Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Local Production of Knowledge: Disease Labels, Identities and Category Entitlements in ME Support Group Talk

This article uses discursive psychology to analyse how knowledge claims and entitlements are locally produced in an ME support group meeting and a research interview. The article demonstrates how ‘expertise’ and ‘experience’ associated with lay and professional membership are locally constituted in the activity of reasoning, arguing and claims making. The analysis shows how expertise and experiential claims are constructed, disclaimed, warranted and undermined in relationship to membership categorization and entitlements to knowledge that are co-constructed in the process of a discussion about disease labels and the nature of the illness as physical or psychological. In a discussion about the definition of contested disease categories, what is ‘at stake’ for the group members is the entitlement to speak from experience as members who can ‘know’ their own minds.
Cardiovascular responses to lower body negative pressure in trained and untrained older men.

To determine whether aerobic conditioning alters the orthostatic responses of older subjects, cardiovascular performance was monitored during graded lower body negative pressure in nine highly trained male senior athletes (A) aged 59-73 yr [maximum O2 uptake (VO2 max) = 52.4 +/- 1.7 ml.kg-1 x min-1] and nine age-matched control subjects (C) (VO2 max = 31.0 +/- 2.9 ml.kg-1 x min-1). Cardiac volumes were determined from gated blood pool scintigrams by use of 99mTc-labeled erythrocytes. During lower body negative pressure (0 to -50 mmHg), left ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic volume indexes and stroke volume index decreased in both groups while heart rate increased. The decreases in cardiac volumes and mean arterial pressure and the increase in heart rate between 0 and -50 mmHg were significantly less in A than in C. For example, end-diastolic volume index decreased by 32 +/- 4 ml in C vs. 14 +/- 2 ml in A (P < 0.01), mean arterial pressure declined 7 +/- 5 mmHg in C and increased by 5 +/- 3 mmHg in A (P < 0.05), and heart rate increased 13 +/- 3 beats/min in C and 7 +/- 1 beats/min in A (P < 0.05). These data suggest that increased VO2 max among older men is associated with improved orthostatic responses.
Adrenal cortical carcinoma in Thailand: a review on the previous reported case.

BACKGROUND Adrenal cortical carcinoma (ACC) is an uncommon cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS The author performed a literature review on the reports of ACC in Thailand in order to summarize the characteristics of this rare cancer among Thai patients. RESULTS According to this study, there have been at least seven reports in the literature of nine individual cases of ACC, of which none was lethal directly to ACC. CONCLUSIONS Here, the ACC is sporadically reported in Thailand. The diagnosis of ACC is usually by detection adrenal mass using imaging technique and the confirmation for the nature of cancer is usually by histopathology. Nevertheless, among the Thai population, the prognostic outcome is usually good.
Traffic Speeds on Interstates and Freeways 10 Years After Repeal of National Maximum Speed Limit

Objectives. Essentially all published analyses of operational and safety outcomes related to enactment or repeal of the national maximum speed limit (NMSL) were based on data limited to the initial 1–3 years. The purpose of the present study was to collect and analyze longer term speed data. Method. In 2006, traffic speeds were surveyed at 26 locations on urban and rural expressways in five states (California, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas) where speeds had been measured in 1996, immediately after repeal of NMSL. Most speed limits were unchanged during the approximately 10-year period. However, Montana introduced a numeric 75 mph limit for passenger vehicles in place of a “reasonable and prudent” limit. In Texas, urban freeway speed limits for passenger vehicles were reduced 5 mph, and truck limits were increased 5 mph. Results. On rural interstates without speed limit changes, travel speeds increased for both passenger vehicles and large trucks; the proportion of passenger vehicles exceeding 80 mph tripled. On rural interstates in Montana where speed limits were lowered for passenger vehicles, travel speeds decreased, even for large trucks whose speed limits had not changed. On urban freeways where speed limits did not change, travel speeds declined somewhat for both passenger vehicles and large trucks; during the study period there also were large increases in traffic volume and development of surrounding areas. On urban freeways in Texas where speed limits declined for passenger vehicles, travel speeds generally decreased, even for large trucks whose speed limits actually had increased. Conclusions. The data suggest that where traffic volumes allow, travel speeds still are increasing 10 years after repeal of NMSL, and many drivers are speeding. The study also shows that speed increases can be curbed and even reversed when speed limits are lowered. Increased enforcement is needed to curb speed increases and the increased risk of serious crashes.
Prospectus Disclosure and the Long-Run Performance of Seasoned Equity Issuers in the UK

This study examines if the prospectus disclosure of the motives for a seasoned equity offering and the choice of the underwriter explain the long-run performance of equity issuers in the UK. Firms citing investment purposes show no abnormal performance over three and five years after the offering, but issuers that state general corporate purposes and recapitalisation needs underperform. Further, offerings underwritten by high-quality brokers show no evidence of underperformance, but issues taken public by low-quality underwriters exhibit negative abnormal returns. Together, the results suggest that the prospectus information on the intended use of the offering proceeds and on the issue underwriter predicts post-issue stock performance.
Fecal Indicator Bacteria Variability in Samples Pumped from Monitoring Wells

The detection of microbiological contamination in drinking water from groundwater wells is often made with a limited number of samples that are collected using traditional geochemical sampling protocols. The objective of this study is to examine the variability of fecal indicator bacteria, as observed using discrete samples, due to pumping. Two wells were instrumented as multilevel piezometers in a bedrock aquifer, and bacterial enumeration was conducted on a total of 166 samples (for total coliform, fecal coliform, Escherichia coli, and fecal streptococci) using standard membrane filtration methods. Five tests were conducted using pumping rates ranging from 0.3 to 17 L/min in a variety of purging scenarios, which included constant and variable (incremental increase and decrease) flow. The results clearly show a rapid and reproducible, 1 to 2 log‐unit decrease in fecal indicator bacteria at the onset of pumping to stabilized, low‐level concentrations prior to the removal of three to five well volumes. The pumping rate was not found to be correlated with the magnitude of observed bacterial counts. Based on the results, we suggest sampling protocols for fecal indicator bacteria that include multiple collections during the course of pumping, including early‐time samples, and consider other techniques such as microscopic enumeration when assessing the source of bacteria from the well‐aquifer system.
Regulation of oxytocin receptor in the placentome capsule throughout pregnancy in the ewe: the possible role of oestradiol receptor, progesterone receptor and aromatase.

UNLABELLED The hormonal regulation of uterine oxytocin receptors (OTR) during the establishment of pregnancy and at parturition has been studied extensively, but little information is available during mid-pregnancy. This study investigated the localisation of OTR mRNA in the ovine placentome throughout gestation and related this to expression patterns for the putative regulatory agents aromatase, oestradiol receptor, progesterone receptor and oxytocin. Placentomes were collected at regular intervals throughout pregnancy for in situ hybridisation analysis and immunocytochemistry (oestradiol receptor only). Results were quantified by optical density measurements of autoradiographs. Progesterone receptor mRNA was localised to the caruncular tissues on day 30 but became undetectable by day 34. Aromatase mRNA appeared in the fetal villi at days 34-40, with concentrations peaking at days 52-55 and again at days 132-137. Oestradiol receptor mRNA was localised to the caruncular tissues from days 13 to 30 and found in the maternal villi and placentome capsule from days 45 to 70. Oestradiol receptor protein was barely detectable in either tissue. OTR mRNA was localised to the placentome capsule at days 34-40, remaining high at day 45 and declining to basal levels by days 132-137. Oxytocin mRNA was not detected in the placentome. IN CONCLUSION (1) progesterone acting via its receptor may suppress the expression of aromatase and OTR in early pregnancy; (2) the up-regulation of OTR expression in the capsule may not involve the oestradiol receptor; (3) there is a differential regulation between different regions of the uterus as the increase in the placentome capsule occurs at a time when concentrations in the rest of the endometrium and myometrium remain low; (4) oestradiol receptor expression in the placentome may be regulated at the translational level; and (5) there is no local production of oxytocin in the sheep placenta. The role of ORTs in the capsule during mid-pregnancy remains to be determined.
The Impact of Production Characteristics on Capital Structure and Mergers & Acquisitions

This thesis addresses fundamental questions on the impact of a company’s production characteristics on its capital structure and M&A decisions. First, a positive effect of production flexibility on leverage is shown. Second, it is confirmed that debt and asset maturity match. Moreover, it is found that a mismatch in debt and asset maturity increases the yield spread of debt at issuance. Third, no significance for an effect of diversification in production technology on abnormal acquirer returns in horizontal M&A deals is found.
Antecedents and Performance of Electronic Business Adoption in the Hotel Industry

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the environmental and organizational factors that influence the intensity of electronic business adoption by contemporary organizations, and provide evidence regarding the relationship between e‐business adoption and organizational performance.Design/methodology/approach – The study develops an integrative conceptual model of the antecedents and performance outcomes of e‐business adoption. The research model is subsequently tested empirically using data collected from 154 hotel companies. Structural equation modeling procedures were used to assess the psychometric properties of measurement scales and test research hypotheses.Findings – The study findings indicate that customer power has the greatest impact on the intensity of e‐business adoption, followed by organizational learning ability, adhocracy culture, and top management emphasis. The results also suggest that companies that use the internet more extensively to perform a range of value‐chain act.
WHY DO FIRMS BUYBACK THEIR SHARES? AN ANALYSIS OF OPEN MARKET SHARE REACQUISITIONS BY U.K. FIRMS

WHY DO FIRMS BUYBACK THEIR SHARES? AN ANALYSIS OF OPEN MARKET SHARE REACQUISITIONS BY U.K. FIRMS This paper explores the determinants of share reacquisitions by U.K. firms over the period January 1995 to December 2000. We find that the repurchases appear to be used to distribute surplus cash and exploit perceived underpricing. Further analysis reveals that the surplus cash effect is more pronounced for firms characterised by low leverage and a limited investment opportunity set. Limited evidence also indicates that the association between share reacquisitions and surplus cash is stronger in the presence of poor contemporaneous share returns, consistent with the view that distributions of excess cash are timed to create further value for shareholders. Contrary to predictions, however, the probability that a firm distributes surplus cash via a share repurchase is lower when the underpricing occurs in the year prior to the repurchase.
Weak Ex Ante Collusion and Design of Supervisory Institutions 1

A Principal seeks to design a mechanism for an agent (privately informed regarding production cost with a continuous distribution) and a supervisor/intermediary (with a noisy signal of the agent’s cost) that collude ex ante, i.e., on both participation and reporting decisions. ‘Weak’ collusion means neither supervisor nor agent can commit to how they would behave should bargaining over the side-contract break down. We provide conditions under which the Principal’s problem reduces to selecting weakly collusion-proof (WCP) allocations that satisfy interim participation constraints. We characterize WCP allocations, and use this to show that it is always valuable to employ the supervisor. Delegation is optimal, but only if supplemented by an appeal/dispute settlement mechanism mediated by the Principal, which serves as an outside option for coalitional bargaining. Changes in welfare weights within the coalition have no eect, while altruism of the supervisor towards the agent makes the Principal worse o. Applications to the organization of rms, regulatory institutions and tax administration are discussed.
Sleep disturbance due to heartburn and regurgitation is common in patients with functional dyspepsia

Background Reflux symptoms (heartburn and regurgitation) are common in patients with functional dyspepsia who do not have gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Objective The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship of reflux symptoms with sleep disturbances in patients with functional dyspepsia without GERD and in those with GERD. Methods This post-hoc analysis of data from the Diamond study (NCT00291746) included patients with frequent upper gastrointestinal symptoms, of whom 137 had functional dyspepsia and 193 had GERD (diagnosed by endoscopy and pH monitoring). Patients completed symptom questionnaires and were interviewed by physicians. Results During the seven nights before study entry, 46.0% of patients with functional dyspepsia and 64.8% of those with GERD reported sleep disturbances (any frequency) related to reflux symptoms. Frequent (often/every night) sleep disturbances were experienced by 12.4% of patients with functional dyspepsia and 24.9% of those with GERD (p = 0.005). Among patients with functional dyspepsia, the prevalence of sleep disturbances was highest in those whose heartburn and/or regurgitation were moderate to severe (vs mild/very mild) and frequent (4–7 vs 1–3 days/week). Conclusions Sleep disturbances due to reflux symptoms are common in patients with functional dyspepsia who do not have GERD, and become more frequent with increasing reflux symptom severity and frequency.
On the convexity of the system loss function

We show that the system loss function in a power network is bounded below by any number of supporting hyper-planes in the space of generalized injections. A supporting hyper-plane is defined by the linear Taylor series expansion of the system loss function around a given operating point. The supporting hyper-plane property is valid provided that the expansion point is sufficiently near the flat-voltage profile. We have assessed experimentally the range of validity of this assumption, called the range of hyper-plane support (RHS), showing that for typical networks, the RHS is broad, particularly when the bus voltages are controlled near 1 per unit. The supporting hyper-plane model was also tested as part of an economic dispatch with transmission losses to demonstrate that this linear model provides the same results as when the losses are treated as a nonlinear function.
The effects of board size and diversity on strategic change

This study examines an important potential conflict between the institutional, governance, and strategic functions of boards. We specifically test how higher levels of board size and diversity, traditionally associated with optimal institutional and governance performance of boards, affect the boards ability to initiate strategic changes during periods of environmental turbulence. Our findings suggest that board diversity, in particular, may be a significant constraint on strategic change.
An analysis of mobile banking customers for a bank strategy and policy planning

Online banking is increasingly common. Financial institutions deliver online services via various electronic channels, subsequently diminishing the importance of conventional branch networks. This study proposed an integrated data mining and customer behavior scoring model to manage existing mobile banking users in an Iranian bank. This segmentation model was developed to identify groups of customers based on transaction history, recency, frequency, monetary background. It classified mobile banking users into six groups. This study demonstrated that identifying customers by a behavioral scoring facilitates marketing strategy assignment. Then the bank can develop its marketing actions. Thus, the bank can attract more customers, maintain its customers, and keep high customers' satisfaction.
REM sleep without atonia in middle‐aged and older psychiatric patients and Lewy body disease: a case series

Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is commonly associated with Lewy body disease, narcolepsy, or depression. In contrast, the relationship between REM sleep without atonia (RWA), which is a hallmark of RBD on polysomnography, and clinical characteristics remains unclear. The purpose of this study is to investigate the clinical features of psychiatric patients exhibiting RWA and its relevance to Lewy body disease.
A complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Asian black bear Sichuan subspecies (Ursus thibetanus mupinensis)

We obtained the complete mitochondrial genome of U.thibetanus mupinensis by DNA sequencing based on the PCR fragments of 18 primers we designed. The results indicate that the mtDNA is 16 868 bp in size, encodes 13 protein genes, 22 tRNA genes, and 2 rRNA genes, with an overall H-strand base composition of 31.2% A, 25.4% C, 15.5% G and 27.9% T. The sequence of the control region (CR) located between tRNA-Pro and tRNA-Phe is 1422 bp in size, consists of 8.43% of the whole genome, GC content is 51.9% and has a 6bp tandem repeat and two 10bp tandem repeats identified by using the Tandem Repeats Finder. U. thibetanus mupinensis mitochondrial genome shares high similarity with those of three other Ursidae: U. americanus (91.46%), U. arctos (89.25%) and U. maritimus (87.66%).
A model of fish consumption among young consumers

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine attitudes towards fish consumption, social pressure, fish preparation and cooking skills, sensory beliefs, health involvement and fish consumption in childhood as predictors of fish consumption among consumers in their early adulthood. While the impact of these factors on fish consumption has been examined in some extent among adult consumers, this is believed to be the first study where the focus is on people in their late teens and their early 20s.Design/methodology/approach – A cross sectional sample of Icelanders between 17 and 26 years old (n=1,735) responded to a questionnaire. Structural equation modelling was used to estimate the direction and strength of relationships between variables.Findings – The paper finds that attitude towards fish consumption, social pressure and fish preparation and cooking skills were correlated to fish consumption. Sensory beliefs and health involvement were also correlated to fish consumption, but this relationship was.
Stochastic Sensitivity Analysis for a Competitive Turbidostat Model with Inhibitory Nutrients

A stochastic model of turbidostat in which two microorganism species compete for an inhibitory growth-limiting nutrient is considered. In the deterministic case, the model has rich dynamics: a coexistence equilibrium and the washout equilibrium can be simultaneously stable, and a stable limit cycle may exist. In the stochastic case, a phenomenon of noise-induced extinction occurs. Namely, the stochastic trajectory near the deterministic coexistence equilibrium will tend to the washout equilibrium. Based on the stochastic sensitivity function technique, in this paper, we construct the confidence ellipse and then estimate the critical value of the intensity for noise generating a transition from coexistence to extinction. We also construct the confidence band to find the configurational arrangement of the stochastic cycle.
Fund Flows and Performance - A Study of Canadian Equity Funds

We study the behavior of mutual fund investors with a specific focus on fund flows - performance relationship. Using a comprehensive survivorship bias free sample of Canadian open-end equity mutual funds and panel data analysis we find evidence of a rational response of fund flows to upside and downside performance changes. Unlike the findings on US funds and investors, we find that investors neither chase winners nor hang on to losing funds. While investors do allocate funds based on past performance the allocations do not disproportionately in favor star funds. Poor performers experience significant fund withdrawals. Combined with the evidence on a positive association of returns variability with fund flows this fund flow performance relationship shows that the fund incentive structure is not biased towards greater risk taking by fund managers. The size of the fund family and previous fund allocations are also significant in influencing decisions on future fund allocations. We also show lack of short and longterm performance persistence. Inspite of the evidence on a rational response the returns realized by investors are lower than the returns reported by mutual funds suggesting poor ability to time the market.