Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Correlation of Short Form-36 and Disability Status with Outcomes of Arthroscopic Acetabular Labral Debridement

Background Arthroscopic debridement is the standard of care for the treatment of acetabular labral tears. The Short Form-36 has not been used to measure hip arthroscopy outcomes, and the impact of disability status on hip arthroscopy outcomes has not been reported. Hypothesis Short Form-36 subscale scores will demonstrate good correlation with the modified Harris hip score, but patients undergoing disability evaluation will have significantly worse outcome scores. Study Design Case series; Level of evidence, 4. Methods The records of active-duty soldiers who underwent hip arthroscopy at the authors’ institution were retrospectively reviewed. Forty consecutive patients who underwent hip arthroscopy for the primary indication of labral tear formed the basis of the study group. Patients completed the modified Harris hip score, the Short Form-36 general health survey, and a subjective overall satisfaction questionnaire. Results Thirty-three patients, with a mean age of 34.6 years, were available for follow-up at a mean of 25.7 months postoperatively. Fourteen (43%) patients were undergoing medical evaluation boards (military equivalent of workers’ compensation or disability claim). Pearson correlation coefficients for comparing the Short Form-36 Bodily Pain, Physical Function, and Physical Component subscale scores to the modified Harris hip score were 0.73, 0.71, and 0.85, respectively (P <. 001). The mean modified Harris hip score was significantly lower in patients on disability status than in those who were not (92.4 vs 61.1; P <. 0001). The Short Form-36 subscale scores were significantly lower in disability patients (P <. 02). Patient-reported satisfaction rates (70% overall) were 50% for those undergoing disability evaluations and 84% for those who were not (P <. 04). There was no significant difference in outcomes based on patient age, surgically proven chondromalacia, or gender for military evaluation board status. Conclusion The Short Form-36 demonstrated good correlation with the modified Harris hip score for measuring outcomes after arthroscopic partial limbectomy. Arthroscopic debridement yielded a high percentage of good results when patients undergoing disability evaluations were excluded. Disability status may be a negative predictor of success after hip arthroscopy.
Traditional and advanced control of coal power plants: a comparative study

This paper presents some simulation results concerning the application of H2 control and model predictive control (MPC) to coal fuelled power plants. A detailed nonlinear model of a unit located in the north of Italy is used as test bench. The achieved results are compared to those provided by a standard coordinated control scheme, where some additional process measurements are used to enhance the disturbances rejection properties of the controller
Estimating Sovereign Default Risk

This paper uses Bayesian methods to estimate the sovereign default probability for Greece and Italy in the post-EMU period. We build a real business cycle model that allows for interactions among fiscal policy instruments, sovereign default risk, and a "fiscal limit," which measures the maximum level of debt the government is willing to finance. We estimate the full nonlinear model using likelihood inference methods. Although we find that Greece historically had a lower default probability than Italy for a given debt level, our estimates suggest that the Italian government is more willing to service debt than the Greek government.
3-[(Dodecylthiocarbonyl)Methyl]-Glutarimide Attenuates Graft Arterial Disease by Suppressing Alloimmune Responses and Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Proliferation

Background Graft arterial disease (GAD) is a major cause of late graft loss after organ transplantation. Alloimmune responses and vascular remodeling eventually cause the transplant organ to develop GAD. In this study, we aimed to limit the development of GAD by inhibiting alloimmune responses and vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation with a new compound, 3-[(dodecylthiocarbonyl)methyl]-glutarimide ([DTCM]-glutarimide), in a murine cardiac model of GAD. Methods The hearts from B6.CH-2bm12 mice were transplanted into C57BL/6 mouse recipients to examine the extent of GAD. The recipients were treated with either vehicle or DTCM-glutarimide intraperitoneally (40 mg/kg per day) for 4 weeks. Results The administration of DTCM-glutarimide attenuated GAD formation (luminal occlusion: 37.9 ± 5.9% vs 14.8 ± 5.4%, P < 0.05) by inhibiting the number of graft-infiltrating cells and decreasing alloreactive interferon (IFN)-&ggr; production compared with control mice, as measured by the Enzyme-linked ImmunoSpot assay. In vitro, VSMCs proliferated on stimulation with either basic fibroblast growth factor or IFN-&ggr; and splenocytes after transplantation, but the addition of DTCM-glutarimide resulted in the inhibition of VSMC proliferation. Moreover, DTCM-glutarimide suppressed cyclin D1 expression and inhibited cell cycle progression from G1 to S in VSMCs. Conclusions The compound DTCM-glutarimide suppressed GAD development by inhibiting not only alloimmune responses but also VSMC proliferation in the graft.
Is Innovativeness a Link between Pay and Performance

"The relationship between innovativeness and pay-performance sensitivity is theoretically ambiguous because innovative activities simultaneously enhance the productivity of executives in creating shareholder value (productivity effect) and increase the volatility of the firm's performance (volatility effect). The empirical findings from the pooled sample suggest that innovativeness and executive pay-performance sensitivity are inversely related. The extent to which the volatility effect outweighed the productivity effect was especially pronounced during the 2000-2003 market crash period. While the productivity effect is stronger than the volatility effect in both the CEO and low-free-cash-flow subsamples, the volatility effect is stronger than the productivity effect in both the non-CEO and high-free-cash-flow subsamples. " Copyright (c) 2009 Financial Management Association International.
Estimating Confidence Intervals for Technical Efficiency: The Case of Private Farms in Slovenia

This paper analyses the technical efficiency of private farms in Slovenia. Both parametric and non-parametric frontier techniques are employed. The results of the competing methods are compared, and variables that might determine the differences in efficiency are identified. Special attention is directed to the construction of confidence intervals for the individual efficiency estimates. For this purpose, distributional assumptions as well as bootstrapping methods are employed. The analysis reveals a significant degree of inefficiency. However, the confidence intervals suggest a more cautious interpretation of the efficiency scores. Copyright 2001, Oxford University Press.
WHEN SHOULD A TROPHICALLY TRANSMITTED PARASITE MANIPULATE ITS HOST?

We investigate evolution of two categories of adaptive host manipulation by trophically transmitted helminths: (1) predation suppression decreases the host's mortality before the helminth is capable of establishing in its next host; (2) predation enhancement increases the existing host's mortality after it can establish in its next host. If all parasite mortality is purely random (time-independent), enhancement must increase predation by the next host sufficiently more (depending on manipulative costs) than it increases the average for all forms of host mortality; thus if host and parasite die only through random predation, manipulation must increase the “right” predation more than the “wrong” predation. But if almost all parasites die in their intermediate host through reaching the end of a fixed life span, enhancement can evolve if it increases the right predation, regardless of how much it attracts wrong predators. Although enhancement is always most favorable when it targets the right host, suppression aids survival to the time when establishment in the next host is possible: it is most favorable if it reduces all aspects of host (and hence parasite) mortality. If constrained to have selective effects, suppression should reduce the commonest form of mortality.
Welfare Cost of Infaltion in a New Keynesian Model

We study the welfare cost of inflation in a new Keynesian dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model. Nominal prices and wages are subjected to Taylor‐style adjustments in the benchmark model. We find that the welfare cost of inflation in a new Keynesian dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model is much higher than its counterpart in a real business cycle model. We also find that the welfare cost of inflation increases linearly with the inflation rate with the introduction of monopolistic competition but rises faster as the inflation rate increases with the introduction of nominal rigidity. Alternative price and wage setting schemes, such as Rotemberg and Calvo‐style adjustments would yield welfare costs of moderate inflation that are 2–10 times higher.
The Impact of Ownership on Management and Structures in the Chinese Electronics Industry

After 1979 China embarked on economic reform in response to failings in bureaucratic central planning (Boisot and Child, 1988). A main feature of the reform in the 1980s was the Contract Responsibility System (CRS), whose primary objective was to increase productivity without dismantling state ownership. The short-termism associated with the CRS and its failure to revive many state-owned enterprises (SOEs) led to the introduction of new reform measures in the 1990s, and in particular the so-called Modern Enterprise System (MES). The reform involved further corporatization of state firms, more autonomy for SOEs to control their assets, and more financial autonomy for the SOEs (Pan and Parker, 1997: 41). The aim of these reforms was to change inefficient SOEs into more efficient enterprises by introducing a clearer separation of ownership and control or, what Western economists would describe as a clearer principal–agent relationship. Under the MES reform, some SOEs have gradually been corporatized with the intention of creating more clearly defined capital structures and improved corporate governance, so as to restrict political intervention in management decision-making (Lin, 1995; Ji, 1998, Ch.8). As a result, management should have greater freedom from detailed state planning to run their enterprises according to market signals. However, while some larger SOEs have obtained share listings in the new stock markets, normally the majority of shares remain state-owned. Meanwhile many SOEs remain unincorporated and directly controlled by central or local government or government agencies (Xu and Whang, 1997; Research Group of the Chinese Enterprise Association, 1999; Zhou and Zhang, 1999). There have already been a number of studies of management attitudes and behaviour in China and of specific areas of management such as labour relations. These have suggested that management freedom from government (or ‘upper bureaux’) control increased in the 1980s (Child and Lu, 1989; Boisot and Child, 1988; Boisot and Xing, 1992). At the same time, these studies suggest that the degree of change in SOEs is easily exaggerated (Chow, 1992). Other studies have linked change to the degree of foreign involvement in the ownership and management of firms (Boisot, 1994; Nolan, 1995). Based on a series of interviews with managers in SOEs, collectives and joint ventures, Pan and Parker (1997: 60) found many
Assessment of certified athletic trainers' levels of cultural competence in the delivery of health care.

CONTEXT The concept of culture and its relationship to athletic training beliefs and practices is virtually unexplored. The changing demographics of the United States and the injuries and illnesses of people from diverse backgrounds have challenged health care professionals to provide culturally competent care. OBJECTIVE To assess the cultural competence levels of certified athletic trainers (ATs) in their delivery of health care services and to examine the relationship between cultural competence and sex, race/ethnicity, years of athletic training experience, and National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) district. DESIGN Cross-sectional survey. SETTING Certified member database of the NATA. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS Of the 13 568 ATs contacted, 3102 (age = 35.3 +/- 9.41 years, experience = 11.2 +/- 9.87 years) responded. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Participants completed the Cultural Competence Assessment (CCA) and its 2 subscales, Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity (CAS) and Cultural Competence Behavior (CCB), which have Cronbach alphas ranging from 0.89 to 0.92. A separate univariate analysis of variance was conducted on each of the independent variables (sex, race/ethnicity, years of experience, district) to determine cultural competence. RESULTS The ATs' self-reported scores were higher than their CCA scores. Results revealed that sex (F(1,2929) = 18.63, P = . 001) and race/ethnicity (F(1,2925) = 6.76, P = . 01) were indicators of cultural competence levels. However, we found no differences for years of experience (F(1,2932) = 2.34, P = . 11) or NATA district (F(1,2895) = 1.09, P = . 36) and cultural competence levels. CONCLUSIONS Our findings provide a baseline for level of cultural competence among ATs. Educators and employers can use these results to help develop diversity training education for ATs and athletic training students. The ATs can use their knowledge to provide culturally competent care to athletes and patients and promote a more holistic approach to sports medicine.
Does cell polarity matter during spermatogenesis?

ABSTRACT Cell polarity is crucial to development since apico-basal polarity conferred by the 3 polarity protein modules (or complexes) is essential during embryogenesis, namely the Par (partition defective)-, the CRB (Crumbs)-, and the Scribble-based polarity protein modules. While these protein complexes and their component proteins have been extensively studied in Drosophila and C. elegans and also other mammalian tissues and/or cells, their presence and physiological significance in the testis remain unexplored until the first paper on the Par-based protein published in 2008. Since then, the Par-, the Scribble- and the CRB-based protein complexes and their component proteins in the testis have been studied. These proteins are known to confer Sertoli and spermatid polarity in the seminiferous epithelium, and they are also integrated components of the tight junction (TJ) and the basal ectoplasmic specialization (ES) at the Sertoli cell-cell interface near the basement membrane, which in turn constitute the blood-testis barrier (BTB). These proteins are also found at the apical ES at the Sertoli-spermatid interface. Thus, these polarity proteins also play a significant role in regulating Sertoli and spermatid adhesion in the testis through their actions on actin-based cytoskeletal function. Recent studies have shown that these polarity proteins are having antagonistic effects on the BTB integrity in which the Par6- and CRB3-based polarity complexes promotes the integrity of the Sertoli cell TJ-permeability barrier, whereas the Scribble-based complex promotes restructuring/remodeling of the Sertoli TJ-barrier function. Herein, we carefully evaluate these findings and provide a hypothetic model regarding their role in the testis in the context of the functions of these polarity proteins in other epithelia, so that better experiments can be designed in future studies to explore their significance in spermatogenesis.
Rhes, a Striatal Specific Protein, Mediates Mutant-Huntingtin Cytotoxicity

Rhes-olving Huntington's Disease? Huntington's disease (HD) is caused by a single dominant mutation of huntingtin (Htt), a protein that occurs in all tissues of the body and that is uniformly distributed throughout the brain. How mutant Htt (mHtt) selectively damages striatal neurons with negligible alterations elsewhere has been a mystery. Subramaniam et al. (p. 1327) show that Rhes, a small G protein very highly localized to the striatum, binds mHtt and augments its neurotoxicity. Rhes promotes sumoylation of mHtt, leading to its disaggregation and augmented cytotoxicity. The findings establish how mHtt selectively kills cells in the striatum and suggest that Rhes-Htt binding might provide a therapeutic target. A small G protein localized in the brain striatum may explain the localized neurodegeneration observed in Huntington’s disease. Huntington’s disease (HD) is caused by a polyglutamine repeat in the protein huntingtin (Htt) with mutant Htt (mHtt) expressed throughout the body and similarly in all brain regions. Yet, HD neuropathology is largely restricted to the corpus striatum. We report that the small guanine nucleotide–binding protein Rhes, which is localized very selectively to the striatum, binds physiologically to mHtt. Using cultured cells, we found Rhes induces sumoylation of mHtt, which leads to cytotoxicity. Thus, Rhes-mHtt interactions can account for the localized neuropathology of HD.
Public health research and practice in Greenland

In the company of a big pot of tea and the mosquitoes of the northern summer night, I endeavour to undertake the audacious task of tracing the red thread that led me to a career in circumpolar health and the honour of receiving the Hildes medal. Nothing was written in the stars that pointed in that direction, except perhaps the strolls in my early childhood neighbourhood that often took me past a monument of the successful, yet ill-fated, Danmark-expedition of 1906–08.
Innovation in knowledge intensive industries: The nature and geography of knowledge links

Abstract Knowledge has become a key source of competitiveness for advanced regions and nations, indicating a transformation of capitalism towards a “knowledge economy”. Knowledge intensive sectors in production and in services have a lead in this respect, they can be considered as role models for the future. The innovation process, the mechanisms of knowledge exchange and the respective linkages in those industries differ quite markedly from those in other sectors. Clustering and local knowledge spillovers are frequently stated phenomena, although it is still unclear as to what the nature and geography of those knowledge links are. The aim of this paper is to examine the character of the innovation process and the type of interactions in those industries, in order to find out how strongly they are related to regional, national and international innovation systems. We will analyse the sources and the mechanisms of knowledge exchange and their relevance for innovation. The paper develops a typology of innovation interactions and provides empirical evidence for Austria based on data from a recent firm survey.
Risk reduction in the EMS? Evidence from trends in exchange rate properties

The performance of the European Monetary System is still being debated. On the subject of exchange rate characteristics it has been claimed that evidence from looking at the statistical properties of the exchange rate distribution indicates an increased risk for agents. Others argue that the apparent success of the EMS is illusory, as it has not performed better than other currencies over the same period. We analyse these propositions by searching for trends in risk of EMS exchange rates and comparing them to outside benchmarks. We find properties indicating decreasing risk and these results also hold when structural breaks are considered. Moreover, this decline seems to be faster than for world benchmarks.
Integrating Patient Decision Support in an Undergraduate Nursing Curriculum: An Implementation Project

A 4-year curriculum project (2004-2008) to integrate patient decision support into an existing curriculum was guided by the Knowledge-to-Action process model. The purpose of this project was to integrate a patient decision support theoretical framework and associated evidence-based resources throughout a four-year baccalaureate nursing curriculum. Interventions designed to adapt knowledge to local context and overcome barriers to knowledge use included faculty workshop to increase awareness, instructional resources designed for courses and core content, curricular blueprint of key threads to be included within courses, shared resources on the school of nursing internal website, and development of decision support resources in French. Curricular change and sustained use of knowledge was evidenced by repeated use of guest lecturers, assignments, and problem-based scenarios in courses, and students' evaluations on the tutorial and assignments.
Polymorphisms of COMT and XPD and risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in a population of Yili Prefecture, in Xinjiang, China

Objective: To investigate polymorphisms of COMT (Rs4680) and XPD (Rs13181) and risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in a population from Yili Prefecture, Xinjiang, China. Methods: A hospital-based case–control study was designed. Genotypes were determined by polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were analysed using unconditional logistic regression. Results: An increased risk of ESCC was discovered with COMT in relation to the frequency of the presence of the A allele (Rs4680; OR 1.30, 95% CI 1.00–1.68). An individual with combined COMT 158 (Val/Met or Met/Met) and XPD 751 (Lys/Gln or Gln/Gln) genotype had an increased ESCC risk. Conclusions: Polymorphic variation in COMT Val158Met and XPD Lys751Gln may be important for ESCC susceptibility.
The Evolutionary Advances in Tax Education in Canada and the Hegemonic Leadership of the Accounting Profession

The main argument of this paper is that the accounting profession in Canada exercises hegemonic leadership over the development of tax education in terms of cadence and direction of reforms. To support this argument, the paper uses the development of the microeconomic approach to teaching taxation and the correlation between the numbers of tax courses taught in undergraduate programs and exemptions provided by the provincial institutes of the Canadian Chartered Accountants to students joining them. It uses arguments from institutional isomorphism to elucidate expected resistance to adopting new developments, such as the microeconomic approach, in the accounting field. The paper also builds on Gramsci’s theory of hegemony to imply that business schools have given their consent to the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants by closely linking their curriculum, at least the taxation courses, to that of the institute.