Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A dynamic analysis of fiscal pressure and demographic transition

In this paper, the effects of demographic changes, particularly in the age structure of population, on government social expenditure is estimated. The results indicate that income elasticity of government social services is unitary in high income countries and above that level in low income countries, especially in education and welfare. The paper attempts also to forecast the pressure of these government outlays in four distinct countries characterized by different demographic parameters.
Variation in 16S-23S rRNA Intergenic Spacer Regions in Photobacterium damselae: a Mosaic-Like Structure

ABSTRACT Phenotypically, Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida and P. damselae subsp. damselae are easily distinguished. However, their 16S rRNA gene sequences are identical, and attempts to discriminate these two subspecies by molecular tools are hampered by their high level of DNA-DNA similarity. The 16S-23S rRNA internal transcribed spacers (ITS) were sequenced in two strains of Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida and two strains of P. damselae subsp. damselae to determine the level of molecular diversity in this DNA region. A total of 17 different ITS variants, ranging from 803 to 296 bp were found, some of which were subspecies or strain specific. The largest ITS contained four tRNA genes (tDNAs) coding for tRNAGlu(UUC), tRNALys(UUU), tRNAVal(UAC), and tRNAAla(GGC). Five amplicons contained tRNAGlu(UUC) combined with two additional tRNA genes, including tRNALys(UUU), tRNAVal(UAC), or tRNAAla(UGC). Five amplicons contained tRNAIle(GAU) and tRNAAla(UGC). Two amplicons contained tRNAGlu(UUC) and tRNAAla(UGC). Two different isoacceptor tRNAAla genes (GGC and UGC anticodons) were found. The five smallest amplicons contained no tRNA genes. The tRNA-gene combinations tRNAGlu(UUC)-tRNAVal(UAC)-tRNAAla(UGC) and tRNAGlu(UUC)-tRNAAla(UGC) have not been previously reported in bacterial ITS regions. The number of copies of the ribosomal operon (rrn) in the P. damselae chromosome ranged from at least 9 to 12. For ITS variants coexisting in two strains of different subspecies or in strains of the same subspecies, nucleotide substitution percentages ranged from 0 to 2%. The main source of variation between ITS variants was due to different combinations of DNA sequence blocks, constituting a mosaic-like structure.
Structural Change and Economic Growth

First published in 1981 this book presents an original theoretical treatment of the problems of maintaining full employment in a multisector economic system with a growing population and different rates of technical progress in different sectors. The conditions for full employment and full capacity utilisation are examined when prices are stable and when there is inflation. This approach is carried out, not in terms of input-output relations, as has become customary in multisector models, but rather in terms of vertically integrated sectors. This makes it possible to analyse the economic growth process in terms of the structural dynamics of production, of prices and of employment. Remarkable implications are drawn for a surprisingly large number of theoretical problems, which have been under discussion since Adam Smith: from price theory to the theory of rates of profit and the rates of interest; from production theory to the theories of fluctuating growth, ever-changing composition of output, choice of technique and international trade.
Nonmarket strategies and behaviours for MNEs to build a congenial political economic environment in Mainland China

Successful investing in China requires investors to master a complex political and regulatory environment. Three basic theories ? institutional theory, resource dependency theory and agency theory ? are useful to explain why and how Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) take nonmarket strategies and behaviours to deal with a host government. Based on these theories, this paper proposes three basic strategies, namely, guanxi strategy, competitive strategy and leverage strategy, for MNEs to deal with the Chinese government and build a congenial political economic environment. The reasons why these strategies are valid and how to use them are also discussed.
A Comparison of Australian and Singaporean Pre-Service Teachers' Attitudes and Concerns About Inclusive Education

A survey of 91 pre-service teachersfrom Australia and Singapore was conducted to investigate their attitudes and concerns about implementing inclusive education in regular schools. Results indicated that Australian pre-service teachers were more in favour of including students with disabilities into the regular school compared to their Singaporean counterparts. The findings suggested that the pre-service teachers' beliefs may be significantly influenced by prevailing policies in the county. Schools worldwide are increasingly moving towards the inclusion of students with disabilities in the regular classroom. While some countries have legislations, other countries have formulated policies supporting inclusion. Australia and Singapore are among the latter category. Although the importance of legislation and policies have been and continue to be stressed for the successful implementation of inclusion reforms, equally important are the positive attitudes of in-service and pre-service teachers. Jones (1984) has stated: It should not be surprising to any informed observer that meaningful implementation of legislative acts will require that we give as much attention to attitudinal barriers as we have given to the elimination of barriers of physical access, barriers of employment access and barriers of educational access. (p. vii)
Reduction of Adipose Tissue Mass by the Angiogenesis Inhibitor ALS-L1023 from Melissa officinalis

It has been suggested that angiogenesis modulates adipogenesis and obesity. This study was undertaken to determine whether ALS-L1023 (ALS) prepared by a two-step organic solvent fractionation from Melissa leaves, which exhibits antiangiogenic activity, can regulate adipose tissue growth. The effects of ALS on angiogenesis and extracellular matrix remodeling were measured using in vitro assays. The effects of ALS on adipose tissue growth were investigated in high fat diet-induced obese mice. ALS inhibited VEGF- and bFGF-induced endothelial cell proliferation and suppressed matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activity in vitro. Compared to obese control mice, administration of ALS to obese mice reduced body weight gain, adipose tissue mass and adipocyte size without affecting appetite. ALS treatment decreased blood vessel density and MMP activity in adipose tissues. ALS reduced the mRNA levels of angiogenic factors (VEGF-A and FGF-2) and MMPs (MMP-2 and MMP-9), whereas ALS increased the mRNA levels of angiogenic inhibitors (TSP-1, TIMP-1, and TIMP-2) in adipose tissues. The protein levels of VEGF, MMP-2 and MMP-9 were also decreased by ALS in adipose tissue. Metabolic changes in plasma lipids, liver triglycerides, and hepatic expression of fatty acid oxidation genes occurred during ALS-induced weight loss. These results suggest that ALS, which has antiangiogenic and MMP inhibitory activities, reduces adipose tissue mass in nutritionally obese mice, demonstrating that adipose tissue growth can be regulated by angiogenesis inhibitors.
Finance and Governance in Developing Economies

Classic Big Push industrialization envisions state planners coordinating economic activity to internalize a range of externalities that otherwise lock in a low-income equilibrium, but runs afoul of well-known government failure problems. Successful Big Push coordination may occur instead when a large business group, acting in its controlling shareholder's self-interest, coordinates the establishment and expansion of businesses in diverse sectors. Where business groups play this role, many basic axioms of Anglo-American corporate governance, including the advocacy of shareholder value maximization and contestable corporate control, must be qualified.
Psychology and Global Climate Change: Addressing a Multi-faceted Phenomenon and Set of Challenges A Report by the American Psychological Association's Task Force on the Interface Between Psychology and Global Climate Change Members

and often statistical nature of the risks of global warming will not evoke strong visceral reactions (i.e., worry) and thus diminish alarm and urgency about risk management (Weber, 2006). The role of media narratives as mediators of the psychosocial impacts of climate change is discussed below and in the Adaptation section of this report.
Midwives’ Descriptions of Their Familiarity With Cancer: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF MIDWIVES WORKING WITH POPULATION-BASED CERVICAL CANCER SCREENING IN URBAN SWEDEN

Nurse-midwives are responsible for taking Papanicolaou (Pap) smears in Swedish population-based cervical cancer screening programs. A research project examining the screening program from the perspective of different stakeholders includes an interview study of 21 midwives working in Stockholm. This article explores the way the midwives describe cancer-related knowledge and aspects of screening, contrasting this with relevant findings from a substudy of 66 healthy women participating in screening. A semistructured interview guide with open-ended questions was used to investigate ideas about benefits and risks in the screening program, risk factors for cervical cancer, the reliability of the test itself, sources of information/knowledge relevant for cervical cancer screening, and the manner in which the midwife described her role in the screening program. The transcripts of the audiotaped interviews were analyzed thematically using a team approach. The interviewed midwives showed a great deal of consensus in their descriptions of lacking familiarity with cervical cancer and its prevention and treatment. The midwives said they lack recent education and knowledge, often avoiding use of the word “cancer” with women attending screening. It seems that the midwives experienced little professional guidance in discussing cancer-related issues with women attending the screening program. In this study, they appeared to rely on personal knowledge, values, and experience instead.
Urban settings and opportunities for healthy lifestyles: rediscovering walking and cycling and understanding their health benefits

Urban settings play a major role in facilitating and enabling healthy lifestyle choices. In particular, they can provide opportunities for maintaining or reintroducing walking and cycling as part of daily life, contributing to more physically active lifestyles and reducing obesity and risks for important diseases such as coronary heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes. This paper describes analytical tools that can be used locally to support walking and cycling as cost-effective and healthy options for urban mobility. The paper highlights recent international policy developments that are raising awareness of health promoting opportunities provided by walking and cycling, and the role to be played by urban and transport planning in creating favourable conditions for safe walking and cycling. (A)
The adoption of outside boards by small private US firms

The research issue motivating the present study is concerned with why some small private firms adopt an ‘outside board’ (i.e. larger boards in which the majority of directors are neither managers of the firm nor relatives of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)) and others do not. This issue is addressed by investigating whether differing contextual conditions distinguish adopters from non-adopters of outside boards. The authors consider the adoption of an outside board to be one part of a larger organizational life-cycle process in which organizations implement more ‘professional management’ structures and practices in response to their evolving internal and external contexts. The authors examine simultaneously three contextual pressures that commonly confront small private firms as they develop over time- firm growth and larger size, the succession of the CEO, and the diffusion of equity to individuals outside the firm- to determine which of these are salient in explaining the presence of an outside board. Logistic regression results (3070 respondents toa cross-industry mail survey) indicate that outside boards are more likely when more equity is held by individuals outside the firm, CEOs are older and CEOs do not intend to implement an intra-family transition of leadership. The results suggest that firms adopt outside boards primarily to satisfy the desires of external owners, and only secondarily for the service and resource benefits that outside directors provide.
The Effectiveness of Regulation Fd

We examine whether Regulation FD has reduced the informativeness of analysts' information outputs. For a sample of financial analysts' earnings forecasts and recommendations released between October 23, 1999 and October 23, 2001, we show that in the post-Regulation period the absolute price impact of information disseminated by financial analysts is lower by 32%. We also show that the drop in price impact varies systematically with brokerage house and stock characteristics related to the level of selective disclosure prior to Reg FD. Based on the time-series and cross-sectional evidence we conclude Regulation FD has been effective in curtailing selective disclosure.
Gaining Legitimacy as a Public Official: The Case of Supportive Employee Attitudes to the Standardization of Work

The standardization of work processes is a common feature of the public administration, aiming at both efficiency and equal treatment of citizens. Combining this standardization with employee motivation is considered a challenge. This challenge is explored, based on a survey to 261 social insurance officers (SIOs) at the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. Results reveal that, contrary to expectations, 73 per cent of these officials perceived the standardized protocols as supportive, rather than burdening. Justifications were codified in order to identify factors affecting these attitudes. Four categories emerged. These factors are discussed and it is concluded that the standardization of work increased professional status, by providing with legitimacy and authority. However, in order to ensure compliance and increase professional status, better opportunities for officials to influence protocols and contribute to the shared knowledge base are required.
Binding of anti‐H‐Y monoclonal antibodies to separated X and Y chromosome bearing porcine and bovine sperm

Studies designed to answer the question whether or not H‐Y antigen is preferentially expressed on Y chromosome bearing sperm have resulted in conflicting results. This is probably due to the absence of reliable methods for estimating the percentage of X and Y chromosome bearing sperm in fractions, enriched or depleted for H‐Y antigen positive sperm. In recent years a reliable method for separating X and Y chromosome bearing sperm has been published. With this method, separation is achieved by using a flow cytometer/cell sorter, which detects differences in DNA content. This technique provided the first opportunity for testing anti‐H‐Y antibody binding to fractions enriched for X and Y chromosme bearing sperm, directly. A total of 7 anti‐H‐Y monoclonal antibodies were tested using sorted porcine sperm and in one experiment also sorted bovine sperm. All monoclonal antibodies bound only a fraction of the sperm (20 to 50%). However, no difference in binding to the X and Y sperm enriched fractions was found. Therefore, the present experiments do not yield evidence that H‐Y antigen is preferentially expressed in Y chromosome bearing sperm. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Political Insecurity and the Diffusion of Financial Market Regulation

Explanations for the international spread of financial market liberalization have emphasized either “top-down” mechanisms (globalization, pressure from international organizations and the United States) or “bottom-up” mechanisms focusing on domestic coalitions (derived from configurations of economic interests). In contrast to these broadly structural approaches that deemphasize the choices of individuals, this article focuses on the micro-mechanisms of diffusion by emphasizing the incentives facing office-seeking leaders. It argues that politically insecure leaders are potent agents of diffusion because they are particularly likely to “learn” the lessons of financial market reformand emulate the liberalizing practices of others for two reasons. First, the hefty economic boom often associated with financial liberalization provides a tempting way to buttress their near-term grip on power. As they observe other nations in their region experiencing a boom, leaders fearful of losing office will jump on the liberalization bandwagon, accelerating regional reform cascades. Second, insecure governments may be particularly susceptible to pressure from international organizations: They have motivated biases to believe the efficiency claims of liberalizers and strong reasons to seek approval for their policies.
No negative symptoms in healthy volunteers after single doses of amisulpride, aripiprazole, and haloperidol: a double-blind placebo-controlled trial

Noncompliance and poor outcome in patients with schizophrenia are closely related to the negative symptoms secondary to antipsychotics. No controlled study has evaluated whether amisulpride and aripiprazole induce negative symptoms. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of single doses of amisulpride, aripiprazole, haloperidol, and risperidone in healthy volunteers. Seventy-eight young volunteers took part in this double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel study of four antipsychotics: 400 mg amisulpride, 10 mg aripiprazole, 3 mg haloperidol, and 2 mg risperidone. Assessments of negative symptoms were done 4 h after administration using both subjective rating scales (Neuroleptic Induced Deficit Syndrome Scale and Subjective Deficit Syndrome Scale) and an objective rating scale (Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms). Risperidone only produced significant increases on the avolition score of the Neuroleptic Induced Deficit Syndrome Scale and blunted affect and alogia scores of the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms compared with placebo. The effect on blunted affect persisted after controlling for mental sedation. Amisulpride, aripiprazole, and haloperidol did not induce negative symptoms. Aripiprazole and risperidone induced mild extrapyramidal symptoms. The most common adverse events were somnolence and cognitive slowing. These data indicate that a single risperidone dose induces negative symptoms in normal volunteers, whereas amisulpride, aripiprazole, and haloperidol do not. These characteristics of antipsychotics should be considered when choosing optimal drugs for patients with psychosis.
Location, Location, Location

Political scientists have extensively studied how the public forms its opinions about European integration, utilizing a variety of techniques and data sets while focusing on different units of analysis. Much of the public opinion literature suggests that lower-skilled workers are likely to have more negative evaluations of European integration. We argue, by contrast, that ‘socio-tropic’ evaluations of the effects of European integration on national redistribution and capitalist systems are more important than skill. To the extent that skill levels matter, they can be understood only through the frame of national factor endowments and varieties of capitalism. In addition, we find that other individual-level factors, such as ideology, are conditioned or attenuated by national contextual factors, suggesting that cross-level interactions are a promising direction for future research.
Treatment of nipple-sparing mastectomy necrosis using hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

www.PRSJournal. com 1071e Viewpoints Treatment of Nipple-Sparing Mastectomy Necrosis Using Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Sir: E supporting the oncologic safety of nipplesparing mastectomy has increased its use exponentially over the past decade. However, the greatest benefit of the technique—preservation of the nippleareola complex and entire breast envelope—is also the source of the most complications. With the majority of reconstructions nationally still implant-based, mastectomy flap necrosis risks implant exposure, compromises the final aesthetic outcome, and complicates definitive reconstruction.1 Conservative topical wound management therapies offer limited benefit. In isolated cases of threatened mastectomy flaps following nipple-sparing mastectomy, patients have been referred to our hyperbaric oxygen therapy program in an attempt to salvage the reconstruction. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been used for threatened skin grafts or flaps, osteoradionecrosis, chronic refractory osteomyelitis, diabetic ulcers, and other conditions.2 Using a closed chamber with an elevated internal atmospheric pressure and oxygen concentration, the partial pressure of oxygen in tissue can be increased. Patients return for a set number of treatments, depending on the indication. Figure 1 demonstrates images of a healthy, nonsmoking, nondiabetic, 31-year-old woman who underwent bilateral prophylactic nipple-sparing mastectomies with tissue expander and acellular dermal matrix reconstruction. The patient developed mastectomy flap necrosis with tissue expander deflation on postoperative day 2 (Fig. 1, left). She was referred to our center for 30 treatments in the hyperbaric oxygen chamber at 2.0 atmospheres for 90-minute sessions. Figure 1, right demonstrates the result 6 weeks later. Using hyperbaric oxygen therapy alone, the patient’s mastectomy flaps healed. Increasing comfort with nipple-sparing mastectomy has broadened its indications. Patients with prior breast irradiation and larger, more ptotic breasts now are being offered the procedure.3,4 Performing this higher risk procedure in higher risk patients will likely lead to increased complication rates. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a noninvasive, generally well-tolerated available therapy that can mitigate the consequences of mastectomy and nipple-areola complex necrosis following nipple-sparing mastectomy. It should be considered and used in instances of necrosis. DOI: 10.1097/PRS.0000000000001229
Cost accounting in eighteenth century Spain: the Royal Textile Factory of Ezcaray

According to a growing body of literature, sophisticated costing techniques were used in the early stages of the Industrial Revolution (Fleischman & Parker, 1991; 1997), or before that period (Carmona et al., 1997). The investigation of cost accounting practices in medium Spanish factories that did not operate as monopolies should provide more insights into the development of cost accounting in the eighteenth century and into the use that was made of it. This paper reports on archival evidence of the use of cost accounting in the case of the Royal Textile Factory of Ezcaray between 1767 and 1785. It becomes apparent that a sophisticated knowledge of cost accounting existed in this company. Other findings reported are the important role of accountants in cost accounting, the likelihood of recurrent cost management, the lack of integration between cost and financial accounting and the use of cost accounting in a poorly managed company that, finally, went into bankruptcy.