Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Stabilizing Sling for the Long Head of the Biceps Tendon in the Rotator Cuff Interval

A histoanatomic study of the rotator cuff interval was done in 13 cadaveric specimens to investigate the relation of its ligamentous structures to the long head of the biceps tendon, with a special focus on revealing a stabilizing function. After macroscopic evaluation, the lateral half of the rotator cuff interval capsule was cut into three sections: medial, middle, and lateral. These sections were embedded in methacrylate, and then serial sections were made and stained for polarized light microscopy. The superior glenohumeral ligament was seen to form a fold having the macroscopic appearance of a U-shaped anterior suspension sling for the long head of the biceps tendon. Microscopic evaluation revealed an important role of the fasciculus obliquus in the roof of this sling. Fibers of the supraspinatus tendon join the posterosuperior part of the sling. The subscapularis tendon is not involved in this suspensory mechanism. As a result of these observations, we determined that the superior glenohumeral ligament and the fasciculus obliquus are the most important ligamentous reinforcements of a stabilizing sling for the long head of the biceps tendon in the rotator cuff interval. Their histologic appearance indicates they function to protect the long head of the biceps against anterior shearing stress. A lesion of this sling might lead to anterior instability of the biceps tendon.
Variation of clinical expression in patients with Stargardt dystrophy and sequence variations in the ABCR gene.

OBJECTIVE To report the spectrum of ophthalmic findings in patients with Stargardt dystrophy or fundus flavimaculatus who have a specific sequence variation in the ABCR gene. PATIENTS Twenty-nine patients with Stargardt dystrophy or fundus flavimaculatus from different pedigrees were identified with possible disease-causing sequence variations in the ABCR gene from a group of 66 patients who were screened for sequence variations in this gene. METHODS Patients underwent a routine ocular examination, including slitlamp biomicroscopy and a dilated fundus examination. Fluorescein angiography was performed on 22 patients, and electroretinographic measurements were obtained on 24 of 29 patients. Kinetic visual fields were measured with a Goldmann perimeter in 26 patients. Single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis and DNA sequencing were used to identify variations in coding sequences of the ABCR gene. RESULTS Three clinical phenotypes were observed among these 29 patients. In phenotype I, 9 of 12 patients had a sequence change in exon 42 of the ABCR gene in which the amino acid glutamic acid was substituted for glycine (Gly1961Glu). In only 4 of these 9 patients was a second possible disease-causing mutation found on the other ABCR allele. In addition to an atrophic-appearing macular lesion, phenotype I was characterized by localized perifoveal yellowish white flecks, the absence of a dark choroid, and normal electroretinographic amplitudes. Phenotype II consisted of 10 patients who showed a dark choroid and more diffuse yellowish white flecks in the fundus. None exhibited the Gly1961Glu change. Phenotype III consisted of 7 patients who showed extensive atrophic-appearing changes of the retinal pigment epithelium. Electroretinographic cone and rod amplitudes were reduced. One patient showed the Gly1961Glu change. CONCLUSIONS A wide variation in clinical phenotype can occur in patients with sequence changes in the ABCR gene. In individual patients, a certain phenotype seems to be associated with the presence of a Gly1961Glu change in exon 42 of the ABCR gene. CLINICAL RELEVANCE The identification of correlations between specific mutations in the ABCR gene and clinical phenotypes will better facilitate the counseling of patients on their visual prognosis. This information will also likely be important for future therapeutic trials in patients with Stargardt dystrophy.
How the Baltic States Transportation Companies Survived the Economic Crisis: The Lessons of Crisis

The purpose of this article is to analyze the key indicators of transportation companies, with emphasis on enterprise size class, turnover and value added of enterprises, in the Baltic States (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia), or of new European Union (EU) states before and after the economic crisis of Europe, and to compare them on the EU level. We will look at how the economic crisis has affected the indicators of transportation companies and analyze the changes in the companies. These companies will be compared to other EU states, primarily the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries or other new EU states. What are the lessons learned from the economic crisis? The literature review shows the crisis theory. It is concerned with explaining the recession, depression and business cycle in economics. We will make a short view of the financial crisis. We present for discussion the objective and subjective factors of the economic crisis of the companies.
GLOBAL PROPERTIES OF M31'S STELLAR HALO FROM THE SPLASH SURVEY. II. METALLICITY PROFILE

We present the metallicity distribution of red giant branch (RGB) stars in M31's stellar halo, derived from photometric metallicity estimates for over 1500 spectroscopically confirmed RGB halo stars. The stellar sample comes from 38 halo fields observed with the Keck/DEIMOS spectrograph, ranging from 9 to 175 kpc in projected distance from M31's center, and includes 52 confirmed M31 halo stars beyond 100 kpc. While a wide range of metallicities is seen throughout the halo, the metal-rich peak of the metallicity distribution function becomes significantly less prominent with increasing radius. The metallicity profile of M31's stellar halo shows a continuous gradient from 9 to ∼100 kpc, with a magnitude of ∼ − 0.01 dex kpc−1. The stellar velocity distributions in each field are used to identify stars that are likely associated with tidal debris features. The removal of tidal debris features does not significantly alter the metallicity gradient in M31's halo: a gradient is maintained in fields spanning 10–90 kpc. We analyze the halo metallicity profile, as well as the relative metallicities of stars associated with tidal debris features and the underlying halo population, in the context of current simulations of stellar halo formation. We argue that the large-scale gradient in M31's halo implies M31 accreted at least one relatively massive progenitor in the past, while the field to field variation seen in the metallicity profile indicates that multiple smaller progenitors are likely to have contributed substantially to M31's outer halo.
Sequential and Non‐speech Praxic Abilities in Developmental Verbal Apraxia

Verbal and non‐verbal sequential abilities were compared in a group of 10 children with developmental verbal apraxia. Manual gestures, constructional praxic abilities and non‐speech volitional oral movements were also studied. Results indicated that these children were deficient in verbal sequential abilities, both with reference to their non‐verbal sequential abilities and to normative data. As a group, the children did not present manual‐gestural or constructional apraxias, nor oral apraxias for single non‐speech volitional movements. However, most had difficulty with sequences of non‐speech volitional oral movements.
Consumer value structures towards supermarket versus farm shop purchase of apples from integrated production in Belgium

This paper compares consumer motivation for buying “Integrated production” certified and labelled apples through either farm shops or supermarkets. The research methodology builds on means‐end‐chain (MEC) theory, with data collected through personal laddering interviews in Belgium. Hierarchical value maps, which visualise motivational structures of supermarket and farm shop purchase of quality labelled apples, are presented. Apple buyers at both outlet types pursue similar values, with health being paramount, but realise those values through largely different MECs. The findings reveal interactions between market channel characteristics and product attributes. Also, the study shows how outlet choice influences the perception and the motivation structure of the respondents for fresh apples. From the findings, implications pertaining to advertising are set forth through the application of the “Means‐end conceptualisation of the components of advertising strategy” or MECCAS model.
Cost and Effectiveness of Banking Sector Restructuring in Transition Economies

The paper analyses the cost and effectiveness of bank restructuring policies in 11 transition countries during 1991-98. It argues that country-specific banking sector features, the size of bad loans inherited from the centrally planned system, and weaknesses in the restructuring policies implemented were the main factors affecting the overall fiscal costs, with the latter two being more significant. The paper finds no significant relationship between the size of restructuring costs and overall improvement in banking sector performance for the sample countries as a whole.
Essays on nudging customers' behaviors: Evidence from online grocery shopping and crowdfunding

Zhang, Na. Ph.D., Purdue University, December 2015. Essays on Nudging Customers’ Behaviors: Evidence from Online Grocery Shopping and Crowdfunding. Major Professors: Karthik Kannan and J. George Shanthikumar The dissertation consists of three essays that employ predictive analytics, structural modeling techniques and field experiments to understand and nudge customers’ behaviors in two types of online engagement platforms. The first one is customers’ purchase behaviors in an online grocery store and the other is customer’ contribution behaviors in a reward-based crowdfunding platform. In both contexts, we study how to actively nudge their behaviors. In Chapter 2, we investigates how, when dealing with products that are available in limited quantities, customers may be nudged to purchase them. Specifically, our main problem is to identify targeted customers to receive the limited number of coupons. We develop a Support Vector Machines (SVM) based approach to rank order customers. We conduct a field experiment in an online grocery store to evaluate how well the identified customers are nudged through information and/or couponing. We find that, in terms of the successful nudges, our SVM-based approach performed better than other approaches. We are not just focusing on nudging customers to purchase but also on nudging them to contribute. In Chapter 3, we examine how to leverage the project reward structure (PRS) to nudge backers to contribute on reward-based crowdfunding platforms.
Designing Service Guarantees With Construal Fit

This article examines the influence of temporal distance on consumer responses to different types of service guarantees. Four studies revealed that the effectiveness of service guarantees depends on whether their elements match the time frame of consumer purchase decisions. Full-satisfaction guarantees more strongly influence decisions in the distant future, while attribute-specific guarantees more strongly influence decisions in the near future. Combined guarantees are as effective as attribute-specific guarantees for temporally close consumer decisions, but less effective than full-satisfaction guarantees for temporally distant decisions. Attribute-specific guarantees that are easy to invoke are more persuasive for purchases in the near future, while full-satisfaction guarantees with high compensation are more effective for purchases in the distant future. The finding that the construal fit between guarantee elements and the purchase time frame significantly enhances a guarantee’s effectiveness contributes to the service literature by identifying the time-contingent effects of service guarantees. Service firms can improve a guarantee’s effectiveness by ensuring that its scope, compensation level, and invocation process match the consumer’s purchase time frame.
Operating Characteristics of a Relativistic Magnetron with a Washer Cathode

We have determined the operating characteristics of a six-vane MIT-A6 magnetron. The high-power resonant microwave emission at 2.83 GHz is in good agreement with the ¿-mode oscillation predicted by the Buneman-Hartree threshold. We studied the magnetron performance as a function of applied voltage, magnetic field, and extraction geometry. Maximum power is obtained with three open vanes. Using a simple energy balance model we obtain good agreement between the computed and measured peak power.
An Evaluation of Knowledge and Use of Total Quality Management Tools by Public Legal Services Operations Management : A Case of Blantyre Legal Aid Department in Malawi

A successful implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM) is one of the ways of improving organisations. However, preliminary evaluation of whether of an organisation would be receptive to TQM before implementation is imperative. This study, therefore, evaluated whether employees at Blantyre Legal Aid Department (LAD) in Malawi have the knowledge and use of concepts and tools necessary for TQM implementation. In addition, this study also determined other critical factors necessary for TQM implementation in the said organisation. The study hypothesized that TQM may help Blantyre LAD to deal with the challenges it is currently facing. Therefore, a mixed approach to research was used to find out whether employees at Blantyre LAD have the knowledge and use of TQM philosophy necessary to meet the organisation’s challenges. A random sample frame of 24 out 32 employees was also used in the study to arrive at scientific findings. The overall findings on the knowledge and use of TQM by employees at Blantyre LAD had a mean score of 1.6 and a standard deviation of 0.1 confirming lack of knowledge and TQM systems at TQM. The study confirmed the existence of critical success factors for the TQM implementation at Blantyre LAD with a mean closer to 3 at a standard deviation of 0.8. Consequently, the study recommended that all employees at Blantyre LAD be trained in TQM and that critical success factors for TQM implementation should be strengthened thereat. The implications of the results and recommendations of the study are that employees at Blantyre LAD need the TQM to improve the quality of public service delivery. In addition TQM can be successfully implemented thereat; therefore, the study recommends a step by step introduction and implementation of TQM at Blantyre LAD.
Prediction of penicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus isolates from dairy cows with mastitis, based on prior test results

Abstract AIM: To gauge how well prior laboratory test results predict in vitro penicillin resistance of Staphylococcus aureus isolates from dairy cows with mastitis. METHODS: Population-based data on the farm of origin (n=79), genotype based on pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) results, and the penicillin-resistance status of Staph. aureus isolates (n=115) from milk samples collected from dairy cows with mastitis submitted to two diagnostic laboratories over a 6-month period were used. Data were mined stochastically using the all-possible-pairs method, binomial modelling and bootstrap simulation, to test whether prior test results enhance the accuracy of prediction of penicillin resistance on farms. RESULTS: Of all Staph. aureus isolates tested, 38% were penicillin resistant. A significant aggregation of penicillin-resistance status was evident within farms. The probability of random pairs of isolates from the same farm having the same penicillin-resistance status was 76%, compared with 53% for random pairings of samples across all farms. Thus, the resistance status of randomly selected isolates was 1.43 times more likely to correctly predict the status of other isolates from the same farm than the random population pairwise concordance probability (p=0.011). This effect was likely due to the clonal relationship of isolates within farms, as the predictive fraction attributable to prior test results was close to nil when the effect of within-farm clonal infections was withdrawn from the model. CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge of the penicillin-resistance status of a prior Staph. aureus isolate significantly enhanced the predictive capability of other isolates from the same farm. In the time and space frame of this study, clinicians using previous information from a farm would have more accurately predicted the penicillin-resistance status of an isolate than they would by chance alone on farms infected with clonal Staph. aureus isolates, but not on farms infected with highly genetically heterogeneous bacterial strains.
Broadening the diagnosis of bipolar disorder: benefits vs. risks

There is considerable debate over whether bipolar and related disorders that share common signs and symptoms, but are currently defined as distinct clinical entities in DSM-IV and ICD-10, may be better characterized as falling within a more broadly defined "bipolar spectrum". With a spectrum view in mind, the possibility of broadening the diagnosis of bipolar disorder has been proposed. This paper discusses some of the rationale for an expanded diagnostic scheme from both clinical and research perspectives in light of potential drawbacks. The ultimate goal of broadening the diagnosis of bipolar disorder is to help identify a common etiopathogenesis for these conditions to better guide treatment. To help achieve this goal, bipolar researchers have increasingly expanded their patient populations to identify objective biological or endophenotypic markers that transcend phenomenological observation. Although this approach has and will likely continue to produce beneficial results, the upcoming DSM-IV and ICD-10 revisions will place increasing scrutiny on psychiatry's diagnostic classification systems and pressure to re-evaluate our conceptions of bipolar disorder. However, until research findings can provide consistent and converging evidence as to the validity of a broader diagnostic conception, clinical expansion to a dimensional bipolar spectrum should be considered with caution.
Exploring job responsibilities and requirements of US textile and apparel sourcing personnel

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to gain a deeper understanding of the job responsibilities and requirements of textile and apparel (T&A) sourcing personnel from the employers' perspective, based on Kunz's behavioral theory of apparel firms and US Department of Labor's classification principles.Design/methodology/approach – “Job wanted” texts published by Women's Wear Daily, a prominent daily trade newspaper in the US textile and apparel industry were collected. Content analysis was performed to examine three research question categories: daily duties of sourcing personnel, required skills for sourcing personnel, and relevant experiences sought for sourcing personnel.Findings – Sourcing personnel are heavily involved in the firm's management of vendor relations, product development, production, and inter‐departmental collaborations. Desired sourcing personnel must be organized with multitasking abilities, knowledge of various computer applications, and exceptional communication skills. On‐the‐job ex.
Multidetector row computed tomography for diagnosing intraductal extension of breast carcinoma

Several reports supported the association of higher ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence rates with positive or intermediate margins compared with negative pathologic margins. Precise evaluation of intraductal component and adequate surgical margin are important factors affecting the tumor recurrence after breast conserving surgery. Numerous studies have reported the utility of magnetic resonance imaging for diagnosing developing intraductal extension of breast cancer, but few have investigated multidetector‐row computed tomography (MD‐CT). The present study evaluated the clinical utility of MD‐CT for detecting intraductal extension of breast carcinoma, and analyzed clinical parameters affecting the detection of intraductal extension under MD‐CT.
The impact of the financial crisis on the working capital of SMEs: a panel data analysis

The thesis examines the financing behaviour of Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) over the business cycle, focusing on the impact of the 2008 financial crisis, using panel data analysis. The analysis is presented in three studies. Study 1 is a position paper which compares the effectiveness of pecking order theory with the trade-off theory in explaining the changes in SME capital structure over the crisis, using a sample of Irish and UK companies. The findings indicate a significant deleveraging in SMEs in the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis, using a modified flow of funds methodology. Given the declining role of debt, Study 2 examines the role of trade credit in the adjustment process in the sector via redistribution and substitution effects, in a panel of over 7600 SMEs in Ireland, over the period 2003 to 2011. While there was a net reduction in trade credit in the sector in the aftermath of the banking crisis, the findings show that financially weaker firms received significantly more finance in the form of trade credit coinciding with the dramatic reduction of bank credit extended to the private non-financial sector. In terms of a redistribution effect; financially stronger firms extended relatively more trade credit to financially weaker SMEs, and most likely on an involuntary basis. Finally, using an extensive panel of over 280,000 SMEs across 15 European countries, Study 3 confirms the domestic results in a cross country context and shows that trade credit has played a pivotal role in the financing of financially weaker SMEs over the crisis. Firms with the greatest level of cash reserves became net financiers of credit. The results also show the relation between trade credit and SME survival as well as the role of institutional and country level factors in explaining trade credit use.
Query processing algorithms for temporal intersection joins

Intersection join processing in temporal relational databases is investigated. An analysis is presented of the characteristics and processing requirements of three types of intersection join operators: the time-join temporal equijoin on the surrogate, and temporal equijoin on the temporal attribute. Based on the physical organization of the database and on the semantics of the operators, several algorithms were developed to process these joins efficiently. The primary cost variables were identified for each algorithm and their performance is compared to that of a conventional nested-loop join procedure. It is shown that the algorithms developed can reduce processing costs significantly. <<ETX>>
RECA: Referenced energy‐based CDS algorithm in wireless sensor networks

Connected dominating sets (CDS) can be used to form virtual backbones for the hierarchical routing to save energy in the wireless sensor networks. The existing algorithms for CDS can only be used to the topologies that have larger vertex connective degrees. Besides, most of them do not consider the energy characteristics of the virtual backbones constructed by the dominating sets. In this paper, a referenced energy‐based CDS algorithm (RECA) is proposed, which can generate smaller CDS in random topologies without the limitation of vertex connective degrees. At the same time, the algorithm introduces Referenced Energy as a parameter for nodes when making the decision whether they are chosen to be the dominators or not. Therefore, as the experimental results show, the energy characteristic of the dominating set is improved and routing in the virtual backbones constructed by such CDSs will have a better performance. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.