Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Retrospective return on investment analysis of an electronic treatment adherence device piloted in the Northern Cape Province.

OBJECTIVE The return on investment (ROI) for utilizing the SIMpill electronic treatment adherence solution as an adjunct to directly observed treatment short-course (DOTS) is assessed using data from a 2005 pilot of the SIMpill solution among new smear-positive tuberculosis (TB) patients in the Northern Cape Province. The value of this cost minimization analysis (CMA), for use by public health planners in low-resource settings as a precursor to more rigorous assessment, is discussed. MATERIALS AND METHODS The retrospective analysis compares the costs and health outcomes of the DOTS-SIMpill cohort with DOTS-only controls. Hypothetical 5-year cash flows are generated and discounted to estimate net present values (NPVs). RESULTS Comparison between the DOTS-SIMpill pilot cohort and DOTS-only supported controls, for a hypothetical implementation of 1,000 devices, over 5 years, demonstrates positive ROI for the DOTS-SIMpill cohort based on improved health outcomes and reduced average cost per patient. The net stream is shown to be positive from the first year. Discounted NPV is ZAR 3,255,256 (US$ 493,221) for a cohort that would have started mid 2005 and ZAR 3,747,636 (US$ 487,339) starting mid 2010. This is an ROI of 23% over the 5-year period. CONCLUSION The addition of electronic treatment adherence support technology can help to improve TB outcomes and lower average cost per patient by reducing treatment failure and the associated higher cost and burden on limited resources. CMA is an appropriate initial analysis for health planners to highlight options that may justify more sophisticated methods such as cost effectiveness analysis or full cost benefit analysis where a preferred option is immediately revealed. CMA is proposed as a tool for use by public health planners in low-resource settings to evaluate the ROI of treatment adherence technology postpilot and prior to implementation.
A Typology of Tourists from a Different Angle

Abstract Over the years, academics have attempted to develop typologies that distinguish between various types of tourists. There is, however, general consensus that these taxonomies suffer from several weaknesses. In particular, they are based on a priori theoretical assumptions that rely on just one or very few dimensions, such as numbers of tourists. In remedying these shortfalls, the current paper proposes a new typology of tourists grounded in a two-fold empirical research that contrasts two opposite types of tourists, namely, solitary travellers and group tourists. Two separate qualitative pieces of fieldwork were carried out in order to obtain the necessary data from solitary travellers and group tourists in Norway. The comparison, based on psychographic variables (travel philosophy, travel motive and personal values), suggests that tourist experiences vary along a continuum of individualistic/collectivistic orientation. The solitary traveller represents an individualistic-oriented person whereas the group or package tourist typifies a collectivistic-oriented person. Each of these categories may further include a variety of tourists depending on their degree (i.e., low or high) of individualistic or collec-tivistic orientation.
Mountain gorilla tourism generating wealth and peace in post-conflict Rwanda

Today only around 880 mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) inhabit the Afromontane forests shared by Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In this region, mountain gorillas serve as flagship species, attracting public support and international tourists as well as drawing attention to their habitat. This paper examines the prominent issues in mountain gorilla conservation and nature‐based tourism in Rwanda in a post‐conflict recovery context. Also analyzed are the critical issues of restoring and developing the capacities of institutions, improving the transboundary dialogue, and developing cooperation for the management of natural resources.
Did Vaccination Slow the Spread of Bluetongue in France?

Vaccination is one of the most efficient ways to control the spread of infectious diseases. Simulations are now widely used to assess how vaccination can limit disease spread as well as mitigate morbidity or mortality in susceptible populations. However, field studies investigating how much vaccines decrease the velocity of epizootic wave-fronts during outbreaks are rare. This study aimed at investigating the effect of vaccination on the propagation of bluetongue, a vector-borne disease of ruminants. We used data from the 2008 bluetongue virus serotype 1 (BTV-1) epizootic of southwest France. As the virus was newly introduced in this area, natural immunity of livestock was absent. This allowed determination of the role of vaccination in changing the velocity of bluetongue spread while accounting for environmental factors that possibly influenced it. The average estimated velocity across the country despite restriction on animal movements was 5.4 km/day, which is very similar to the velocity of spread of the bluetongue virus serotype 8 epizootic in France also estimated in a context of restrictions on animal movements. Vaccination significantly reduced the propagation velocity of BTV-1. In comparison to municipalities with no vaccine coverage, the velocity of BTV-1 spread decreased by 1.7 km/day in municipalities with immunized animals. For the first time, the effect of vaccination has been quantified using data from a real epizootic whilst accounting for environmental factors known to modify the velocity of bluetongue spread. Our findings emphasize the importance of vaccination in limiting disease spread across natural landscape. Finally, environmental factors, specifically those related to vector abundance and activity, were found to be good predictors of the velocity of BTV-1 spread, indicating that these variables need to be adequately accounted for when evaluating the role of vaccination on bluetongue spread.
Income Distribution Implications of Rural Household Production

Economic well-being is a difficult concept to measure. It is defined theoretically by a household's or individual's total access to goods and services. However, economic well-being is almost always measured empirically by money income (Moon and Smolensky). While money income provides a fairly accurate indicator of access to goods and services that can be purchased in the marketplace, it fails to measure access to goods and services that are a result of household production. Such an omission means that empirical estimates of economic well-being based solely on money income are biased if money income and household production are correlated. Concern about potential bias increases when attention is focused on comparing the economic well-being of groups-such as rural and urban households-which may differ in their reliance on household production. Historically, rural households have had less equal money income distributions than urban households (Foley). However, family members in rural households also spend more time in household production than do their urban counterparts (Goebel and Hennon, Olson et al.). Could it be that the relatively greater unevenness in the distribution of rural households' money income is in part compensated for by differences in home productivity? Or would the addition of home production to measures of economic well-being make the distribution of income across rural households even more unequal than their urban counterparts? ' In this paper we explore how rural and urban income distributions change if the value of household production is added to money income.
Lobbying and Political Influence in Britain : Evaluating a Signalling Model of Group-Government Interaction

Questions of the political influence of business and other organized interests are at the heart of democratic theory and political science. But while in recent years there have been noteworthy theoretical advances on special interest politics, our empirical understanding of the role of lobbying in the production of public policy is lagging behind. This paper provides an empirical test of a model predicting when lobbyists provide useful information to policymakers and when policymakers follow lobbyists’ advice. The predictions are assessed against data on the policy positions and lobbying activities of firms and other organized groups in the context of 35 policy proposals advanced by UK governments between 2001 and 2007. The results suggest that the behaviour of policymakers and lobbyists is driven mainly by the expected policy costs for policymakers. This provides lobbyists with strong incentives to either provide accurate advice to policymakers or abstain from costly lobbying. There is little support for the expectation that lobbyists can successfully persuade policymakers to take a course of action that is beneficial to the lobbyist at the expense of wider constituencies.
The Us2 Gene Product of Herpes Simplex Virus 2 Is a Membrane-Associated Ubiquitin-Interacting Protein

ABSTRACT The Us2 gene encodes a tegument protein that is conserved in most members of the Alphaherpesvirinae. Previous studies on the pseudorabies virus (PRV) Us2 ortholog indicated that it is prenylated, associates with membranes, and spatially regulates the enzymatic activity of the MAP (mitogen-activated protein) kinase ERK (extracellular signal-related kinase) through direct binding and sequestration of ERK at the cytoplasmic face of the plasma membrane. Here we present an analysis of the herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) Us2 ortholog and demonstrate that, like PRV Us2, HSV-2 Us2 is a virion component and that, unlike PRV Us2, it does not interact with ERK in yeast two-hybrid assays. HSV-2 Us2 lacks prenylation signals and other canonical membrane-targeting motifs yet is tightly associated with detergent-insoluble membranes and localizes predominantly to recycling endosomes. Experiments to identify cellular proteins that facilitate HSV-2 Us2 membrane association were inconclusive; however, these studies led to the identification of HSV-2 Us2 as a ubiquitin-interacting protein, providing new insight into the functions of HSV-2 Us2.
Voice and Agency : Empowering Women and Girls for Shared Prosperity

This report on voice and agency, which builds on the 2012 World Development Report, focuses on several areas key to women's empowerment: freedom from violence, control over sexual and reproductive health and rights, ownership and control of land and housing, and voice and collective action. It explores the power of social norms in dictating how men and women can and cannot behave, deterring women from owning property or working even where laws permit, for example, because those who do become outcasts. The report distills vast data and hundreds of studies to shed new light on constraints facing women and girls worldwide, from epidemic levels of gender-based violence to biased laws and norms that prevent them from owning property, working, and making decisions about their own lives. It highlights promising reforms and interventions from around the world and lays out an urgent agenda for governments, civil society, development agencies, and other stakeholders. Among its keys findings: girls with little or no education are far more likely to be married as children, suffer domestic violence, live in poverty, and lack a say over household spending or their own health care than better-educated peers, which harms them, their children, and communities.
Infrastructure Development and Economic Growth: An Explanation for Regional Disparities in China?

Abstract This paper provides empirical evidence on the links between infrastructure investment and economic growth in China. Using panel data from a sample of 24 Chinese provinces (excluding municipalities) throughout the 1985 to 1998 period, the estimation of a growth model shows that, besides differences in terms of reforms and openness, geographical location and infrastructure endowment did account significantly for observed differences in growth performance across provinces. The results indicate that transport facilities are a key differentiating factor in explaining the growth gap and point to the role of telecommunication in reducing the burden of isolation. J. Comp. Econ., March 2001 29(1), pp. 95–117. CERDI-IDREC, CNRS—Universite d'Auvergne, 65, boulevard Francois Mitterand, 63 000 Clermont-Ferrand, France. Copyright 2001 Academic Press. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: C33, H54, O11, R11.
Adrenaline in local anaesthesia: the effect of concentration on dental pulpal circulation and anaesthesia.

This study investigated the effects of inferior alveolar nerve block anaesthesia using 2% lignocaine with 1:100,000 or 1:80,000 adrenaline on pulpal blood flow in mandibular molar and canine teeth in 10 human subjects by laser Doppler flowmetry. The duration of pulpal anaesthesia in the teeth using electric pulp testing was also investigated. The injection of 2 ml of 2% lignocaine with 1:100,000 adrenaline caused a decrease in pulpal blood flow in both teeth in every subject. The mean pulpal blood flow in the canine tooth at 15 min was 58% of the baseline value whilst that in the molar was 76%. These values were not significantly different from the reduction in pulpal blood flow produced by 2% lignocaine with 1:80,000 adrenaline. Both solutions produced a reduction in blood flow that was of shorter duration than pulpal and soft tissue anaesthesia, and of shorter duration in the molar tooth compared with the canine. When 2% lignocaine with 1:100,000 adrenaline was injected, the mean reduction of blood flow was of shorter duration (canine, 60 min; molar, 42 min) than following 2% lignocaine with 1:80,000 adrenaline (canine, 93 min; molar, 72 min); these differences in reductions were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Using 2% lignocaine with 1:100,000 adrenaline, the mean duration of pulpal anaesthesia was 76 min in the canine tooth compared with 58 min in the molar tooth. Full soft tissue anaesthesia lasted for 117 min. These values were reduced significantly when compared with the lignocaine solution containing 1:80,000 adrenaline (P < 0.05). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Strategic dashboards: designing and deploying them to improve implementation

Purpose – Dashboards and scorecards are widely‐deployed performance management tools, but are often ineffectively used. Properly designed, developed, and deployed strategic dashboards can cut through clutter, provide incisive strategic insight, improve decision‐making, and enhance both alignment and implementation performance. This article seeks to identify common pitfalls in strategic dashboard design and use, and then recommend guidelines for improving dashboard design, scope, use and impact.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on hands‐on development of dashboards and strategy implementation programs for hundreds of clients across multiple sectors; complemented by operating experience managing strategic implementation and dashboard/measurement systems for high‐growth, complex organizations.Findings – Key steps include developing a process that prioritizes indicators, includes key stakeholders, incorporates management analysis and judgment, favors rich data display using a common visual and .
The Effect of Pay Cuts on Psychological Well-Being and Job Satisfaction

One of the main economic outcomes of the recent great recession was the decrease of labour earnings in many countries. The relevant literature indicates that earnings and other socioeconomic predictors can influence psychological well-being. The same holds true for job satisfaction. This chapter tests the effect of pay cuts on the psychological well-being and job satisfaction. The data used in this chapter was drawn from the 5th European Survey on Working Conditions which focuses on European countries. The methodological tools for analyzing the data are the ordinary least-squares (OLS) regression, the Probit regression, and the marginal effects method. The results point to a negative statistical significant effect of pay cuts (decrease labour earnings) on psychological well-being. The results also indicate that pay cuts have a negative statistical significant impact on job satisfaction.
The Determinants of Stock Prices in Pakistan

Stock Investment is always a risky proposition and investors are reluctant to invest in Stock Market. If they came to know about the exact factors influencing the stock prices, they will invest in stocks confidently. This study examines the empirical relationship between the stock prices, financial fundamentals and macroeconomic factors in Karachi Stock Exchange. By applying the dynamic panel Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) technique on the data of 221 firms during 1995-2006, the analysis attempts to obtain efficient parameter estimates and to check the consistency of the link between stock price behavior, company fundamentals and macroeconomic factors. Several studies have been conducted to identify the factors of stock prices for a variety of countries, and the results have been mixed. It is found that previous behavior of stock prices, company size, previous earnings per share are the most important factors. In addition, macroeconomic indicators like, GDP growth, rate of interest and financial depth have significant relationship with the stock prices. Market to book value, share turnover ratio and inflation can also influence the stock price behavior. The corporate reforms of 2002 are responsible of increase in stock prices from 2002 to 2006. Investors in Pakistan have to decide which stock should be purchased. The results of this study will provide guideline to the investors in stock selection. While taking decisions they should take into account company informations as well as macroeconomic situation of the country simultaneously. The companies can set their policies and strategies in the light of relatively important factors, for business survival and success. The possible impact of macroeconomic factors may help the policy makers while setting monetary and fiscal policies.
Acute hepatitis associated with the use of an herbal supplement (Polygonum multiflorum) mimicking iron-overload syndrome.

To the Editor:A Chinese herb, Polygonum multiflorum, known as Shou Wu Pian and He Shou Wu root, is an ingredient of many herbal supplements promoted to treat balding, dizziness, prostatitis, and constipation. Five patients with acute hepatitis associated with the use of Polygonum multiflorum have pr
Health and Inequality

This discussion paper led to a chapter in: (A.B. Atkinson, F.J. Bourguigson (Eds.)), 2014, 'Handbook of Income Distribution', volume 2B, North Holland, Elsevier, chapter 18, 143 pages. We examine the relationship between income and health with the purpose of establishing the extent to which the distribution of health in a population contributes to income inequality and is itself a product of that inequality. The evidence supports a significant and substantial impact of ill-health on income mainly operating through employment, although it is difficult to gauge the magnitude of the contribution this makes to income inequality. Variation in exposure to health risks early in life is a potentially important mechanism through which health may generate, and possibly sustain, economic inequality. If material advantage can be excercised within the domain of health, then economic inequality will generate health inequality. In high income countries, the evidence that income (wealth) does have a causal impact on health in adulthood is weak. But this may simply reflect the difficulty of identifying a relationship that, should it exist, is likely to emerge over the lifetime as poor material living conditions slowly take their toll on health. There is little credible evidence to support the claim that the economic inequality in society threatens the health of all its members, or that relative income is a determinant of health.
[Preliminary report on meticulous operation of thyroid lobectomy].

OBJECTIVE Thyroid lobectomy can be programmed to operate as "step by step". Each step must be performed meticulously with quality control, so as to minimize the complications of surgery. METHODS From May 2013 to Auguest 2014, the meticulous thyroid operation was conducted in 72 cases (144 lobectomies). Pre- and post-operative evaluations by strobe laryngoscopy, parathyroid hormone (PTH), and blood calcium examinations were conducted in all cases. RESULTS Four cases (5.6%) had transient recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis after surgery, but no permanent recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis. There was no transient or permanent superior laryngeal nerve paralysis. Transient hypoparathyroidism occurred in 10 cases, with no permanent hypoparathyroidism. No case presented with postoperative bleeding or infection. CONCLUSIONS "Meticulous operation of thyroid lobectomy" may minimize effectively the complication of surgery.
ScienceDirect Emerging Markets Queries in Finance and Business The Impact of Euro Area Macroeconomic Announcements on CIVETS Stock Markets

This paper studies theimpact of euro area macroeconomic announcements on CIVETS (Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, and South Africa) stock markets. A link between euro area macroeconomic announcements and CIVETS stock markets is found. The data used is from between 2007 and 2012.Euro area macroeconomic news are shown to affect CIVETS stock market volatility and in some instances the stock returns. Evidence on the impact of overall European macroeconomic news on stock market volatility is found for Colombia, Vietnam, Egypt, and Turkey. European announcements about GDP, retail sales, and unemployment have a significant effect on the stock returns. According to our results, CIVETS stock markets seem to exhibit a negative relationship between market returns and volatility: negative news have a leverage effect for the most of CIVETS stock markets, as greater volatility is generated by negative than by positive shocks. The results may be applied for asset pricing and portfolio selection and the assessment of investment decisions with respect to macroeconomic news releases. © 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of Emerging Markets Queries in Finance and Business local organization.
Self-Enforcing Voluntary Disclosures

This paper extends previous accounting research which asks why firms do not voluntarily disclose all value-relevant information, as implied by, for example, Grossman [1981] and Milgrom [1981]. While these two models assume disclosures are costless and verifiable, subsequent papers by Verrecchia [1983], Dye [1985 b], Darrough and Stoughton [1990], Wagenhofer [1990], Feltham and Xie [1992], and Newman and Sansing [1993] suggest firms withhold private information to avoid proprietary costs.1 In contrast to these models, I show that proprietary costs can actually increase voluntary disclosures by generating credibility for such disclosures. I model the decision to disclose private information when independent verification is impossible, too costly, or otherwise unavailable. The results rationalize unverified voluntary disclosures, and market reactions to them, by showing that the costs of disclosing proprietary information can make such disclosures credible, even without verification. In the model, a firm with private information about the demand for its product makes a direct public disclosure to both a competitor and the capital market. The firm would like to convince the capital market that the demand for its product is high, thereby increasing the value of the