Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The false expectations of Michael Porter's strategic management framework.

The article tries to reveal the inadequacies of Porter’s strategic from the methodological and epistemological point of view. It shows that the praxiological promises of this thought are impossible to operationalize. The article lacks of fundamental issues (as pointed out by the Resource Based Theorist) that the organization needs to assess and harness in order to be successful in its attempt to reach and keep its competitive advantage, making t no easily imitable.
Hormonal Disturbance in Normal and Diabetic Postmenopausal Women

Postmenopausal women are at high risk for diabetes, and previous studies suggest that endogenous sex hormones (as opposed to hormone replacement therapy) may play a role. LH, FSH, Prolactin, Testosterone, Progesterone, Estrogen, Glucose were measured for 63 individuals, 28 of these individuals were normal and 35 cases were diabetic patients from January 2010 to June 2011. When diabetes mellitus or insulin resistance occur these lead to decrease of insulin level and decrease of estrogen level. LH, FSH, Prolactin and Estrogen were decreased in diabetic postmenopausal women rather than control, while Testosterone, Progesterone and Glucose were increased.
Mammographic Breast Density Assessed with Fully Automated Method and its Risk for Breast Cancer

Objectives: We evaluated the association between breast cancer and breast density (BD) measured using fully automated software. We also evaluated the performance of cancer risk models such as only clinical risk factors, density related measures, and both clinical risk factors and density-related measures for determining cancer risk. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective case–control study. The data were collected from August 2015 to December 2018. Two hundred fifty women with breast cancer and 400 control subjects were included in this study. We evaluated the BD qualitatively using breast imaging-reporting and data system density and quantitatively using 3D slicer. We also collected clinical factors such as age, familial history of breast cancer, menopausal status, number of births, body mass index, and hormonal replacement therapy use. We calculated the odds ratio (OR) for BD to determine the risk of breast cancer. We performed receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve to assess the performance of cancer risk models. Results: The OR for the percentage BD for second, third, and fourth quartiles was 1.632 (95% confidence intervals [CI]: 1.102–2.416), 2.756 (95% CI: 1.704–4.458), and 3.163 (95% CI: 1.356–5.61). The area under ROC curve for clinical risk factors only, mammographic density measures, combined mammographic, and clinical risk factors was 0.578 (95% CI: 0.45, 0.64), 0.684 (95% CI: 0.58, 0.75), and 0.724 (95% CI: 0.64, 0.80), respectively. Conclusion: Mammographic BD was found to be positively associated with breast cancer. The density related measures combined clinical risk factors, and density model had good discriminatory power in identifying the cancer risk.
Effects of Exenatide on Diabetes Management and Weight Loss in a VA Population

Most practitioners would agree that a large proportion of their patients have suboptimally managed diabetes. Experts also agree that this disease is important to manage because of the multiple comorbidities associated with its progression. Although type 2 diabetes remains incurable, medical nutrition therapy, physical activity, weight management, self-management education, and pharmacologic interventions are all accepted components of an aggressive disease management srategy. In particular, intensive blood glucose control to decrease microvascular complications has been emphasized in medical literature. Various organizations have set strict glycemic targets to help clinicians gauge their patients’ levels of diabetes control. For instance, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends that most patients work toward a hemoglobin A 1c (HbA 1c ) level less than 7%, a fasting plasma glucose level between 70 and 130 mg/dL, and a two-hour postprandial glucose level less than 180 mg/dL. The VA’s guidelines regarding glycemic goals are parallel to those of the ADA. Fortunately, a wide array of well studied medication options is available to help patients attain these goals. These treatment options have increased in recent years, with several new alternatives approved for use. Exenatide, which the FDA approved in 2005, is one such agent. Although exenatide has been studied in the general type 2 diabetes patient population, to our knowledge, there have been no published studies on whether exenatide is helping VA patients reach their diabetes management goals. In addition, while the Pharmacy Benefits Management (PBM) Strategic Healthcare Group of the VA has determined specific criteria for exenatide use, the extent to which these guidelines are being adhered to has yet to be determined. To investigate these issues, a study of all patients taking exenatide at the North Chicago VA Medical Center (NCVAMC), North Chicago, IL was conducted. This article details the results of this study. Presented first, however, are facts about exenatide, the results of several studies conducted into exenatide’s efficacy, and the PBM’s specific criteria for exenatide use.
The treatment of cocaine use disorder

Current treatments for cocaine use disorder are often ineffective; new treatments are needed and are under development. Cocaine use continues to be a serious worldwide public health problem. Cocaine abuse is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Cocaine overdose deaths are increasing in the United States and, in certain populations, outnumber heroin and opiate overdose deaths. Psychosocial treatments remain the treatments of choice for cocaine use disorder (CUD), with standard approaches including contingency management and cognitive behavioral therapy. However, the effect sizes of these treatments are not large, and they are not effective for most patients. Consequently, investigators have sought to develop pharmacological agents to augment the efficacy of psychosocial treatments. Despite these efforts, no medications have yet been proven to be safe and effective for the treatment of CUD. The most promising pharmacological strategies for CUD treatment thus far include the use of dopamine agonists, such as long-acting amphetamine and modafinil or glutamatergic and GABAergic agents such as topiramate. Combination drugs may be especially promising.
Industry-Specific Productivity and Spatial Spillovers through input-output linkages: evidence from Asia-Pacific Value Chain

This paper develops a theoretical growth model which combines spatial spillovers and productivity growth heterogeneity at the industry-level. We exploit the global value chain (GVC) linkages from inter-country input-output tables to describe the spatial interdependencies in technology. The spillover effects from factor inputs and Hicks-neutral technical change are separately identified in the model and decomposed into domestic and international effects respectively. Country-specific production functions are estimated using a spatial econometric specification for the industries of the sample. Most of the spillover effects of factor inputs, which we measure in terms of external factor elasticities, are found to be statistically and economically significant. The spillover effects of technical change offered and received vary widely across industries and contain information about the technological diffusion in GVC. Most prominently, the spillover of productivity growth offered by US Electrical and Optical Equipment is 5.05%, which is the highest of all industries in our sample. Chinese Electrical and Optical Equipment absorbs the spillover of productivity growth of 1.04% annually, with the international component a relatively low 0.12%, which is substantially smaller than Koreaâ€™s absorption of international spillovers that add 0.53% annually to this key industry.
IPO First-Day Return and Ex Ante Equity Premium

This paper proposes a new measure of ex ante equity premium, IPOFDR, which is the average difference between the IPO offer price and first-trading-day close price. I test the idea in three ways. First, there is a significantly positive relation between IPOFDR and future excess market returns. Second, changes in IPOFDR perform just as well as HML in explaining the cross-section of stock returns. Third, IPOFDR forecasts stock returns mainly because of its relation with stock market variance and average idiosyncratic variance—arguably measures of systematic risk. These results cast doubt on the notion that IPO underpricing is a measure of investor sentiment. * Contact: College of Business Administration, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221; email address: hui.guo@uc.edu; Tel: (513)556-7077; and Fax: (513) 556-0979. I thank an anonymous referee for extremely constructive and insightful comments, which greatly improve the exposition of the paper. I thank Jay Ritter for making IPO data and Amit Goyal for making predictive variables data available through their websites. I also thank Robert Savickas, Li Jin, Steve Slezak, Weihong Song and conference participants at 2008 FMA meetings for comments.
Multiannual, Intensive Strength-Endurance Training Modulates the Activity of the Cardiovascular and Autonomic Nervous System among Rowers of the International Level

Introduction Professional athlete training is significantly different from recreational physical activity, and sustained, repetitive exposure to over-strenuous and intensive training may result in critical changes of most systems and organs in a sportsman's body. Aim The assessment of the influence of multiannual strength-endurance training on the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and cardiovascular system (CVS) among the rowers of Polish national team. Materials and Methods 20 rowers, aged 20–30, seniors of Polish national team were qualified into the study. The functional examination of ANS was conducted by means of Task Force® Monitor system. The assessed parameters included hemodynamic parameters, heart rate, and blood pressure variability and reflexes sensitivity of baroreceptors. In order to examine and compare the reaction of autonomic nervous system the subjects underwent a tilt test. Results In the study group, significantly higher levels of sBP (129.3 ± 12.2 vs 118.3 ± 8.4, p = 0.0030), SI (59.9 ± 8.8 vs 41.2 ± 6.8, p > 0.001), CI (3.2 ± 0.5 vs 2.4 ± 0.4, p > 0.001), and significantly lower levels of HR (54.2 ± 5.3 vs 60.1 ± 5.7, p = 0.0034) and TPRI (2333.3 ± 389.9 vs 2950.2 ± 604.2, p = 0.0012) compared to the control group, were found. After the tilt test the levels of HR (p = 0.0005) and TPRI (p = 0.0128) were significantly higher but SI (p > 0.001) and CI (p = 0.0006) were significantly lower in the study group compared to the control. Conclusions Multiannual strength-endurance training connected with rowing activities substantially modulates the activity of cardiovascular and autonomic nervous system, influences the volumetric workload of the heart and structural changes, and increases the sensitivity of reflexes of arterial baroreceptors.
Kids these days: Why the youth of today seem lacking

We view kids these days unfavorably, especially on traits at which we excel, partly because we have a biased view of the past. In five preregistered studies, we assess people’s tendency to believe “kids these days” are deficient relative to those of previous generations. Across three traits, American adults (N = 3458; Mage = 33 to 51 years) believe today’s youth are in decline; however, these perceptions are associated with people’s standing on those traits. Authoritarian people especially think youth are less respectful of their elders, intelligent people especially think youth are less intelligent, and well-read people especially think youth enjoy reading less. These beliefs are not predicted by irrelevant traits. Two mechanisms contribute to humanity’s perennial tendency to denigrate kids: a person-specific tendency to notice the limitations of others where one excels and a memory bias projecting one’s current qualities onto the youth of the past. When observing current children, we compare our biased memory to the present and a decline appears. This may explain why the kids these days effect has been happening for millennia.
HDL-cholesterol elevation associated with fingolimod and dimethyl fumarate therapies in multiple sclerosis

Background Patients with Multiple Sclerosis (PwMS) display altered lipoproteins levels and function, which seem to affect disease risk and progress. Whether disease-modifying therapies affect the lipoprotein profile in PwMS has scarcely been studied. Objective The study aims to assess whether fingolimod and dimethyl fumarate (DMF) affect lipoproteins in PwMS. Methods We compared retrospectively the blood lipoprotein levels of 29 fingolimod-treated and 41 DMF-treated patients before and after 3 and 12 months of therapy. Patients treated with cholesterol-reducing medications were not included. Data on weight change and disease activity during 1-year follow-up were obtained. Results HDL level, HDL/LDL ratio and HDL/total cholesterol ratio were increased in both treatment groups after 3 months’ therapy and sustained, with no change in LDL or triglycerides. While at baseline only 26% of patients met the recommended minimum of HDL 60 mg/dl, after 3 months’ therapy, 43% of fingolimod-treated and 47% of DMF-treated patients reached the recommended level. The majority of patients had no weight reduction. Conclusions Fingolimod and DMF therapies are associated with a specific increase in HDL in PwMS. Further studies are required to validate these findings and their potential implication as biomarker of reduced inflammatory state and/or reduced risk of neurodegeneration or cardiovascular comorbidity.
Magnetic resonance spectroscopy evidence for declining gliosis in MS patients treated with ocrelizumab versus interferon beta-1a

Background Magnetic resonance spectroscopy quantitatively monitors biomarkers of neuron-myelin coupling (N-acetylaspartate (NAA)), and inflammation (total creatine (tCr), total choline (tCho), myo-inositol (mI)) in the brain. Objective This study aims to investigate how ocrelizumab and interferon beta-1a differentially affects imaging biomarkers of neuronal-myelin coupling and inflammation in patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods Forty patients with relapsing MS randomized to either treatment were scanned at 3T at baseline and weeks 24, 48, and 96 follow-up. Twenty-four healthy controls were scanned at weeks 0, 48, and 96. NAA, tCr, tCho, mI, and NAA/tCr were measured in a single large supra-ventricular voxel. Results There was a time × treatment interaction in NAA/tCr (p = 0.04), primarily driven by opposing tCr trends between treatment groups after 48 weeks of treatment. Patients treated with ocrelizumab showed a possible decline in mI after week 48 week, and stable tCr and tCho levels. Conversely, the interferon beta-1a treated group showed possible increases in mI, tCr, and tCho over 96 weeks. Conclusions Results from this exploratory study suggest that over 2 years, ocrelizumab reduces gliosis compared with interferon beta-1a, demonstrated by declining ml, and stable tCr and tCho. Ocrelizumab may improve the physiologic milieu by decreasing neurotoxic factors that are generated by inflammatory processes.
Study of some biochemical parameters in young men as effected by Ramadan Fasting

The effect of Ramadan fasting on some blood parameters i.e. serum glucose, urea, uric acid, lipids and proteins, were investigated on young men in Ar Rohmah Islamic dormitory. Nineteen normal and healthy students aging between 12-25 years, residing in the Islamic dormitory, voluntarily to participated in the study. Blood samples were obtained from the volunteers on the 1st and 26th day of Ramadan and analyzed for the aforementioned biochemical parameters. A non-significant effect of Ramadan fasting was observed on most of the parameters studied. However, serum urea, triglycerides, total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol were reduced significantly (p0.05) but remained within the physiological limits. Decrease in blood urea has been attributed to the effect of at least protein and triglycerides intake to increase lipolytic effect. The reduction in serum cholesterol and LDL is a beneficial effect of Ramadan fasting. The results of the study indicated thatRamadan fasting is quite safe for normal healthy adults.
Study of Microbes that cause Ear infection associated with the use of pacifiers in children under 5 years old

The study was carried out in Kirkuk city from May 1 to November 1 2015. These patients admitted to Kirkuk Children Hospital and primary health care centers of Kirkuk first health care sector. The number of children with Ear infection was 221 patients whom their ages were under 5 years old. The control group included 50 children who appeared healthy and they have never used pacifiers in the past. Ear swabs were cultured for all the patients and control. 70% of ear-cultured specimens gave positive results. Most isolates were Staph. aureus with 31% . Strep. pyogenes 4% . Strep. pneumonia 6% and 9%. Pseudomonas aeruginosa were present in ear in about 10% of the isolates. M. catarrhalis was also found in 3%. Some members of enterobacteriaceae were also found such as (E. coli in 5%, K. pneumonia in 3% and 6%, while P. mirabilis was found in 5%). A member of (yeast-like fungi) Candida alpicans was also found in ear in about 11%. As for the use of pacifiers, it shows that 66% of the total patients were using pacifiers or dummies, While 34% of them were not using pacifiers at all. The aim of this study was to explore possibility to limit the use of pacifiers in children to prevent
An update on idiopathic intracranial hypertension

he incidence of Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is increasing, likely in line with the worldwide epidemic of obesity. To date, there have been revisions in the terminology used and diagnostic criteria for IIH; these recognise the need to exclude secondary causes of increased intracranial pressure. Recently published randomised controlled trials have investigated effect of weight loss and use of acetazolamide in IIH. Although various treatment options are currently used, the current Cochrane review highlighted a lack of randomised controlled studies to fully support medical treatment in IIH [1]. Currently in the UK there are trials exploring potential treatments for IIH including bariatric surgery. This ongoing research has the potential to increase our understanding of the aetiology of the disease and improve standards of care for our IIH patients. This article reviews the developments to date and their implication for current clinical practice. IIH occurs predominantly in women and although the underlying pathogenesis is not fully understood, it has a prominent association with obesity [2]. The condition is well known to ophthalmologists as the majority of patients typically present from their opticians or directly to the eye casualty with headaches and papilloedema (Figures 1A and B). Other symptoms may include blurred vision, visual obscurations, pulsatile tinnitus and double vision: none of which are pathognomonic for IIH [3]. The papilloedema is investigated urgently with neuro-imaging (Figures 1C-F) and lumbar puncture (LP) [4]; where there is raised LP opening pressure and if no underlying cause is found the patient is diagnosed with IIH [5].
A new method for price and volume measurement of

This paper presents a new method for calculating price and volume change for nonlife insurance services in the Dutch national accounts. The previously used direct service method leads to inconsistent behaviour of nominal value and production volume, which is caused by the inclusion of actual claims in both components. In the new method, „products‟ are characterised by type and size of insured risk. Counting units of production consist of bundles of insurance activities aimed at covering risk per time unit, instead of single activities. Policies are chosen to represent these counting units for five types of insurances. Nominal value is expressed in terms of expected loss (risk) and expected investment income, which are both linked to premiums. Volume increases at low yearly rates between 2006 and 2009 (0.52 percent on average), while nominal value shows a faster increase (up to 5 percent). Sensitivity analyses suggest limited effects of missing data on volume indices, which are hardly affected as well by different model choices for nominal value. CPI-deflated value indices indicate that some volume change could be missing due to possible shifts in risk within product groups. As the results of the previous method were volatile, one of the main conclusions is that the choice of production concept has greater effects on the results than other methodological choices. An extension of the ideas to life insurances and pensions is currently being studied.
Phase-Based Periocular Recognition with Texture Enhancement

Access control and surveillance applications like walkingthrough security gates and immigration control points have a great demand for convenient and accurate biometric recognition in unconstrained scenarios with low user cooperation. The periocular region, which is a relatively new biometric trait, has been attracting much attention for recognition of an individual in such scenarios. This paper proposes a periocular recognition method that combines Phase-Based Correspondence Matching (PB-CM) with a texture enhancement technique. PB-CM has demonstrated high recognition performance in other biometric traits, e.g., face, palmprint and finger-knuckle-print. However, a major limitation for periocular region is that the performance of PB-CM degrades when the periocular skin has poor texture. We address this problem by applying texture enhancement and found out that variance normalization of texture significantly improves the performance of periocular recognition using PB-CM. Experimental evaluation using three public databases demonstrates the advantage of the proposed method compared with conventional methods. key words: periocular recognition, phase-only correlation, phase-based image matching, phase features, texture enhancement, biometrics
Do CEO Inside Debt Holdings Influence the Cost of Equity Capital?

This study examines the relation between CEO inside debt holdings and the cost of equity capital. We conjecture that CEO inside debt holdings could have two opposite effects on the cost of equity. On the one hand, shareholders might perceive CEO inside debt holdings as beneficial because it could constrain aggressive managerial behaviors and, therefore, shareholders could demand lower required rate of returns. On the other hand, a higher level of CEO insider debt may increase shareholders’ concerns on potential debtholder-shareholder agency conflicts and lower pay-for-performance sensitivity, leading to a higher cost of equity. Using a sample of firm-year observations during 2006-2013, we find an overall negative relation between CEO inside debt holdings and the cost of equity capital. Such a negative relation is robust to a variety of robustness checks, including tests based on CEO turnover events and the instrumental-variable approach. We also find that the positive effects of bankruptcy risk, aggressive financial reporting, concentrated customer base, and greater R&D intensity on the cost of equity capital is less pronounced in firms with greater CEO inside debt holdings. Overall, these findings suggest that shareholders value the beneficial role of CEO inside debt holdings in constraining aggressive managerial behaviors. JEL Classification: G30; M12