Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adenosine coronary vasodilation in coronary artery disease: technetium-99m tetrofosmin myocardial tomography versus echocardiography.

UNLABELLED This study compared the results of adenosine 99mTc-tetrofosmin cardiac tomography with those of adenosine echocardiography in identifying patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and in localizing individual stenosed, coronary vessels. METHODS Twenty-six consecutive patients with suspected or known CAD had simultaneous adenosine (140 micrograms/Kg/min intravenously) 99mTc-tetrofosmin tomography and two-dimensional echocardiography. All patients had coronary angiography within 4 wk from imaging studies. Regional 99mTc-tetrofosmin activity was quantitatively measured in 78 coronary vascular territories and echocardiographic left ventricular function was assessed in corresponding regions. RESULTS At coronary angiography one patient had normal coronary vessels, 12 patients one-vessel and 13 had multivessel disease (> or = 50% luminal stenosis). Among the 25 patients with CAD, 22 showed perfusion defects at adenosine 99mTc-tetrofosmin tomography (sensitivity 88%) and 17 had abnormal echocardiographic study (sensitivity 68%, p < 0.05 versus 99mTc-tetrofosmin). Agreement for the identification of patients with CAD between adenosine 99mTc-tetrofosmin tomography and echocardiography was observed in 21 (81%) of the total 26 patients, with a kappa value of 0.45. Overall sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy for detection of individual stenosed vessels were 79%, 88% and 83% for 99mTc tetrofosmin and 57%, 68% and 61% (all p < 0.05 versus 99mTc-tetrofosmin) for echocardiography. Concordance between adenosine 99mTc-tetrofosmin tomography and echocardiography in the detection of individual stenosed coronary vessels was observed in 57 (73%) of the 78 vascular territories, with a kappa value of 0.36. CONCLUSION Adenosine-induced coronary vasodilation associated with quantitative 99mTc-tetrofosmin tomography is more accurate than adenosine echocardiography in identifying patients with CAD and in detecting individual stenosed coronary vessels.
Investigating the mediating effect of psychological empowerment on quality of work life-organisational commitment relationship: a study on Indian IT sector managers

The present study is an attempt to explore the associations between the psychological empowerment, organisational commitment and quality of work life amongst 180 middle-level executives. The sample respondents were from the Indian industrial sector of information technology (IT). Means, standard deviation, correlation analysis and hierarchical regression analysis, using the SPSS 16 were administered on the sample. The study provides strong empirical relationship among constructs of psychological empowerment, organisational commitment and quality of work life. Employees displayed higher organisational commitment when they perceived organisation as a desired place to stay which fulfils their basic needs and takes care of their well-being. The findings show that psychological empowerment significantly affected the relationship between organisational commitment and quality of work life. The theoretical considerations to the research and practical implications for Indian industry are discussed further.
Evaluation of biologically mediated changes in oil sands naphthenic acid composition by Chlamydomonas reinhardtii using negative‐ion electrospray orbitrap mass spectrometry

Industrial activity associated with oil‐sands extraction in Canada's Athabasca region produces a variety of contaminants of concern, including naphthenic acid fraction components (NAFCs). NAFCs are a complex mixture of organic compounds that are poorly understood both in terms of their chemical composition and effects on the environment. NAFC toxicity in the unicellular green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii P.A. Dangeard was correlated with the presence of the algal cell wall. It was suggested that the toxicity of NAFCs in C. reinhardtii was due to surfactant effects. Surfactant‐cell wall interactions are specific and governed by the compound class and structure, and by the nature of the biological material. Here, we investigate the effects of wildtype (WT) C. reinhardtii and two cell‐wall mutants on specific classes of NAFCs when growing cultures were treated with a 100 mg · L−1 solution of NAFCs. Changes in the NAFC composition in the media were examined using high resolution mass spectrometry over a period of 4 d. Algal mediated changes in the NAFCs were limited to specific classes of NAFCs. In particular, the removal of large, classical naphthenic acids, with a double bond equivalent of 8, was observed in WT C. reinhardtii cultures. The observed algal mediated changes in NAFC composition would have been masked by low resolution mass spectrometry and highlight the importance of this tool in examining bioremediation of complex mixtures of NAFCs.
Investigating Quality Dimensions of Hospitality Higher Education: From Students’ Perspective

ABSTRACT It is essential to identify and evaluate the important quality attributes of hospitality higher education on a continuing basis. This assessment helps administrators to ensure the quality of programs and attract top talent. This empirical research delineates quality dimensions of hospitality higher education from the perspectives of hospitality management students. A total of 314 usable responses were collected from four different hospitality management programs in the United States. Exploratory factor analysis identified five quality dimensions of hospitality higher education. Results of group comparisons using demographic variables provide meaningful implications for educators and administrators in U.S. hospitality higher education.
E-government: a strategic operations management framework for service delivery

Purpose – This paper aims to present a conceptual framework for selecting and developing e‐government applications as part of an overall coherent strategy of e‐government service delivery (EGSD). Design/methodology/approach – The framework proposed in this paper builds on and expands prior literature in the areas of e‐government and service delivery in organizations. Specifically, the framework extends Heskett's work in service delivery in organizations to the area of e‐government.Findings – The strategic operations management framework for EGSD developed in this paper represents a response to the need for a more strategic point of view on the electronic delivery of government services. The framework consists of seven building‐blocks – four basic elements: market segmentation, service mode development, operations‐strategy redesign, and service delivery, in addition to three integrative elements: differentiation, leverage of value and alignment of strategy and system.Research limitations/implications – The .
Activation of silent and weak synapses by cAMP‐dependent protein kinase in cultured cerebellar granule neurons

Non‐technical summary It is accepted that learning involves creating or increasing the activity of existing chemical connections (synapses) between neurons. Some connections, known as ‘silent synapses’, have no detectable activity under resting conditions but can be switched on by electrical stimuli that mimic learning. To better understand how this occurs, we compared silent and active synapses in cultured neurons. When neurons were challenged with electrical stimulation, the extent of activation of previously active synapses was unchanged, whereas silent synapses were activated. Silent synapse activation did not correlate with increases in intracellular calcium (which evokes neurotransmitter release), but was dependent on the action of the enzyme protein kinase A. A large proportion of synapses in the adult brain are thought to be silent, and therefore a detailed knowledge of silent synapse activation could give insights into the mechanisms of learning and memory.
Long-Term Psychological Effects of Natural Disasters

Relationships between self-reported psychological distress (Symptom Checklist) and experience with two earthquakes are presented for a group of male factory workers (N = 772) from Naples, Italy, participating in the 1987 follow-up of the Olivetti Heart Study. Although all were exposed to the 1980 earthquake that racked southern Italy, only men residing in the Naples suburb of Pozzuoli experienced the continuing swarm of earthquakes ("bradyseism") of 1983-1984, allowing for the observation of a "natural experiment" of sorts. Levels of psychological distress were found to be higher 7 years after the first earthquake for those men who reported damage from that earthquake.Overall, findings were similar for those who were evacuated, or suffered financial loss from the 1983-1984 bradyseism earthquakes. Stratification by 1980 earthquake damage revealed that 1983-1984 evacuation or financial loss was associated with increased distress reporting only for those men who had not reported damage from the 1980 earthquake. Overall, however, distress scores tended to be higher for men evacuated in 1983-1984 if they had also reported damage from the prior earthquake (only the F ratio for anxiety reached criterion for statistical significance). These findings suggest that the psychological consequences of earthquake exposure are long lasting and seem to be related to the consequences of the earthquake in terms of damage/loss.
Linguistically motivated tied-state triphones for polish speech recognition

The paper presents one of the possible approaches to build a triphone model for automatic speech recognition of Polish. Even though classifiers are well developed and described, such task is not a trivial one because of lack of enough training data and importance of calculation time spent for the training of the model. To overcome this problem, some states are typically tied using data-driven criteria. We investigate a linguistically motivated approach, where phonetically related contexts are tied. We compared recognition results of a system using this approach and of a system with no context tying on around 15 000 utterances. The results indicate a small improvement in the performance of the system.
Strategic investments in Japanese corporations: Do foreign portfolio owners foster underinvestment or appropriate investment?

STRATEGIC INVESTMENTS IN JAPANESE CORPORATIONS: DO FOREIGN PORTFOLIO OWNERS FOSTER UNDERINVESTMENT OR APPROPRIATE INVESTMENT? PARTHIBAN DAVID,* TORU YOSHIKAWA, MURALI D. R. CHARI and ABDUL A. RASHEED 1 Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, U.S.A. 2 Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University, Singapore 3 School of Business and Economics, Indiana University South Bend, South Bend, Indiana, U.S.A. 4 College of Business Administration, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas, U.S.A.
A prospective analysis of the outcome of levetiracetam in clinical practice

In this postlicensing surveillance study in a large unselected population, data were collected prospectively on all patients prescribed levetiracetam (LEV) at a regional epilepsy clinic over a 2-year period. Two hundred forty-five (69.2%) patients remained on LEV, with 8.8% achieving remission and some improvement in seizure control in 49.3%. Sedation was the most common adverse effect (10.7%), but mood disturbance was more likely to lead to discontinuation (4.8%). Cumulative probability of remaining on LEV at 12 months was 0.74 (95% CI 0.69 to 0.79). Factors predictive of a poorer retention were a greater number of previous antiepileptic drugs and a faster initial titration regimen.
Adoption of improved fisheries technologies by fish farmers in southern agricultural zone of Nasarawa State, Nigeria

A survey was conducted in the Southern Agricultural zone of Nasarawa State, north central Nigeria, to assess the intensity of adoption of improved fisheries technologies among fish farmers. A sample of 100 fish farms out of the 202 existing farms identified during the survey was randomly selected for the study. A structured interview schedule was administered to the managers of the selected fish farms to elicit information. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The results show that the rate of adoption of selected improved technologies among fish farmers in the study area was high (53.04%), with five of the technologies topping the adoption index. These were the use of improved fingerlings (94%) adoption rate (94%), floating feeds (92%), inlet/outlet devices (90%), daily sanitary practices and record-keeping (82%). Most of the respondents were small-scale producers with a mean stocking rate of 4,834 fingerlings. Private fisheries consultants were the major sources of information used by the respondents. The major recommendations to ensure increased fish production by the respondents include: Fish farmers should form cooperative groups in order to gain easy access to credit; special training in on-farm feed formulation should be organized for fish farmers; and government should provide storage and processing facilities for fish farmers as well as improved electricity supply to enhance production. Key words: Adoption, improved fisheries technologies, fish farmers, Nasarawa State, Nigeria.
Assessment of stress responses in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) to daily routine procedures in system neuroscience based on salivary cortisol concentrations

Non-human primates participating in neurophysiological research are exposed to potentially stressful experimental procedures, such as dietary control protocols, surgical implants and their maintenance, or social separation during training and experimental session. Here, we investigated the effect of controlled access to fluid, surgical implants, implant-related cleaning of skin margins, and behavioral training sessions on salivary cortisol levels of adult male rhesus macaques participating in neurophysiological research. The animals were trained to chew flavored cotton swabs to non-invasively collect saliva samples. Our data show no differences in cortisol levels between animals with and without implants, but both, controlled access to fluid and cleaning of implants individually increased salivary cortisol concentrations, while both together did not further increase the concentration. Specifically, before cleaning, individuals with controlled access to fluid had 55% higher cortisol concentrations than individuals with free access to fluid. Under free access to fluid, cortisol concentrations were 27% higher after cleaning while no effect of cleaning was found for individuals under controlled fluid access. Training sessions under controlled access to fluid also did not affect salivary cortisol concentrations. The observed changes in cortisol concentrations represent mild stress responses, as they are only a fraction of the range of the regular circadian changes in cortisol levels in rhesus monkeys. They also indicate that combinations of procedures do not necessarily lead to cumulative stress responses. Our results indicate that salivary cortisol levels of rhesus monkeys respond to neurophysiological experimental procedures and, hence, may be used to assess further refinements of such experimental methods.
Current Practices and Challenges of Implementing Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) in Chinese Construction Enterprises

Abstract The concept of holistic risk management has helped many industries around the world create value. However, in the construction industry, practitioners have by far been focusing mainly on risk management at the project level rather than at the enterprise level. The objective of this study is to highlight the current practices and challenges of implementing Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) in Chinese construction enterprises. To achieve this objective, a literature review was first conducted to understand the major concepts of two widely-used ERM standards, the differences between ERM and Project Risk Management (PRM) and the status of ERM in China. A questionnaire survey covering large Chinese construction enterprises was then conducted to evaluate the extent to which they had actualized the ERM framework. The findings show that many Chinese construction enterprises have endeavored to improve their risk management by adopting ERM standards, establishing risk management cells, defining staff’s duties for risk management and formulating some risk management strategies. However, the empirical findings also suggest that most of them need to establish risk management cells, strategies and routines, and most of all, nurture an affirmative risk culture. Senior managers in companies and the academia are likely to find the study useful, as it discusses specific features of ERM in the construction industry, as well as the current status of ERM in China, with a view to stimulate further research.
The Effects of Entrepreneurial Proclivity and Market Orientation on Business Performance

The recent literature suggests a potential tension between market orientation and entrepreneurial proclivity in achieving superior business performance. This is unsettling for marketers, because it could mean that being market oriented is detrimental to a firm that is also trying to be entrepreneurial and successful. To examine this unnerving potential, the authors investigate structural influences (both direct and indirect) of entrepreneurial proclivity and market orientation on business performance. The results indicate that entrepreneurial proclivity has not only a positive and direct relationship on market orientation but also an indirect and positive effect on market orientation through the reduction of departmentalization. The results also suggest that entrepreneurial proclivity's performance influence is positive when mediated by market orientation but negative or nonsignificant when not mediated by market orientation. The authors also provide a discussion and future research implications.
The Effectiveness of Sales Promotion Tools among Indian Consumers: An Empirical Study

Marketers use sales promotions to boost sales. Sales promotion tools vary in their effectiveness to elicit different sales responses. Companies have a specific goal when they choose to use any promotional tool. Many researchers believe that sales promotions are zero sum game. Unlike in the West, in India brand loyalists outnumber price buyers by 200%. This paper investigates the effectiveness of select sales promotional tools in generating different buying behaviors. The study reveals that sales promotions, in India, do not help in category expansion. They are effective measures for inducing brand switching, stock piling, and purchase acceleration.
JCQ scale reliability and responsiveness to changes in manufacturing process.

BACKGROUND The job content questionnaire (JCQ) was administered to automobile manufacturing workers in two interviews, 5 years apart. Between the two interviews, the company introduced substantial changes in production technology in some production areas. The aims were: (1) to describe the impact of these changes on self-reported psychosocial exposures, and (2) to examine test-retest reliability of the JCQ scales, taking into account changes in job assignment and, for a subset of workers, physical ergonomic exposures as assessed through field observations. METHODS The study population included 790 subjects at the first and 519 at the second interview, of whom 387 were present in both. Differences in demand and control scores between interviews were analyzed by Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank test. Test-retest reliability of these scales was evaluated by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and the Spearman's rho coefficient. RESULTS The introduction of more automated technology produced an overall increase in job control but did not decrease psychological demand. The reliability of the control scale was low overall but increased to an acceptable level among workers who had not changed job. The demand scale had high reliability only among workers whose physical ergonomic exposures were similar on both survey occasions. CONCLUSIONS These results show that 5-year test-retest reliability of self-reported psychosocial exposures is adequate among workers whose job assignment and ergonomic exposures have remained stable over time.
Innovation and human resource development (HRD)

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a prologue to the issue of human resource development (HRD) and innovation which has been under-researched despite the widespread recognition of the critical role of innovation for sustained national, regional and organisational competitiveness. Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides an overview of the evolution of innovation within the economic and management literatures. It then examines previous work on human resource management (HRM), HRD and innovation. The paper then provides a brief overview of the articles for this issue focussing on HRD and innovation. Findings – HRD interventions can positively contribute to organisation ' s innovation activities. HRD is also found to positively influence employee engagement, leadership, manager ' s motivation to learn, the promotion of a learning culture, and social capital development all of which are positively associated with innovation. Informal HRD and access to mentors and coaches is shown to be .
Is Speed of Integration really a Success Factor of Mergers and Acquisitions? : An Analysis of the Role of Internal and External Relatedness

Previous research on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) has neglected the issue of speed of post merger integration (PMI) by and large. This paper argues that there are benefits and detriments associated with speed of integration. Thus, in some situations speed may be highly beneficial whereas in others it may be harmful to the success of a merger or acquisition. It is argued that the benefits and detriments of speed of integration depend on the magnitude of internal and external relatedness between the merging firms prior to the merger or acquisition. Results from a survey of 232 horizontal mergers and acquisitions show that speed is most beneficial when external relatedness is low and at the same time internal relatedness is high. In contrast, speed is highly detrimental in the case of low internal and high external relatedness.
Comparison of Pasteurized Autograft-Prosthesis Composite Reconstruction and Resection Hip Arthroplasty for Periacetabular Tumors

Background Because of the high complication rate of anatomical reconstruction after periacetabular resection, the strategy of resection alone has been revisited. However, in terms of complications and functional outcome, whether resection hip arthroplasty (RHA) shows a superior result to that of pelvic ring reconstruction remains controversial. Methods We compared 24 RHAs and 16 pasteurized autograft-prosthesis composite (PPC) reconstructions regarding the complication rates, operative time, blood loss, and functional outcome. Results Compared to 16 PPC hips, 24 RHA hips showed lower major and minor complication rates (p < 0.001), shorter surgical time (p < 0.001), and superior Musculoskeletal Tumor Society scores (p < 0.001). Of the 24 RHA hips, bony neo-acetabulum was identified in 7 on computed tomography and partial neo-acetabulum in 9; the remaining 8 had no bony acetabular structure. The average time to bony neo-acetabulum formation was 7 months (range, 4 to 13 months). Conclusions RHA for periacetabular tumors can be an excellent alternative to anatomical reconstruction. It offers short surgical time, low complication rates, and functional results comparable to those of other reconstruction methods. However, this procedure is indicated for patients who can accept some limb shortening, and a tumor should be confined to the periacetabular area.