Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effects of Brand Familiarity on Perceived Risks, Attitudes, and Purchase Intentions toward Intimate Apparel Brands: The Case of Victoria' Secret

The purpose of this research was to examine the effects of brand familiarity on reducing consumers’ perceived risks in intimate apparel shopping, which in turn influence consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions toward intimate apparel brands. To predict relationships among perceptions of risk and consumer behaviors, the present study adopted the perceived risk theory (Cox, 1976) and a modified version of the theory of reasoned action (TRA; Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). An online survey was conducted by recruiting adult females through a large MidSouthern university in the U.S. Reliable and valid measures from previous research were adopted and modified to assess the four variables (i.e., brand familiarity, perceived risk, attitudes, and purchase intentions). A pre-survey of college students was conducted to find the most familiar intimate apparel brand: Victoria’s Secret. Then, throughout the final survey, participants were asked to think of their experiences (i.e. in-store, advertisements, purchase and use of products) and opinions about Victoria’s Secret brand. There were 384 surveys received, but 16 surveys were removed for missing data. A total sample of 368 respondents, 18 years and older, participated in the study. A majority of respondents (85%) were young Caucasian or European women and all respondents were highlyeducated women completing partial college degrees (60%) or higher education (30%). The mean age was 25 years old. Linear regression analysis was conducted to test six proposed hypotheses using SPSS 22.0. All hypothesized paths were found to be significant. Results from this study showed that brand familiarity helps consumers perceive less risk toward a known intimate apparel brand, while increasing attitudes and purchase intentions for that brand. Perceived risks had the strongest impact on attitudes and purchase intentions toward an intimate apparel brand. These findings suggested intimate apparel marketers targeting young female consumers should establish brand familiarity through marketing efforts to decrease consumers’ perceived risks and increase purchase intensions.
Comparison of Risk of Cerebrovascular Events in an Elderly VA Population With Dementia Between Antipsychotic and Nonantipsychotic Users

Introduction: The credibility of an increased risk of cerebrovascular events (CVEs) in elderly patients with dementia being treated with second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) is debatable. Although early published and unpublished data indicated a risk, much of the subsequent literature has not supported this initial finding. Previously published studies were flawed in part because they lacked a control group and did not stratify by dementia subtype. This study examined the risk of a CVE in patients diagnosed with Alzheimer or vascular dementia while being treated with SGA, first-generation antipsychotics, or no antipsychotic medication. Methods: Data from 14,029 patients aged 65 years and older were evaluated using patient information from Veterans Administration and Medicare databases. Patients who received care for dementia were categorized according to dementia subtype (vascular or Alzheimer) and antipsychotic use during an 18-month period. Patients were observed until they were admitted to a hospital for a CVE, stopped taking or switched antipsychotics, died, or until the 18-month observation period ended. Results: Overall, CVE risk did not differ whether patients were receiving a first-generation antipsychotic, SGA, or no antipsychotic therapy. However, patients with vascular dementia had an increased risk in hospitalization for a CVE. There was no increase in risk of a CVE for patients treated with quetiapine, olanzapine, or risperidone relative to haloperidol, or for patients receiving olanzapine or risperidone relative to quetiapine. Stratified subgroup analyses demonstrated no difference in risk for CVE-related admission patients with Alzheimer dementia among individual agents. However, patients with vascular dementia receiving risperidone, but not olanzapine or quetiapine, were found to be at decreased risk for CVE admission relative to haloperidol. Conclusions: This study found no increase in overall risk for CVE-related hospital admission in patients treated with antipsychotic medications.
Online characterization procedure for induction machines using start-up and loading transients

Recently, a modified equivalent circuit has been proposed for the induction machine model where a single branch rotor resistance is changing as a function of speed to better predict the low-frequency deep-rotor-bar effect. This paper presents an online parameter identification procedure based on capturing the start-up transient and loading of the motor. The proposed procedure is simple and carried out on-the-fly while switching on the machine to the nominal voltage. A 3-phase off-the-shelf induction machine is fully characterized using the proposed procedure. Experimental results and simulation studies demonstrate the effectiveness of the characterization procedure and the resulting model.
Syndecan-4 Deficiency Leads to High Mortality of Lipopolysaccharide-injected Mice*

Syndecan-4 is a transmembrane heparan sulfate proteoglycan belonging to the syndecan family. Following intraperitoneal injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), syndecan-4-deficient mice exhibited high mortality compared with wild-type controls. Severe endotoxin shock was observed in the deficient mice: systolic blood pressure and left ventricular fractional shortening were lower in the deficient mice than in the wild-type controls 9 h after LPS injection. Although histological examinations revealed no apparent differences between two groups, the plasma level of interleukin (IL)-1β was higher in the deficient mice than in the wild-type controls 9 h after LPS injection. Consistent with the regulatory roles of syndecan-4, its expression in monocytes and endothelial cells of microvasculature increased in the wild-type mice after LPS administration. Although IL-1β was produced to the same extent by macrophages from syndecan-4-deficient and wild-type mice after LPS stimulation, inhibition of its production by transforming growth factor-β1 was impaired in the syndecan-4-deficient macrophages. These results indicate that syndecan-4 could be involved in prevention of endotoxin shock, at least partly through the inhibitory action of transforming growth factor-β1 on IL-1β production.
Shareholder Diversification and Bank Risk-Taking

Using the entire universe of Bankscope and Amadeus Top 250,000 we construct the portfolios of shareholders who hold equity stakes in publicly traded and privately held European banks for each year over the period 1999–2008. We show that about 62% of banks’ ultimate largest shareholders are diversified investors, holding on average equity investments from thirteen companies in their portfolio. We exploit this heterogeneity to investigate the impact of their portfolio diversification on bank risk-taking. Our results show that the relation between portfolio diversification and bank risk-taking is both statistically significant and economically sizeable. Overall, these findings contribute to the literature by studying for the first time a specific channel through which financial development, in the form of bank shareholders’ diversification, affects the banks’ risk-taking decisions.
Water Security Status in Saudi Arabia: A Threat for Food Security (2000-2014)

Provoked by the threatening situation of water scarcity, this paper aimed at analyzing the current situation of supply and demand for water in Saudi Arabia. The analysis depends on data from, Statistics of Ministry of Economics and Planning, Ministry Water and Electricity in Saudi Arabia, various issues of Statistical Year Book of the Central Department of Statistics and Information and FAO statistics. The authors employed descriptive statistics for analyzing the supply and demand for water in Saudi Arabia during the period 2000-2014. Water scarcity index was estimated for the study period. Regression analysis was employed for estimating the supply and demand functions for water during the period 2000-2014. Results obtained indicated that the increase in total supply of water may be attributed to the increase of, desalinated water, treated sewage water, and treated agricultural drainage water. Based on results, the highest water consuming sector is the agricultural sector as compared to municipal and industry sectors. Results indicated that demand for water is positively affected by the harvested area, population size and number of industries; however a negative relationship between demand for water and per capita gross domestic product is detected. Regarding supply of water, results obtained indicated that the supply of water is positively influenced by the production of desalinated water and the storage capacity of dams. However, a negative relationship between supply of water and the cost of production of desalinated water is observed. Results on per capita supply and demand for water, proved the threatening current and future situations of water security and food security in Saudi Arabia. This results, is confirmed further by high values of water scarcity index. Results on total harvested area and wheat production indicated negative trends during the study period, attributable to the risks associated with water scarcity.
ect of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in patients with chronic heart failure ( the GISSI-HF trial ) : a randomised , double-blind , placebo-controlled trial

Methods We undertook a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 326 cardiology and 31 internal medicine centres in Italy. We enrolled patients with chronic heart failure of New York Heart Association class II–IV, irrespective of cause and left ventricular ejection fraction, and randomly assigned them to n-3 PUFA 1 g daily (n=3494) or placebo (n=3481) by a concealed, computerised telephone randomisation system. Patients were followed up for a median of 3·9 years (IQR 3·0–4·5). Primary endpoints were time to death, and time to death or admission to hospital for cardiovascular reasons. Analysis was by intention to treat. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00336336.
Thermal Capsulorrhaphy for the Treatment of Shoulder Instability

Thermal capsulorrhaphy has been used to treat many different types of shoulder instability, including multidirectional instability, unidirectional instability, and microinstability in overhead-throwing athletes. A device that delivers laser energy or radiofrequency energy to the capsule tissue causes the collagen to denature and the capsule to shrink. The optimal temperature to achieve the most shrinkage without causing necrosis of the tissue is between 65° and 75° centigrade. This treatment causes a significant decrease in mechanical stiffness for the first 2 weeks, and then, after the tissue undergoes active cellular repair from the surrounding uninjured tissue, the mechanical properties return to near normal by 12 weeks. If the thermal energy is applied in a grid pattern, then the tissue heals with more stiffness by 6 weeks. Clinical studies on thermal capsulorrhaphy for the treatment of multidirectional instability have shown a high rate of recurrent instability (12%-64%). The clinical studies on unidirectional instability showed much better recurrence rates (4%-25%), but because most of the patients also underwent concomitant Bankart repairs and superior labral anterior posterior lesion repairs, the efficacy of the thermal treatment cannot be ascertained. A randomized controlled trial would be needed to assess whether instability with Bankart lesions requires augmentation with thermal capsulorrhaphy. For the patients with microinstability who are overhead-throwing athletes, thermal capsulorrhaphy has shown varying results from a 97% rate of return to sports to a 62% rate of return to sports. Complications of this technique include temporary nerve injuries that usually involve the sensory branch of the axillary nerve and thermal necrosis of the capsule, which is rare.
Firm Performance and Mechanisms to Control Agency Problems between Managers and

This paper examines the use of seven mechanisms to control agency problems between man? agers and shareholders. These mechanisms are: shareholdings of insiders, institutions, and large blockholders; use of outside directors; debt policy; the managerial labor market; and the market for corporate control. We present direct empirical evidence of interdependence among these mechanisms in a large sample of firms. This finding suggests that crosssectional OLS regressions of firm performance on single mechanisms may be misleading. Indeed, we find relationships between firm performance and four of the mechanisms when each is included in a separate OLS regression. These are insider shareholdings, outside directors, debt, and corporate control activity. Importantly, the effect of insider sharehold? ings disappears when all of the mechanisms are included in a single OLS regression, and the effects of debt and corporate control activity also disappear when estimations are made in a simultaneous systems framework. Together, these findings are consistent with optimal use of each control mechanism except outside directors.
The Effects of Different Doses of Caudal Morphine with Levobupivacaine on Postoperative Vomiting and Quality of Analgesia after Circumcision

The study aim was to investigate the effect of three different morphine doses added to levobupivacaine 0.125% for caudal analgesia after circumcision surgery in children, particularly in relation to the frequency of postoperative vomiting within the first 24 hours following surgery. Two hundred and forty patients aged 5 to 12 years undergoing circumcision were included in the study. Following induction, caudal 0.125% levobupivacaine 0.5 ml/kg was given after adding 7.5, 10 or 15 μg/kg morphine. The postoperative incidence of vomiting was 5%, 12.5% and 17.5% in the groups 7.5, 10 and 15 μg/kg morphine, respectively (P=0.012, 7.5 versus 15 μg/kg groups). Five percent of the 7.5 μg/kg group and none of the patients in the other groups required paracetamol within the first 12 hours, and there was a significantly greater need for rescue paracetamol over the 24 hours in the 7.5 group versus the 15 μg/kg group (P=0.013). Postoperative analgesic durations were long and did not differ between groups (1273±338, 1361±192 and 1426±48 minutes, respectively, P=0.08). In conclusion, because the incidence of vomiting is very low, the duration of postoperative analgesia is long and a dose of 7.5 μg/kg caudal morphine is much lower than doses previously reported to be associated with respiratory depression, this study supports the use of 7.5 μg/kg caudal morphine added to 0.125% levobupivacaine for circumcision surgery.
Randomized controlled trial of cognitive behavioral therapy vs standard treatment to prevent recurrent cardiovascular events in patients with coronary heart disease: Secondary Prevention in Uppsala Primary Health Care project (SUPRIM).

BACKGROUND Psychosocial factors are independently associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality, but the effects of psychosocial factor intervention on CVD are uncertain. We performed a randomized controlled clinical trial of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to measure its effects on CVD recurrence. METHODS The study included 362 women and men 75 years or younger who were discharged from the hospital after a coronary heart disease event within the past 12 months. Patients were randomized to receive traditional care (reference group, 170 patients) or traditional care plus a CBT program (intervention group, 192 patients), focused on stress management, with 20 two-hour sessions during 1 year. Median attendance at each CBT session was 85%. Outcome variables were all-cause mortality, hospital admission for recurrent CVD, and recurrent acute myocardial infarction. RESULTS During a mean 94 months of follow-up, the intervention group had a 41% lower rate of fatal and nonfatal first recurrent CVD events (hazard ratio [95% confidence interval], 0.59 [0.42-0.83]; P = .002), 45% fewer recurrent acute myocardial infarctions (0.55 [0.36-0.85]; P = .007), and a nonsignificant 28% lower all-cause mortality (0.72 [0.40-1.30]; P = .28) than the reference group after adjustment for other outcome-affecting variables. In the CBT group there was a strong dose-response effect between intervention group attendance and outcome. During the first 2 years of follow-up, there were no significant group differences in traditional risk factors. CONCLUSIONS A CBT intervention program decreases the risk of recurrent CVD and recurrent acute myocardial infarction. This may have implications for secondary preventive programs in patients with coronary heart disease. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00888485.
[The change of telomere protein in BEAS-2B malignant transformation cell induced by coal tar pitch smoke extracts].

OBJECTIVE By testing the changes of telomere binding protein in malignant transformation BEAS-2B cells induced by coal tar pitch smoke extracts, to study the role of protection of telomeres 1 (POT1), telomeric repeat binding factor 1 (TRF1) and TRF2 in tumorgenesis that contact with coal tar pitch. METHODS The BEAS-2B cells were induced by coal tar pitch smoke extracts to form malignant transformation cell model in vitro. The gene expression levels of mRNA were assessed by real-time quantitative RT-PCR, the protein expression variations were determined by cell culture overslip of immunohistochemical methods. RESULTS In malignant transformation cells, the mRNA expression level (POT1: 0.63 ± 0.04, TRF1: 0.36 ± 0.01) and the protein expression level (POT1: 0.36 ± 0.05, TRF1: 0.09 ± 0.03) of POT1 and TRF1 was statistically significant decreased compared to that of BEAS-2B group (mRNA: POT1: 1.00 ± 0.04, TRF1: 1.01 ± 0.16; protein: POT1: 0.55 ± 0.07, TRF1: 0.27 ± 0.07) and DMSO group (mRNA: POT1: 0.89 ± 0.12, TRF1: 0.90 ± 0.08; protein: POT1: 0.55 ± 0.10, TRF1: 0.26 ± 0.04) (P < 0.05); mRNA expression level (1.45 ± 0.07) and the protein expression level (0.88 ± 0.06) of TRF2 was increased compared to that of BEAS-2B group (mRNA: 1.00 ± 0.07, protein: 0.48 ± 0.06) and DMSO group (mRNA: 1.00 ± 0.06, protein: 0.50 ± 0.06) (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION The change of gene and protein expression level in POT1, TRF1, and TRF2 involved in the process that evolved into malignant transformation in bronchial epithelial cells BEAS-2B induced by coal tar pitch smoke extracts.
Anatomy of the Episodic Buffer: A Voxel-Based Morphometry Study in Patients with Dementia

In 2000 Baddeley proposed the existence of a new component of working memory, the episodic buffer, which should contribute to the on-line maintenance of integrated memory traces. The author assumed that this component should be critical for immediate recall of a short story that exceeds the capacity of the phonological store. Accordingly, patients with Alzheimer’s dementia (AD) should suffer of a deficit of the episodic buffer when immediate recall of a short story is impossible. On the other hand, the episodic buffer should be somewhat preserved in such patients when some IR can occur (Baddeley and Wilson, 2002). We adopted this logic for a voxel-based morphometry study. We compared the distribution of grey-matter density of two such groups of AD patients with a group of age-matched controls. We found that both AD groups had a significant atrophy of the left mid-hippocampus; on the other hand, the anterior part of the hippocampus was significantly more atrophic in patients who were also impaired on the immediate prose recall task. Six out of ten patients with no immediate recall were spared at “central executive” tasks. Taken together our findings suggest that the left anterior hippocampus contributes to the episodic buffer of the revised working memory model. We also suggest that the episodic buffer is somewhat independent from the central executive component of working memory.
EXPLORING THE EFFECT OF CONSUMERS’ FOOD-RELATED DECISION MAKING STYLES ON NATIONAL BRAND vs. STORE BRAND CHOICE

It is important for marketers to understand the individuals? buying decisions in a competitive environment. The concept of decision making style is one of the key determinants of consumers? behavioral patterns. This study aims to explore the effects of consumers? decision making styles on buying national and store branded food products. To examine consumer decision making styles, Sproles and Kendall? s (1986) The Consumer Style Inventory (CSI) is adopted in the study. The framework of this study is based on eight consumer decision making style, expected to shape consumers? national and store brand choice on food products. The empirical analysis is based on data obtained from consumers living in K? r? ehir, a city in Turkey. Questionnaires was handed over to 500 customer of retail stores both selling national and their own brands. Firstly, exploratory factor analysis is used to confirm the model, then multiple regression analysis is used to test the hypothesis and to compare consumer? s national and store brand choice, in the context of their decision making styles. The study is expected to help retailers develop suitable strategies for national and store branded food products. In fact it is important to develop a certain and an accurate understanding of consumers? decision making styles for successful marketing and advertising strategies. Besides, different marketing strategies for both national and store branded food products can be tailored to the characteristics of consumers.
Selective Diaphragm Muscle Weakness After Contractile Inactivity During Thoracic Surgery

Rationale:Postoperative pulmonary complications are significant contributors to morbidity in patients who have undergone upper abdominal, thoracic, or cardiac surgery. The pathophysiology of these complications might involve postoperative inspiratory muscle weakness. The nature of postoperative inspiratory muscle weakness is unknown. Objective:To investigate the effect of surgery on the functioning of the diaphragm, the main muscle of inspiration. Methods:Serial biopsies from the diaphragm and the latissimus dorsi muscle were obtained from 6 patients during thoracotomy for resection of a tumor in the right lung. Biopsies were taken as soon as the diaphragm had been exposed (t0) and again after 2 hours (t2). The contractile performance of demembranated muscle fibers, as well as fiber morphology and markers for proteolysis, was determined. Results:In all patients, the force-generating capacity of diaphragm muscle fibers at t2 was significantly reduced (∼35%) compared with that at t0, with a more pronounced force loss in type 2 fibers compared with type 1 fibers. Diaphragm weakness was not part of a generalized muscle weakness as contractile performance of latissimus dorsi fibers was preserved at t2. Diaphragm fiber size and myofibrillar structure were not different at t2 compared with t0, but myosin heavy chain type 2 was significantly reduced at t2 and MuRF-1 mRNA and protein levels were elevated at t2. Conclusions:Only 2 hours of thoracic surgery causes marked, and selective, diaphragm muscle fiber weakness.