Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Treatment of proximal plantar fasciitis with ultrasound-guided steroid injection.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the efficacy of ultrasound-guided steroid injection for the treatment of proximal plantar fasciitis and to evaluate mechanical properties of the heel pad after steroid injection. DESIGN Proximal plantar fascia and heel pad were assessed with a 10-MHz linear array ultrasound transducer. Pain intensity was quantified with a tenderness threshold (TT) and visual analog scale (VAS). The transducer was incorporated into a specially designed device to measure mechanical properties of the heel pad. Evaluations were performed before injection and at 2 weeks and 3 months after injection. SETTING An outpatient clinic of a tertiary care center. PATIENTS Fourteen consecutive patients with unilateral proximal plantar fasciitis. INTERVENTION Ultrasound-guided injection of 7 mg betamethasone and 0.5 mL of 1% lidocaine into the inflamed proximal plantar fascia. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES VAS, TT, heel pad and plantar fascia thickness, and echogenicity of the proximal plantar fascia on sonogram were assessed. Mechanical properties included unloaded heel pad thickness, compressibility index, and energy dissipation ratio. RESULTS Both VAS score +/- standard deviation (SD; 5.43 +/- 2.03, 1.39 +/- 2.19, 0.57 +/- 1.40 at the 3 measurements, respectively) and TT +/- SD (5.05 +/- 1.42, 9.34 +/- 1.84, 9.93 +/- 1.98 kg/cm2 at the 3 measurements, respectively) improved significantly (p < .001) after steroid injection. The mean thickness of the plantar fascia was greater in the symptomatic side than in the asymptomatic side before treatment (0.58 +/- 0.13 cm vs 0.40 +/- 0.11 cm, p < .001). The thickness had decreased significantly 3 months after injection (0.46 +/- 0.12 cm at 2 weeks, 0.42 +/- 0.10 cm at 3 months, p < .001). The hypoechogenicity at the proximal plantar fascia disappeared after steroid injection (p < .001). Mechanical properties of the heel pad did not change 3 months after steroid injection (p > .05). CONCLUSION Ultrasound offers an objective measurement of the therapeutic effect on proximal plantar fasciitis. Accurate steroid injection under ultrasound guidance can effectively treat proximal plantar fasciitis without significant deterioration of the mechanical properties of the heel pads.
Technological Progress, Mobility, and Economic Growth

This paper analyses the relationship between technological progress, intergenerational earnings mobility, and economic growth. The analysis demonstrates that the interplay between technological progress and two components that determine individual earnings – parental human capital and individual ability – governs mobility, technological progress, and economic growth. In periods of major technological inventions the ability effect is the dominating factor. The decline in the relative importance of initial parental conditions (i.e. the driving force behind the persistence of inequality) enhances mobility and generates a larger concentration of high-ability individuals in technologically-advanced sectors, stimulating further technological progress and economic growth. Once existing technologies become more accessible, however, mobility is diminished and inequality becomes more persistent. The reduction in the concentration of human capital in technologically-advanced sectors diminishes the likelihood of major technological breakthroughs and slows down future economic growth. User friendliness, therefore, becomes unfriendly to future economic growth.
Light-stimulated polysaccharide and protein synthesis by synchronized, single generations of Blastocladiella emersonii.

SUMMARY: Improved methods are described for growing about 108 to 109 synchronized single generations of ordinary-colourless (OC) cells of the aquatic fungus Blastocladiella emersonii in submerged liquid 1200 ml. cultures at 240. The stimulatory effect of white light on the synthesis of the internal pool of soluble protein and soluble polysaccharide, and on the dry wt. /cell during ontogeny was assessed. Soluble protein was characterized by fractionation on DEAE-cellulose into a number of components: the quantities/cell were affected differentially by illumination. Light caused a sharp decrease in total glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity/cell during the last stages of growth, when the light-induced formation of soluble polysaccharide/cell was most pronounced.
Green fluorescent protein regulation in the coral Acropora yongei during photoacclimation

SUMMARY Reef-building corals inhabit high light environments and are dependent on photosynthetic endosymbiotic dinoflagellates for nutrition. While photoacclimation responses of the dinoflagellates to changes in illumination are well understood, host photoacclimation strategies are poorly known. This study investigated fluorescent protein expression in the shallow-water coral Acropora yongei during a 30 day laboratory photoacclimation experiment in the context of its dinoflagellate symbionts. Green fluorescent protein (GFP) concentration measured by Western blotting changed reversibly with light intensity. The first 15 days of the photoacclimation experiment led to a ∼1.6 times increase in GFP concentration for high light corals (900 μmol quanta m–2 s–1) and a ∼4 times decrease in GFP concentration for low light corals (30 μmol quanta m–2 s–1) compared with medium light corals (300 μmol quanta m–2 s–1). Green fluorescence increased ∼1.9 times in high light corals and decreased ∼1.9 times in low light corals compared with medium light corals. GFP concentration and green fluorescence intensity were significantly correlated. Typical photoacclimation responses in the dinoflagellates were observed including changes in density, photosynthetic pigment concentration and photosynthetic efficiency. Although fluorescent proteins are ubiquitous and abundant in scleractinian corals, their functions remain ambiguous. These results suggest that scleractinian corals regulate GFP to modulate the internal light environment and support the hypothesis that GFP has a photoprotective function. The success of photoprotection and photoacclimation strategies, in addition to stress responses, will be critical to the fate of scleractinian corals exposed to climate change and other stressors.
Productivity Growth in Private–Equity–Backed Family Firms

We study the reluctance of family firms to accept private equity (PE) investors and the impact of PE on family firms’ performance. We analyze the productivity growth in a sample of 257 PE–backed family firms, 143 of which were run by the founding generation. We compare these firms with both non–PE–backed family firms and non family PE–backed firms. We find that family firms accessing PE show lower productivity growth before the initial PE round, which is driven by an imbalance between inputs and output, especially in founder–controlled firms. Our results also confirm the positive impact of PE involvement on productivity growth in founder–controlled firms.
Intra-regional integration of the GCC stock markets: the role of market liberalization

The study examines empirically whether, and to what extent, equity markets in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are integrated inter-regionally. According to the official Charter of the GCC, building stronger ties among financial and capital markets of member states is a chief objective of the GCC. The results for the equity markets of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman suggest that these markets share a common stochastic trend that binds them together over the long-run. The results from alternative tests also indicate that measures taken since 1997 to liberalize the capital markets in the Gulf region are at least partly responsible for linking the Gulf markets. At least two implications emerge from these results. First, portfolio diversifications in the context of the Gulf region should bring little or no benefits to investors with long-term horizons, although short-term gains remain a possibility. Second, further steps to liberalize capital markets in the region appear an appropriate strategy for achieving a more integrated capital markets in the Gulf.
Factors Affecting Consumers' Choice of a Travel Agency

Abstract This study aims to identify the most important factors in selecting a travel agency as perceived by Singaporeans. Based on a sample of 184 respondents, this study showed that “value for money of the tour package” was the most important factor affecting one's choice of a travel agency, followed by “reputation of the travel agency. ” Nine factors were derived from 27 attributes using factor analysis. With the factor scores and the parametric (t-test and one-way ANOVA) or non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney test and Kruskal-Wallis test), the study also showed that when selecting travel agencies, females attached more importance on the Image factor than their male counterparts. In addition, contingency analysis further revealed that age and income levels had significant influences on the choice of preferred travel agencies.
Climate Change and Trend Detection in Selected Rivers within the Asia-Pacific Region

Abstract Global climate change is currently an issue of great concern. This phenomenon was studied using the runoff of large rivers, which can be considered a regional integrator of the local precipitation occurring in their basins. The long-term stationarity and the possibility of trends in streamflow records stored in the databank of the Global Runoff Data Center (GRDC) at the Federal Institute of Hydrology in Koblenz (Germany) were studied. Runoff records originating from 78 rivers with long monthly runoff series that are geographically distributed throughout the whole Asia-Pacific region were selected for study. For each of the selected rivers, three time series were constructed and analyzed: the mean yearly, and the maximum and minimum monthly discharges. These series were submitted to a two-tier analysis. First, a segmentation procedure developed by Hubert was applied to assess their stationarity. Then the segmented series were submitted to a specialized trend detection software. The results show that about two-thirds of the series have remained stationary and that the monthly minimum runoff exhibited more changing levels (37/78) than the mean (26/78) and maximum (18/78) runoff. Most of the detected changes occurred during the 1960s and 1970s, a period of rapid demographic expansion and urbanization in Asia, when irrigation and other water uses were developed, especially in tropical areas. During the same period and within the area studied, a number of large dams and reservoirs were completed. Since these anthropic interventions could be at the origin of the changes in runoff, there is no regionally consistent evidence supporting global climate change.
Limitations in Research on Human Trafficking

In this article I point to some common pitfalls and particular challenges in research on human trafficking. I start out by presenting some of the challenges in identifying observable populations and behaviours, arguing that primary data collection in the trafficking field should focus on former victims, and not current victims or persons at risk. Thereafter I discuss some of the factors that have inhibited the development and use of explicit operational definitions of trafficking. Third, I present some of the challenges in identification of trafficking victims, when the victims themselves do not want to identify with the trafficking label. Finally, the usefulness of different research strategies in the trafficking fields for the current knowledge-needs is discussed. The article concludes that there will always be some limitations and biases in empirical research in the trafficking field. However, as long as we acknowledge these limitations and make them explicit in our research, sound empirical research that enhances our knowledge in this field is possible. The best potential for good quality research lies in small-scale, thematically focused empirical studies, while attempts to describe worldwide trafficking across regions and arenas is less likely to be successful.
Has New Zealand benefited from its investments in research & development?

We use panel data for nine industries to evaluate research and development (R&D) investments in New Zealand over the past forty years. We estimate the impact of R&D stocks in a particular industry on output per person in that industry and on output per person in the rest of the economy. We examine both public and private R&D investments. Privately provided R&D has a statistically significant positive impact on own-industry output per person, suggesting it increases productivity. However, publicly provided R&D has no impact on own-industry output per person. There is also evidence that private R&D in certain industries positively affects output per person in the rest of the economy, i.e. it generates positive spillovers. There is no evidence of positive spillovers from publicly provided R&D. a The views presented in this article do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Labour and Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
A Less Gendered Access to Land? The Impact of Tanzania's New Wave of Land Reform

type="main" xml:id="dpr12121-abs-0001"> Contemporary land reforms in sub-Saharan Africa tend to be evaluated based on the state-centric reforms of the past, which disadvantaged women. However, this article argues that the new-wave of land reforms and their decentralised administration institutions and anti-discriminatory legal frameworks may be different. Based on field research on the implementation of Tanzania's 1999 Land Acts, it identifies an institutional reconfiguration in which the formal institutions are gradually strengthened and the customary institutions slowly changed. This does not in itself pose a threat to women's access to land and some women, who are otherwise often perceived to be weak, are left better-off. Nevertheless, access to land becomes socially more uneven.
Housing Investment in the United States

A supply-determined model of housing investment is estimated from quarterly data over the 1963-83 period. The model is built on dynamic marginal cost pricing considerations and allows short- and long-run supply elasticities to differ. These are estimated as 1.0 and 3.0, respectively, but most of the long-run response occurs within 1 year. Rapid adjustment speed and the sizable long-run elasticity of supply are important factors in understanding the volatility of housing investment. The data also suggest some anomalies in the expected present value theory of asset pricing for housing capital.
A comparison of lean and CMMI for services (CMMI‐SVC v1.2) best practices

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the elements of lean concept and identify those principles which are applicable to service organizations, also, to compare the lean best practices with CMMI‐SVC v1.2 model goals and practices and find out the compatibility.Design/methodology/approach – The capability maturity model integration (CMMI) for services (CMMI‐SVC v1.2) model, developed by Software Engineering Institute is a collection of best practices applicable to service operations. Lean concepts, on the other hand, originated from manufacturing but of late lean principles and best practices have been implemented in some services organizations. As lean concepts originated from manufacturing and CMMI‐SVC v1.2 from software industry, there could be some overlapping content and some differences and each may offer some distinct advantages. This paper is based on the review of the contemporary literature on lean concepts and CMMI‐SVC v1.2 model, including books, journal articles and handbooks.
Inherent damping of single-loop digitally controlled voltage source inverters with LCL filters

This paper studies the inherent damping of digitally controlled LCL-filtered voltage source inverters (VSIs) that adopt single-loop inverter-current feedback (ICF) or grid-current feedback (GCF), through investigating the virtual impedance introduced by each feedback control method. The virtual impedance consists of resistance and reactance which are found to be delay-dependent. The virtual resistor provides an inherent damping to the resonance of LCL filters when its resistance is positive, and thus making it is possible for the system to be stable. Subsequently, the damping ranges of time delay of the single-loop control systems are easily derived, within which a positive virtual resistance at the LCL resonance frequency is obtained. The time delay should fall into the damping ranges to ensure a possible stable operation. The study of the inherent damping of single-loop digitally controlled VSIs with LCL filters is validated and verified by simulated and experimental results.
The Influence of the Teacher’s Sex on High School Students’ Engagement and Achievement in Science

The purpose was to explore relationships between teachers’ sex and a range of variables relating to adolescent students’ perceptions of their classroom engagement, quality of teaching and responses to their teacher, and their own achievements in science. A cross-sectional survey of 798 Norwegian students showed the potential influence of the sex of the teacher on engagement, motivation, volition, and learning outcomes which was estimated after they had known their teachers for six months. The conclusion is that there are interesting interactions between the sex of students and the sex of science teachers in high school along some dimensions. The statistical significant findings support the sex-stereotypic notion, while there are also tendencies supporting the sex-opposite notion. However, in most instances significant interactions between teacher sex and student sex are not established. The conclusion is more nuanced than in earlier studies. Study shortcomings and implications for the practice of future research are discussed.
Towards Standardized Stem Cell Therapy in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review.

OBJECTIVE To compile and analyze the published studies on cell therapy for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) to obtain a better insight into management of T2DM that involved stem cell therapy. METHODS We searched all published studies in Pubmed/Medline, and Cochrane library, using keywords: ‘stem cell’ AND ‘therapy’ AND ‘diabetes type 2’. Inclusion criteria: original articles on the use of stem cells in humans with T2DM. Exclusion criteria: articles in the non-English literature, studies on T2DM complications that did not assess both adverse events and any of the common diabetes study outcomes. Data collection: type of study, number of cases, and all data that were related to outcome and adverse events. Data were analyzed descriptively to conclude the possible cause of adverse reactions, and which protocols gave a satisfactory outcome. RESULTS We collected 25 original articles, out of which 17 studies did not have controls and were classified as case reports, while there were 8 studies that were controlled clinical trials. Most studies used autologous bone marrow mononuclear cells (BM-MNCs) or autologous or allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from various sources. Adverse events were mild and mostly intervention related. Efficacy of autologous BM-MNCs that were given via interventional route was comparable to Wharton jelly or umbilical cord MSCs that were given via intravenous (IV), Intra muscular (IM), or subcutaneous (SC) route. CONCLUSION Further controlled studies that compare BM-MNCs to BM-MSCs or WJ-MSCs or UCSCs are recommended to prove their comparable efficacy. In addition, studies that compare various routes of administration (IV, IM or SC) versus the more invasive interventional routes are needed.
Making cross-border banking work for Africa

Cross-border banking has been a critical part of Africa's financial history since colonial times. While the period after independence saw a wave of nationalization across the continent, with many of the colonial banks exiting, this trend was reversed in the 1980s with the arrival of financial liberalization. Failing state-owned and private banks were sold mostly to global investors or multinational banks. Increasing international and regional economic integration, including of financial services, and deregulation further increased the number of foreign banks and by the mid-2000s many African banking systems were yet again dominated by foreign banks. This introductory chapter documents trends in cross-border banking in Africa and the increasing shift in the composition of foreign banks in Africa. The next section provides a short overview of financial systems in Africa to set the stage. Section two characterizes the population of cross-border banks operating in Africa today, their expansion across the continent, and their importance in the host countries. Section three explores the reasons for the expansion of cross-border banking on the continent. Section four assesses the different business models banks use to expand across the continent as well as the characteristics of their group structures. Section five concludes.
'Pay to Play' or Money for Nothing'? Americans' Assessments of Money and the Efficacy of the Political System

This paper tests the logic of the Supreme Court’s reasoning with respect to corruption in Buckley v. Valeo (1976). In particular, we are interested in the justices’ emphasis on perceptions of corruption and on regulation as a critical mechanism to dispel the notion that elected officials are simply ‘bought and sold’. Using new data from a national poll on the role of money in politics, we test several related hypotheses about public perceptions of the role of money in politics, the salience of campaign finance as a public policy priority, and the effect of campaign contributions on mass voting behavior and political participation. We also leverage variation in the level of campaign finance regulation among the fifty states as a natural experiment to test several hypotheses that flow from the court’s reasoning in Buckley regarding the relationship between public perceptions of corruption and the level of regulation of campaign finance. We find very little evidence to substantiate the Court’s reasoning about the relationship between public perceptions of the influence of money on politics and political participation. In the place of the presumed correlation between trust in government and campaign finance reform, we offer individual-level explanations for relative levels of perceptions of corruption, efficacy, and participation.