Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determinants of Turnover Intentions: Comparing IC and IS Personnel

Personnel is one of the most important resources for the performance of Information Systems IS and Information Center IC organizations. The scarcity of new employees, the difficulty of training and a high turnover make personnel management in these areas a difficult problem. For IS employees, the relationships between job satisfaction, organizational commitment and intention to leave the organization have been established. Because the size of the investment and the number of organizations establishing IC organizations are growing dramatically, it has become important to understand the determinants of turnover intentions for IC as well as IS employees. Are IC employees similar to their IS counterparts? Or, is their nature basically different, as some studies have suggested? This study examines the differences between IS and IC employees in terms of demographic characteristics, participation on boundary spanning activities, role stressors, overall job satisfaction, organizational commitment and turnover intentions. The differences are found to be significant and call for special attention from IC managers to manage more properly their personnel resources. IC employees were found to participate more extensively in boundary spanning activities, experienced more role stressors role ambiguity and role conflict, were less satisfied with their jobs and less committed to their organization. The findings also demonstrate the importance of organizational commitment as an intervening variable in models of turnover. While overall job satisfaction had both direct and indirect effects on turnover intentions among IC employees, for IS personnel it had only indirect effects through organizational commitment. The effects of role stressors and boundary spanning activities were found to be indirect via overall job satisfaction and organizational commitment for both IC and IS employees. The implications of these findings for practicing managers and for future research are discussed.
Diffusion of Information Technology Outsourcing: Influence Sources and the Kodak Effect

The governance of an organizational information technology (IT) infrastructure is steadily shifting away from pure hierarchical and market mechanisms toward hybrid and partnership modes that involve external vendors. In particular, IT outsourcing has recently emerged as a significant administrative innovation in an organization's IT strategy. This paper seeks to explore the sources of influence in the adoption of this innovation. For this purpose, we generated a comprehensive sample of outsourcing contracts in the US using an electronic bibliometric search process. Using diffusion modeling, our empirical analysis shows that the adoption of IT outsourcing is motivated more by internal influence (or imitative behavior) than by external influence amongst the user organizations. Subsequently, we considered the widely-publicized Eastman Kodak's outsourcing decision as a critical event to assess whether this internal influence is more pronounced in the post- Kodak regime than in the pre- Kodak regime. Our results show that internal influence is dominant in the post- Kodak regime but not in the pre- Kodak regime. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.
Medical Status and Medication Use in Patients Attending Shorish Private Dental Specialty in Sulaimani City

Background: Advances in health care and pharmacotherapeutics have led to a growing aging population living with complex medical conditions. These changes are apparent in patients presenting for dental treatment. Patients and methods: This study was carried out among patients (n=1200) who were visiting the department of oral medicine at shorish dental speciality in sulaimani city. The age range was between 10-79 years, 512 (45.2%) of participants were males and 620 (54.8%) were females. The data collected were age, sex, systemic diseases, medications, level of education and habit of smoking. Chi Square test was used to analyze the data. Result: The prevalence of medically compromised conditions in dental patients was 35.24%, females had a significantly higher prevalence of medically compromised conditions (44.19%) than males (24.41%) (p=0.000). The most prevalent encountered disease category was gastrointestinal disorder (14 %) followed by skeletal disorders (11.7%), cardiovascular disorders (9%), and endocrine disorders (5.12%). 14.39% of patients reported taking medications, females took medications more frequently than males (19.35% versus 8.39%) (p=0.000). The most prevalent drugs were antihypertensive medication (5.2%), followed by endocrinologic agents (3.6%) and pain medication (3%). Prevalance of disease is increased significantly with increasing age (p=0.000). Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of medically compromised conditions and a relatively high prevalence of patients taking medications among dental patients, as well as this study reflects the medical complexity of growing aging population; some of them has medically compromised conditions and use medications that are contraindicated for certain dental procedures therefore detailed history, careful examination and necessary medical consultation are mandatory before starting dental treatment.
Application of Social Cognitive Theory to Training for Computer Skills

While computer training is widely recognized as an essential contributor to the productive use of computers in organizations, very little research has focused on identifying the processes through which training operates, and the relative effectiveness of different methods for such training. This research examined the training process, and compared a behavior modeling training program, based on Social Cognitive Theory Bandura [Bandura, A. 1977. Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psych. Rev.842 191--215; Bandura, A. 1978. Reflections on self-efficacy. Adv. Behavioral Res. Therapy1 237--269; Bandura, A. 1982. Self-efficacy mechanism in human agency. Amer. Psychologist372 122--147; Bandura, A. 1986. Social Foundations of Thought and Action. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. ], to a more traditional, lecture-based program. According to Social Cognitive Theory, watching others performing a behavior, in this case interacting with a computer system, influences the observers' perceptions of their own ability to perform the behavior, or self-efficacy, and the expected outcomes that they perceive, as well as providing strategies for effective performance. The findings provide only partial support for the research model. Self-efficacy exerted a strong influence on performance in both models. In addition, behavior modeling was found to be more effective than the traditional method for training in Lotus 1-2-3, resulting in higher self-efficacy and higher performance. For WordPerfect, however, modeling did not significantly influence performance. This finding was unexpected, and several possible explanations are explored in the discussion. Of particular surprise were the negative relationships found between outcome expectations and performance. Outcome expectations were expected to positively influence performance, but the results indicated a strong negative effect. Measurement limitations are presented as the most plausible explanation for this result, but further research is necessary to provide conclusive explanations.
Systematic diagnostic method using magnetic resonance imaging to analyze viscero-bronchial-cardiovascular anomalies in pediatric patients with congenital heart disease

Segmental analysis of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed in 300 patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) (182 cyanotic CHD and 118 acyanotic CHD), between 20 days and 18 years of age. The usefulness of MRI in systematic diagnosis of CHD, which had previously been documented by angiography and echocardiography, was assessed. Electrocardiographyically gated MRI was performed by spin echo and gradient refocused imaging techniques operating at 0.5 tesla. In all 300 patients, not only cardiovascular anomalies of CHD but also viscerobronchial-cardiovascular anomalies were clearly visualized without serious complications due to MRI. In comparing 300 major cardiac anomalies and 1477 segments of the vein, the atrium, the ventricle, and the great arteries visualized by MRI and angiography, discrepancies were found in 7 anomalies (2.3%), and 22 segments (1.5%), respectively. Finally, in 86% (26/30) of patients manifesting atrioventricular valve regurgitation (AVVR), which had been evaluated by echocardiography, the AVVR was also detected on MRI. Based on these findings, segmental analysis of cardiac MRI was found to be safe and useful for systematic diagnosis of viscero-bronchial-cardiovascular anomalies in pediatric patients with CHD.
A Respecification and Extension of the DeLone and McLean Model of IS Success

DeLone and McLean's DeLone, W. H. , E. R. McLean. 1992. Information systems success: The quest for the dependent variable. Inform. Systems Res.31 60--95. comprehensive review of different information system success measures concludes with a model of “temporal and causal” interdependencies between their six categories of IS Success. After working with this model for some years, it has become apparent that the inclusion of both variance and process interpretations in their model leads to so many potentially confusing meanings that the value of the model is diminished. Because of the confusion that this overloading of meanings can cause, this paper presents and justifies a respecified and slightly extended version of DeLone and McLean's model.
GraM: scaling graph computation to the trillions

GraM is an efficient and scalable graph engine for a large class of widely used graph algorithms. It is designed to scale up to multicores on a single server, as well as scale out to multiple servers in a cluster, offering significant, often over an order-of-magnitude, improvement over existing distributed graph engines on evaluated graph algorithms. GraM is also capable of processing graphs that are significantly larger than previously reported. In particular, using 64 servers (1,024 physical cores), it performs a PageRank iteration in 140 seconds on a synthetic graph with over one trillion edges, setting a new milestone for graph engines. GraM's efficiency and scalability comes from a judicious architectural design that exploits the benefits of multi-core and RDMA. GraM uses a simple message-passing based scaling architecture for both scaling up and scaling out to expose inherent parallelism. It further benefits from a specially designed multi-core aware RDMA-based communication stack that preserves parallelism in a balanced way and allows overlapping of communication and computation. A high degree of parallelism often comes at the cost of lower efficiency due to resource fragmentation. GraM is equipped with an adaptive mechanism that evaluates the cost and benefit of parallelism to decide the appropriate configuration. Combined, these mechanisms allow GraM to scale up and out with high efficiency.
Prevalence of the carabelli trait in Iranian adolescents

Aim: The study of dental morphological features is important in anthropological researches, because it can provide information on the dental variations within a specific population. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of Carabelli trait in Iranian adolescents. Subjects and Methods: In this descriptive study, 500 individuals (aged 15-49 years) were examined. Direct intraoral examination was done, morphological details of the crown, and sex of the subjects were recorded and Dahlberg classification system was used. Hydrocolloid impressions were taken and the study was repeated on the dental casts. The resultant data were compared with the clinical data. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests were used for data analysis (α = 0.05). Results: The prevalence of the trait was 96.6%, with significantly different distribution between males and females. Class 6 was the most frequent configuration (28.4%) and Class 1 was the least frequent (6.2%). Conclusions: The frequency of the trait was higher than that in other reports, but nearly similar to that of European groups.
Incidence and mechanism of creatine kinase‐MB enzyme elevation after coronary intervention with different devices

The present study was conducted to evaluate the incidence of CK‐MB elevation and to identify the possible mechanisms of CK‐MB release after various coronary interventional devices. We prospectively studied 1,675 consecutive patients following various coronary interventions for CK‐MB elevation, from January 1997 to February 1998 and followed them for in‐hospital events. CK‐MB elevation was detected in 313 patients (18.7%); with 1–3 × normal in 12.8%, 3–5 × normal in 3.5%, and >5 × normal in 2.4%. CK‐MB elevation was more common after nonballoon devices (19.5% vs. 11.5% after balloon angioplasty; P < 0.01). Among the newer nonballoon devices, rotational atherectomy alone had a lower CK‐MB elevation compared to stent‐alone group (16.0% vs. 20.5%; P = 0.07). On univariate analysis, due to selective use of abciximab in high‐risk coronary interventions, there was higher incidence of CK‐MB elevation with abciximab (24.5% vs. 15.0% without abciximab; P < 0.01). Some kind of procedural complication was observed in 49% of the CK‐MB elevation group, with side‐branch closure being the most frequent (22.7%). In conclusion, CK‐MB elevation is common after successful coronary interventions and is higher after nonballoon devices. Cathet. Cardiovasc. Intervent. 48:123–129, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Effect of Dehydration in the Presence and Absence of the Angiotensin Receptor Blocker Losartan on Blood Constituents in the Camel

Aim: Dromedary camels are extremely well adapted to periods of water deprivation. The physiological mechanisms underlying this adaptation, however, are imperfectly understood. It is likely that the renin-angiotensin system plays an important role although few studies have addressed this possibility in the camel. Accordingly, the effects of long term dehydration alone and with angiotensin II type 1 receptor blocker, losartan, on whole blood and serum constituents were studied in camels. Methods: Twenty eight male camels 3-4 years old were studied while under shade during summer in the Gulf-region, where the ambient temperature was above 40 degree Celsius. The camels were divided into three groups: a control group (n=6) was allowed free access to feed and water, a dehydration group (n=16) was given food ad-lib during 20 days of total water deprivation, and a dehydration plus losartan (losartan) group (n=6) which received losartan 5 mg/Kg daily by intravenous injection during 20 days of dehydration. Results: The body weight of the losartan group decreased by nearly 39.1% across dehydration whereas the reduction in body weight for the dehydration group was nearly 34.5% compared to controls. There was a significant increase in the packed cell volume (p<0.05) and leucocytes count (p<0.01) in the losartan group compared to controls. However, the mean corpuscular volume was significantly higher (p<0.05) in the dehydration group compared to controls. We observed major, statistically significant increases in serum urea (p<0.01) and creatinine (p<0.05) levels in the dehydration and losartan groups compared to controls. By the end of the period of water restriction, serum levels of gamma glutamyl transferase were significantly (p<0.01) lower in the losartan group compared to controls. Conclusion: The results of our experiment show that dehydration alone or in combination with Angiotensin II receptor blocker has major effects on the biochemical and hematological parameters of the camel blood.
Fast implementation of H.264 4x4 intra prediction

This letter proposes a fast parallel architecture and redundancy reduction algorithm for H.264/AVC intra4x4 prediction to speed up intra frame coding. A significant reduction in execution time is achieved without losing video quality. Only 204 cycles are required to process a macroblock (MB). Compared with the dedicated intra prediction [1], processing speed is enhanced by 79%.
A Descriptive Study of Blood Films of Patients Serologically Positive for Dengue in Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan, Kuantan

Introduction: Dengue is one of the commonest infections in Malaysia and it is a notifiable disease. Even though the diagnosis of classical dengue fever and dengue haemorrhagic fever can be recognized clinically, the diagnosis remains a challenge in areas where it could not be differentiated with other febrile illnesses. The aim of this study was to focus on the specific and consistent morphological features observed in blood films of dengue infection. Materials and Methods: In all 400 cases of dengue infection serologically diagnosed in the Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital (HTAA) during May to October 2007, only a total of 27 cases had blood films examined, and thus were included in this study. These blood films were re-examined by two pathologists from HTAA. The full blood count parameters were also retrieved and studied. Results: We consistently found typical reactive lymphocytes [n= 23 (85%)] and thrombocytopenia [n=21, (77.8%)] in the cases. However, leucopenia was present only in 9 cases (33%). Conclusion: The presence of typical reactive lymphocyte is a consistent finding in dengue fever and thus could have a significant role in supporting the diagnosis of dengue infection. KEYWORDS: Dengue infection, reactive lymphocytes, thrombocytopenia
Getting Huge, Getting Ripped: A Qualitative Exploration of Recreational Steroid Use

Steroid use is only now being recognized as a national epidemic. Although American athletes have been using anabolic steroids since the 1950s, it was not until the 1980s that athletic governing bodies began to monitor and sanction illegal supplementation. It is easier to understand why paid, professional athletes might partake in steroid use; keeping up with the competition, sustaining or improving abilities, salary incentives and endorsements based on performance are but a few reasons. But it is more difficult to understand why adult nonprofessional athletes would eagerly flout the law and put their health at risk. Academic research into steroid use has largely ignored this populous group, instead focusing on professional, college or high school/adolescent athletes. Through semi-structured interviews with 37 recreational steroid users, this paper seeks to fill that void by exploring their motivations, knowledge, and attitudes toward illegal anabolic steroids. The findings are discussed in terms of their policy implications.
Niacin Exacerbates Methyl Prednisolone-Induced Bone Changes in Growing Rats

Positive role of niacin on serum lipid profile of rats treated with glucocorticoids (GCs) has been reported. This study aims to evaluate effect of niacin on bone changes in GC-induced dyslipidemic rats. A number of 28 growing rats divided into four groups and treated as control, Methyl prednisolone (MP) group (3.5 mg/kg five days a week, SC); MPN group (MP + niacin 200 mg/kg/day orally) and MPA group (MP + alendronate 0.03 mg/kg/day, SC). After 4 weeks, serum lipid profile and histomorphometric parameters including trabecular width (Tb.Wi), trabecular separation (Tb.Sp) and number (Tb.N), bone area/tissue area (B.Ar/T.Ar) and osteoid thickness (O.Th) in metaphyseal side of growth plate of femoral head were determined. Obvious dyslipidemia and decreased B.Ar/T.Ar and O.Th were observed in MP group. Niacin alleviated dyslipidemia, however MPN rats had appreciably lower Tb.N and higher Tb.Sp as compared to MP group. Alendronate had a moderate positive effect on bone changes. Although niacin effectively ameliorates GC-induced dyslipidemia in growing rats, it may exacerbate bone changes.
Integrating Spreadsheet Engineering in a Management Science Course: A Hierarchical Approach

Business students who rely on spreadsheets can use management science only to the extent that they can build a spreadsheet model of an unstructured business situation. Spreadsheets are the primary vehicle for analytical work in business, are advantageous for modeling and model representation, and are used by management science practitioners as well as end-user modelers. There is a common misperception that spreadsheets are somehow “easy” to use. However, the spreadsheet is a powerful rapid development computer programming language that requires software engineering for serious work. People struggle to efficiently build effective, transferable spreadsheet models. Students need certain spreadsheet engineering principles that they do not know, but value highly when they learn them. Spreadsheet engineering can be taught using a hierarchical “Skills, Capabilities and Practices Model. ” Low-level “Skills” need to be evaluated and fixed early in a spreadsheetoriented management science course. High-level “Capabilities” and “Practices” should be integrated throughout the course. Embracing spreadsheet engineering provides a magnificent opportunity for management science instructors to increase relevance and student satisfaction while increasing the likelihood of management science application by our graduates.
Oculomotor nerve paresis starting as isolated internal ophthalmoplegia

Oculomotor nerve palsies involving only the internal eye muscles are extremely rare. The authors report a 33-year-old female who presented with isolated pupillary and ciliary dysfunction that eventually turned into a typical third nerve palsy. In 1979 she developed a tonically dilated pupil with preserved, but reduced accommodation. In 1993 she began to develop diplopia on eccentric gaze direction. The pupil had become dilated and completely immobile and the ciliary muscle was paralytic. Eye motility abnormalities were consistent with a mild third nerve paresis and there was an elevation of the upper eyelid on adduction (primary misdirected regeneration). MRI revealed a parasellar mass lesion, probably a neurinoma, arising from the right oculomotor nerve. The authors decided not to treat this slowly growing tumor.
Do simple warning signs enhance the use of stairs?

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the use of stairways/moving stairways in shopping malls and examine the extent to which simple warning signs determined whether people took the stairs. Design: Large posters that could readily be seen by mall visitors were situated between the stairs and moving stairways in shopping malls. Setting: A total of 30,026 people who visited the shopping mall over an 11 week period were chosen consecutively for this study. Method: Thirty-three counting operations (2 h/day) were undertaken using two positive posters and one negative poster on different days of the week. In the process of counting, four groups were examined: children, adults aged <55 years, adults aged ≥55 years, and overweight individuals. General observations conducted during the first 2-week period, and the 5th, 8th, and 11th weeks served as control periods. Results: When posters were not shown, rates of stair use were lower among individuals in all age groups, but the ratio of stairway to moving stairway use tripled when positive-direction posters were displayed. Similarly, negative-direction posters decreased the ratio of stair to moving stairway use. Positive-direction posters were strongly associated with stairway use (p = 0.001). Conclusion: This study showed that the use of stairs decreased when no poster was displayed, while positive posters increased stair use and negative posters decreased this behaviour. Individual preference, together with the comfort brought by moving stair technology, consciously or unconsciously causes individuals to avoid activities they can perform during the day.