Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interobserver agreement for EUS in the evaluation and diagnosis of submucosal masses.

INTRODUCTION EUS is an accurate means of evaluating and diagnosing submucosal lesions of the GI tract. The aim of this study was to prospectively determine interobserver agreement for the EUS classification of submucosal masses among endosonographers with different levels of training and experience from multiple centers. METHODS Twenty patients with submucosal mass lesions diagnosed by upper endoscopy underwent EUS. Surgical findings were available for 16 patients. In 4 patients with obvious cystic/vascular structures (i.e., varices) no surgical specimen was necessary. A blinded observer developed a study videotape of critical endoscopic and EUS real-time imaging for each lesion. The videotape was distributed to 10 endosonographers, each with at least 1 year of experience, who independently reviewed the videotape and recorded their diagnosis based on EUS features. These endosonographers used previously agreed-upon standardized EUS diagnostic criteria for each category of lesion. A kappa (kappa) statistic, used to evaluate agreement, was calculated for each lesion category for the 10 endosonographers as a group and individually. An overall kappa statistic was also calculated. Significance was analyzed with a two-tailed t test. RESULTS Agreement was excellent for cystic lesions (kappa = 0.80) and extrinsic compressions (kappa = 0.94), good for lipoma (kappa = 0.65), fair for leiomyoma and vascular lesions (kappa = 0.53 and 0.54, respectively), and poor for other submucosal lesions (kappa = 0.34). Overall agreement among observers was good (kappa = 0.63). Furthermore, a significant association was noted between total years of EUS experience and the number of correct answers (p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS Interobserver agreement is good for characterizing submucosal masses by EUS. However, it appears to be better for some lesions than others. The overall length of experience with EUS appears to play an important role in the accuracy of this modality in the evaluation of submucosal lesions.
Auditor Switches in the Post-SOX Era: The Case of Firms with Internal Control Weaknesses

Recent changes in the regulatory environment require that auditors express an opinion on the design and effectiveness of their clients’ internal controls. This shift likely impacted auditor-client relationships negatively, especially for firms that receive an adverse internal controls opinion. As a result, such firms may either switch or remain with their incumbent auditors. In this paper, we study the factors that affect this choice. We find that the severity of the internal control problems, the auditor-related fees, the length of auditor-client relationships and the presence of a Big 4 auditor affect the probability that a firm switches auditors. Further analyses examine the factors that affect auditor dismissals and resignations, as well as switches involving Big 4 auditors.
The impact of retail sales force responsiveness on consumers’ perceptions of value

Extant research suggests that salespeople can significantly impact consumers’ outcome perceptions. Examines the importance of initial contact with salespeople on consumers’ perceptions of value and the impact of salesperson service failure on perceptions of value among non‐purchasers. An exit survey of shoppers was conducted to realistically study these issues. Results show that outcome perceptions were significantly lower when either there was no contact with salespeople, or the consumer had to initiate the contact. The retailer that had the highest percentage of salesperson initiated contact, earned the highest perception ratings and also had the highest ratio of buyers to browsers. Furthermore, non‐purchasers that experienced service failures (slow service or offended by a salesperson) discounted not just the perception of that retail visit, but also overall value compared to other retailers. These results suggest that retailers must encourage their sales staff to initiate consumer contact.
Evaluation of Cardiac Subacute Toxicity of Ciprofloxacin in Rats Using Serum Biochemical Parameters

Summary Cardiac subacute toxicity induced by ciprofloxacin (1-cyclopropyl-6-fluoro-1,4-di-hydro-4-oxo-7-(1-piperazinyl)-3-quinoline carboxylic acid, CAS 86393-32-0) a relatively new quinolone carboxylic acid derivative with an extensive antibacterial spectrum was investigated in healthy rats using serum biochemical parameters. Toxicological evaluation was performed in serum samples following the administration of the therapeutic dose regimens of the compound. Cardiac subacute toxicity was evaluated by measuring serum enzyme activity of creatine kinase, creatine kinase isoenzyme-MB (muscular-brain), lactate dehydrogenase and aspartate aminotransferase. The serum biochemical parameters indicated that the cardiac subactue toxicity of ciprofloxacin was: Cipro 1.2 (250 mg) = Cipro 2.4 (500 mg) < Cipro 4.3 (750 mg).
Series Comparing Different Explanations of the Volatility Trend

We analyze the puzzling behavior of the volatility of individual stock returns over the past few decades. The literature has provided many different explanations to the trend in volatility and this paper tests the viability of the different explanations. Virtually all current theoretical arguments that are provided for the trend in the average level of volatility over time lend themselves to explanations about the difference in volatility levels between firms in the cross-section. We therefore focus separately on the crosssectional and time-series explanatory power of the different proxies. We fail to find a proxy that is able to explain both dimensions well. In particular, we find that Cao et al. (2008) market-to-book ratio tracks average volatility levels well, but has no crosssectional explanatory power. On the other hand, the low-price proxy suggested by Brandt et al. (2010) has much cross-sectional explanatory power, but has virtually no time-series explanatory power. We also find that the different proxies do not explain the trend in volatility in the period prior to 1995 (R-squared of virtually zero), but explain rather well the trend in volatility at the turn of the Millennium (1995-2005). JEL classification: G32; G35
The Role of Human Capital in Information and Communication Technology Adoption for Development: Evidence from China

Emerging economies, in particular China, are powering growth in Asia. While China is seen to lead growth in the emerging markets of Asia, 98% of its manufacturing and production base is powered by small businesses. These businesses represent the majority of all businesses in emerging countries and the growth of these businesses increases with their successful adoption of Information Technology. This paper uses a well-known model in Information Systems Adoption to analyze ICT usage, the effect ICT usage and human capital in the development of the small businesses in China. The reason this model is used is to find out which variables, if any, hold in the case of small businesses in China. As very little research has been done in the IS literature of ICT adoption in small businesses in China, this paper adds to what is known about the role of human capital in ICT adoption for development in China. This paper makes a contribution to the IS acceptance and global development literature by providing concepts that enable IS researchers to study ICT adoption in China.
Commentary Marketing in a Hyper-Social Worid The Tribalization of Business Study and Characteristics of Successful Oniine Communities

Organizations are increasingly using online communities to interact with customers, but marketers identify a number of key obstacles standing in the way of community effectiveness. The authors analyze the results of the Tribalization of Business Study, a survey of more than 500 companies that are using online communities and other research to identify characteristics of successful communities. The authors suggest that marketers should understand key human characteristics as thoroughly as the Web 2.0 and social media tools they employ when interacting with customers through online communities and that by keeping these human attributes in mind, marketers may foster more successful community deployments.
Readdressing Gender Bias in the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory-Short Form

Abstract The short form of the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI) was evaluated for gender bias. The authors replicated a study by L. Francis and D. James (1998) and administered the SEI to 361 middle and high school students (146 boys, 215 girls). They found that gender bias existed in 6 of the 25 items on the SEI, with 5 of those items favoring boys. Because recent literature indicates that male and female adolescents experience problems in different areas of their lives, the authors suggest that researchers consider such differences when selecting items for a standardized measure.
Employee retention relationship to training and development: A compensation perspective

Employee retention is a critical aspect for every company regarding competitive advantage because human resource is the most critical asset of today’s modern world. Other resources can be arranged effortlessly but to get efficient and retain talented human capital is the most difficult task. Therefore, organizations are now more focused towards employee retention. Organizations use different HR techniques for retention. Our main emphasis is on compensation packages after employee training and development practices for retention purposes. We will also see how a relaxed work environment will help in the retention of employees. For this purpose, we conducted this study in Lahore and collected data from corporate groups. The numbers of respondents in our study are 330. For analysis we used the structural equation modeling technique with the use of AMOS 18.0. In this study, we used compensation as the mediating variable between the training and retention of employees. Results reveal that retaining employee’s long term, after their training and development has been completed, without increasing their compensations is not as favorable as when compensation is increased to reflect the completion ability to apply their field related skills and capabilities. Key words: Retention, training and development, compensation, work environment.
Strategies for Appointment Policy Design with Patient Unpunctuality

Appointment policy design is complicated by patients who arrive earlier or later than their scheduled appointment time. This article considers the design of scheduling rules in the presence of patient unpunctuality and how they are impacted by various environmental factors. A simulation optimization framework is used to determine how to improve performance by adjusting the schedule of appointments. Prior studies (that did not include patient unpunctuality) have found that a scheduling policy with relatively consistent appointment interval lengths in the form of a dome or plateau dome rule to perform well in a variety of clinic environments. These rules still perform reasonably well here, but it is shown that a combination of variable-length intervals and block scheduling are better at mitigating the effects of patient unpunctuality. In addition, performance improves if the use of this policy increases toward the end of the scheduling session. Survey and observational data collected at multiple outpatient clinics are used to add realism to the input parameters and develop practical guidelines for appointment policy decision making.
Postural behavior and motion sickness.

(1) An interesting style of acting was demonstrated on a stage of a Kyogen, a classic comedy of Japan, titled "Funawatashimuko", i.e., "A boatman and a bridgegroom in a boat". Antagonistic postures which move toward the opposite direction were displayed by a boatman who is pulling an oar and a passenger who is being moved by the rolling of a boat. (2) Why doesn't one suffer from motion sickness when he drives a car but may suffer from it when he is a passenger? This question was answered, from the standpoint of human postures, by observing the antagonistic postures exhibited by a bus-driver and a passenger, and also by the findings in postrotatory eye nystagmus (an indication of artificial motion sickness) which was varied according to the three different positions of the head. (3) Learning postural adjustment against motion sickness, developing through repetitively traveling in vehicles, was also objectively shown in a posture of an experienced lady bus-conductor whose body inclined in the same direction as that of the driver. Its similarity to the establishment of a kinetic labyrinthine reflex in chickens was explained.
Impact of Recent Increase in Incidence on Future Diabetes Burden

In an earlier study, we had forecasted 39 million with diagnosed diabetes in 2050 in the U.S. (1,2). However, since then, national diabetes incidence increased (3) and the relative risk of death among people with diabetes declined (4,5). These changes will impact future forecasts. Incorporating these changes, we now project 48.3 million people with diagnosed diabetes in the U.S. in 2050. We also present age-, sex-, and race/ethnicity-specific forecasts, with Bayesian CIs, of the number of people with diagnosed diabetes through 2050. We used a discrete-time (1-year intervals), incidence-based Markov model with three states (no diagnosed diabetes, diagnosed diabetes, and death) (1). In each cycle of the model, projections are developed for 808 population subgroups defined by age, sex, and race/ethnicity. We estimated the age-, sex-, and race/ethnicity-specific prevalence and incidence of diabetes from the U.S. National Health Interview Survey (6–9) and modeled data for 1984–2004 to improve the precision of 2004 estimates. Models were fit using Bayesian methods with improper flat priors applied to logistic regression. We assessed adequacy of model fit using posterior predictive P values (10). Estimated prevalence of diagnosed diabetes for 2000 and 2004 were 4.35 and 5.37%, respectively, and estimated incidence were 0.42 and 0.53% per year, respectively. The age-, sex-, and race/ethnicity-specific 2004 prevalence estimates were combined with U.S. population data for 2004 (11 …
Common-mode suppression for balanced bandpass filters in multilayer liquid crystal polymer technology

A new multilayer differential transmission line for common-mode suppression fabricated using an organic liquid crystal polymer multilayer substrate is proposed and analysed. The structure consists of a pair of parallel strip lines printed on the top layer of the substrate that are capacitively coupled to conductor patches periodically etched in an intermediate interface. These patches are symmetrically connected to a solid ground plane by means of short-circuited high-impedance microstrip line sections and metalised via holes. The differential signal supported by the coupled strips is not significantly affected by the presence of the middle layer layout, whereas the common-mode signal propagation is strongly suppressed within a certain frequency band. When this structure is cascaded with a simple differential bandpass filter exhibiting poor common mode rejection, a good common mode response is achieved within the unperturbed differential passband. The measurements confirm a significant enhancement of common-mode rejection thanks to the use of the proposed differential lines.
Prediction of lymph node status by analysis of prognostic factors and possible indications for elective axillary dissection in T1 breast cancers.

OBJECTIVE To identify those patients with T1 breast cancers with lower risk of nodal metastases who can safely be spared axillary dissection. DESIGN Retrospective study. SETTING University hospital, Italy. SUBJECTS Review of clinical records and histopathological slides of 547 patients with T1 breast cancer, operated on between 1984 and 1997. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Incidence of axillary metastases in relation to age, menopausal status, diameter and grade of tumour, vascular invasion, DNA ploidy, S-phase fraction and hormone receptor state, by univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS Axillary metastases were present in 159 patients (29%). On univariate analysis, diameter of tumour 10 mm or less (pT1a/pT1b cancers), no vascular invasion, and grade 1 tumour were significantly correlated with a lower risk of nodal metastases, but only vascular invasion (p = 0.0001, odds ratio = 3.1) and diameter of tumour (p = 0.04, odds ratio = 1.6) were independent predictors on multivariate analysis. Among 34 pT1a/pT1b cancers, with low grade of tumour and no vascular invasion, only 2 (6%) had axillary metastases. When only one favourable predictive factor was associated with diameter of tumour of 10 mm or less, the incidence of axillary metastases ranged from 12% for 43 patients with grade 1 cancers to 13% for 76 patients with no vascular invasion. CONCLUSIONS Axillary dissection may be avoided in pT1a and pT1b breast cancers (< or = 10 mm), with low grade of tumour or no vascular invasion. T1 breast cancers 10 mm or less in diameter should be treated by a two-step approach, first wide excision of the tumour and then axillary dissection or not depending on pathological examination of the primary tumour.
THE ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS THAT IMPACT ON FOREIGN SUBSIDIARIES OPERATING IN AUSTRALIA

This article identifies the environmental factors that impact on established foreign subsidiaries operating in Australia. It also clarifies whether these environmental factors are the same as traditional location determinants which attract the initial foreign direct investment (FDI) into a location. This is important as embeddedness in a host location is in part dependent upon the quality of the advantages offered by the environment in which the subsidiary operates. A survey of 356 foreign MNE subsidiaries from North America, Europe and Japan, operating in Australia revealed that infrastructure, agglomeration, investment image, government support, input costs, government costs, safe environment and market size were the critical factors that impacted on their attitude to the environment in which they operated. Foreign subsidiary attitudes have public policy implications for Australian governments keen on maintaining foreign subsidiary operations in their domain. The key considerations for government are the need to keep taxes and charges low, reduce bureaucratic hurdles for business, maintain good infrastructure and provide more government support post the initial investment.
Financing and Advising with (Over)Confident Entrepreneurs: An Experimental Investigation

We test in the laboratory how entrepreneurs' skill perceptions influence the design of financing and advising contracts. Our theoretical framework proposes that selfconfident entrepreneurs prefer issuing debt whereas low self-confident ones prefer equity which induces strong investor assistance. The prevalence of overconfidence makes investors more reluctant to accept debt offers and constrains self-confident entrepreneurs to finance through mixed securities. Experimental results show that self-confident entrepreneurs issue more debt-like securities and receive less assistance. We also show that entrepreneurs learn not to offer pure debt and that initial ignorance of their own skills reinforces entrepreneurs' ability to learn through risky choices.
Ultra-thin insulating layers of hexagonal boron nitride for high-resolution scanning tunneling spectroscopy

Aalto University, P.O. Box 11000, FI-00076 Aalto www.aalto. fi Author Fabian Schulz Name of the doctoral dissertation Ultra-thin insulating layers of hexagonal boron nitride for high-resolution scanning tunneling spectroscopy Publisher School of Science Unit Department of Applied Physics Series Aalto University publication series DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS 163/2016 Field of research Manuscript submitted 15 April 2016 Date of the defence 16 September 2016 Permission to publish granted (date) 19 August 2016 Language English Monograph Article dissertation Essay dissertation Abstract Scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) allows for probing the local density of states of surfaces and adsorbates with atomic spatial resolution. When molecules or other nanostructures are electronically decoupled from the surface, STS can be interpreted in terms of the electronic structure of the isolated adsorbate. Ultra-thin insulating layers of metal oxides or alkali halides are commonly used to decouple single molecules and atoms. This thesis explores the possibilities of an alternative decoupling material: hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). Scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) allows for probing the local density of states of surfaces and adsorbates with atomic spatial resolution. When molecules or other nanostructures are electronically decoupled from the surface, STS can be interpreted in terms of the electronic structure of the isolated adsorbate. Ultra-thin insulating layers of metal oxides or alkali halides are commonly used to decouple single molecules and atoms. This thesis explores the possibilities of an alternative decoupling material: hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). We start by investigating the atomic-scale structure and electronic properties of an h-BN monolayer on Ir(111) and find that it is characterized by a moiré superstructure with a work function modulation of approx. 0.5 eV. Subsequent STS experiments on molecules deposited onto the h-BN/Ir(111) system indicate their efficient decoupling from the metallic substrate and local charging through the h-BN work function modulation. Comparing molecules in different charge states, we go beyond the prevalent single-particle picture when interpreting STS on molecules and explain the observed resonances as a series of many-body excited states. Finally, we utilize h-BN covalently attached to graphene (G) islands to decouple the G edges from the metallic substrate. This gives rise to an electronic state at the h-BN/G interface, which closely resembles the edge state theoretically predicted for pristine graphene edges. The work presented in this thesis opens new avenues for high-resolution STS on molecular systems using h-BN as an ultra-thin insulating layer.
Financial Liberalization and Capital Market Integration in East Asia

This book contends that the East Asian financial constitution lacks an appropriate infrastructure, resulting in inefficient allocation of high savings and an over-inflated short-term debt market. It goes on to point out that despite high savings, East Asia’s dependency on financial centers outside the region is also relatively high, and that there is no strong region-wide network to connect various financial centers in East Asia.
The Development of a Collection Development Policy

A collection development policy is a significant library document with an intention of building its collections based on some standards and aimed to support the vision, mission, goals and objectives of the parent institution. This paper presents the “The Development of Collection Development Policy” which is largely based from the perceived collection development practices and suggestions of its stakeholders. The survey questionnaire contains statements pertaining to the current practices on collection development of the library such as selection, acquisition, donation, weeding, preservation, loss and replacement, and copyright laws.
The effect of FDI on foreign real estate investment: evidence from emerging economies

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of foreign direct investment in other sectors (FDI) on foreign investment in real estate sectors (FREI) in emerging economies after controlling other relevant determinants of FREI. Applying the panel data technique, this paper uses related observations from 16 emerging economies to investigate the relationships between FDI and FREI. Our analysis shows that countries with higher level of FDI in other sectors attract greater amounts of FREI