Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
In search of spiritual leadership

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an interview with Lynne Sedgmore, CBE, Executive Director of 157 Group UK.Design/methodology/approach – This briefing is prepared by an independent interviewer.Findings – Lynne Sedgmore, CBE, is executive director of the 157 Group UK and was formerly chief executive of the UK Centre for Excellence in Leadership. A corporate mystic, her leadership style in her role as principal of Guildford College of Further and Higher Education, UK, was subject of a PhD dissertation. The achievements of the Centre for Excellence in Leadership under her leadership (2003‐2008) have been documented in a series of reports and papers and are now a topic for a book (in writing). The Centre for Excellence in Leadership was awarded the International Spirit at Work Award for its achievements as a spiritual organization. Lynne Sedgmore was awarded the CBE for services to education in 2004.Practical implications – Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenc.
When does rigorous impact evaluation make a difference? The case of the Millennium Villages

When is the rigorous impact evaluation of development projects a luxury, and when a necessity? The authors study one high-profile case: the Millennium Villages Project (MVP), an experimental and intensive package intervention to spark sustained local economic development in rural Africa. They illustrate the benefits of rigorous impact evaluation in this setting by showing that estimates of the project's effects depend heavily on the evaluation method. Comparing trends at the MVP intervention sites in Kenya, Ghana, and Nigeria with trends in the surrounding areas yields much more modest estimates of the project's effects than the before-versus-after comparisons published thus far by the MVP. Neither approach constitutes a rigorous impact evaluation of the MVP, which is impossible to perform due to weaknesses in the evaluation design of the project's initial phase. These weaknesses include the subjective choice of intervention sites, the subjective choice of comparison sites, the lack of baseline data on comparison sites, the small sample size, and the short time horizon. The authors describe one of many ways that the next wave of the intervention could be designed to allow proper evaluation of the MVP's impact at little additional cost.
Monetary policy and asymetries in the business cycle of Argentina

This paper studies the asymmetries that are claimed to arise in the real economy as a response to monetary policy shocks. It follows Lo and Piger�s (2005) regime-switching specification in order to investigate time variation in the response of the transitory component of output to monetary shocks in Argentina. The results suggest time variation in the coefficients that describe the response of output, which can be well explained by a dummy variable indicating the phase of the cycle at the time the policy is applied. We also find support to Friedman�s �plucking� view of economic fluctuations, while other two features of the shocks (direction and size of the monetary policy) explain strongly the business cycle of Argentina.
Dynamic Degenerative Lumbar Spondylolisthesis: Diagnosis With Axial Loaded Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Study Design. Retrospective review of case notes and imaging. Objective. To show the advantage of axial loaded magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for identification of dynamic degenerative spondylolisthesis as a suspected cause of spinal claudication. Summary of Background Data. Degenerative spondylolisthesis typically occurs at L4/L5 and is usually evident on plain radiography. However, dynamic degenerative spondylolisthesis may become evident on erect radiographs when not shown on supine radiographs or MRI. Methods. The case notes and imaging (radiography, conventional MRI, and axial loaded MRI) in 2 patients with symptoms of spinal claudication were reviewed. Results. A 44-year-old female presented with a 3-year history of intermittent low back pain and right leg numbness after a fall. A 52-year-old female presented with a 4-year history of low back pain, bilateral leg weakness, and right leg numbness. In both cases, conventional MRI studies showed mild-to-moderate degenerative disc disease only with no evidence of abnormal spinal alignment or nerve root compression. Axial loaded MRI clearly showed the development of a degenerative spondylolisthesis with central canal stenosis and facet ganglion formation in 1 case. Conclusions. Axial loaded MRI identified occult dynamic degenerative spondylolisthesis, which correlated with the clinical picture but was not shown on initial conventional MRI or plain radiography.
On the Role of Capital Gains in Swedish Income Inequality

Realized capital gains are typically disregarded in the study of income inequality. We show that in the case of Sweden this severely underestimates the actual increase in inequality and, in particular, top income shares during recent decades. Using micro panel data to average incomes over longer periods and re-rank individuals according to income excluding capital gains, we show that capital gains indeed are a reoccurring addition to rather than a transitory component in top incomes. Doing the same for lower income groups, however, makes virtually no difference. We also try to find the roots of the recent surge in capital gains-driven inequality in Sweden since the 1980s. While there are no evident changes in terms of who earns these gains (high wage earners vs. top capital income earners), the primary driver instead seems to be the drastic asset price increases on the post-1980 deregulated financial markets.
NreG t wo Years On: Where Do We Go from Here?

The views expressed here are personal. Thanks are due to Naresh Saxena, Mihir Shah, Jean Dreze, Suhasini Ali and Aruna Roy and participants at two seminars one at NCAER, New Delhi in April 2008 and the other at Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram in May 2008, for comments on an earlier draft. This article draws upon published data from the NREGA web site, discussions with government officials, independent studies, discussions with various NGOs working in the field, and personal field visits by the author as member of the Central Employment Governing Council of NREGA.
A market‐process approach to corporate coherence

We address the notion of corporate coherence recently made prominent by Teece et al. (1994. Understanding corporate coherence: theory and evidence. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 23 : 1-30). We argue that the literature is confused on the meaning of this notion (and similar notions) along a number of dimensions. Drawing on insights from market-process theories, we propose a dynamic understanding of corporate coherence, an understanding that involves the corporate capacity to strike a favorable balance between the production and exploitation of new knowledge. This argument is elaborated drawing on Austrian economics, evolutionary economics, and post-Marshallian economics. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Quantifying the Intracellular Transport of Viral and Nonviral Gene Vectors in Primary Neurons

Real-time confocal particle tracking (CPT) was used to compare the transport and trafficking of polyethylenimine (PEI)/DNA nanocomplexes to that of efficient adenoviruses in live primary neurons. Surprisingly, the quantitative intracellular transport properties of PEI/DNA nonviral gene vectors are similar to that of adenoviral vectors. For example, the values of individual particle/virus transport rates and the distributions of particle/virus transport modes (i.e., the percentage undergoing active, diffusive, or subdiffusive transport) largely overlapped. In addition, both PEI/DNA vectors and adenoviruses rapidly accumulated near the cell nucleus in primary neurons despite our finding that PEI/DNA move slower in neurites than in the cell body, whereas adenoviruses move with equal rates in either location. The intracellular trafficking pathways of PEI/DNA and adenoviruses, however, were substantially different. The majority of PEI/DNA trafficked through the endolysosomal pathway so as to end up in late endosomes/lysosomes (LE/Lys), whereas adenoviruses efficiently escaped endosomes. This result suggests that the sequestration of nonviral gene vectors within acidic vesicles may be a critical barrier to gene delivery to primary neurons in the central nervous system (CNS).
Long-term survival and functional capacity in cardiac surgery patients after prolonged intensive care

ObjectiveTo determine whether hospital discharge alone represents a good outcome for patients who had prolonged intensive care after cardiac surgery by studying their postdischarge survival and functional outcome. The secondary objective is to estimate the proportion of intensive care unit (ICU) resources used by the long-stay (≥10 initial consecutive ICU days) patients and to identify preoperative patient characteristics that are associated with a prolonged ICU stay and hospital and long-term survival. DesignInception cohort study. SettingThe Cleveland Clinic Foundation, a tertiary care, academic teaching institution. PatientsCardiac surgery patients with an initial ICU stay of 10 or more consecutive days. InterventionsData were collected daily during hospitalization on every adult who underwent coronary artery bypass graft and/or valve surgery at one institution in 1993. Discharged patients who spent >10 initial consecutive days in the ICU after surgery were contacted by telephone to determine vital status and functional capacity using the Duke Activity Status Index. Total ICU and total hospital direct costs were obtained for each patient. Measurements and Main ResultsThe primary outcome measurements were ICU length of stay, hospital mortality, after-surgery and postdischarge mortality and functional capacity, and relative resource utilization. Of the 2,618 cardiac surgery patients who met the inclusion criteria, 142 (5.4%) had an initial ICU length of stay of 10 or more consecutive days. Of these, 47 (33.1%) died in the hospital. Ninety-four of the 95 discharged patients were followed up (median follow-up, 30.6 months), and 44 of the 94 (46.8%) died during the follow-up period. The median Duke Activity Status Index for the 50 survivors was 26 out of a possible 58.2. The 142 long-stay patients used 50% of the total ICU days and 48% of the total ICU direct cost for all 2,618 patients. ConclusionsMany survivors of prolonged intensive care die soon after hospital discharge and many longer term survivors have a poor functional state. Therefore, hospital discharge is an incomplete measure of outcome for these patients, and longer follow-up is more appropriate. The relatively small number of patients who require prolonged intensive care consumes a disproportionate amount of the total ICU and total hospital direct cost.
An analysis of accounting history research in Portugal: 1990—2004

This study analyses and reports on the development of accounting history research in Portugal across a period of 15 years spanning 1990 to 2004. In so doing, it builds a database of all the contributions on accounting's past appearing in Portugal and those of Portuguese authors disseminated abroad over this period. The study further explores publishing patterns in the Portuguese accounting journals, providing an array of evidence such as the number of accounting history articles per journal, the gender of authors and the time spans and subject areas examined. While the results indicate that there are topics and periods still unexplored or deserving wider examination in Portuguese accounting history, they also reveal a significant extension of the work in this field, especially from 2002 to 2004. This increasing trend is particularly visible in the number of articles published in international journals and the number of papers submitted to international congresses, providing Portuguese accounting history r.
Is East Asia an optimum currency area? A test of generalized purchasing power parity in the presence of structural breaks

This paper applies the generalized purchasing power parity (G-PPP) theory to assess the potential for an optimum currency area (OCA) for the ASEAN5 plus the big three (ASEAN5+Big3) during a period containing significant structural breaks, using the US, Japan and China as base countries. The relevance of considering breaks is demonstrated by utilizing the Johansen et al. (2000) procedure that allows for up to two predetermined breaks. The results provide support for long-run G-PPP and suggest that the larger group ASEAN5+Big3 could form an OCA in one step. Conversely, for smaller groups, such as the Big3, an OCA is not supported. However, adding one or more countries to the Big3 supports an OCA. The impact of the Asian crisis seems to be limited to when the US is the base country and the results suggest a change in the G-PPP relationship between the pre- and postcrisis periods. Moreover, stability tests suggest that G-PPP has been stable for the period analyzed.
Strategies for research engagement of clinicians in allied health (STRETCH): a mixed methods research protocol

Introduction Allied health professionals (AHPs) report positive attitudes to using research evidence in clinical practice, yet often lack time, confidence and skills to use, participate in and conduct research. A range of multifaceted strategies including education, mentoring and guidance have been implemented to increase AHPs’ use of and participation in research. Emerging evidence suggests that knowledge brokering activities have the potential to support research engagement, but it is not clear which knowledge brokering strategies are most effective and in what contexts they work best to support and maintain clinicians’ research engagement. Methods and analysis This protocol describes an exploratory concurrent mixed methods study that is designed to understand how allied health research fellows use knowledge brokering strategies within tailored evidence-based interventions, to facilitate research engagement by allied health clinicians. Simultaneously, a realist approach will guide a systematic process evaluation of the research fellows’ pattern of use of knowledge brokering strategies within each case study to build a programme theory explaining which knowledge brokering strategies work best, in what contexts and why. Learning and behavioural theories will inform this critical explanation. Ethics and dissemination An explanation of how locally tailored evidence-based interventions improve AHPs use of, participation in and leadership of research projects will be summarised and shared with all participating clinicians and within each case study. It is expected that local recommendations will be developed and shared with medical and nursing professionals in and beyond the health service, to facilitate building research capacity in a systematic and effective way.
Continuity of care in a family practice residency program. Impact on physician satisfaction.

One of the primary benefits of continuity of care is its influence upon patient and physician satisfaction. This prospective pilot study involved a cohort of 14 second- and third-year family practice residents and 4 full-time faculty at a community hospital-based family practice residency in Cleveland, Ohio. Rates of continuity that physicians experience were calculated using the usual provider continuity (UPC) measure of continuity, and were correlated with physician satisfaction with outpatient care using a practice satisfaction scale (PSS) developed specifically for this purpose. Residents and faculty were also asked to rank order the importance of several aspects of outpatient care, including continuity of care. The results indicate that both residents and faculty value continuity of care highly compared with other aspects of outpatient care. The average continuity rates were 59% for second-year residents, 54% for third-year residents, and 82% for faculty. The UPC continuity measure correlated highly with the PSS scores (corrected r2 = .55; P less than .001). The data support the hypothesis that continuity of care with patients is an important determinant of resident and faculty physician satisfaction with their outpatient experience.
Home Health Care Nurses' Perceptions of Empowerment

This exploratory study involved the triangulation of qualitative (interview and observation) and quantitative methods (Psychological Empowerment Instrument). This study examined the individual home care nurses' perception of empowerment and how it influences decisions in the home clinical setting. Fifteen nurses were self-selected to participate. All completed an interview, and were observed and given Likert Instrument to complete. A framework analysis was performed to identify mutually exclusive and exhaustive emergent themes and patterns within the data. Home care nurses described that empowerment is in the interaction between nurse and patient, and nurse and health care provider. Empowered is defined as being independent, confident, trusting, and comfortable with providing quality care. Home health care nurses believe that having the ability to practice collaboratively and build professional relationships was essential. Nurses in this study perceived empowerment as having meaning, choice, and competence in their job.
Phylogeny of Sphaerium solidum (Bivalvia) based on karyotype and sequences of 16S and ITS1 rDNA

The present work represents the first karyological and molecular characterisation of Sphaerium solidum, a rare European clam. Specimens of S. solidum were collected in Lithuania and Hungary. The modal diploid chromosome number found in both populations was 2n=30. Small, biarmed B chromosomes were found in 42.3% of cells studied in clams from Lithuania and in 11.8% of cells in clams from Hungary. Comparative analysis revealed no significant (P<0.05) interspecific differences in chromosome morphology of S. solidum and that of previously studied S. corneum. DNA sequence analyses of S. solidum showed no interpopulation differences in ITS1; moreover, only one site was different from ITS1 of S. corneum. However, differences in mitochondrial 16S sequence of S. solidum were revealed: two haplotypes in Lithuania and three in Hungary were identified. The genetic characteristics revealed in this study do not support ascription of S. solidum and S. corneum to different subgenus, Cyrenastrum and Sphaerium s. str. , respectively. Comparative cytogenetic analysis disclosed that the chromosome morphology could be conserved in some sphaeriid species during speciation despite the fact that most other species in this family undergo radical karyotypic differentiation.
ROS production during symbiotic infection suppresses pathogenesis-related gene expression

Leguminous plants have exclusive ability to form symbiotic relationship with soil bacteria of the genus Rhizobium. Symbiosis is a complex process that involves multiple molecular signaling activities, such as calcium fluxes, production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and synthesis of nodulation genes. We analyzed the role of ROS in defense gene expression in Medicago truncatula during symbiosis and pathogenesis. Studies in Arabidopsis thaliana showed that the induction of pathogenesis-related (PR) genes during systemic acquired resistance (SAR) is regulated by NPR1 protein, which resides in the cytoplasm as an oligomer. After oxidative burst and return of reducing conditions, the NPR1 undergoes monomerization and becomes translocated to the nucleus, where it functions in PR genes induction. We show that ROS production is both stronger and longer during symbiotic interactions than during interactions with pathogenic, nonhost or common nonpathogenic soil bacteria. Moreover, root cells inoculated with Sinorhizobium meliloti accumulated ROS in the cytosol but not in vacuoles, as opposed to Pseudomonas putida inoculation or salt stress treatment. Furthermore, increased ROS accumulation by addition of H2O2 reduced the PR gene expression, while catalase had an opposite effect, establishing that the PR gene expression is opposite to the level of cytoplasmic ROS. In addition, we show that salicylic acid pretreatment significantly reduced ROS production in root cells during symbiotic interaction.
Metastatic Breast Cancer: Overall Survival Related to Successive Chemotherapies. What Do We Gain After the Third Line?

This retrospective study analyzed, in metastatic breast cancer (MBC), overall survival (OS) related to each subsequent line of chemotherapy (CT). We evaluated 578 patients with a MBC. Among these patients, 558 patients were stratified according to the number of differents CT lines received. Median OS decreased from 22.5 to 12.3 months. Nevertheless, survival was rather stable for subsequent lines after the third line of CT around 8 months. In our study, it appeared useful to give several CT lines when possible. Subsequent lines of CT could have a beneficial effect on the survival for some patients with MBC.
Comparative Effect of Cold Hydro Stem-Bark Extract of Erythrophleum Suaveolens on Gastrointestinal Muscle of Rabbit Jejunum (Oryctolagus Cuniculus)

Detailed investigations on plant materials especially such that are already in use especially by tradio-practitionals should not be taken with levity. The effect of cold water crude extract of stem-bark of Erythrophleum suaveolens on the activity of an isolated rabbit jejunum was studied. Reference drugs (Adrenaline and Isoprenaline) were used both in the presence and absence of E. suaveolens extract. Preliminary pharmacological investigation of the extract revealed inhibitory effects. However, the relaxative effect of the extract on isolated smooth muscle was confirmed from its cumulative response on Rabbit jejunum in which there was a graded inhibition of the jejunal contraction even up to 95% - 95.5%. The result of the study therefore suggest that the extract has the potential of been develop as an anti-motility agent as a remedy for GIT system related problems.
Impediments to bed‐side teaching

Bed‐side teaching is the process of active learning in the presence of a patient. A cross‐sectional study was conducted in a teaching hospital to obtain the opinions of clinical teachers about bed‐side teaching including perceived hindrances to its implementation. Of 152 teachers, 78% responded to the questionnaire. Ninety‐five per cent reported that bed‐side teaching is an effective way to teach professional skills. Time constraints, noisy wards and patients not being available were reported as the most frequently experienced hindrances to bed‐side teaching. The survey found strong support for bed‐side teaching but a substantial number of barriers to its implementation. Further research is required to study methods that will improve bed‐side teaching.