Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Two separated effects of employer-provided health insurance on job mobility

We estimate the effect of employer-provided health insurance (EPHI) on job mobility via a dynamic model of joint employment and health insurance decision in the presence of uncertainty about wage rate and health status transitions. The model is based on a Markov decision process in which a hedonic wage approach provides an economic rationale for the different choices and health insurance serves as an input to the health production process. Including health transitions in the model helps us to understand how the availability of EPHI (positive job characteristic) and holding EPHI (the wage-health insurance trade-off) enter into the individuals’ decisions. The model is estimated using the 1999–2000 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey panel 4, and the results show that the ‘pure’ effects of holding EPHI are negligible, the ‘full’ effects of EPHI are significant and the degrees of the inefficiency vary between 14% and 25% across different states.
Comparing the analgesic effect of caudal and ilioinguinal iliohypogastric nerve blockade using bupivacaine-clonidine in inguinal surgeries in children 2-7 years old

Background: We compared the analgesic effects of caudal and ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric nerve block using bupivacaine-clonidine performed in children undergoing inguinal hernia repair. The ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric nerve block provides excellent pain relief for operations on the inguinal region, including emergency procedures (e.g. strangulated inguinal hernia with intestinal obstruction). It should be preferred to caudal block for these procedures. Materials and Methods: After local ethics committee approval and written parental consent, 67 ASA class I - II patients aged between 2-7 years old scheduled for elective inguinal hernia repair were allocated randomly into two groups after general anesthesia with same drugs in both groups. Group C received caudal block with 1 ml/kg bupivacaine 0.25% combined with 1 μg/kg clonidine, and group I received ilioinguinal- iliohypogastric nerve block with 0.3 ml /kg bupivacaine 0.25% combined with 1 μg/kg clonidine. Blood pressure and heart rate were documented every 5 minutes. Post-operative analgesia, analgesic use and side-effects were assessed during first 24 hours. Results: In group C, 7 / 34 and in group I, 12/33 patients required post-operative analgesia (P = 0.174). Five patients (15.5%) in group I and one patient (2.94%) in group C had severe pain after operation. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure decreased during operation, but the differences between two groups were not significant (P = 0.176, P = 0.111). Heart rate changes between two groups were insignificant (P = 0.182). Conclusion: It seems that in children, caudal epidural block and ilioinguinal - iliohypogastric nerve block using bupivacaine-clonidine have comparable effects on analgesia, severity of pain and hemodynamic changes during and after surgery on inguinal region.
Evaluation of Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation Scores in Critically Ill Pediatric Patients

Objectives: Disseminated intravascular coagulation is a complex systemic thrombohemorrahgic disorder, which may contribute to organ failure. We aimed to compare the detection rate of the disseminated intravascular coagulation, early in the course of ICU admission, of the two disseminated intravascular coagulation scoring systems defined by International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis and Japanese Association for Acute Medicine criteria and the prognostic value of disseminated intravascular coagulation scores in critically ill pediatric patients. Design: Single-center retrospective observational study. Setting: PICU in a tertiary care children’s hospital. Patients: Pediatric patients admitted in the PICU between January 2013 and December 2014. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: A total of 191 patients were included. Among them, 15.7% and 29.8% of the patients were diagnosed with disseminated intravascular coagulation by International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis and Japanese Association for Acute Medicine criteria, respectively. The diagnostic concordance rate between the International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis and Japanese Association for Acute Medicine scoring systems was 52.6%. As the Pediatric Risk of Mortality III, the modified Sequential Organ Failure Assessment, and the Pediatric Multiple Organ Dysfunction Syndrome scores increased, the percentage of patients with disseminated intravascular coagulation increased stepwise. The disseminated intravascular coagulation scores correlated well with these severity scores. Overall, the 28-day mortality was 9.9%. There were significant differences in most variables consisting of the International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis and Japanese Association for Acute Medicine scoring systems between survivor and nonsurvivors. Patients detected to have disseminated intravascular coagulation by the International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis and Japanese Association for Acute Medicine scoring systems showed higher mortality than patients without disseminated intravascular coagulation. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine score and International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis score were 0.788 (95% CI, 0.675–0.900) and 0.716 (95% CI, 0.598–0.834), respectively. Conclusions: Both the International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis and the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine scoring systems are useful for detection of the disseminated intravascular coagulation in critically ill pediatric patients. These scores correlate well with other severity scores, including Pediatric Risk of Mortality III, modified Sequential Organ Failure Assessment, and Pediatric Multiple Organ Dysfunction Syndrome. Disseminated intravascular coagulation scores are also significantly associated with 28-day mortality, suggesting that these could be promising prognostic factors.
Review and analysis of current Shariah‐compliant equity screening practices

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of applying alternative Shariah screens on the resulting universe of halal assets and to show that Shariah screening procedures currently used in practice are inconsistent with respect to discriminating between halal and haram. Design/methodology/approach - An empirical data analysis of the different asset universes obtained when applying the criteria specified by the most prominent Shariah-compliant funds and indexes to a common standard asset universe, the assets contained in the S&P 500 index. Findings - Analysis reveals that the asset universes are significantly different in size as well as constituents, i.e. for every index there is a substantial number of assets which are specified as halal or haram but classified the opposite way for other indexes. This indicates that, so far, there is no universal or generally accepted understanding of how to transform the descriptive Shariah rules into a system of checkable investment guidelines. Research limitations/implications - The results presented in this paper could motivate the development of a standardized screening framework which, taking into account the existing Shariah guidelines, produces a controlled, unified and understandable classification of assets, by which the credibility and consistency of Islamic equity products is enriched. Practical implications - Islamic institutions and Shariah scholars are guided to set up a common and standardized Shariah screening norm based on which computer-based management systems for Shariah compatible portfolios could be developed. Originality/value - This paper is believed to be the first empirical comparative analysis identifying the impact of using different Shariah screens on the composition of the compliant asset universe. The sensitization of Shariah scholars, fund managers and Islamic investors for the consequences of this so far undiscovered relation will certainly contribute to an enrichment of the credibility and consistency of Islamic equity products.
Correlation of central venous–arterial and mixed venous–arterial carbon dioxide tension gradient with cardiac output during neurosurgical procedures in the sitting position

Background and objective The study was conducted to evaluate the correlation of central venous–arterial and mixed venous–arterial pCO2 gradient with cardiac output in patients being operated in the sitting position. Methods Fifty-one patients, aged 41–69 years, classified as American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status II and III, scheduled to undergo elective neurosurgical procedures in the sitting position, were enrolled in this prospective cohort study. Simultaneous blood gas samples from arterial, central venous and pulmonary artery catheters were collected at four different time points during supine and sitting position. Cardiac index (CI) determination was accomplished simultaneously, with continuous cardiac output technique. The mixed venous–arterial pCO2 and central venous–arterial pCO2 gradients were calculated and related to CI at the specific time points, thus a total of 204 points of comparison were obtained. Results Changing from the supine to the sitting position induced a significant deterioration of CI, right atrial pressure, mean pulmonary arterial pressure and pulmonary wedge pressure. The mean delta pCO2 difference (bias) in the four time points ranged between −0.07 and −0.27. The upper (1.59–1.71 mmHg) and lower limits of agreement (−2.16 to −1.82 mmHg) were quite narrow, suggesting an acceptable overall agreement between the mixed and central venous pCO2 differences. The coefficient of determination (R2) between the venous–arterial pCO2 and CI for mixed and central venous circulations was 0.830 and 0.760 (P < 0.001 for both), respectively. In contrast, R2 values between mixed and central venous oxygen saturation values and CI were 0.324 and 0.286, respectively (P < 0.001 for both), illustrating a rather weak relationship. Conclusion It seems that venous–arterial pCO2 values obtained from mixed and central venous circulations can be reliably interchanged in estimating CI in patients undergoing neurosurgical procedures in the sitting position. Thus, central venous–arterial pCO2 gradient could serve as a useful and simple method for estimating cardiac performance, in which further invasive monitoring is not strongly indicated.
Agriculture and the Generation Problem: Rural Youth, Employment and the Future of Farming

Youth unemployment and underemployment are serious problems in most countries, and often more severe in rural than in urban areas. Small‐scale agriculture is the developing world's single biggest source of employment, and with the necessary support it can offer a sustainable and productive alternative to the expansion of large‐scale, capital‐intensive, labour‐displacing corporate farming. This, however, assumes a generation of young rural men and women who want to be small farmers, while mounting evidence suggests that young people are uninterested in farming or in rural futures. The emerging field of youth studies can help us understand young people's turn away from farming, pointing to: the deskilling of rural youth, and the downgrading of farming and rural life; the chronic neglect of small‐scale agriculture and rural infrastructure; and the problems that young rural people increasingly have, even if they want to become farmers, in getting access to land while still young.
Excess Demand, the Percentage of Medicaid Patients, and the Quality of Nursing Home Care

Most empirical studies of the determinants of the quality of nursing home care find a strong relationship between poor quality and a high percentage of Medicaid patients in the nursing home. These findings are often interpreted as evidence that the reimbursement rates paid for Medicaid patients are constraining nursing homes from providing higher quality care. Alternatively, this relationship can be attributed to the presence of excess demand eliminating the need to engage in quality competition for the less lucrative Medicaid patients. This paper tests these two hypotheses using Wisconsin data from 1979 and finds evidence favoring the latter.
Measuring the Real Output of the Life Insurance Industry

O UR understanding of the serviceproducing sector of the economy is seriously constrained by the inadequacy of measures of real output for the major service industries. Analyses of industry growth and productivity are only as good as the industry output measures on which they are based; and for many service industries (especially finance, insurance, government administration, health services and education) the real output measures that are generally adopted are poor indeed. In some cases production in the service sector, as measured in the national accounts, is no more than an index of labor input, with the result that the calculation of productivity change is essentially a tautological exercise. In almost all cases economists have had to reconcile themselves to the fact that at least part of the disparity in productivity growth between the service and goods-producing industries is a statistical illusion resulting from the inadequacy of existing data and techniques of measurement.
Ex-post Evaluation of Thirty Years of Compact Urban Development in the Netherlands

Despite the wide array of academic research, the impacts of compact urban development are not very well understood. What is lacking are, first, the insights into how a region or country would have appeared under policy regimes other than those realised and, secondly, a broad evaluation of relevant land use, transport, accessibility and related societal and ecological impacts. Here, we report on an initial attempt to establish a methodology and evaluation framework for analysing the effectiveness of Dutch compact urbanisation policies implemented between 1970 and 2000. Our conclusion is that, without compact urban development policies, urban sprawl in the Netherlands is likely to have been greater, car use would have been higher at the cost of alternative modes, emission and noise levels in residential and natural environments, and the fragmentation of wildlife habitats would have been higher.
The marketing capabilities-performance relationship: the empirical link in export ventures

This study examines the empirical link between marketing capabilities (product capability, pricing capability, distribution capability and promotion capability) and export marketing performance in export market ventures in a developing country context. The study was based on an empirical investigation of firms involved in exporting to foreign countries from Thailand. The study findings suggest that product, pricing and promotion capability all had a significant positive impact on export marketing performance. The study findings further suggest that marketing capabilities is a multi-dimensional construct.
Lockup clauses in Italian IPOs

Virtually all Initial Public Offering (IPO) prospectuses feature lockup provisions that limit pre-IPO shareholders’ share sale for some period of time after negotiations start. The aim of this article is to analyse voluntary lockups in Italy. We show that lockups are considerably longer and heterogeneous compared to the US or European evidences, and their duration and size serve primarily as a commitment device to alleviate the moral hazard problem faced by incumbent shareholders. We document considerable differences in lockup clauses among main shareholder classes, with venture capitalists and outside investors having considerably lower percentages of owned shares restricted for sale and with significantly shorter lockup durations. We also show that abnormal returns around the lockup expiration dates are associated solely with Venture-Capital (VC)-backed IPOs.
Understanding financial innovation systems: Veblen and Minsky at the periphery

Setting off from an Evolutionary perspective, this paper debates key aspects of the process of financing innovation based on Keynes's asset choice model within the context of Minsky's cycle and the Institutionalist approach of Veblen. Innovative activity is surrounded by great uncertainty because firms invest funds for the long term without being sure whether they will earn high returns. As a result, firms run into additional obstacles when trying to obtain financing to develop new technologies. This difference becomes clearer when developed countries (USA) and less-developed countries (Brazil) are compared. The higher the level of uncertainty in world markets, the lower the amount of funds available to finance innovation; and this situation is accentuated in less-developed countries because they do not have a mature financial system capable of supporting innovation risks.
Differential Diagnosis of Focal Nodular Hyperplasia With Quantitative Parametric Analysis in Contrast-Enhanced Sonography

Objectives:We investigated the potential of quantitative parametric analysis in the differential diagnosis of focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) from other hypervascularized liver focal lesions. Materials and Methods:Eighty-five focal liver lesions (in 83 patients) were explored using contrast-enhanced ultrasound (SonoVue and Cadence Contrast Pulse Sequencing) consisting of typical FNH (n = 52), hepatocellular carcinoma (n = 11), hemangioma with high flow (n = 8), hypervascular metastases (n = 10), and hepatocellular adenoma (n = 4). QontraXt software (AMID, Italy) was used here to estimate the following parameters: maximum peak value, Tr (time corresponding to time for obtaining 63% of the plateau), β parameter corresponding to the exponential factor, and slope corresponding to the tangent value of the first phase of enhancement. These parameters were obtained from the time-intensity curves derived from the enhancement observed in 2 regions of interest corresponding, respectively, to the whole lesion and the central region only. Results:A significant statistical difference (P < 0.05) was found in the values of Tr, β, and slope between FNH and other hypervascularized lesions on both the whole lesion and central region. Among these parameters, slope appeared as the most valuable whatever the region of interest, ie, central or whole lesion (P < 0.01). Central region was more accurate in the differentiation of FNH and concordant with visual characterization. Conclusion:Quantitative parametric curve analysis of the different hypervascularized lesions confirms the depiction of the central artery in FNH and thus could help in differentiating this specific focal liver lesion from the others.
FDI, Investment and Growth in OECD Countries

Multinational corporations [MNCs] usually engage in foreign direct investment [FDI] to take cost advantages of producing abroad to negate the need for licensing or subsidiary production. At the macro level, FDI accounts for significant proportions of MNCs total investment and has discernible impacts on economic growth. This is shown theoretically in the growth model where FDI complements domestic capital. Our model predictions tested favourably against panel data analysis of FDI on growth for thirty OECD countries from 1990 to 2004. This paper also contributes to integrating micro and macro aspects of the impact of FDI on economic growth and provides empirical support to existing literature.
Barriers pediatricians face when using asthma practice guidelines.

OBJECTIVE To describe barriers to the successful use of the 1997 National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) asthma guidelines. METHODS We conducted 3 focus groups to understand barriers to the use of 4 recommendations within the NHLBI guidelines (prescription of inhaled corticosteroids, recommendation of daily peak flowmeter use, smoking cessation screening and counseling, and allergen exposure counseling). PARTICIPANTS Twenty-one pediatricians and 1 nurse practitioner, who each followed an average of 47 patients with asthma, participated. Six participants (27%) had a faculty or adjunct appointment at a medical school. Nineteen (90%) of the 21 pediatricians were board certified. RESULTS We identified 171 comments about barriers to adherence. Type of recommendation and physician year of graduation from medical school were related to which barrier was prominent. For corticosteroid prescription, senior physicians mentioned lack of agreement, whereas younger physicians described lack of confidence in dosing or recognizing contraindications. For peak flow-meter use, senior physicians emphasized lack of training. Only senior physicians described the inertia of previous practice as a barrier. All groups mentioned time limitations. CONCLUSIONS Efforts to improve adherence to asthma guidelines should consider the range of barriers that pediatricians face, such as lack of awareness, familiarity, or agreement, and external barriers owing to environmental, guideline, or patient factors. In addition, this study documents barriers not previously considered, such as lack of self-efficacy, lack of outcome expectancy, and inertia of previous practice, that prevent adherence. Because type of recommendation and physician demographics are related to which barriers are prominent, interventions to improve NHLBI guideline adherence should be tailored to these factors.
Tracing University of San Carlos’ science and mathematics education graduates: How well are we in developing teacher professionals?

Graduates were encouraged to develop personal skills and attitude that will prepare them in the field of work. This paper attempted to trace the Science and Mathematics Education (SME) graduates of the University of San Carlos, College of Education from AY 2009-2010 to AY 2011-2012 in order to determine the relevance of its curricular programs in meeting the needed manpower and the impending full implementation of the K-12 program. Cross-sectional retrospective survey which utilized a researcher-developed questionnaire in tracing the graduates was used in this study. A total of 65 SME graduates were identified within the specified period of time. Of these, 43 served as survey respondents with a response rate of 66.2%. Data showed that the great majority of the respondents took and passed the Licensure Exam for Teachers (LET) in their first take, with two topnotchers and were mostly employed as full-time permanent teachers. Their retrospective evaluation of the curriculum indicated that its best aspect was the sequencing of the subjects. Graduates’ perceived levels of professional efficacy showed that majority of the top rated character traits essential in their work has something to do with working with others. This study concluded that tracing the SME graduates revealed the institutional capability of the Science and Mathematics Education Department (SMED) and the relevance of its curricular programs. It is further recommended to update the current curriculum to be K-12 ready foreseeing that the future graduates should be developed to teach confidently in light of the Philippine educational reform.