Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Medical decisions concerning the end of life: a discussion with Japanese physicians.

OBJECTIVES: Life-sustaining treatment at the end of life gives rise to many ethical problems in Japan. Recent surveys of Japanese physicians suggested that they tend to treat terminally ill patients aggressively. We studied why Japanese physicians were reluctant to withhold or withdraw life-support from terminally ill patients and what affected their decisions. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: A qualitative study design was employed, using a focus group interview with seven physicians, to gain an in-depth understanding of attitudes and rationales in Japan regarding medical care at the end of life. RESULTS: Analysis revealed that physicians and patients' family members usually make decisions about life-sustaining treatment, while the patients' wishes are unavailable or not taken into account. Both physicians and family members tend to consider withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment as abandonment or even killing. The strongest reason to start cardiopulmonary resuscitation- and to continue it until patients' family members arrive-seems to be the family members' desire to be at the bedside at the time of death. All physicians participating in our study regarded advance directives that provide information as to patients' wishes about life-sustaining treatment desirable. All expressed concern, however, that it would be difficult to forego or discontinue life-support based on a patient's advance directive, particularly when the patient's family opposed the directive. CONCLUSION: Our group interview suggested several possible barriers to death with dignity and the appropriate use of advance directives in Japan. Further qualitative and quantitative research in this regard is needed.
Murine V l x and V l x-containing Antibodies Bind Human Myelin Basic Protein

Myelin basic protein (MBP) is highly immunogenic and a known autoantigen capable of inducing experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE), the animal model of multiple sclerosis. We have previously described a murine monoclonal antibody (mAb), F28C4, directed against the encephalitogenic MBP peptide acetyl (Ac) 1-9, which contains a V l x light chain. Considering the rarity of V l x usage, we determined whether other Abs having V l x light chains shared similar antigen (Ag) specificity. We screened a panel of V l x-containing monoclonal and polyclonal Abs, of unknown specificity for reactivity with MBP. All such Ab, but not heavy chain isotype matched controls, bound MBP but were not polyreactive with other potential self Ags. The binding of a recombinant form of V l x alone to MBP demonstrated the important contribution of the V l x light chain to the reaction. With the exception of mAb F28C4 which recognizes MBP Ac1-9, the epitope specificity of all other V l x-bearing Abs was localized to MBP residues 25–34. These results demonstrate a unique association between V l x expression and MBP reactivity. Given that V l x shares sequence homology with T cell receptors (TCR) from encephalitogenic T lymphocytes, these results imply a potential role for V l x in the pathogenesis of EAE. ( J. Clin. Invest. 1996. 97:486–492.)
The Future of Stock Exchanges in Europe

We survey the future development of stock exchanges in Europe. Experts and non-experts evaluated several scenarios regarding who would survives as an independent as well as alliances, mergers and acquisitions. Nearly all respondents agreed that the landscape will undergo change. However, on average the respondents did not assign high probabilities to one particular future scenario. We also asked for important microeconomic and macroeconomic variables which might have an impact on the success of a stock exchange. The results indicate that while both types of variables have a relatively small influence on the different scenarios, the respondents think macroeconomic variables are less important than microeconomic variables. The uncertainty of a specific future scenario is also expressed in the economical and statistical significance of characteristics exhibited by the interviewees.
Trusted Partners: How Companies Build Mutual Trust and Win Together

Trust is the glue that holds organizations together. More powerful than contracts or authority, trust enables partner companies -- or groups within a company -- to achieve results that exceed the sum of the parts. Without trust, alliances fail. In "Trusted Partners," internationally recognized alliance expert Jordan Lewis draws on four decades of advising and managing alliances to show -- for the first time -- how to build and sustain trust between and within organizations. A comprehensive and multifaceted analysis of trust, "Trusted Partners" shows how to develop, manage, measure, improve, or repair this important dimension of every business relationship. "Trust must be constructed, one step at a time," Lewis maintains. He breaks significant new ground by describing each of these steps -- including how to assemble the elusive interpersonal, leadership, political, organizational, structural, and governance components of trust. Clear in its explanation of what trust entails, "Trusted Partners" uses dozens of stories and case examples, among them alliances between Canon and Hewlett-Packard, Ford and ABB, and Procter & Gamble and Wal-Mart, all of which achieved market-beating results. Lewis begins by establishing eight conditions for trust and shows how to determine if trust is possible. He then details: * How to build, manage, and repair trust * How to trust difficult customers * How to sell alliances to customers * How to trust a rival * How to build trust between internal groups * How to create a culture of trust * How to build trust in mergers and acquisitions Concluding "Trusted Partners" is a section entitled "Tools for Trust. " Thispractical, easy-to-use reference guide covers in depth all the key aspects of trust -- from measuring trust and using alliance ethics to sharing know-how and benefits, working with attorneys, and choosing the best alliance structure. At a time when alliances have become a preferred competitive strategy for most companies, and with most alliances ending as failures, management at all levels cannot afford to ignore this powerful book.
Informed Trading Around Rights Issues

This paper provides evidence of informed trading before and after a rights issue. First, we find significant net buying and selling activity by informed traders prior to the announcement date leading to a temporary price pressure effect. Even though those results are consistent with the presence of short-term manipulative traders, we find little evidence of manipulative trading on announcement effects. Second, we show that informed traders are able to identify the issuer’s quality once all issue characteristics have been released. They trade in a direction consistent with their private information before and after the issue: they will buy (sell) shares in SEO firms with better (worse) post-issue price performance leading to a permanent price impact.
Implementing Best Purchasing and Supply Management Practices: Lessons from Innovative Commercial Firms

Abstract : The Air Force is under pressure to maintain or improve performance while reducing costs so that it can pay for new weapon systems, force structure, and personnel retention initiatives (e.g., pay increases). The Air Force spends about one-third of its budget on purchased goods and services. This proportion should increase as the Air Force competitively sources more services. As a result, purchased goods and services offer a large and growing target area in which to seek improved performance and cost savings. The Air Force is not the only organization for which purchased goods and services can be a leading performance and cost driver. Purchased goods and services account for 50 to 80 percent of many commercial firms' total expenditures. Purchased goods and services represent such a significant performance lever and powerful competitive weapon that commercial firms are increasingly taking a more strategic approach to purchasing and supply management (PSM). Taking such an approach is a powerful way to increase profits by improving performance and reducing costs. The Air Force recognizes the potential importance of these new purchasing practices and is currently adopting an aggressive new approach of its own. Drawing on the new opportunities created by acquisition reform (recently renamed acquisition excellence) and related initiatives, the Air Force is promoting more proactive use of market research and performance-based services acquisition (PBSA), which includes the use of performance-based statements of work with outcome-oriented measures tied to new quality assurance plans and performance
The Age-Associated Reduction in Propulsive Power Generation in Walking

Propulsive power generation during push-off in walking decreases with advancing age. A common explanation is an accommodation for sarcopenia and muscle weakness. Yet, muscle strengthening often yields disappointing outcomes for walking performance. We examine the hypothesis that declines in force or power generating capacity of propulsive leg muscles cannot fully explain the age-related reduction in propulsive power generation during walking.
Sustained Attention, Visual Processing Speed, and IQ in Children and Adolescents with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder and Psychosis Not otherwise Specified

To investigate the cognitive functioning of children and adolescents with Schizophrenia Spectrum disorders and Psychosis Not Otherwise Specified, 22 child and adolescent psychiatric inpatients and day-hospital patients at a state psychiatric hospital with Schizophrenia Spectrum disorders, 30 with Psychosis Not Otherwise Specified, and 130 with other psychiatric disorders, ages 8 to 17 years, were administered the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–III for psychological assessment at admission. The Performance IQs of the ADHD and the Conduct Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder groups were significantly higher than those of the Schizophrenia Spectrum and the Psychosis Not Otherwise Specified groups, and the Full Scale IQs of the Conduct Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder group were significantly higher than those of the Schizophrenia Spectrum group and the Psychosis Not Otherwise Specified group. The Coding scores of the ADHD group were significantly higher than those of the Schizophrenia Spectrum, the Psychosis Not Otherwise Specified, and the Bipolar Disorder groups. There was a significant negative correlation between age and Digit Span for the Schizophrenia Spectrum disorders group.
A 2.14-GHz GaN MMIC Doherty Power Amplifier for Small-Cell Base Stations

A novel 2.14-GHz Doherty power amplifier (PA) was designed and fabricated using a 0.25- μm GaN on SiC monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC), to build small-cell base stations. To reduce the size and loss, lumped passive elements were employed in a manner of minimizing the device count. The core components of the PA were integrated on the MMIC die to reduce the area, and low-loss chip inductors were mounted around the die to enhance the efficiency. An unconventional uneven power splitting was also used to enhance the performance. For a continuous wave, a 2-dB-gain-compression power of 40.5 dBm was obtained with a drain efficiency (DE) of 60.4%. At 7.3-dB backed-off power, a DE of 52.2% was obtained with a power gain of 15.7 dB. When a 10-MHz-bandwidth long-term evolution signal with 7.1-dB peak-to-average power ratio was applied, an adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR) of -34.7 dBc with a DE of 51.8% was achieved at an average power of 33.2 dBm. After a digital pre-distortion process, the ACLR and DE were improved to -49.6 dBc and 52.7%, respectively.
Developing and Testing a Student-Focussed Teaching Evaluation Survey for University Instructors

This paper describes a process for developing a student-focussed survey to gather teaching- and learning-related feedback from university students and examines the psychometric properties of a short survey for confidential feedback to lecturers in higher education regarding teaching. Analyses were performed at the level of individual respondents and on teacher-average responses. Principal component and exploratory factor analyses at both levels indicated a single underlying lecturing effectiveness factor. Scale scores had high internal consistency. The items and subsequent scale were also consistent in terms of interrater reliability, i.e., the average consistency of ratings of an individual lecturer. Finally, at both levels of analysis, strong correlations between responses to each item and an overall rating provided support for the concurrent validity of the items. These analyses provide initial evidence of the suitability of the survey for gathering confidential student feedback on lecturing effectiveness.
Direct Measurement of Intracellular Free Calcium in Cultured Human Puerperal Myometrial Cells Stimulated by Oxytocin: Effects of Extracellular Calcium and Calcium Channel Blockers

The changes in intracellular free calcium concentration [Ca2+]i) induced by oxytocin in single cells of cultured human puerperal myometrium were measured with the calcium-sensitive fluorescent dye fura 2 in a digital imaging fluorescence microscopic system. Oxytocin at concentrations of 30–300 nmo1/L induced a dose-dependent increase in [Ca2+]i with a peak at 20 seconds. This increase depended mainly on extracellular calcium ([Ca2+]ex) at concentrations of 0.6–4.8 mmo1/L. In the absence of [Ca2+]ex, the increase was only 167c of that in its presence. The voltage-sensitive calcium channel blockers nicardipine, nifedipine, and nitrendipine had similar effects, causing significant suppression of the increase in [Ca2+]i induced by oxytocin. Diltiazem also suppressed the increase in [Ca2+]i, though less than the other calcium channel blockers. These data indicate that the increase in [Ca2+]i induced by oxytocin is predominantly dependent upon [Ca2+]ex. Furthermore, the data explain why calcium channel blockers are effective for weakening uterine muscle contractions and indicate which type of blocker is most effective.
Cutting Edge: Scavenging of Inflammatory CC Chemokines by the Promiscuous Putatively Silent Chemokine Receptor D6 1

In an effort to define the actual function of the promiscuous putatively silent chemokine receptor D6, transfectants were generated in different cell types. Engagement of D6 by inflammatory CC chemokines elicited no calcium response nor chemotaxis, but resulted in efficient agonist internalization and degradation. Also in lymphatic endothelium, where this receptor is expressed in vivo, D6 did not elicit cellular responses other than ligand internalization and degradation. In particular, no evidence was obtained for D6-mediated transcytosis of chemokines in the apical-to-basal or basal-to-apical directions. These results indicate that D6 acts as an inflammatory chemokine scavenging nonactivatory decoy receptors and suggest that in lymphatic vessels D6 may function as a gatekeeper for inflammatory CC chemokines, by clearing them and preventing excessive diffusion via afferent lymphatics to lymph nodes.
Potential Economic Effects of Post-CRP Land Management in Southwest North Dakota

The uncertain future of the Conservation Reserve Program has created substantial interest for agricultural producers, rural businesses, community leaders, sportsmen, and wildlife organizations. Many regions of the upper Great Plains have participated heavily in the CRP as evidenced by program acreage reaching land enrollment limits; however, current enrollment and re-enrollment criterion are expected to substantially reduce CRP acreage in many parts of the Great Plains. The divergence of interests between pursing post-CRP lands for agricultural production versus retaining the wildlife habitat and wildlife populations supported on CRP lands presents land owners and agricultural producers with important land management decisions over the next several years. This research examines the regional economic implications of post-CRP land use among traditional agricultural uses, wildlife production, and multiple-use practices. Of particular interest is whether multiple-use management on post-CRP lands can produce similar returns to landowners and producers as traditional land uses, and determine the effects of multiple-use management on post-CRP lands on regional economic output. A multiple-use system implemented on post-CRP lands based primarily on beef grazing while producing corn and barley for forage and retaining a portion of acreage in dedicated wildlife habitat would not compete economically with other conventional land uses. The net change in gross receipts within the regional economy from agricultural uses of post-CRP lands exceeded lost recreational expenditures in all scenarios evaluated.
Clinicopathological Significance of Caspase-8 and Caspase-10 Expression in Rectal Cancer

Objectives: To investigate the expression of caspase-8 and -10 in rectal adenoma, adenocarcinoma and the corresponding normal mucosa tissue, and to clarify the relationship between their expression and clinicopathological parameters of rectal cancer. Methods: The expression of caspase-8 and -10 was determined by real-time RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry in 36 rectal adenomas, 93 rectal cancers and 93 corresponding normal rectal mucosa samples. Results: Compared with normal mucosa, the mRNA expression of caspase-8 was higher in adenomas (p = 0.003), while that of caspase-10 was lower in adenomas (p = 0.035) and cancers (p = 0.001). Immunohistochemical results showed caspase-8 up-regulation in adenomas (p = 0.014), and caspase-10 down-regulation in adenomas (p = 0.034) and cancers (p < 0.001) compared with normal mucosa samples. Cancers with poor differentiation had lower caspase-10 mRNA and protein levels than those with better differentiation (p = 0.041 and p = 0.046, respectively). The protein expression of caspase-8 and -10 was in accordance with the mRNA expression (p = 0.043 and p = 0.018, respectively). Conclusions: Caspase-8 expression was up-regulated in rectal adenomas. Caspase-10 expression was down-regulated in both rectal adenomas and cancers, and was further related to differentiation. Caspase-8 and -10 may be involved in the pathogenesis of rectal cancer.
FDI in Business Services has general TFP effects : evidence from Italy

This paper studies the effect of FDI in business services on Total Factor Productivity of Italian manufacturing firms, over the period 2003-2008. More precisely, the paper tests the impact of forward inter industry linkages at local level. Our results, robust to different specifications, show that foreign capital infl ows improve the performance of domestic manufacturing firms. This relationship is particularly strong in the case of high tech sectors, such as mechanics and machinery. Traditional sectors, on the other hand, seem to be less sensitive to the availability of foreign business services in the same location.
Changes in the Sociocultural Reality of Chinese Immigrants: Challenges and Opportunities in Help-Seeking Behaviour

Introduction: This paper uses fi ndings from a larger study to present a nuanced depiction of the interplay of informal and formal help-seeking processes of a sample of Chinese immigrants in their mental healthcare in New York City. Method: Thirty one participants who were receiving mental health treatment were interviewed with regard to their experiences preceding their suicide attempt. Their narratives were coded for thematic analysis. Findings: Acculturation difficulties, inaccessibility to services and stigma associated with mental illness were major obstacles in the participants’ help-seeking process, which was consistent with other studies of immigrants of ethnic minority groups in the USA. In addition, the findings showed how changes in this sample of Chinese immigrants’ socio-cultural reality disrupted familiar help-seeking pathways, and perpetuated and amplified the aforementioned stressors. Issues of human connection, immigrants’ resiliency and missed opportunities were also identified as potential resources to modify cultural stigmas and help-seeking behaviour. Conclusion: There are varied socio-cultural factors that need to be considered in mental health outreach services in immigrant communities.
Customized Service Bundles in a Competitive Context: Integrating Consumers' Bundling, Brand and Quantity Decisions.

The widespread use of bundling enables consumers to increasingly choose between different bundles from different firms. Therefore, while previous research has primarily examined fixed bundles in monopoly situations, we propose and estimate a latent class joint conditional model of bundling decions in a competitive customizable bundle context. Using individual choice data, we examine the impact of promotions and brand preference on bundling, brand choice, and bundle size decisions. We find promotions to primarily influence brand choice and secondarily bundling preference, but to have little impact on bundle size. The results confirm the importance of studying bundling in competitive contexts.
The value of customer co-production in developing new products

iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to thank God for giving me the strength and the discipline to be able to face all the challenges and see the light in the darkest moments. Second I would like to thank my family and my best friends in Kuwait who believed in me and supported me with their love all the way. Third, a special acknowledgment goes to my mentor, Dr. Adel Al-Wugayan, who is an associate professor at Kuwait University. Dr. Al-Wugayan saw my potential and encouraged me to pursue higher education in the United States of America. Also, he did his best to be there for me whenever I needed help and support and he never allowed me to consider failure as an option. Fourth, I would like to thank all the faculty members of the College of Business Administration at Kuwait University for their help. Special gratitude goes to Dr. Merza Hassan who gave me the opportunity to apply to The University of Texas at Arlington. Fifth, I would like thank my committee members for their help and support throughout the doctoral program. Finally, special thanks go to all the great friends that I have made in the last five years for their new perspectives and the wonderful joy they brought into my life.
Evidence on Weak Form Efficiency and Day of the Week Effect in the Indian Stock Market

Stock market efficiency is an important concept, for understanding the working of the capital markets particularly in emerging stock market such as India. The efficiency of the emerging markets assumes greater importance as the trend of investments is accelerating in these markets as a result of regulatory reforms and removal of other barriers for the international equity investments. There is enough evidence on market efficiency and day of the week effect in the developed markets, however, the same is not true for the emerging stock markets. This study provides empirical evidence on weak form efficiency and the day of the week effect in Bombay Stock Exchange over a period of 1987-1994. The results provide evidence of day of the week effect and that the stock market is not weak form efficient. The day of the week effect observed on the BSE pose interesting buy and hold strategy issues.