Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of low blood pressure in cognitively impaired elderly patients treated with antihypertensive drugs.

IMPORTANCE The prognostic role of high blood pressure and the aggressiveness of blood pressure lowering in dementia are not well characterized. OBJECTIVE To assess whether office blood pressure, ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, or the use of antihypertensive drugs (AHDs) predict the progression of cognitive decline in patients with overt dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Cohort study between June 1, 2009, and December 31, 2012, with a median 9-month follow-up of patients with dementia and MCI in 2 outpatient memory clinics. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Cognitive decline, defined as a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score change between baseline and follow-up. RESULTS We analyzed 172 patients, with a mean (SD) age of 79 (5) years and a mean (SD) MMSE score of 22.1 (4.4). Among them, 68.0% had dementia, 32.0% had MCI, and 69.8% were being treated with AHDs. Patients in the lowest tertile of daytime systolic blood pressure (SBP) (≤ 128 mm Hg) showed a greater MMSE score change (mean [SD], -2.8 [3.8]) compared with patients in the intermediate tertile (129-144 mm Hg) (mean [SD], -0.7 [2.5]; P = .002) and patients in the highest tertile (≥ 145 mm Hg) (mean [SD], -0.7 [3.7]; P = .003). The association was significant in the dementia and MCI subgroups only among patients treated with AHDs. In a multivariable model that included age, baseline MMSE score, and vascular comorbidity score, the interaction term between low daytime SBP tertile and AHD treatment was independently associated with a greater cognitive decline in both subgroups. The association between office SBP and MMSE score change was weaker. Other ambulatory blood pressure monitoring variables were not associated with MMSE score change. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Low daytime SBP was independently associated with a greater progression of cognitive decline in older patients with dementia and MCI among those treated with AHDs. Excessive SBP lowering may be harmful for older patients with cognitive impairment. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring can be useful to help avoid high blood pressure overtreatment in this population.
THE IMPACT OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE MECHANISMS ON RISK MANAGEMENT: EVIDENCE FROM COMMERCIAL BANKS IN ETHIOPIA

The risk positions of Ethiopian banks have been under tension since 2007 as per the National Bank of Ethiopia report (2009). However, existing theory on the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on bank risk-taking still remains limited and the evidence is conflicting. Most studies concentrate on US and European banks, while empirical evidence has remained scarce for Ethiopian banks. Added to that, to my knowledge, there are almost no papers on this subject for commercial banks in Ethiopia. Thus, the main contribution of this study is to shed some light on the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on bank risk-taking and analyze its relationship with credit and liquidity risks in Ethiopian commercial banks. This paper focuses on commercial banks as they constitute an important segment of the Ethiopian banking sector. I employed a panel multiple regression model in which the relationships between credit &liquidity risk with corporate governance mechanism variables are modeled. Ordinary least squares with random effects & pooled OLS estimation procedure are applied to a panel data set of 9 Ethiopian banks over the period 2005 through 2011. Based on the results central bank regulation negatively affects both measures of risks but management efficiency found to have positive impact on both risks. Depositors’ influence has negative and significant impact on liquidity risk but positive and does not impact credit risk. Board meeting frequency has negative impact on both measures of risks. Regarding bank size and inflation both have significant impact on credit risk with a negative and positive coefficients respectively, but insignificant for liquidity risk. Based on independent samples T test results, the study revealed no evidence about the difference on risk management between government and private banks using liquidity risk. With respect to credit risk the result confirmed the belief that private banks manage well credit risk than government-owned banks. Generally, the result is similar to earlier studies (Jensen, 1993 and Greuning and Bratanovic, 2004) that corporate governance has an impact on bank risk management.
Learning and Continuous Improvement

AbstractThe following sections are included:Introduction: The Importance of LearningOrganisational Routines to Enabling LearningContinuous ImprovementCI and Learning/Competence BuildingCharacteristics of Learning OrganisationsTraining and development emphasisEstablish a formal processMeasurementDocumentExperimentChallengeReflect — learn from the pastUse multiple perspectivesDisplayDeveloping CI CapabilityA Reference Model for CI CapabilityCompetence Development Through CILearning to LearnA Methodology for Developing CIConclusions
High-power KTP laser prostatectomy: the new challenge to transurethral resection of the prostate

Purpose of review The quest for a successful surgical modality that can be used in the day-case setting, with minimal risk of complications and without the need for postoperative catheter drainage, may finally be fulfilled in the form of the new-generation, high-power potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) lasers. In this review we will trace the development of KTP laser technology and its use by urologists over the years and describe why its physical properties make it so different from the lasers of the past. Recent findings The most high powered (80 W) incarnation has a relatively short history, particularly in terms of peer-reviewed publications. We will, however, outline the data so far and demonstrate what an exciting tool this represents for the urologist not only in terms of qualitative and quantitative improvements in lower urinary tract symptoms, but also in offering a day case, and in some instances catheterless, procedure with the prospect of a significantly lower impact on sexual function compared with standard surgical options. Summary Despite the lack of long-term data it is certainly possible that high-power KTP lasers represent a very significant challenge to the ‘gold standard’ status of transurethral resection of the prostate. Furthermore, the ability to use this technology to safely and effectively treat very large prostates represents an opportunity to assign the associated morbidity of the open prostatectomy to the annals of history.
A multi-objective particle swarm optimization for openshop scheduling problems

This article proposes a particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique to address open-shop scheduling problems with multiple objectives. Because PSO was originally formulated to treat continuous optimization problems, we modified the particle position representation, particle velocity, and particle movement to consider the essentially discrete nature of scheduling problems. The modified PSO was tested using two benchmark problems to evaluate its performance. The results demonstrated that the algorithm performed better when only one swarm was used for all three objectives compared to the case where the swarm was divided into three sub-swarms for each objective.
Factors Influencing the Performance of Female Owned Enterprises: a Case of Businesses in the Central Business District of Nairobi, Kenya

xi CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION . 1 1.1 Background of the Study . 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem . 4 1.3 Purpose of the Study . 5 1.4 Objectives of the Study . 5 1.5 Research Questions . 6 1.6 Significance of the Study . 6 1.7 Delimitation of the Study . 7 1.8 Limitation of the Study . 7 1.9 Assumptions of the Study . 7 1.10 Definition of Key Terms . 8 1.11 Organization of the study . 8 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW . 10 2.
Impact of lymph node management on resectable non-small cell lung cancer patients.

BACKGROUND A surgical lung resection with systematic mediastinal lymph node (LN) dissection is recommended by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network guideline. However, the effective number of dissected LNs, stations and positivity is still controversial. The aim of this study is to identify the impact of total numbers, LN stations and positivity of dissected LNs on tumor recurrence and overall death in resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS This prognostic study used a retrospective data collection design. Adult patients with clinical resectable NSCLC who underwent pulmonary resection and mediastinal lymphadenectomy at Chiang Mai University between June 2000 and June 2012 were enrolled in this study. A multilevel mixed-effects parametric survival model was used to identify the effect of numbers, LN stations and positivity of dissected LNs to tumor recurrence and mortality. RESULTS The average number of dissected LNs was 22.7±12.8. Tumor recurrence was found in 51.3% and overall mortality was 43.3%. The number of dissected LNs was a prognostic factor for tumor recurrence [HR 0.98, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.96-0.99]. There was a significant difference at the cut-pointed value of 11 dissected LNs for tumor recurrence (HR 2.22, 95% CI: 1.26-3.92). Dissection less than 11 nodes and less than 5 stations indicated a poor prognostic factor for tumor recurrence: for 3-4 stations (HR 3.01, 95% CI: 1.22-7.42) and for 1-2 stations (HR 1.96, 95% CI: 1.04-3.72). The positivity of dissected LNs was also a prognostic factor for tumor recurrence and overall mortality (HR 1.01, 95% CI: 1.01-1.02 and HR 1.01, 95% CI: 1.01-1.03, respectively). CONCLUSIONS Eleven or more LN dissection with at least 5 stations influenced recurrent-free survival. Systematic LN dissection (SLND) should be performed not only to identify the positivity of dissected LNs but also to determine an accurate tumor nodal stage. A larger cohort should be further conducted to support these findings.
l-amino acid oxidases of Proteus rettgeri

Proteus rettgeri has been found to contain two separable 1-amino acid oxidases. Both enzymes are particulate in nature, neither being ribosomal bound. One of these enzymes appears to have broad specificity, being active toward monoaminomonocarboxylic, imino, aromatic, sulfur-containing, and beta-hydroxyamino acids. The other enzyme has more limited specificity, catalyzing the oxidative deamination of the basic amino acids and citrulline. The affinity of this oxidase for the various substrates at pH 7.6 in decreasing order is arginine, histidine, ornithine, citrulline, and lysine. This enzyme has a particularly high affinity for arginine (Km equal to 0.27 mM), and anomalous kinetics are observed with increasing substrate concentrations. When concentrations of arginine greater than 1.0mM were added to the reaction containing histidine, imidazole pyruvate formation was completely inhibited.
NUTRIENT AVAILABILITY AND SUPPLEMENTATION OF AREA SPECIFIC MINERAL S AND VITAMINS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF CROSSBRED COWS IN BARGARH DISTRICT OF ODISHA

Dept. of Animal nutrition, College of Veterinary Science & Animal Husbandry, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar-751003, Odisha, India. Corresponding author. e-mail: babuivri@gmail.com ABSTRACT: To assess the availability of nutrients and the effect of area specific mineral mixture supplementation along with vitamins on growth and serum mineral profile, thirty crossbred cows were randomly divided into three equal groups. Group T0 served as control, the animals here were maintained as per the traditional practices of the farmer without any nutritional intervention, whereas in T1 group animals were supplemented with area specific mineral mixture @ 50 g per day per animal, and in T2 group along with area specific mineral mixture, 5 ml of fat soluble vitamins containing Vit. A, Vit. D3, Vit. E was injected to each animal at 0 day and 7th day of the experiment. This experiment was continued for 60 days, during which initial and final bodyweight was recorded. Blood samples were collected at 0 day and 60 days to assess the serum mineral concentrations. There was significant (P<0.05) increase in the serum mineral concentration (calcium, phosphorous, zinc, manganese and copper) of the treatment groups than the control. However, the average daily gain (g) of the treatment groups did not differ significantly (P>0.05) from the control group. The results suggest that supplementation of area specific mineral mixture alone or along with vitamins may enhance the serum minerals concentration without affecting body weight gain of crossbred cows.
Physician performance and racial disparities in diabetes mellitus care.

BACKGROUND Little information is available regarding variations in diabetes mellitus (DM) outcomes by race at the level of individual physicians. METHODS We identified 90 primary physicians caring for at least 5 white and 5 black adults with DM across 13 ambulatory sites and calculated rates of ideal control of hemoglobin A(1c) (HbA(1c)) (<7.0%), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (<100 mg/dL), and blood pressure (<130/80 mm Hg). We fitted hierarchical linear regression models to measure the contributions to racial disparities of patient sociodemographic factors, comorbidities, and physician effects. Physician effects modeled the extent to which black patients achieved lower control rates than white patients within the same physician's panel ("within-physician" effect) vs the extent to which black patients were more likely than white patients to receive care from physicians achieving lower overall control rates ("between-physician" effect). RESULTS White patients (N = 4556) were significantly more likely than black patients (N = 2258) to achieve control of HbA(1c) (47% vs 39%), LDL-C (57% vs 45%), and blood pressure (30% vs 24%; P < .001 for all comparisons). Patient sociodemographic factors explained 13% to 38% of the racial differences in these measures, whereas within-physician effects accounted for 66% to 75% of the differences. Physician-level variation in disparities was not associated with either individual physicians' overall performance or their number of black patients with DM. CONCLUSIONS Racial differences in DM outcomes are primarily related to patients' characteristics and within-physician effects, wherein individual physicians achieve less favorable outcomes among their black patients than their white patients. Efforts to eliminate these disparities, including race-stratified performance reports and programs to enhance care for minority patients, should be addressed to all physicians.
Coping styles to basic disorders among schizophrenics

Coping efforts to subjectively experienced basic disorders were investigated by self‐report in 60 chronic schizophrenics in Japan, and the relationships to clinical and demographic variables, intelligence, personality, and attitude toward their illness were analyzed. Self‐reports on coping efforts were obtained for more than half of all subjectively experienced basic disorders, and the predominant technique was reported to be the approach oriented towards problem‐solving. Within each coping style, the behavioral change, divertive problem‐solving approach correlated negatively with hospitalization and symptoms, and the struggle, problem‐solving efforts without any effective results correlated positively with symptoms. Suggestions regarding integration of these self‐efforts into psychosocial treatment of schizophrenia are discussed.
RAPID ACTING INSULIN ANALOGUES

Different kinds of insulin analogues, both short acting as well as long acting, are now available which offer several benefits over human insulins including improved physiologic profile, greater convenience, reduced risk of hypoglycemia and, in some instances, less weight gain. Combined, these elements may increase a patient’s adherence to treatment, potentially increasing the level of glycemic control and improving the prognosis in patients with diabetes mellitus. Rapid-acting insulin analogues, namely aspart, lispro and glulisine have very similar pharmacokinetic profiles that mirrors endogenous insulin more closely than regular human insulin. These insulin analogues can also be given closer to mealtimes and are less likely to cause hypoglycemia. While insulin lispro differs from human insulin by substitution of proline with the lysine at position 28 and lysine with proline at position 29 of the insulin β-chain, insulin aspart is designed with the replacement of proline by aspartic acid at position 28. Meanwhile, insulin glulisine is a novel rapid acting insulin analogue designed with the substitution of lysine with asparagine at position 3 and by substitution of glutamine at position 29 by lysine in the insulin β-chain. RAPID ACTING INSULIN ANALOGUES Jitendra Singh, Jammu These analogues are present either in monomeric form or in very weakly bound hexameric form. They are rapidly absorbed in <30 minutes following subcutaneous injection and have a short time to peak insulin concentration of 1 hour and a shorter duration of action of 3–4 hours when compared with regular human insulin. The simplicity and efficacy of insulin analogues should help facilitate a patient’s transition to insulin therapy. Current guidelines advocate starting insulin therapy in patients who have not achieved glycemic targets or those with glycated hemoglobin greater than 8.5% and adjusting doses as necessary.
The role of retinoic acid in the morphogenesis of the neural tube

We have examined the role of the signalling molecule, retinoic acid, in the process of neurulation and the subsequent growth and differentiation of the central nervous system using quail embryos that have developed in the absence of retinoic acid. Such retinoic acid‐free embryos undergo abnormal neural tube formation in terms of its shape and structure, but the embryos do not display spina bifida or exencephaly. The neural tubes have a wider floor plate, a thicker roof plate and a different dorsoventral shape. Phalloidin staining and electron microscopy revealed alterations in the actin filaments and the junctional complexes of the cell layer lining the lumen. Initially the neural tubes proliferated at the same rate as normal, but later the proliferation rate declined drastically and neuronal differentiation was highly deficient. There were very few motoneurons extending neurites into the periphery, and within the neural tube axon trajectories were chaotic. These results reveal several functions for retinoic acid in the morphogenesis and growth of the neural tube, many of which can be explained by defective notochord signalling, but they do not suggest that this molecule plays a role in neural tube closure.
Forecasting patronage factors of Islamic credit card as a new e-commerce banking service: An integration of TAM with perceived religiosity and trust

Purpose Understanding the important patronage factors of Islamic credit card as a new e-commerce banking service is essential for bankers and users. Although some previous studies have focused on the factors that influence adoption of Islamic credit card, there are few empirical research studies that use a well-established adoption model that helps bankers and consumers to accept and use the Islamic credit card. This study aims to provide such a model to facilitate the adoption of Islamic credit card. Design/methodology/approach In response, a conceptual model was developed that combines the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) with perceived religiosity (a new developed construct in this study) and trust to explain usage intention of this new banking product. Accordingly, the data were collected from 327 bank customers, and the results supported the applicability of TAM to describe usage behavior of Islamic credit card. Besides, the newly developed construct (perceived religiosity) increased the TAM power regarding explaining adoption of a new e-commerce banking service. Findings Theoretically, the results of this study advocate that perceived religiosity increase the TAM predictive power to clarify intention to use. While, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and attitude explained low level of the variance regarding intention to use, by adding perceived religiosity to TAM, these constructs contributed to an increase in the described variance, therefore offering a better explanatory power. In addition, the proposed joint TAM, perceived religiosity and trust explained 57.1 per cent of usage behavior variance. These results are of prime importance, as, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that proves the applicability of TAM for explaining adoption and usage of the Islamic credit card. Originality/value The findings of the current study showed that perceived usefulness is an important factor effecting people’s intention to use the Islamic credit card. Consequently, managers need to first ensure that the Islamic credit card and its services are technically sound and work in an appropriate manner. The focus should be on promoting speed, efficiency and effectiveness of this new product. In financial part, there is a need to reduce the interest rate in the long run to encourage potential users to consider the usage of the Islamic credit card and its offered services.
Sociodemographic Variation in Knowledge of Osteoporosis and Locally Available Calcium-Rich Foods Among Urban Women Living on Low Incomes in Davao, Philippines

We explored knowledge of osteoporosis and locally available calcium-rich foods among 1,151 urban women in the Philippines and analyzed the cross-sectional associations of their responses to questions about knowledge with their age, educational background, and family income status. In total, 80.3% of the women had heard about osteoporosis; a higher educational background independently predicted this awareness. For knowledge about locally available calcium-rich foods, older age was a positive predictor, whereas higher educational background was a negative predictor. We believe that more emphasis should be placed on locally available foods as part of nutritional education for young urban Filipinos.
VALIDATING THE TECHNOLOGY-ASSISTED SUPPLEMENTAL WORK SCALE (TASW)

The traditional advantage of using Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) to enhance work flexibility also has a drawback of enabling academics to continue working even after regular working hours. This phenomenon has been referred to as technology-assisted supplemental work (TASW). Although TASW enhances academics’ work productively, they also have a negative impact on their family-life. The impact TASW has on academics and on higher education institutions can be understood by measuring the phenomenon properly by using a reliable and valid scale. The aim of this study is too validate a newly developed TASW scale by Fenner and Renn (2010). This study adopted a quantitative research approach and used an online survey to gather data. The sample included academic from a higher education in South Africa (n = 216). The results indicate that the TASW is a valid and reliable measure of technology among the sample of South African academics.