Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Stress Response to Bilateral Femoral Fractures: A Comparison of Primary Intramedullary Nailing and External Fixation

Objectives: Concern has recently been expressed with regard to the physiologic effects of primary intramedullary femoral nailing in seriously injured patients. “Damage control orthopaedics” techniques have been proposed, which comprise principally the use of primary external fixation. The aim of this study was to compare the physiologic effects of external femoral fixation with those of intramedullary stabilization over the first 24 hours after femoral fracture using an established large animal (ovine) trauma model. Methods: Under terminal anesthesia, bilateral high-energy femoral fractures and hypovolemic shock were produced using a pneumatic actuator. Twenty-four sheep were randomized into 4 groups and monitored for 24 hours. Group 1-control, group 2-trauma only, group 3-trauma and external fixation, and group 4-trauma and reamed intramedullary nailing. Outcome measures included the following: pulmonary embolic load (transesophageal echocardiography), metabolic base excess, plasma coagulation markers, and polymorphonuclear cell counts obtained from bronchoalveolar lavage samples. Results: The total embolic load was significantly higher (P < 0.001) in the intramedullary nailing group. All trauma groups had a significant increase (P < 0.05) in prothrombin times with a fall in antithrombin III and fibrinogen levels. However, the type of fracture stabilization used did not significantly affect any of the other outcome measurements. Conclusions: A higher pulmonary embolic load can be expected during early intramedullary femoral fracture stabilization compared with primary external fixation. However, the degree of stimulation to systemic coagulation and pulmonary inflammation by each type of surgery was comparable.
Decent work: indexing European working conditions and imposing workplace tax

This article indexes working conditions using data from the Fourth European Working Conditions Survey 2005 for three purposes. (1) Benchmarking countries and social groups. This reveals poor qualification and career opportunities, and modest incomes. Atypical workers have less advantageous working conditions than those in permanent full-time jobs. This shows that Europe is still far from creating ‘better jobs’ as advocated in the Lisbon agenda. (2) Analysing the flexicurity concept as proposed by the European Commission. Our study disproves the assertion that European workers are less interested in remaining with the same employer but need more flexibility combined with ‘upward mobility’ and lifelong learning. Moreover, Europe has a shortage of training possibilities and workers demonstrate latent resistance to learning. The basis for the Commission's promotion of flexicurity would thus seem questionable. (3) Proposal of a workplace tax for bad working conditions. As with ‘green taxes’, the workplace tax would encourage employers to improve working conditions. Indexing individual working conditions with reference to a checklist, as developed in the article, could be a prototype for measuring ‘social pollution’ to determine the amount of workplace tax.
Exam Scheduling and Student Performance

This paper uses data from a single School of a UK university to estimate the impact of a switch from end-of-semester to end-of-year final exams on student performance. The identification strategy exploits the fact that while the timing of final exams changed, the timing of mid-term exams remained the same. Estimates are based on a difference-in-differences methodology that compares final and mid-term exam scores after the switch, with final and mid-term exam scores before the switch. The empirical findings suggest that the shift of final exams to the end of the academic year had a negative effect on student achievement. Many changes in higher education are often done on the basis of financial, administrative or ideological considerations, underestimating the magnitude of their effect on student learning and student performance.
European and North American Contexts for Cross-border Regionalism

SCOTT J. W. (1999) European and North American contexts for cross-border regionalism, Reg. Studies 33 , 605‐617. This paper discusses cross-border regionalism within the supranational contexts of the European Union and the developing North American Free Trade Area. Focusing on planning and regional development issues, cross-border regionalism as a new form of governance is investigated, based on a comparison of supranational integration logics, co-operation frameworks and instruments, and co-operation agendas and strategies. In both contexts, discrepancies between programmatic objectives and co-operation results are striking, eliciting questions as to the greater potential significance of cross-border regionalism. The paper argues that theories of political regulation and constructivist perspectives might help relate cross-border regionalism to broader economic, political and cultural variables, explaining how regionalist agendas and strategies emerge, and how they are a response to local interests and as.
Examining Overconsumption, Competitive Consumption, and Conscious Consumption from 1994 to 2004

Taken together, Robert Putnam’s work on the decline of social capital (2000) and Juliet Schor’s insights about the rise of “the new consumerism” (1999) suggest a shift in values in which our responsibilities as citizens have taken a backseat to our desires as consumers. This article complicates this shift in civic and consumer culture by examining generational differences in overconsumption, competitive consumption, and conscious consumption between 1994 and 2004. Using survey proxies for these concepts from the annual DDB Needham Life Style Study, the authors find that Generation X exhibits the highest rates of overconsumption and competitive consumption while also displaying the lowest rates of conscious consumption. Notably, the trends for these three aspects of consumer behavior vary in terms of overtime stability, general tendency, and economic responsiveness. These differing patterns of spending and consumption have far-reaching implications for society as a whole, particularly as the Civic Generation fades, the Boomers move out of the workforce, and Generation X becomes mature and culturally dominant.
Overreaction to Stock Market News and Misevaluation of Stock Prices by Unsophisticated Investors: Evidence from the Option Market

This paper examines investors' option activity on value and growth stocks before earnings announcements. The main finding is that unsophisticated investors enter option positions that load up on growth stocks relative to value stocks in the days leading up to earnings announcements. This occurs despite the fact that at earnings announcements value stocks outperform growth stocks by a wide margin. The paper's results provide evidence that unsophisticated option market investors (1) overreact to past news on underlying stocks and (2) mistakenly believe that mispriced stocks will move even further away from fundamentals at impending scheduled news releases.
Political Culture, Political Structure and Political Change

In The Civic Culture, perhaps the best known study of political culture, Almond and Verba say that ‘the relationship between political culture and political structure [is] one of the most significant researchable aspects of the problem of political stability and change’. I want to look at the way this relationship has been treated in one particular area, an area very relevant to questions of political stability and change in our own society; that is, in studies of political participation and apathy, especially research into the sense of political efficacy or competence. This is the area with which The Civic Culture itself is largely concerned, and it is now well established that individuals low in a sense of political efficacy tend to be apathetic about politics; indeed, Almond and Verba consider the sense of efficacy or competence to be a ‘key political attitude’.
Identifying the policy implications of barge shipments of grains on the US inland waterway system: the case of corn movements on the Mississippi waterway

The Johansen cointegration analysis and a vector error correction model are used to examine the dynamic relationships among the quantity of corn shipped by barge, barge and rail rates, domestic corn production and domestic corn consumption on the Mississippi River. Results show that, in the long-run, the barge rate and domestic corn production are weakly exogenous in the model and have significant effects on the demand for corn barge transportation. This implies that these two variables play crucial roles in determining the long-run movement of barge shipments of corn, while they are not affected by other variables. In the short-run, on the other hand, the rail rate and domestic corn consumption are found to have significant impacts on changes in the demand for corn barge transportation. The results are not consistent between the short-run and long-run analyses and this further explains why it is important to incorporate both short- and long-run dynamics in the demand model for US grain barge transportation.
A new look into the prevalence of balance sheet or competitiveness effect of exchange rate depreciation in a highly euroised economy

This article empirically tests the impact of exchange rate depreciation on sectoral performance proxied by investment or, alternatively, sales. It measures the balance sheet and the competitiveness effect in a country that records very high levels of liability euroisation. Panel data methodology is applied on a dataset of 20 Croatian non-financial sectors combining macroeconomic and sectoral financial information. Results confirm there are strong negative effects of liability euroisation on both investment and sales. Negative balance sheet effects and very small positive competitiveness effects are found as well, adding up to a negative overall exchange rate depreciation effect on sectoral performance. Moreover, we find evidence that the corporate sector does not hedge against exchange rate exposure and that the domestic financial system is a constraining factor for corporate investment growth. We also find evidence of size asymmetries related to bank lending relationships.
Internet Game Addiction, Depression, and Escape From Negative Emotions in Adulthood: A Nationwide Community Sample of Korea

Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate the association between adult Internet game addiction (IGA) and mental disorders. A total of 1401 adults aged between 18 and 74 years participated in this study. The IGA group had significantly younger patients, and it showed a higher proportion of unmarried and unemployed adults, and higher rates of suicidal ideation, plan, and attempt than the non-IGA group. Multivariate logistic regression indicated that IGA was significantly associated with major depressive disorder, dysthymia, and depressive disorders adjusting for all variables. The Patient Health Questionnaire–9 score was significantly higher in the IGA group than in the non-IGA group for both young adults and middle groups. “Escape from negative emotions like nervousness, sadness, and anger” was the only significant item associated with depression among symptoms of IGA. This study suggests that adults with IGA and depression may use Internet games to escape from negative emotions.
Effect of Human Papillomavirus-16 Infection on CD8+ T-Cell Recognition of a Wild-Type Sequence p53264–272 Peptide in Patients with Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck

Purpose: Wild-type sequence (wt) p53 peptides are attractive candidates for broadly applicable cancer vaccines, currently considered primarily for patients whose tumors overexpress p53. Circumstances exist, however, where increased p53 degradation may result in appreciable presentation of p53-derived peptides, despite low p53 expression. Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck is associated with oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) subtypes, which inactivate p53 through proteasomal degradation. The criterion of p53 overexpression would exclude these individuals from wt p53-based immunotherapy. Experimental Design: We tested the correlation of HPV infection with enhanced antigenicity of the p53 protein and postulated that removal of HPV-16+ tumors with enhanced p53264-272 peptide presentation might lead to a drop in T cells specific for this peptide in vivo. Circulating frequencies of T cells specific for the HLA A*0201:p53264-272 complex were measured ex vivo using dimeric HLA:peptide complexes in 15 head and neck cancer patients before and 6 months after tumor excision. Results: CD8+ T-cell recognition of HLA A*0201restricted wt p53264-272 peptide presented by HPV-16− squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck lines was enhanced by HPV-16 E6 expression, sometimes exceeding that of a naturally transformed, HPV-16+ wt p53 expressing squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck cell line. In patients with HPV-16− tumors, the frequency of wt p53264–272–specific T cells remained largely unchanged after tumor removal. However, a significant decline in frequency of anti-p53264–272 T cells was observed postoperatively in HPV-16+ patients (P < 0.005). Conclusions: Recognition of HPV-associated squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck appears associated with levels of wt p53-specific T cells and inversely with p53 expression. p53 peptides may be useful tumor antigens for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck immunotherapy in addition to viral gene products.
Projecting Progress toward the Millennium Development Goals

The Millennium Development Goals have become the frame of reference for most of the development community: the standard by which performance will ultimately be judged. Given their importance, considerable attention has been paid as to whether these goals will be met or not. The overwhelming conclusions from such analyses are not positive. The goals will not be met. There are exceptions — education has expanded rapidly, although questions are raised about quality, and some countries, notably in South East Asia, but also South Asia to a lesser extent, have done well across the board and will meet several of the goals. But many countries, most especially in Africa, will not. The projections show that poverty will become more heavily concentrated in Africa in both relative and absolute terms. In addition, whilst urban poverty will increase, in 2015 poverty will remain a predominately rural phenomenon, with 60-70 per cent of the poor (depending on the measure) living in rural areas. But these projections are based on assumptions, including the assumption of business as usual. Various adverse shocks may result in far worse scenarios. On the other hand, more intensive promotion of propoor policies can mean that the goals might yet be realized.
Optimizing service level based on disposing and inventory cost of surplus sharing

Optimization of cycle service level and replenishment policy when sales surplus is disposed by seller or supplier, and when disposing and inventory cost of surplus is shared or not, is analyzed. The conclusion shows: when surplus is disposed by seller, the optimal service level of disposing and inventory cost shared is higher than not shared. When surplus is disposed by supplier, sharing disposing cost makes the level lower, only when inventory cost is also shared at the same time, the level is increased. In the same disposing manner and cost sharing, the level in multiorder policy is higher than that in single order policy, and quick response strategy of multiorder achieves higher product availability in practice.
Labour Demand and Wage-induced Innovations: Evidence from the OECD countries

This paper shows that increasing real wages steepens or reverses the slope of the labour demand schedule because increasing wages give firms incentives to innovate and to invest in newer and more efficient vintages of capital. Using macroeconomic data for the OECD countries it is shown that the efficiency inducement of higher real wages steepens the traditional neoclassical labour demand function substantially. Taking into account the adverse demand effects of wage reductions it is doubtful that real wage reductions are a cure for the unemployment problem in the OECD countries.
The Mediatization of E-Campaigning: Evidence From German Party Websites in State, National, and European Parliamentary Elections 2002-2009

The rise of e-campaigning is often associated with its ability to circumvent journalistic principles of news selection and presentation. By this, parties and candidates are said to free themselves from the discretionary power of the mass media and to reach voters in an unfiltered way. This conventional wisdom is tested through a comparative content analysis of German party websites in state, national, and European parliamentary elections between 2002 and 2009. The results show that e-campaigns in all elections adhere in their messages to the media logic. Specifically, they replicate those patterns of offline coverage that have been held accountable for rising political alienation and civic apathy. Moreover, the mediatization of German e-campaigning grows over time. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
From newsletter to academic journal: creating the European Accounting Review

This paper looks at the evolution of the European Accounting Review as the journal of the European Accounting Association. It provides an historical background to the launch of the journal in 1992, and traces how the European Accounting Review has developed to be a widely accepted academic journal in accounting. The journal tried at one and the same time, and managed with some success, to fulfil several different functions: to be an academic journal, a newsletter for the members and a place for debate on European accounting regulation. It seems that one of the main reasons that this was possible was the way EAR grew out of earlier initiatives by the EAA such as the Newsletter, the annual doctoral colloquium and the EIASM accounting workshops. The journal was thus a product of the development of a community of accounting researchers in Europe. In turn it began to play a constructive role in contributing to the further development of the accounting research community in Europe. During its first decade, the period on which our analysis concentrates, the European Accounting Review has acted to develop the idea of European accounting research in a research environment which has tended, at the international level, to be dominated by the Anglo-Saxon countries. EAR has tried to become a journal for European academics, and to be sensitive to European issues while being published in English. Being published in English, it thus directly competes for submissions and for readers in the global market for accountancy journals. In this way it has acted as one of the catalysts in the process of internationalization of the European academic accounting community. After the reform of 1999, the structure and aims of the journal are now more tightly focused on being a successful academic research journal, and less on playing a role as a forum for information and discussion. In this article we hope that we can contribute to celebrating the 25th anniversary of the EAA and reflect on EAR 's future role in a world where the focus in both research and practice in accounting is more and more at the ‘global’ level.
The lead-lag relationship between the FTSE100 stock index and its derivative contracts

This paper examines the lead/lag relationships between the FTSE100 stock market index and its related futures and options contracts, and also the interrelation between the derivatives markets. Both the index futures and index options contracts are found to lead the cash index as predicted. However, the call option market appears to marginally lead both the index futures and the put option market. In the only previous paper to examine the inter-market relationships between a stock index and related futures and options contracts, Fleming et al (Journal of Futures Markets, 16, 353-387, 1996) maintain that relative trading costs determine which market leads. As the trading costs of calls and puts are similar, other factors must be driving the relationships observed in this paper. We hypothesize that informed traders with bullish expectations wishing to gain leverage from the options market will buy calls or, with greater risk, sell puts. As market sentiment was bullish for most of the sample period examined, this could explain the call market leads reported.
Open Innovation and Regional Culture—Findings from Different Industrial and Regional Settings

The concept of open innovation, building upon ideas of “interactive innovation” and “innovation networking” has gained interest more recently. It argues that companies should increasingly also rely on ideas and knowledge developed externally, and create external paths for innovation. There are various mechanisms used by companies for acquiring external knowledge such as R&D and innovation collaboration with other firms and universities, relations to spin-off companies, and informal knowledge interactions within local milieux and “open innovation campuses”. Open innovation and networking are no general phenomena but depend on certain company and regional characteristics such as the respective innovation culture. The interrelationship between open innovation and regional culture has been explored by studies on regional advantage emphasizing socio-cultural aspects of opening up innovation, the literature on regional clusters, emphasizing knowledge sharing in networks, and the contributions to regional innovation systems, emphasizing the role of the institutional environment. We investigate examples of open innovation for different regions of Europe including high-tech and low-tech industries: The Southeast region of The Netherlands (high-tech systems centred on Philips and performance materials centred on DSM), Basel (Life Science industry focused on Novartis and other firms) and Styria (metal industry). We analyse the ways and mechanisms at work for open innovation, and the way these are related to regional culture. We find that open innovation strategies of companies benefit from certain regional culture characteristics and that there is no uniform “model of open innovation that applies to all types of regions”. Region-specific solutions and policies are required that account for divergent regional conditions. The research shows that we rarely find the ideal model of “uncontrolled” open innovation, but rather different forms of innovation practices that are somewhere in between the open and the closed model. Both corporate cultures and regional cultures in the regions studied still show many aspects hampering open innovation, underlining that change towards a culture facilitating open innovation takes considerable time.
FACTORS INFLUENCING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN THE RETAIL BANKING SECTOR IN PAKISTAN

Customer satisfaction is a significant issue for most marketers. Previous research has identified various factors that determine customer satisfaction in retail banking sector in Western countries. The current paper reports findings from a survey, which looked into determinants of customer satisfaction in the retail banking in Pakistan. A total of 300 questionnaires were randomly distributed to customers of a specific bank in Pakistan. Results indicate that there was a strong relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction. There was, however, no relationship between customer satisfaction and tangible aspects of the service environment. The paper discusses implications for bank management.