Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exercise training and heart rate variability in older people.

PURPOSE Heart rate variability (HRV), a characteristic that is potentially increased by physical activity, has been associated with incidence of cardiac events and total mortality. Since the incidence of cardiac events among older people is high and their physical activity levels and HRV are generally low, it is important to investigate whether regular physical activity can modify HRV in this age group. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of regular physical activity on HRV in older men and women. METHODS In a randomized controlled trial, the effect of six months' training on HRV was investigated in a group of 51 older men and women (67.0 +/- 5.1 yr). The training group gathered three times per week for 45 min supervised training. RESULTS At the end of the intervention period, HRV was higher primarily during the day. During daytime, the SD of all normal intervals (+6%) as well as the low frequency component (+ 15%) and the very low frequency component (+ 10%) of HRV were significantly increased (P < 0.05) as compared with the control group. Effects of training were most pronounced in subjects inactive in sports at baseline. CONCLUSION This study demonstrates that regular physical activity increases HRV (specifically in the very low and low frequency components) in older subjects. Hence, in older subjects, physical training may be an effective means to modify positively a factor that is associated with increased incidence of cardiac events.
Features of Decision-making in SMEs: The case of SMEs in China

This research has been carried out to understand the decision-making processes in the Chinese small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The research also aimed at understanding the key features of the decision-making processes in these firms as well as to understand the various factors that influence the decision-making process. The research was designed as a qualitative research with an in-depth interview strategy. As part of this, 10 middle and senior managers of Chinese SMEs were interviewed. The research findings indicate that Chinese firms are more rational than is currently understood from the existing literature. However, these firms also utilise intuition where needed to further improve the quality of their decisions. The research also suggests that Chinese SME firms do adopt structured decision-making processes, but their application is dependent on both the kind of organisation and the kind of decision to be taken. The findings also suggest high influence of political behaviour and less influence of social factors on the decision-making processes in these firms. The findings thus contribute to the existing literature through some unique findings as well as verification of some of the existing literature.
Engaging customers through online and offline referral reward programs

Purpose This paper aims to examine the psychological consequences of a customer engagement initiative through referral reward programs (RRPs) in online versus offline environments. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted a qualitative study followed by a scenario-based experimental study. Findings The authors show that recommenders’ concern about how they are viewed by recommendation recipients (i.e. their metaperception) mediates the effects of incentives on referral likelihood in both offline and online environments. However, metaperception has a stronger effect offline where recommenders show higher impression management concerns compared to online. Furthermore, tie-strength and communication environment moderate the effect of incentives on metaperception. When referrals are made to weak-ties, incentives decrease metaperception favorability offline more than online. For strong-ties, this effect is lower, and it is similar in offline and online environments. Research limitations/implications The study focused on an online versus offline dyadic communication and did not consider the differences among social media. Furthermore, the authors did not consider how other forms of positive metaperception, like being seen as helpful or knowledgeable, could be increased in an online incentivized referral context. It is possible that a recommender thinks others see him as more helpful or knowledgeable online because a lot more useful information and other resources could be offered here compared to offline communications. Practical implications The authors recommend managers to design both online and offline RRPs that minimize metaperception concerns; target strong ties in any communication environment as metaperception concerns are low; and target weak ties online where metaperception concerns are muted. Originality/value This work is the first to examine how recommenders’ psychological responses differ offline and online.
Farmer behaviour towards the agricultural risk management tools provided by the CAP: a comparison between Italy and Poland

The literature on risk management widely discussed the determinants of farmers’ insurance adoption, with risk aversion and risk perception being established as the most relevant predictors of farmers’ intention. Being part of an on-going study in EU countries, this paper proposes an integrated model to analyse the simultaneous interrelations among different antecedents of farmer intention, using a structural equation model. To this purpose, a field survey in Italy and Poland was carried out through direct interviews. The preliminary evidences demonstrate that previous insurance adoption at farm level and the subjective trust of producers towards the intermediaries that are somehow responsible for the adoption of such risk management instrument are the main predictors of future intention to take out insurance. Moreover, in line with recent literature, we found risk aversion negatively influencing the intention.
Arterial Hypotension Following Norepinephrine Decrease in Septic Shock Patients Is Not Related to Preload Dependence: A Prospective, Observational Cohort Study

Background The optimal management of hypotensive patients during norepinephrine weaning is unclear. The primary study aim was to assess the ability of preload dependence to predict hypotension following norepinephrine weaning. The secondary aims were to describe the effect of norepinephrine weaning on preload dependence, and the cardiovascular effects of fluid expansion in hypotensive patients following norepinephrine weaning. Materials and Methods This was a prospective observational monocentric study. We included PiCCO®-monitored patients with norepinephrine-treated septic shock, for whom the physician decided to decrease the norepinephrine dosage during the de-escalation phase. Three consecutive steps were evaluated with hemodynamic measurements: baseline, after norepinephrine decrease, and after 500 mL fluid expansion. Results Forty-five patients were included. Preload dependence assessed by stroke volume changes following passive leg raising was not predictive of pressure response to norepinephrine weaning [AUC of 0.42 (95%CI: 0.25–0.59, p = 0.395)]. After fluid expansion, there was no difference in the prior preload dependence between pressure-responders and non-pressure-responders (14 vs. 13%, p = 1). The pressure response to norepinephrine decrease was not associated with pressure response after fluid expansion (40 vs. 23%, p = 0.211). Conclusion Hypotension following norepinephrine decrease was not predicted by preload dependence, and there was no association between arterial hypotension after norepinephrine decrease and fluid response.
Nitric oxide and cyclic GMP levels in sickle cell patients receiving hydroxyurea

Summary. Recent studies suggest that nitric oxide (NO) may partly be responsible for the beneficial effect of hydroxyurea (HU) in sickle cell disease (SCD) patients. NO stimulates cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) production, which mediates vasodilatation. We investigated the association between NO, cGMP and fetal haemoglobin (HbF) levels after HU administration. Our data showed that chronic HU significantly increased NO, cGMP, and HbF levels in SCD. Recently it was shown that HbF production was stimulated by cGMP‐dependent protein kinase. Our results suggest that NO stimulates cGMP production, which then activates a protein kinase and increases the production of HbF.
Selective blockage of delta opioid receptors prevents the development of morphine tolerance and dependence in mice.

Recently, we demonstrated that delta opioid binding sites are involved in the development of morphine tolerance and dependence. In our present work, we studied the effect of the potent and selective delta antagonist, naltrindole (NTI), and its nonequilibrium analog, naltrindole 5'-isothiocyanate (5'-NTII), on the development of morphine tolerance and dependence in mice. In the acute model, mice injected with 100 mg/kg of morphine sulfate s.c. displayed acute tolerance 4 hr later as evidenced by a greater than 3-fold increase of the ED50 of morphine sulfate when compared to that of control mice. The acute tolerance was accompanied by the development of acute physical dependence as seen by the dramatic decrease in the amount of naloxone required to precipitate withdrawal jumping. Likewise, in the chronic model s.c. implantation of morphine pellets (75 mg free base) for 3 days produced tolerance and physical dependence. The ED50 of morphine sulfate in this case was increased by about 19-fold and the amount of naloxone needed to precipitate withdrawal jumping was 40 times lower than that required for acutely dependent mice. The development of acute tolerance and dependence was suppressed markedly in mice pretreated with NTI before induction of tolerance and dependence with 100 mg/kg of morphine sulfate. Multiple administration of either NTI or 5'-NTII before and during implantation with morphine base pellets also inhibited substantially the development of morphine tolerance and dependence. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Power delay profile analysis and modeling of industrial indoor channels

In this paper, power delay profile (PDP) measurements of three different industrial indoor environments are presented. The measurements were performed in the frequency range of 800 MHz to 2.7 GHz using a vector network analyzer (VNA) and the virtual antenna array method. Dense multipath scattering with multipath components arriving in clusters was observed. This is due to the abundance of highly reflective scatterers present in the measured industrial environments. The measurement results reveal two different shapes of PDP, neither of which fully fits the well known Saleh-Valenzuela (S-V) model or power-law model. Thus, modifications were made on the conventional S-V model and power-law model to better represent the measurement results. Furthermore, Weibull distribution was found to fit the measured small-scale fading.
Natural killer cell tolerance: control by self or self-control?

A major challenge for the immune system is to control pathogens and stressed cells, such as infected or tumors cells, while sparing healthy self-cells. To achieve this tolerance to self, immune cells must recognize and differentiate "self" versus "nonself" and "self" versus "altered self. " In the absence of self-tolerance, cells of the adaptive immune system attack healthy cells and cause autoimmune diseases such as lupus, psoriasis, and type I diabetes. Mechanisms at work to ensure tolerance in the innate immune system are still poorly understood. Natural killer cells are innate immune lymphocytes, which have the capacity to kill cellular targets and produce cytokines without prior specific sensitization. Because of these intrinsic effector capacities, tolerance mechanisms must exist to prevent autoreactivity. Herein, we will review the present knowledge on NK cell tolerance.
Cooling of Foods in Retail Foodservice Operations

KEVIN R. ROBERTS,1* DAVID A. OLDS,2 CAROL SHANKLIN,3 KEVIN SAUER1 and JEANNIE SNEED1 1The Center of Excellence for Food Safety Research in Child Nutrition Programs, Dept. of Hospitality Management and Dietetics, Kansas State University, 104 Justin Hall, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA; 2Dept. of Family and Consumer Sciences, Bradley University, 18 Bradley Hall, Peoria, IL 61625, USA 3Graduate School & The Center of Excellence for Food Safety Research in Child Nutrition Programs, Dept. of Hospitality Management and Dietetics, Kansas State University, 104 Justin Hall, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA
Work-Life Balance on Performance of Employees at Erubi Engineering Services and Supplies Limited.

v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT . vii DEDICATION . viii LIST OF TABLES . i LIST OF FIGURES . ii 1.0 INTRODUCTION . 1 1.1 Background of the Problem . 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem . 4 1.3 Purpose of the Study . 6 1.4 Research Questions . 6 1.5 Importance of the Study . 6 1.6 Scope of the Study . 7 1.7 Definitions of Terms . 7 1.8 Chapter Summary . 8 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW . 9 2.
Abdominal Wall Defects among Mexican American Infants: The Effect of Maternal Nativity.

BACKGROUND US-born Mexican American women have greater rates of preterm birth and consequent overall infant mortality than their Mexico-born peers. However, the relation of Mexican American women's nativity to rates of congenital anomalies is poorly understood. Hispanic ethnicity and young maternal age are well-known risk factors for gastroschisis. OBJECTIVE To determine the extent to which nativity of Mexican American women is associated with abdominal wall defects. METHODS Stratified and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed on the 2003-2004 National Center for Health Statistics linked live birth-infant death cohort. Only Mexican American infants were studied. Maternal variables examined included nativity, age, education, marital status, parity, and prenatal care usage. RESULTS Infants with US-born Mexican American mothers (n=451,272) had an abdominal wall defect rate of 3.9/10,000 compared with 2.0/10,000 for those with Mexico-born mothers (n=786,878), RR=1.9 (1.5-2.4). Though a greater percentage of US-born (compared wtih Mexico-born) Mexican American mothers were teens, the nativity disparity was actually widest among women in their 20s. The adjusted (controlling for maternal age, education, marital status, parity, and prenatal care) odds ratio of abdominal wall defects among infants of US-born (compared with Mexico-born) Mexican American mothers was 1.6 (1.2-2.0). CONCLUSIONS US-born Mexican American women have nearly a two-fold greater rate of delivering an infant with an abdominal wall defect than their Mexico-born counterparts. This phenomenon is only partially explained by traditional risk factors and highlights a detrimental impact of lifelong residence in the United States, or something closely related to it, on the pregnancy outcome of Mexican American women.
Macroeconomic factors, firm characteristics and financial performance

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the interrelationship between macroeconomic factors, firm characteristics and financial performance of quoted manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Specifically, the study investigates the effect of interest rate, inflation rate, exchange rate and the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate, while the firm characteristics were size, leverage and liquidity. The dependent variable financial performance is measured as return on assets (ROA). Design/methodology/approachThe study used theex post factoresearch design. The population comprised all quoted manufacturing firms on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The sample was restricted to companies in the consumer goods sector, selected using non-probability sampling method. The study used multiple linear regression as the method of validating the hypotheses.FindingsThe study finds no significant effect for interest rate and exchange rate, but a significant effect for inflation rate and GDP growth rate on ROA. Second, the firm characteristics showed that firm size, leverage and liquidity were significant.Practical implicationsThe study has implications for regulators and policy makers in formulating policy decisions. In addition, managers may better understand the interplay between macroeconomic factors, firm characteristics and profitability of firms.Originality/valueFew studies have addressed the interplay of macroeconomic factors and firm characteristics in determining the profitability of manufacturing firms in the country and developing countries in general.
A risk assessment study on work-related musculoskeletal disorders among dentists in Bhopal, India

Background: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are responsible for morbidity in many working populations, which are of multifactorial in origin and of global concern due to industrialization. Dentists as one of the health-care professionals are prone to develop these WMSDs. The study aims to determine the prevalence of WMSDs among dentists in Bhopal region and explores the various risk factors for the development of MSDs and WMSDs. Materials and Methods: This proposed study is a cross-sectional study conducted among dentists of two randomly selected dental colleges of Bhopal, India. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the demographic information, occupational history, risk factors, and ergonomic awareness with job task details. Prevalidated standardized tools such as quick exposure check list, rapid entire body assessment score sheet, and Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire were also used. Data were entered in MS-Excel and analyzed through SPSS version 18. Results: More than 92% of the participants reported pain and discomfort in at least one part of their body. The major affected body part is neck, followed by the lower back and wrist. More than half of the orthodontists and oral surgeons reported that their MSDs are work-related origin. Pearson's correlation test indicated that there is a positive correlation between the current exposure and risk (r = 0.613). Multivariate regression analysis found that younger participants, male (OR = 4.1), involved physical activity (OR = 1.04), dentists not taught about ergonomics in their dental school (OR = 1.69) or never attended any workshops (OR = 1.38), who reported task involving sustained muscle contraction (OR = 1.12) or task with repetitive movements (OR = 1.11) are the major risk factors for the development of MSDs among the dentists. Conclusion: This risk assessment study found that there is a high prevalence of MSDs and WMSDs among dentists. Ergonomic awareness and health promotion need to be integrated with the professional practice for dentists.
Does hydrogen-bonding donation to manganese(IV)-oxo and iron(IV)-oxo oxidants affect the oxygen-atom transfer ability? A computational study.

Iron(IV)-oxo intermediates are involved in oxidations catalyzed by heme and nonheme iron enzymes, including the cytochromes P450. At the distal site of the heme in P450 Compound I (Fe(IV) -oxo bound to porphyrin radical), the oxo group is involved in several hydrogen-bonding interactions with the protein, but their role in catalysis is currently unknown. In this work, we investigate the effects of hydrogen bonding on the reactivity of high-valent metal-oxo moiety in a nonheme iron biomimetic model complex with trigonal bipyramidal symmetry that has three hydrogen-bond donors directed toward a metal(IV)-oxo group. We show these interactions lower the oxidative power of the oxidant in reactions with dehydroanthracene and cyclohexadiene dramatically as they decrease the strength of the OH bond (BDEOH ) in the resulting metal(III)-hydroxo complex. Furthermore, the distal hydrogen-bonding effects cause stereochemical repulsions with the approaching substrate and force a sideways attack rather than a more favorable attack from the top. The calculations, therefore, give important new insights into distal hydrogen bonding, and show that in biomimetic, and, by extension, enzymatic systems, the hydrogen bond may be important for proton-relay mechanisms involved in the formation of the metal-oxo intermediates, but the enzyme pays the price for this by reduced hydrogen atom abstraction ability of the intermediate. Indeed, in nonheme iron enzymes, where no proton relay takes place, there generally is no donating hydrogen bond to the iron(IV)-oxo moiety.
Enterprise Resource Planning: Case Study of Croatian Wood Processing Companies

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are packaged software designed to integrate and optimise the business processes of a company. The ERP systems have been embraced by industry as a de facto solution to integrate their business functions. This paper reports a survey study conducted on Croatian wood processing companies. The study used the elements of survey questionnaires used in previous surveys done on manufacturing firms. Our objective is to determine the extent of adoption of the ERP system in the Croatian wood processing companies, their motivations and benefits obtained.
Stock Market Reaction to Yearly Earnings Announcements for Firms in Financial Distress: Evidences from Italy

The purpose of this paper is to feed the debate regarding investor’s reaction to relevant financial information releases as yearly earnings announcements (EAs) with a specific focus on financial distressed firms. Using the event study methodology and adopting two well-known tests in the literature, we analyzed Italian listed companies in the period of 2008-2016, to detect whether there is a market reaction to EAs releases for firms in financial distress, adopting as a measure of financial distress the presence in the audit report of a going concern opinion (GCO). In the Italian legislation, the GCO must be communicated immediately to the market and this can be done before, simultaneously or after EAs. The achieved results shed light on the negative impact of EAs of distressed firms receiving a GCO. On the other hand, the possibility that negative abnormal returns are mainly due to the GCO release cannot be neglected. Hence, through additional tests, we found that effects of EAs are more persistent and significant than GCOs, in accordance with the prevailing literature, which sees, on average, EAs predominant information for investors. Our study is pioneering in disentangling possible effects of confounding events for the Italian stock market. The EAs superior effect confirms the dynamics characterizing weak and small equity markets as Italy where, before GCOs releases, some relevant and more precise information (such as earnings magnitude) is often held by shareholders because of the high percentage of family firms and/or concentrated ownership, demonstrating also the weakness of auditor profession if compared with other developed countries.