Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
[Relationship between the level of plasma D-dimer and diabetic microangiopathy].

OBJECTIVE To study the relationship between the level of plasma D-dimer and microangiopathy of the type 2 diabetes mellitus. METHODS The level of plasma D-dimer and blood viscosity were measured in 52 cases with type 2 diabetes mellitus, and these patients were divided into three groups according to the level of urinary albumin excretion (UAE) together with 15 age-matched healthy volunteers as the control (NC group). RESULTS In the cases with higher urinary albumin excretion rate, including 28 cases with trace albuminuria (EDN group) and 10 cases with clinical albuminuria (CDN group), plasma D-dimer and blood viscosity were increases than 14 cases without albuminuria (SDM group) and NC group. D-dimer was positively correlated with diabetic retinopathy, Serum insulin and diabetic durations, but not correlated with blood viscosity and fibrinogen. CONCLUSION The type 2 diabetes mellitus complicated with microangiopathy had a higher level of plasma D-dimer. As a marker of thrombus formation, D-dimer may play an important role in the pathogenesis of diabetic microangiopathy.
Cosmesis and satisfaction after breast‐conserving surgery correlates with the percentage of breast volume excised

The cosmetic outcome after breast‐conserving surgery correlates with psychosocial adjustment. Previous studies have shown that, among other factors, cosmesis is dependent on breast size and weight of the wide local excision specimen. This study assessed cosmetic outcome relative to a combination of these factors—the estimated percentage of breast volume excised (EPBVE).
Beta-lactam antibiotic therapy in febrile granulocytopenic patients. A randomized trial comparing cefoperazone plus piperacillin, ceftazidime plus piperacillin, and imipenem alone.

OBJECTIVE To compare the efficacy, toxicity, and cost-effectiveness of double beta-lactam therapy with monotherapy. DESIGN A randomized, controlled trial. PATIENTS Febrile, granulocytopenic patients (429). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomly assigned to receive iv cefoperazone (3 g every 12 hours) plus piperacillin (75 mg/kg body weight every 6 hours), ceftazidime (2 g every 8 hours) plus piperacillin (75 mg/kg every 6 hours), or imipenem alone (1.0 g or 0.5 g every 6 hours). Patients also received prophylactic vitamin K. MEASUREMENTS Clinical improvement, eradication of the infecting organism, and toxicity in 403 evaluable patients with one or more infections. MAIN RESULTS Cefoperazone and ceftazidime, when given in combination with piperacillin, were equally effective (response rates of 75% (104 of 138 patients) and 74% (101 of 137 patients), respectively). Monotherapy with imipenem had a response rate of 82% (111 of 136 patients) and was as effective as double beta-lactam therapy. Overall antibiotic-related toxicity was minimal, although seizures were associated with high doses of imipenem. Seizures occurred in 3 of 29 patients (10.3%) who were receiving 4 g/d of imipenem, in 3 of 136 patients (2.2%) who were receiving cefoperazone plus piperacillin, in 0 of the 132 patients who were receiving ceftazidime plus piperacillin, and in 1 of 106 patients (0.9%) who were receiving 2 g/d of imipenem (P less than 0.005). The 2-g daily dose of imipenem was as effective as the 4-g daily dose. Diarrhea was more frequent in patients receiving cefoperazone, whereas nausea occurred more often with imipenem. No antibiotic-related hemorrhage or nephrotoxicity was observed. Superinfections caused by beta-lactam-resistant, gram-negative bacilli were uncommon but occurred more frequently with double beta-lactam therapy than with imipenem monotherapy (11 of 268 patients compared with 1 of 135 patients; P = 0.06). Xanthomonas maltophilia superinfections occurred only in patients receiving imipenem (3 of 135 patients compared with 0 of 268 patients; P = 0.03). Imipenem monotherapy was the least expensive therapy. CONCLUSIONS Cefoperazone and ceftazidime were equally effective when used in combination antibiotic therapy with piperacillin. Twice-daily cefoperazone is less expensive than ceftazidime given three times daily. Monotherapy with imipenem, at a daily dose of 2 g, is as efficacious as double beta-lactam therapy and costs less than combination therapy.
CAP Reforms and Multilateral Trade Negotiations: Another View on Discourse Efficiency

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was institutionalised in the early 1960s and has gone through various crises since then, which have led to increasingly important policy reforms (1981, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1999 and 2002/3). 1 This article focuses on two of these reforms: (i) the so-called MacSharry reform in 1992, which introduced a radical shift in the type of policy instruments used (from price support for agricultural products to direct payments to farmers); and (ii) the CAP Mid-Term Review (MTR), signed in June 2003, which resulted from an attempt by the European Commission to introduce a second generation of radical instrumental changes in the CAP in order to enhance the 'multifunctional' dimension of EU agriculture. First, the article analyses the Commission discourses in each period as well as the conditions of their formulation. Second, it seeks to explain the active political entrepreneurship and much higher profile adopted by the Commission to promote the MTR reform project as compared to the MacSharry reform. The analytical framework employed here considers discourse as a resource in political exchange and hypothesises that an actor's ability to influence policy change through an efficient and influential discourse relies heavily on the amount and quality of intellectual resources available. (Resume d'auteur)
Earnings per share versus cash flow per share as predictor of dividends per share

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to compare the relative power of operating cash flow and earnings in the prediction of dividends. Design/methodology/approach - A linear mixed effects model is used in terms of selected model fit criteria. Findings - Based on the selected model fit criteria, cash flow per share is shown to produce a better fit than earnings per share, but it cannot be said how much better. Research limitations/implications - Quarterly CRSP and Compustat data from 2000 to 2006 for 1,902 dividend-paying firms are analyzed. Future work would need a different methodology to determine how much better cash flow is as a predictor of dividends. Practical implications - Both earnings per share and cash flow per share are found to be reasonable dividend predictors. Social implications - Additional insight is provided on modeling factors that contribute to a firm's decision to engage or disengage in a dividend payment policy. Originality/value - The study described in this paper continues work on predicting dividends per share. Results show cash flow per share is a better predictor than earnings per share. Investors and analysts predict dividends as part of their stock valuation work. This study suggests focusing attention on using cash flow per share as the predictor of dividends.
Institutions, Innovations, and Growth

The fundamental importance of economic institutions for economic growth through their impact on technological change has been argued, reconfirmed by recent empirical studies, but not examined theoretically. This paper tries to fill that gap. In the model proposed, economic growth is affected by the efficiency and riskiness of research and development (RD the East Asia miracle versus the East Asia financial crisis; and the rise and fall of centralized economies.
Rule-of-Thumb Consumers, Nominal Rigidities and the Design of Interest Rate Rules

This paper argues that, in the presence of nominal wage rigidities, the existence of Rule-of-Thumb agents and price rigidities does not cause a change in the Taylor Principle as suggested by Gali et al. (2004), and that the only rigidity relevant for this result is that faced by Rule-of-Thumb consumers. For doing so, a New-Keynesian model with Rule-of-Thumb agents is proposed. The model discriminates between both type of agents when defining wage rigidities, thus al- lowing to identify and measure the factors that affect the Taylor Principle, this also allows to drop complete markets for Rule-of-Thumb agents, and the simple use of non-separable utility functions in order to determine the incidence of the wealth effect when facing staggered wages.
Collective and individual voice: convergence in Europe?

This paper uses longitudinal survey data from Britain, Germany and Sweden to examine whether, as some researchers have suggested, there has been a convergence internationally towards individual forms of employee voice mechanism and, if so, to measure the extent and trajectory of change. The paper begins by examining the importance of the employee voice issue. It then reviews competing accounts of the utility of different forms of employee voice and their manifestations within different varieties of capitalism. It is hypothesized that there has been a general trend away from collective and towards individual voice mechanisms; this reflects the predominant trajectory of managerial practices towards convergence with the liberal market model. This hypothesis is largely rejected. The data showed only very limited evidence of directional convergence towards individual voice models in the three countries. Collective voice remains significant in larger organizations, and although it takes a wide range of forms that include but go beyond unions and works councils, this is a positive finding for proponents of those institutions.
An Empirical Study of Structural Credit Risk Models Using Stock and Bond Prices

Reduced-form credit risk models are often thought to be better suited than structural models for pricing corporate bonds. The authors challenge this view. Conditioned not only on equity but on bond and dividend information also, a structural model performs well compared to previously tested reduced-form models. In the pricing of bond portfolios, model errors are to a large extent diversifiable.
The Decline and Rise of Agricultural Productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa Since 1961

Agricultural productivity growth in sub-Saharan Africa has been a qualified success. Total factor productivity growth has increased rapidly since the early 1980s. By the early 2000s, average annual TFP growth was roughly four times faster than it had been 25 years earlier. This period of accelerated growth, however, followed nearly 20 years of declining rates of TFP growth subsequent to independence in the early 1960s. Average agricultural TFP growth for sub-Saharan Africa was 0.14% per year during 1960 - 84, and increased to 1.24% per year from 1985 - 2002. The average over this period was approximately 0.6% per year, which accounts for 36% of the increase in total crop output over this period. These highly aggregated results conceal substantial regional and country-level variation. Expenditures on agricultural R&D, along with the reform of macroeconomic and sectoral policies shaping agricultural incentives, have played a substantial role in explaining both the decline and the rise in agricultural productivity. The case study of Ghana clearly reflects these broader findings.
Some studies on detection and filtering algorithms for the removal of random valued impulse noise

Removing random valued impulse noise (RVIN) is a challenging task in corrupted images. This article aims to study some detection and filtering algorithms which remove RVIN in images. In addition to some state-of-the-art detection and filtering algorithms, a new detection technique, measures of dispersion (MOD) algorithm, for removing very high-density RVIN proposed by authors is also compared with existing methods. In the detection stage, rank order absolute difference, rank order logarithmic difference, adaptive switching median, triangle-based linear interpolation, and MOD algorithms are considered. Median filter, fuzzy switching median filter, and fuzzy switching weighted median filter are used for filtering followed by the detection algorithms. Comparative studies in terms of peak signal-to-noise ratio and structural similarity have been devised to evaluate the performance of various filtering schemes.
Black-White Life Cycle Earnings Differences and the Vintage Hypothesis: A Longitudinal Analysis

A common finding of virtually all previous studies of black-white earnings differences is that the earnings of white males appear to rise at a more rapid rate with each additional year of work experience (or with age) than do the earnings of black workers. This finding has been noted by economists since at least the mid-1950's when Morton Zeman called
Testing Target-Zone Models Using Efficient Method of Moments

The objectives of this article are threefold—(1) to test target-zone models using more efficient and direct econometric methodology than previous research, (2) to identify an implicit band, if it exists, from observed data and to test target-zone models based on the estimated implicit band rather than the stated official band, and (3) to examine whether the exchange rate can be modeled as a managed float system with a central parity that lacks a band. We find strong evidence that a model with intramarginal intervention and a narrower implicit (unofficial) band can describe the dynamics of the French franc/Deutsche mark exchange rate from January 1, 1987–July 30, 1993.
Essays on monetary policy and the European Monetary Union

The thesis consists of four essays of independent interest which make theoretical and empirical contributions to the fields of monetary economics and economic integration. The first essay studies the implications of measurement bias in inflation for the conduct of monetary policy. In a business cycle model with product entry and a stabilization role for monetary policy, measurement bias in inflation originates from a failure of the statistical authority to account for new products in time. Measurement bias depends systematically on the state of the business cycle and dampens inflation volatility but increases inflation persistence. If not accounted for by monetary policy, inflation mismeasurement results in too little inflation stabilization. The second essay points to a tension between stylized facts and the standard monetary model concerning money demand. Whereas the evidence for dynamic money demand is overwhelming, money demand in the standard model remains static. I reconcile the standard model with dynamic money demand and revisit the optimal monetary policy problem in the modified model. Even though dynamic money demand implies that money matters a lot for social welfare, monetary policy should pay little attention to money. This result relates to the ongoing debate on the monetary policy strategy of the European Central Bank. The third essay considers the catch up process of new European Union (EU) member states. New EU member states experience real exchange rate appreciation and, at the same time, terms of trade which improve vis á vis the euro area. Whereas the two-country two-goods real business cycle model cannot explain both facts simultaneously, I show that it can once one accounts for endogenous product variety. This finding suggests that the fundamental driving force behind the sustainable catch up process in new EU member states is a form of productivity which boosts product variety rather than product quantity. Essay number four empirically uncovers the effect of the common European currency on trade. Empirical models set up to analyze the trade effect of the euro are often restrictive. Jointly with Helmut Herwartz, we pursue a more general approach to estimate the When, How Fast and by How Much of adjustment in euro area trade. We find gradual trade creation between the years 2000 and 2003 and document that assumptions with respect to the timing of the change in trade matter for conclusions about the size of this change.
The effects of selected antecedents on the service recovery performance of frontline employees

The purpose of the present study is to examine the effects of selected antecedents on the service recovery performance of frontline employees using data from frontline bank employees in Turkey. The results of the path analysis indicate that trait competitiveness, intrinsic motivation, and role ambiguity are significant antecedents of frontline employees' service recovery performance. Results also suggest that the significant consequences of service recovery performance are job satisfaction and intention to leave. The results of the other hypothesised linkages demonstrate that intrinsic motivation, emotional exhaustion, and role ambiguity are significantly associated with frontline employees' job satisfaction. In addition, the current empirical findings provide support for the notion that role ambiguity and emotional exhaustion are significant predictors of intention to leave. Limitations of the study, managerial implications, and implications for future research are discussed.
Sustainability in global financial reporting and innovation in institutions

Purpose - The aim of this paper is to document the author's keynote address in Accounting at the 16th Annual Conference on Pacific Basin Finance, Economics, Accounting and Management “Innovation for a Sustainable Future: Visions for 2020”, July 3-4, 2008, Brisbane, Australia. Design/methodology/approach - In keeping with the theme of the Conference, the paper considers two areas – global accounting and financial reporting, and regulation and institutions. Findings - As business has become more global and financial markets have developed world-wide, comparable accounting and financial information across countries and companies is a logical step to continue to support and advance business. With this shift, though, the world moves towards a monopoly in accounting standards and standard setting. Practical implications - The potential costs, problems, and possible solutions need to be considered. Current regulatory environments and institutions offer limited ability to effectively monitor such a monopoly. So innovation must occur. Originality/value - The paper shows that an infrastructure to support global investor protection and convergence of investor protections and rights can offer such innovation to support and sustain global business.
Investment in Human Capital: A Theoretical Analysis

SOME activities primarily affect future well-being, while others have their main impact in the present. Dining is an example of the latter, while purchase of a car exemplifies the former. Both earnings and consumption can be affected: on-the-job training primarily affects earnings, a new sail boat primarily affects consumption, and a college education is said to affect both. The effects may operate either through physical resources, such as a sail boat, or through human resources, such as a college education. This paper is concerned with activities that influence future real income through the imbedding of resources in people. This is called investing in human capital. The many ways to invest include schooling, on-the-job training, medical care, vitamin consumption, and acquiring information about the economic system. They differ in the relative effects on earnings and consumption, in the amount of resources typically invested, in the size of returns, and in the extent to which the connection between investment and return is perceived. But all im-
Equilibrium Exchange Rates in Transition Economies

Exchange rates in transition economies undergo early depreciation followed by continuing real appreciation. The paper documents and interprets this stylized fact. It provides estimates of the real equilibrium exchange rate based on a sample of 80 countries, and estimates well the dynamics of the real exchange rate in the early transition phase. The results suggest that the continuing real appreciation corresponds to a combination of a return to equilibrium following an initial overshooting, and of real equilibrium appreciation.
Safe and Sound? The Public Value Trade-Off in Worker Safety and Public Infrastructure Procurement

Infrastructure previously overseen by public sector clients is now often in the hands of the private sector, thus blurring the definition of ‘client’ in public infrastructure provision. Since previous in-house governmental safeguards are often no longer maintained, new ways of achieving optimum safe work practices in the provision of public infrastructure are required. This research, conducted in an Australian industry context, examines safeguarding mechanisms that could be employed to realize the public value of worker safety in a changed infrastructure procurement environment.
Does point-of-purchase nutrition labeling influence meal selections? A test in an Army cafeteria.

OBJECTIVE This study assessed the effectiveness of nutrition labeling on sales of targeted entrees and measured the perceived influence that factors such as taste, quality, appearance, fat content, calorie content, and price had on meal selection behavior within an Army cafeteria. METHODS A quasi-experimental design was used to compare targeted entrée sales between a 1-year baseline period and two 30-day postintervention periods, after the placement of entrée nutrition labels. A brief questionnaire, distributed to 149 patrons, measured the perceived influence of the aforementioned factors on selections. RESULTS Analysis of variance detected no significant differences in sales between baseline and the two intervention periods; the factors of taste and quality were rated most influential to meal selection (p < 0.000). CONCLUSIONS A marketing campaign focusing on the health attributes of targeted entrée items was not successful in boosting sales. Sensory attributes (i.e., taste, quality, and appearance) appear to be more influential to meal selection.
An Empirical Investigation of Bribery in International Trade

It is shown that the degree of corruption of importing countries affects the trade structure of exporting countries. Whereas Sweden and Malaysia experience disadvantages with corrupt counterparts, the exports of Belgium/Luxembourg, France, Italy, the Netherlands and South Korea are positively related to the level of corruption of importing countries. While we controlled for geographic, sectoral, idiomatic and other influences, it is concluded that these findings are due to the differentiated inclination of exporters to offer bribes.
Wounding‐mediated gene expression and accelerated viviparous reproduction of the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum

Most insects mount a potent antimicrobial defence upon contact with microbes or microbe‐associated pattern molecules. Using a combined set of methods for analysis of insect innate immunity, we report here that piercing of the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum with a bacteria‐contaminated needle elicits lysozyme‐like activity in the haemolymph but no detectable activities against live bacteria. Confirming these results, we found no homologues of known antimicrobial peptides in our cDNA library generated by using the suppression subtractive hybridization method or in over 90 000 public expressed sequence tag (EST) sequences, but lysozyme genes have recently been described in A. pisum. Interestingly, we discovered that production of viviparous offspring was significantly accelerated upon wounding. Therefore, we postulate that aphids may increase terminal reproductive investment and limit antibacterial defence in response to a threat to their survival.