Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
White matter lesions and disequilibrium in older people. I. Case-control comparison.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the relationship between subcortical white matter lesions identified on magnetic resonance imaging and gait and balance problems in older people. DESIGN Magnetic resonance imaging scans of the brain in 27 community-dwelling older patients (> 75 years of age) who had subjective and objective abnormalities of gait and balance of unknown cause were compared with those of 27 age- and sex-matched control subjects. The T2-weighted intense lesions of the subcortical white matter were graded on a scale of 0 to 2. SETTING Outpatient clinic. RESULTS The patient had significantly (P < .01, chi 2) more severe subcortical white matter hyperintensities on magnetic resonance imaging than did the control group. Patients fell more frequently than did the control subjects and had slower motor responses and prolonged reaction times compared with the control subjects. CONCLUSIONS Subcortical white matter lesions identified on magnetic resonance imaging are associated with gait and balance dysfunction in ambulatory older people. These lesions probably interfere with central processing of sensorimotor signals leading to impaired postural responses.
Simple General Equilibrium and Trade with a Monopsonized Sector

A simple two-sector general equilibrium model is constructed in order to analyse the effects of monopsony power in one sector. Results include a demonstration that the factor used intensively in the competitively produced good experiences a real income increase, implying that the factor used intensively in the monopsonized sector experiences a real income loss which is in excess of the total welfare loss due to monopsony. Results also indicate that the monopsonistic industry may expand relative to a competitive equilibrium, and an example is constructed in order to show a situation where the monopsonistic industry actually drives the competitive industry out of production. Equilibre general simple et commerce international pour le cas ou existe un secteur monopsonise. Les auteurs utilisent un modele d'6quilibre g6neral simple a deux secteurs pour analyser les effets du pouvoir de monopsone dans l'un de ces secteurs. Ils montrent que le facteur de production utilise de facon plus intensive dans la production du bien produit de facon concurrentielle voit son revenu reel s'accroitre, ce qui veut dire que le facteur de production utilis6 de facon plus intensive dans le secteur monopsonis6 subit une perte de revenu reel plus grande que la perte de bien-&tre total attribuable au monopsone. Les resultats de l'analyse indiquent que l'industrie monopsoniste peut croitre au dela du niveau d'operation en equilibre concurrentiel. Les auteurs developpent un cas particulier oiu l'industrie monopsoniste force le secteur concurrentiel a cesser toute production.
Limitations on Detecting Rotor Asymmetries from the Measured Currents in Closed Loop Operation

New techniques for the detection of faults in closed- loop drives have been recently developed that need to monitor both motor voltages and currents. This paper investigates the diagnosis of rotor asymmetries in field oriented controlled induction machines based on the measured currents and speed. First, an analysis to elucidate how some characteristic features of the control affect the fault propagation is made. In particular, the influence of the outer and the inner control loops, the EMF and cross coupling terms, the estimated angle of orientation and the resolution of the measured rotor angular position are investigated. Then, different scenarios are designed by means of simulations and experiments, and the limitations of using merely currents for the diagnosis are established. Second, an indicator calculated online from the torque producing current and the orientation angle is used to corroborate the conclusions derived from the previous analysis.
Investor Reaction to Strategic Emphasis on Earnings Numbers: An Empirical Study

We analyze the earnings information and stock prices of S&P500 firms and find that investors following S&P500 stocks (i) respond more to pro forma earnings than to GAAP earnings, (ii) respond to an emphasis on pro forma earnings, and (iii) are fixated on pro forma earnings. We provide the first direct evidence that a strategic emphasis on earnings numbers may affect return volatility. Further, our results do not support the argument that a larger investor response to Street earnings might be driven by large differences between the Street numbers and GAAP numbers.
The New District of Columbia: What Population Growth and Demographic Change Mean for the City

ABSTRACT: The District of Columbia was a magnet for new residents in the first part of the twenty-first century. Drawn by good jobs, new condos, and burgeoning entertainment districts, the city attracted thousands of young professionals who might have otherwise settled in the region’s suburbs. At the same time, some of the District’s longer-term residents are leaving the city. The growing population provides a boon to the city, but is also leads to an increasing social, economic, and cultural divide. Between 2000 and 2010, the District of Columbia gained nearly 30,000 people. The 5.2% population growth in the last decade marks a turnaround for the city, which has lost residents in every decade since 1950. Population growth was fueled by an influx of white residents and an unprecedented loss of African Americans. This article explores the population and demographic trends in the District of Columbia between 2000 and 2010 by examining the socioeconomic characteristics of the city’s in-migrants, out-migrants, and non-movers to explore evidence of gentrification. Using microdata from the 2006–2010 American Community Survey, this research also uses logistic regression to analyze the factors associated with out-migration from the city and movement within the city.
The Economics of Security Externalities Assessing, Managing and Benefiting from Global Interdependent Risks

With the increasing globalization of economic and social activities, the world has now become so interdependent that actions taken today 5,000 miles away could affect you tomorrow. Conventional wisdom holds that one country or one organization has the capacity and expertise to manage future large-scale risks alone. However, in an increasingly global interdependent world, they have neither. A hallmark of the 21 century is that we have entered a new era of catastrophic risks, as illustrated by the evolution of economic and insured losses associated with a series of global events that occurred in just the past few years. The increase in insured losses from man-made (including terrorism) and natural disasters worldwide over the past 36 years (see Figure 1) graphically depicts the new era we have entered. From Table 1 we see that the 9/11 terrorist attacks inflicted $35 billion in insured losses. Claims were paid by over 150 insurers and reinsurers worldwide, illustrating how risks are today diversified over global markets. Four major hurricanes hit one of the most populated states in the U.S. (Florida) in 2004, and three major hurricanes hit the Gulf of Mexico the following year. The devastation due to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 has been unprecedented both in terms of human and economic losses. It is the most costly catastrophe in the history of insurance worldwide ($45.5 billion in insured losses) as shown in Table 1. Of the twenty most costly insured catastrophes that occurred in the world over the past 36 years (1970-2006), half of them occurred since 2001.
Board Influence on a Firm's Internationalization

Research Question/Issues: The resource-based view of the firm may provide the theoretical explanation as to how boards can be a source of firm competitive advantage. Directors' experience, knowledge, expertise are valuable, rare, inimitable and non-substitutable resources that make up the board potential. These resources must be integrated with other firm resources in strategic processes through dynamics of relations. Research Findings/Insights: Given the preliminary nature of this work, the empirical section is an exclusive analysis of the board's potential. Our specific aim is to establish whether resources that directors bring to board are sources of board competence and ability with consequences for international strategic decisions. To do this, we use a sample of 562 board members of 45 listed Spanish companies. Our results show that average board tenure is negatively related to the firm's degree of international diversification. Directors with long tenures may operate from the basis of routines that are built up over time and their knowledge of the firm could eventually become a less valuable resource. The empirical findings also indicate that the directors' managerial experience within the specific industry to which the firm belongs and a high level of academic achievement affects the firm's degree of international diversification. Theoretical/Academic Implications: The contribution of this article is three-fold. First, it emphasizes the role of directors in board effectiveness, investigating why and how relevant elements of directors' human capital can enhance board ability to perform their roles making up the board potential. Secondly, it refines and extends the concept of “board capability” as an adequate configuration of potential and relationship dynamics that allow boards to undertake their task competently over time. Third, this article stresses the active participation of a board in firm internationalization. Practitioner/Policy Implications: One of the important practical implications of these results refers to the selection of board members. In order to increase board effectiveness, in the context of firm internationalization, the selection process must be guided by the search of intangibles, inimitable and unique resources, that the board can capitalize on in order to differentiate its potential over competitors.
Virus-specific DTH prevents contralateral retinitis following intracameral inoculation of HSV-2.

Following inoculation of HSV-1 (KOS strain) into the anterior chamber of one eye of a BALB/c mouse, the virus travels to the uninoculated contralateral eye and contributes to the devastating retinal necrosis which occurs in this eye 10-12 days p.i. In parallel experiments, HSV-2 (MS strain) was inoculated uniocularly via the anterior chamber route; animals were sacrificed at intervals and their eyes removed for histopathology and virus culture. Histopathological examination revealed that, in contrast to the retinal destruction observed in HSV-1 inoculated animals, the retina of the contralateral eye of HSV-2 injected animals was unaffected. Culture studies demonstrated that, similar to the spread of HSV-1 after anterior chamber inoculation, HSV-2 reached the contralateral eye in two temporally separate waves and also revealed that the amount of virus recovered from the uninoculated eye of HSV-2 infected animals was significantly less than that recovered from the uninoculated contralateral eye of HSV-1 injected mice. Further examination demonstrated that animals inoculated with HSV-2 via the anterior chamber route did not develop the suppression of virus-specific delayed hypersensitivity (DH) which is characteristic of HSV-1 induced anterior chamber associated immune deviation (ACAID). Taken together, the sparing of the contralateral retina and the ability to generate a virus-specific DH response suggest that DH assists in the preservation of the contralateral retina of animals inoculated with HSV-2 via the anterior chamber route by limiting virus replication and the amount of virus which reaches the uninoculated eye.
Umbilical cord blood collection before placental delivery during cesarean delivery increases cord blood volume and nucleated cell number available for transplantation.

OBJECTIVE We sought to determine whether umbilical cord blood collection during cesarean delivery can be improved by collecting cord blood before delivery of the placenta. STUDY DESIGN Patients undergoing cesarean delivery were randomly assigned to cord blood collection before or after placental delivery. Closed sterile collection systems were used for blood sampling. Cord blood characteristics and maternal outcome parameters were compared between the 2 groups. RESULTS A total number of 40 patients were available for analysis. No differences in maternal and neonatal characteristics were found. A larger amount of cord blood volume (mean +/- SEM, 93 +/- 7.5 vs 66 +/- 6.6 mL; P =.013) and total nucleated cell number (11.1 +/- 1.2 vs 7.4 +/- 0.8 x 10(8) cells; P =. 026) was obtained in the samples collected before compared with those collected after placental delivery. Similarly, there was a trend toward higher total CD34(+) cell number in samples collected in situ (30.0 +/- 6.0 vs 17.4 +/- 2.4 x 10(5) cells; P =. 076). Estimated intraoperative blood loss, difference between prepartum and postpartum hemoglobin values, operating time, and puerperal infection rates were similar in both groups. CONCLUSION If a cesarean delivery is performed, cord blood sampling is more efficacious if performed before delivery of the placenta. This collection method seems beneficial and safe and might therefore be preferably used for related, as well as unrelated, cord blood stem cell banking and transplantation.
Industry Structure and Corporate Debt Maturity

We examine how industry competition affects firms’ choice of short-term debt. We find that the percentage of short-term debt is positively related to industry concentration at low levels of concentration, and inversely related to industry concentration at higher levels of concentration. This nonlinear relation is stronger in industries where firms are either more homogeneous or compete more aggressively. Moreover, we find that firms with shorter-maturity debt are less aggressive than their rivals in the product market. The overall evidence suggests that although financial contracts alleviate agency problems, they exacerbate the risk of predation.
Investment and marketing strategies of Mexican companies in the United States: Preliminary evidence

Because of its geographic proximity to the United States and its favored position as a member of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Mexico has become an emerging player in the global marketplace, and this new position has motivated several Mexican companies to establish businesses in the United States. Attempts have been made to explain why Mexican firms have become global players, explanations that focus on several national and international factors. However, these factors omit important drivers of the process, including entry and marketing strategies. This study aims to 1) give an account of how and why Mexican companies enter the United States, and 2) identify some tendencies in the way U.S. subsidiaries of Mexican companies develop and use marketing strategies to serve U.S. markets. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Changing Teachers' Feedback Practices: A Workshop Challenge.

Feedback can promote teacher-student relations and student academic involvement, performance and self-regulation. However, some research indicates that teachers do not always employ feedback effectively. There is a need to promote teachers' appropriate use of feedback in the classroom. We describe a long-term workshop designed to enhance teachers' knowledge and skills in the use of feedback strategies, and appreciation of the importance of feedback. Twelve teachers participated in the workshop. Observations as well as teacher reports indicate that participation in the sessions and the follow-up classroom application enhanced teacher involvement, knowledge, competencies and positive feelings in the use of feedback strategies. A workshop for teachers that has specific objectives on feedback strategies, is presented along a school year, and involves reflective sessions intertwined with classroom application work, can effectively promote participants' involvement, knowledge and competencies in the use of feedback, as well as their outlook toward the importance of these strategies.
An Empirical Test of CAPM—The Case of Indian Stock Market

A deluge of tests have been conducted on asset pricing models in literature, more so on the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), to ascertain their validity, efficiency and efficacy in different markets in explaining asset prices. Such tests have been either individual in nature wherein any one model has been studied or comparative in nature where one model has been compared with another. Many studies have also resulted in the development of new models or extensions to the existing theory. However, majority of the aforementioned tests have been undertaken in developed markets, resulting in a dearth of such tests in emerging markets like India where the risk–return relationship gains more significance. A growing, emerging market is always less analyzed but more volatile and thus, more interesting. The article, thus, applies the fundamental CAPM theory to India. This study examines 10 portfolios, covering 50 stocks, over a 5-year period—from 1 January 2003 to 1 February 2008—to verify the efficiency and efficacy of the model and finds that CAPM fails completely in the Indian context. The intercept term, which is expected to be zero, is found to be significant for all 10 portfolios. The study also finds a negative relationship between beta and excess returns indicating an inefficient capital market. Moreover, residual variance, representing unsystematic risk, is also found significant in certain cases. Moreover, the regressions show poor explanatory power. Thus, it can be concluded that CAPM is not a suitable descriptor of asset prices in India over the chosen sample period.
The Practice of HRM and SHRM in the Barbados Hotel Sector

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the relationship between the number of human resource management (HRM) practices adopted and organizational demographics among hotels in Barbados, as well as determining the extent to which strategic human management (SHRM) is practiced. A quantitative survey was administered to 46 hotels out of a population of 75 hotels. The findings revealed that more than half the sampled hotels adopted more than 14 HRM practices; that hotel size (by employee level), hotel room prices and age of hotel were significantly related to the number of HRM practices adopted. All hotels engaged in strategic planning and the majority had a HR strategy formally endorsed and actively supported by the hotel's top management and that HRM strategies are integrated with business strategies and HR strategies are deliberately integrated with each other. These findings suggest that there is widespread adoption and a growing level of interest in HRM, as well as considerable importance being attached to strategic HR issues.
Presence of chaperones during pelvic examinations in southeast Nigeria: women's opinions, attitude, and preferences.

OBJECTIVES To assess the opinions, attitude, and preferences of Nigerian women to the presence of chaperones during pelvic examinations. MATERIALS AND METHODS A cross-sectional survey of first time gynecology clinic attendees on their opinions, attitudes, and preferences with respect to the presence of chaperones during their pelvic examinations. The interview was conducted with the aid of semi-structured, researcher-administered questionnaires. RESULTS One hundred and nineteen (51.7%) of the respondents preferred female physicians for pelvic examination, 23 (10%) preferred male physicians and 88 (38.3%) had no gender preference. When the examining physician is a male, 124 (53.9%) respondents would like to have chaperones during pelvic examinations while 106 (46.1%) would not. Eighty-three percent of respondents preferred nurse chaperones. Age, level of education, and parity did not have any significant relationship with the attitude of the respondents toward the presence of chaperones ( P = 0.503, 0.525, and 0.605 respectively). CONCLUSIONS We conclude that most southeastern Nigerian women would prefer their pelvic examinations to be done by a female physician or to be attended by a nurse chaperone if the examining physician is a male. We recommend a routine offer of chaperones during such examinations while respecting the patients' right to refuse the offer.
Information Asymmetry, Trade Size, and the Dynamic Volume‐Return Relation: Evidence from the Australian Securities Exchange

This paper investigates the influence of information asymmetry on the cross-sectional variation of volume-return relation. We find that the dynamic volume-return relation within medium-size trades has the most significant response to the degree of information asymmetry. We also show that the effect of information asymmetry on the volume-return dynamics migrates to small-size trades in recent years, especially in larger stocks. These results are consistent with the notion that informed traders prefer medium-size trades and this preference has shifted to small-size trades. Our findings highlight the importance of incorporating informed traders’ trade-size decision in the examination of the dynamic volume-return relation.
Government Ownership of Insurance Companies in Nigeria: A Critique

Before Nigeria gained her independence in 1960, the government did not own shares in insurance companies. The reason for this can partly be traced to the origins of insurance in Nigeria. The advent of insurance companies in Nigeria was initially to service the needs of the British commerical enterprises then in existence. Although the ®rst insurance company was established in Lagos in 1921, it was not until 1958 that the ®rst indigenous insurance ®rm, African Insurance Company Limited, emerged. By 1960, only four of the then 25 ®rms in existence was indigenous. By 1976 there were far more indigenous companies than foreign companies: of the 70 insurance companies then in existence, only 14 were foreign-owned, 46 were indigenously owned, while 10 were wholly owned either by the various state governments or by the federal government. In real terms, however, the impact of these indigenous ®rms remained minimal. For instance, while the foreign-owned ®rms accounted for 53 per cent of the gross premium income of all insurance companies, the indigenous companies accounted for only 17 per cent. It has thus been argued that:
Developing strategies for improving the service quality of casual-dining restaurants: New insights from integrating IPGA and QFD analysis

This study aimed to integrate importance-performance and gap analysis (IPGA) with the quality function deployment (QFD) model in order to determine the critical service quality attributes, and to develop their improvement programs and improvement priority for casual-dining restaurants. This study selected the customers of 18 casual-dining restaurants as the subjects, and 1002 valid questionnaires were returned. The results of IPGA analysis showed that reliability and responsiveness were located in the area of ‘Concentrate here’, which were the service quality dimensions most in demand for urgent improvement of casual-restaurants. A total of six critical service quality attributes were found. This study developed seven improvement programs based on the six critical service quality attributes and experts' focus group interviews. The QFD method was used to determine the priority of seven improvement programs. The results provided new insights into casual-dining restaurants to develop service quality improvements strategies in order to significantly improve restaurants service quality under limited resources.