Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hyperprocalcitonemia is related to noninfectious postoperative severe systemic inflammatory response syndrome associated with cardiovascular dysfunction after coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the role of 3 inflammatory parameters as early markers of severe systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) induced by coronary artery bypass graft surgery. DESIGN Prospective study. SETTING University hospital. PARTICIPANTS Patients (n = 63) undergoing elective coronary artery bypass graft surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS The American College of Chest Physicians/Society of Critical Care Medicine classification was used to diagnose SIRS. Organ system failures were used to define severe SIRS. Serum concentrations of the inflammatory parameters (procalcitonin [PCT], C-reactive protein, leukocyte count) were determined before, during, and after surgery. SIRS occurred in 30 (47%) patients after surgery. Seven patients (11%) showed SIRS with greater-than-or-equal1 organ dysfunction (severe SIRS), whereas patients without SIRS had no organ dysfunction. Significantly higher serum levels of PCT were found in patients with severe SIRS from the 6th postoperative hour until the 3rd postoperative day with a peak level of 10.7 plus minus 13.2 ng/mL. No significant difference was detected between serum PCT of patients with SIRS but without any organ dysfunction and patients without SIRS. PCT levels of these patients remained lower than 1.7 ng/mL. Compared with PCT, plasma concentrations of C-reactive protein peaked later on the 2nd postoperative day and were not able to confirm the severity of SIRS. Leukocyte counts were not significantly modified. CONCLUSIONS PCT seems to be an appropriate marker to identify the early development of noninfectious postoperative severe SIRS after coronary artery bypass graft surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass.
Capital Subsidies and their Impact on Total Factor Productivity: Firm-level Evidence from Northern Ireland

Manufacturing industry in Northern Ireland receives extensive financial support from government with the objective of improving the economic performance of the plants that are directly assisted. Many studies have tried to assess the impact of such assistance, but without the counterfactual evidence it is difficult to ascertain whether or not such support does improve performance. The aim of this paper is to use a unique matched data set to establish if such assistance has made a difference to total factor productivity in Northern Ireland manufacturing plants. Copyright Blackwell Publishers, 2005
IFRIC 13: accounting for “customer loyalty programmes”

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the views and challenges from a range of accounting professionals, regulators and preparers with the introduction of a standardised approach to accounting for customer loyalty programmes (CLPs). It aims to highlight the ambiguities of the classification of commercial transactions, particularly the nature and timing of revenue recognition.Design/methodology/approach – Comment letters in response to the exposure draft D20 CLPs are analysed together with an exposition of the effect of International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (IFRIC) 13 on an early adopter, Qantas airlines.Findings – Despite limited support for the consensus view advocated in D20, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has upheld the deferred revenue approach consistent with the anticipated outcome of the IASB and Financial Accounting Standards Board revenue recognition project.Research limitations/implications – The paper analyses the characteristics and views .
Upward influence styles of R&D project leaders

Innovation is not only a technological but also a sociopolitical process of contested change, which implies that the fate and the result of an RD (2) personal characteristics (need for achievement and self-monitoring) affect the selection of influence styles (that is, tacticians, shotguns, and bystanders) of project leaders; and (3) the influence styles used by project leaders, in turn, have an effect on team performance through the influence that project leaders have on other people. Based on these findings, several theoretical and practical implications related to upward influence behaviors of project leaders and some areas for future research are discussed.
Effect of supervisor–subordinate guanxi on supervisory decisions in China: an empirical investigation

As China is becoming an important market and there are a lot of foreign ventures operating there, different lines of research have been providing useful information for foreign ventures to manage effectively in China. In this paper, we discuss one of the critical factors leading to successful management of Chinese subordinates, i.e. building and maintaining good guanxi (i.e., interpersonal connection) with them. We conducted an empirical investigation to illustrate (1) the supervisor-subordinate guanxi concept is different and unique when compared to other similar concepts in the Western literature such as leader-member exchange (LMX) and commitment to supervisor; (2) the supervisor-subordinate guanxi will affect the Chinese supervisor's administrative decisions; (3) guanxi can be measured by concrete behaviour/activities. Data on 189 supervisor-subordinate dyads were collected in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Results indicated that supervisor-subordinate guanxi is a distinct concept from LMX and commitment to supervisor. It also has additional explanatory power over supervisory decisions on promotion and bonus allocation after controlling for performance. Implications for foreign ventures and expatriates are discussed.
Twenty-four-hour ambulatory blood pressure in community-dwelling elderly men and women, aged 60–102 years

Objective To investigate ambulatory blood pressure in elderly people, including ‘old elderly’ subjects, aged over 80 years. Design Cross-sectional study of community-dwelling, elderly subjects. Methods Subjects were healthy, self-caring, and living independently. Those who were taking medication affecting blood pressure were excluded. Conventional blood pressure was the mean of two measurements. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was performed using the SpaceLabs 90207 device. Daytime and night-time blood pressure were defined by fixed clock intervals. Results Seventy-five ‘young elderly', aged 60–79 years, (39 men, 36 women) and 81 ‘old elderly’ aged 80 years and older (37 men, 44 women) underwent 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) was related to age, correlation coefficients between age and SBP were 0.31, 0.25 and 0.31, respectively, for conventional SBP, daytime SBP and night-time SBP (P < 0.01 for all). There was no correlation between age and diastolic blood pressure. Blood pressure levels were similar in men and women. Mean conventional blood pressure, daytime blood pressure and night-time blood pressure were found to be 149/81, 138/82 and 119/69 mmHg, respectively, in the ‘young elderly’ and 162/82, 147/83, and 133/71 mmHg, respectively, in the ‘old elderly (P < 0.01 for SBP). The night : day SBP ratio was significantly higher in the ‘old’ elderly compared with the ‘young’ elderly (0.90 versus 0.86, respectively; P < 0.01). Conclusions Ambulatory blood pressure levels in healthy, community-dwelling ‘old elderly’ are higher than those reported for younger adults and reflect the prominent age-related rise in SBP associated with advanced old age. Advanced old age is associated with a diminished nocturnal dip in blood pressure.
Qualidade Institucional: Uma Ampliação do Modelo de Solow

The main objective of this paper is to verify the importance of institutional quality and human capital on the accumulation of wealth by nations, according to an extended Solow's model. A variable capturing institutional quality increases the explanation power. Despite the difficulty of measuring institutional quality, the experiment provides results which are consistent with the ones obtained by Acemoglu et al. (2001) on the causality between economic growth and the quality of institutions, illustrating the importance of history in the growth process of a country.
Do International Capital Flows Worsen Macroeconomic Volatility in Transition Economies

The 2008 financial crisis helped precipitate a near crisis in the transition economies of Central and Eastern Europe, which ultimately resulted in severe output declines throughout the region. What share of the responsibility did capital movements, particularly “hot money” flows, play in the rapid growth and subsequent recession in the periphery of the European Union? To answer this question, we examine the responses of output, consumption, and investment variability to shocks to both Foreign Direct Investment and non-FDI flows, using quarterly data from the mid-1990s to 2010. Impulse-response and variance decomposition analysis shows that “hot” non-FDI flows contribute more to macroeconomic volatility than do more stable FDI flows, and that certain countries, particularly those with fixed exchange rates, seem to be more vulnerable to shocks than others.
Green building project management: obstacles and solutions for sustainable development

Green building construction is earning a place in Singapore's construction industry, and, with augmenting cognizance of environmental issues and growing concern over climate change, sustainable construction is gradually being put forth globally. However, construction of green buildings in Singapore still encounters impediments, as there is a lack of proper project management framework for such projects. Based on survey and interview results from 31 industry experts, this study aims to identify common obstacles encountered during management of green construction projects, ultimately proposing some solutions to overcome the barriers. The findings from this study reveal that, although project cost is the paramount barrier among others in green building construction management, there is no paucity in sustainable knowledge in Singapore's construction industry. To deal with the cost related problem, the coverage of government incentives should be widened to include the usage of green products and technologies. Furthermore, a project management framework for green building construction should be developed to overcome the barriers, possibly promoting adoption of sustainable construction in future projects. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
Impact of Exchange Rate Movements on Exports: An Analysis of Indian Non-Financial Sector Firms

We explore the real effective exchange rate (REER) effects on the share of exports of Indian non-financial sector firms for the period 2000 to 2010. Our empirical analysis reveals that, on average, there has been a strong and significant negative impact of currency appreciation as well as currency volatility on Indian firms’ export shares. While the firm-level accounting information and other macro variables have limited implications, there is evidence that these Indian firms respond asymmetrically to exchange rates. For instance, the REER change effect is likely to be driven by a negative appreciation effect but not so much a depreciation effect. Also, the Indian firms that have smaller export shares tend to have a stronger response to both REER change and volatility. Compared with those exporting goods, the firms that export services are more affected by exchange rate fluctuations. The findings, especially those on asymmetric responses, have important policy implications.
Resistance Training for Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: Effects on Disability, Rheumatoid Cachexia, and Osteoporosis; and Recommendations for Prescription

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterised by disability, cachexia, and obesity, and features exacerbated risk of both cardiovascular disease (CVD) and osteoporosis. To deal with RA generally and these associated conditions specifically, the World Health Organisation (WHO, 2008) and various national health authorities (e.g. American College of Rheumatology, ACR, 2002, 2006; European League Against Rheumatism, EULAR, Combe et al., 2007; American College of Sports Medicine, ACSM, 2010a, 2010b, 2010c, 2010d; American Heart Association, AHA, Williams et al., 2007) have advocated progressive resistance training (PRT; i.e. systematic weight training) as adjunct therapy. Additionally, two Cochrane Reviews (Hurkmans et al., 2009; van den Ende et al., 2000) have supported inclusion of this form of exercise in the routine management of RA patients. However, despite this weighty advocacy regular PRT is rarely prescribed for or undertaken by RA patients. In this chapter, the efficacy and safety of PRT as a treatment for RA will be discussed, with training recommendations and considerations outlined.
Utilization of Technology by Long-Term Care Providers

Objective: We examine ownership differences in the use of technology in long-term care facilities. Method: We analyze two nationally representative surveys of administrators collected by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC): the 2004 National Nursing Home Survey and the 2010 National Survey of Residential Care Facilities. Results: We find that nonprofit nursing homes are more likely to use some computerized administrative functions and digital laboratory reports, and report use rates similar to for-profit organizations in other areas of health IT. Nonprofit residential care facilities are more likely to use electronic medical records and information exchange systems than their for-profit counterparts. In addition, nonprofit residential care facilities are more likely than for-profit facilities to digitize more types of information and use larger health information exchange networks. Discussion: The reasons for which nonprofit long-term care organizations report higher levels of some types of technology utilization are explored, and future research is recommended.
When Carry Trades in Currency Markets are Not Profitable

The success of the carry trade in international currency and money markets is related to the extent of the forward premium anomaly. We present evidence that the anomaly is a very time dependent phenomenon. We also formulate a model where the ex post returns from the carry trade are functionally related to the relative difference between the interest rate on the funding currency and the interest rate associated with the target currency; i.e. the relative interest rate opportunity (RIRO). We estimate a nonlinear smooth transition regime model that relates the RIRO to the returns on the carry trade, and the estimated transition function then represents the time periods when the carry trade was profitable and when it was not. The analysis indicates that the desirability of carry trading has declined and for many currencies has actually become unprofitable since the financial crisis of 2008.
Impact of smallholder livestock development project in some selected areas of rural Bangladesh

This study conducted in 4 districts of Bangladesh has evaluated the impact of interventions made by the Smallholder Livestock Development Project (SLDP) on socio-economic conditions of the poor people in rural Bangladesh. One thousand sample households from different types of beneficiary groups were interviewed. It was observed that the membership of the project has consisted of poor and disadvantaged women as defined in the eligibility criterion. The programme has pioneered a number of innovations related to poultry production and provided credit to group members for their adoption and income generation. This has ensured employment of poor women and generated income for them. The total net income per household was Taka 398 (1 US $ = Taka 43.8) and the average net income per household from SLDP activities was Taka 140 per week. The SLDP income was 35.1 per cent of total income of beneficiary households in the study areas. With the increase in income, originating mainly from SLDP activities, the beneficiary households made substantial progress in savings. The total cumulative savings per beneficiary after membership was Taka 1181, which was made by Taka 413 from group savings and Taka 768 from own savings. At the same time, the consumption of all food items especially milk, meat, eggs and grains increased after membership of SLDP. The project has ensured empowerment of women in the study areas and increased their participation in decision making. Almost all beneficiaries reported that their socio-economic status has improved after their membership in SLDP and 100 per cent of the beneficiaries wanted to continue as members of SLDP in future.
Expression of protein kinase C beta1 confers resistance to TNFalpha- and paclitaxel-induced apoptosis in HT-29 colon carcinoma cells.

The expression of different protein kinase C (PKC) isoenzymes has been shown to vary with proliferation rates, differentiation or apoptosis in normal colon crypts. In addition, the activity of some PKC isoenzymes appears to be reduced in colorectal cancer. The aim of the present work was to determine whether modulation of PKC expression would affect the susceptibility of a p53-defective colon carcinoma cell line to different apoptotic treatments. HT-29 cells exhibited sensitivity to paclitaxel (Taxol) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) in a dose- and time-dependent manner but were relatively resistant to etoposide. Inhibition of PKC activity augmented the susceptibility of HT-29 cells to apoptosis, and phorbol ester induction of PKC reduced such susceptibility. Transfected HT-29(PKC) cells, hyper-expressing the beta1 isoform of PKC, were less sensitive to TNFalpha and paclitaxel than the normal counterpart. The present data 1) indicate that the expression of PKC influences the susceptibility of HT-29 colon cancer cells to apoptotic drugs apparently regardless of their mechanism of action, and 2) suggest paclitaxel as a potential candidate for the treatment of colon cancer, possibly in association with inhibitors of PKC (alpha and beta) at doses not cytotoxic per se.
The Effect of Demand for Shares on the Timing and Underpricing of Seasoned Equity Offers

type="main"> Despite high levels of asymmetry of information, firms that issue seasoned equity offerings (SEOs) within a year of their initial public offering (IPO) (follow-on SEOs) are able to offer shares at a lower discount as compared to more mature firms. We provide evidence that this seeming contradiction can be explained by a very high degree of demand for the follow-on offering. We find that the likelihood of issuing a follow-on SEO is significantly related to the level of institutional demand and that discounts are lower for follow-on SEOs in which institutional demand is high. We also consider the joint effect of cash holdings and follow-on SEOs on discounts since firms that have recently gone public tend to hold high levels of cash. Underpricing is higher for firms with elevated preoffer levels of cash, which is consistent with market timing predictions. However, this relation is mitigated for both follow-on SEOs and issues that also have high share demand.
The effect of listener experience and anchors on judgments of dysphonia.

PURPOSE To determine the effect of auditory anchors on judgments of overall severity (OS) and vocal effort (VE) in dysphonic speech when judgments are made by experienced and inexperienced listeners, and when self-rated by individuals with dysphonia (speaker-listeners). METHOD Twenty individuals with dysphonia and 4 normal controls provided speech recordings. Speaker-listeners judged their own speech samples for OS and VE without auditory anchors, and then in the presence of anchors, using 100-mm visual analog scales (VAS). Twenty inexperienced and 10 experienced listeners evaluated the same speech samples for OS and VE in similar rating conditions. Twenty inexperienced listeners also made judgments of the speech samples solely in anchored conditions. RESULTS All listeners judged the speech samples as significantly less severe and effortful in the anchored conditions. No significant effects of anchors or experience were found for intrarater agreement within 7.14 mm on the VAS. Both inexperienced and experienced listeners were significantly less variable and showed improved interrater agreement in the anchored conditions. Anchors significantly improved agreement across groups of listeners, particularly between inexperienced and speaker-listeners. CONCLUSION Listeners systematically shift judgments of voice quality in response to auditory anchors. Anchors reduce interrater variability and may improve agreement across some types of listeners.
Empirical Analysis of Costs and Returns to Goat Production under Tropical Conditions

Goat is the most frequently consumed meat in the world. Meat goat production is growing because of goats’ economic value as efficient converters of low-quality forages into quality meat, milk, and hides products for many speciality type markets. A lot of research work has been done on indigenous small ruminant in tropical areas of Africa but limited information is available on the profitability of small-scale goat production in Nigeria. This study thus, examined the costs and returns to goat production and analyse constraints associated with the enterprise. The study used a structural questionnaire administered on 60 goat farmers selected during 2010 production season, using a three stage multistage sampling procedure. The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics and budgetary technique. Budgetary analysis revealed that the gross margin was N324, 668 and net profit was N315, 818 (N, Nigerian Currency, N160 = 1$US), indicating that goat production was profitable. Major production constraints were lack of access to credit facilities, disease outbreak, mortality and poor foundation stock. These constraints, if addressed, would improve productivity and profitability of goat production under tropical conditions.
The Effect of School Resources on Educational Attainment: Evidence from Denmark

We investigate the effect of school inputs in primary and lower secondary schools on the probability of eventually passing upper secondary or vocational education. Danish administrative register data for a large number of young people and their parents are used. Educational outcome and controls for family background are measured at the individual level, whereas school expenditure and controls for municipal socioeconomic characteristics are measured at the municipal level. As unobserved characteristics may be correlated for pupils within the same municipality, we estimate linear probability and logit models with random municipal-specific effects in addition to standard OLS and logit models. With the full sample of pupils and the full set of controls, we find that expenditure per pupil has a statistically significant, but rather small, positive effect on educational attainment. Effects of teacher-pupil ratios are less significant. The expenditure effects are generally higher for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd and the Board of Trustees of the Bulletin of Economic Research, 2005.