Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The sources of economic growth in OECD countries

This chapter1 presents an overview of growth performance in OECD countries over the past two decades. Special attention is given to developments in labour productivity, allowing for human capital accumulation and multi-factor productivity (MFP), allowing for changes in the composition and quality of physical capital. The chapter suggests wide (and growing) disparities in GDP per capita growth, while differences in labour productivity have remained broadly stable. Countries that have managed to improve their growth performance share some common elements: improvements in labour utilisation; a generalised enhancement of human capital; and a rapid adoption of the new information and communication technology by many industries. THE SOURCES OF ECONOMIC GROWTH IN THE OECD COUNTRIES – ISBN 92-64-19945-4 – © OECD 2003 27 1. ECONOMIC GROWTH: THE AGGREGATE EVIDENCE
Examining "institutionalization": a critical theoretic perspective

Various forms of critical theory have been suggested to illuminate social practices. Versions of such theories has been promoted for the analysis of management, organizations and work (e.g. Burrell, 1988; Burrell, 1994; Alvesson and Willmott, 2004) and this chapter considers how such analyses, with their emphasis on power, domination and emancipation, can be used to examine a central focus of institutional theory, namely institutionalization. Limitations and anomalies in institutional theory have stimulated its development from ‘old’, through ‘new’, to ‘neo’ variants of analysis1 (DiMaggio and Powell, 1991). At each stage, institutional theory has taken on board and accommodated critiques which, alternatively, have called for a rebalancing of the emphasis given to the conditioning constraints of ‘structure’ or the innovative capabilities of ‘agency’ (Reed, 1997). This chapter steps back from this process of critique and incorporation to provide a ‘critical theoretic’ illumination of institutional theory to facilitate reflection on its distinctiveness and limits. We begin by noting how, in their different ways, varieties of institutional theory and critical theory share an attentiveness to institutionalization, conceived as processes that order and constrain but also enable forms of interaction and organization. In institutional theory, dominant ‘logics’ that are irreducible 28
Data Access and Research Transparency in the Qualitative Tradition

As an abstract idea, openness is difficult to oppose. Social scientists from every research tradition agree that scholars cannot just assert their conclusions, but must also share their evidentiary basis and explain how they were reached. Yet practice has not always followed this principle. Most forms of qualitative empirical inquiry have taken a minimalist approach to openness, providing only limited information about the research process, and little or no access to the data underpinning findings. What scholars do when conducting research, how they generate data, and how they make interpretations or draw inferences on the basis of those data, are rarely addressed at length in their published research. Even in book-length monographs which have an extended preface and footnotes, it can sometimes take considerable detective work to piece together a picture of how authors arrived at their conclusions.
Expatriate or local? Predicting Japanese, subsidiary expatriate staffing strategies

Can Dunning's OLI (Ownership, Location, Internalization) framework be extended from predicting FDI location decisions and entry mode choices to other international strategic decisions? Using data from 891 new (two years or younger) Japanese foreign subsidiaries, we investigate the relationship between Dunning's OLI variables and expatriate staffing ratios (the ratio of expatriates to local employees). We found empirical support for Dunning's framework as a predictor of Japanese new subsidiary expatriate staffing ratios. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.
IoT-B&B: Edge-Based NFV for IoT Devices with CPE Crowdsourcing

For embracing the ubiquitous Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, edge computing and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) have been enabled in branch offices and homes in the form of virtual Customer-Premises Equipment (vCPE). A Service Provider (SP) deploys vCPE instances as Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) on top of generic physical Customer-Premises Equipment (pCPE) to ease administration. Upon a usage surge of IoT devices at a certain part of the network, vCPU, memory, and other resource limitations of a single pCPE node make it difficult to add new services handling the high demand. In this paper, we present IoT-B&B, a novel architecture featuring resource sharing of pCPE nodes. When a pCPE node has sharable resources available, the SP will utilize its free resources as a “bed-and-breakfast” place to deploy vCPE instances in need. A placement algorithm is also presented to assign vCPE instances to a cost-efficient pCPE node. By keeping vCPE instances at the network edge, their costs of hosting are reduced. Meanwhile, the transmission latencies are maintained at acceptable levels for processing real-time data burst from IoT devices. The traffic load to the remote, centralized cloud can be substantially reduced.
Understanding and Comparing Differences in Reported Medication Administration Error Rates

The prevention of medication administration errors (MAEs) represents a central focus of hospitals' quality improvement and risk management initiatives. Because the identification and reporting of MAEs is a nonautomated and voluntary process, it is essential to understand the extent to which errors may not be reported. This study reports the results of 2 multihospital surveys in which over 1300 staff nurses in each survey estimated the extent to which various types of nonintravenous (non-IV) and intravenous (IV)-related MAEs are actually being reported on their nursing units. Overall, respondents estimated that about 60% of MAEs are actually being reported. Considerable differences in estimated rates of MAE reporting were found between staff and supervisors working on the same patient care units. A simulation based on actual and perceived rates of MAE reporting is presented to estimate the range of errors not being reported. Implications regarding the reliability, validity, and completeness of MAEs actually being reported are discussed.
Preparation of Cultured Skin for Transplantation Using Insulin-like Growth Factor I in Conjunction with Insulin-like Growth Factor Binding Protein 5, Epidermal Growth Factor, and Vitronectin

Background. Cultured skin for transplantation is routinely prepared by growing patient keratinocytes in the presence of semidefined sources of growth factors including serum and feeder cells, but these materials require substantial risk remediation and can contribute to transplant rejection. Methods. We have therefore investigated the potential of a novel combination of recombinant and purified growth factors to replace serum and feeder cells in cultures of human keratinocytes suitable for clinical application. Our technique was investigated with respect to culture establishment, serial propagation, colony-forming efficiency, immunocytochemistry, epidermal reconstruction, and suitability to support transplantation by aerosolization. Results. We demonstrate that insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I—used in conjunction with epidermal growth factor (EGF), insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP)-5 and vitronectin—supports growth in the absence of serum. Moreover, a threefold greater number of cells are generated within 7 days compared to those grown under current best practice conditions using serum (P<0.05). The resulting test cultures are suitable for epidermal reconstruction and support the option for delivery in the form of an aerosolized cell suspension. Serial propagation, with the view to producing confluent sheets for extensive injuries, was achieved but with less consistency and this result correlated with a significant decline in colony-forming efficiency compared to controls. Conclusions. IGF-I used in conjunction with IGFBP-5, EGF, and vitronectin provides a superior alternative to serum for the rapid expansion and transplantation of cultured keratinocytes within the first week of treatment. Nevertheless, further optimization is required with respect to elimination of feeder cells and serial expansion of cultures for treatment of extensive injuries.
A Parliamentary Dimension for EU Soft Governance

Abstract Why has the weakness of the parliamentary dimension in the extensive array of soft governance practices that have exploded in the European Union (EU) since the turn of the century gone largely unnoticed? Is that weakness a problem for input legitimacy and, if so, to what extent can it be overcome by compensating with other, non‐parliamentary channels of legitimacy? An argument from accountability will be put forward, according to which strengthening the parliamentary dimension is inescapable if democratic legitimacy is to be respected, though civil society and stakeholder involvement are also increasingly necessary as well in a complementary role. The article will explore some suggestions about how this can be achieved.
Intrafirm Mobility and Sex Differences in Pay

The authors analyze eleven years of employment data for a regional grocery store chain in the United States that faced a class-action lawsuit over gender discrimination. The data include all employees' job titles, wage rates, and earnings, allowing an examination of initial job assignments, mobility between departments, and mobility into supervisory and management positions. An analysis that models the flows of individuals between different departments and jobs within the firm as a Markov process shows a pattern of intrafirm mobility and initial job assignment that generally penalized women, even when the analysis accounts for individuals' characteristics. Although the court-mandated affirmative action remedies were not formally implemented until after the period of the study, there were clear signs of relative improvement in the economic status of the firm's female employees as a result of the filing of the lawsuit and subsequent trial.
More uncertainty: on the trending nature of real GDP in the US and UK

While there is disagreement concerning the integrated nature of US Gross domestic product (GDP) over the long-run, there is a consensus that it is best characterized as I(1) over the post-World War II period. In this article the existing literature is extended via the use of an exponential smooth transition autoregressive (ESTAR)-based unit root test. It is shown that in contrast to the conventionally applied ADF test and the more powerful GLS-based ADF test, introduction of an alternative hypothesis of ESTAR adjustment results in the overwhelming rejection of the presence of a unit root. Similar results are presented for UK GDP over the same period.
Living with childhood asthma: parental perceptions of risk in the household environment and strategies for coping

Aim To explore parents’ perceptions of environmental household risks to their child’s asthma and to identify the strategies they adopt in relation to these perceived risks. Background The prevalence of childhood asthma is increasing worldwide and especially in the UK. Asthma is more common in areas of socio-economic disadvantage. Household environmental factors have been implicated in some of this increase. A number of factors in the home environment have been found to act as triggers to asthma symptoms, including high humidity levels, poor ventilation, mould, second-hand tobacco smoke and pet allergens. Little is known about how parents, as the main care-givers and decision makers in the home, perceive and cope with the risks posed by these triggers. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of parents of 32 children with asthma aged 4 to 16 years and living in a socio-economically disadvantaged urban community in the North East of England. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim and analysed using constant comparison techniques. Findings All parents were aware of some of the risks their children faced at home. Some appeared to know more than others and coping styles varied. A typology of three groups of parents was identified: those who actively seek advice and adopt clear preventative strategies (preventers); those who minimize the risks and only react when things go wrong (reactors); and those who engage in compensatory activities in an attempt to trade-off between harms and benefits (compensators). The unifying themes underpinning these different styles are that all parents are motivated to maintain normal family life but that they adopt different strategies to achieve this.
Investigating neural network based query-by-example keyword spotting approach for personalized wake-up word detection in Mandarin Chinese

We use query-by-example keyword spotting (QbyE-KWS) approach to solve the personalized wake-up word detection problem for small-footprint, low-computational cost on-device applications. QbyE-KWS takes keywords as templates, and matches the templates across an audio stream via DTW to see if the keyword is included. In this paper, we use neural networks as acoustic models to extract DNN/LSTM phoneme posterior features and LSTM embedding features. Specifically, we investigate the LSTM embedding feature extractor for different modeling units in Mandarin, spanning from phonemes to words. We also study the performances of two popular DTW approaches: S-DTW and SLN-DTW. SLN-DTW manages to accurately and effectively search the keyword in a long audio stream without the segmentation procedure that is used in S-DTW approaches. Our study shows that DNN phoneme posterior plus SLN-DTW approach achieves the highest computation efficiency and the state-of-the-art performance with 78% relative miss rate reduction as compared with the S-DTW approach. Word level LSTM embedding feature shows superior performance as compared with other embedding units.
Adherence to antiretroviral therapy and its correlates among HIV-infected children at an HIV clinic in New Delhi

Abstract Background: With the introduction of antiretroviral therapy (ART), the mortality and morbidity of HIV/AIDS have decreased markedly. However, high adherence to ART (>95%) is necessary for a good therapeutic outcome. There is a paucity of data on paediatric adherence to ART and its correlates from developing countries, particularly India. Aim: To determine the rate of adherence to ART in HIV-infected Indian children and the factors associated with adherence. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at an ART clinic in New Delhi, north India. Caregivers of 90 children were interviewed using a pre-designed, structured questionnaire and checklist. The primary measure of adherence was 4-day caregiver’s recall. Adherence rates were correlated with 3-monthly CD4 counts. Results: Mean (SD, range) adherence was 91·4% (12·3, 75–100%). Adherence was low (<95%) in 31 (34·4%) patients. On multivariate logistic regression analysis, increasing time since ART initiation (OR 1·08, 95% CI 1·02–1·13), low caregiver educational status (OR 4·19, 95% CI 1·37–10·88), orphanhood (OR 3·57, 95% CI 1·13–9·25), efavirenz-based ART regimens (OR 3·65, 95% CI 1·05–10·69) and female gender (OR 3·15, 95% CI 1·03–7·68) were associated with lower adherence. The rise in CD4 count after ART initiation was more marked in the high adherence group, with the difference in the two groups becoming statistically significant after 6 months of ART (median CD4 count 698 vs 355, p = 0·016). Conclusions: It is possible to achieve high adherence to ART in a resource-limited setting. Caregiver recall is a reliable and inexpensive tool for measuring adherence. Paediatric adherence to ART is influenced by numerous factors and larger studies are needed to address the issue in India.
Democracy, Labor Power and Social Spending in Latin America

There is an ongoing debate in the literature concerning the impact of democracy on welfare spending. In this study, I argue that the effect of democracy is conditional on the existence of domestic groups - predominantly labor - who pressure the government for policy changes. In countries where there is a larger high skilled labor force and a more democratic government, welfare expenditure is higher because the government will respond to labor pressures for broader welfare protection. However, in countries where the labor force is less organized, democratic leaders are more likely to decrease welfare protections in favor of more orthodox economic policies. By contrast, the organization of the labor force has little to no impact on the welfare effort in authoritarian countries.
The Clinic Environment as a Form of Social Support for Adolescents and Young Adults Living with HIV

Abstract Adolescents and young adults living with HIV (YLHIV) face numerous stresses that affect their care and medication adherence. The clinic social environment may play an important supportive role for YLHIV, influencing health outcomes. The aim of this article is to explore how YLHIV in Baltimore, Maryland understand the various forms of social support provided within the social environment of their HIV clinic. We used qualitative research methods including iterative, semi‐structured in‐depth interviews with 20 YLHIV interviewed up to three times each to explore HIV stressors, support systems, and medication adherence. We employed thematic content analysis to systematically code and synthesize textual interview data. We found that YLHIV experienced social embeddedness with their healthcare teams and through clinic activities. Participants largely perceived these social connections as support, acknowledging that these supports are available to them when needed. Support was enacted through the provision of instrumental support for issues outside of the young person's medical care (i.e., finding a crib for a participant's baby), appraisal (i.e., through respect of the young person's agency and decision making), and information about their HIV care and medication. Support was not always well received, however, as some young people found the support from clinicians demeaning. Limitations of the clinic social support environment included concerns about trust and privacy, and perceiving support as inappropriate or unwanted. Participants identified a number of ways in which the clinic provided meaningful social support. Future research should explore how these supports may improve care and medication adherence of YLHIV.
Detection of clinically relevant serrated polyps during screening colonoscopy: results from seven cooperating centers within the German colorectal screening program

Abstract Background Serrated polyps have been recognized as precursors of colorectal cancer (CRC) via the serrated pathway. Endoscopic detection and histopathological evaluation of serrated polyps are challenging. The aims of this study were to determine detection rates of the recently proposed entity of clinically relevant serrated polyps (crSPs) and to identify factors that influence their detection in a primary colonoscopy screening cohort. Methods We retrospectively analyzed average-risk screening colonoscopies performed at a tertiary academic hospital and six community-based private practices in Germany between 01/01/2012 and 14/12/2016. Exclusion criteria were age < 50 years, conditions with increased risk for CRC (e. g. inflammatory bowel disease, history of CRC, hereditary cancer syndromes), and incomplete procedures. CrSPs were defined as serrated polyps ≥ 10 mm and/or > 5 mm located proximally to the splenic flexure. Conventional adenomas were defined as adenomas excluding serrated polyps. Results A total of 4161 colonoscopies from average-risk individuals were included (median age 62 years [interquartile range 56 – 69]; 48.6 % male). CrSPs were detected in 6.9 %, with a mean detection rate of 4.7 % (95 % confidence interval 2.3 % – 7.2 %). Detection rates ranged from 0 % to 16.2 %. In multivariate analysis, simultaneous detection of conventional adenomas and an endoscopist adenoma detection rate of ≥ 25 % were significantly associated with increased detection of crSPs, with odds ratios of 1.43 (95 %CI 1.11 – 1.85; P = 0.01) and 7.35 (95 %CI 4.43 – 12.19; P < 0.001). The individual endoscopist’s detection rate for conventional adenomas and crSPs were significantly correlated (r = 0.54, P = 0.02). Conclusion Detection rates for crSPs differed between participating endoscopists. However, individual skills to detect polypoid lesions have a relevant bearing on the detection rate of crSPs.
WHO EMRO | Impact of economic sanctions on access to noncommunicable diseases medicines in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Background: It has been argued that economic sanctions and the economic crisis have adversely affected access to drugs. Aim: To assess the impact of economic sanctions on the Iranian banking system in 2011 and Central Bank in 2012 on access to and use of drugs for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Methods: An interrupted time series study assessed the effects of sanctions on drugs for diabetes (5 drug groups), asthma (5 drug groups), cancer (14 drugs) and multiple sclerosis (2 drugs). We extracted data from national reference databases on the list of drugs on the Iranian pharmaceutical market before 2011 for each selected NCD and their monthly sales. For cancer drugs, we used stratified random sampling by volume and value of sales, and source of supply (domestic or imported). Data were analysed monthly from 2008 to 2013.
Vestibulo‐ocular reflex pathways in internuclear ophthalmoplegia

We measured the vestibulo‐ocular reflex (VOR) during head impulses in a patient with right‐sided internuclear ophthalmoplegia. Head impulses are rapid, passive, high‐acceleration, low‐amplitude head rotations in the direction of a particular semicircular canal (SCC). Adduction of the right eye was abnormally slow during right lateral SCC head impulses. The VOR during left posterior SCC impulses was severely deficient in both eyes, but the VOR during left anterior SCC impulses was only slightly deficient. We suggest that the vertical vestibulo‐ocular pathways in humans are connected in SCC‐plane coordinates, not the traditional roll and pitch coordinates, and that anterior SCC signals do not travel exclusively in the medial longitudinal fasciculus. Ann Neurol 1999;45:529–533
CYTOPHILIC ANTIBODY IN GUINEA-PIGS WITH DELAYED-TYPE HYPERSENSITIVITY.

Cytophilic antibody has been demonstrated in the serum of guinea-pigs injected with sheep red cells mixed with Freund's complete adjuvant. Sheep red cells adhered, in the absence of serum, to normal guinea-pig macrophages which had been treated in vitro with such serum. Treatment of polymorphs and lymphocytes with the antiserum did not confer on them this capacity to adsorb sheep red cells. The animals immunized with sheep red cells and complete adjuvant, when skin tested with an extract of sheep red cells, showed strong delayed-type reactions. Cytophilic antibody was not detectable in the serum of the majority of guinea-pigs which received sheep red cells mixed with incomplete adjuvant. Skin tests in these animals produced strong Arthus reactions but no delayed reactions. Titres of haemagglutinating antibodies were similar whether the adjuvant was complete or incomplete.