Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ambulatory Continuous Interscalene Nerve Blocks Decrease the Time to Discharge Readiness after Total Shoulder Arthroplasty: A Randomized, Triple-masked, Placebo-controlled Study

Background:A continuous interscalene nerve block (CISB) may be used to provide analgesia after shoulder arthroplasty. Therefore, inpatient stays may be shortened if CISB (1) provides adequate analgesia without intravenous opioids and (2) improves shoulder mobilization. This study investigated the relationship between ambulatory CISB and the time to reach three discharge criteria after shoulder arthroplasty. Methods:Preoperatively, patients received a CISB. All patients received a perineural 0.2% ropivacaine infusion from surgery until 06:00 the following morning, at which time they were randomly assigned either to continue perineural ropivacaine or to switch to normal saline. The primary endpoint was the time from the end of surgery until three discharge criteria were attained (adequate analgesia, independence from intravenous analgesics, and tolerance to 50% of shoulder motion targets). Patients were discharged home as early as the afternoon after surgery with their CISB using a portable infusion pump. Results:Patients receiving perineural ropivacaine (n = 16) attained all three discharge criteria in a median (10th–90th percentiles) of 21 (16–41) h, compared with 51 (37–90) h for those receiving perineural normal saline (n = 13, P < 0.001). Unlike patients receiving perineural ropivacaine, patients receiving perineural normal saline often required intravenous morphine, but still experienced a higher degree of pain and tolerated less external rotation. Conclusions:An ambulatory CISB considerably decreases the time until readiness for discharge after shoulder arthroplasty, primarily by providing potent analgesia that permits greater passive shoulder movement and the avoidance of intravenous opioids. Additional research is required to define the appropriate subset of patients and assess the incidence of complications associated with earlier discharge.
Marketing activities and business performance: evidence from foreign and domestic manufacturing firms in a liberalized developing economy

Research findings on emerging markets over the last decade indicate that economic reform policies in many developing countries have not only changed the environments of these economies, but also influenced the attitudes of firms towards the marketing concept. This study determines the degree to which marketing activities are practised in foreign and domestic firms in an emerging developing economy and the effects of such practices on business performance. The research instrument comprises five marketing activity components and six performance dimensions. Data were generated from a sample of 200 firms through a self‐administered mail survey. Results of the study reveal that foreign firms perform more marketing activities and perceive all marketing components as important determinants of performance in comparison with their domestic counterparts. To conclude, managerial implications of the findings as well as study limitations and future research directions are discussed.
Design of a Compact Dual-Band Bandpass Filter Using Coupled Stepped-Impedance Resonators

A compact dual-band bandpass filter (BPF) using coupled three-section stepped-impedance resonators (SIRs) has been proposed and analyzed in this letter. By its symmetrical merit, the even-odd mode analysis method is used to obtain the input admittance of its bisection circuits. After the Richard's transformation, each bisection circuit is derived as an equivalent LC circuit. Combining these two LC circuits, the equivalent circuit for the proposed filter is built with its design parameters as a function of even-/odd-mode impedances of the coupled SIR. The proposed circuit is then classified into two distinctive parts, a transversal structure for the first two resonances and a Π-shaped inductor network for the mutual coupling between the source/load. Thus, there are two reflection zeros appearing in each passband and five transmission zeros (TZs) generated to improve the out-of-band rejection. A prototype dual-band filter has been designed and fabricated to verify the predicted filtering performance and the accuracy of the presented design principle.
The influence of internal and external factors on entry modes

As internationalization and globalization increases in today’s business society, it becomes ever more important for individual business to keep up with the development. The way a company ventures from their domestic market to new geographical markets is of great importance for how well the company succeeds with their overall business mission. Selecting the right entry mode is an important decision that demands a lot of resources and thorough planning. When selecting entry mode a wide range of internal and external factors must be taken into consideration before making the final decision. This thesis purpose is to provide a better understanding of the impact of internal and external factors on Swedish SMEs’ choice of international market entry strategies. In order to reach the purpose we constructed two research questions regarding how the internal and external factors influence firm’s choice of international market entry mode. Based on the research questions, a literature review was conducted, which resulted in a conceptual framework that presented what would guide the data collection. In order to collect data, a qualitative, case study methodology was used, using a multiple case study through interviews as our main data collection tool. The main conclusions regarding the internal factors revealed in this thesis are that company size/resources limit the companies’ possibilities to choose market entry modes which demands great financial resources, it also affects the management risk attitude toward being more risk averse. Further the findings suggest that even though the companies in the study do not exclude any single market entry mode, they prefer the use of entry modes from which they have previous experience. The findings also suggest that the motive for engaging in internationalization is that the domestic market is insufficient due to the size and maturity. The main conclusions regarding the external factors revealed in this thesis are that industry feasibility/viability of MEM influences the choice of market entry mode when there is an interest of a market as the company will alter their market entry mode in order to avoid legal difficulties when trying to reach the market. This is further enhanced by the factor of market barriers as they might force the company to choose a specific market entry mode in order to avoid legal difficulties when entering a new international market. Target country production factors can be overcome through effective implementation of well thought strategic plans, without affecting the companies’ choice of market entry mode. Finally our findings suggest that the geographical distance influence on the choice of market entry mode decreases when the company’s resources and knowledge increase.
The Problem of Differing False-Alarm Rates for the Process Dissociation Procedure: Comment on Verfaellie and Treadwell (1993)

Results reported by M. Verfaellie and J. R. Treadwell (1993) contain an interesting paradox: Under standard study conditions in which subjects read words, amnesic patients and control subjects performed identically, both in terms of overall recognition hit rate and when the data were decomposed by L. L. Jacoby's (1991) process dissociation procedure into consciously controlled and automatic components of performance. One reason for this curious outcome is that false-alarm rates differed considerably between amnesic patients and control subjects, which is not taken into account in Verfaellie and Treadwell's application of the process dissociation procedure. Considered in this article are three possible reactions to the problem of false-alarm rates differing between subject groups (or between experimental conditions) for the process dissociation procedure. A correction can be applied either (a) before the process dissociation procedure is used or (b) after the consciously controlled component has been estimated from the procedure. Alternatively, (c) data with this problem may simply be uninterpretab le through analysis with the process dissociation procedure. Verfaellie and Treadwell (1993) reported an interesting study in which Jacoby's (1991) process dissociation procedure was applied to recognition memory performance of both amnesic and control subjects following manipulation of an independent variable. The process dissociation procedure was originally developed for separating responding on a consciously controlled basis (remembering) from that driven by automatic factors (presumably based on perceptual fluency [Jacoby, 1983] or intra-item integration [Mandler, 1989]). We do not describe the full logic of the procedure here, but accounts are provided in Verfaellie and Treadwell's (1993) article and in Jacoby's (1991) original article (see too Jacoby, Toth, & Yonelinas, 1993). During the first phase of Verfaellie and Treadwell's (1993) experiment, subjects read words and generated words from anagrams. During a second phase, subjects heard words. During a third phase, the recognition test, a series of words was presented visually, and subjects were asked to decide, for each word, whether it was old or new. The recognition test was conducted under one of two instructional sets, referred to as inclusion and exclusion conditions. In the inclusion condition, subjects were told to call an item old if they had read the word, solved it as an anagram, or heard the word during the first two phases of
Small-scale estimation of relative abundance for the coastal spotted dolphins (Stenella attenuata) in Costa Rica: the effect of habitat and seasonality

The coastal spotted dolphin ( Stenella attenuata graffmani ) is one of the most common species of dolphin in inshore Pacific waters of Costa Rica. We conducted surveys in protected waters of the Papagayo Gulf, Costa Rica, to determine relative abundance of dolphins in relation to environmental variables. We used Generalized Additive Models to investigate the influence of a particular set of environmental factors and determine inter-annual trends in relative abundance. School sizes ranged from 1 to 50 individuals ( mean 9.95, SD=10.28). The number of dolphins increased linearly with water depth and transparency, and non-linearly with the dissolved oxygen concentration. High variability in the relative abundance occurred during the dry season (January-April). A previous study on this population found that high number of groups are involved in foraging activities during the dry season. Seasonal changes in relative abundance probably are associated with food availability, a variable that we did not measure. Understanding local resident populations may have important implications for conservation and management strategies. Large-scale studies may overlook variables affecting the abundance of local resident populations that may be detected with studies on a smaller scale such as this one.
Development and postnatal regulation of adult myoblasts

The myogenic precursor cells of postnatal and adult skeletal muscle are situated underneath the basement membrane of the myofibers. It is because of their unique positions that these precursor cells are often referred to as satellite cells. Such defined satellite cells can first be detected following the formation of a distinct basement membrane around the fiber, which takes place in late stages of embryogenesis. Like myoblasts found during development, satellite cells can proliferate, differentiate, and fuse into myofibers. However, in the normal, uninjured adult muscle, satellite cells are mitotically quiescent. In recent years several important questions concerning the biology of satellite cells have been asked. One aspect has been the relationship between satellite cells and myoblasts found in the developing muscle: are these myogenic populations identiacal or different? Another aspect has been the physiological cues that control the quiescent, proliferative, and differentiative states of these myogenic precursors: what are the growth regulators and how do they function? These issues are discussed, referring to previous work by others and further emphasizing our own studies on avian and rodent satellite cells. Collectively, the studies presented indicate that satellite cells represent a distinct myogenic population that becomes dominant in late stages of embryogenesis. Moreover, although satellite cells are already destined to be myogenic precursors, they do not express any of the four known myogenic regulatory genes unless their activation is induced in the animal or in culture. Furthermore, multiple growth factors are important regulators of satellite cell proliferation and differentiation. Our work on the role of one of these growth factors [platelet‐derived growth factor (PDGF)] during proliferation of adult myoblasts is further discussed with greater detail and the possibility that PDGF is involved in the transition from fetal to adult myoblasts in late embryogenesis is brought forward. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Knowledge fixation and accretion: longitudinal analysis of a social question-answering site

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate longitudinal features of an established social question-answering (Q&A) site to study how question-answer resources and other community features change over time. Design/methodology/approach – Statistical analysis and visualisation was performed on the full data dump from the Stack Overflow social Q&A site for programmers. Findings – The timing of answers is as strong a predictor of acceptance – a proxy for user satisfaction – as the structural features of provided answers sometimes associated with quality. While many questions and answer exchanges are short-lived, there is a small yet interesting subset of questions where new answers receive community approval and which may end up being ranked more highly than early answers. Research limitations/implications – As a large-scale data oriented research study, this work says little about user motivations to find and contribute new knowledge to old questions or about the impact of the resource on the consu.
A Fast Analytical Algorithm for MDPs with Continuous State Spaces

Many real-world domains require that agents plan their future actions despite uncertainty, and that such plans deal with continuous space states, i.e. states with continuous values. While finitehorizon continuous state MDPs enable agents to address such domains, finding an optimal policy is computationally expensive. Although previous work provided approximation techniques to reduce the computational burden (particularly in the convolution process for finding optimal policies), computational costs and error incurred remain high. In contrast, we propose a new method, CPH, to solve continuous state MDPs for both finite and infinite horizons. CPH provides a fast analytical solution to the convolution process and assumes that continuous state values change according to Phase-type distributions. This assumption allows our method to approximate arbitrary probability density functions of continuous state transitions. Our experiments show that CPH achieves significant speedups compared to the Lazy Approximation algorithm, which is the leading algorithm for solving continuous state MDPs.
Knowledge-base/database consistency in a federated multidatabase environment

The paper describes a new approach to maintaining consistency between objects which reside in dynamic, shared databases and copies of those objects which are cached in application knowledge-bases. The approach relies on an intelligent interface to active databases, a mediator for approximate consistency (MAC). The MAC permits applications to specify their consistency requirements declaratively, using a simple extension of a frame-based representation language. It then automatically generates the interfaces and database objects necessary to enforce those consistency requirements, shielding the knowledge-base developer from the implementation details of consistency maintenance. While the authors focus on knowledge-base/database consistency issues, the approach is applicable to any component of a multidatabase federation which needs to cache dynamic data and to enforce some degree of consistency between itself and other components in the federation. <<ETX>>
Diabetes and thrombolysis for acute stroke: a clear benefit for diabetics

Diabetes is a predictor for poor outcome after thrombolysis in stroke patients, and early post‐stroke glycaemia is associated with higher rates of post‐thrombolytic symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhages (SICHs). Diabetic stroke patients may nevertheless profit from thrombolysis. Here, we compared outcome data of matched thrombolysed and non‐thrombolysed diabetic and non‐diabetic stroke patients from a national database.
The role of cytochrome–P450 inhibitors in the prevention of hepatotoxicity after paracetamol overdose in rats

Despite the understanding that some cytochrome P450 isoforms are responsible for activation of paracetamol to the hepatotoxic metabolite, N–acetyl–p–benzoquinineimine (NAPQI), the use of enzyme inhibitors for prevention and/or treatment of paracetamol hepatotoxicity is still not well researched. Here, a mixture of ketoconazole, isoniazid and caffeine (inhibitor solution), known inhibitors of CYP3A, CYP2E1 and CYP1A2, was investigated for prevention of hepatotoxicity after paracetamol over–dose in rats. The appropriate doses of paracetamol (1000 mg/kg/day) and the ‘inhibitor solution’ (ketoconazole 5 mg/kg, isoniazid 5 mg/kg and caffeine 10 mg;kg;KIC–5–50), were selected in preliminary experiments. Thereafter, two groups of 15 male Sprague–Dawley rats each were treated with the toxic dose of paracetamol intraperitoneally to induce severe hepatotoxicity. But one of the two groups was treated with the KIC–5–50 intraperitoneally 5 min after administration of paracetamol. Five rats were killed at 24, 48 and 72 hours after paracetamol administration. Plasma concentrations of paracetamol were determined by the polarization fluorescent immunoassay and a piece of liver was sent for histopathology examination. Liver function tests at 48 hours were higher in the ‘paracetamol only’ treated group than in the ‘KIC–5–50+paracetamol’ treated group’ (P<0.05), i.e., median (range) AST 2025 (530–4329) g/mL for the ‘paracetamol only’ treated group versus 0.17 (0.07–0.33) μg/ml for the ‘KIC–5–50-paracetamol’ treated group. Centrilobular necrosis, the pathogmonomic feature of paracetamol hepatotoxicity, was demonstrated only in the ‘paracetamol only’ treated group. In conclusion, coadministration of paracetamol with inhibitors of cytochrome P450 prevented the development of paracetamol–induced hepatotoxicity in rats, and this calls for research for enzyme inhibitors that may be of therapeutic value.
Contact Lens Complications

Contact Lens Complications . By Nathan Efron. Pp 193 plus CD-Rom; £55. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 1999. ISBN 0-7506-0582-0. This book is of very attractive design. The generous format, matt paper, and uncrowded layout immediately invite attention. It has copious illustrations of generally excellent quality. Detail in a few of the photographs is a little unclear, but that is a reflection of the difficulty of imaging subtle ocular pathology. The book opens with a “Tabular summary of contact lens complications” Some of the “conditions” listed sit rather uncomfortably in the first column because they are not caused by, although …
Forecasting models for manufacturer warranty returns: a case study

Abstract In this paper, we consider the analysis of some failure data during the warranty period, with regard to some electrical products. Our goal is to define some innovative models for warranty forecasting, which are transferable to the company where this study has been carried out. We present two innovative procedures for warranty control: the former allows to determine the probability of failure, while the second model can be used to establish a general quality index. The performance of the proposed methods are illustrated by considering real data.
Synthesis of a disturbance decoupling feedback via graph-theoretical methods

The necessary and sufficient conditions for disturbance decoupling have been widely discussed in the recent years. Although there are many solutions to the analysis problem, there exist only few contributions to feedback synthesis. In this paper, not only the sufficient conditions but also a disturbance decoupling state feedback for analytical systems is presented and transferred to a graph-theoretical procedure which can be used to handle a subclass of nonlinear analytical systems.
A perceptual approach to understanding user-generated media behavior

Purpose – As the pervasiveness of blogging becomes comingled in personal and corporate lives, companies are harvesting useful information from user-generated media. It appears that user-generated media (e.g. blogs, among others) has become an increasingly important way for companies to connect with customers. Though blogging activity is a fast emerging phenomenon, however, to date only a handful of research has been done by scholars about blogging activity. The little research done on blogging has focused on the company perspective; how companies can use blogs to interact with their customers, but did not examine the individual blogger ' s viewpoint. Hence, the main objective of this study is to help fill that void in the literature and ascertain the following: to lay the groundwork for understanding the factors that enhance bloggers ' attitudes toward participating in blogging activity and how bloggers ' attitudes influence their propensity to blog. Design/methodology/approach – A structural model was de.
Intelligent tutorial system based on personalized system of instruction to teach or remind mathematical concepts

The growth of the higher education population and different school paths to access an academic degree has increased the heterogeneity of students inside the classroom. Consequently, the effectiveness of traditional teaching methods has reduced. This paper describes the design, development, implementation and evaluation of a tutoring system (TS) to improve student's engagement in higher mathematics. The TS design was based on the Personalized System of Instruction of the Mastery Learning pedagogical approach and can be implemented in any higher education course with mathematics needs. The TS consists on small self-paced modularized units of educational contents, including tutorial videos, notes and formative e-assessment with personalized feedback. The TS ensures that the student is only allowed to proceed to the next unit after he or she achieves the required mastery criterion of the current unit. The TS was implemented in the Quantitative Methods course of an undergraduate degree and received good acceptance from students. It was also recognized that TS contributed to learning and engagement with the discipline. Through an experimental research experience, it has been shown that the imposition of restrictions on the advance to the next level by a mastery criterion leads to a significant improvement in student's engagement and performance.