Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Limitation of Activities of Daily Living and Quality of Life Based on COPD Combined Classification

BACKGROUND: The Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) 2011 update recommends that the management and treatment of COPD be made to combine the impact of disease and future risk of exacerbation. These patients have worsening quality of life and limitation of activities of daily living (ADLs), which can be manifested as a decrease in SpO2 and progressive dyspnea. The aim of this study was to determine whether the COPD combined classification proposed by GOLD 2011 is able to differentiate patients with ADL limitation, such as oxygen desaturation or dyspnea, and impaired quality of life. METHODS: This was an observational, cross-sectional study. Forty-four subjects were categorized in 4 GOLD groups (A–D). The mean age was 69 ± 8.8 y, with FEV1 of 1.33 ± 0.53 L (49 ± 15.7% of predicted). The Modified Medical Research Council dyspnea and London Chest Activity of Daily Living (LCADL) scales and the St George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) were applied. The 6-min walk test and ADL simulation in an appropriate laboratory were also conducted. RESULTS: There was no association between the COPD combined evaluation groups and the presence of oxygen desaturation and dyspnea (chi-square test), although a higher prevalence of oxygen desaturation was noticed in group D subjects. With regard to dyspnea, there were subjects with dyspnea in all groups when ADLs were performed. No correlation between dyspnea and oxygen desaturation variation was found. Group B and D subjects showed higher ADL dyspnea (total LCADL scores of 28% and 30%) compared with group A subjects. Group D subjects showed poorer quality of life (total SGRQ score of 49.3%) compared with less symptomatic groups. CONCLUSIONS: The COPD combined classification was not efficient in determining oxygen desaturation and dyspnea while subjects were performing ADLs. The subjects in the symptomatic groups with increased risk of exacerbation showed poorer quality of life and higher dyspnea levels. (ClinicalTrials.gov registration NCT01977469)
Brand architecture: building brand portfolio value

Corporations must routinely ask “how should we allocate existing financial and human resources among our brands to grow shareholder value? ” Firms should focus on getting the most from existing brands through better organizing and managing brands and brand inter‐relationships within the existing portfolio. “Brand architecture” is the way a company organizes, manages, and markets their brands. It must align with and support business goals and strategies. Different business strategies require different brand architectures. The two most common types are: “Branded house” architecture – employs a single (master) brand to span a series of offerings that may operate with descriptive sub‐brand names and “House of brands” architecture – each brand is stand‐alone; the sum of performance of the independent brands is greater than they would be if under a master brand. Neither type is better than the other. Some companies use a mix of both. The key is to have a well‐defined brand architecture strategy. Steps to maximiz.
Does the Housing Market Reflect Cultural Heritage? A Case Study of Greater Dublin

Does the housing market reflect cultural heritage? We estimate several specifications of a hedonic price equation to establish whether distance to, and density of, cultural heritage site is capitalised into housing prices in Greater Dublin, Ireland. We use a very rich dataset of housing and neighbourhood characteristics and include 104 location-fixed effects, which represent very small areas, ensuring the identification of the price effects on similar houses in similar areas. Our results show that some types of cultural heritage sites, such as historic buildings, memorials, and Martello towers, provide positive spillovers to property prices while archaeological sites seem to be a negative amenity. We interpret these premiums (or lack thereof) as capturing aesthetic beauty.
Inhibition of Regulated Neuropeptide Secretion from Mouse Pituitary Cells by Propofol

Neuropeptides modulate neuronal responses to stimuli.Secretion of neuropeptides is a potential site for anesthetic action. This paper examines the hypothesis that propofol alters the secretion of beta-endorphin. Cultures of a mouse pituitary cell line (AtT-20) were exposed to propofol in vitro, then induced to secrete beta-endorphin. Secretion was measured by immunoassay. Propofol caused statistically significant inhibition of secretion. Secretion stimulated by phorbol ester was inhibited by propofol with a calculated 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) value of 48 micro Meter. The propofol IC50 values for secretion stimulated by other secretagogs were 47 micro Meter (barium), 42 micro Meter (Bay K 8644, a calcium channel agonist), and 28 micro Meter (a cyclic adenosine monophosphate [cAMP] analog). AtT-20 cells recovered their ability to secrete beta-endorphin upon removal of the propofol, which demonstrated that they were not damaged permanently by propofol. The effect was relatively specific to neuropeptide secretion, as AtT-20 cells grew normally for 5 days in the presence of 10 or 80 micro Meter propofol. The finding suggests that propofol inhibited a site in neuropeptide exocytosis common to the three studied pathways of secretion. (Anesth Analg 1996;83:611-7)
Gaining competitive advantage through business analytics

SPRONGL PETER: Gaining competitive advantage through business analytics. Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, 2013, LXI, No. 7, pp. 2779–2785 The industry for business analytics within the BI sphere is growing signifi cantly and the distinction in organizations between transactional information systems and decision-oriented systems breaks down. Firms need to understand both the opportunity and the potential of business analytics. Reporting, which is getting a handle on what happened in organizations, is complemented by analytics that is rather explanatory and predictive. Leveraging business analytics means to use analytics applications in order to analyse business problems and produce related business recommendations to improve business process performance. Business analytics must but be a part of a value creating process operating together with other systems and organisational factors in a synergistic manner, including people, processes, knowledge and relationship assets, culture, structure, and policies. In order for companies to be effi cient, they need to automate processes, workfl ows and make rules. Eff ectiveness, on the other hand, is about making better decisions, perhaps using the same data that their competitors may have. What matters is not necessarily the technologies deployed, but emerging competence that the fi rm uses to support its business. A specifi c “mindset” needs to be installed for companies to invest into business analytics. Organisations need to better understand how best to exploit their data and convert them into information and sense-making capabilities. Business capabilities can be enhanced not only by exploitation of analytical tools, but also by the sophisticated use of information. This leads to a truly sense-making capability or “analytical mindset”. The primary data covers 398 data sets, where fi rms have been asked about the specifi cs of their information management. The data is used as input to statistical tests and the value of business analytics is being analyzed in an empirical way. business intelligence, business analytics, predictive analytics, big data, competitive advantage, business objectives, enterprise performance, value creation, analytical capabilities
The World Price of Covariance Risk

In a financially integrated global market, the conditionally expected return on a portfolio of securities from a particular country is determined by the country's world risk exposure. This paper measures the conditional risk of seventeen countries. The reward per unit of risk is the world price of covariance risk. Although the tests provide evidence on the conditional mean variance efficiency of the benchmark portfolio, the results show that countries' risk exposures help explain differences in performance. Evidence is also presented which indicates that these risk exposures change through time and that the world price of covariance risk is not constant. Copyright 1991 by American Finance Association.
The frequency and severity of symptoms of major depression in Chinese patients with chronic, medically unexplained, painful physical symptoms who present to a general neurology clinic

This cross-sectional, non-interventional, observational study evaluated depression in patients in China who presented to a general neurologist with chronic, medically unexplained, painful physical symptoms. Of the 402 patients enrolled, 197 patients (49.0%) met the criteria for a current major depressive episode (MDE+ group), as assessed using module A of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview, and 205 patients (51.0%) did not (MDE- group). The mean pain severity visual analogue scale (VAS) score was signifi cantly higher in the MDE+ group than the MDE- group (65.3 vs 55.6 mm; p<0.001). The mean depression severity score, as assessed using the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), was 8.4 units (95% CI: 7.3 to 9.5) higher in the MDE+ group than the MDE- group (mean PHQ-9 total score: 14.8 vs 6.4). Anxiety and perceived health state were signifi cantly worse, on average, in the MDE+ group (mean Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale anxiety subscale score 10.7 vs 5.9 units; mean EuroQoL-5 Dimensions VAS score 56.4 vs 67.7 mm; each p<0.001). Only 14.2% of patients had received treatment for depression during the past 3 months. These results suggest depression was common and may have been under-treated in this group of Chinese patients with chronic, medically unexplained painful physical symptoms.
Importance of wellness quality criteria and positioning of wellness cooperation brands

The aim of this work is to investigate a correlation among wellness guest groups and the importance of the quality criteria of wellness cooperation brands. Further aim is to analyse whether relationships between the wellness cooperation brands and the wellness guest groups exist. Two-step cluster analysis was used to classify wellness guest groups. The numerous and similar quality criteria of the wellness cooperation brands were gathered in 50 items and converged in eight quality factors by means of principal component analysis. Uni-factorial variance analysis was used to determine the differences in individual quality factors between the wellness guest groups. This study shows that wellness guests can be classified into four wellness guest categories. The wellness guest groups place different demands on the quality criteria. This study provides evidence for possible positioning strategies by wellness cooperation brands.
Detection of Rhinoviruses by Tissue Culture and Two Independent Amplification Techniques, Nucleic Acid Sequence-Based Amplification and Reverse Transcription-PCR, in Children with Acute Respiratory Infections during a Winter Season

ABSTRACT Five hundred seventeen consecutive nasopharyngeal aspirates were collected between October 1998 and May 1999 for episodes of acute respiratory tract infections in children presenting at the University Hospital of Antwerp. Culture and nucleic acid amplification techniques—nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) and reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR)—were applied to detect rhinoviruses (RVs). Other respiratory viruses were detected by immunofluorescence (IF) analysis of the specimens and IF analysis of shell vial cultures. Among the 517 specimens, 219 viral agents were identified. They were, in decreasing order, rhinoviruses (93 [18.0%]), respiratory syncytial virus (76 [14.7%]), adenoviruses (16 [3.1%]), influenza viruses (15 [2.9%]), enteroviruses (15 [2.9%]), and herpes simplex virus (4 [0.8%]). For the evaluation of rhinovirus detection, culture positivity and/or a positive reaction in the two independent amplification methods was used as an expanded “gold standard. ” Based on this standard, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of culture were 44.7, 100, 100, and 99.8%, and those of NASBA and RT-PCR were 85.1, 98.3, 83.3, and 98.5% and 82.9, 93.4, 55.7, and 98.2%, respectively. NASBA and RT-PCR produced comparable results and were significantly more sensitive than virus culture. RVs showed the highest incidence in acute respiratory tract infections in children.
Learning to Depart from a Policy Path: Institutional Change and the Reform of German Labour Market Policy

While new institutionalism with its path-dependence theory has proved to be an especially powerful device for explaining the stability and inertia of public policies, its focus on the stickiness of institutions has contributed to conceptual deficits in grasping and explaining actually occurring policy change which have attracted much criticism. With reference to the critical case of German labour market reforms, policy learning is identified as a key mechanism in the paradigmatic transformation of social policy. Pursuing the argument that learning does not happen in a vacuum and is institutionally embedded, policy learning is conceptually enriched with insights from new institutionalism to develop an institutional account of learning. Such an approach to policy learning and a stronger emphasis on ideas address the stability bias in new institutionalism and its path-dependence theory by accounting for knowledge-based institutional change.
2-Phenylethynyl-butyltellurium enhances learning and memory impaired by scopolamine in mice

Taking into account the memory-enhancing properties of 2-phenylethynyl-butyltellurium (PEBT) and the constant search for drugs that improve cognitive performance, the present study was designed to investigate the effect of PEBT on cognitive impairment induced by scopolamine in mice. PEBT (10 mg/kg, gavage) was administered to mice 1 h before the probe trial in the Morris water maze task. Memory impairment was induced by scopolamine (1 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) 30 min before the probe trial. PEBT significantly ameliorated the scopolamine-induced impairment of long-term memory, as indicated by a decrease in escape latency and an increase in the number of crossings of the platform location when compared with the amnesic mice. To evaluate the effect of PEBT on different phases of memory (acquisition, consolidation, and retrieval) impaired by scopolamine, the step-down inhibitory avoidance task was used. Scopolamine was administered 30 min before training (acquisition), test (retrieval), or immediately after training (consolidation). PEBT, administered 30 min before scopolamine, increased step-down latency in memory-impaired mice, improving the consolidation and retrieval stages, but not acquisition. No significant alterations in locomotor or exploratory behaviors were found in animals treated with PEBT and/or scopolamine. PEBT improved memory deficits during consolidation and retrieval induced by scopolamine.
Growing Toward the Sun: How the Good-Food Movement Catapulted a Small New York City Third-Sector Organization into Rapid Growth, Success, and Many Challenges

Growing Toward the Sun: How the Good Food Movement catapulted a small NYC third-sector organization into rapid growth, success, and many challenges Carole L. Hutchinson This dissertation is an ethnographic study of a New York City-based third-sector organization focused on what it calls “food justice. ” This study concentrates on how this organization, that I call Food Rights, has built a broad multi-sector network made up of a varied set of constituents and collaborators aiming to develop and promote an alternative food system for New York City (NYC). This network model has allowed Food Rights to leverage capacity in order to reach thousands of New Yorkers who participate in many different aspects of the local food system (LFS) that correspond to its programming. These include Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), urban agriculture, emergency food, policy and advocacy efforts, and community food education. This dissertation explores the ways that Food Rights navigates the contested space of civil society and the third-sector realm through its LFS efforts—a geography where Food Rights constituents feel they have a say in how local food is grown, distributed, purchased, and prepared. It also considers the complex challenges presented by the burgeoning LFS movement in NYC. This study reveals weak contact points in Food Rights network design as well as organizational strengths that could assist it and other LFS-focused NGOs in addressing the many challenges associated with the social changes that have lead to the spatial, ideological, and material shifts that are transforming the NYC landscape into "a new ontology of food.
Long Memory in Import and Export Price Inflation and Persistence of Shocks to the Terms of Trade

Long memory models have been successfully used to investigate the dynamic time-series behavior of inflation rates based on the CPI and WPI. However, almost no attention has been paid to import and export price inflation, nor to the terms of trade which they make up. This article investigates the dynamics of the terms of trade by focusing first on the time-series characteristics of these price series. It tests for long memory in export and import price inflation series and estimates the fractional differencing parameter using a number of approaches. To give a better idea of the degree of persistence of each series, estimates of the impulse responses are computed which take into account possible fractional integration. The dynamic behavior in changes in the terms of trade is then related to the long memory behavior of the import and export price inflation series. In a sample of eleven economies for which data is available, evidence of long memory in import and export price inflation occurs in about half the cases. Granger (1980) points out that the natural occurrence of long memory may be attributed to aggregation in macroeconomic series. Our analysis provides evidence of an alternative explanation, namely that long-memory may result from the differencing of a linear relationship between non-cointegrating variables. Specifically, the results from our analysis of eleven economies reveal that shocks to the terms of trade will persist if the constituent price inflation series are not cointegrated
New Models for Maintenance of Series and Parallel Systems

This paper develops new models for maintenance of multi-component series and parallel systems with inspection, preventive maintenance(pm), and repair; and subject to deterioration with use and stochastic failure. Use of 3-state models makes it possible to consider wear and pm of components. The 3-state model for a component is reduced to an equivalent 2-state model. By combining 2-state models, multicomponent systems are analysed. The error introduced by using equivalent models for the system is below 0.7% for a typical example. A case study of an electrical power system illustrates the application of the technique. Details are available in a separately available Supplement.
Foreign and Local Institutional Ownership and the Speed of Price Adjustment

This paper examines the relation between the speed of price adjustment and stock ownership by foreign and local institutional investors using data from the Korean stock market. We show that returns of stocks with high foreign institutional ownership lead returns of stocks with low foreign institutional ownership, especially after foreign ownership restriction is lifted. Likewise, returns of stocks with high local institutional ownership lead returns of stocks with low local institutional ownership. These results support the idea that foreign institutional (local institutional) investors have faster access to or processing power of new information than local institutional (local individual) investors. Copyright 2007 The Authors Journal compilation (c) 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Development and Aging Psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire in high-risk groups

ANDERS DOVRAN, DAGFINN WINJE, SIMON N. ØVERLAND, KYRRE BREIVIK, KJERSTI AREFJORD, ANITA S. DALSBØ, METTE B. JENTOFT, ANITA L. HANSEN and LEIF WAAGE Faculty of Psychology, Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Bergen, Christiesgt 12, 50150, Bergen, Norway Division of Psychiatry, Haukeland University Hospital, Pb 23, 5812, Bergen, Norway Faculty of Psychology, Department of Health Promotion and Development Research Centre for Health Promotion, University of Bergen, Pb 7800, Bergen, Norway Division of Mental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Kalfarveien 31, 5018, Bergen, Norway Uni Research, Uni Health, Pb 7810, Bergen, Norway Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, St Olav’s University Hospital, Pb, 3250, 7006, Trondheim, Norway Faculty of Psychology, Department of Psychosocial Science, University of Bergen, Pb 7800, Bergen, Norway Centre for Research and Education in Forensic Psychiatry, Haukeland University Hospital, Pb 23, 5812, Bergen, Norway
Ensuring Scientific Rigor of JCEM Papers through Transparent Reviews of Scholarship

In an email from August 20, 2011the Chief Editor of the Journal of Construction Engineering and Management wrote that the main criteria of an acceptable paper review were timeliness, objectivity, factuality, fairness, thoroughness, and professionalism. A request for clarification about the definitions of fair, objective, and thorough did not receive a response. It provided the latest impetus to get an article on this subject published after having failed multiple times. The paper explores whether the ambiguous and scientifically irrelevant assessment criteria effect the scholarly quality of the journal itself. It further reviews the performance of the journal measured by its impact factor. A discussion of requirements for scholarly work defined by qualified researchers in construction engineering and management follows a brief initial review. The paper proceeds with an evaluation of scholarship in some recently published articles. Finally, the paper offers a framework to serve as a transparent standard for reviewers’ assessment of draft papers’ scientific rigor. The hypothesis that a lack of consistently high scientific standards applied by its reviewers has a bearing on the quality of a scholarly paper is tested. With support from the literature it will be shown that measures such as fairness, thoroughness, and objectivity have no place in evaluating a submitted paper’s scientific quality.