Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does Money Really Matter? A Review of the Literature on the Relationships between Healthcare Organization Finances and Quality

The authors review empirical literature from 1980 to 2005 on relationships between healthcare organizations' Finances and quality of care. They found only 16 studies of this topic that employed statistical methods. This research indicates cumulatively that expenses, fiscal margin, and asset and liability management all affect healthcare outcome quality. There is less evidence about how organizational finance factors affect structural or process quality, and there is no information about how structural or process quality mediates between finances and outcomes. The authors note what patterns have emerged from previous studies and make specific suggestions about what future research is necessary and why.
Innovation, Second Mover and Network System

In global markets a new typology of firm is emerging. Such new kind of firm has been defined second mover as it combines strategies of innovation and imitation. The purpose of this paper is to identify which external factors of network system positively influence the business performance of a second mover firm by applying a PLS-Path Modeling analysis to the Chinese and Middle Eastern markets. Our findings demonstrate that the presence of a supporting government, investment funds, and a collaborative competitive environment exercise a beneficial impact on the business performance of an second mover firm, while R&D and human resources do not represent predictors of a firm’s success.
Resistance Mutations in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Integrase Selected with Elvitegravir Confer Reduced Susceptibility to a Wide Range of Integrase Inhibitors

ABSTRACT Integration of viral DNA into the host chromosome is an essential step in the life cycle of retroviruses and is facilitated by the viral integrase enzyme. The first generation of integrase inhibitors recently approved or currently in late-stage clinical trials shows great promise for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, but virus is expected to develop resistance to these drugs. Therefore, we used a novel resistance selection protocol to follow the emergence of resistant HIV in the presence of the integrase inhibitor elvitegravir (GS-9137). We find the primary resistance-conferring mutations to be Q148R, E92Q, and T66I and demonstrate that they confer a reduction in susceptibility not only to elvitegravir but also to raltegravir (MK-0518) and other integrase inhibitors. The locations of the mutations are highlighted in the catalytic sites of integrase, and we correlate the mutations with expected drug-protein contacts. In addition, mutations that do not confer reduced susceptibility when present alone (H114Y, L74M, R20K, A128T, E138K, and S230R) are also discussed in relation to their position in the catalytic core domain and their proximity to known structural features of integrase. These data broaden the understanding of antiviral resistance against integrase inhibitors and may give insight facilitating the discovery of second-generation compounds.
Performance of the Density Functional Theory/Multireference Configuration Interaction Method on Electronic Excitation of Extended π-Systems.

The combined density functional theory/multireference configuration interaction (DFT/MRCI) method [Grimme and Waletzke. J. Chem. Phys. 1999, 111, 5645] has been employed to study the 1La and 1Lb states of linear polyacenes and the low-lying triplet and singlet states of linear polyenes and diphenyl-polyenes. We have systematically investigated the dependence of the electronic state properties on technical parameters of the calculations such as the atomic orbital basis set or the geometry optimization approach. The choice of basis set appears to be of minor importance whereas the excitation energies of the polyenes are quite sensitive to the ground-state geometry parameters. The DFT/MRCI energies at the B3-LYP optimized geometries systematically underestimate the experimental values, but we do not observe a bias toward one or the other type of state. The energy gaps between the electronically excited states are reproduced very well. In particular, this applies also to the first excited singlet 2 1Ag− and t.
Unravelling the link between technological M&A and innovation performance using the concept of relative absorptive capacity

Technological merger and acquisition (M&A) has become an increasingly popular mode of innovation for firms. We investigate the determinants of innovation creation through technological M&As. Based on the concept of relative absorptive capacity, the study examines how the acquiring firm absorbs and assimilates the knowledge of the acquired firm and creates innovation. Specifically, the technological M&As are examined by presenting dyadic perspective variables, including technological similarity and technological digestibility which affect the assimilation, transformation, and exploitation processes of the absorptive capacity. We additionally investigate the role of M&A experience as a moderator of dyadic characteristics and innovation performance of technological M&As. Two hundred and twelve cases of technological M&As in the biopharmaceutical industry from 1993 to 2007 are investigated using zero-inflated negative binomial regression and negative binomial regression. The findings confirm a positive effect of acquiring small firms having a modest level of similar knowledge on post-M&A innovation performance. Moreover, this study highlights the importance of the dyadic perspective in advancing the understanding of technological M&A.
Predator Mixes and the Conspicuousness of Aposematic Signals

Conspicuous warning signals of unprofitable prey are a defense against visually hunting predators. They work because predators learn to associate unprofitability with bright coloration and because strong signals are detectable and memorable. However, many species that can be considered defended are not very conspicuous; they have weak warning signals. This phenomenon has previously been ignored in models and experiments. In addition, there is significant within‐ and among‐species variation among predators in their search behavior, in their visual, cognitive, and learning abilities, and in their resistance to defenses. In this article we explore the effects of variable predators on models that combine positive frequency‐dependent, frequency‐independent, and negative frequency‐dependent predation and show that weak signaling of aposematic species can evolve if predators vary in their tendency to attack defended prey.
Quality of Information Maximization in Lifetime-Constrained Wireless Sensor Networks

In this paper, we investigate the quality of information (QoI) maximization problem by jointly optimizing the data rate and transmit power in lifetime-constrained wireless sensor networks. The QoI at the sink node is characterized by the virtue of the network utility, which quantifies the aggregated value of the data gathered from different sensor nodes. Then, a network utility maximization (NUM) problem is formulated to maximize the QoI subject to the constraints of the network lifetime and the link capacity. To avoid oscillation among optimal solutions resulted from the usage of multipath routing, the NUM problem is converted into an equivalent problem by exploiting the proximal optimization approach. Correspondingly, the transformed problem can be solved by the proposed proximal approximation-based resource allocation algorithm (PARA), which has good features of fast convergence and low complexity. Moreover, we develop a successive convex approximation-based algorithm (SCAA) to settle a nonlinear nonconvex difference of convex functions programming in the PARA. Simulation results demonstrate the advantages of the proposed algorithms.
Accuracy of acute levodopa challenge for clinical prediction of sustained long‐term levodopa response as a major criterion for idiopathic Parkinson's disease diagnosis

Clinical idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) diagnosis requires following strict clinical criteria. Final definitive diagnosis can only be made after pathological confirmation and, despite following clinical criteria, several cases are misdiagnosed. We assessed sensitivity and specificity of acute challenge with levodopa (L‐dopa) to predict sustained long‐term L‐dopa responsiveness as a major criterion for clinical diagnosis of PD. A consecutive series of 82 patients first seen at a movement disorders clinic with a parkinsonian syndrome without specific diagnosis was included. A second examiner, blind to the presumptive diagnosis, performed in each patient an acute challenge with 250/50 mg of L‐dopa–carbidopa and rated the test as positive or negative according to whether values reached a minimal 30% of improvement on UPDRS scores. Positive tests were considered supportive of presumptive clinical diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. Blind to test results and according to clinical presumption, the first examiner started patient treatment with the necessary L‐dopa dose or, alternatively, until reaching 1 g for 1 month in those who failed to display a positive test response. At 24 month follow‐up, they were re‐tested with 1 g for 1 month when required. At this point, clinical criteria of the U.K. Parkinson's Disease Society Brain Bank were applied and definitive clinical diagnosis of PD was made. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive ratio for acute challenge were calculated. Overall sensitivity and specificity of acute L‐dopa challenge to predict clinical diagnosis of PD was 70.9% and 81.4%, respectively; positive predictive ratio was 88.6%. When patients were divided into three groups according to their UPDRS motor section score at initial examination, sensitivity and specificity varied: Group I (≤ 10), 71.4% and 100%; Group II (11–20), 75% and 75%; and Group III (≥21), 36.4% and 87%, respectively. Positive predictive ratio increased to 100% in Group I and to 87.5% in Group III. The positive result of initial acute L‐dopa challenge predicts chronic L‐dopa responsiveness as major criterion of PD in all patients with UPDRS motor scores lower than 10. © 2002 Movement Disorder Society
Elderly Patients With Deliberate Self-Poisoning Treated in an Australian General Hospital

Objective: To examine the demographic, prescription, ingestion, and psychiatric diagnostic factors that distinguished elderly from nonelderly patients treated for deliberate self-poisoning (DSP). Method: A prospective case series study of 2,667 patients presenting to a regional referral center for poisoning (Newcastle Mater Hospital, NSW, Australia), January 1991 to July 1998. The sample was stratified into two groups, 65 years or greater (n = 110) and 64 years or less (n = 2,557) at the time of index admission. The groups were compared using a forward stepwise logistic regression model. Uncontrolled comparisons were analyzed by chi-square statistic with Bonferroni-adjusted p values and controlled comparisons by odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: The elderly group represented 4.1% of the total. The logistic regression analysis found the elderly DSP group was more likely to have a longer length of stay (OR 5.90, CI 3.87–9.00), to have been prescribed “other” drugs (neither benzodiazepines, mood treatment drugs, nor paracetamol) before admission (OR 5.32, CI 3.34–8.48), to have been prescribed benzodiazepines (OR 3.15, CI 2.03–4.89), and to be diagnosed with major depression (OR 2.17, CI 1.41–3.36) than the younger group. The elderly group was less likely to have ingested paracetamol (OR 0.28, CI 0.14–0.54) or “other” drugs (neither benzodiazepines nor mood treatment drugs) in the DSP episode (OR 0.33, CI 0.20–0.54). Discussion: Elderly DSP patients differ in several important respects from younger patients. They have higher morbidity as a result of the DSP. Major depression plays a more important role. The strong relationship between benzodiazepine prescription and DSP in the elderly raises questions and possible prevention strategies.
Long-Term Temporal Changes in the Estrogenic Composition of Treated Sewage Effluent and Its Biological Effects on Fish

Sewage treatment works (STW) effluents throughout the U.K. have been shown to be estrogenic, inducing vitellogenin (VTG) synthesis in caged and wild fish for considerable distances (up to several kilometers) downstream of the effluent discharge. Thresholds for vitellogenin induction in caged fish in those studies have been derived from short-term exposures, and may not necessarily be representative of thresholds for estrogenic responses in wild fish living in rivers that contain STW effluent. In addition, very little is known about the long-term fluctuations in the concentrations of the estrogenic components of STW effluents. In this paper, it was established that the concentrations of natural steroid estrogens and xenoestrogens (alkylphenolic chemicals) in a treated sewage effluent fluctuated temporally (over 8 months), from between 36 and 308 ng/L and between <0.2 (detection limit) and 10.7 μg/L, respectively. Long-term exposure of maturing adult roach to a graded concentration of this effluent (0, 9.4,.
The relationships between muscle strength, biomechanical functional moments and health-related quality of life in non-elite older adults.

OBJECTIVE to investigate the association between muscle strength, biomechanical functional moments during everyday tasks and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in older adults. METHODS eighty-four healthy adults aged 60-88 years were tested. A torque dynamometer was utilised to measure muscle moments at the knee and hip joints. Functional assessment involved three-dimensional biomechanical analysis of gait, chair rise and sit-down, stair ascent and descent using an 8-camera VICON® system with Kistler force plates. HRQoL was assessed using the Short Form-36 (SF-36) questionnaire. RESULTS Spearman's correlation coefficient showed significant correlation (P < 0.001) between isometric strength and functional moments (r = 0.24-0.67). Muscle strength was significantly correlated with SF-36 scores, including physical functioning, bodily pain, vitality, social functioning and role emotional scores. Knee flexion moment was correlated with role physical, vitality, social functioning, role emotional, mental health and mental component scores (r = 0.24-0.40). CONCLUSION loss of muscle strength is associated with poorer functional ability and both are associated with reduced HRQoL. The reduction in HRQoL is considerable in the physical functioning domain. Cause and effect was not established but studies need to be undertaken to evaluate the benefits of strength training, functional activity training or increased participation in life.
Distances between thoracic spinous processes in Warmblood foals: a radiographic study.

REASON FOR PERFORMING STUDY The aetiological factors behind impinged or overriding of dorsal spinous processes ('kissing spine syndrome', KSS) are not clearly understood. Back conformation, breed, age, training and gender may play important roles in this condition. Radiographic changes vary and abnormalities are seen in many clinically normal horses, but the conclusion of previous studies in mature horses is that interspinous spaces <4 mm are considered too narrow and potentially indicative of KSS. OBJECTIVES To evaluate whether narrowing of the interspinous space was present in a population of normal Warmblood foals. MATERIALS AND METHODS The mean interspinous space width in the area of T10-L1 was measured on radiographs from 25 Warmblood foals aged 9-88 days. RESULTS Mean +/- s.d. interspinous space width was found to be between 5.9 +/- 1.2 and 8.9 +/- 2.6 mm with the narrowest space in the area T16-T17 and the widest space in T10-T12. No interspinous spaces were <4 mm wide. Gender and location of the interspinous space significantly affected the width of the distance between the spinous processes. CONCLUSIONS AND POTENTIAL RELEVANCE In this study none of the interspinous spaces were <4 mm and therefore none of the foals showed signs of impinged or overriding of dorsal spinous processes known as KSS based on the current definitions. Consequently, in this population, there did not appear to be a congenital narrowing of the interspinous space. However, long-term follow-up studies, including detailed information on imposed factors such as training, are needed in order to further elucidate a possible congenital component in the aetiology of KSS.
Cytochrome c peroxidase binds two molecules of cytochrome c: evidence for a low-affinity, electron-transfer-active site on cytochrome c peroxidase.

We have studied the affinity and stoichiometry of binding of cytochrome c (Cc) to zinc-substituted cytochrome c peroxidase [(ZnP)CcP], which is structurally and electrostatically equivalent to ferrous CcP. Transient absorption spectroscopy has been used to measure both the total quenching of the triplet-state (ZnP)CcP [3(ZnP)CcP] by Fe3+Cc and the fraction of that quenching that is due to electron transfer (et). This redox quenching results in the formation of an intermediate (I) containing the zinc porphyrin pi-cation radical [(ZnP)+CcP] and Fe2+Cc. In titrations of (ZnP)CcP with Fe3+Cc(F) at low ionic strength, where F represents the fungal cytochromes c from Candida krusei, Pichia membranefaciens, or the yeast protein iso-1, the appearance of the et intermediate lags behind the total quenching, with appreciable formation of I occurring only for Cc to CcP ratios > 1. This behavior results from the formation of a 2:1 complex, where one Fe3+Cc(F) binds to a high-affinity domain that exhibits strong quenching yet is et-inactive, while the second Fe3+Cc(F) binds to a low-affinity domain that allows efficient et quenching. At constant concentrations of both proteins, raising the ionic strength eliminates most of the et quenching but reduces the total quenching only minimally, confirming that et occurs preferentially at the low-affinity binding domain, which is the more sensitive to ionic strength. Analogous experiments also favor a 2:1 binding stoichiometry for horse Cc [Cc(horse)] at low ionic strength, with et quenching again proceeding much more favorably in the 2:1 complex than in the 1:1 complex, as with Cc(F). However, the Fe3+Cc(horse) quenches only by electron transfer, unlike the Cc(F). The decay of the triplet-state (ZnP)CcP or magnesium-substituted CcP [(MgP)CcP] was examined during titrations with Fe3+Cc to determine limits for the dissociation rate constant (koff) for the complex. Fe3+Cc(horse) bound to the high-affinity domain in a 1:1 complex at low ionic strength is in rapid exchange, with koff > 50 S-1, whereas Fe3+Cc(F) has koff < 200 s-1. Both types of Fe3+Cc have koff > 10(4)S-1 when they are bound to the low-affinity domain in a 2:1 complex, at both low and high ionic strengths. In contrast, when in the ferrous form, both types of Cc have much lower values of koff (< 10 S-1) at low ionic strength when bound to the low-affinity domain. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
EFFECTS OF CHRONIC EXCESS SALT FEEDING

Female rats were fed diets containing either excess sea salt or excess sodium chloride for periods up to 14 months. The hypertension produced by sea salt was more pronounced than that caused by sodium chloride alone, although the average amount of sodium chloride contained in the sea salt feeding was slightly less. The ions involved in this incremental effect of sea salt were not identified.
Assessment of metastatic cervical adenopathy using dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Morphologic assessment by conventional imaging methods of lymph node metastases in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck is, at best, insensitive. Doppler sonography has shown that lymph node metastases exhibit alterations in the number of vessels and blood flow. We assessed the ability of dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging to differentiate normal from diseased nodes in this patient population. METHODS Twenty-one patients with newly diagnosed squamous cell carcinoma and no previous treatment were studied with the use of a head and neck phased array surface coil. Anatomic imaging included high resolution T1-weighted, fat-saturated fast spin-echo T2-weighted, and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging (0.99-1.32 mm(3) voxels). The dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging was performed by using a 2D fast spoiled gradient recalled sequence with single dose bolus injection of contrast agent. Calculated values included time to peak, peak enhancement, maximum slope, and washout slope for the enhancement. All patients underwent neck dissection as part of their indicated treatment, and imaging results were correlated with pathologic findings. RESULTS Dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging and pathology comparisons were obtained for 68 nodes. There was significantly longer time to peak (P <.001), lower peak enhancement (P <.05), lower maximum slope (P <.01), and slower washout slope (P <.05) in the tumor-involved nodes compared with the normal nodes. CONCLUSION Analysis of dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging can differentiate normal from diseased lymph nodes in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.
Biofortified Crops Can Alleviate Micronutrient Deficiencies: Review ofEvidence from Randomized Feeding Trials

Micronutrient deficiencies are still common in developing countries. Biofortification of staple crops is one of the food based strategies that has been introduced to alleviate this. The purpose of this review is to document randomized feeding trials on efficacy of biofortified crops in alleviation of micronutrient deficiencies of Vitamin A, Zinc and Iron among humans. NCBI abstracts, BioMed Central, Wiley Online Libraries and two other databases were searched to identify effective studies. The search identified 45 studies and 17 met the inclusion criteria. Thirteen of the seventeen studies showed that biofortification of commonly consumes staples improved the micronutrient status of the study subjects. Two studies showed that biofortified foods had a significant bioavailability as compared to conventional food crops. Evidence of biofortified crops combating micronutrient deficiencies is positive. Policies should be made to support cross-sectorial implementation of biofortification in areas such as research, agriculture and biotechnology, and so that the intervention can be scaled up to cover most of the micronutrient deficient population.