Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Study of diarrhea in critically ill patients

There has been an impression that diarrhea occurs commonly in seriously ill patients treated in ICUs. In view of the sparsity of published work on the problem, we embarked on a prospective study of all patients admitted to the ICU for more than 48 h over a 12-month period.Three factors were examined in detail: nasogastric feeding, cimetidine administration, and antibiotic treatment. Other factors also were considered, notably the nature of the underlying illness and the spread of a possible infective agent by cross-infection.There was a 41% incidence of diarrhea. A significant increase in the incidence of diarrhea occurred in patients on nasogastric feeding (p < 0.01) and in those receiving cimetidine (p < 0.05); there was no increased incidence in those receiving antibiotic therapy.The cytotoxin of Clostridium difficile was specifically looked for in all patients with diarrhea, but was not detected.
Bone Augmentation: Past, Present, and Future

Painful skeletal and vertebral conditions caused by degeneration, fractures, infection, and neoplasm are common and associated with high morbidity and mortality. Since the introduction of modern orthopedic surgery these conditions have been treated with a multitude of techniques. Bone augmentation and grafting have emerged as integral parts of orthopedic reconstructive, reparative, and palliative surgery. As imaging-guided therapy has developed, image-guided procedures to achieve bone augmentation have also emerged. It is important for the radiologist to understand the materials and methods used to achieve bone augmentation. A variety of materials are available for the application of hone augmentation. Methods used to accomplish bone augmentation often are performed under image guidance. Applications in the axial skeleton include vertebroplasty, kyphoplasty (balloon-assisted vertebroplasty), sacroplasty, and acetabuloplasty. This article discusses the development, current trends, and possible future directions of bone augmentation.
Dietary Modulation to Improve Pig Health and Performance

The aim of this thesis was to estimate the presence of Salmonella and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in piglets, the effect of fermented liquid feed and rice distiller’s residue as a dietary modulation of the microbial population, the presence of microflora at different sites of the digestive tract, digestibility, and to evaluate the performance of pigs under small-scale farm conditions. The first experiment showed that Salmonella and E.coli were found in faeces from piglets without and with diarrhoea. All E. coli antigens were isolated from piglets without and with diarrhoea. However, the frequency of antigen was much higher in piglets suffering from diarrhoea. Nutrient supply for sows and for piglets was low in comparison with feeding standards. In the second experiment, there were no differences in pH and butyric acid concentration of ileal digesta in pigs fed raw (R), cooked (C) or naturally fermented (F) diets. However, on diet F concentrations of acetic, lactic and propionic acid in ileal digesta were higher than on diets R and C. The ileal apparent digestibility of crude protein, crude fiber and NDF were higher in diet F than in diets R and C. The total tract apparent digestibility of crude protein was higher in diet F than in diets R and C. In conclusion, when compared with the diet in raw form, fermentation influenced the gut environment and improved the digestibility of some dietary components, while cooking prior to feeding had no measurable effects. In the third trial, a naturally fermental diet (FE) resulted in a lower pH than a diet basal on rice distiller’s residue (RDR). Diet FE contained more organic acids, and had the lowest counts of E. coli and total coliforms, and the highest counts of lactic acid bacteria (LAB). Piglets fed diets FE and RDR had lower pH, and higher concentrations of organic acids in the stomach, ileum and mid-colon than piglets fed diet CO. Counts of LAB in stomach and ileum were higher in animals fed diets FE and RDR compared with diet CO, while the number of E. coli and total coliforms along the gastrointestinal tract was reduced. The ileal digestibility of crude protein and organic matter was improved in piglets fed diet RDR compared with piglets fed diet CO. Piglets fed diet RDR had a higher weight gain and a better feed utilization than piglets fed the other diets. In the final experiment DGGE analysis showed that animals fed diet FE had a much more uniform microbial flora in the stomach and the ileum compared to the other diets. Strains belonging to the genus Pediococcus were found in stomach and ileum of piglets fed diet FE and not on the other diets which probably arose from the feed.
Poststroke Depression in Acute Phase after Stroke

We studied factors associated with acute poststroke depression in 100 patients, aged 27–70, 2 weeks after their first clinically significant stroke. Depressive symptoms were relatively common (27% Beck Depression Inventory ≧10), but the prevalence of major depression was only 5.6%. Older patients were most vulnerable to poststroke depression. Patients with left hemisphere lesion had no more depression than other patients, but when the lesion was in the left hemisphere or in the brainstem, stroke severity was associated with depression.
Meta-analyses of vitamin D intake , 25-hydroxyvitamin D status , vitamin D receptor 1 polymorphisms and colorectal cancer risk 1 2 3

3 Mathilde Touvier, Doris SM Chan, Rosa Lau, Dagfinn Aune, Rui Vieira, Darren C Greenwood, 4 Ellen Kampman, Elio Riboli, Serge Hercberg, Teresa Norat 5 Affiliations: 6 1 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of public health, Imperial College London, 7 United Kingdom 8 2 Nutritional Epidemiology Unit, UREN (Inserm/Inra/Cnam/Paris13 University), CRNH IdF, Bobigny, 9 France 10 3 Biostatistics Unit, Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Leeds, Leeds, United 11 Kingdom 12 4 Division of Human Nutrition, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Wageningen, The 13 Netherlands 14 Running title: Meta-analyses of vitamin D and colorectal cancer 15
An Exploratory Analysis of CRM Implementation Models

SUMMARY Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as a concept is a well-researched area of marketing theory. Since the 1990s the use of relational marketing approaches in consumer markets has found many managerial applications. However, the implementation considerations of CRM remained under-researched from a conceptual perspective, especially as implementation of many CRM projects are perceived as providing limited success. By using an exploratory, qualitative, research design, principally based on a Delphi methodology, this study highlights some crucial aspects of CRM implementation. Two clear CRM implementation foci can be distinguished: a dominant “hard” implementation of CRM (focussing on analytics, centralisation, and campaign management) and a “soft” implementation of CRM (focussing on decentralised customer experience management at the touch point level). Further analysis of the “hard” implementation model shows that companies using this path often have only a vague strategic understanding of the CRM project in place before they define the process and technical requirements. An implication of this finding is that standard IT processes are often used to derive strategic CRM guidelines, a reversal of a prescriptive “best-practice” implementation process. The implications and limitations of the findings as well as the need for further research is discussed.
Asset Ownership and Egalitarian Decision-Making among Couples: Some Evidence from Ghana

Given the importance of decision-making in empowering women, forms of decision-making and their relative importance for women’s empowerment deserve attention. This paper explores the determinants of couples’ egalitarian decision-making, i.e. decision-making which is characterised by mutual consultation. Using the 2010 Ghana Household Asset Survey, we examine the relationship between asset ownership and egalitarian decision-making among couples. We focus on two decisions, the decision to engage in an income-earning activity and the decision on how to spend one’s income. Our findings support the view that a fairly equal distribution of wealth between partners promotes egalitarian decision-making.
Arsenic and lead contamination in soil and in feathers of three resident passerine species in a semi-arid mining region of the Mexican plateau

ABSTRACT The current study aimed at quantifying arsenic and lead in feathers from three passerine species that are residents from areas exposed to mining activities (Toxostoma curvirostre, Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus, and Melozone fusca). Lead and As contents in bird feathers and in superficial soil samples were measured with AAS. Levels of these metals were compared between sites exposed and unexposed to mining. Possible correlations of As and Pb between superficial soil and bird feathers were also investigated. Soil metal concentrations were significantly higher near mining sites, and metal concentrations in bird feathers showed a behavior similar to those recorded for soil samples. Individual birds from polluted sites had higher mean feather metal concentrations in comparison with non-polluted sites; no differences in metal concentrations were recorded among bird species. This work constitutes a basis for monitoring contaminants, and for future toxicological studies attempting to understand the impact that some mining activities may have on bird populations.
Antecedents and consequences of consumer privacy concerns: An empirical investigation

The present study examines the interrelationships among antecedents and consequences of privacy concerns. The results indicate, among other things, that a consumer's attitude toward direct marketing and his/her desire for information control act as antecedents to privacy concerns. Privacy concerns, in turn, are negatively related to purchase behavior and the purchase decision process. Understanding the antecedents of privacy concerns provides a foundation for developing effective policies and practices to reduce such concerns while understanding the consequences of privacy concerns is essential to gauging just how important dealing with these concerns really are for marketers.
Factors influencing consumers' purchase intention towards online group buying in Malaysia

Online group buying (OGB) is growing rapidly and it has become popular in many countries. Due to the lack of research and early stage of development in the developing and emerging market, we aim to examine the factors influencing consumers' purchase intention towards online group buying in the Malaysian context. Through intensive literature review on consumers' purchase intention and online group buying, a set of factors are proposed as leading influencers. This paper reveals that perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU), price, electronic word of mouth (e-WOM), trust and perceived risk (PR) are the main determinants of online group buying. The three major factors, PU, price and e-WOM, demonstrated relatively strong impact on consumers' purchase intention towards OGB whilst trust and perceived risk shown significant impact and moderate impact respectively on consumers' participation in OGB. Contrarily, PEOU was found to have no influence in Malaysian consumers.
Adding value to service offerings: the case of UK retail financial services

This study explores practitioner views regarding which elements of the service offering to emphasise when formulating strategies to add value and, hence, gain competitive advantage in services markets. In particular, the case of retail financial services is emloyed to investigate hypotheses regarding variations in importance of elements of the service offer in adding value due to increased complexity and intangibility of some offerings and the resultant implications for consumer evaluation. Evidence suggests that these issues may be particularly relevant in the context of services and that consequently many of the common prescriptions regarding strategy formulation may be rather more difficult for services organisations to implement. It is found that factors such as image and reputation of the organisation, as well as functional service quality, are perceived to be particularly important in adding value to more complex financial services offerings. More surprisingly, the features and quality of the core service provided are also perceived to be more important in adding value to complex services. In addition, factors such as price, location and recovery are perceived to be significantly more important in adding value to more simple, rather than complex, offerings. Finally, conclusions are presented.
Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Performance Correlation

Corporate Social Responsibility as to promote business and social,environmental harmonious development trend of the times,has been the government,society and business attention and support in building a harmonious society important driving force.But how to fulfill corporate social responsibility and social responsibility to avoid because of the lack of the problems brought into the current most talked about.China's current social responsibility research lags far behind the actual needs,understand the corporate social responsibility and the relationship between corporate financial performance responsibility for improving society for all,encourage enterprises to enhance economic efficiency and core competitiveness.All of this are very significant.
Planning and Implementing Institutional Image and Promoting Academic Programs in Higher Education

ABSTRACT Universities face a multitude of issues and challenges in the current era of higher educational endeavors. Universities are being urged to provide high quality education, exist as a well-reputed university, achieve enrollment success, improve competitive positioning, provide contemporary and well-designed academic programs, and maintain financial strength. Further, strategic planning and media management for providing earnest information to internal markets, stakeholders, supplier markets, prospective markets, national and international platforms, and to the community at large have to be accurately designed and implemented.
Anatomic Relationship between Mental Foramen and Peripheral Structures Observed By Cone-Beam Computed Tomography

Backgroud: This study investigated the anatomic relationship between mental foramen and peripheral structures using cone-beam computed tomography. Methods: In total, 172 cone-beam computed tomography images were evaluated. Mental foramen number, size, and form were recorded, and their three-dimensional relationships with mandibular premolar root apices were investigated. The percentile position of each mental foramen relative to bony reference points was measured, and distances from mental foramen to the cement enamel junctions of the mandibular premolars were determined. Data were analyzed and compared among groups defined by age and sex using one-way analysis of variance and Student’s t-test, respectively (significance defined as P<0.05). Results: Most of the subjects had a single mental foramen on each side; only 5.81% had double foramina. The mean horizontal and vertical MF diameters were 5.14 (1.10) mm and 3.85 (0.72) mm, respectively. 67% of mental foramen had an oval horizontal form and the others were round. Mean distances from mental foramen to the alveolar crest and inferior mandibular border were 11.88 (2.49) mm and 13.65 (1.75) mm, respectively. The cementoenamel junctions of mandibular premolars were ~14 mm superior to mental foramen were most commonly positioned in line with the longitudinal axis of the mandibular second premolar. Conclusions: Most mental foramen were located in line with the longitudinal axis of the mandibular second premolar. The detailed information about the relationship between MF and peripheral structures obtained in this study will facilitate dental surgery in this oral and maxillofacial region.
Perceptual and premotor factors of unilateral neglect

Right-brain-damaged patients showing unilateral neglect underwent a specifically devised line-bisection task that allowed uncoupling of the direction of visual attention from that of hand movement. This made it possible to isolate and separately assess perceptual and premotor factors of the disorder. Comparison of experimental and radiologic data suggested that premotor factors were more pronounced in patients with lesions involving the frontal lobes than in patients with lesions confined to postrolandic areas. The technique employed is compatible with bedside examination and provides data useful for standard assessment of neglect symptomatology for both clinical and experimental purposes.
The metacarpal sign.

Abstract A study of the metacarpal sign in 1,000 hands shows it to be a common normal variant, as is the equivalent sign in the feet. It is important not to confuse this variant with the gross shortening occurring in cases of pseudohypoparathyroidism or pseudo-pseudohypoparathyroidism, in which two additional signs are described which may be of help in diagnosis.
Day-of-the-week effect in some of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) stock markets

This paper examines the day-of-the-week effects in some of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) stock markets namely the Saudi Stock Market, the Kuwaiti Stock Exchange, and the Dubai Financial Market. The empirical research was conducted using the variances (ANOVA) test to find if there were significant differences between the daily returns in these markets from January 2002 to December 2005. Results obtained indicate the significant presence of the day of the week effect on the Kuwaiti Stock Exchange (KSE), the highest return is observed on Saturday and the lowest return is observed on Sunday.
"Direct-Contracting and Brokers in the Producer-Processor Transaction: The Uruguayan Beef Industry Case"*

What are the determinants of contractual arrangements in producer-processor transactions in the Uruguayan beef industry? Coordination has become a strategic issue for this industry, which exports 75% of its production, not only to assure quality attributes of products but also to explore new market access opportunities. Two contractual arrangements coexist: direct-contracting (48%) and broker-induced transactions (52%). In addition, all processors and 46% of producers use both types of arrangements. Theory: Transaction Cost Economics offers helpful insights to understand reasons for the development and adaptation of different contractual arrangements. Method: we use a logit model with panel data to test the relationship between direct-contracting mechanism and asset specificity, site specificity and frequency. The panel contains population information of producer-processor transactions (77,458 transactions, 10,130 producers and 47 processors). Results: The probability of a transaction being aligned with the directcontracting arrangement increases in transactions with a greater degree of asset specificity (e.g.,young steer), lower distance between producer and processor and higher frequency of transactions between the two parties involved. The direct-contracting arrangement is aligned with higher quality products. These results have implications for organizations in the beef industry and policy makers in terms of a “national strategy” focused on higher quality beef products.
mTORC1 in Thymic Epithelial Cells Is Critical for Thymopoiesis, T-Cell Generation, and Temporal Control of γδT17 Development and TCRγ/δ Recombination

Thymus is crucial for generation of a diverse repertoire of T cells essential for adaptive immunity. Although thymic epithelial cells (TECs) are crucial for thymopoiesis and T cell generation, how TEC development and function are controlled is poorly understood. We report here that mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) in TECs plays critical roles in thymopoiesis and thymus function. Acute deletion of mTORC1 in adult mice caused severe thymic involution. TEC-specific deficiency of mTORC1 (mTORC1KO) impaired TEC maturation and function such as decreased expression of thymotropic chemokines, decreased medullary TEC to cortical TEC ratios, and altered thymic architecture, leading to severe thymic atrophy, reduced recruitment of early thymic progenitors, and impaired development of virtually all T-cell lineages. Strikingly, temporal control of IL-17-producing γδT (γδT17) cell differentiation and TCRVγ/δ recombination in fetal thymus is lost in mTORC1KO thymus, leading to elevated γδT17 differentiation and rearranging of fetal specific TCRVγ/δ in adulthood. Thus, mTORC1 is central for TEC development/function and establishment of thymic environment for proper T cell development, and modulating mTORC1 activity can be a strategy for preventing thymic involution/atrophy.
THE FINANCIAL FACTORS INFLUENCING CASH DIVIDEND POLICY: A SAMPLE OF U.S. MANUFACTURING COMPANIES

The decision to adopt cash dividend policy is influenced by the environment of and the context of such decision. On average, companies that pay cash dividends are associated with higher liquidity ratios, higher profitability ratios, larger sized and higher research and developments than companies that do not pay dividends. Also, it is found that some companies with financial difficulties still paying cash dividends. Also, there are solid financial companies that do not pay cash dividends at all. It seems that managerial and behavioral issues are important factors to determine a company’s cash dividend policy
Drivers for the participation of small and medium‐sized suppliers in green supply chain initiatives

Purpose – This paper aims to describe what facilitates small and medium‐sized suppliers in participating in green supply chain initiatives. These initiatives are inter‐organizational initiatives attempting to improve environmental performance throughout the entire supply chain. This paper seeks to examine buyer green supply chain management practices, government involvement, and internal readiness of the suppliers themselves, as possible drivers.Design/methodology/approach – The research framework and hypotheses were examined by using a mail survey conducted in South Korea in 2005. The empirical analysis used data from 142 small and medium‐sized suppliers. Validity and reliability of the scales for the construct of interest were assessed through a factor analysis and Cronbach‐alpha test. To test the hypotheses for the drivers of suppliers' willingness to participate in green supply chain initiatives, hierarchical linear regression was adopted.Findings – The study finds that buyer environmental requirement.
Do switching costs mediate the relationship between entry timing and performance

The purpose of this paper is to test the effectiveness of switching costs as an isolating mechanism in the context of the first-mover advantage theory. Whereas both the literature on switching costs and on pioneering propose this as a mechanism through which firms could obtain sustainable competitive advantage, other authors offer a rationale for thinking that this is not the case. We test our hypotheses in the context of the European mobile telecommunications industry. This is a sector that has been characterized by high rates of growth in the number of subscribers, which could reduce the effectiveness of switching costs from being effective as an isolating mechanism. Our results show that switching costs are an important tool through which first-mover advantages materialize. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DYNAMIC CAPABILITY, THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY AND TECHNICAL CHANGE

This paper uses the example of a change in the regulatory environment of a particular sector to examine the role of organisational capabilities in firms’ ability to respond to change. The central role of dynamic capability in implementing mandated technical change is established using quantitative techniques. Qualitative research is then used to explore the nature of dynamic capability. It is argued that dynamic capability is a function of both the tacit perceptions held by the firm and deliberative, problem-solving processes.