bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Increased Perioperative B-type Natriuretic Peptide Associates with Heart Failure Hospitalization or Heart Failure Death after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery
Authors: Fox Amanda A. , Nascimben Luigino , Body Simon C. , Collard Charles D. , Mitani Aya A. , Liu Kuang-Yu , Muehlschlegel Jochen D. , Shernan Stanton K. , Marcantonio Edward R. 
Published: May 2013

Abstract

Background:
Heart failure (HF) is a leading cause of hospitalization and mortality. Plasma B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is an established diagnostic and prognostic ambulatory HF biomarker. We hypothesized that increased perioperative BNP independently associates with HF hospitalization or HF death up to 5 yr after coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Methods:
The authors conducted a two-institution, prospective, observational study of 1,025 subjects (mean age = 64 ± 10 yr SD) undergoing isolated primary coronary artery bypass graft surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. Plasma BNP was measured preoperatively and on postoperative days 1–5. The study outcome was hospitalization or death from HF, with HF events confirmed by reviewing hospital and death records. Cox proportional hazards analyses were performed with multivariable adjustments for clinical risk factors. Preoperative and peak postoperative BNP were added to the multivariable clinical model in order to assess additional predictive benefit.

Results:
One hundred five subjects experienced an HF event (median time to first event = 1.1 yr). Median follow-up for subjects who did not have an HF event = 4.2 yr. When individually added to the multivariable clinical model, higher preoperative and peak postoperative BNP concentrations each, independently associated with the HF outcome (log10 preoperative BNP hazard ratio = 1.93; 95% CI, 1.30–2.88; P = 0.001; log10 peak postoperative BNP hazard ratio = 3.38; 95% CI, 1.45–7.65; P = 0.003).

Conclusions:
Increased perioperative BNP concentrations independently associate with HF hospitalization or HF death during the 5 yr after primary coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Clinical trials may be warranted to assess whether medical management focused on reducing preoperative and longitudinal postoperative BNP concentrations associates with decreased HF after coronary artery bypass graft surgery.
Glycemia-dependent Nuclear Factor κB Activation Contributes to Mechanical Allodynia in Rats with Chronic Postischemia Pain
Authors: Ross-Huot Marie-Christine , Laferrière André , Khorashadi Mina , Coderre Terence J. 
Published: May 2013

Abstract

Background:
Ischemia–reperfusion injury causes chronic postischemia pain (CPIP), and rats with higher glycemia during ischemia–reperfusion injury exhibit increased allodynia. Glycemia-induced elevation of nuclear factor κB (NFκB) may contribute to increased allodynia.

Methods:
Glycemia during a 3-h ischemia–reperfusion injury was manipulated by: normal feeding; or normal feeding with administration of insulin; dextrose; or insulin/dextrose. In these groups, NFκB was measured in ipsilateral hind paw muscle and spinal dorsal horn by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and SN50, an NFκB inhibitor, was administered to determine its differential antiallodynic effects depending on glycemia.

Results:
CPIP fed/insulin rats (12.03 ± 4.9 g, N = 6) had less allodynia than fed, fed/insulin/dextrose, and fed/dextrose rats (6.29 ± 3.37 g, N = 7; 4.57 ± 3.03 g, N = 6; 2.95 ± 1.10 g, N = 9), respectively. Compared with fed rats (0.209 ± 0.022 AU, N = 7), NFκB in ipsilateral plantar muscles was significantly lower for fed/insulin rats, and significantly higher for fed/dextrose rats (0.152 ± 0.053 AU, N = 6; 0.240 ± 0.057 AU, N = 7, respectively). Furthermore, NFκB in the dorsal horn of fed, fed/insulin/dextrose, and fed/dextrose rats (0.293 ± 0.049 AU; 0.267 ± 0.037 AU; 0.315 ± 0.015 AU, respectively, N = 6 for each) was significantly higher than in fed/insulin animals (0.267 ± 0.037 AU, N = 6). The antiallodynic SN50 dose–response curves of CPIP rats in the fed/insulin/dextrose, fed/dextrose, and fed conditions exhibited a rightward shift compared with the fed/insulin group. The threshold SN50 dose of CPIP fed/dextrose, fed/insulin/dextrose, and fed rats (328.94 ± 92.4 ng, 77.80 ± 44.50 ng, and 24.89 ± 17.20 ng, respectively) was higher than that for fed/insulin rats (4.06 ± 7.04 ng).

Conclusions:
NFκB was activated in a glycemia-dependent manner in CPIP rats. Hypoglycemic rats were more sensitive to SN50 than rats with higher glycemia. The finding that SN50 reduces mechanical allodynia suggests that NFκB inhibitors might be useful for treating postischemia pain.
The dynamical integrity concept for interpreting/ predicting experimental behaviour: from macro- to nano-mechanics
Authors: Lenci Stefano , Rega Giuseppe , Ruzziconi Laura 
Published: May 2013

The dynamical integrity, a new concept proposed by J.M.T. Thompson, and developed by the authors, is used to interpret experimental results. After reviewing the main issues involved in this analysis, including the proposal of a new integrity measure able to capture in an easy way the safe part of basins, attention is dedicated to two experiments, a rotating pendulum and a micro-electro-mechanical system, where the theoretical predictions are not fulfilled. These mechanical systems, the former at the macro-scale and the latter at the micro-scale, permit a comparative analysis of different mechanical and dynamical behaviours. The fact that in both cases the dynamical integrity permits one to justify the difference between experimental and theoretical results, which is the main achievement of this paper, shows the effectiveness of this new approach and suggests its use in practical situations.

The men of experiment are like the ant, they only collect and use; the reasoners resemble spiders, who make cobwebs out of their own substance. But the bee takes the middle course: it gathers its material from the flowers of the garden and field, but transforms and digests it by a power of its own. Not unlike this is the true business of philosophy (science); for it neither relies solely or chiefly on the powers of the mind, nor does it take the matter which it gathers from natural history and mechanical experiments and lay up in the memory whole, as it finds it, but lays it up in the understanding altered and digested. Therefore, from a closer and purer league between these two faculties, the experimental and the rational (such as has never been made), much may be hoped.
(Francis Bacon 1561–1626)

But are we sure of our observational facts? Scientific men are rather fond of saying pontifically that one ought to be quite sure of one's observational facts before embarking on theory. Fortunately those who give this advice do not practice what they preach. Observation and theory get on best when they are mixed together, both helping one another in the pursuit of truth. It is a good rule not to put overmuch confidence in a theory until it has been confirmed by observation. I hope I shall not shock the experimental physicists too much if I add that it is also a good rule not to put overmuch confidence in the observational results that are put forward
until they have been confirmed by theory
.

(Arthur Stanley Eddington 1882–1944)
The decision in Jones v Ruth and its impact on the construction industry
Authors: Donohoe Steve 
Published: May 2013

PurposeThis paper aims to look at the recent UK Court of Appeal decision in Jones v Ruth and explores whether building works are capable of being construed as harassment by the Courts.Design/methodology/approachThe paper looks at the concept of harassment as used in the Prevention of Harassment Act 1997 and how this applies in the context of building operations. It adopts a black letter or doctrinal approach to the study.FindingsWhilst it is confirmed that a certain amount of inconvenience due to building operations is not actionable in English law, the Court of Appeal in this case has confirmed that in cases where harassment is proven, then substantial damages may be imposed on the offending party. This has implications not only for building contractors but for construction professionals such as architects or building surveyors who are involved in supervising contractors.Research limitations/implicationsThis research takes the subject of construction law into uncharted territory. Previously it was thought by many observers that the Prevention of Harassment Act was confined to cases involving employment law and/or sexual or racial discrimination. Jones v Ruth shatters this previous thinking in this area and confirms that “harassment” cases can be applied in building projects. It is arguable that were Jones v Ruth merely a High Court decision, then only a limited weight might be given to the verdict. However, Jones v Ruth now is a Court of Appeal decision which gives an authoritative voice to the verdict by some of the most powerful judges in the land.Practical implicationsThe practical implication is that building surveyors supervising building works need to be aware of the law to avoid being sued for harassment.Social implicationsIt might have been taken for granted that all building works involve noise, dust, vibration, etc. Jones v Ruth confirms that in extreme circumstances it is possible to recover large damages for harassment and that all persons involved in the construction process ought to take note.Originality/valueThere is an expanding body of law dealing with compensation for inconvenience and disturbance, however there is a paucity of literature dealing with the implications of this for building surveyors and construction professionals. This paper explores claims for harassment through the lens of a major Court of Appeal decision in a succinct and practical way to allow academics and practitioners an insight into this expanding area of construction law.
On the misuse and misinterpretation of dimensions of national culture
Authors: de Mooij Marieke 
Published: May 2013

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to respond to the article by Brewer and Venaik (IMR

Design/methodology/approach
– Based on experience in the study of consumer behavior, a critical analysis of applications of dimensional models of national culture in the existing marketing literature is presented.

Findings
– Differences between models are caused by confusing value types, design and type of questions used.

Practical implications
– Researchers tend to select one of several models for analyzing cross-cultural variables in consumer behavior, marketing and advertising without understanding the basic differences between the models. Ignorance of the fundamental and conceptual differences may cause the formulating of wrong hypotheses.

Originality/value
– Next to highlighting the misuse of dimensions to individuals, this paper focuses on the origin of the differences between the models from a marketing point of view.
VaR and time‐varying volatility: a comparative study of three international portfolios
Authors: Obi Pat , Sil Shomir 
Published: May 2013

PurposeThis study aims to evaluate the market risk exposure of three international equity portfolios using value‐at‐risk (VaR). This risk metric calculates the worst case loss for a business in the course of its daily transactions. To ensure that the calculated VaR reflects emerging risk characteristics, this paper introduces an approach that incorporates time‐varying volatility.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses the GARCH technique to calculate the volatility metric with which VaR estimates are obtained. The out‐of‐sample performance of the VaRs is then assessed by comparing them to the actual market risk losses in that period.FindingsEmpirical results show that regardless of market conditions, the VaR calculated with this (GARCH) approach is more robust and more reliable than the traditional methods. Pursuant to the banking regulation on market risk capital stipulated by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the out‐of‐sample VaRs are at least equal to actual daily market risk losses at the 99 percent confidence level.Practical implicationsThe key goal of banking regulation is to ensure that financial firms have sufficient capital for the types of risks they take. Determining the right amount of capital requires these firms to first estimate their worst case loss, which is the value‐at‐risk. The approach to the calculation of VaR introduced in this paper enhances the accuracy in the measurement of market risk capital for financial institutions.Originality/valueThis paper recognizes that for VaR to fully account for market risk losses, the risk metric must be correctly measured. The unparalleled approach in this paper of incorporating time‐varying volatility in VaR calculations offers banking institutions a more reliable means of determining their capital adequacy.
The impact of the global financial crisis on firm‐level risk of the S&P 500
Authors: Loviscek Anthony , Riley Elven 
Published: May 2013

PurposeThis paper aims to assess the impact of the global financial crisis of 2007‐09 on the risk structure of S&P 500 firms by examining their market, active, and residual risks before and during the crisis.Design/methodology/approachThe classic one‐factor model is estimated for each firm in the S&P 500 to decompose risk into market, active, and residual components. Five sets of regression estimates based on monthly return data are used: 2002‐06, 2003‐07, 2004‐08, 2005‐09, and 2006‐10. The estimates provide insight into the risk structure of S&P 500 firms before and during the crisis.FindingsThe average correlation coefficient between S&P 500 firms rose during the crisis from 0.20 to 0.35, an increase of 75 percent. Although the results indicate that active and residual risks are significant across the firms and across the periods, the impact of the financial crisis was mostly on market risk. The increase in risks was pronounced for financial firms, especially insurance companies, and industrial firms, especially “hard” manufacturing.Research limitations/implicationsBecause the study focuses on the global financial crisis of 2007‐09, researchers should be careful about generalizing the results to the post‐crisis period.Practical implicationsInvestors should be aware that equity portfolio risk reduction during major crises can be hard to achieve because the average correlation coefficient between stock returns may rise significantly, crimping the efficacy of diversification.Originality/valueIt was very difficult for equity investors to shield themselves from the risk associated with the global financial crisis of 2007‐09.
Relationship between the preference styles of music and fashion and the similarity of their sensibility
Authors: Na Youngjoo , Agnhage Tove 
Published: May 2013

PurposeThe recent influence of the mass media communication emphasized the visionary image of the music and eventually the close relationship between the music and fashion industries was formed. Consumers who share a similar taste in music could relate to each other more actively, and as a result, they began to develop similar aesthetic views and emotions. From this matter, the aim of this research is to conduct a survey that would go over a variety of music and fashion preferences of the consumers in order to analyze the relationship between the two. The main objective was to investigate how strongly the preference styles of music and fashion match each other and find similarity of their sensibility.Design/methodology/approachThe participants were directed to choose their preference styles of music and fashion, grade their interest in music and fashion and evaluate their sensibilities by grading their feelings about ten polar paired adjectives.FindingsThere indeed is a close relationship between music and fashion. People who are more interested in music and fashion tend to have a stronger correlation between their preferences.Practical implicationsThrough the analysis of variance it was found that the sensibility associated with different music and fashion styles are not the same. Furthermore, the authors could group the sensibility words into three common factors. Here it was found that music requires more diverse expressional adjectives as representatives compared to fashion.Originality/valueThe close relationship between preference styles of the two artistic elements and the similarity or their sensibility could be visualized through the distance of each style and adjectives in a correspondence map.
The effect of physical‐mechanical properties on dynamic pressure of compression garment
Authors: Wang Yongrong , Zhang Peihua 
Published: May 2013

PurposeThis study aims to clarify the key factors among physical‐mechanical properties of fabrics in relation to the dynamic pressure performance of compression garment.Design/methodology/approachThe physical‐mechanical properties of 16 different fabrics were measured using a KESF standard evaluation system and INSTRON tensile tester, and the garment pressure was measured by dynamic pressure measuring system. Grey correlation analysis is used to determine the correlation degree of fabric physical‐mechanical properties and dynamic pressure magnitude.FindingsThe mechanical behaviors (e.g. tensile, shearing, and bending) and physical characteristics are different in elastic fabrics with varied content of elastic fiber, kinds of yarn, et al. Grey correlation analysis is a valid method to analyze the indices of a system, quantize them and put them in order. All the degrees of Grey correlation are more than 0.6. The degree of grey correlation between tensile force (F), shearing rigidity (G) and bending rigidity (B) are higher than others, hence it is conducted that these would significantly effect on garment pressure. The quantitative regression equations between pressure magnitude at extension of 50 percent and the individual key parameters (mean values in wale and course directions) of tested samples are illustrated.Research limitations/implicationsThe other parameters (e.g. fabric structure, yarn fineness, and pre‐tension, et al.) should be taken into account. Further, an integrative mathematic model would be established, which could predict the garment pressure directly from the physical‐mechanical properties of fabric.Originality/valueThe present study indicates that pressure magnitude of elastic fabric is an integrative action performed by physical‐mechanical properties. The developed illustrative equations and method offer a rational and practical tool for assessing pressure functional performance of elastic fabric in the stages of design and product development.
Researching into the methodology for the evaluation of deformed soft furniture upholstery
Authors: Jucienė Milda , Vobolis Jonas 
Published: May 2013

PurposeThe main aim of this work is to evaluate upholstery deformation by using resonant vibrations of separate zones of the soft part.Design/methodology/approachProvided methodology allows assessing the upholstery deformation of separate parts of soft furniture by exciting resonant vibrations in it.FindingsBy recording the value of resonant frequency at separate points of the plane, it becomes possible to obtain the graph of deformation distribution. It is compared to the graph that demonstrates how rigidity distributes itself in different directions within the upholstery fabric. This enables the authors to evaluate the unevenness of upholstery deformation that is present in different directions.Originality/valueProvided methodology allows assessing the quality of soft furniture assembly and predicting the exploitation time for its upholstery.
Monetary policy and the trade weighted dollar
Authors: Warburton Christopher E.S. 
Published: May 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the performance of the trade‐weighted US dollar from 1973 to 2011 as a result of monetary policy.Design/methodology/approachRelevant time series variables – the money supply, the federal funds rate, general financial conditions, national income and interest rate spread are used to investigate the impact of shocks on the US trade‐weighted dollar and to explain the predictive power the variables hold over the weighted dollar. This is accomplished by using the conventional procedures of variance decomposition and Granger causality tests.FindingsThe paper finds that unexpected changes in national financial conditions, the federal funds rate and the velocity of money account for more variation in the performance of the trade‐weighted US dollar than do surprises associated with the interest rate spread (the variable that tracks quantitative easing (QE), quantitative contraction (QC) and neutrality).Practical implicationsThis article is unique in adding to the literary discourse by incorporating international trade and other national conditions as key indicators of the long‐term value of a trade‐weighted currency and its propensity to increase national income. It provides an opportunity for further analysis of the role of QE in currency valuation when the short‐term interest rate becomes an inadequate monetary policy instrument for economic stabilization and determining the value of a currency.Originality/valueThe paper argues that the velocity of money has strong predictive power over the performance of the trade‐weighted dollar and that monetary policy can help to predict changes in the financial and real sectors, but not the value of the trade‐weighted dollar directly or in isolation. This is partly because the monetary policy transmission mechanism and external prices are also relevant to the weighted value of the currency over an extended period of time.
The effect of leverage mimicking portfolios in explaining stock returns variations
Authors: Gulnur Muradoglu Yaz , Sivaprasad Sheeja 
Published: May 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of leverage mimicking factor portfolios in explaining stock return variations. This paper broadens the focus of the current asset pricing literature by forming portfolios mimicking the leverage factor.Design/methodology/approachFollowing Fama and French's and Carhart's procedure in forming size, book‐to‐market and momentum mimicking portfolios, the authors of this paper form leverage mimicking factor portfolios to explain stock returns. A five factor model is constructed that explains the variations in stock returns better relative to the other asset pricing models including the Fama‐French‐Carhart four factor model.FindingsThe findings indicate that the leverage mimicking portfolio helps to explain stock return variations better relative to the other asset pricing models including the Fama‐French‐Carhart four factor model. Results are robust to other risk factors.Research limitations/implicationsThe results lead us to explore further avenues in using other risk factors in asset pricing such as future work to consider other cross‐sectional attributes such as the stochastic behaviour of earnings or profitability that might also produce common variation in stock returns. There may be other risk factors that carry a premium and thus can be used for asset pricing.Practical implicationsThe paper's findings are important in fund management when selecting or evaluating portfolio performance. The authors introduce an additional factor that has a sound theoretical appeal and show that leverage mimicking factor portfolios provide additional information in pricing assets, both in the cross section of all shares and in different sectors.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge this is the first study of the effect of leverage mimicking factor portfolios in explaining stock return variations.