Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quality-of-Life in Children with Orofacial Clefts and Caregiver Well-being

Quality of life is a valid patient-reported parameter that provides an assessment of treatment need or outcomes complementary to standard clinical measures. Such patient-reported assessments are particularly salient when examining chronic conditions with prolonged treatment trajectories, such as cleft lip and palate. This critical review identifies key questions related to ongoing research on the oral health–related quality of life (OHRQoL) in children with cleft and caregiver well-being. Details of the design and results from 2 longitudinal multicenter studies are presented. This article also provides an update on recent published reports regarding OHRQoL in individuals with cleft. Methodological issues in OHRQoL research are discussed, including condition-specific versus generic instruments, incorporating positive items in OHRQoL instruments, calculating minimally important differences in OHRQoL, implementing mixed methods design, and utilizing validated short assessment forms in OHRQoL research. Finally, new directions for research in cleft as a chronic condition are identified and discussed.
Optimal Search, Learning, and Implementation

We characterize the incentive compatible, constrained efficient policy (“second-best”) in a dynamic matching environment, where impatient, privately informed agents arrive over time, and where the designer gradually learns about the distribution of agentsʼ values. We also derive conditions on the learning process ensuring that the complete-information, dynamically efficient allocation of resources (“first-best”) is incentive compatible. Our analysis reveals and exploits close, formal relations between the problem of ensuring implementable allocation rules in our dynamic allocation problems with incomplete information and learning, and between the classical problem, posed by Rothschild (1974) [20], of finding optimal stopping policies for search that are characterized by a reservation price property.
The functional nature of police reform: The ‘myth’ of controlling the police

For at least fifty years, major movements attempted to reform police and their institutions through professionalization, policy making, and administrative decentralization. One major goal of these efforts was to subordinate street officer discretion to bureaucratic due process. Some recent evidence suggests that such reforms produced primarily the appearance of change without fundamentally altering the status quo. An alternative hypothesis is proposed: Reformers ignored the functional nature of the police role as community-based, extra-constitutional in peacekeeping situations, and reflective of the values related to the maintenance of order. It may be that liberal society solves the anomaly of the police function by fostering the myth that police are subordinate to due process constraints, while leaving them relatively free in a practical sense to respond to the need for order maintenance and peacekeeping. Effective handling of disorder may require police autonomy, while attempting to subordinate them to.
Paying More to Get Less

Individuals often enter similar jobs via two different routes: internal mobility and external hiring. I examine how the differences between these routes affect subsequent outcomes in those jobs. Drawing on theories of specific skills and incomplete information, I propose that external hires will initially perform worse than workers entering the job from inside the firm and have higher exit rates, yet they will be paid more and have stronger observable indicators of ability as measured by experience and education. I use the same theories to argue that the exact nature of internal mobility (promotions, lateral transfers, or combined promotions and transfers) will also affect workers’ outcomes. Analyses of personnel data from the U.S. investment banking arm of a financial services company from 2003 to 2009 confirm strong effects on pay, performance, and mobility of how workers enter jobs. I find that workers promoted into jobs have significantly better performance for the first two years than workers hired into similar jobs and lower rates of voluntary and involuntary exit. Nonetheless, the external hires are initially paid around 18 percent more than the promoted workers and have higher levels of experience and education. The hires are also promoted faster. I further find that workers who are promoted and transferred at the same time have worse performance than other internal movers.
[Pharmacological studies on a new cephamycin, MT-141. (2) Its effect on preparations of neuromuscular junction, smooth muscle organs and gastro-intestinal system].

The results for pharmacological experiments of MT-141 were as follows; Twitch tension of gastrocnemius muscle evoked by the stimulation of sciatic nerve was slightly reduced with 400 mg/kg MT-141 i.v. and upper doses. As the change was very small, however, it seems that MT-141 has no neuromuscular junction blocking action. Although MT-141 did not show any effects on most of isolated smooth muscle organs, only isolated tracheal muscle was somewhat relaxed with 10(-3) g/ml MT-141. The spontaneous motility of smooth muscle in situ was temporarily increased with 800 mg/kg MT-141 i.v. and upper doses. Two hundred mg/kg MT-141 showed no effect on the value of blood sugar and functions of kidney and liver. Any hemolysis did not appear even in the highest dose of 200 mg/kg MT-141 used in this experiment. From the present results and previous report (Krebe, M. et al., Jap. J. Antibiotics, in press), it seems that MT-141 is promised to be a highly safe and useful antibiotic agent in clinical use.
Early outcomes of laparoscopic donor nephrectomy with multiple renal arteries.

PURPOSE We evaluated our experience with laparoscopic donor nephrectomy in patients with multiple renal arteries, comparing operative outcomes and early graft function with patients with a single renal artery. MATERIALS AND METHODS From January 2003 to February 2009, 130 patients underwent laparoscopic donor nephrectomy at our institution, 108 (83 %) with a single renal artery and 22 (17 %) with multiple arteries. Donor and recipient outcomes for single artery and multiple arteries allografts were compared. RESULTS The LDN operative time was similar between the single artery and multiple arteries groups (162 vs 163 min, respectively, p = 0.87). Allografts with multiple arteries had significantly longer warm ischemia time (3.9 vs 4.9 min, p = 0.05) and cold ischemia time (72 vs 94 min, p < 0.001) than those with single artery. The conversion rate was similar between single and multiple arteries groups (6 % vs 4.5 %, respectively, p = 0.7). Multiple arteries grafts had a non statistically significant higher rate of poor graft function when compared to single artery grafts (23 % vs 12 %, respectively, p = 0.18). Five patients in the single artery group (4.6 %) and one patient in the multiple arteries group (4.5 %) needed dialysis during the first postoperative week. Overall, recipient complication rates were similar between single and multiple arteries groups (12.9 % vs 18.1 %, respectively, p = 0.51). CONCLUSION Laparoscopic donor nephrectomy with multiple arteries was associated with a non statistically significant higher rate of poor early graft function. The procedure appears to be safe in patients with multiple arteries, with similar complications rates. Multiple arteries should not be a contraindication for laparoscopic donor nephrectomy.
Environmental and geographic variables are effective surrogates for genetic variation in conservation planning

Significance To protect biodiversity for the long term, nature reserves and other protected areas need to represent a broad range of different genetic types. However, genetic data are expensive and time-consuming to obtain. Here we show that freely available environmental and geographic variables can be used as effective surrogates for genetic data in conservation planning. This means that conservation planners can, with some confidence, design protected area systems to represent intraspecific genetic diversity without investing in expensive programs to obtain and analyze genetic data. Protected areas buffer species from anthropogenic threats and provide places for the processes that generate and maintain biodiversity to continue. However, genetic variation, the raw material for evolution, is difficult to capture in conservation planning, not least because genetic data require considerable resources to obtain and analyze. Here we show that freely available environmental and geographic distance variables can be highly effective surrogates in conservation planning for representing adaptive and neutral intraspecific genetic variation. We obtained occurrence and genetic data from the IntraBioDiv project for 27 plant species collected over the European Alps using a gridded sampling scheme. For each species, we identified loci that were potentially under selection using outlier loci methods, and mapped their main gradients of adaptive and neutral genetic variation across the grid cells. We then used the cells as planning units to prioritize protected area acquisitions. First, we verified that the spatial patterns of environmental and geographic variation were correlated, respectively, with adaptive and neutral genetic variation. Second, we showed that these surrogates can predict the proportion of genetic variation secured in randomly generated solutions. Finally, we discovered that solutions based only on surrogate information secured substantial amounts of adaptive and neutral genetic variation. Our work paves the way for widespread integration of surrogates for genetic variation into conservation planning.
New evidences for old concerns with oral anticoagulation in atrial fibrillation: focus on dabigatran

Introduction: Nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) is associated with a fivefold excess risk of stroke. Antithrombotic therapy is crucial to reduce the risk of stroke. During past decades, vitamin K antagonists (warfarin or acenocoumarol) have been widely used for this purpose. However, they have several disadvantages that limit their daily use in clinical practice. Areas covered: In patients with NVAF at risk of stroke, the randomized evaluation of long-term anticoagulation therapy (RE-LY) trial demonstrated that, compared with warfarin, dabigatran 150 mg b.i. d. was associated with lower rates of stroke and systemic embolism but similar rates of major hemorrhage, whereas dabigatran 110 mg b.i. d. exhibited similar rates of stroke and systemic embolism, but lower rates of major hemorrhage. Fortunately, data about dabigatran are not limited to RE-LY trial. In fact, many substudies have been drawn, providing new and important evidences about the benefits of dabigatran. Expert opinion: The most recent evidences about efficacy and safety of dabigatran in patients with NVAF, focusing on different substudies of RE-LY trial, are reviewed. In summary, dabigatran is beneficial not only in general population with NVAF but also in different subgroups of patients or different clinical settings (i.e., CHADS2 score, INR control, type of AF, elderly, previous transient ischemic attack or stroke, cardioversion and so on).
International Economic Relations and the Entrepreneurial State

States have long been involved in processes of production. For centuries, governments have sought to regulate prices, wages, and other facets of productive activity. States have manufactured weapons and built fortifications in the interest of "national security. " And states have constructed and operated infrastructural facilities as a means of promoting industrialization. But the scope of states' productive activities recently has been extended much beyond market regulation, defense, and provision of infrastructure. States increasingly are engaged directly in the production of capital and consumer goods. Moreover, in many countries, the ownership and operation of state firms conforms, in many respects, to standard business practice. Despite the attention currently being given to the expansion of the public economy in industrialized and industrializing countries, there has been little systematic study of this important form of state intervention. This paper is such an investigation. It examines one explanation for why firms that traditionally have belonged to the private sector are owned as state or parastatal enterprises and operated in accordance with standard business criteria. In addition, the paper evaluates this practice with respect to a particular policy objective, namely, the goal of alleviating dependence on foreign sources of capital and technology. The discussion proceeds in two parts. In part one, we define this increasingly important form of intermediation as state entrepreneurship and explicate the rationale behind its use in Third World countries. ' Our account emphasizes the ramifications of prolonged reliance on foreign capital and technology. The role of the state as exten-
Unimolecular decomposition in the sputtering of metal clusters.

The stability of metal clusters M n sputtered from single-crystal surfaces by keV and sub-keV Ar + ions was investigated by a molecular-dynamics (MD) simulation using a many-body embedded-atom potential. It is shown that the clusters identified within the sputtered flux immediately after the ion impact contain an average internal energy of roughly 1 eV per constituent atom. Consequently, most of the sputtered trimers and tetramers and virtually all ejected clusters with n≥5 are found to be unstable and therefore decompose into stable fragments on a time scale of several tens of picoseconds after the ejection
Risk management in construction projects

AbstractRisk management is an important field of construction industry and has gained more importance internationally due to the latest researches carried out on a large scale. However, this relatively new field requires more attention to bring some benefit. Construction projects are facing a number of risks which have negative effects on project objects such as time, cost and quality. This study is based on findings of a questionnaire-based survey on risk management in construction projects in Pakistan, reporting the significance of different type of risk, ultimate responsibility for them and the effectiveness of some most common risk management techniques practiced in the industry. Two types of risk management techniques were considered: preventive techniques which can be used before the start of a project to manage risks that are anticipated during the project execution; and remedial techniques that are used during the execution phase once a risk has already occurred. The study revealed that financial .
Effects of phosphate availability and redox intensity on growth and nutrient uptake of Rhynchospora tracyi, a wet prairie species in the everglades

Growth and nutrient responses of Rhynchospora tracyi (Tracy’s beak-rush), a wet prairie species in the Florida Everglades, to redox intensity and phosphate availability were examined under controlled redox intensities (Eh: −150, +150, and +600 mV) and phosphate levels (P: 10, 80, and 500 μg P 1−1) for 60 days. Root length, total biomass, and photosynthesis of R. tracyi were higher at Eh+600 than at Eh−150. Growth variables (e.g., shoot length, biomass, relative growth rate, and root porosity) significantly increased with phosphate availability, while R. tracyi allocated more biomass to shoots and rhizomes than to roots at the higher P levels. Tissue P concentration increased 5–6 times when phosphate availability increased from 10 μg P 1−1 to 500 μg P 1−1, while P use efficiency and molar N:P ratio significantly decreased with P availability. Net P accumulation was significantly higher at P500 than at P10 across the three redox intensities. Tissue N concentration was significantly higher at Eh+600 than at Eh−150, and higher at P500 than at P10. In terms of plant performance at the three redox intensities, we conclude that R. tracyi is not well-adapted to strongly reduced conditions that would result from lengthened hydroperiods. Altered hydroperiods may be a major reason why wet prairie species, such as R. tracyi, have decreased in abundance in some areas of the Everglades.
Low rifampicin concentrations in tuberculosis patients with HIV infection.

INTRODUCTION The efficacy of tuberculosis (TB) treatment in Human Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV) co-infected patients may be compromised by genetic and pharmacokinetic variation in drug disposition. Rifampicin is a critical component of TB treatment. We investigated the influence of drug transporter gene polymorphisms on rifampicin concentrations in TB-HIV co-infected patients in Durban, South Africa. METHODOLOGY Rifampicin concentrations were measured 2.5 hours post-dose (approximated peak, C2.5 hr) in patients receiving either 450mg or 600mg rifampicin, randomized to either integrated or sequential antiretroviral treatment. Patients were genotyped for SLCO1B1 (rs4149032) polymorphisms. A mixed effects regression model was fitted to assess the influence of various factors on rifampicin concentrations. TB recurrence rates were also estimated. RESULTS In 57 patients, median (IQR) C2.5 hr was 3.6 (2.8-5.0) µg/mL. Polymorphism frequency in the SLCO1B1 (rs4149032) drug transporter gene was high (0.76) and was associated with low median rifampicin C2.5 hr, 3.7 (2.8-5.0) µg/mL in the heterozygous and 3.4 (2.7-4.7) µg/mL in the homozygous variant carriers. Concentrations were also low in males (p < 0.0001) and those with low haemoglobin (p = 0.02). Although reinfection could not be distinguished from reactivation for the 43 patients followed post trial, the incidence of TB recurrence was 7.1 per 100 person-years. Of the eight patients in whom TB recurred, seven had the polymorphism. CONCLUSION Approximated peak rifampicin concentrations were well below the recommended target range of 8 to 24 µg/mL in this patient population with its high frequency of the SLCO1B1 (rs4149032) polymorphism. Increased rifampicin dosage may be warranted in African, HIV- TB co-infected patients.
Just-in-time Inventory Control and the Economic Integration of Japanese-owned Manufacturing Plants with the County, State and National Economies of the United States

REID N. (1995) Just-in-time inventory control and the economic integration of Japanese-owned manufacturing plants with the county, state and national economies of the United States, Reg. Studies 29, 345–355. This paper attempts to shed light on the ongoing debate concerning the spatial implications of just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing systems. The central issue around which this debate has focused concerns the extent to which use of JIT inventory control encourages the spatial clustering of the members of a JIT network. This paper tests the hypothesis that plants which use JIT inventory control purchase a greater proportion of their material inputs from inside their host economy than plants which do not use JIT inventory control. Using survey data collected from 239 US-based Japanese-owned manufacturing plants, this hypothesis is tested for host economies defined at three geographic scales—county, state and national Support for the hypothesis is found at the county, but not at the state and national scales.
Farley Grubbâ€™s Noisy Evasions on Colonial Money: A Rejoinder

GRUBBâ€™S RECENT PAPERS (2003, 2004, 2006B) ARE AIMED AT nothing less than rewriting important chapters of early American history. Our goal in both our AER and EJW comments was a negative one, to dissuade readers from accepting Grubbâ€™s views and data. We are humbled by the complexity of the early American monetary system and the meagerness of the available evidence. We nowhere make the blanket claims that Grubb attributes to us, namely, that specie was plentiful, that exchange rates were immutable, or that cross-colony circulation of bills of credit was ubiquitous. Instead, we offer evidence that at some times and places specie was more abundant than Grubb claims, that most colonial exchange rates oscillated within broad specie points, and that bills of credit often circulated in adjacent colonies. And again, we make such claims with one point only in mind, to alert scholars that Grubbâ€™s interpretation is highly suspect.
Agency costs theory and the financing life cycle empirical evidence from Swedish firm-level data

The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the financing life cycle pattern of micro-firms in Sweden from the agency costs theory perspective. The study shows that the financing structures of firms change over the firms' life cycles. Firms generally rely on internal financial sources such as equity capital and retained profits, particularly at the start-up stage. They also use short-term debt as the second most important financial source at this stage. As firms age and develop, the use of short-term debt decreases and the use of both equity capital and long-term debt simultaneously increase. The financing patterns of firms in different industries over their life cycles follow the general pattern of the total sample. The results from the statistical tests support the applicability of the financial life cycle model and the agency costs theory to explain it.
High‐technology clustering through spin‐out and attraction: The Cambridge case

Garnsey E. and Heffernan P. (2005) High‐technology clustering through spin‐out and attraction: the Cambridge case, Regional Studies 39 , 1127–1144. Co‐determinants that have shaped developments in high‐tech centres elsewhere are absent in Cambridge, UK, which thus provides a unique case demonstrating how technology enterprise around a science centre can transform local economic activity. But to capture dimensions of cumulative change requires a longitudinal approach. Here indicators that include rates of formation of new firms and their survival and growth over time are used to chart the transformation of collective capabilities. Emerging and growing areas of local competence are identified from data on the sectoral distribution of activity over time and on clusters of related activity in the Cambridge area that point to the emergence of specialized labour markets. The emergence of clusters of firms is related to serial spin‐out from the university and local businesses. Channels of diffusion of knowledge and influence among local firms are mapped by graphics of spin‐out clusters. Processes mobilizing social capital can be detected in the way technology‐based firms evolved a collective response to local problems that could not be solved by individual enterprise.
A Reversal of Political Fortune: The Transitional Dynamics of Conservative Rule in the Brazilian Northeast

Abstract This study explains the erosion of conservative rule and the rise of leftist opposition at the subnational level in the Northeast of Brazil in recent electoral cycles. Compared with explanations based on economic modernization, social spending, and fiscal reform, the data best support the hypothesis that the organizational and spatial dimensions of leftist mobilization in these states have shifted to the detriment of conservative machines. Specifically, urban mobilization of leftist supporters has determined the electoral success of these oppositions. The study also explains where conservatives maintain a floor of support based on the continuation of clientele networks.