Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adhesive luting revisited: influence of adhesive, temporary cement, cavity cleaning, and curing mode on internal dentin bond strength.

PURPOSE To evaluate microtensile bond strength to Class I cavity floor dentin beneath adhesive inlays that were luted with different adhesives, temporary cements, cleaning methods, and curing modes. MATERIALS AND METHODS Occlusal cavities (4 x 4 mm, depth 3 mm) were prepared in 96 extracted human third molars. One part of the cavities was temporized with different temporary cements, which were removed after one week using three techniques (scaler or air polishing with Prophypearls or ClinPro powder). Direct resin composite inlays (Clearfil AP-X) were then placed with the luting composite Calibra using three adhesives (XP BOND/SCA, Syntac, OptiBond FL). Teeth were cut into beams and after 24 h of water storage at 37 degrees C, the sticks were subjected to microtensile bond strength evaluation. Samples were subjected to SEM fractographic analysis of failed interfaces. RESULTS Contamination with temporary cement reduced dentin bond strengths (p < 0.05). Removing remnants of cements with Prophypearls air polishing resulted in the lowest bond strengths (p < 0.05). Separate light curing of the adhesives did not produce higher dentin bond strengths (p > 0.05). Syntac still worked when Heliobond was omitted (p > 0.05). Immediate dentin sealing prior to temporizing increased internal bond strength (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION The dual-cured adhesive provided higher internal bond strengths between adhesive inlays and dentin. Contamination of dentin with temporary cements is a hazard for excellent dentin adhesion of adhesive inlays. Therefore, immediate dentin sealing and resin coating is promising.
Institutional trading around the ex-dividend day

This study uses the trading records of institutional equity funds to examine their ex-dividend trading behaviour. We argue that trading is influenced by the tax incentives facing the fund, the characteristics of individual stocks and by changes in tax legislation. In aggregate, institutions trade to avoid the dividend and franking credit. Changes in tax incentives and the fund’s tax status also affect ex-dividend day trading, with unit trusts dominating the dividend avoidance trades. The results indicate that taxes, transactions costs and the cum-dividend price run-up influence the trading of institutional investors around the ex-dividend day.
Using artificial neural networks in clinical neuropsychology: High performance in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a transitional state between normal aging and Alzheimer disease (AD). Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are computational tools that can provide valuable support to clinical decision making, classification, and prediction of cognitive functioning. The aims of this study were to develop, train, and explore and develop the ability of ANNs to differentiate MCI and AD, and to study the relevant variables in MCI and AD diagnosis. The sample consisted of 346 controls and 79 MCI and 97 AD patients. A linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and ANNs with 12 input neurons (10 subtests of a neuropsychological test, the abbreviated Barcelona Test; age; and education), 4 hidden neurons, and output neuron (diagnosis) were used to classify the patients. The ANNs were superior to LDA in its ability to classify correctly patients (100–98.33% vs. 96.4–80%, respectively) and showed better predictive performance. Semantic fluency, working and episodic memory and education showed up as the most significant and sensitive variables for classification. Our results indicate that ANNs have an excellent capacity to discriminate MCI and AD patients from healthy controls. These findings provide evidence that ANNs can be a useful tool for the analysis of neuropsychological profiles related to clinical syndromes.
Application of the Attitude Toward Enterprise (ATE) test on scondary school learners in South Africa

The main aim of this research paper was to discuss the application of the Attitude Toward Enterprise (ATE) Test 1 developed by Kingston University, London on secondary school learners in South Africa. A total of 1 748 usable questionnaires were gathered from grade 10 learners in the Sedibeng District and utilised for statistical analysis. Five factors with eigen-values greater than one describing the entrepreneurial attitudes of young learners were extracted during exploratory factor analysis. Tests for reliability and construct correlation produced satisfactory results to recommend the Enterprise Attitude Questionnaire for further use on young learners in South Africa. A comparison of the mean differences between the constructs for demographic variables produced statistically significant differences in a number of instances, but no visible effects or practical significance to suggest that these differences have any effect in practice. Practical recommendations are offered for further employment of the Enterprise Attitude Questionnaire in entrepreneurship research on young learners.
Simulated Maximum Likelihood Estimator for the Random Coefficient Logit Model Using Aggregate Data

The authors propose a simulated maximum likelihood estimation method for the random coefficient logit model using aggregate data, accounting for heterogeneity and endogeneity. The method allows for two sources of randomness in observed market shares: unobserved product characteristics and sampling error. Because of the latter, the method is suitable when sample sizes underlying the shares are finite. In contrast, Berry, Levinsohn and Pakes's commonly used approach assumes that observed shares have no sampling error. The method can be viewed as a generalization of Villas-Boas and Winer's approach and is closely related to Petrin and Train's “control function” approach. The authors show that the proposed method provides unbiased and efficient estimates of demand parameters. They also obtain endogeneity test statistics as a by-product, including the direction of endogeneity bias. The model can be extended to incorporate Markov regime-switching dynamics in parameters and is open to other extensions based on maximum likelihood. The benefits of the proposed approach are achieved by assuming normality of the unobserved demand attributes, an assumption that imposes constraints on the types of pricing behaviors that are accommodated. However, the authors find in simulations that demand estimates are fairly robust to violations of these assumptions.
Which Cholinesterase Inhibitor is the Safest for the Heart in Elderly Patients With Alzheimer’s Disease?

Objective: Cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs) are widely used for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD); however, their cholinergic side effects on the cardiovascular system are still unclear. In this study, we aimed to examine the side effects caused by donepezil, rivastigmine, and galantamine on cardiac rhythm and postural blood pressure changes in elderly patients with AD. Methods: Of 204 consecutive elderly patients who were newly diagnosed with AD, 162 were enrolled and underwent comprehensive geriatric assessments. The electrocardiographs (ECGs) and blood pressures were recorded at the baseline and 4 weeks after the dose of 10 mg/d of donepezil, 10 cm2/d of rivastigmine, and 24 mg/d of galantamine. Results: There were no changes relative to the baseline in any of the ECG parameters or arterial blood pressure with any of the administered ChEIs. Conclusion: It was demonstrated that none of the 3 ChEIs were associated with increased negative chronotropic, arrhythmogenic, and hypotensive effects for the elderly patients with AD.
An Economic Theory of a Credit Union

THE majority of research to date on CUs has been empirical (cf. Cargill [1] and Kidwell and Peterson [7]), yet there is serious need to develop a theoretical framework of CU behavior that incorporates their unique characteristics. A CU is essentially a financial intermediation cooperative. However, the standard theoretical treatments of financial intermediaries (cf. Meyer [8]) and cooperative enterprises cannot be directly applied to model credit union behavior. There are two principal characteristics of CUs that prevent this: First, in a CU (and cooperatives in general) the members are both the owners of the organization and the consumers of its output or suppliers of its input. One cannot simply assume that the members seek to maximize the profit generated by their transactions with the CU irrespective of the price and quantities of those same transactions, thus models of a financial firm based on profit maximization cannot be directly translated to a CU environment. Second, in a CU the membership provides both the demand for and supply of loanable funds. The CU then intermediates between its member-savers and member-borrowers. This heterogeneity is an inherent source of conflict between members. Clearly, a CU cannot simultaneously maximize its dividend rate for savers and minimize its loan rate for borrowers. Since most theoretical models of cooperative enterprises assume a homogeneous member objective, they are not generally applicable to CUs. There are two basic requirements for a framework to model CU behavior. First, the specification of the objective function should focus on the value of CU participation to the members. This value should include the prices and quantities of transactions as well as any profit that results. Second, the analysis should explicitly consider the possibility of conflict among members, and the resolution of that conflict being a preference to either the borrowers or savers. The existing literature on CUs contains a wide variety of objective functions. Hempel and Yawitz [5] ignore the owners-are-consumers issue and simply contend that CUs, like other financial intermediaries, should maximize profit. Most writers, however, recognize that profit-maximization would be a somewhat incongruous objective for an organization that typically labels itself not-for-profit. Murray and White [9] use cost minimization subject to an output constraint. Keating [6] employs the managerial discretion approach by maximizing the manager's utility function subject to minimum member benefit constraints. Taylor [11, 12] suggests that the CU should minimize the difference between its average loan rate and savings rate paid. Smith [10] argues that the CU should
Comparative case studies of the effects of inflation targeting in emerging economies

This paper examines the question of whether inflation targeting is an effective policy tool in emerging economies using a novel non-experimental evaluation approach. In particular, we adopt synthetic control methods to assess the effect that inflation targeting has had on each emerging economy that adopted such policies in the 1990s and 2000s. The evidence suggests that inflation targeting helped Colombia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland reduce their inflation rates. Although Chile is often regarded as a poster child for inflation targeting policies in emerging economies, no significant reductions in inflation levels were found when a later policy start date some analysts believe to be more reflective of the true policy adoption date was used. Copyright 2011 Oxford University Press 2010 All rights reserved, Oxford University Press.
The Impact of Manipulation in Internet Stock Message Boards

Internet message boards are often used to spread information in order to manipulate financial markets. Although this hypothesis is supported by many cases reported in the literature and in the media, the real impact of manipulation in online forums on financial markets remains an open question. This work analyses the effect of manipulation in internet stock message boards on financial markets. We employ a unique corpus of moderated messages to investigate market manipulation. Internet message boards administrators use the process of moderation to restrict market manipulation. From the data we find that manual supervision of stock message boards by moderators does not effectively protect users against manipulation. Furthermore, by focusing on messages that have been moderated as manipulative due to ramping we show that ramping is positively related to market returns, volatility and volume. We also demonstrate that stocks with higher turnover, lower price level, lower market capitalization and higher volatility are more common targets of ramping.
Turbo warrants under stochastic volatility

Turbo warrants have experienced huge growth since they first appeared in late 2001. In some European countries, buying and selling turbo warrants constitutes 50% of all derivative trading nowadays. In Asia, the Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing Limited (HKEx) introduced the callable bull/bear contracts, which are essentially turbo warrants, to the market in 2006. Turbo warrants are special types of barrier options in which the rebate is calculated as another exotic option. It is commonly believed that turbo warrants are less sensitive to the change in volatility of the underlying asset. Eriksson (2005) has considered the pricing of turbo warrants under the Black–Scholes model. However, the pricing and characteristics of turbo warrants under stochastic volatility are not known. This paper investigates the valuation of turbo warrants considered by Eriksson (2005), but extends the analysis to the CEV, the fast mean-reverting stochastic volatility and the two time-scale volatility models. We obtain analytical solutions for turbo warrants under the aforementioned models. This enables us to examine the sensitivity of turbo warrants to the implied volatility surface.
Entrepreneurial leadership, capabilities and firm growth

In this article, we review and synthesize extant research on entrepreneurial leadership, capabilities and their influence on the growth of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). First, we begin by examining the processes, routines and resources underlying substantive growth capabilities; these are capabilities that enable a firm to grow by competing in its market(s) on a day-to-day basis. Second, we explore leadership in terms of the cognitions motivations and decisions to invest in growth. Third, we examine the dynamic capabilities, which extend, modify or create new substantive (growth) capabilities, to support the sustained pursuit of new opportunities. In so doing, we explore the interrelationships between substantial capabilities, leadership and dynamic capabilities. We conclude the review by highlighting areas of consensus and contention in the literature, from which we propose fruitful areas for future research.
Sampling schemes and ascertainment.

Previous approaches to the ascertainment problem have been in terms of a registry-type situation in which the sampled structure is a random variable. However, with the exception of Bailey (1951), previous authors have conditioned on this structure. In extending the theory to pedigrees, a registry situation may also be considered, providing neither the structure nor any part of it (e.g., ages of individuals) are conditioned upon, but it may often be neither practicable nor relevant to do so. In many studies the sampling scheme may fix the number of pedigrees, analyzed, and classical "ascertainment probabilities" are no longer applicable. In an infinite population, in which the ascertainment of and phenotypic observations on, affect neither the distribution of other ascertainments or phenotypic distributions on other pedigrees and chance multiple ascertainments cannot occur, ascertainment corrections are relatively straightforward. However, effective population sizes with regard to particular rare traits may often be small, and the problem of ascertainment corrections in this case has not been fully analyzed, although some preliminary results are presented.
Bounding the Effects of R&D an Investigation Using Matched Establishment-Firm Data

Studies of firm-level data have shown that a firm's RD (2) productivity appears to depend on the intensity of parent firm RD and (3) spillovers of research effects from technologically related firms are significant but also depend on R&D intensity rather than total industry R&D. These results suggest that, despite the externalities created by spillovers of R&D, the `dilution' of R&D across multiple target plants reduces its potency sufficiently that spillovers may not be a source of industry-wide or economy-wide increasing returns.
Compliance with accounting standards by SMEs in transitional economies: evidence from Vietnam

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of a survey examining the factors that affect compliance with accounting standards by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the transitional economy of Vietnam. Design/methodology/approach - The study is in the form of a postal questionnaire survey with accounting practitioners working in SMEs in Vietnam. Findings - The paper reveals that SMEs’ compliance with accounting standards is limited. An analysis of empirical evidence finds that compliance with accounting standards was largely a legal issue and SMEs perceived little benefits from that. Legal requirements and perceptions of external uses of accounting information were the main drivers of the companies’ compliance with accounting standards. The perception of cost-benefit relationship and the management and accounting skills had a limited impact on SMEs’ compliance with accounting standards. Research limitations/implications - Since the study focuses on accounting practitioners in a transitional economy, the generalisability of the research findings is highly contextual and restricted. Practical implications - Legal requirements were the main factor affecting the SMEs’ compliance with accounting standards. SMEs lacked accounting skills and infrastructure to implement accounting regulations and standards. The accountants were not convinced of costs and benefits associated with the implementation of the accounting standards. Originality/value - The study contributes to the light literature of accounting standards for SMEs by providing empirical evidence on the practice of accounting by SMEs in transitional economies. The paper reveals the relevance of accounting standards to SMEs and how the application of these standards affects their reporting practices.
Comparison of LST + MUG broth technique and conventional method for the enumeration of Escherichia coli in foods

Aims: To reduce the analysis time needed for the enumeration of Escherichia coli, a rapid fluorogenic method (MUG) which takes only 48 h was compared with the standard most probable number (MPN) method which takes 6 days as described in the International Standards Organization (ISO). This study provides reliability data for the fluorogenic method applied to certain foods.
Flexor Hallucis Longus Tendon Transfer Fixation

Introduction. Flexor hallucis longus (FHL) tendon transfer to the calcaneus is commonly used in the surgical treatment of chronic Achilles tendinopathy. This study assesses the integrity of FHL tendon biotenodesis screw fixation with respect to 2 variables: incorporation of a terminal whipstitch and tunnel depth. Materials and methods. A total of 60 fresh-frozen cadaver FHL tendons and 28 calcanei were harvested for analysis in 4 sets of fixation constructs; 14 whipstitched tendons were compared against their nonwhipstitched paired tendon via pull-out strength load testing, and 16 tendon pairs were randomized for fixation in either a full-depth tunnel (bicortical) or a 25-mm partial tunnel (unicortical). All comparisons were carried out in native bone and synthetic models. Results. Whipstitched tendons demonstrated significantly stronger mean clinical load (253.68 vs 177.24 N, P = .008) and maximum load to failure (294.31N vs 194.57 N, P = .001) compared with the nonwhipstitched tendons in synthetic bone. There were no statistical differences in mean clinical load (200.96 vs 228.31 N, P = .63) and maximum load to failure (192.69 vs 217.74 N, P = .73) between full and partial tunnel groups. There were no significant differences found in trials carried out in cadaveric bone. Conclusion. Use of a terminal whipstitch achieves greater fixation strength in FHL tendon biotenodesis transfers. Complete and partial tunnel constructs are equivocal in their pull-out strength. Data produced in a homogeneous bone substitute model demonstrate the biomechanical superiority of the whipstitch as well as the noninferiority of the partial tunnel technique. Levels of Evidence: Level IIb
The use of surgical sympathectomy in the treatment of chronic renal pain.

OBJECTIVE To assess the efficacy of renal sympathetic denervation in the treatment of chronic renal pain. PATIENTS AND METHODS In a 10-year period, 21 patients suffering from chronic renal pain underwent 27 renal denervation operations, six of which were bilateral. The cause of pain was the loin pain haematuria syndrome in 18 patients. RESULTS Four operations resulted in complete pain relief to date (median follow-up 53.5 months). Pain relief after the other 23 operations in 18 patients lasted a median of 6 months. Assuming that recurrent pain was due to neuronal regeneration, nine of the 18 patients with recurrent pain underwent a total of 10 re-explorations of the renal pedicle, stripping it of all nerve fibres and areolar tissue. Three of these re-explorations produced complete pain relief to date (median follow-up 40 months). The median pain-free interval of the other seven re-explorations in six patients was 19 months. CONCLUSION Renal denervation cures severe intractable pain in about 25% of patients. Recurrence of pain could be prevented in more patients if there was a way of preventing re-innervation.
Rod-through-plate fixation of canine diaphyseal fractures

Summary Efficacy of the rod-through-plate fixation for fracture repair was evaluated in six clinical cases of canine long bone fractures. This fixation incorporates principles of intramedullary and extramedullary osteosynthesis for transverse and short oblique fractures of long tubular bones. The plate-through-rod device is comprised of one pair of curved rods, a connecting plate and two bone screws. The connecting plate has both a hole and a channel on each end. Curved rods have a long curved part and a straight part with a hole in it for screw fixation. All components are made up of medical stainless steel. Clinical and radiographical examinations were performed from week seven to18 months after the operation. Functional abnormalities were not observed at this period in five patients and all fractures were healed. In one patient screw stripping in the proximal fragment of the femur was detected radiologically and minimal implant dislocation was noted at seven weeks after the initial repair. The rod-through-plate fixation method gives strong fixation of bone fragments with minimal traumatization of soft tissue during the operation. The design of the rod-through-plate is intended to reduce pressure of the plate on the cortex in the area of the fracture, whereas the dynamic fixation provided by the intramedullary rods may allow micromotion, thus stimulating callus formation and avoiding implant- induced osteoporosis. Clinical relevance: The rod-through-plate fixator has a simple construction and its use expands the treatment possibilities for diaphyseal fractures of long bones.