Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Risk factors for severity and recurrence of colonic diverticular bleeding.

BACKGROUND Colonic diverticular bleeding is the most common cause of lower gastrointestinal bleeding. Risk factors related to severity and repeated bleeding episodes are not completely clearly defined. OBJECTIVE To characterize a Portuguese population hospitalized due to colonic diverticular bleeding and to identify the clinical predictors related to bleeding severity and rebleeding. METHODS Retrospective analysis of all hospitalized patients diagnosed with colonic diverticular bleeding from January 2008 to December 2013 at our institution. The main outcomes evaluated were bleeding severity, defined as any transfusion support requirements and/or signs of hemodynamic shock, and 1-year recurrence rate. RESULTS Seventy-four patients were included, with a mean age of 75.7 ± 9.5 years; the majority were male (62.2%). Thirty-six patients (48.6%) met the criteria for severe bleeding; four independent risk factors for severe diverticular bleeding were identified: low hemoglobin level at admission (≤ 11 g/dL; OR 18.8), older age (≥ 75 years; OR 4.7), bilateral diverticular location (OR 14.2) and chronic kidney disease (OR 5.6). The 1-year recurrence rate was 12.9%. We did not identify any independent risk factor for bleeding recurrence in this population. CONCLUSION In this series, nearly half of the patients hospitalized with diverticular bleeding presented with severe bleeding. Patients with low hemoglobin levels, older age, bilateral diverticular location and chronic kidney disease had a significantly increased risk for severe diverticular bleeding. In addition, a small number of patients rebled within the first year after the index episode, although we could not identify independent risk factors associated with the recurrence of diverticular bleeding.
Malformations of cortical development in neurofibromatosis type 1

The authors report three patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 and different types of malformations of cortical development: Patient 1 had a possible transmantle cortical dysplasia involving the right temporoinsuloparieto-occipital areas; Patient 2 had a periventricular band of heterotopic gray matter with an overlying pachygyric cerebral cortex; and Patient 3 had a left perisylvian polymicrogyria. Because all of these lesions result from different pathogenetic mechanisms, neurofibromin may play a role during several stages of cortical development.
The location of hub-seaports in the global supply chain network using a cooperative competition strategy

The rapid growth of international trade in recent years has led to increased utilisation of mega-containerships. Since these containerships require the large container cranes that are often available on hub-seaports, the success of global supply chain operations hinges on the containership's accessibility to hub-seaports. Considering the increasing significance of hub-seaports to global supply chain operations, this paper develops a cooperative competition strategy that can help carriers and shippers determine optimal locations for hub-seaports. To verify the usefulness of the proposed strategy, we apply it to the hub-seaport location problem encountered by East Asian countries.
Efficacy of glucosamine, chondroitin, and methylsulfonylmethane for spinal degenerative joint disease and degenerative disc disease: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND Nutritional supplements are commonly used for a variety of musculoskeletal conditions, including knee and hip degenerative joint disease. Although these supplements are occasionally recommended for patients with degenerative disc disease and spinal degenerative joint disease, the evidence supporting this use is unknown. OBJECTIVE To systematically search and assess the quality of the literature on the use of glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, and methylsulfonylmethane for the treatment of spinal osteoarthritis / degenerative joint disease, and degenerative disc disease. DATA SOURCES The Index of Chiropractic Literature, AMED, Medline, and CINAHL were searched for randomized controlled trials in English from 1984 to July 2009. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS Data from studies meeting the inclusion criteria was extracted and reviewed by three reviewers. The Jadad scale was used to assess study quality. No attempts were made at meta-analysis due to variation in study design. RESULTS Two articles met the inclusion criteria. One study was found to have good quality but reported negative results for the supplemented group compared with placebo, the other study had low quality but reported significant positive results for the supplemented group when compared with a no intervention control group. CONCLUSION There was little literature found to support the use of common nutritional supplements for spinal degeneration, making it difficult to determine whether clinicians should recommend them.
Sources of brand equity for online companies

Purpose – The purposes of this paper are to test sources of brand equity for online companies and to examine the role of selective internet marketing activities on the brand equity sources.Design/methodology/approach – These objectives were pursued by testing the nomological validity of the model using structural equation modelling.Findings – The paper finds evidence for the proposed sources of brand equity for online companies based on brand awareness and recognition, brand association (trust) and loyalty. The investigated antecedents namely functionality, fulfilment and customer service on line, significantly influence the sources of brand equity.Research limitations/implications – The study is cross‐sectional, the dimensions to measure sources and antecedents of brand equity may not be comprehensive enough. The stimuli represent only a few online retailers.Practical implications – Businesses are well advised to invest resources in creating brand recognition, customer loyalty and trust. Both of these ca.
Board Overlaps in Mutual Fund Families

We examine a unique characteristic of mutual fund governance: a common set of di- rectors serving simultaneously on the boards of multiple funds within a fund family. At rst glance, this governance structure appears to bene t investors because it is associated with higher fund returns and better fund manager quality. However, funds with higher degrees of board overlap also charge higher marketing and distribution fees, which have been criticized as being the least transparent cost component for mutual fund investors. Board overlaps are also associated with detrimental unobserved actions by fund managers: window dressing and strategic performance transfer between funds occur more often in mutual fund families with greater degrees of director overlap. We conclude that director oversight of multiple funds is a mixed blessing.
Affective priming in a lexical decision task: Is there an effect of words' concreteness?

Affective priming occurs when responses to a target are facilitated when it is preceded by a prime congruent in valence. We conducted two experiments in order to test whether this is a genuine emotional effect or rather it can be accounted for by semantic relatedness between primes and targets. With this aim, semantic relatedness and emotional congruence between primes and targets were orthogonally manipulated. Participants performed a lexical decision task. In Experiment 1 we tested concrete words and in Experiment 2 we tested abstract words. We obtained both an affective priming effect and a semantic priming effect that were not modulated by words’ concreteness. Furthermore, there was affective priming regardless of whether primes and targets were semantically related or unrelated. These results suggest that affective priming is a genuine emotional effect. In recent years there has been an increasing interest in the study of the processing of emotional words. Some studies conducted in the field have relied on the affective priming paradigm. In this paradigm, participants are presented with primes and targets that can be either congruent or incongruent with respect to their affective valence. Participants are asked to perform different tasks with the target. The most commonly used task is evaluation (i.e. to categorize the word as being either positive or negative). The affective priming effect consists on a reaction time advantage for affectively congruent pairs (e.g. thief-murderer) as compared to incongruent pairs (e.g.champion-murderer).
Beyond satisfaction: The relative importance of locational convenience, interpersonal relationships, and commitment across service types

Purpose – Many studies have documented that satisfaction does not always result in loyalty, and that dissatisfaction does not necessarily result in defection. In response, this study goes beyond satisfaction and proposes the moderating effects of locational convenience, interpersonal relationships, and commitment between satisfaction and customer loyalty across search, experience, and credence attribute services. Design/methodology/approach – Hierarchical moderated regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses. Findings – The results suggest that from search attribute services to experience and credence attribute services, the relative importance of locational convenience with regard to retaining dissatisfied customers is likely to decline. Search and experience attribute services that can develop and maintain close interpersonal relationships with their customers are more likely to retain dissatisfied customers. Commitment maintains customer loyalty, even when customer satisfaction is lower across search, experience, and credence attribute services. Originality/value – This study discriminates dissatisfied customers' loyalty behaviors based on locational convenience from those behaviors resulting from interpersonal relationships and commitment across service types, and thus has significance for the marketing strategies of businesses providing different service types, particularly in terms of dissatisfaction resolution strategies.
Teaching Internationally: Matching Part-Time MBA Instructional Tools to Host Country Student Preferences

While marketing professors are increasingly being asked to teach internationally, little is known about global students’ perceptions of how various instructional activities influence their learning experience. Consequently, marketing professors may be unsure which educational activities to incorporate into their overseas courses. This study investigates how various educational tools affect MBA students’perception of overall learning through a survey administered in an international marketing class in the People’s Republic of China, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Findings reveal that students have differing opinions, by country, on the impact of these instructional activities. Pedagogical ideas are provided to help instructors maximize teaching effectiveness in global locations.
Reassessing the Foundations of Customer Delight

The 1990s saw a questioning of the value of merely satisfying customers and instead focused attention on the importance of customer delight. In a key contribution, Oliver, Rust, and Varki (1997) developed a structural model of the antecedents and consequences of customer delight, acting in parallel with satisfaction, that was generally supported for two entertainment services. However, the effect of delight on intention was significant for symphony ticket purchasers but not for theme park patrons. This article first replicates their path analysis for more mundane visits to consumer Web sites. Then it takes advantage of a larger sample and additional measures to address construct measurement issues and to determine whether customer delight is something more than a nonlinear effect of satisfaction on intention.
Impact of brand personality determinants towards purchasing intention: a study on branded umbrella products in Sri Lanka

All Marketing Managers are trying to win the market by differentiating their products among the customers by using the product and brand related factors. Among those factors brand personality is still critical factor to those marketing managers to create the differentiation in the market. Therefore the purpose of this study is explore the relationship of brand personality determinants and purchase intention with referring to the Sri Lankan branded umbrella products. The convenience sampling method was used to collect the primary data. A total of 100 questionnaire were distributed among the umbrella consumers and collected the primary data based on researcher administrated method. Respondent rete is 100%. Multiple regression analysis used for test the hypotheses. The primary data collected only from Kandy and Colombo Districts among the age limit of 15-45 years umbrella consumers with targeting the only 100 consumers to analysis. The lack of generalization of this study is that it is limited to the branded umbrella industry. Findings of this studies are Excitement and Ruggedness are positively affect to the purchasing intention referring to the branded umbrella products of Sri Lanka. Sincerity, Competence and Sophistication are not positively affect to the purchasing intention referring to the branded umbrella products of Sri Lanka
Referral for genetic counseling after the birth of a child with a congenital anomaly in the Northern Netherlands.

Children/fetuses born with a congenital anomaly are recorded in a local registry of congenital anomalies in the Northern Netherlands. Parents of these children/fetuses often have questions about cause, prognosis, and recurrence risk. Referral to a genetic clinic is one way to obtain information concerning these questions. We were interested in determining to what extent parents were referred for genetic counseling, and investigated the non-referred cases for the estimated need for referral. Furthermore, we measured whether referral rates had improved following the study carried out by Cornel et al. [1992] for the same region. We evaluated data on couples referred or not referred for 2,964 registered children/fetuses during the birth years 1992-1997. The parents of 528 cases (18%) had been referred for genetic counseling. Investigation of the 2,436 non-referred cases showed a high number (1287/53%) of cases with a supposedly "low need for referral. " If we consider the remaining 1,149 cases with a moderate or high need for referral to the genetic clinic, the ideal uptake rate is 57% (1149 +/- 528 = 1677 cases) instead of the previously mentioned 18% (528 cases). We concluded that nearly four out of 10 parents of children/fetuses with a congenital anomaly who were considered suitable for referral to the genetic clinic did not make use of this option. Despite increased familiarity with genetics over the years among the community in general and health-care professionals in particular, the EUROCAT registry does not show an improvement in the uptake rate of cases registered with the genetic clinic.
Increased beta power in the bereaved families of the Sewol ferry disaster: A paradoxical compensatory phenomenon? A two‐channel electroencephalography study

The Sewol ferry capsizing accident on South Korea's southern coast resulted in the death of 304 people, and serious bereavement problems for their families. Electroencephalography (EEG) beta frequency is associated with psychiatric symptoms, such as insomnia. The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between frontal beta power, psychological symptoms, and insomnia in the bereaved families.
Evaluating Financial Reporting Quality: The Effects of Financial Expertise vs. Financial Literacy

Audit committees evaluate financial reporting quality as part of their corporate oversight responsibilities. Given this responsibility, the national stock exchanges now require all audit committee members to be financially literate and at least one member to have financial expertise. In light of recent debates over this requirement, we provide evidence on how experts and literates differ in their evaluations of financial reporting quality. Results suggest that experts' evaluations of financial reporting quality are more strongly associated with their assessments of characteristics underlying reporting quality (e.g., relevance) espoused in Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No. 2's framework than literates' evaluations. Additionally, literates are more likely than experts to identify concerns about reporting treatments for business activities that are prominent in the business press or are distinguished by their nonrecurring nature, while experts are more likely to raise concerns about reporting tr.
Two Cardiovascular Risk Factors in One? Homocysteine and Its Relation to Glomerular Filtration Rate

Background: Hyperhomocysteinemia is thought to be an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease, but the association between renal dysfunction and homocysteine may not have been fully taken into account. We performed a meta-analysis of studies that report correlations between glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and homocysteine plasma levels. Methods: Using a prespecified research strategy, we identified 41 studies involving 26,617 participants that reported Pearson or Spearman correlation coefficients for the association between 1/GFR and homocysteine. The summary correlation coefficients with 95% CI were obtained by pooling the logarithmic Z values derived from the individual trial correlation coefficients. Subgroup analysis was performed to compare results for measured GFR using clearance methods and various estimates of GFR. Results: The pooled correlation coefficient between homocysteine and 1/GFR was 0.37 (CI 0.32–0.40, p < 0.0001). The correlation coefficient based on various estimates of GFR was 0.33 (CI 0.29–0.38, p < 0.0001), and for measured GFR it was 0.45 (CI 0.39–0.51, p < 0.0001). The correlation coefficient was higher when GFR was measured using clearance methods compared with various estimates GFR (1.36 [CI 1.13–1.65], p = 0.0014). Conclusions: Homocysteine plasma levels significantly depend on renal function. This correlation is even more robust when GFR is measured using clearance methods. Therefore, in order to assess whether homocysteine is an independent cardiovascular risk factor, accurate adjustments for renal dysfunction are essential.
Thyroid Cancer in Children and Adolescents

Aims and background It was the aim of this paper to report clinical and pathologic characteristics and outcome of treatment in terms of relapse-free and overall survival in 36 patients under 20 years of age and treated for thyroid cancer at Padua University Hospital from January 1968 to December 1988 and followed until December 1992. Methods The median follow-up was 112 months (range 3 to 228 months). Age at diagnosis ranged from 4 to 20 years with a mean age of 15 years and a male/female ratio of 1:2.9. A thyroid nodule or a laterocervical mass was the most frequent sign of presentation. The routine diagnosis schedule included thyroid scintigram, neck echotomography and in the last decade fine needle aspiration biopsy. Results Sixteen (28%) patients had a family history of thyroid disease. Histology revealed that papillary carcinoma was present in 43 patients (76.8%), follicular carcinoma in 9 (16%), medullary carcinoma in 2 (3.6%) and lymphoma in 2 (3.6%). Fifty-four patients were treated with total thyroidectomy, of these 34 had bilateral neck dissection and 20 unilateral nodal dissection; 2 patients underwent simple lobectomy with unilateral dissection. Nodal involvement was present in 41 (73%) cases, and synchronous visceral metastases were detected with scan and/or chest X-ray in 10 (18%) cases. In the case of differentiated thyroid carcinoma, patients with residual disease or thyroid remnants were treated with 131I metabolic therapy. All patients were put on suppressive hormone therapy. At this writing, 52 (93%) patients were in complete remission and 4 (7%) had persistent disease. Recurrences developed in 2 (3.5%) patients: one presented lung metachronus metastases and one local recurrence; no deaths have occurred. Conclusions From this experience, total thyroidectomy appears to be the appropriate approach for differentiated tumors in children and adolescents because the disease is often diffuse, secondary deposits may be easily detected, and the value of thyroglobulin measurement can be improved. Following this strategy, overall recurrence risk was low and 131I therapy was curative in patients with nodal and lung metastases.
Attitudes of People in the Thai Construction Industry Sector on Issues Related to Delay in the Approval of Submittals

This study investigated attitudes in the Thai construction industry sector towards 21 issues related to “delay in the approval of submittals” that may initiate conflicts among various parties. Knowledge gained from this study can be applied to the analyses of the completeness and appropriateness of contract conditions and to improve contract drafting. The attitudes of the majority of people in the industry towards several issues related to the time frame for the approval of submittals, compensation for cost increases and profit losses, and time frames for notifications of delayed approval and claim submission were found to be inconsistent with existing conditions in standard contracts. Various issues that are not covered in the standard contract forms, such as the time frame for providing reminders and the types of time loss and direct costs that can be claimed, were also found to have high tendencies to initiate conflicts between contracting parties. Finally, we also found that the organisational affiliation of the respondents (i.e., employer or contractor) influenced their attitudes towards some, but not all, contractual issues.
Mobile Marketing Communications to the Youth - An Analysis of the MXit Platform

This paper explores the various ways in which mobile marketing communications are available to the youth on a very popular South African mobile social network site known as MXit. The popularity of cellular phones has resulted in mobile-based brand advertising and promotions that specifically target the youth. The mobile medium is used by marketers as an additional channel to current marketing communications strategies. Because the mass market in South Africa does not use expensive cellular handsets, the format of mobile marketing communications is kept simple. MXit offers its subscribers effortless and accessible technology as well as appealing content, which is why it has become a prominent advertising platform. This is illustrated by examining two mobile marketing communication campaigns (one completed and one continuous) using MXit as an additional marketing communications channel to existing traditional marketing communications channels.
Fast converging path integrals for time-dependent potentials: II. Generalization to many-body systems and real-time formalism

Based on a previously developed recursive approach for calculating the short-time expansion of the propagator for systems with time-independent potentials and its time-dependent generalization for simple single-particle systems, in this paper we present a full extension of this formalism to a general quantum system with many degrees of freedom in a time-dependent potential. Furthermore, we also present a recursive approach for the velocity-independent part of the effective potential, which is necessary for calculating diagonal amplitudes and partition functions, as well as an extension from the imaginary-time formalism to the real-time one, which enables the study of the dynamical properties of quantum systems. The recursive approach developed here allows an analytic derivation of the short-time expansion to orders that have not been accessible before, using the implemented SPEEDUP symbolic calculation code. The analytically derived results are extensively numerically verified by treating several models in both imaginary and real time.