Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Trust, job satisfaction, perceived organizational performance and turnover intention: A public-private sector comparison in the United Arab Emirates

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine and compare the differential impacts of job satisfaction (JS), trust (T), and perceived organizational performance (POP) on turnover intention (TI) in public and private sector organizations. Design/methodology/approach Draws on a sample of 311 employees from the service sector (129 public and 182 private) in the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE). The main concepts utilized in the study are borrowed from previous research and further tested for validity and reliability. Four main hypotheses are explored. Findings In support of previous research, statistical analysis (t-test) revealed that public sector employees tend to be more satisfied, more trusting, and have less intention to leave their organization. Regression analysis revealed that public sector employees’ TI are most significantly affected by their perceptions of the performance of their organization, with JS, work experience (WE) and education (Ed) also having significant effects. In contrast, private sector employees’ TI was most significantly affected by JS and feelings of trust (T). Research limitations/implications Although very useful, the present study is limited in scope and therefore suffers from some limitations. The sample only includes employees from UAE organizations operating in education, some government institutions and the financial sector. Future research might consider including employees the health sector and other public organizations such as the immigration/police departments which play important strategic roles in the UAE economy. Also, future research might consider extending the scope of the study to include institutions in similar neighboring countries in the region, such as Qatar and Kuwait. Practical implications The findings of this study points to the relative importance of trust, JS and perceived organizational performance in affecting TI in public and private sectors. These can be considered as indicators to assist managers in these sectors to better manage/minimize TIs. In particular, the findings indicate that managers in general (and UAE public sector managers in particular) need to monitor and better manage not only their employees’ JS but also perceptions of the overall performance of the organization. Originality/value While research on the influence of JS on TI in both of these sectors has been abundant over the years, studies examining the impact of trust and perceptions of organizational performance remain few and are largely lacking. Also, studies on turnover in the UAE (and particularly those comparing public and private sectors) remain largely lacking. This study and its findings fill this gap and provide some insights on the differential impact of trust, JS and perceived organizational performance on employee TIs in public-private sectors, particularly in the UAE context.
Role of Management Control Systems in Quality, Innovation and Organizational Performance in Portugal SMES Companies

The purpose of this research is to analyze the relationship between management control systems, total quality management (TQM) and innovation, and also the effects of management control systems in the organizational performance. The research was developed based on a conceptual model designed to analyze these dimensions. The data were obtained through an online questionnaire, sent to small and medium-sized Portuguese companies, having been conducted the study based on responses received from 287 valid questionnaires, and using a multivariate statistical analysis for the statistical development. The findings indicate that non-financial indicators provide innovation strategies of products and processes. However, the financial indicators only provide the innovation strategies of processes. It is also verified that only non-financial indicators provide equally the implementation of TQM practices. The results also show that financial indicators only provide an improvement in the financial results of the organization, while the non-financial indicators also improve its operational performance.
Multiplex RT-PCR Assay for Detection of Common Fusion Transcripts in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Cases.

BACKGROUND Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a heterogeneous disease which requires a risk-stratified approach for appropriate treatment. Specific chromosomal translocations within leukemic blasts are important prognostic factors that allow identification of relevant subgroups. In this study, we developed a multiplex RT-PCR assay for detection of the 4 most frequent translocations in ALL (BCR-ABL, TEL-AML1, MLL-AF4, and E2A- PBX1). MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 214 diagnosed ALL samples from both adult and pediatric ALL and 14 cases of CML patients (154 bone marrow and 74 peripheral blood samples) were assessed for specific chromosomal translocations by cytogenetic and multiplex RT-PCR assays. RESULTS The results showed that 46 cases of ALL and CML (20.2%) contained the fusion transcripts. Within the positive ALL patients, the most prevalent cryptic translocation observed was mBCR-ABL (p190) at 8.41%. In addition, other genetic rearrangements detected by the multiplex PCR were 4.21% TEL-AML1 and 2.34% E2A-PBX1, whereas MLL-AF4 exhibited negative results in all tested samples. Moreover, MBCR-ABL was detected in all 14 CML samples. In 16 samples of normal karyotype ALL (n=9), ALL with no cytogentic result (n=4) and CML with no Philadelphia chromosome (n=3), fusion transcripts were detected. CONCLUSIONS Multiplex RT-PCR provides a rapid, simple and highly sensitive method to detect fusion transcripts for prognostic and risk stratification of ALL and CML patients.
Price Dynamics and the Financing Structure of Firms in Emerging Economies

We use a novel dataset that merges goods-level prices underlying the CPI in Mexico with the balance sheet information of Mexican publicly listed firms and study the connection between firms' financing structure and price dynamics in an emerging economy. First, we find that larger firms (in terms of sales and employees) tend to use more interfirm trade credit relative to bank credit. Second, these firms use interfirm trade credit as a mechanism to smooth variations in their prices. Third, all else equal, firms with a higher trade-to-bank credit ratio tend to lower prices. In turn, the behavior of these firms explains the negative relationship between aggregate trade credit growth and in inflation in the data. A tractable New Keynesian model with search frictions in physical input markets sheds light on firms' structural characteristics as well as the economic mechanisms that rationalize our empirical findings.
The New Politics of Trade

The negotiation of international trade agreements has become the issue of the moment. With Brexit, a change in administration in the United States, a fragile economic recovery in the Eurozone and China facing a slowdown in its growth, nothing is more critical to the future global economy than the terms of trade between its largest economic blocs. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is Europe's most controversial trade agreement ever. Aimed at reducing regulatory barriers between the United States and the EU, it was expected to be fairly straightforward given strong business support on both sides of the Atlantic. It has not been so. The negotiations have dragged on far longer than anticipated and now look set to fail altogether. Yet the process of its negotiation, the terms of the potential agreement and its sticking points provide valuable lessons for policy-makers and academics tasked to bring future trade deals and arrangements to successful conclusions. Alasdair Young offers a penetrating analysis of the complexities of the TTIP negotiations and explores why they have proved so difficult to conclude, what motivates the different parties concerned and what implications there are for politics and policy. Young throws light on the limits of the transatlantic cooperation and the processes of globalization and teases out the implications for the UK in its post-Brexit trade negotiations and for other nations now facing a more protectionist stance from the United States.
Depressive symptoms and cardiovascular reactivity to laboratory behavioral stress

Although a growing literature associates depressive symptoms with cardiovascular disease (CVD), the mechanisms underlying this association have not been clearly determined. The cardiovascular reactivity (CVR) hypothesis suggests that chronically elevated CVR during psychological distress can confer disease risk via vascular alterations. This investigation is a quantitative review of studies that evaluated the association of depressive symptoms with CVR. Atotal of 60 hypotheses were tested: 21 tests involved systolic blood pressure (SBP), 21 involved diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and 18 involved heart rate (HR). The aggregate effect size for the relation between depressive symptoms and HR reactivity was moderate (d = 0.37); aggregate effect sizes were small for SBP reactivity (d = 0.13) and DBP reactivity (d = 0.17). Effect sizes involving SBP reactivity were homogenous, whereas effect sizes involving DBP and HR reactivity were higher for studies that examined participants with CVD. These findings provide partial support for the associations of depressive symptoms with CVR.
A study on the nutrient foramina of adult humerii.

BACKGROUND It is not uncommon to see the non union of the fractures in the long bones. Among the various reasons for the nonunion of the fractured bones, the nutrient artery plays an important role. OBJECTIVES This study was aimed at analyzing the nutrient foramina in dry adult humerii ,with regards to the number, size and the location of the nutrient foramen with respect to the surfaces and the zones and its distance from the mid point of the humerus. MATERIALS This was an analytical study. All the humerii from various medical colleges of the Vinayaka Missions University in Salem were included in the study. Those which were damaged and those which had pathological abnormalities were excluded. The following parameters were noted; namely, the length of the humerus, the number and the size of the nutrient foramen and the location of the nutrient foramen with respect to the surfaces and the zones of the humerus and its distance from the mid-point of the humerus were analyzed. The length of the humerus and the mid point of the humerus were measured by using the osteometric board, whereas the size of the nutrient foramen was measured by using various size of hypodermic needles. When more than one foramen was found, the larger one was taken as the dominant foramen and its size was measured. All the data were noted and the statistical analysis was done by calculating the mean, the range and the standard deviation. RESULTS Totally, 258 adult dry humerii were studied. The mean length of the humerii was 27.96 cm, with a SD of 2.18. The mean size of the nutrient foramen was 0.828 mm, with a SD of 0.26. The mean distance of th dominant nutrient foramen from the mid point of the humerus was 2.31 cm, with a SD of 1.25 cm. In majority of the humerii (86.43%), the nutrient foramen was located in the middle 1/3(rd) of the bone and in 13.57% of the bones, it was located in the lower 1/3(rd) of the bone. The location of the nutrient foramen in the anteromedial surface was 89.92%, that in the posterior surface was 8.53% and that in the anterolateral surface was 1.55%.
VIX Index and Stock Returns Following Large Price Moves

My study explores the effect of future volatility expectations, embedded in VIX index, on large daily stock price changes and on subsequent stock returns. Following both psychological and financial literature claiming that good (bad) mood may cause people to perceive positive (negative) future outcomes as more probable and that the changes in the value of VIX may be negatively correlated with contemporaneous investors’ mood, I hypothesize that if a major positive (negative) stock price move takes place on a day when the value of VIX falls (rises), then its magnitude may be amplified by positive (negative) investors' mood, creating price overreaction to the initial company-specific shock, which may result in subsequent price reversal. In line with my hypothesis, I document that both positive and negative large price moves accompanied by the opposite-sign contemporaneous changes in VIX are followed by significant reversals on the next two trading days and over five- and twenty-day intervals following the event, the magnitude of the reversals increasing over longer post-event windows, while large stock price changes taking place on the days when the value of VIX moves in the same direction are followed by non-significant price drifts. The results remain robust after accounting for additional company (size, beta, historical volatility) and event-specific (stock's return and trading volume on the event day) factors, and are stronger for small and volatile stocks.
Stiffness, intralimb coordination, and joint modulation during a continuous vertical jump test

This study analysed the modulation of jump performance, vertical stiffness as well as joint and intralimb coordination throughout a 30-s vertical jump test. Twenty male athletes performed the test on a force plate while undergoing kinematic analysis. Jump height, power output, ground contact time, vertical stiffness, maximum knee and hip flexion angles, and coordination by continuous relative phase (CRP) were analysed. Analysis of variance was used to compare variables within deciles, and t-tests were used to compare CRP data between the initial and final jumps. Results showed reduction in jump height, power output, and vertical stiffness, with an increase in contact time found during the test. Maximum knee and hip flexion angles declined, but hip angle decreased earlier (10–20% of the test) than knee angle (90–100%). No changes were observed in CRP for thigh–leg coupling when comparing initial and final jumps, but the trunk–thigh coupling was more in-phase near the end of the test. We conclude that fatigue causes reduction in jump performance, as well as changes in stiffness and joint angles. Furthermore, changes in intralimb coordination appear at the last 10% of the test, suggesting a neuromotor mechanism to counterbalance the loss of muscle strength.
The Paradox of Dopamine and Angiotensin II-Mediated Na+, K+-ATPase Regulation in Renal Proximal Tubules

Accumulated studies reported that the natruretic dopamine (DA) and the anti-natruretic angiotensin II (Ang II) represent an important mechanism to regulate renal Na+ and water excretion through intracellular secondary messengers to inhibit or activate renal proximal tubule (PT) Na+, K+-ATPase (NKA). The antagonistic actions were mediated by the phosphorylation of different position of NKA α1-subunit and different Pals-associated tight junction protein (PATJ) PDZ domains, the different protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms (PKC-β, PKC-ζ), the common adenylyl cyclase (AC) pathway, and the crosstalk and balance between DA and Ang II to NKA regulation. Besides, Ang II-mediated NKA modulation has bi-phasic effects.
Risks associated with the use of IV contrast material: analysis of patients' awareness.

OBJECTIVE Opinions differ on the need to obtain informed consent for IV administration of contrast material. If the potential risks are common knowledge among most patients, the need for informed consent is reduced. The purpose of this study was to assess patients' baseline knowledge of the risks associated with use of IV contrast material. SUBJECTS AND METHODS This study included 150 consecutive outpatients who had radiographic studies (CT or excretory urography) requiring use of IV contrast material. Before the procedure, patients were asked to complete a 10-question questionnaire assessing their understanding of the risks associated with the use of contrast material. Questions concerned the nature of their test and the reasons for and risks of contrast material. Analysis was done with Fisher's exact chi 2-test of association and Wilcoxon's two-sample test. RESULTS On average, the patients performed significantly better on this questionnaire than if they had randomly picked each answer, indicating that the average patient has acquired some information about IV contrast material. However, the mean score was 51%, demonstrating that the average patient is not knowledgeable about all risks associated with the use of IV contrast material. We found no differences associated with sex or age. Patients with more than a high school level of education and who had previously received contrast material scored better, although they still correctly answered only 56% and 54% of the questions, respectively. CONCLUSION Information about the risks associated with use of IV contrast material cannot be considered common knowledge among the general population of patients.
Modelling a Complex World: Improving Macro-Models

Macro models have come under criticism for their ability to understand or predict major economic events such as the global financial crisis and its aftermath. Some of that criticism is warranted; but, in our view, much is not. This paper contributes to the debate over the adequacy of benchmark DSGE models by showing how three extensions, which are features that have characterized the global economy since the early 2000s, are necessary to improve our understanding of global shocks and policy insights. The three extensions are to acknowledge and model the entire global economy and the linkage through trade and capital flows; to allow for a wider range of relative price variability by moving to multiple sector models rather than a single good model; and to allow for changes in risk perceptions which propagate through financial markets and adjustments in the real economy. These extensions add some complexity to large scale macromodels, but without them policy models can oversimplify things, allowing misinterpretations of shocks and therefore costly policy mistakes to occur. Using oversimplified models to explain a complex world makes it more likely there will be “puzzles”. The usefulness of these extensions is demonstrated in two ways; first, by briefly revisiting some historical shocks to show how outcomes can be interpreted that make sense within a more complex DSGE framework; then, by making a contemporary assessment of the implications from the proposed large fiscal stimulus and the bans on immigration by the Trump administration which have both sectoral and macroeconomic implications that interact.
OVEREXPRESSION OF THE 67‐kD LAMININ RECEPTOR CORRELATES WITH TUMOUR PROGRESSION IN HUMAN COLORECTAL CARCINOMA

The high affinity 67‐kD laminin receptor (67LR) is a cell surface protein whose expression is increased in a number of human carcinoma models. To date, 67LR expression in colorectal carcinomas has been examined in a small number of cases. 67LR expression has been immunohistochemically analysed in a large series of human colorectal neoplasms, using the MLuC5 monoclonal antibody. The study included 59 samples of non‐neoplastic mucosa, 45 polyps (11 hyperplastic, 34 adenomas), 196 carcinomas, and lymph node metastases of 87 carcinomas. Epithelial cells of normal mucosa and hyperplastic polyps were negative or showed weak positivity in the paranuclear and apical areas of the cytoplasm. In adenomas and carcinomas, the staining was stronger, with a membranous or cytoplasmic pattern. The expression of 67LR correlated significantly with the progression from normal mucosa (22 per cent) to adenoma (44 per cent), carcinoma (61 per cent), and lymph node metastasis (75 per cent) (P<0·0001). Expression of the laminin receptor showed a tendency to be more frequently positive in advanced stage (III+IV; 67 per cent) when compared with early stage (I+II) carcinomas (54 per cent). The difference, however, was not statistically significant (P=0·058). In addition, 14 out of 28 (50 per cent) primary carcinomas without 67LR expression became positive in lymph node metastases, while most (86 per cent) of the MLuC5‐positive primary carcinomas were also immunoreactive in metastases. In conclusion, these results indicate that 67LR is up‐regulated in the progression of human colorectal carcinomas and may play a role in the local and metastatic progression of these tumours.
Early lacunar strokes complicating polyarteritis nodosa

Objective: To determine the patterns and mechanisms of polyarteritis nodosa (PAN)–associated strokes (PANAS). Background: Strokes are reputed to be rare complications of PAN and to occur at a late stage (2 to 3 years). The cause of stroke is unknown but may be related either to atherosclerosis-like occlusive vasculopathy, caused possibly by hypertension or corticosteroid (CS) use, or to vasculitic arterial occlusion. Methods: Clinical and radiologic patterns, latencies, and current therapy at onset in 15 PANAS patients (4 of the authors’ and 11 published cases) were analyzed. Results: A lacunar stroke syndrome (11/15 cases, 73%) was the most frequent stroke pattern in PANAS (multiple, small, deep infarcts in 6, [55%], pontine lacunae in 3 [27%], and leukoaraiosis in 2 [18%]), followed by pure lobar hematoma and bilateral, possibly cardioembolic, large ischemic infarcts (2 cases each). A stroke latency shorter than that previously established (within 8 months in 73% of cases; mean latency, 6.5 months) and a close relationship between the use of CS and stroke in PAN also were found. Of the 77% of first-time or recurrent lacunar strokes that developed despite CS therapy, 80% appeared within 6 months and 50% within 3 weeks of CS initiation. Conclusion: Early lacunar stroke syndrome, related to deep small- or pontine-penetrating artery thrombotic microangiopathy rather than vasculitis, was the most frequent PANAS pattern. This vasculopathy may be aggravated by corticosteroid (CS) therapy enhancement of either platelet thromboxane A2 production or arterial wall fibrosis. Thus, antiplatelet drugs in association with CS may be advisable for preventing stroke occurrence or recurrence in PAN.
The Impact of the Internet on Marketing Strategy: Revisiting Early Predictions

This conceptual paper revisits and reviews early milestone literature of influential authors, who discuss the impact of the Internet on major forces that shape a company's marketing strategy to assess whether their futurist predictions and conceptual claims turned out to be true or were later falsified by empirical research or market experience. In particular, the impact of the Internet on customers, design of products/services, pricing, marketing communications, intermediaries, publics, and social/cultural environment is explored. Throughout the paper, related under-researched and unsettled areas are discussed and future research avenues are suggested.