Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The fetal somatotropic axis during long term maternal undernutrition in sheep: evidence for nutritional regulation in utero.

Nutrition is a major determinant of the somatotropic axis during postnatal life. However, little is known about the response of the fetal somatotropic axis to nutritional limitation. From day 100 of gestation (term = 147 days), singleton-bearing ewes were fed either ad libitum (control; n = 6) or 25% of the recommended energy and protein requirements (restricted; n = 7). Ewes and fetuses were chronically catheterized on day 110. On day 120, paired maternal and fetal blood samples were taken over a 6-h period at 15-min intervals. Forty-eight hours later, fetuses were given a 20-micrograms GRF bolus (i.v.), and samples were collected for 48 h. Undernourished mothers and fetuses had higher GH concentrations (P < 0.05). Although plasma GH profiles were independent in mothers and their fetuses, both maternal and fetal GH peak and nadir levels were increased (P < 0.05) by nutritional restriction, but the peak/nadir ratio and the number of pulses remained unaltered. Deconvolution analysis showed that the GH mass secreted per burst was higher in nutritionally restricted animals, whereas basal GH secretion and GH serum half-life were not influenced by undernutrition. Both maternal and fetal insulin-like growth factor-I levels were reduced (P < 0.01 and P < 0.05), whereas insulin-like growth factor-II concentrations were not influenced by the feed restriction. Fetuses from restricted mothers had higher peak GH concentrations after a GRF challenge (P < 0.001), but after correction The specific binding of [125I]ovine placental lactogen ([125I]oPL) or [125I]oGH to maternal or fetal hepatic microsomal membrane preparations was not changed by the maternal undernutrition. Maternal oPL concentrations showed considerable short term fluctuations, whereas fetal oPL levels revealed no major fluctuations. Mean maternal oPL levels tended (P < 0.06) to be elevated, whereas fetal oPL concentrations tended (P < 0.06) to be decreased in restricted animals. These results provide evidence that the somatotropic axis is functional in utero and suggest that the fetal somatotropic axis plays an active role during adaptation of the fetus to nutritional limitation.
Green Suppliers with Environmental Performance in the Supply Chain Perspective

This study examines the relationships found in supplier involvement in the course of operational life-cycle stages, environmentally-friendly practices, and environmental performances. Using sampling data gathered from 157 managers of automotive firms, obtained via a benchmarking questionnaire, three hypotheses are tested employing a Structural Equation Modeling analysis. The findings are generally consistent with the literature, with three hypotheses supported. In addition, this study explores the criteria of selecting or assessing alternative green suppliers. The major contribution of this research lies in its suggestions for decision makers to improve environmental performance using green supply chains.
Insolvency and corporate governance: a forecasting model for brazilian firms

This research aims to understand if companies' use of corporate governance mechanisms in the Brazilian market can help them avoid insolvency. In order to achieve our goal, this paper proposes an insolvency prediction model, which is based on a logistic regression that uses a dummy variable pointing to whether the firm belongs or not to the categories "Novo Mercado" (New Market) or "Nível 2" (Level 2). Besides the aforementioned variable, accounting ratios previously considered relevant in the prediction of insolvency by other researchers regarding the Brazilian market are also included in the model. The sample used in this paper includes the companies listed at BM&FBOVESPA from 2001 to 2013. However, it does not include financial institutions, companies with unavailable information, and firms whose shares were not traded in BM&FBOVESPA during the period. The model estimations presented statistically significant evidence that firms with better corporate governance practices have a lower probability of being in an insolvency situation. This research also used financial ratios as control variables for the model and found evidence regarding their relation with insolvency, similar to previous studies.
Enhancing Organizational Commitment through Human Resource Policy

Human resources management is considered to be one of the most important factors within organizations that help them to achieve a competitive advantage. However, organizations should take care of the human factor to increase their commitment within organizations to take advantage of their capabilities. Despite the fact that, human resource policy is considered as vital elements of organizational commitment, but there are few study that have examined the different components of human resource policy on organizational commitment. Moreover, scholars have failed to address which component of human resource policy has a more impact on organizational commitment. This study addressed to the issue by examining the effect of three components of human resource policy namely human resource recruitment policy, human resource performance appraiser policy and human resource sustaining policy on organizational commitment. A quantitative study using a cross-sectional survey method was used to investigate the relationship between the proposed variables. Data were collected from employees of 10 manufacturing companies in Arak (A city in the central of Iran). The overall response rate was 85.48. The relationships between variables were examined using structural equation modeling (SEM) technique and partial least squares (PLS) software was used. The results revealed there is a significant and positive relationship between the three components of human resource policy and organizational commitment. The study combined social exchange and resource –based theories to develop a new theoretical framework to demonstrate the importance of human resource policy in enhancing organizational commitment. Moreover, the study has provided a new paradigm to effectively improve organizational commitment.
Conformally Invariant Systems of Differential Equations and Prehomogeneous Vector Spaces of Heisenberg Parabolic Type

Several systems of partial differential operators are associated to each complex simple Lie algebra of rank greater than one. Each system is conformally invariant under the given algebra. The systems so constructed yield explicit reducibility results for a family of scalar generalized Verma modules attached to the Heisenberg parabolic subalgebra of the given Lie algebra. Points of reducibility for such families lie in the union of several arithmetic progressions, possibly overlapping. For classical algebras, enough systems are constructed to account for the first point of reducibility in each progression. The relationship between these results and a conjecture of Akihiko Gyoja is explored.
Intellectual capital, corporate reputation, corporate culture and performance of firms listed at the Nairobi securities exchange

xvii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION . 1 1.1 Background of the Study . 1 1.1.1 Intellectual Capital . 2 1.1.2 Corporate Reputation . 4 1.1.3 Corporate Culture . 7 1.1.4 Corporate Performance . 8 1.1. 5 Firms Listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange . 9 1.2 Research Problem . 12 1.3 Research Objectives . 15 1.4 Value of the Study . 15 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW . 18 2.
Cross-sectional Volatility and Stock Returns: Evidence for Emerging Markets

Executive Summary Cross-sectional volatility measures dispersion of security returns at a particular point of time. It has received very little focus in research. This article studies the cross-section of volatility in the context of economies of Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia, China, South Korea, and South Africa (BRIICKS). The analysis is done in two parts. The first part deals with systematic volatility (SV), that is, cross-sectional variation of stock returns owing to their exposure to market volatility measure (French, Schwert, & Stambaugh, 1987). The second part deals with unsystematic volatility (UV), measured by the residual variance of stocks in a given period by using error terms obtained from Fama–French model. The study finds that high SV portfolios exhibit low returns in case of Brazil, South Korea, and Russia. The risk premium is found to be statistically significantly negative for these countries. This finding is consistent with Ang et al. and is indicative of hedging motive of investors in these markets. Results for other sample countries are somewhat puzzling. No significant risk premiums are reported for India and China. Significantly positive risk premiums are observed for South Africa and Indonesia. Further, capital asset pricing model (CAPM) seems to be a poor descriptor of returns on systematic risk loading sorted portfolios while FF is able to explain returns on all portfolios except high SV loading portfolio (i.e., P1) in case of South Africa which seems to be an asset pricing anomaly. It is further observed that high UV portfolios exhibit high returns in all the sample countries except China. In the Chinese market, the estimated risk premium is statistically significantly negative. This negative risk premium is inconsistent with the theory that predicts that investors demand risk compensation for imperfect diversification. The remaining sample countries show significantly positive risk premium. CAPM does not seem to be a suitable descriptor for returns on UV sorted portfolios. The FF model does a better job but still fails to explain the returns on high UV sorted portfolio in case of Brazil and China and low UV sorted portfolio in South Africa. The findings are relevant for global fund managers who plan to develop emerging market strategies for asset allocation. The study contributes to portfolio management as well as market efficiency literature for emerging economies.
Assembly Rules: Desert Rodent Communities Are Structured at Scales from Local to Continental

Ecologists have long argued about the patterns and processes that characterize assemblages of coexisting species. Patterns in space and time can provide clues to underlying mechanistic processes, but often in community ecology even the patterns are debated. Some of the most longstanding and acrimonious debates have concerned patterns that have been interpreted to suggest an important role of competition in the structure and dynamics of ecological communities and the evolution of species. There is little disagreement that interspecific competition can and does affect the local abundance and distribution of species. This has been repeatedly demonstrated by small-scale, manipulative experimental studies of populations in the field (see reviews by Connell 1983; Schoener 1983; Gurevitch et al. 1992). More controversial have been comparative geographic analyses of assemblages that have identified “assembly rules,” patterns of community structure for which competition is assumed to be the primary mechanism (e.g., Diamond 1975; Fox 1987, 1999; Weiher and Keddy 1999). Because the experimental and geographic studies have often been done with different kinds of organisms and habitats, and because their scales and methodologies have been so disparate, it has not been clear how they should be interrelated. How do the processes
Pharmacogenetics of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor response: a 6-month follow-up.

BACKGROUND We previously reported the association between some genetic factors and short-term antidepressant outcome. In the present paper we investigated the same gene variants in a prospective 6-months naturalistic follow-up. METHODS The sample included 185 inpatients affected by recurrent major depression consecutively admitted to the Psychiatric Inpatient Unit of San Raffaele Hospital from 1998 to 2003 and prospectively followed for 6 months after their recovery. All the patients were undertaking continuation therapy. The functional polymorphism in the upstream regulatory region of the serotonin transporter gene (SERTPR), the tryptophan hydroxylase A218C substitution, a VNTR polymorphism located 1.2 kb upstream of the monoamine oxidase-A coding sequences, the CLOCK gene T3111C and the PER3exon15 gene T1940G substitutions were analysed, using PCR-based techniques. RESULTS No association was found between clinical variables and relapses; subjects showing TT genotype at CLOCK gene tended to relapse within 6 months after recovery more than TC and CC subjects taken together. A non-significant tendency of SERTPR*s/s subjects to a minor frequency of relapse was also observed. CONCLUSION Some subjects showing remission after acute treatment relapsed within 6 months, despite undertaking a maintenance treatment; the causes could be heterogeneous, but CLOCK gene variants may influence the outcome.
Open Government Data: A European Perspective

The aim of the open government movement is for democratic governments to become more transparent, facilitating greater collaboration and participation among the administration, politicians, business representatives, and the general public. The concept of Open Government Data (OGD) denotes the provision of public sector information, to make public data available for stakeholders to store, use, and redistribute without restriction or charge. Many initiatives worldwide have been undertaken to develop web portals facilitating access to public sector data. The aim of this chapter is to examine the growing implementation of OGD, analyzing the data disclosed by the central governments of the European Union (EU) member countries through their official OGD websites. The methodology used is based on four analytical approaches: functions, semantics, quality, and content. The results obtained show, first, considerable heterogeneity among EU portals and, second, that the implementation of OGD portals in Europe is at an intermediate level of development. At present, the results obtained suggest that the countries of the EU are making little use of the feedback possibilities offered by their portals and, in many, cases do not allow the introduction of new data.
A retrospective study of 23 cases with subacute combined degeneration

Purpose: To study retrospectively the diverse presentations, ancillary tests and neuroimaging in patients with subacute combined degeneration (SCD). Methods: Twenty-three Chinese patients with SCD were included in this study. The clinical presentations and laboratory data including comprehensive metabolic panel, serum folic acid, vitamin B12 levels, gastroscopy and images of spinal cord on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were evaluated. Rating scales for localizations of lesions and functional disabilities were used to define the severity of neurological impairment. Results: No difference was found between men and women in the age of disease onset. For most of the patients, sensory symptoms, oftentimes as initial symptoms, occurred earlier than motor symptoms. The signs of the disease were more obvious than the symptoms. Six patients had sensory deficit levels mimicking transverse myelopathy. Anemia was not always detected in our patients with SCD. Normal or even elevated serum levels of vitamin B12 were found in seven patients. Spinal cord lesions on MRI were observed in six patients and the clinical and neuroimaging findings were not necessarily consistent. Conclusions: The sensory symptoms occur earlier than the motor symptoms in SCD patients. SCD patients may have sensory deficit level. Normal or even elevated serum levels of vitamin B12 may occur in patients with SCD.
ANTESEDEN KEPUASAN KONSUMEN DAN MINAT LOYALITAS PADA TOKO MAHKOTA PEKALONGAN

This study aimed to analyze the influences of product quality, service quality, competitive prices and reputation of the store, on the loyalty intention to the Mahkota Stores Pekalongan using customer satisfaction as an intervening variable. In this research, there are 6 variables, 24 indicators and 8 hypothesis testing research hypotheses. The data imployed 250 respondents. The analysis technique used in this research is Structural Equation Model ( SEM ) with AMOS program versi on 20.0. From 8 hypothesis, all hypothesis are accepted. The results also proved that to loyalty intention, can be specified through customer satisfaction and direct effect independent variable. This implies that product quality, service quality, competitive price, and store reputation play important roles to effect customer satisfaction.
Examining the Structural Relationships of Service Recovery, Customer Satisfaction and Image in Online Retailing

This study proposes and tests a structural model to examine the interrelationships among service recovery, customer satisfaction and image in the context of online retailing in India. The study adopts and validates E-RecS-QUAL scale to measure online service recovery. Factor analysis and structural equation modelling (using SPSS and Amos) are applied to test application of the proposed model. Analysis of an online survey data from 140 online retail customers reveals that the service recovery has a significant direct and indirect effect on both customer satisfaction and image. The study highlights mediating role of customer satisfaction in the relationship between online service recovery and image. The study helps eretailers/e-commerce industry to understand customer perception of e-service recovery in India.
Effects of induced parturition and early obstetrical assistance in beef cattle.

Pregnant crossbred beef females (33 second-calf cows and 73 primiparous heifers) bred to a single Hereford sire were assigned to a 2(3) factorial study involving age of dam, natural (NP) or induced (IP) parturition and late emergency (LA) or forced early (EA) obstetrical assistance. Parturition was induced with 10 mg flumethazone given i.m. between 1400 and 1600 on d 272 of gestation; EA was given when the cervix and birth canal were fully dilated. Average IP occurred 39.6 h postinjection, and 95.3% of the treated dams responded within 60 h postinjection; gestation was shortened 2.9 d (P approximately equal to .07). Dystocia score (from 1 = no assist to 4 = major traction required and 5 = abnormal presentation) was 1.12 vs 2.40 for LA and EA, respectively (P less than .01), and 11% of LA vs 84% of EA were assisted. Calf vigor score (1 = normal to 3 = severely depressed or dying) at birth was 1.3 for NP and 1.1 for IP (P approximately equal to .06) and 1.3 for EA and 1.1 for LA (P less than .05). This effect of EA was due to reduced vigor of calves experiencing abnormal presentation. Birth weights (BW) and weaning weights (WW) of calves from cows exceeded those from heifers (32.6 vs 30.8 kg, P less than .05; 210.9 vs 156.3 kg, P less than .01, respectively). Differences due to IP and EA in BW, WW, postpartum interval and conception rate were not significant, but weight gain of calves from EA dams tended (P approximately equal to .09) to be greater than weight gain of calves from LA dams. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Exploring differentiated talent management from organisational and employee perspectives : two studies from the GCC banking sector

2 Abstract The aim of this thesis is to examine an emerging sub-field within the broad area of HRM: talent management (TM). Since its emergence, TM has been described as strategically important, yet lacking in conceptual clarity (Lewis & Heckman, 2006). More precisely, it is a little unclear what talent is and how talent are managed differently from the rest of the workforce. Thus, the evaluation of the effectiveness of TM in relation to outcomes such as employees’ attitudes and behaviours remains uncertain. For this reason, this dissertation explores a range of employees’ responses to the differentiated talent management approach in the banking sector of Gulf Cooperation Council countries and the mechanisms behind why these reactions occur. By first exploring TM in the GCC countries; then investigating different sources of talent identification within organisations and how these might influence key employee outcomes, namely affective commitment, intention to leave and extra-role behaviours. Theoretical propositions are tested to explore the psychological mechanisms underlying employees’ responses to TM and under what conditions these may vary, drawing on social-exchange theory (Blau, 1964), social-cognitive theory (Bandura, 1982) and organisational justice theory (Greenberg, 1990). The findings indicate that social exchange theory accounts for employee outcomes more than social-cognitive theory. Additionally, procedural justice plays a significant role in buffering the TM effects. This thesis offers four contributions to the TM field. First it provides a wider exploration of talent identification, using a multiple talent identification sources. Second, it tests for key employee outcomes that received limited empirical investigation. Third, it draws on two theories that might explain how a differentiated TM approach leads to its proposed effects. Finally, it utilises organisational justice theory to show how to neutralise its effects for all employees. Acknowledgments 3 Acknowledgment The completion of this thesis is one of my goals that would not have been possible without the support of my family, friends and supervisors and so I would like to start by thanking the key individuals who made this dream come true. First, I would like to dedicate this thesis to my father, Abdulrahman, who I am deeply fortunate to have in my life not only as a father but also as a friend and a role model. I genuinely thank him for always being there with his love, support and care throughout my life. Second my deepest gratitude to my first and great supervisor Mike Clinton, who has been an amazing and patient mentor, supportive supervisor and for his valuable insights and experience that helped me progress, learn and develop throughout my PhD journey. I sincerely thank him. Finally, I would like to thank my second supervisor, Riccardo Peccei, for his insights, kind support and comments at critical times throughout this thesis. Riccardo has been generous with his time and support that I very much appreciate. Lamees, September 2015
Use of filgrastim as adjuvant therapy in patients with AIDS-related cytomegalovirus retinitis

Background Neutropenia in AIDS predisposes to bacterial infection. Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (filgrastim) can reverse neutropenia. Objective To determine the effects of filgrastim on bacterial infections, hospitalization, and mortality in patients with cytomegalovirus retinitis and AIDS. Methods Using a person-time analysis, a retrospective cohort study of filgrastim adjuvant therapy in three multicenter clinical trials of anti-cytomegalovirus therapy during the period 1990–1997 measured filgrastim use, bacterial infections, and mortality. Results Of 719 patients, 379 patients used filgrastim for 31% of the follow-up time. There was an inverse relationship between the 389 confirmed bacterial infections, including 186 bacteremias, and absolute neutrophil counts. Before adjustment for CD4 T-cells counts and antibiotic/antiretroviral therapy, filgrastim was associated with reduced risk of catheter-related bacteremia [relative risk (RR), 0.52;P = 0.02] and repeat bacterial infection (RR, 0.41;P = < 0.01). After adjustment, the RR of catheter-related bacteremia with filgrastim use was decreased (RRadj, 0.69;P = 0.16) and the RR of repeat bacterial infection with filgrastim use was of marginal significance (RRadj, 0.57;P = 0.07), possibly due to the confounding effect of trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole on all bacteremia (RRadj, 0.55;P = < 0.01). Unrelated to bacteremia, filgrastim use was associated with a 56% reduction in mortality (P < 0.01). Conclusions There was a large survival benefit associated with filgrastim use in this study but the reasons for this benefit are unclear. Although a reduction in crude risk of some bacterial infections with filgrastim use was detected, after adjustment for potentially confounding factors these risks were smaller and no longer statistically significant.