective study in a tertiary referral hospital of 336 patients (298 adults, 38 children) with cholesteatoma who underwent surgery in the years 1998 to 2008. Using intraoperative findings, we assessed the incidence of facial nerve dehiscence in a group of patients with cholesteatoma. We quantified, in adult versus pediatric patients and in primary versus revision surgeries, the occurrence of facial nerve dehiscence, the predisposed anatomic sites, and the coexistence of semicircular canal fistula. In a selected group of 67 patients, preoperative 0.55-mm collimation computed tomography (CT) scans were compared with the intraoperative findings. Results: The frequency of facial nerve dehiscence in this group of patients was 27.1%. The dehiscence was detected in 29.5% of the adults, but in only 7.8% of the patients 16 years and younger. Dehiscence was present in 42.3% of the patients who underwent revision surgery. The most common site of dehiscence (92.3%) was the tympanic segment. The sensitivity and specificity of CT were 69% and 87%, respectively. Conclusions: Dehiscence of the facial nerve was found in 27.1% of patients with cholesteatoma, with a significant difference between patients of pediatric and adult ages. A dehiscent facial nerve was more commonly seen during revision surgery and more frequent in patients older than 16 years. The site of dehiscence most frequently involved by cholesteatoma was the tympanic segment. The presence of a semicircular canal fistula increases the risk of facial nerve dehiscence. Finally, the results of preoperative CT scans are encouraging for the use of CT in predicting facial nerve dehiscence.
Lymphoedema and its management in cases of lymphatic filariasis: the current situation in three suburbs of Matara, Sri Lanka, before the introduction of a morbidity-control programme

Abstract Using in-depth interviews, information on the current state of lymphoedema management was collected from 101 cases of lymphatic filariasis with lymphoedema in three suburbs of Matara. The interviews were conducted prior to the introduction of a programme of community home-based care (CHBC) that incorporates modern lymphoedema-management strategies. Thirty-two of the interviewees had severe lymphoedema (of grade III or above). The male interviewees had significantly more entry lesions than the female. Most of the subjects had suffered from episodes of limb pain with fever, although the incidence of these episodes appeared unrelated to the severity of the lymphoedema. The frequency of the episodes of limb-pain/fever in the 12 months prior to the interviews appeared unrelated either to the level of daily hygiene, which was generally poor, or to the frequency of bathing. Many (65%) of the subjects paid no attention to limb care when bathing, and 44% did not use footwear. Over 80% made no effort to keep their afflicted limbs elevated, and 95% did not exercise. Most of the female interviewees felt shameful of their condition and were, in consequence, less likely to attend government clinics, for treatment, than the male interviewees. The drug treatment that the interviewees had received was often inadequate, and most had stopped seeking treatment because they had not perceived any significant treatment-attributable improvement in their condition. Modern lymphoedema-management strategies (based on regular washing, careful drying, and treatment, with antifungal, antibiotic or emollient creams, of the affected limbs, limb elevation, exercise, and use of footwear) had not reached the study communities and the local physicians were not aware of them. When dermatology life-quality indexes (DLQI) were calculated for the interviewees, the 26 most impaired subjects gave scores of 5–15 (mean=8.6). The DLQI for these subjects will be regularly re-evaluated, as a measure of the effectiveness of the CHBC programme that has now begun.
Guanxi and Conflict Management for Effective Partnering with Competitors in China

Competitors are increasingly forming partnerships to improve their capabilities to respond to customers and solve problems. This study uses research on guanxi and conflict management to identify critical conditions that facilitate effective collaboration between competitors. It theorizes that a high level of guanxi promotes cooperative and reduces competitive approaches to conflict that in turn facilitate partnership effectiveness. Data were collected from 100 paired competitors, operating in many industries in Shanghai, China. Results from the structural equation analysis indicated that a high level of guanxi reduces a competitive approach to conflict that in turn results in partnership effectiveness. These findings were interpreted as providing support that a high level of guanxi and a reduced level of the competitive approach to conflict are foundations for effective collaboration between competitors in China and perhaps in other countries as well.
Factors affecting the role of HR managers in international mergers and acquisitions: A multiple case study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the reasons behind human resource (HR) managers' participation in the international mergers and acquisitions (IMA the skills, abilities and competencies of HR managers themselves; the HR function and its characteristics; the expectations that line managers have of HR; external factors; and internal factors. This review forms the basis for subsequent data analysis in the context of IM&As. The factors that contribute to HR managers' participation are studied from HR and other management's perspectives. Based on interviews with 12 corporate level managers in three Finnish international industrial companies.Findings – The results show that top management sees the participation of HR managers as .
Different Modes of Innovation and the Challenge of Connecting Universities and Industry: Case Studies of Two Regional Industries in Norway

The paper argues that no single formula exists for how universities can stimulate innovation activity and industrial development in a particular region. The type of university–industry cooperation must be fined-tuned according to the knowledge base of the university and to the dominant mode of innovation in the regional industry. This article discusses two different modes of innovation: science, technology, innovation (STI) and doing, using, interacting (DUI). The unit of analysis is innovation and cooperation with universities in two regional industries in Norway, which are dominated by the two modes of innovation: STI (marine biotechnology in Tromsø) and DUI (oil and gas equipment suppliers in Agder). The empirical analyses demonstrate the different roles that universities play in these two regional industries. The University of Tromsø is the main organization behind the development of the marine biotechnology industry in Tromsø and is an important knowledge node and source of biotechnology spin-offs. Equipment suppliers in Agder have become world leaders in some niches, almost without research cooperation with universities. A general lesson is that the dominant mode of innovation in a regional industry makes a difference to the role universities can play in stimulating the development of the industry.
Regional Trust, Liabilities of Foreignness and the Location Decision of Multinational Firms in Europe

When investing in a foreign country, multinational enterprises face social, political and organizational information asymmetries. This liability of foreignness (LOF) introduces additional costs, threaten profitability and deter foreign direct investments. In this study we investigate if certain regions are better able to mitigate these liabilities, and therefore attract more greenfield investments. We identify regional trust, defined as the society average for interpersonal trust per region, as potential mediator of the LOF. Using European cross-sectional data from 2003-2011 on the number of cross-border greenfield investments and the regional level of trust, we confirm that the level of regional trust positively affects the number of investments that a region receives. The effect of regional trust is sizable (factor 1.65 and above per one unit increase in regional trust). Firms with a higher probability of facing a LOF (operationalized by geographic, institutional and genetic distance between the home and host country) more often locate in regions with a higher level of trust. We show that this result is robust against endogeneity.
Country Versus Industry Diversification in ASEAN-5

This paper examines the role of common, country, and industry effects on international diversification potential in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) stock markets. Following a decomposition approach, we extract these effects from stock returns and further examine the determinants of country effects using International Country Risk Guide indexes. Our results indicate that country effects dominate industry effects despite the increasing integration of economic and financial markets. However, a diminishing trend of country effects domination coupled with improving fundamentals in ASEAN-5 was observed during the recent subprime crisis in 2008, together with the presence of strong integration of stock markets in ASEAN-5 (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand). Last, political risk is found to be one of the main driving forces behind the dominance of country effects.
Developmental plasticity of the carotid chemoafferent pathway in rats that are hypoxic during the prenatal period

The chemoreflex pathway undergoes postnatal maturation, and the perinatal environment plays a critical role in shaping respiratory control system. We investigated the role of prenatal hypoxia on the maturation of the chemoreflex neural circuits regulating ventilation in rat. Effects of hypoxia (10% O2) from the 5th to the 20th day of gestation were studied on male offspring at birth and on postnatal days 3, 7, 21 and 68. Maturation of the respiratory control system was assessed by in vivo tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) activity measurement in peripheral chemoreceptors (carotid bodies, petrosal ganglia), and in brainstem catecholaminergic cell groups (A2C2c and A1C1 areas in the medulla, A5 and A6 areas in the pons). Resting ventilation and ventilatory response to hypoxia were evaluated as functional sequelae. In peripheral structures, prenatal hypoxia reduced TH activity within the first postnatal week and enhanced it later. In contrast, in central areas, prenatal hypoxia upregulated TH activity within the first postnatal week and downregulated it later. The in vivo TH activity impairment is therefore tissue specific, with an opposite effect on the peripheral and central neural circuits. A shift of the effect of prenatal hypoxia occurred between 1 and 3 weeks, indicating a postnatal temporal effect of prenatal hypoxia. An important period in the development of the chemoafferent pathway occurred between the first and the third postnatal week. Functionally, prenatal hypoxia impaired resting ventilation and ventilatory response to hypoxia. The alterations of the catecholaminergic components of the chemoafferent pathway resulting from prenatal hypoxia might contribute to impair postnatal respiratory behaviour.
Private Interaction Between Firm Management and Sell‐Side Analysts

Although sell-side analysts often privately interact with managers of publicly traded firms, the private nature of this contact has historically obscured direction examination. By examining a set of proprietary records compiled by a large-cap NYSE-traded firm, I offer insights into which analysts privately meet with management, when analysts privately interact with management, and why these interactions occur. I also compare private interaction to public interaction between analysts and managers on conference calls. The evidence suggests that private interaction with management is an important communication channel for analysts for reasons other than firm-specific forecasting news.
Ordinary Atypical Workers, Participation within the Firm and Innovation: A Theoretical Endeavor and Empirical Outlook

This paper offers a theoretical exploration and empirical outlook towards a triptych heretofore not properly investigated: atypical work (e.g., self-employed, agency workers, and workers with a fixed-term contract), participation within the firm, and innovation. How, it must be asked, can and will atypical workers contribute to innovation through participation within the firm or, from another angle, how can participation within the firm contribute to atypical workers willingness to express innovative behavior? For the answer researchers have to learn far more about two distinct groups of atypical workers: ‘external knowledge workers’ who are highly educated and explicitly hired for innovation, and ‘ordinary atypical workers’ who are neither highly educated nor hired for innovational purposes. For two reasons, the focus here is on the latter: we (1) presume and show, in contrast to what many scholars assume, that ordinary atypical workers can contribute to innovation in a direct and positive way, and (2) argue that participation within the firm is the key for these workers potential contribution to innovation.
Identifying human albinism: a comparison of VEP and fMRI.

PURPOSE To compare VEP and fMRI as a means of detecting the abnormal visual projections in albinism in different stimulation conditions. METHODS Cortical response to monocular full-field pattern-onset and hemifield pattern-onset and -reversal stimulation of 18 subjects with a known diagnosis of albinism, 17 control subjects, and 6 control subjects with infantile nystagmus syndrome (INS) was determined by VEP and fMRI. An asymmetry index was used to quantify the extent of response lateralization as measured by both VEP and fMRI. The extent to which each method and stimulus combination differentiated participant groups was summarized with a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, where A(A-C) and A(A-N) refer to areas under the ROC curve for albino versus control and albino versus nystagmus comparisons. RESULTS Cortical response to full-field monocular stimulation conditions offered robust detection of the abnormal response lateralization in albinism, with fMRI (A(A-C) = 1.00; A(A-N) = 0.91) being slightly more robust than the VEP under these conditions (A(A-C) = 0.91; A(A-N) = 0.79). Hemifield stimulation paradigms were somewhat poorer at differentiating between groups, particularly when VEP was used in combination with pattern-reversal stimulation (pattern-onset fMRI A(A-C) = 0.94, A(A-N) = 0.84, and VEP A(A-C) = 0.86, A(A-N) = 0.86; pattern-reversal fMRI A(A-C) = 0.90, A(A-N) = 0.88, and VEP A(A-C) = 0.69, A(A-N) = 0.64). However, when only the most posterior aspects of the occipital lobe were considered with hemifield stimulation, fMRI achieved the best differentiation between the subject groups, most notably with hemifield pattern-reversal stimulation (A(A-C) = 1.00; A(A-N) = 1.00). CONCLUSIONS An interocular comparison between the lateralization of cortical responses elicited by full-field stimulation reliably distinguished between those with albinism and control groups, when both fMRI and VEP were used to assess cortical responses. Hemifield stimulation of one eye offers an alternative method for assessing misrouting associated with albinism and is highly effective when cortical signals are assessed with fMRI, but less so when VEP is used.
Screening for Depression

To the Editor:-We read the paper by Buchsbaum et all on the screening for drinking disorders in the elderly that appeared in the July issue of JAGS. We agree with the authors about the difficulty in detecting drinking problems in elderly patients, for which purpose many clinical and behavioral tests are used. However, both have limitations, either because of the confounding medical problems affecting elderly people or because of the non-specificity of questionnaires inquiring into the behavior of elderly alcoholics (eg, MAST, BMAST, CAGE). We have performed an analysis of alcohol consumption in a large population of elderly people aged 70-75 (n = 1205, 389 males and 816 females) living in the historical center of Brescia, Italy. We administered the CAGE questionnaire and evaluated self-reported alcohol consumption. Using CAGE with a cutoff of two or more responses, there were 10 elderly alcoholics (0.8%) while, with a cutoff of one or more, there were 89 elderly alcoholics (7.4%). According to self-reported alcohol consumption, respondents were classified as moderate drinkers (alcohol intake lower than 60 g/day in males and lower than 40 g/day in females) and heavy drinkers (alcohol intake exceeding this quantity). One hundred and seven (8.9%) of the evaluated elders were heavy drinkers; a higher prevalence was found in males (14.1% of males) than females (6.4% of females). There was a strong association between alcohol consumption and CAGE Questionnaire Score (Table 1). Assuming the CAGE Questionnaire as the reference standard for the detection of drinking problems in the elderly, sensitivity and specificity for self-reported alcohol consumption were, respectively, 29.2% and 92.7% for a CAGE cutoff of two and 70% and 91.6% for a CAGE cutoff of one. Refemng to Buchsbaum et al's comments suggesting that the CAGE cutoff should "be flexible and considered in the context of the prevalence of drinking disorders in the population tested," we conclude that in the Italian elderly population, the CAGE cutoff score should be of one or more, since a cutoff of two or more detects an inappropriately small number of elderly patients with drinking problems. Although there is a good relationship between self-reported alcohol consumption and CAGE Questionnaire Score, the former is not a reliable instrument for the detection of drinking problems in the elderly, thus further supporting Buchsbaum et al's behest for a behavioral evaluation in the context of a global health care assessment.
Randomized phase II trial of gemcitabine plus irinotecan or docetaxel in stage IIIB or stage IV NSCLC.

BACKGROUND To evaluate the activity and tolerability of gemcitabine plus irinotecan or docetaxel as first-line chemotherapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). PATIENTS AND METHODS Eligible patients with chemotherapy-naïve stage IIIB or IV NSCLC were randomized to receive gemcitabine 1000 mg/m2 on days 1 and 8, plus either irinotecan 100 mg/m2 or docetaxel 40 mg/m2 on days 1 and 8. Treatment was administered every 3 weeks. RESULTS Of the 80 enrolled patients with stage IIIB or IV NSCLC, 78 were evaluable for activity and safety. Overall response rates, consisting of partial responses, were 12.8% [95% confidence interval (CI) 4% to 35%] for gemcitabine-irinotecan and 23.1% (95% CI 10% to 42%) for gemcitabine-docetaxel. Median overall survival was 7.95 months (95% CI 5.2-10.2) and 12.8 months (95% CI 7.9-17.1) for gemcitabine-irinotecan and gemcitabine-docetaxel, respectively. The corresponding estimated 1-year survivals were 23% and 51%, respectively. The 2-year survival rate in arm A (gemcitabine-irinotecan) is not currently estimable. The 2-year survival rate for arm B (gemcitabine-docetaxel) is 22% (95% CI 6% to 37%). Both combinations were well tolerated; the most common hematological toxicity was neutropenia, which occurred in 26% of patients in each treatment arm. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that gemcitabine plus docetaxel or irinotecan is well tolerated in patients with chemotherapy-naïve advanced NSCLC. The survival data with the combination gemcitabine-docetaxel are promising. Gemcitabine-docetaxel combination therapy may be particularly useful for patients who have experienced toxicities with a platinum regimen or in patients who may be more susceptible to platinum-related toxicity.
Job Mobility in Australia: Theories, Evidence and Implications

Recent theoretical developments postulate that much of the mobility in the labour market arises from imperfect information. As new information is acquired, either about alternative opportunities or about the productivity of the current job, a worker may quit or be laid off. The paper reviews some of these developments and evaluates the predictions they generate against data from the Australian Mobility Survey. It is found that the tenure, age and occupational effects on mobility are broadly consistent with these predictions. The implications of these findings are discussed with reference to the longstanding concern about the flexibility of the Australian labour market.
Isolated postprandial hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetic patients in a Nigerian Tertiary Health Center

Background: Postprandial hyperglycemia has been shown to be an independent cardiovascular risk factor. Some studies have reported that postprandial hyperglycemia is common and can occur even in patients with normal fasting glucose levels. This has been referred to as isolated postprandial hyperglycemia. Objectives: This study sets out to estimate the prevalence of isolated postprandial hyperglycemia in a cohort of patients with type 2 diabetes and to identify their clinical characteristics. Materials and Methods: Ninety patients being managed for type 2 diabetes were recruited consecutively as they attended the diabetes clinic for follow-up. The patients were assessed with questionnaires, to obtain the demographic data. Their body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Fasting blood samples were collected for analysis of fasting plasma glucose (FPG). Patients were given their usual drugs and then served a standard meal calculated to contain 50 g of carbohydrate, providing 500 kcal. Blood samples were collected two hours after the start of the meal for postprandial glucose levels. Results: The mean age of the patients was 57.7 ± 10.8 years with a male : female ratio of 2 : 3. The mean duration of diabetes was 6.77 ± 6.53 years. The mean BMI was 27.54 ± 6.01 kg / m2. The mean FPG and two hour postprandial glucose were 7.51 ± 3.39 mmol / l and 11.02 ± 4.03 mmol / L, respectively, and the mean HBA1c was 9.0 ± 2.5%. The prevalence of isolated postprandial hyperglycemia was 24.4%. Elevated postprandial glucose was seen in 41.7% of the patients at target glycated hemoglobin levels. The patients with isolated postprandial hyperglycemia tended to be older and less obese. Conclusion: There was poor glycemic control in the patients generally; however, a significant proportion of patients, with apparently good glycemic control, had isolated postprandial hyperglycemia.