Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Securing organizational legitimacy

This paper explores the role that environmental disclosures might play in producing a legitimating effect on investors within the context of the chemical industry. By way of an experimental decision case it examines effects of negative, and the offsetting effects of positive, environmental disclosures surrounding chemical firms’ liabilities for toxic waste site liabilities. The paper outlines the theoretical bases for the process of organizational legitimation, and sets the decision experiment in a detailed historical analysis of the toxic waste problems of the 1970s that led to the enactment of legislation requiring clean up and imposing significant liabilities on chemical firms. The results from the decision experiment, which indicate that under some circumstances positive disclosures can restore or repair an organization’s legitimacy, are discussed in the context of the earlier theoretical and historical analysis.
An Interior Projected-Like Subgradient Method for Mixed Variational Inequalities

An interior projected-like subgradient method for mixed variational inequalities is proposed in finite dimensional spaces, which is based on using non-Euclidean projection-like operator. Under suitable assumptions, we prove that the sequence generated by the proposed method converges to a solution of the mixed variational inequality. Moreover, we give the convergence estimate of the method. The results presented in this paper generalize some recent results given in the literatures.
The Impact of Automated Brief Messages Promoting Lifestyle Changes Delivered Via Mobile Devices to People with Type 2 Diabetes: A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Analysis of Controlled Trials

Background Brief automated messages have the potential to support self-management in people with type 2 diabetes, but their effect compared with usual care is unclear. Objective To examine the effectiveness of interventions to change lifestyle behavior delivered via automated brief messaging in patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods A systematic literature review of controlled trials examined the impact of interventions, delivered by brief messaging, and intended to promote lifestyle change in people with type 2 diabetes, on behavioral and clinical outcomes. Bibliographic databases searched included Medline, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and ISI WoK. Two reviewers independently screened citations. We extracted information on study risk of bias, setting (high versus low- and middle-income countries) and intervention characteristics (including use of theory and behavior-change techniques). Outcome measures included acceptability of the interventions and their impact on 1) determinants of lifestyle behavior (knowledge about diabetes, self-efficacy, attitudes towards self-management), 2) lifestyle behavior (diet, physical activity), and 3) clinical and patient-reported outcomes. Where possible, we pooled data using random-effects meta-analyses to obtain estimates of effect size of intervention compared to usual care. Results We identified 15 trials (15 interventions) meeting our inclusion criteria. Most interventions were delivered via short message service text messaging (n=12) and simultaneously targeted diet and physical activity (n=11). Nine interventions consisted of unidirectional messages, whereas six consisted of bidirectional messages, with patients receiving automated tailored feedback based on self-reported data. The acceptability of the interventions, and their impact on lifestyle behavior and its determinants, were examined in a low proportion of trials, with heterogeneous results being observed. In 13 trials (1155 patients) where data were available, there was a difference in glycated hemoglobin of -0.53% (95% CI -0.59% to -0.47%) between intervention groups compared to usual care. In five trials (406 patients) there was a non-significant difference in body mass index of -0.25 kg/m2 (95% CI -1.02 to 0.52). Interventions based on unidirectional messages produced similar effects in the outcomes examined, compared to those based on bidirectional messages. Interventions conducted in low- and middle-income countries showed a greater impact than those conducted in high-income countries. In general, trials were not free of bias and did not use explicit theory. Conclusions Automated brief messages strategies can improve health outcomes in people with type 2 diabetes. Larger, methodologically robust trials are needed to confirm these positive results.
Altered intestinal fluid movement in response to Trichinella spiralis in immunized rats

Summary Net intestinal fluid movement was measured in immunized and non‐immunized rats infected with the enteric stages of the nematode, Trichinella spiralis. Animals were studied 30 min, 5 days and 30 days after receiving infective larvae. Net water movement across the mucosal surface of the gut was measured in vivo by perfusing a cannulated segment (approximately 30 cm) of proximal small intestine with an isotonic solution containing a nonabsorbable marker, 14C polyethylene glycol, at a rate of 0.5 ml/min. Uninfected rats showed net absorption of water. 25 μl/h per cm of intestine. This response was unaltered when rats were infected (7 times 103 larvae/rat) and examined 30 minutes later. Five days after primary infection net tissue‐to‐lumen fluid movement, ie. net secretion, occurred at a rate of 45 μl/h per cm. When rats were studied 30 days after primary infection, net absorption equivalent to the preinfection level was observed once again. Previously infected (immunized) rats, when challenged (secondary infection, 7 times 103 larvae/rat) and examined within 30 min showed a significant decrease in net absorption rate as compared with non‐immunized rats. Absorption returned to the preinfection level at both 5 and 30 days post challenge. Results support the conclusion that T. spiralis caused a decrease in net lumen‐to‐tissue fluid movement during primary and secondary infections. The response was initiated faster in previously infected hosts. The rapid induction of net fluid movement in the direction of secretion upon secondary contact with the parasite is associated temporally with prevention of worm establishment.
Pharmacological antagonism of metabotropic glutamate receptor 1 regulates long‐term potentiation and spatial reference memory in the dentate gyrus of freely moving rats via N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate and metabotropic glutamate receptor‐dependent mechanisms

Group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) are critically required for multiple forms of hippocampal synaptic plasticity in vivo. The role of the receptor subtype mGluR1 in long‐term potentiation (LTP) and learning is unclear. We examined the contribution of mGluR1 to hippocampal LTP and spatial learning using the selective antagonist (S)‐(+)‐α‐amino‐4carboxy‐2‐methylbenzene‐acetic acid (LY367385). Male Wistar rats were chronically implanted with recording and stimulating electrodes to enable measurement of evoked potentials from medial perforant path–dentate gyrus granule cell synapses. An injection cannula was inserted into the ipsilateral cerebral ventricle to enable drug application. Experiments were begun 10 days after the implantation procedure. We induced a robust LTP which lasted over 25 h with a 200‐Hz tetanization. Injections of LY367385 at all concentrations under investigation (4–32 nmol in a 5‐µL injection volume) did not affect basal synaptic transmission. In contrast, we observed a dose‐dependent impairment of LTP expression: LY367385 (4 nmol) had no effect on LTP induction, whereas 8 and 16 nmol LY367385 reduced both LTP induction and expression, suggestive of an interaction with N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate receptors. We assessed the effects of daily LY367385 application (8 nmol) on performance in an eight‐arm radial maze. LY367385‐treated rats showed deficits in reference but not working memory performance compared with vehicle‐treated controls. Rearing, grooming and locomotor activity were unaffected by LY367385. These data suggest an important role for mGluR1 in LTP and learning and highlight the specific significance of this mGluR subtype for reference memory.
Care-Seeking Patterns and Direct Economic Burden of Injuries in Bangladesh

This study provides a comprehensive review of the care-seeking patterns and direct economic burden of injuries from the victims’ perspective in rural Bangladesh using a 2013 household survey covering 1.17 million people. Descriptive statistics and bivariate analyses were used to derive rates and test the association between variables. An analytic model was used to estimate total injury out-of-pocket (OOP) payments and a multivariate probit regression model assessed the relationship between financial distress and injury type. Results show non-fatal injuries occur to 1 in 5 people in our sample per year. With average household size of 4.5 in Bangladesh--every household has an injury every year. Most non-fatally injured patients sought healthcare from drug sellers. Less than half of fatal injuries sought healthcare and half of those with care were hospitalized. Average OOP payments varied significantly (range: $8–$830) by injury type and outcome (fatal vs. non-fatal). Total injury OOP expenditure was $355,795 and $5000 for non-fatal and fatal injuries, respectively, per 100,000 people. The majority of household heads with injuries reported financial distress. This study can inform injury prevention advocates on disparities in healthcare usage, OOP costs and financial distress. Reallocation of resources to the most at risk populations can accelerate reduction of preventable injuries and prevent injury related catastrophic payments and impoverishment.
Time for a Change in Japanese Water Resources Policy, Part 3: National and Institutional Directions

The transition phase in river and water resources management in Japan is discussed from wider points of view, such as the decentralization of public governance, privatization of water management, grand design of the nation and water security. Historical developments, consequences and recent movements are introduced, and future directions are considered. Japan has the potential to integrate elemental knowledge and technologies into a system to solve world water issues, and to support the sustainability of healthy and sound conditions for human well-being in the world through providing a safe, stable and sustainable water management framework.
A Survey on the Micro-Foundations of the Trade Gravity Equation

The aim of this paper is to review the state of art regarding the theoretical foundations of gravity equations applied to trade flows. Micro-foundations of the supply side and of the demand side are presented such as new models where a) general equilibrium constraints are taken into account b) heterogeneous firms are introduced b) non homothetic preferences and flexible demand are analysed. In surveying the most recent contributions, this paper sheds light on promising roads of research in particular regarding the lack of micro-foundations of trade costs.
Building Trust in Research-based Product Development Collaboration

The purpose of this paper is to enhance understanding of the development of trust during commercial product development collaboration. It elaborates on a performance-based conception of trust by analyzing the history of cooperation between two biotechnology firms. The means and mechanisms of trust formation in the different phases of this collaboration relationship are examined. The paper concludes that secrecy, collaborative and licensing contracts were necessary precautionary measures needed by the firms to move from one phase of collaboration to another. They contributed to the formation of intentional trust between the companies but had no role in creating competence trust between them. In contrast to this, actions directly related to product development work and marketing, such as training courses, feedback from clients, parallel testing, performing the agreed duties and keeping schedules, played a key role in the formation of competence trust.
The Changing Contours of German Industrial Relations

This final example demonstrates that the external and internal process of change is not leading to a simple convergence of systems, but rather that hybrid systems are developing, which retain some of the advantages of the CME model and offer a less black-andwhite juxtaposition than Hall and Soskice imply. Whether or not the author is justified in deriving such wide-ranging conclusions for a theory of institutional change of the CME model on the basis of the data examined – forms of corporate governance in major corporations – remains to be seen; at all events this study is an excellent piece of empirical work whose results will prove essential for any discussion of the future of Rhenish capitalism and the coordinated market economy.
Relative profit maximization in asymmetric oligopoly

We analyze Bertrand and Cournot equilibria in an asymmetric oligopoly in which the firms produce differentiated substitutable goods and seek to maximize their relative profits instead of their absolute profits. Assuming linear demand functions and constant marginal costs we show the following results. If the marginal cost of a firm is lower (higher) than the average marginal cost over the industry, its output at the Bertrand equilibrium is larger (smaller) than that at the Cournot equilibrium, and the price of its good at the Bertrand equilibrium is lower (higher) than that at the Cournot equilibrium.
Incidence and Outcomes of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in PICUs

Objectives:To determine the incidence of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in PICUs and subsequent outcomes. Design, Setting, and Patients:Multicenter prospective observational study of children younger than 18 years old randomly selected and intensively followed from PICU admission to hospital discharge in the Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network December 2011 to April 2013. Results:Among 10,078 children enrolled, 139 (1.4%) received cardiopulmonary resuscitation for more than or equal to 1 minute and/or defibrillation. Of these children, 78% attained return of circulation, 45% survived to hospital discharge, and 89% of survivors had favorable neurologic outcomes. The relative incidence of cardiopulmonary resuscitation events was higher for cardiac patients compared with non-cardiac patients (3.4% vs 0.8%, p <0.001), but survival rate to hospital discharge with favorable neurologic outcome was not statistically different (41% vs 39%, respectively). Shorter duration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation was associated with higher survival rates: 66% (29/44) survived to hospital discharge after 1-3 minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation versus 28% (9/32) after more than 30 minutes (p < 0.001). Among survivors, 90% (26/29) had a favorable neurologic outcome after 1-3 minutes versus 89% (8/9) after more than 30 minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Conclusions:These data establish that contemporary PICU cardiopulmonary resuscitation, including long durations of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, results in high rates of survival-to-hospital discharge (45%) and favorable neurologic outcomes among survivors (89%). Rates of survival with favorable neurologic outcomes were similar among cardiac and noncardiac patients. The rigorous prospective, observational study design avoided the limitations of missing data and potential selection biases inherent in registry and administrative data.
The role of the Calderon-Rossell model on determining the developments of equity capital markets: A study of fragile five countries

Equity capital markets are important indicators in sharing information among investors, and in predicting firm value and fundamental economic parameters. Equity markets conducting these functions form a link between economic activities and financing. Therefore, development of equity markets plays an important role on the improvement of the global economy and finance. Especially, well functioning of capital markets possesses a separate importance for savings to be utilized effectively in the financial system and for the flow of funds in the system in emerging economies. The countries named as fragile five countries which are Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Africa and Turkey, with resemblance to each other due to their current account deficits, deterioration of government budget balance and loans granted at high levels, are studied with The Calderon-Rossell Model for the period of 2003-2013 in this article. For the development of equity markets, the analysis proves that real economic growth, turnover ratio, gross domestic savings and foreign direct investment variables have been statistically significant and have positive influence on the development of equity capital markets. On the other side, bank loans granted to private sector and inflation rate parameters have been statistically insignificant which proves that they have no effect on the development of equity capital markets.
Bone marrow biopsy in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: Useful or redundant test?

Abstract Purpose. To determine the additional value of bone marrow biopsy (BMB) in the standard staging work-up of patients with newly diagnosed diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), in terms of risk assessment and treatment planning. Material and methods. A total of 113 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed DLBCL who had undergone standard pretreatment evaluation, including serum lactate dehydrogenase measurement, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status assessment, computed tomography or 18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography, and BMB, were retrospectively included. National Comprehensive Cancer Network International Prognostic Index (NCCN-IPI) score and treatment strategy were determined in each patient, once without and once with taking into account BMB results. Numbers and percentages of BMB-induced changes on NCCN-IPI-based risk stratification (i.e. formation of low, low-intermediate, high-intermediate, and high risk groups) and choice of treatment were calculated, along with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results. BMB was positive in 18 of 113 patients (15.9%, 95% CI 10.2–23.9 %). BMB-induced changes on NCCI-IPI-based risk stratification occurred in 9 of 113 patients (8.0%, 95% CI 4.1–14.6%). Five patients were upstaged from low-intermediate to high-intermediate risk, and four patients were upstaged from high-intermediate to high risk. BMB findings changed treatment planning in none of the 113 patients (0.0%, 95% CI 0.0–4.0%). Conclusion. Although BMB results upstaged the NCCN-IPI-based risk stratification in a small number of cases, this did not have any therapeutic implications in our patient series. These findings support the omission of BMB from routine staging of newly diagnosed DLBCL in the current risk stratification and treatment era.
The Paradox of Liberalization — Understanding Dualism and the Recovery of the German Political Economy

What do the recent trends in German economic development convey about the trajectory of change? Has liberalization prepared the German economy to deal with new challenges? What effects will liberalization have on the coordinating capacities of economic institutions? This paper argues that coordination and liberalization are two sides of the same coin in the process of corporate restructuring in the face of economic shocks. Firms seek labour cooperation in the face of tighter competitive pressures and exploit institutional advantages of coordination. However, tighter cooperation with core workers sharpened insider-outsider divisions and were built upon service sector cost cutting through liberalization. The combination of plantlevel restructuring and social policy change forms a trajectory of institutional adjustment of forming complementary economic segments which work under different rules. The process is driven by producer coalitions of export-oriented firms and core workers’ representatives rather than by firms per se.
Gender and other social issues

The problem of reducing cultural and gender biases in tertiary level software engineering education is a broad based one. The roots of these biases lie not only in primary and secondary level education, but also in society at large. In addition, the continuing prevalence of cultural and gender biases have far reaching implications for the software engineering workforce of the future. In the first workshop of the gender and other social issues discussion group, the question of how cultural or gender biases can be reduced in software engineering instruction was addressed. In order to focus the discussion, it was decided to concentrate on the issue of gender, and more specifically the recruitment and retention of female students. It is widely accepted that many gender issues in this field are applicable to ethnicity as well. The group participants came from a variety of teaching backgrounds. Contact with women and students from indigenous cultures was on a variety of levels. At the University of Waikato the interest of Maori students in computer science had been encouraged in the following ways: Maori language tutorials and lab manual for 1st year applications course; projects with a Maori focus; and staff research in Maori applications described in courses where appropriate. <<ETX>>
Low-temperature sintering of nanoscale silver paste for double-sided attaching 9×9 mm2 chip

In this article, nanoscale silver paste was used to double-sided attach Insulated Gate Bipiloar Transistor (IGBT) chips. In order to obtain high bonding strength in double-sided sintered assembly, sintering process of nanoscale silver paste was studied by orthogonal experiment. The shear strength of double-sided sintered joint was analyzed with different factors, e.g., temperature, of sintering process. Die-shearing tests revealed that shear strength of larger than 20 MPa was generated when nanoscale silver was firstly pre-dried at 70°C for 10 mins, secondly heated immediately at 225°C with the help of 3.9-5.1 MPa for 10 mins, and eventually sintered at 300°C for 10 mins. Furthermore, significant plastic flow was observed by Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM) in the sheared silver joint which showed relatively high bonding strength.
Voluntary approaches for environmental protection in the European Union – a survey

The use of voluntary approaches has gained significant momentum in the European Union over the last decade. To date, more than 300 of these schemes are in force in the different member states and their number is still increasing. Through a survey of the literature our paper tries to portray the use of voluntary approaches in the member states and to identify both their common characteristics and those that separate them. It appears that the most frequently used types of voluntary approach are environmental agreements that are negotiated between public and private bodies. The common characteristic of these negotiated agreements throughout the member states is that they set collective targets for industry. However, they differ in important ways in their linkage to the pre-existing regulatory framework and thereby in the ways monitoring and enforcement are implemented. An assessment of effectiveness and efficiency is therefore difficult, also because available data are still scarce. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment