Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Association of serum digoxin concentration and outcomes in patients with heart failure.

CONTEXT The Digitalis Investigation Group (DIG) trial reported that digoxin provided no overall mortality benefit and only a modest reduction in hospitalizations among patients with heart failure and depressed left ventricular systolic function. The clinical outcomes associated with digoxin therapy at different serum concentrations in the DIG trial have not been assessed. OBJECTIVE To assess variations in serum digoxin concentration (SDC) and their association with mortality and hospitalization in patients with heart failure. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS Post hoc analysis of the randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled DIG trial, conducted from August 1991 to December 1995, with the main analysis restricted to men with a left ventricular ejection fraction of 45% or less (n = 3782). Patients randomly assigned to receive digoxin were divided into 3 groups based on SDC at 1 month (0.5-0.8 ng/mL, n = 572; 0.9-1.1 ng/mL, n = 322; and > or =1.2 ng/mL, n = 277) and compared with patients randomly assigned to receive placebo (n = 2611). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE All-cause mortality at a mean follow-up of 37 months. RESULTS Higher SDCs were associated with increased crude all-cause mortality rates (0.5-0.8 ng/mL, 29.9%; 0.9-1.1 ng/mL, 38.8%; and > or =1.2 ng/mL, 48.0%; P =.006 for trend). Patients with SDCs of 0.5 to 0.8 ng/mL had a 6.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.1%-10.5%) lower mortality rate compared with patients receiving placebo. Digoxin was not associated with a reduction in mortality among patients with SDCs of 0.9 to 1.1 ng/mL (2.6% increase; 95% CI, - 3.0% to 8.3%), whereas patients with SDCs of 1.2 ng/mL and higher had an 11.8% (95% CI, 5.7%-18.0%) higher absolute mortality rate than patients receiving placebo. The association between SDC and mortality persisted after multivariable adjustment (SDC 0.5-0.8 ng/mL hazard ratio [HR] 0.80, 95% CI, 0.68-0.94; SDC 0.9-1.1 ng/mL HR 0.89, 95% CI, 0.74-1.08; SDC > or =1.2 ng/mL HR 1.16, 95% CI, 0.96-1.39; and HR of 1.00 [referent] for placebo). CONCLUSIONS Our findings demonstrate that higher SDCs were associated with increased mortality and suggest that the effectiveness of digoxin therapy in men with heart failure and a left ventricular ejection fraction of 45% or less may be optimized in the SDC range of 0.5 to 0.8 ng/mL.
Focus‐Pocus? Thinking Critically about Whether Aid Organizations Should Do Fewer Things in Fewer Countries

The OECD Development Assistance Committee and G7 Finance Ministers have suggested that many bilateral and multilateral aid organizations are too dispersed pursuing too many objectives in too many countries and too many sectors with too many partners. These organizations are accused of lacking critical mass failing to follow their comparative advantage failing to find and exploit a niche and having high transactions costs and low effectiveness. Such aid organizations are being told to ‘focus’ ‘concentrate’ or be more ‘selective’ in order to become more effective. This article analyses the arguments in favour of greater focus by aid organizations and suggests that while some of these arguments are valid some are not and others need to be more nuanced. There are many possible dimensions along which an aid organization could focus and the link — if any — between focus and aid effectiveness is complex along each of those dimensions. The debate so far has also ignored the possibility that less focus may promote more effective aid. There is no clear simple link between focus and aid effectiveness but this finding should not be interpreted as carte blanche for spreading aid programmes indiscriminately. Dispersion like focus needs careful thought and justification. (authors)
Britain's Productivity Gap with the United States and Europe: A Historical Perspective

Since the mid-1990s, an almost universal belief has developed amongst economic commentators that the United States has undergone a productivity miracle and that European economies are now suffering from chronic sclerosis. As a result, the ‘American model’ dominates the agenda of policy towards growth and productivity performance in Britain. This paper urges caution here, given the disappointing experience of earlier British growth policies based on borrowing from the fashionable economy of the moment, including the Japanese and German economies during the 1970s and 1980s, and the American economy (again) during the 1950s and 1960s. A historical perspective suggests that: (1) successful productivity performance requires a stable institutional framework for long-term investments in human and physical capital, which the European model has been particularly good at providing over the last half century; (2) a country is constrained by its geography, so that copying without adaptation to local circumstances is rarely a good policy; (3) it is important to pay attention to the different sectors of the economy when formulating policy.
Development and Rasch analysis of the Assessment of Computer-Related Skills

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the internal scale validity, person response validity, and reliability of the newly developed Assessment of Computer-Related Skills (ACRS). Data from 32 healthy adult participants who performed two to three computer tasks were analysed to determine how well the participants fitted the many-faceted Rasch (MFR) model of the ACRS, as well as how well the ACRS skill items and tasks (a) fitted the MFR model of the ACRS, (b) matched the expectations for hierarchical ordering of their difficulties, and (c) differentiated persons into different levels of ability. Results indicated that with three skill items removed, the remaining 34 skill items, 8 computer tasks, and 30 participants demonstrated goodness-of-fit to the MFR model of the ACRS. The skills and tasks appeared to have logical hierarchical ordering and differentiated participants into at least three levels of ability. The findings affirmed the internal scale validity, person response validity and reliability of the ACRS for assessing persons’ computer abilities. Future studies using a larger sample that includes individuals with disabilities and with difficulties with computer use are needed to further evaluate the validity and reliability of the ACRS.
Research on International Studies in The People's Republic of China

As is the case with other social science disciplines and sub-disciplines, the field of international relations (IR) is beginning to assume a scholarly identity in China today. In some respects the field is building upon a foundation laid prior to the Cultural Revolution (when in 1964 then-Premier Zhou Enlai ordered the establishment of several IR research institutes and academic training programs), but in a very real sense it is only now being established for the first time. China's current opening to the world has provided additional stimulus to the development of the field as China's leaders and bureaucrats seek policy-oriented analyses of foreign nations. The field is expanding rapidly. This study will assess the current state of the field and will evaluate the potential for and impediments to developing the discipline. Defining the Discipline Various complex problems arise in trying to define the scope of the discipline of international relations in the Chinese context. Perhaps the biggest problem is that Chinese IR scholars and specialists have not themselves clearly delineated the parameters of their field. International relations therefore does not yet have a distinct identity as a discipline despite an increasingly strong institutional base of scholarship and analysis.
Spinoff/Terminations and the Value of Pension Insurance

This paper derives the value of Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC) pension insurance under two scenarios of interest. The first allows for voluntary plan termination, which appears to be legal under current statutes. In the second scenario, termination is prohibited unless the firm is bankrupt. Empirical estimates of PBGC liabilities are calculated. These show that prospective PBGC liabilities greatly exceed current reserves for plan terminations, that even under a bankruptcy-only termination rule, PBGC liabilities still would be quite sensitive to discretionary funding policy, and that the increasingly common practice of pension spinoff/terminations, substantially increases the present value of the PBGC's contingent liabilities. THE PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTEE CORPORATION (PBGC) was established by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to guarantee the benefits of workers who belong to defined benefit pension plans. If a pension plan is terminated with insufficient assets to pay guaranteed benefits, the PBGC assumes responsibility for those benefits. The PBGC can take some comfort from the fact that most large pension plans are currently overfunded. Surplus plan assets provide a cushion for adverse investment experience that reduces the value of PBGC contingent liabilities. Recently, however, terminations of overfunded plans have become more common [7]. These spinoff/terminations typically allow firms to split their pension plans into two parts, one for active employees and one for retirees, to place all surplus assets into the retiree plan, and then to terminate that plan, thereby recapturing the entire surplus. The PBGC is left insuring a continuing plan that has been stripped of surplus assets. The current value of PBGC contingent liabilities obviously increases under spinoff/terminations. One approach to valuing PBGC liabilities is provided by the options pricing framework. Several authors [3], [4], [5], [6], [9], [11], [12], [17], and [19]) already have used option pricing methodology to study the valuation of PBGC insurance. The provisions of ERISA allow firms to transfer their pension liabilities to the PBGC in return for pension fund assets plus 30 percent of the market value of the firm's- net worth. Thus, viewing PBGC insurance as a put option, the pension liabilities play the role of the exercise price while the fund assets plus 30 percent of net worth play the role of the underlying asset or stock price. However, while the analogy between put options and the option to terminate a pension plan appears straightforward, the correspondence between the two is not at all clear with respect to the effective time to maturity of the pension put.
Australian winter circulation and rainfall changes and projections

Purpose – Major shifts in the southern hemisphere circulation occurred during the mid‐1970s concurrent with large reductions in southern Australian winter rainfall associated with decreased cyclogenesis. The purpose of this paper is to study changes in cyclogenesis over southern Australia during the last 50 years, examine the ability of coupled climate models to simulate the winter circulation changes, and discuss projected changes in winter circulation and rainfall under different climate change scenarios.Design/methodology/approach – Three dimensional instability theory is used to study changes in cyclogenesis. The response of 22 coupled model intercomparison project three (CMIP3) IPCC climate models to observed increases in greenhouse gases, from pre‐industrial to the end of the twentieth century, is examined. The authors focus on two diagnostics closely related to the changes in cyclogenesis: changes in the 300 hPa zonal wind strength; and changes in the baroclinic instability. Projected changes in ba.
Cross correlation analysis and construction of joint distribution traffic model

Traffic models play an important role in network design and performance evaluation. Since the usual assumption of independencies between different traffic streams, these models are not able to precisely reflect the characteristic of real network traffics. In this paper, we present a joint distribution traffic model which can express the dependency of two traffics. This model is constructed with parameters of self correlation and cross correlation. In additional, we can predict the traffic data in a real network according to another relative traffic. We do many simulations in different ports of CERNET, and shows that our model gets well accuracy to the real traffic data.
Foreign bank presence in emerging markets: help or hindrance to banking system stability?

With financial liberalization during the 1990s, there was a marked increase in the involvement of foreign banks in emerging market economies. This study uses data from 32 emerging markets for the period 1999 to 2005 to investigate whether the presence of foreign banks promotes or hurts the stability of the banking systems in these economies. We find consistently that a greater presence of foreign banks does not harm banking system stability and, under some definitions, is associated with a statistically significant fall in the probability of a banking crisis. This result is robust across different ways of distinguishing foreign from domestic banks, thus providing useful information to policy makers and banking regulators.
The effect on familiar mobile device and usage time on creating perceptions towards mobile services

The adoption patterns for new technology such as mobile services are essential to understand for developing them further. Hence, it is important to study how willing people are to try new mobile services and do "facilitating" conditions have an effect on the consumers' adoption readiness. This study analyses how the mobile devices and the initial trial time used effect the initial mobile service usage experience and how this experience affects the likelihood of continuous usage. We will argue that the duration of the trial does not effect consumers' perceptions about mobile services when first trying them out, but familiarization of the device used has an impact on experience. We will go through the theoretical aspects of adoption of new technologies and specific aspects of the mobile business and present results from the field trial conducted last summer. The theoretical and practical implications are presented at the end of this paper.
Role of 20-Hydroxyeicosatetraenoic and Epoxyeicosatrienoic Acids in the Regulation of Vascular Function in a Model of Hypertension and Endothelial Dysfunction

The objective of this study was to determine if acute inhibition of 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE) synthesis or reduced inactivation of epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs) can correct L-NG-nitro-arginine-methyl-ester (L-NAME)-induced abnormal vascular reactivity in the perfused mesenteric bed and the carotid artery of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Administration of L-NAME in drinking water (80 mg/l) to SHR for 3 weeks resulted in abnormal vascular reactivity to norepinephrine and carbachol in the perfused mesenteric vascular bed and carotid artery, and significantly elevated mean arterial blood pressure (244 ± 9 mm Hg) as compared to SHR controls drinking regular water (176 ± 3 mm Hg). In the perfused mesenteric vascular bed, the impaired vascular responsiveness to norepinephrine was corrected by acute treatment with N-hydroxy-N′-(4-butyl-2-methylphenyl)formamidine (HET0016), an inhibitor of 20-HETE formation, but not by 1-cyclohexyl-3-dodecyl urea (CDU), an inhibitor of soluble epoxide hydrolase. Treatment with either HET0016 or CDU did not improve impaired carbachol-induced vasodilation in the perfused mesenteric vascular bed. In the isolated carotid artery, treatment with HET0016 corrected the L-NAME-induced increase in norepinephrine-induced vasoconstriction, whereas only CDU treatment could improve impaired carbachol-induced vasodilation. Results of this study indicate that vascular function in a state of compromised nitric oxide formation is differentially modulated by 20-HETE and EETs, and that treatment with HET0016 or CDU may improve vascular function in a state of high blood pressure and endothelial dysfunction.
Conceptualization and Measurement of Optimal Consumer Decision‐Making

The theory of optimal choice is founded on the classic principles of maximization and rationality which are developed in economics and other social sciences. The principle of maximization is applicable to the analysis of consumers' choices in contexts ranging from individual consumer decisions to efficient operation of consumer markets in aggregate. Newer and revised formulations of maximization have evolved in the related concepts of satisficing behavior, efficiency of choice, decision quality and choice accuracy. This paper reviews the evolution of these concepts, with special attention to the context of optimal consumer choice at the individual level. Empirical measures of optimal consumer decision-making are also reviewed. Finally, optimal consumer decision-making is conceptualized both in terms of 1) optimal outcomes (choices) and 2) optimality of the actual decision-making process prior to choice.
Dynamics of Competitive Strategy

Preface The Beginning of a Research Agenda, 1984 A Communication-Information Theory of Competitive Interaction A Methodology for Studying Competitive Actions and Responses Firm Reputation and Rivalry Competitive Actions and Rivalry Responders and Rivalry Industry Environments and Rivalry Competitive Moves, Responses and Organizational Performance An Alternative Perspective on Rivalry Avoiding Wars with Competitors Summarizing and Integrating the Results
Why are Convertible Bonds Called Late: Is it Notice Period or the Risk of Financial Distress?

A long-standing puzzle in finance, first noted by Ingersoll (1977b), is that many firms delay the re-call of convertible bonds until the bonds’ equity values by far exceed their values as straight debt. Butler (2002) argues that the delay is due to a put option which is granted to investors during the notice period (between the announcement of conversion and the actual event). However, we find this feature to be of minor importance and only capable of generating only a short delay (i.e. a matter of a few weeks rather than several months). An earlier, but largely untested, theory attributes the delay to distress costs (Jaffee and Shleifer, 1990); it argues that some firms would find it extremely difficult to pay-out in cash and they therefore delay until the stock price is sufficiently high to ensure riskless conversion into equity. Consistent with this theory we find for a sample of US convertibles that: (i) the average firm delays calling its convertible until there is only a 1% risk-neutral probability of failure; (ii) proxies for distress costs are significantly related to cross-sectional variation in the conversion premium; and (iii) there is only a very small (and transitory) drop in the share price at the time of the re-call announcement.
The Determinants of Strikes in Australia

This paper presents the first detailed analysis of strike determinants in Australia using micro-economic data. Multiple regression analysis, undertaken on data collected from a survey of over 300 workplaces conducted in 1988, leads the authors to conclude that while stoppage frequency is associated with union power, serious stoppages are most affected by employee morale and the nature of the bargaining relationship. This suggests that serious stoppages could be reduced ivith out reducing union power per se, though changes in the award system and management style may be warranted.
Mechanisms underlying the inhibitory effects of lipopolysaccharide on human platelet adhesion

Alterations in platelet aggregation in septic conditions are well established. However, little is known about the effects of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on platelet adhesion. We have therefore investigated the effects of LPS in human platelet adhesion, using an in vitro model of platelet adhesion to fibrinogen-coated wells. Microtiter plates were coated with human fibrinogen, after which washed platelets (6 × 108 platelets/ml) were allowed to adhere. Adherent platelets were quantified through measurement of acid phosphatase activity. Calcium mobilization in Fura2-AM-loaded platelets was monitored with a spectrofluorimeter. Platelet flow cytometry in thrombin-stimulated platelets was performed using monoclonal mouse anti-platelet GPIIb/IIIa antibody (PAC-1). Prior incubation of washed platelets with LPS (0.01–300 µg/ml) for 5 to 60 min concentration- and time-dependently inhibited non-activated platelet adhesion. In thrombin-activated (50 mU/ml) platelets, LPS inhibited the adhesion to a significantly lesser extent than non-activated platelets. Cyclohexamide, superoxide dismutase polyethylene glycol (PEG-SOD) or catalase polyethylene glycol did not affect the LPS responses. No alterations in cyclic GMP levels were seen after platelet incubation with LPS, except with the highest concentration employed (300 µg/ml) where an increase of 36% (P < 0.05) was observed. Thrombin increased by 7.5-fold the internal Ca2+ platelet levels, an effect markedly inhibited by LPS. Thrombin induced concentration-dependent platelet GPIIb/IIIa activation, but LPS failed to affect the activation state of this membrane glycoprotein. In conclusion, LPS inhibits human platelet adhesion to fibrinogen by mechanisms involving blockade of external Ca2+, independently of cGMP generation and activation of GPIIb/IIIa complex.
Measuring e-government service value with the E-GOVSQUAL-RISK model

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the e‐government service quality and risk perceptions of personal income taxpayers on e‐government service value.Design/methodology/approach – The study uses qualitative in‐depth interview and content analysis to explore the determinants of e‐government service quality and risk dimensions of e‐government service value.Findings – The findings suggest that perceived value of e‐government service is e‐government service quality, which consists of service design, web site design, technical support, and customer support quality. On the other hand, the three perceived risk concerns are performance, privacy, and financial audit risk.Research limitations/implications – The study interviews the small samples of income taxpayers to develop the determinants of e‐government service value, future studies should utilize a quantitative study to strengthen the results. Future researchers could also expand the results to other groups of taxpayers (e.g. corporate tax) to expl.
Combination of inulin and time dependent polymethacrylates as a coating system to achieve colonic delivery of indomethacin

Background: In the previous study it was shown that films prepared from inulin (In) in combination with Eudragit RS (ERS) and RL (ERL) were susceptible to inulinase. Purpose: The aim of this work was to assess the suitability of these combinations for colonic delivery of indomethacin. Methods: Indomethacin was loaded onto non-pareil seeds using fluidized bed apparatus to produce pellets with 20% w/w drug load. Drug loaded pellets were coated with In-ERS in the ratios of 20:80 and 30:70, or In-ERL in the ratio of 20:80 to different coating loads. The release of drug was examined in simulated gastric (for 2 hrs) and small intestine and in the presence of inulinase in simulated colonic medium (for 12 or 24 hrs). Results: The results of this study revealed that incorporation of inulin as a bacterially degradable polysaccharide into ERS or ERL could modulate drug release. Coating level up to 15% significantly affected drug release from In-ERL or In-ERS coated pellets. However further increase in coating load to 20% had no significant effect on drug release from In-ERL coated pellets (f1=9.39). Drug release from In-ERL coated pellets was faster and showed some pH dependency. Conclusions: Formulation coated with In-ERS (20:80) and coating level of 20% was considered more appropriate for colon delivery of indomethacin, as drug release was pH independent and formulation was resistant to drug release in the upper GI media for up to 7 hrs. This formulation was also susceptible to inulinase and released about 40% of indomethacin in the simulated colonic media.