Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Randomized, placebo-controlled trial of fluoxetine for acute treatment of minor depressive disorder.

OBJECTIVE Minor depressive disorder is both common and associated with significant psychosocial impairment. This study examined antidepressant treatment efficacy in a large group of patients with minor depressive disorder. METHOD One hundred sixty-two patients with minor depressive disorder were randomly assigned to receive fluoxetine or placebo in a 12-week, double-blind study; 73% (59 of 81) of the patients in each treatment group completed the study. Patients were evaluated weekly with standard depression rating instruments and measures of psychosocial impairment. Hypotheses were tested by last-observation-carried-forward analysis of variance (ANOVA) and confirmed by mixed (random-effects) regression analysis. RESULTS At baseline, minor depressive disorder patients were mildly to moderately depressed, with a corresponding degree of functional impairment. Over 12 weeks of treatment, both ANOVA and mixed regression showed fluoxetine to be superior to placebo as indicated by significantly greater improvement of fluoxetine-treated patients in scores on the 30-item clinician-rated Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology, the 17-item and 21-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory, and the Clinical Global Impression severity scale. Improvement in Global Assessment of Functioning Scale score was significantly greater for the fluoxetine group in mixed regression analysis only. Patients in both treatment groups reported a similar number and severity of adverse events during the 12-week treatment period. CONCLUSIONS Clinicians frequently encounter minor depressive disorder either as a prodromal or residual phase of illness in major depressive disorder or as de novo minor depressive disorder episodes. Fluoxetine is significantly superior to placebo in reducing minor depressive disorder symptoms within a 12-week period. Improvement in psychosocial function with fluoxetine may take longer than 12 weeks.
THE INFLUENCE OF POSTMATERIALIST ORIENTATIONS ON YOUNG BRITISH PEOPLE'S OFFLINE AND ONLINE POLITICAL PARTICIPATION

According to Inglehart's postmaterialist theory, a process of value change is taking place in Western societies, where people place increasingly more emphasis on self-expression and postmaterialist values rather than economic and physical security. Evidence shows that postmaterialists are young, affluent, well educated and strongly inclined to carry out extra-institutional political participation. Internet researchers have reported that internet users are mainly young, well educated and affluent, thus denoting a similarity to the demographic characteristics of postmaterialists. The profile of the average British internet user is strikingly similar to those of extra-institutional activists and postmaterialists. Using a non-random sample (N = 500) of young people, this article tests the existence of postmaterialist values in the online realm of Britain and examines if postmaterialism influences online and offline political activity. The findings indicate that extra-institutional is a more popular type of participation among the British youths of this sample, in both offline and online realms. However, postmaterialism is not associated with internet use and is not a statistically significant predictor for offline or online extra-institutional participation.
Maximal oxygen uptake as a parametric measure of cardiorespiratory capacity.

INTRODUCTION Maximal oxygen uptake (.VO2max) was defined by Hill and Lupton in 1923 as the oxygen uptake attained during maximal exercise intensity that could not be increased despite further increases in exercise workload, thereby defining the limits of the cardiorespiratory system. This concept has recently been disputed because of the lack of published data reporting an unequivocal plateau in . VO2 during incremental exercise. PURPOSE The purpose of this investigation was to test the hypothesis that there is no significant difference between the . VO2max obtained during incremental exercise and a subsequent supramaximal exercise test in competitive middle-distance runners. We sought to determine conclusively whether . VO2 attains a maximal value that subsequently plateaus or decreases with further increases in exercise intensity. METHODS Fifty-two subjects (36 men, 16 women) performed three series of incremental exercise tests while measuring . VO2 using the Douglas bag method. On the day after each incremental test, the subjects returned for a supramaximal test, during which they ran at 8% grade with the speed chosen individually to exhaust the subject between 2 and 4 min. . VO2 at supramaximal exercise intensities (30% above incremental .VO2max) was measured continuously. RESULTS . VO2max measured during the incremental test (63.3 +/- 6.3 mL.kg(-1). min(-1); mean +/- SD) was indistinguishable from the . VO2max during the supramaximal test (62.9 +/- 6.2, N = 156; P = 0.77) despite a sufficient duration of exercise to demonstrate a plateau in . VO2 during continuous supramaximal exercise. These data provide strong support for the hypothesis that there is indeed a peak and subsequent plateau in . VO2 during maximal exercise intensity. CONCLUSIONS . VO2max is a valid index measuring the limits of the cardiorespiratory systems' ability to transport oxygen from the air to the tissues at a given level of physical conditioning and oxygen availability.
Antagonism of orexin receptors significantly lowers blood pressure in spontaneously hypertensive rats

• Orexin is involved in blood pressure regulation. Certain forms of stress or central administration of orexin increases blood pressure and sympathetic nerve activity in normal rats; orexin knockout mice and orexin neuron‐ablated transgenic rats have lower basal blood pressure. The role of orexin in hypertension remains unknown. • RT‐PCR shows a strong trend towards an increased orexin‐A mRNA expression in the rostral ventrolateral medulla in adult spontaneously hypertensive rats. • In adult spontaneously hypertensive rats, blocking orexin receptors by oral administration of an antagonist, almorexant, significantly lowers blood pressure in wakefulness and non‐rapid eye movement sleep during dark and light cycles, an effect accompanied by decreased sympathetic vasomotor tone and noradrenaline levels in cerebrospinal fluid and plasma. • Antagonizing orexin receptors had no effect on resting blood pressure in normal rats. • The orexin system participates in the pathogenesis of high blood pressure in spontaneously hypertensive rats. Modulation of the orexin system could be a potential target in treating some forms of hypertension.
Predicting Rank Attainment in Political Science: What Else Besides Publications Affects Promotion?

Abstract We report the results of hypotheses tests about the effects of several measures of research, teaching, and service on the likelihood of achieving the ranks of associate and full professor. In conducting these tests, we control for institutional and individual background characteristics. We focus our tests on the link between productivity and academic rank and explore whether this relationship reveals a gender dimension. The analyses are based on an APSA-sponsored survey of all faculty members in departments of political science (government, public affairs, and international relations) in the United States.
Russian Workers: The Anatomy of Patience

The anatomy of patience - Russian workers in transition from communism Vishnovka - portrait of a mining settlement in transition Taldym - the disappointments of privatization "we always lead the way" - the Taldym trade union committee in transition shop-floor trade unionism - the prospects of "reform from below" "our mine" - workers and the labour collective the lampovaya - the stunted collectivism of the immediate work group surviving the transition - individual and collective strategies.
An Analysis of the Underlying Causes Attributed to Restatements

SYNOPSIS: The dramatic increase in the number of restatements filed over the past years has been attributed to numerous causes, including the complexity of the accounting standards, internal control reviews, changes in materiality thresholds, the overly conservative nature of auditors, earnings management, increased transaction complexity, and the second-guessing of management judgments by a variety of interested parties. However, empirical evidence on the underlying causes of restatements has been lacking. This study provides such evidence by directly addressing these questions: (1) To what causes do companies attribute restatements? (2) To what characteristics of the accounting standards do companies attribute restatements? Relying on the restating companies’ disclosures about restatements, we find that companies most often attribute restatements to basic internal company errors unrelated to any specific characteristic of the accounting standards. We also find that, for those restatements attributed to .
The Effect of Promotion on Consumption: Buying More and Consuming it Faster

The authors empirically demonstrate the existence of flexible consumption rates in packaged-goods products, how this phenomenon can be modeled, and its importance in assessing the effectiveness of sales promotion. They specify an incidence, choice, and quantity model in which category consumption varies with the level of household inventory. The authors use two different functions to relate consumption rates to household inventory and estimate the models using scanner panel data from two product categories: yogurt and ketchup. Both functions provide a significantly better fit than a conventional model, which assumes a constant daily usage rate. They also have strong discriminant validity; yogurt consumption is found to be much more flexible with respect to inventory than ketchup consumption is. The authors use a Monte Carlo simulation to decompose the long-term impact of promotion into brand switching and consumption effects and conclude with the implications of their findings for researchers and managers.
Revisiting the institutions–growth nexus in developing countries: The new evidence

In this paper we revisit the institutions–growth nexus in developing countries including the East Asian region. The region has in the past three decades not only achieved spectacular economic growth, but also experienced one of the worst financial crises, i.e. Asian financial crisis (AFC) in 1997–1998. Utilising the neoclassical growth framework augmented with institutional controls and latest estimation technique in panel data analysis, this study finds evidence of positive institutions effect on growth. Nonetheless, the evidence is limited to security of property rights only with no similar evidence on efficient bureaucracy and strong government. This study also uncovers the channel of the institutional effects on economic growth, i.e. via total factors productivity. This study adds to the literature of East Asian growth, which hitherto, to the best of our knowledge, has seen only two studies, namely Rodrik (1997) ‘TFPG controversies, institutions, and economic performance in East Asia’ and Campos and Nugent (1999) ‘Development performance and the institutions of governance: Evidence from East Asia and Latin America’ that document the evidence of institutional importance on economic growth, and these studies are however for the period before the AFC.
Linking Belgian employee performance management system characteristics with performance management system effectiveness: exploring the mediating role of fairness

Based on expectancy theory, goal-setting theory and control theory, we propose a model in which perceived fairness mediates the relationship between characteristics of employee performance management (PM) systems and their perceived effectiveness by employees. PM system characteristics we propose are the frequency and length of formal reviews, the frequency of informal reviews and feedback, whether the formal conversation focused on evaluation or development and finally the degree of participation. The model was tested on a cross-industry sample of 3192 employees in Belgium. The measurement and structural models were simultaneously tested using structural equation modeling, and we used a bootstrapping approach to test the mediation hypothesis. Our findings indicate that performance review focus and employee participation strongly relate to perceptions of appraisal fairness and PM system effectiveness and that the frequency of informal performance reviews is stronger related to PM system effectiveness than the frequency of formal performance reviews. This suggests that the manifest expressions of PM have more impact on PM system effectiveness rather than the more latent characteristics of PM systems. The findings advance research to the role and functionality of PM systems by showing that (a) the manner in which PM systems are shaped and executed is of fundamental importance for their effectiveness, (b) fairness partially mediates the relationship between PM system characteristics and their effectiveness and (c) the three motivational theories appear useful for understanding the consequences of PM practices on individual employees.
Prediction of seasonal rainfall in the sahel region using empirical and dynamical methods

Long-range weather forecasting is a notoriously difficult area of environmental science. However, recent improved understanding of atmospheric dynamics and better observations indicate that useful progress, rooted in scientifically sound ideas, may be possible with long-range forecasting in the tropics. We describe recent research into the mechanisms and prediction of rainfall in the sub-Sahara during the main summer rainfall season, concentrating on the Sahel region. We use a complex physical model of the atmosphere (a ‘general circulation’ model) and two relatively simple statistical models to show that large-scale variations in sea surface temperature (SST) can strongly influence seasonal Sahel rainfall. Persistence of patterns of SST anomalies (deviations from long-term average) is sufficient to allow useful forecasting techniques to be based on fields of SST anomalies observed in the preceding spring. However, persistence of the SST anomalies may not always be sufficient to provide a skilful forecast.
Microbes, intestinal inflammation and probiotics

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is known for causing disturbed homeostatic balance among the intestinal immune compartment, epithelium and microbiota. Owing to the emergence of IBD as a major cause of morbidity and mortality, great efforts have been put into understanding the sequence of intestinal inflammatory events. Intestinal macrophages and dendritic cells act in a synergistic fashion with intestinal epithelial cells and microbiota to initiate the triad that governs the intestinal immune responses (whether inflammatory or regulatory). In this review, we will discuss the interplay of intestinal epithelial cells, bacteria and the innate immune component. Moreover, whether or not genetic intervention of probiotic bacteria is a valid approach for attenuating/mitigating exaggerated inflammation and IBD will also be discussed.
Validating and measuring IC in the biotechnology and telecommunication industries

This paper specifies how to construct and validate an intellectual capital (IC) measurement scale on the basis of management perceptions. In order to construct the scales, a process based on the works of Churchill and DeVellis, complemented by the Delphi technique and structural equations models was used. The use of this methodology was illustrated in an empirical study carried out in the biotechnology and telecommunication sectors. As a result, a validated instrument for IC research is obtained in view of the faithful and rigorous measurement of its key construct.
Partial privatization in price-setting mixed duopoly

This paper investigates a price-setting mixed model involving a private firm and a public firm to reassess the welfare effect of partial privatization. First, the government chooses the level of privatization to maximize social welfare. Second, observing the level of privatization, the firms non-cooperatively choose prices. The paper then demonstrates that partial privatization is not an optimal choice for the government.
On the channel capacity of MIMO Rayleigh-Lognormal fading channel

The capacity of multiple input multiple output (MIMO) system over wireless channels has been investigated analytically and by simulation over different types of wireless fading channels, such as Rayleigh, Ricain and Nakagami fading channels. This paper paper first investigates the channel capacity of the MIMO channels over the Rayleigh-Lognormal fading channel. The paper derives the analytic expression of channel capacity n of the MIMO Rayleigh-Lognormal fading channel in integral form, gives the Eigenvalue Probability Density Function (PDF) of the MIMO Rayleigh-Lognormal fading channel. Numerical calculation for the channel capacity of MIMO Rayleigh-Lognormal fading channel is explored using two numerical calculation methods, Gaussian-Laguerre numerical integration and Gaussian-Hermite numerical integration.
Military corruption & Ugandan politics since the late 1990s

The paper examines cases of corrupt military procurement in Uganda since the late 1990s. It also considers the illicit business activities of Ugandan army officers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 1998. The paper then discusses how military corruption aroused the concern of parliament, and became a matter of importance in the 2001 presidential elections. We argue that the prevalence of military corruption was the result of government and army leaders not being subject to public accountability. Not a single leader has been faced with prosecution or punishment for corrupt military behaviour. We conclude by arguing that military corruption has helped to maintain the National Resistance Movement (NRM) in power, although this has been realised at the cost of building a professional national army in Uganda.
How entrepreneurs acquire the capacity to excel: insights from research on expert performance

Most new ventures fail, but a few prosper and attain rapid growth. Many factors contribute to such outcomes, but we propose that among these are mechanisms identified by cognitive science research on the origins of expert performance. Literature on this topic indicates that across many fields (e.g., medicine, science, sports, music), outstanding performance derives largely from participation in intense, prolonged, and highly focused efforts to improve current performance—a process known as deliberate practice. By comparison, mere experience in a field and individual talent play smaller roles in generating expert performance. Additional evidence indicates that participation in deliberate practice does not simply expand domain-specific knowledge and skills; it also generates actual enhancements to basic cognitive resources (e.g., memory, perception, metacognition). We suggest that to the extent entrepreneurs acquire enhanced cognitive resources through current or past deliberate practice, their capacity to perform tasks related to new venture success (e.g., accurate identification and evaluation of business opportunities) is enhanced and, hence, the performance of their new ventures, too, is augmented. Specific ways in which entrepreneurs can gain enhanced cognitive resources are described, and implications for entrepreneurship theory and practice are considered. Copyright © 2010 Strategic Management Society.
Randomized comparative study of diamond-like carbon coated stainless steel stent versus uncoated stent implantation in patients with coronary artery disease.

OBJECTIVE To compare restenosis and major cardiac event rates at one and six months after DLC-coated stent implantation with those of uncoated stents. METHODS Randomized, prospective, comparative study of 180 patients with coronary insufficiency undergoing DLC coated stent (Phytis) or uncoated stent (Penta) implantation, from January, 2003 to July, 2004. Inclusion criteria were: de novo lesion with >50% diameter stenosis in a coronary artery with reference diameter > or = 2.5 mm and < or = 4 mm, and length < 20 mm. Exclusion criteria were: left main coronary artery and bifurcation lesions, chronic total occlusion, and in-stent restenosis. RESULTS Clinical and angiographic baseline characteristics of the groups were similar. Procedural success was achieved in 98.9% of the patients in both groups. One cardiac death occurred in each group during hospitalization. Reference diameter and acute gain were greater in the Penta group (3.21 +/- 0.37 mm vs. 3.34 +/- 0.8 mm, p=0.02 and 2.3 +/- 0.5 vs. 2.49 +/- 0.5, p=0.009, respectively). Angiographic follow-up at six months showed similar rates of restenosis (24.3% vs. 21.8%, p=0.84) and of major cardiac events (16.8% vs. 17.5%, p=1). CONCLUSION DLC coated stents did not provide better outcomes in relation to uncoated stents.
Determinants of growth and profitability in small entrepreneurial firms

Using accounts data for a sample of 38 small manufacturing firms located in Tayside Region, this paper investigates the relationship between company characteristics including size, age, location and industry group, and profitability and growth. The trade‐off between the possibly conflicting objectives of profit and growth is considered primarily from the entrepreneurial rather than the managerial standpoint which previous econometric studies of small firm performance have concentrated on. Motivations for undertaking entrepreneurial activity and their possible relationships with profitability and growth are discussed and a number of hypotheses developed. From this perspective it is argued that a firm size measure based on employment is more appropriate than one based on sales or assets which previous studies have used. Firm characteristics are found to be of limited value in explaining profitability. However, larger firms are found to grow faster than smaller, and younger firms are found to grow faster than older. This is also some evidence that growth is stronger in urban than in suburban or rural locations. It is possible that entrepreneurial motivations are an important factor in this regard and it is suggested that future econometric studies of small firm performance take these into account.