Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Community Outbreak of Rotavirus Diarrhea Associated With Exposures in a Hospital Outpatient Department in South China

Introduction: Between October 1 and December 10, 2006, Bao'an, China had a 5-fold increase in acute rotavirus gastroenteritis (ARGE) cases compared with the same time in 2005. To identify the risk factors for ARGE during this outbreak, we conducted a case-control study among children ≤24 months old from the most heavily affected area. Methods: We defined an ARGE case as diarrhea, with group A rotavirus antigen detected from fecal samples by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test. In the case-control study, 86 confirmed ARGE cases were identified. We enrolled 98 healthy control children matched by age. We administered questionnaires about exposures through telephone interviews. Results: Of 8 general exposure types, we identified the following as being associated with ARGE: visiting outpatient services of hospital X, odds ratio (OR) = 7.1 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.2–26); contact with other children with diarrhea, OR = 2.1 (95% CI, 1.1–3.7); and hand-washing before eating, OR = 0.48 (95% CI, 0.27–0.82). After improvements in the outpatient department of hospital X, ARGE incidence in the community during the ARGE transmission season (October through December) decreased from 4.3/10000 in 2006 to 1.4/10000 in 2009. Conclusions: Outpatient services in hospital X may have contributed to the transmission of ARGE and improvements in infection control practices in this setting were associated a marked decrease incidence of ARGE in this community.
European Capital Structures: Managerial Insight and Governance Regimes

We investigate the determinants of Capital Structure in Europe and we implement a novel approach focusing on the relevance of manager’s knowledge and behaviors for leverage ratios in aggregate. We show that this relevance is moderated by the governance structure of firms. Specifically we show that firms with concentrated-ownership exhibit a negative relation between managerial sentiment and both measures of leverage (market and book leverages) while firms with dispersed ownership exhibit a positive relation to market leverage only (no relation is obtained on medium-range firms). We further show that other dimensions relating to transparency, size & prominence moderate the relationship. Our contribution extends to debates on agency and corporate governance. We emphasize the practical importance between two dominant views of agency: managers vs. shareholders and control-holders vs. minority shareholders. While illustrating this relevance, we suggest that different governance structures, that is, different kinds of agency conflicts, lead to different managers’ behaviors in aggregate and different market valuation of these behaviors. An implication is that a normative assessment of managerial action may depend on the underlying governance regime.
e-WOM: the effects of online consumer reviews on purchasing decisions

Internet has become the primary source of information for a large number of consumers and it has dramatically changed the consumer behaviour. The arrival and expansion of the internet has extended consumers’ options for gathering product information by including other consumers’ comments, posted on the internet, and has provided consumers opportunities to offer their own consumption-related advice by engaging in electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM). The aim of this study is to assess the impact of, one type of e-WOM, the online consumer review, on purchasing decision. This empirical study also focuses on the relationship between reviews and purchasing behaviour. The results show that consumer reviews have a causal impact on consumer purchasing behaviour and they have an effect on choosing the products by consumer. Finally, the results and their implications are discussed.
The Effects of the Housing Crisis on Labor Mobility and Unemployment

The recent housing crisis has had drastic effects on the labor market. Falling home values have forced some homeowners to remain in their homes for financial reasons even when a move is desired because they are locked-in. When labor cannot move freely from place to place, employment is affected. The greater the lock-in effect, the more negative the labor market externalities. In this paper, the relationship among homeownership, labor mobility, and unemployment is examined. The lock-in effect, nominal loss aversion, and Oswald’s hypothesis will all be applied to the recent housing crisis in an effort to show the drastic economic effects the crisis will continue to have into the future. The results of this research predict that the economic recovery will continue to be slow and that the labor market may not fully recover for a very long time. More research will certainly need to be done to confirm these findings and the correlation among homeownership, labor mobility, and unemployment. THE EFFECTS OF THE HOUSING CRISIS ON LABOR MOBILITY 3 The Effects of the Housing Crisis on Labor Mobility and Unemployment
Ethical and Legal Foundations of Relational Marketing Exchanges

Previous study of exchange by marketing scholars has emphasized events and conditions leading to and the outcomes of exchange interaction. However, limited attention has been directed toward the role of ethics and law in exchange. The emerging perspective of relational exchange suggests the importance of these foundations. The authors examine the interrelationship of contract law and ethics for building and sustaining marketing exchanges. They explore dimensions of ethical exchange and offer managerial and research implications.
HIV/AIDS Risk Among Brothel-Based Female Sex Workers in China: Assessing the Terms, Content, and Knowledge of Sex Work

Background: Sexual transmission of HIV in China is rapidly increasing, in part driven by commercial sex work. Goal: This article examines variations in occupational control among one type of brothel-based prostitutes in China, and the relationship between the terms and content of this work and the risk of HIV/AIDS. Organizational factors are discussed as part of the current political, economic, and social context of sex work in China. Study: The analysis is based on ethnographic observation and in-depth interviews conducted in south China in 2000 and 2001 involving 158 female prostitutes from 45 brothels in 4 red light districts. Qualitative analysis of interview and observational data used development of thematic codes measuring occupational control. Results: Brothel-based female sex workers in China are a heterogeneous population, displaying considerable variability in the organization of life and work, relationships with managers and clients, ability to negotiate condom use, knowledge of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV, and occupational identity, all of which may result in different risks of acquiring HIV. Conclusion: HIV prevention activities in China must focus on sociocultural aspects of sex work. Such interventions depend on detailed knowledge of its organization. The results of this study demonstrate the importance of prevention activities directed at the brothel managers and clients, as well as the sex workers.
Consumer Disidentification and Its Effects on Domestic Product Purchases: An Empirical Investigation in the Netherlands

Consumers’ local bias is an important determinant of domestic product purchase behavior. Because of its importance, authors across various disciplines have investigated this phenomenon using the consumer ethnocentrism model. However, the research reported herein demonstrates that such an approach provides an incomplete picture at best. This research provides an initial test of the consumer disidentification (CDI) construct. In contrast with consumer ethnocentrism, the CDI model predicts that consumers’ repulsion toward their domestic country negatively affects the purchase of products made in their domestic country or by domestic firms. The model is tested using survey data from 1534 second-generation immigrants who were born in and live in the Netherlands. Structural equation modeling supports the model and shows that CDI has a significant impact on buying decisions beyond the effect of consumer ethnocentrism. The results further show that for second-generation Turkish immigrants, acculturation and ethnic identification are important predictors of both consumer ethnocentrism and CDI. The article discusses the implications of these findings for research and practice.
Improvement of survival from hemorrhagic shock by enterectomy in rats: finding to implicate the role of the gut for irreversibility of hemorrhagic shock.

OBJECTIVE This study used a Wiggers shock model to investigate the effect of the removal of the intestines on the outcome of hemorrhagic shock. METHODS Rats were subjected to laparotomy for the removal of the entire small and large intestines (experimental group) or a sham operation (control group) before bloodshedding. During the period of shock, animals were maintained at 30-35 mm Hg arterial pressure for 2 hours. After reinfusion of the shed blood, rats were observed for over 3 hours for survival. The average volumes (mean +/- SEM) of shed blood were 6.84 +/- 0.23 mL (experimental group) and 6.49 +/- 0.39 mL (control group), with no significant difference between the two (p > 0.05). RESULTS This protocol resulted in a 42% mortality (11 of 26) in the control group and 0% mortality (0 of 25) in the experimental group (p < 0.005, chi2). Moreover, in the survivors, the mean arterial pressure was significantly lower in the control (65.7 +/- 4.3 mm Hg) than in the experimental group (78.2 +/- 3.5 mm Hg) at the end of the experiment (p < 0.05). Comparing volume status, neither serial hematocrit values nor body weight changes through the experiment had a significant difference between the two groups (p's > 0.05). Serial quantitation of blood levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) revealed that systemic TNF-alpha concentrations peaked at 4 hours after shock in both groups. TNF-alpha levels were not reduced by enterectomy. Instead, the peak concentrations were significantly higher in the enterectomized (387.5 +/- 36.5 pg/mL, n = 13) than in the sham-enterectomized group (175.7 +/- 35.9 pg/mL, n = 12,p < 0.001). Limulus assay, used to detect endotoxins in the blood at 2 hours after restoration of blood volume, showed no endotoxemia in any specimen from either group. Four hours after hemorrhagic shock, blood levels of platelet-activating factor, quantitated by the radioimmunoassay method, were 2.88 +/- 0.18 ng/mL (experimental group, n = 8) and 2.32 +/- 0.32 ng/mL (control group, n = 6). The difference between these two means was not significant (p > 0.05). Measurement of hepatic adenosine triphosphate (ATP) by the luminometric method showed that hepatic ATP contents were significantly reduced in both groups after shock (p's < 0.05). However, a higher magnitude of hepatic ATP depletion occurred in the control group; significantly lower amounts of ATP in the liver tissues of the sham-enterectomized group (367 +/- 95 nmol/g, n = 7) than in that of the enterectomized group (870 +/- 100 nmol/g, n = 13) were observed at 5 hours after shock (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS These experimental findings show that, in the absence of the intestines, hemorrhagic shock is associated with both an improved outcome and higher hepatic ATP levels in rats, suggesting the importance of intestinal participation in the process leading to hepatic ATP depletion as well as irreversibility in shock.
Propensity-Based Matching between Esophagogastric Cancer Patients Who Had Surgery and Who Declined Surgery after Preoperative Chemoradiation

Background: Trimodality therapy (TMT; chemoradiation plus surgery) has level-1 evidence for survival advantage for TMT-eligible esophagogastric cancer patients. Some patients, however, decline surgery after preoperative chemoradiation. The question of which patient should have esophagectomy and which one should not is unlikely to be answered by a prospective comparison; therefore, we matched the clinical covariates of several patients who had surgery with those who declined surgery (DS). Methods: Between 2002 and 2011, we identified 623 patients in our databases. Of 623 patients, 244 patients had TMT and 61 TMT-eligible patients were in the DS group. Using the propensity-score method, we matched 16 covariates between 36 DS patients and 36 TMT patients. Results: Baseline characteristics between the two groups were balanced (p = NS). The median overall survival times were: 57.9 months (95% CI: 27.7 to not applicable, NA) for the DS group and 50.8 months (95% CI: 30.7 to NA) for the TMT group (p = 0.28). The median relapse-free survival times were: 18.5 (95% CI: 11.5-30.4) for the DS group and 26.5 months (95% CI: 15.5-NA) for the TMT group (p = 0.45). Eleven (31%) of 36 patients in the DS group had salvage surgery. Conclusions: Our results are intriguing but skewed by the patients who had salvage surgery in the DS group. Until highly reliable predictive models are developed for esophageal preservation, TMT must be encouraged for all TMT-eligible gastroesophageal cancer patients.
Thinking locally: exploring the importance of a subsidiary-centred model of FDI-related spillovers in Brazil

This paper investigates FDI-related spillovers in Brazil. Contrasting to previous studies on other emerging economies, it found horizontal spillovers. However, spillovers did not arise simply as consequence of technology transfer from MNC headquarters as the standard approach presumes; nor were associated with differences in technological intensity across industries, in domestic firms' absorptive capability. Instead, spillovers were associated with particular kinds of localised knowledge-creation activities by subsidiaries. Those findings have both significant theory and policy implications. They help to make clear the explanatory limitations of the dominant 'centrally-driven' perspectives, and point to the relevance of focusing on subsidiaries' technological behaviour in order to explain the existence or not of FDI-related spillovers. This implies that government policies aiming at simply attracting FDI do not ensure that FDI-related spillovers will automatically take place. Instead, effective policies on this matter should be concerned with the innovative behaviour of already established subsidiaries.
Horizontal networks and collaborative marketing in the Tasmanian wine industry

In the past thirty or so years, an increasing number of organisations have formed business-to-business relationships as an alternative to traditional market exchange. Much of the literature in this area focuses on the nature of dyadic relationships or vertical networks between heterogeneous businesses in a supply chain. Far less research has examined how competitors interact at a network level, and, more specifically, why these organisations would choose to engage in collaborative marketing. This thesis examines the nature of horizontal networks and collaborative marketing in the context of the Tasmanian wine industry. It uses network theory to explore the phenomena of inter-producer relationships within a specific wine region of Australia. The research is guided by the following questions: why do Tasmanian wine producers join horizontal networks, what types of collaborative marketing do Tasmanian wine producers engage in within horizontal networks, and what factors affect collaborative marketing between Tasmanian wine producers in horizontal networks. Qualitative data were gathered via in-depth interviews with firstly, industry informants, and secondly, individual wine producing businesses. These data were supplemented with information drawn from websites, industry publications, and news sources. A key aim of the study was to explore how horizontal networks are perceived by Tasmanian wine producers, and to what extent these businesses engage in collaborative marketing. Analysis of the data revealed that there are three horizontal networks within the Tasmanian wine industry, which are all of a formal nature. While these networks share a similar purpose, there was divergence between how successful each network‟s attempts at collaborative marketing had been. Furthermore, certain horizontal networks in the industry boasted higher levels of member trust, commitment, mutual benefit, and camaraderie. These factors have led to differences in the way each network is perceived, and the benefits of collaboration each offers. Parallels between Tasmania‟s only state-wide industry association and the state‟s largest sub-regional network, have resulted in some conflict and rivalry which, going forward, may restrict the implementation of collaborative marketing at a state-wide level.
Investigations on the fate of sulfadiazine in manured soil: Laboratory experiments and test plot studies

The fate of 14C‐labeled sulfadiazine (SDZ) in manured soil has been investigated in laboratory test systems. In the first approach, stability of 14C‐SDZ in liquid bovine manure has been tested. Only 1% of the initially applied radiotracer was mineralized to 14C‐carbon dioxide and 82% were transferred to nonextractable residues within a 102‐d incubation period. Test slurries with defined aged residues were prepared and, supplementary to standard solutions, applied to silty‐clay soil samples. These tests showed the high affinity of 14C‐SDZ residues to the soil matrix. In the second approach, basic data on microbial, chemical, and photoinduced degradability in soil were gathered. The data indicated the formation of nonextractable residues as the predominant process in soil, which was accelerated by the test slurry application. In the third approach, laboratory lysimeter tests were conducted to investigate leaching and degradation as simultaneously occurring processes. The 14C‐SDZ residues (64%) mainly were retained in the surface layer as nonextractable residues. Although a high mobility in soil was revealed by a soil/water distribution coefficient of 2 L kg−1, percolate contamination amounted to only 3% of the initially applied 14C‐SDZ. The tendencies of leaching and degradability in soil also were observed in test plot studies under field conditions.
The effect of different antidepressant drugs on oxidative stress after lipopolysaccharide administration in mice

This study investigated the effect of the serotonin selective reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) fluoxetine, sertraline, fluvoxamine and the tricyclic antidepressant (TCA) impiramine on oxidative stress in brain and liver induced by lipopolysaccharide administration in mice. Each drug was administered subcutaneously at doses of 10 or 20 mg/kg, for two days prior to intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of lipopolysaccharide E (LPS: 200 µg/kg). Mice were euthanized 4 h after administration of the lipopolysaccharide. Lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde; MDA), reduced glutathione (GSH) and nitric oxide (nitrite/nitrate) concentrations were measured in brain and liver. Results: The administration of lipopolysaccharide increased oxidative stress in brain and liver; it increased brain MDA by 36.1 and liver MDA by 159.8 %. GSH decreased by 34.1 % and 64.8 % and nitric oxide increased by 78.7 % and 103.8 % in brain and liver, respectively. In brain, MDA decreased after the administration of sertraline and by the lower dose of fluoxetine or fluvoxamine, but increased after the higher dose of imipramine. Reduced glutathione increased after sertraline, fluvoxamine and the lower dose of fluoxetine or imipramine. Nitric oxide decreased by sertraline, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine and by the lower dose of imipramine. In the liver, all drugs decreased MDA and increased GSH level. Nitric oxide is decreased by sertraline, fluvoxamine and by the lower dose of fluoxetine or imipramine. It is concluded that, during mild systemic inflammatory illness induced by peripheral bacterial endotoxin injection, the SSRIs fluoxetine, sertraline and fluvoxamine reduced, while the TCA impiramine increased oxidative stress induced in the brain. The SSRIs as well as imipramine reduced oxidative stress due to lipopolysaccharide in liver tissue.
Strategic Capabilities for Product Innovation in SMEs

With the advent of globalization and the knowledge economy, an important issue has arisen concerning the relationship between the strategic capabilities of SMEs and their capacity to innovate. From a contingency perspective, one would argue that the firm's strategic capabilities can be leveraged for the purposes of innovation to the extent that these capabilities are in strategic co-alignment. This gives rise to the following empirical research questions: (a) are the networking, R&D and technological capabilities of SMEs co-aligned such that one can observe different organizational gestalts, and (b) does co-alignment of these capabilities lead to a successful outcome in terms of innovation? In answer to these questions, the authors present the results of a study of 205 Canadian manufacturing firms. Through cluster analysis, three gestalts are identified – entrepreneurial SMEs, engineering SMEs and administrative SMEs. Analysis of these gestalts indicates that entrepreneurial SMEs clearly lead the other two in R&D capability and product innovation.
What is Strategy in Urban Mobility Systems

The analysis of the evolution of the organizational and institutional framework of the urban mobility systems around the world provides the evidence that in the large majority of cities the division between decisions of strategic, tactical or operational character is quite blurred. Very often we see a considerable overlap between the decision levels and today we have the evidence that this is a major factor that hinders the evolution and good management of the urban mobility systems. From our experience in observing and analysing urban mobility systems the main reason for this outcome is the absence of a defined strategy for these systems. This absence is confirmed in all types of urban configurations and dimensions – town, conurbation, city, metropolitan area, etc. From the survey undertaken in the different countries and continents, we have observed common difficulties presented by decision makers when confronted with this concept – strategy – in the context of the urban mobility systems. The concept of “urban” involves a series of interrelated dimensions, among which: population size and density; spatial, economic and social organization; variety of functions and institutional interactions; social values of population or degree of “civility” (often also referred as “urbanism”), etc.
Corporate Tax Avoidance and Debt Policy

This paper examines the relation between corporate tax avoidance and debt policy using a large sample of firms from 1988 to 2006. We use modified measures of book-tax difference and long-run cash effective tax rate to proxy for tax avoidance. Using both measures we find consistent evidence that tax avoidance is negatively associated with leverage ratio. Further, we find that the substitution of non-debt tax avoidance for debt dissipates for very large, highly profitable firms, and firms with higher credit rating. Our findings are robust to alternative measures of leverage. Consistent with the debt substitution hypothesis, we offer new evidence to show that tax is an important factor in corporate capital structure decisions.