Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Supply chain management, organizational innovation and corporate culture: The impact of relatedness

The growth and survival of organizations in a competitive global economy necessitates reaching markets through various competitive mechanisms. The integration of supply chain management and organizational innovation has been identified as providing such competitiveness. This paper introduces corporate culture and identifies unique relationships between these variables. Furthermore, constructs are introduced to empirically examine the relatedness between the variables. Using the data collected from 379 Kun-Shan City service industries in Taiwan, the study employs multiple regression analysis to examine the effects of relatedness between the identified variables and constructs. Recommendations of relatedness are provided, adding to the body of knowledge and practical application to industry. This is the first empirical study to investigate such relatedness in a service industry setting in Taiwan, and recommendations for further research are provided. Key words: Supply chain, innovation, corporate culture, management, organization.
Equity Short Sales and Options: Complements or Substitutes?

This paper studies whether equity short sales and options are complements or substitutes and finds that they are substitutes when the underlying market faces trading constraints. This substitutability is associated with far-reaching implications for stock price volatility and liquidity. Stocks that are subject to such constraints and have exchange-traded options are more volatile and less liquid than both constrained stocks without options and unconstrained stocks. Traders predominantly use at-the-money options to substitute equity short sales.
Identification of P-glycoprotein Mutations Causing a Loss of Steroid Recognition and Transport*

P-glycoproteins transport a wide variety of hydrophobic compounds out of cells. While the diversity of transported molecules suggests a mechanism involving broad specificity, there is evidence of significant discrimination within given classes of molecules. One example of this behavior is transport of corticosteroids by the murine mdr1 P-glycoprotein. The presence of hydroxyl groups, associated with specific steroid carbon atoms, regulates the ability of corticosteroids to be transported. This specificity is demonstrated here by experiments measuring the ability of steroids to inhibit drug transport. The results indicate that a keto oxygen associated with the 3- and 20-carbon atoms, as well as a 17-carbon hydroxyl group, each acts to enhance steroidal P-glycoprotein inhibitory activity. Moreover, inhibitory steroids can be used for directed selection of variant cells, expressing mutated P-glycoproteins with a severely impaired ability to transport dexamethasone. The five mutations, reported here, are located within transmembrane domains 4–6, proximal to the cytoplasmic interface. The altered P-glycoproteins exhibit reduced capacity to be inhibited by specific steroids, suggesting decreased capacity to bind these molecules avidly. Studies comparing the relative inhibitory activity of a series of steroids indicate that these mutations alter recognition of the 17α-hydroxyl group and the 20-keto oxygen atom.
DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF AN INSTRUMENT TO ASSESS GENERAL KNOWLEDGE OF STROKE

Increasing knowledge and awareness of stroke is considered an important part in health educational programs for patients at high risk. Assessment of stroke knowledge requires an instrument with good content coverage and psychometric properties. The present study aims to construct a test to assess general knowledge of stroke among patients at high risk and to evaluate its psychometric properties. Four steps were employed to achieve the study objectives: perform formative research to develop and design test items; establish the content and face validity of test items; conduct a first pilot study to examine item characteristics in a cohort of 120 participants at risk for stroke; and reevaluate the final version of the test in another cohort of 60 participants. The final version of the test consisted of 14 items with acceptable reliability (Cronbach’s coefficient alpha = 0.805) and good item characteristics. Thus, the developed instrument may provide a useful tool to identify knowledge gap and create educational programs for patients at high risk as well as to conduct future research related to stroke.
Word-of-Mouth for Movies: Its Dynamics and Impact on Box Office Revenue

Abstract This article uses actual word-of-mouth (WOM) information to examine the dynamic patterns of WOM and how it helps explain box office revenue. The WOM data were collected from the Yahoo Movies Web site. The results show that WOM activities are the most active during a movie's prerelease and opening week and that movie audiences tend to hold relatively high expectations before release but become more critical in the opening week. More important, WOM information offers significant explanatory power for both aggregate and weekly box office revenue, especially in the early weeks after a movie opens. However, most of this explanatory power comes from the volume of WOM and not from its valence, as measured by the percentages of positive and negative messages.
Constitutively Active IRF7/IRF3 Fusion Protein Completely Protects Swine against Foot-and-Mouth Disease

ABSTRACT Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) remains one of the most devastating livestock diseases around the world. Several serotype-specific vaccine formulations exist, but they require about 5 to 7 days to induce protective immunity. Our previous studies have shown that a constitutively active fusion protein of porcine interferon (IFN) regulatory factors (IRF) 7 and 3 [IRF7/3(5D)] strongly induced type I IFN and antiviral genes in vitro and prevented mortality in an FMD mouse model when delivered with a replication-defective adenoviral vector [Ad5-poIRF7/3(5D)]. Here, we demonstrate that pigs treated with 108, 109, or 1010 PFU of Ad5-poIRF7/3(5D) 24 h before FMDV challenge were fully protected from FMD clinical signs and did not develop viremia, virus shedding or antibodies against FMDV nonstructural proteins. Pigs treated with Ad5-poIRF7/3(5D) had higher levels of IFN and antiviral activity in serum, and upregulated expression of several IFN-stimulated genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, compared to pigs treated with Ad5-Blue vector control. Importantly, treatment of porcine cultured cells with Ad5-poIRF7/3(5D) inhibited the replication of all 7 FMDV serotypes. In vitro experiments using cultured embryonic fibroblasts derived from IFN receptor knockout mice suggested that the antiviral response induced by Ad5-poIRF7/3(5D) was dependent on type I and III IFN pathways; however, experiments with mice demonstrated that a functional type I IFN pathway mediates Ad5-poIRF7/3(5D) protection conferred in vivo. Our studies demonstrate that inoculation with Ad5-poIRF7/3(5D) completely protects swine against FMD by inducing a strong type I IFN response and highlights its potential application to rapidly and effectively prevent FMDV replication and dissemination. IMPORTANCE Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) causes a fast-spreading disease that affects farm animals, with economically and socially devastating consequences. Our study shows that inoculation with a constitutively active transcription factor, namely, a fusion protein of porcine interferon (IFN) regulatory factors (IRF) 7 and 3 delivered by an adenovirus vector [Ad5-poIRF7/3(5D)], is a new effective treatment to prevent FMD in swine. Animals pretreated with Ad5-poIRF7/3(5D) 1 day before being exposed to FMDV were completely protected from viral replication and clinical disease. It is noteworthy that the doses of Ad5-poIRF7/3(5D) required for protection are lower than those previously reported for similar approaches using Ad5 vectors delivering type I, II, or III IFN, suggesting that this novel strategy would be economically appealing to counteract FMD. Our results also indicate that a dynamic interplay among different components of pigs' innate immune defenses allows potent antiviral effects after Ad5-poIF7/3(5D) administration.
Clinical spectrum of pharyngeal gonococcal infection.

Abstract Neisseria gonorrhoeae was isolated on selective medium from the pharynx of 150 patients, including 125 examined during a nine-month prospective study. The prevalence of neisseria species in 2,224 patients at a venereal-disease clinic was N. meningitidis, 17.2 per cent, N. gonorrhoeae, 5.6 per cent, and N. lactamicus, 1.9 per cent. Among patients with gonorrhea, gonococcal pharyngeal infection was found in 20.9 per cent of homosexual men, 10.3 per cent of women, and only 3.2 per cent of heterosexual men. Gonococcal pharyngeal infection was correlated with the practice of fellatio (p less than 0.001), and 4.2 per cent of patients who practiced fellatio had infection of the pharynx alone. Symptoms of pharyngitis were also correlated with practice of fellatio (p less than 0.0001), but not with gonococcal pharyngeal infection. However, N. gonorrhoeae did appear responsible for pharyngitis in selected patients, and pharyngeal gonococcal infection was the only apparent source of disseminated gonococcal .
What Do Doctors Say When Prescribing Medications?: An Examination of Medical Recommendations From a Communication Perspective

We described physician usage of persuasive strategies pertaining to four dimensions of medical recommendations given during naturally occurring clinical visits—problem seriousness, treatment effectiveness, patient's self-efficacy, and potential limitations with the recommended treatment. We then examined the impact of these strategies on patient satisfaction and intention to follow physicians' medical advice. An analysis was conducted of 187 transcripts of audio-recorded outpatient visits during which a new medication was prescribed, augmented with patient and physician surveys. Two-hundred forty-two cases of new medication prescription were identified, and each case was coded into categories describing physicians' prescription-giving behaviors. In most cases, physicians addressed only one or two of the four dimensions of medical recommendations when they were prescribing new medications to their patients. In about one-third of visits, none of the four dimensions was addressed. However, physician use of persuasive strategies pertaining to the four dimensions did not appear to have any significant impact on patients' satisfaction with the visit or intention to follow their doctor's advice. The implications of the findings are discussed in light of the study's limitations and directions for future research.
Ego strength changes following perceptual deprivation. Report on a pilot study.

Introduction Most research in sensory deprivation has been done with normal subjects. In general, these studies have emphasized stressful and disruptive effects, such as "pseudo-somatic delusions; illusions or hallucinations, . impaired ability to concentrate, distortions in time judgment and degrees of anxiety. " 12 Reports of "brainwashing" of prisoners of war have also emphasized the disruptive effects of prolonged social isolation and perceptual deprivation on psychological functioning. 11 In contrast, investigators utilizing psychiatric patients as subjects have observed more positive and beneficial effects. Azima and Cramer-Azima 3 exposed 14 psychiatric patients to periods of partial sensory deprivation for an average period of 4 days. In these subjects initial signs of disorganization were followed by positive shifts in mood, release of constructive aggression, and increased attempts at socialization. Similar results have been reported by Harris, 10 who placed 12 hallucinating schizophrenic patients in conditions similar to those
EDUCATIONAL USE OF FACEBOOK IN HIGHER-EDUCATION ENVIRONMENTS: CURRENT PRACTICES AND GUIDELINES

Social networking systems were not designed specifically to build and manage learning experiences. However, they can provide support to the current collective orientation of educational processes. Because of that, higher-education teachers should recognize the importance of deploying these tools that meet connectivity requirements of today’s digital natives. Even though, multiple documented experiences on this subject exist, they are independently published and scattered in various media. Consequently, it becomes arduous to identify key issues when projecting integration of social networks into the educational process. Thus, with the aim of simplifying that task, this work summarizes these key issues, through a documentary review. Risks and opportunities of social networking incorporation into educational college processes are identified, and a concise guide is presented with the recommendations and considerations arising from them. This study focuses on Facebook, by virtue of it being nowadays the preferred social networking instrument among students.
Cost of debt capital and audit in Spanish SMEs

Evidence about the effect of voluntary audits on the cost of debt is mixed, and there is no research about the effects of mandatory audits and the non-compliance with the audit requirement. Using a sample of Spanish SMEs, where some companies are exempt from audit and some are mandatorily audited, we examine if audits, either mandatory or voluntary, help to reduce the cost of debt. We do not find a significant association between voluntary audits and cost of debt, whereas companies that breach the audit requirement have a higher cost of debt than the mandatorily audited ones. This suggests that differences in the cost of debt between audited and unaudited companies are associated with a “punishment” for companies that shun the mandatory audit rather than a “reward” for voluntarily audited companies. Moreover, within audited SMEs, we do not find that those audited by large auditors have a lower cost of debt.
Reduced glycaemic and insulinaemic responses following trehalose and isomaltulose ingestion: implications for postprandial substrate use in impaired glucose-tolerant subjects

The impact of slowly digestible sugars in reducing the risk of developing obesity and related metabolic disorders remains unclear. We hypothesised that such carbohydrates (CHO), resulting in a lower glycaemic and insulinaemic response, may lead to greater postprandial fat oxidation rates in subjects with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). The present study intends to compare the postprandial metabolic responses to the ingestion of glucose (GLUC) v. trehalose (TRE) and sucrose (SUC) v. isomaltulose (IMU). In a randomised, single-blind, cross-over design, ten overweight IGT subjects were studied four times, following ingestion of different CHO drinks either at breakfast or in combination with a mixed meal at lunch. Before and 3 h after CHO ingestion, energy expenditure, substrate utilisation and circulating metabolite concentrations were determined. Ingestion of CHO drinks with a meal resulted in an attenuated rise in GLUC ( − 33 %) and insulin ( − 14 %) concentrations following TRE when compared with GLUC and following IMU, an attenuation of 43 and 34 % when compared with SUC ingestion, respectively. Additionally, there was less inhibition of the rise in NEFA concentrations and less decline in postprandial fat oxidation (22 %) after IMU when compared with SUC, whereas TRE did not differ from GLUC. The attenuated rise in GLUC and insulin concentrations following IMU ingestion attenuated the postprandial inhibition of fat oxidation compared with SUC when co-ingested with a meal. This suggests that exchange of SUC in the diet for IMU may result in a more favourable metabolic response and may help to reduce the risks associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin as a biomarker of acute kidney injury: a critical evaluation of current status

Background The early prediction of acute kidney injury (AKI) by current clinical and laboratory methods remains inadequate. Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) has emerged as a promising non-invasive biomarker of kidney injury. We systematically reviewed the utility of plasma and urine NGAL measurements for the prediction of AKI in humans. Methods We searched MEDLINE, PubMed and EMBASE for human biomarker studies that included NGAL (January 2005 to October 2013). Studies reporting on the use of NGAL for the early prediction and prognosis of AKI were analysed in three common clinical settings: cardiac surgery, critical illness and kidney transplantation. Results We identified 58 manuscripts that met our inclusion and exclusion criteria, reporting on more than 16,500 patients. Following cardiac surgery, NGAL measurement in over 7000 patients was predictive of AKI and its severity, with an overall area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.82–0.83. Similar results were obtained in over 8500 critically ill patients. In over 1000 patients undergoing kidney transplantation, NGAL measurements predicted delayed graft function with an overall AUC of 0.87. In all three settings, NGAL significantly improved the prediction of AKI risk over the clinical model alone. Conclusions We identified several studies that collectively strongly support the use of NGAL as a biomarker for the prediction of AKI. However, we noted some limitations, including lack of published studies that adhere to diagnostic study guidelines, heterogeneity in AKI definition, the lack of uniformly applicable cut-off values and variability in the performance of commercially available NGAL assays.
Research Protocol - The Impact of a Tick-Sheet in Improving Interpretation Accuracy of Chest Radiographs by Non-Specialists in an HIV positive cohort

Research protocol. These materials can be used, adapted and copied as long as citation of the source is given including the direct URL to the material. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png
Does Exchange of Information between Tax Authorities Influence Multinationals’ Use of Tax Havens?

Since the mid-1990s, countries offering tax systems that facilitate international tax avoidance and evasion have been facing growing political pressure to comply with the internationally agreed standards of exchange of tax information. Using data of German investments in tax havens, we find evidence that the conclusion of a bilateral tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) is associated with fewer operations in tax havens and the number of German affiliates has on average decreased by 46% compared to a control group. This suggests that firms invest in tax havens not only for their low tax rates but also for the secrecy they offer.
Role of insulin in the hepatic handling of glucose.

The effects of insulin on hepatic glucose balance, including data on hepatic glucose output, production (glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis), and uptake in normal and diabetic animals are reviewed. Data from in vivo studies are presented which indicate that these changes in the hepatic handling of glucose following insulin administration are direct effects of insulin on the liver rather than effects secondary to insulin's action on muscle and adipose tissue. These studies indicate that these hepatic actions of insulin are vital to the organism both during feasting and prolonged fasting.
Performance of DWT and SWT in muscle fatigue detection

Ability of wavelet transform in accessing time and frequency information at the same time make it widely used in analyzing bio-signals like electromyography (EMG). Discrete wavelet transforms (DWT) and stationary wavelet transform (SWT) are examples of analysis based on wavelet. Both analyses are based on decomposition technique and splitting signals into few frequency band. The different is DWT will down sample resolution into half at each decomposition level, while SWT is not. This paper is investigating both analyses in its ability on de-noising process of EMG using the same properties. The signals will be decomposed into five level of decomposition using `db20', and de-noised using the same threshold setting. The performance will be evaluated based on its signals to noise ratio and muscle fatigue detection. Results show that de-noising process through SWT give better signals to ratio. Inability in DWT removed 20Hz corner frequency in several reading lead to misinterpretation in fatigue detection.
Market Share Strategy and the Product Life Cycle

POSSESSION of 1% market share in the light-duty liquid detergent market is not necessarily a promising competitive posture. In such a mature and highly competitive market, it is questionable that such a small market share can ever yield a satisfactory profit. The attractiveness of a market share position varies according to the structure of the market and the nature of competition. Sometimes a decision to "invest in market share," that is, to increase market share, may be extremely valuable in the long run. In other cases, the most sensible solution may well be to disinvest, that is, to reduce market share with the short-term goal of increasing unit profit enough to offset the unit volume decrease. Market share investment or disinvest-
FACTORS INFLUENCING ATTITUDE TOWARDS USING ELECTRONIC HRM

Electronic human resource management (E-HRM) provides human resource (HR) functions with the opportunity to create new avenues for contributing to organizational success. This study is a preliminary investigation on technology factors (clarity of E-HRM goals, E-HRM trust, user satisfaction with E-HRM, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, intention to use E-HRM, user support, social influence, and facilitating conditions) and attitude towards using EHRM among 51 HR professionals in Malaysia. This paper also highlights areas for future research on this unique topic among the HR professionals as a whole.
Retailer internationalization: overcoming barriers to expansion

This paper develops an understanding of the barriers to retailer foreign market expansion focusing on SME retail firms. A qualitative methodology was adopted to obtain a holistic understanding of the key barriers to international expansion experienced by retailers from both the firm and industry-level perspectives. In light of the findings from the case companies and industry organizations in this study, the paper concludes that the main barriers to foreign market expansion experienced by SME UK retailers, both at the entry and growth stages, comprise internal and external factors. This paper not only provides an understanding of the barriers encountered by SME retailers but also considers how such problems may be overcome.
Responder and health‐related quality of life analyses in men with lower urinary tract symptoms treated with a fixed‐dose combination of solifenacin and tamsulosin oral‐controlled absorption system: results from the NEPTUNE study

To evaluate the effect of a fixed‐dose combination (FDC) of solifenacin and an oral‐controlled absorption system (OCAS™) formulation of tamsulosin (TOCAS) on health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) in men with lower urinary tract symptoms associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia (LUTS/BPH).