Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Determinants of Hospital Length of Stay in Nigeria

Purpose- Hospital length of stay (LOS) does not only signal the seriousness of illness, it can also lead to catastrophic cost for patients or households. This paper examines the factors that determine LOS in Nigeria; a country where more than 99% of the cost of health care is borne by patients. Design/methodology/approach- The dataset, consisting of 1,150 people who reported one or more overnight stays in a hospital, comes from the two waves of the Nigerian General Household Survey. Due to the overdispersion and the truncation of LOS at zero, a zero-truncated negative binomial regression model was adopted to establish the causal relationship between LOS and patients’ predisposing, enabling and needs-related characteristics. Findings- LOS tends to increase with the following factors: age, household size, availability of formal medical care facilities, and the severity of illness. However, there is an inverse relationship between LOS and the cost of care, being a female, resource endowment in the area, and utilization of preventive care. People in lower and higher socioeconomic brackets tend to have higher LOS than people in the middle socioeconomic bracket. Research limitations - Actual description of diseases respondents suffered from, which is important in determining the severity of illness, was not available. I relied on a proxy to measure the severity of illness. Implications- Policy makers in developing countries continue to explore strategies for reducing poverty and vulnerabilities among the populace. An understanding of the determinants of LOS can help inform policymakers, hospital administrators and patients regarding health care reforms, planning for patients LOS, and planning for the period of hospitalization, respectively. Originality/value- To the best of my knowledge, this is the first paper to empirically examine the determinants of LOS in Nigeria.
Generic variation? Developments in use of generic pronouns in late 20th century spoken Danish

In modern Danish, a handful of pronouns may be used to refer to a generic referent. In recent decades, the second person singular pronoun du has gained ground, apparently in parallel to similar recent developments in other languages. Even though generic du may not be as old as the traditional generic pronoun man, it is not a new variant in Danish if we by “new” mean that it has come into existence within the last 30–40 years. To all appearances, it has been used before the influence from English became significant in the last part of the 20th century, and the generic du as such need therefore not be explained by contact with English, as often assumed. In order to study the spread of the generic use of du we analysed the use of pronouns with generic reference in a large sample of speakers, most of whom were recorded during sociolinguistic interviews twice – the first time in the period 1978–1989 and the second time in 2005–07. The speakers come from four locations in Denmark, and three different age cohorts are represented in the study. The results show both a rise and a decline in the use of generic du in the time interval from the 1970s and 1980s till today in accordance with the hypothesis that the increased use of generic du began in Copenhagen and started spreading from Copenhagen to the rest of the country before the time of the old recordings in the 1980s. However, the use of generic du has peaked, or is about to peak, in the Danish speech community seen as a whole, and the developments in the use of generic pronouns should probably be seen within an overall perspective of stable variation.
An Empirical Investigation of Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction in Professional Accounting Firms: Evidence from North Cyprus

Business organizations make considerable use of professional services. However, it has received less attention in the context of professional business services than of other consumer services in general. This study represents an empirical assessment of service quality and customer satisfaction in professional accounting firms operating in North Cyprus. The general purpose of this study was to examine the potential of SERVQUAL, an instrument frequently employed to assess the quality of consumer services, in professional accounting firms and to identify those managerial actionable factors that impact customer satisfaction. In addition, the study explored the relationship among customer satisfaction, service quality, firm image, and price of service rendered. The results of the empirical study indicate that (1) the SERVQUAL instrument with five-dimensions provides good measurement of service quality in the context of professional accounting business; only one (i.e., empathy) out of five dimensions of SERVQUAL was statistically significant related to customer satisfaction, (2) service quality has a positive effect on customer satisfaction, (3) firm image and the price of service have positive impact on customer satisfaction, and (4) the price of service directly influences service quality. The impact on satisfaction from highest to lowest in order was, overall firm image, price compared to quality and service quality (empa-thy), respectively. This tells us the firm image is the most important factor to customer satisfaction, price next and service quality last from firms’ perspective. From our empirical results, we may infer that the clients believe that no matter which accounting firm they choose should have a certain degree of service quality guaranteed in the highly competitive battle field.
The response of general practitioners to the threat of violence in their practices: results from a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND Violence directed towards GPs has been recognized as a significant problem in the UK. In Australian urban general practice, no study has previously examined this topic. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to investigate the responses of Australian urban GPs to experiences of violence and to perceptions of risk of violence. METHODS DESIGN A qualitative study of data collected from two sources-focus group discussions and qualitative questionnaire responses. Focus group discussions were audiotaped and transcribed. Questionnaires offered the opportunity for respondents to make qualitative comments. The focus group transcripts and qualitative questionnaire responses were coded independently by members of the research team and subjected to thematic analysis. SETTING Three urban Divisions of General Practice in New South Wales, Australia. SUBJECTS Focus groups were conducted with male and female GPs comprising a range of ages, socio-economic practice catchments and practice structures. Questionnaires were distributed to all GPs in the three divisions. RESULTS The GPs in this study perceived themselves as being at significant risk of occupational violence. Despite responses to violence being largely ad hoc and uncoordinated, a coherent schema of GPs' responses to the threat of violence is apparent in the data. This has been characterized as encompassing primary, secondary and tertiary responses, and reflects a continuum of proactive to reactive responses. CONCLUSION The findings will have implications for further research and for policy in the area.
Salt sensitivity of renin secretion, glomerular filtration rate and blood pressure in conscious Sprague‐Dawley rats

We hypothesized that in normal rats in metabolic steady state, (i) the plasma renin concentration (PRC) is log‐linearly related to Na+ intake (NaI), (ii) the concurrent changes in mean arterial pressure (MABP) and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) are negligible and (iii) the function PRC = f(NaI) is altered by β1‐adrenoceptor blockade (metoprolol) and surgical renal denervation (DNX).
Mice Lacking Terminal Deoxynucleotidyl Transferase: Adult Mice with a Fetal Antigen Receptor Repertoire

TdT knock-out mice have established the role of this enzyme in vivo: TdT mediates the transition from the relatively limited fetal to the highly diverse adult antigen receptor repertoire by adding template independent "N" nucleotides and disrupting homology-directed recombination. Lacking this source of diversity, TdT degree mice harbor essentially fetal antigen receptor repertoires. In alpha beta TCRs, the TdT null mutation affects the length and diversity of the CDR3 loops thought to be important in "directing" MHC/peptide recognition. N- CDR3 loops appear to wield less influence than do their N+ counterparts--positive selection is more efficient in the TdT degree animals and the peripheral repertiore is more polyreactive and less peptide-oriented than is the N+ repertoire. However, this loss of specificity does not markedly diminish the response to specific peptides. Overall, mice harboring essentially fetal repertoires are robust and effectively respond to a wide variety of challenges to the immune system.
Normal transition and propagation Characteristics of YBCO tape

YBCO tape is expected to be used in future HTS applications, because it has better J/sub c/ characteristic in high temperatures and in high applied magnetic fields. It is important to consider the stability in superconducting applications. To establish the stability criterion for coated conductors, the characteristics of the transition to the normal state and normal-zone propagation in YBCO sample tapes were examined experimentally and numerically. The YBCO sample tapes were produced by IBAD/PLD method. Measurements were performed as a function of both heat input and operating current for operating temperatures of 55 K, 60 K, and 65 K in a background magnetic field of 5 T. The experimental results were compared with a simulation using a newly developed computer program based on the finite element method (FEM). In the computer program, the I-V characteristics of the YBCO sample tapes were taken into account. The computer program could simulate the normal transition and propagation phenomena and its validity was confirmed. The influence of the thickness of a Ag-stabilizer on the transient thermal behavior of YBCO tapes was examined experimentally and numerically and the results were presented here.
Information Seeding and Knowledge Production in Online Communities: Evidence from OpenStreetMap

The wild success of a few online communities (such as Wikipedia) has obscured the fact that most attempts at forming such communities fail. This study evaluates information seeding, an early-stage intervention to bootstrap online communities that enables contributors to build on externally sourced information rather than have them start from scratch. I analyze the effects of information seeding on follow-on contributions using data on more than 350 million contributions made by more than 577,000 contributors to OpenStreetMap, a crowd-sourced map-making community seeded with data from the U.S. Census. I estimate the effect of seeding using a natural experiment in which an oversight caused about 60% of U.S. counties to be seeded with a complete census map, while the rest were seeded with less complete versions. Although access to basic knowledge generally encourages downstream knowledge production, I find that a higher level of information seeding significantly lowered follow-on contributions and contributor activity on OpenStreetMap, and was associated with lower levels of long-term quality. However, seeding did benefit densely populated urban areas and did not discourage more committed users. To explain these patterns, I argue that information seeding can crowd out contributors’ ability to develop ownership over baseline knowledge and thereby disincentivize follow-on contributions. This paper was accepted by Chris Forman, information systems.
Analysis of Internet Banking Using Technology Acceptance Model by Experience as Variable Moderation

Objective – This study aimed to analyze the variables TAM by adding service awareness as external variables and experience as a moderating variable. In analyzing the study subjects used empirical testing. Methodology/Technique –Data obtained by distributing questionnaires to internet banking users. Selection of the sample using simple random sampling technique. Hypothesis testing methods Partial Least Square. Findings –The awareness of service support the perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. Perceived ease of use support the perceived usefulness. Perceived ease of use has no support on intention to use. Perceived usefulness has no support on intention to use. Perceived ease of use support the intention to use the experience as a variable moderating. Perceived usefulness has no support on the intention to use the experience as a variable moderating. Novelty –This research refers to research Al Somali (2008) and Mahardika (2010) which examines Awareness of service, Security, Quality of internet connection as an external variable. The variables that use is awareness of service due to the different results of the two researchers. This study also adds variable moderation is experience. Experience is used for Internet Banking can be different depending on the experience they have. Type of Paper: This research is empirical.
The Effects of Financial Performance and Macroeconomic Factor to Profitability of Bidder Companies

This study aims to determine the effect of Leverage Change, Sales, Market-to-Book ratio, Transaction Cost and Interest Rate after merger or acquisition on profitability change (return on assets or return on equity). The method used is multiple linear regression. The type of data is cross sectional data. The samples are go public bidder companies that have annual or quarterly financial reports during one year before and after the merger or acquisition. The reserch results showed Leverage Change, Sales, Market-to-Book ratio, Transaction Cost and Interest Rate after merger or acquisition simultaneously have significant effect on the year and the next year change of Return on Asset or Return on Equity. Partially, Leverage Change and market to book ratio significantly influence to changes on profitability. Sales and interest rate significantly influence to the next year changes on profitability. Transaction Cost partially have significant effect on next year changes on profitability. Key word: Merger and acquisition, Leverage Change, Sales, Market-to-Book ratio, Transaction Cost, Interest Rate, Profitability
The Credit Rating Crisis and the Informational Content of Corporate Credit Ratings

There has been much scrutiny of the Credit Rating Agencies’ (CRAs) flawed ratings of structured products in the build-up to the financial crisis. Our study examines whether the ‘credit rating crisis’ altered the information effects of their traditional product, corporate bond ratings. Using an event study, we analyze the Credit Default Swap (CDS) market’s response to rating announcements by Moody’s between September 2004 and December 2009. Our results demonstrate that CDS price effects were considerably greater in the pre-crisis era, and document a possible spillover effect of reputational damage onto the bond rating services of the
Perceived Emotional Intelligence, Self-Esteem and Life Satisfaction in Adolescents

Abstract The present study examined the relationship between perceived emotional intelligence, selfesteem and life satisfaction in a sample of 316 Spanish adolescents (179 females and 137 males), ranging in age from 14 to 18. Demographic information was collected, along with data through the use of three self-report measures: the Trait Meta-Mood Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. As expected, perceived emotional dimensions, particularly mood clarity and repair, showed positive associations with life satisfaction. Self-esteem also correlated significantly and positively with levels of adolescents satisfaction with life. More interestingly, results of structural equation modeling indicated that mood clarity and emotional repair had a significant direct and indirect link (via selfesteem) with life satisfaction in adolescents. The present study contributes to an emerging understanding of the underlying process between perceived emotional intelligence and life satisfaction. Our findings encourage moving beyond the examination of direct association between perceived emotional intelligence and life satisfaction and focusing on the role of potential mechanisms such as self-esteem involved in the link between perceived emotional intelligence and life satisfaction in adolescents. Implications of the present findings for future research are discussed, as well as potential interventions for increasing subjective well-being in adolescents.
A store brand’s country-of-origin or store image: what matters to consumers?

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the relative importance of country-of-origin (COO) and its dimensions – country of design (COD), country of technology (COT), and country of manufacture (COM) – in comparison to store image in terms of consumer product evaluation and purchase intention of store brands. The authors also explore consumer regulatory focus effects. Design/methodology/approach Empirical data were collected from 270 young Korean adults. Two scenarios were given using two high-involvement store brands, an electronic product and clothing product that have hedonic and utilitarian elements. Data analysis was conducted using AMOS structural equation modeling software. Findings COO affects product evaluation and purchase intention and store image affects purchase intention. By product, store image influences product evaluation and purchase intention (electronics). COO directly influences purchase intention (clothing). By COO dimensions, overall COD weakly affects product evaluation. COT affects electronic product evaluation but directly affects clothing purchase intention. Promotion-focused consumers use COO for product evaluation, with store image directly affecting purchase intention. Promotion-focused consumers consider COD, an affective dimension, and COM in product evaluations. Prevention-focused consumers did not consider COO, but consider store image for product evaluation. Prevention-focused consumers consider utilitarian COT and COM dimensions during product evaluation. Originality/value This is the first paper to consider the simultaneous effect of COO (and its dimensions) and store image on product evaluation and purchase intention. It is also the first to consider the regulatory focus theory with regards to COO and store image evaluative and purchase intention criteria.
Can Information Systems facilitate the integration of New Public Management and Public Governance? Evidence from an Italian public organization

The paper aims to provide new insights concerning the role of Information Systems (IS) in the theoretical and practical debate on New Public Management (NPM) and Public Governance (PG) reforms. If NPM aims to increase efficiency in order to reduce costs and to improve performance, PG suggests to rebuild the relationship with society and to increase public participation. In order to be implemented, NPM and PG reforms require the introduction of new work practices with fundamental changes in public organizations. The paper argues that IS can be regarded as enablers of the two streams of reforms: on the one hand IS are used for in-house government applications, on the other hand they assist in the push toward providing more user-oriented services. To explore this theoretical argument, the 'life-stories' of 44 bureaucrats, operating in four different regional branches of an Italian public agency, have been collected and analyzed. The results show that: a) IS support the planning, control and evolution of activities related with to the achievement of goals; b) IS sustain an increase in administrative responsibility and citizen participation. Empirically, the paper demonstrates that IS support everyday work, putting in practice and combining NPM and PG reforms.
The role of shame in suicide.

The differences between shame and guilt are explored, with a focus on experiential and developmental factors and on behavioral reactions to these emotions. The role of shame as a motive for suicidal behavior is illustrated with examples of suicidal behavior in Greek tragedy, Asian cultures, and jails, and among contemporary suicides, such as that in 1996 by Admiral Mike Boorda, Chief of U.S. Naval Operations.
Cognitive Performance and Plasma Levels of Homocysteine, Vitamin B12, Folate and Lipids in Patients with Alzheimer Disease

Background: Conflicting results have been reported on the association of plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) and cholesterol levels in Alzheimer disease (AD). The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between cognitive performance and plasma levels of tHcy and its biological determinants folate and vitamin B12, and lipids in clinically diagnosed AD patients. Methods: A cross-sectional database review was performed on two separate groups of patients (n = 191). Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE) scores, plasma levels of tHcy, vitamin B12, folate, cholesterol, and triglycerides were analyzed. Results: The MMSE scores were inversely correlated with age, plasma levels of tHcy and LDL cholesterol. However, only the inverse relationship between MMSE scores and LDL cholesterol levels persisted after adjustment for age, sex, and status of statin treatment. Plasma tHcy levels increased significantly with age and were inversely related to vitamin B12 and folate levels, which modified the relationship between MMSE scores and plasma tHcy levels. Conclusions: The plasma tHcy levels appeared to relate more to aging than to cognition. Cognitive performance was inversely associated with plasma LDL cholesterol levels in AD patients. Our findings provide further evidence that high LDL cholesterol levels may play a role in the pathogenesis of AD.