Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Economic Valuation of the Environment: How Citizens Make Sense of Contingent Valuation Questions

This study adopts a qualitative approach in order to investigate how people make sense of contingent valuation (CV) questions of a global environmental amenity. The objective is not only to capture people’ s motivations and considerations of willingness to pay (WTP), but also to determine if they adequately comprehend an economic valuation of such public goods. The findings indicate that a large proportion of respondents do not interpret the valuation task, as intended. However, this lack of understanding is not always expressed, unless probed in relation to the elicitation question, and some people have the tendency to provide monetary estimates anyway, whatever meaning they attach to these. (JELH41)
Comparison of Adolescent and Young Adult Self-Collected and Clinician-Collected Samples for Human Papillomavirus

OBJECTIVE: To examine the concordance between self-collected and clinician-collected samples for human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA. METHODS: Sexually active adolescent and young adult women aged 14–21 years (N = 101) were enrolled in a prospective cohort study of HPV testing. Participants self-collected vaginal samples for HPV DNA, and clinicians collected cervicovaginal samples for HPV DNA and a cervical cytology specimen. We determined concordance between the results of self- and clinician-collected specimens using a &kgr; statistic and McNemar’s test. RESULTS: Of the 51% of participants who were HPV positive, 53% had 1 type, 25% had 2 types, and 22% had 3 types or more; 25 different HPV types were identified. Self-collected samples detected more participants with HPV than clinician-collected samples (45% versus 42%, P = .65). When results were categorized into presence or absence of high-risk HPV types, agreement between self- and clinician-collected specimens was high (&kgr; 0.72) and the difference between test results was not significant (McNemar’s P = .41). However, when all HPV types detected were considered, agreement was perfect in only 51% of those with 1 or more types of high-risk HPV type. There was no association between agreement and age or HPV type. CONCLUSION: Self testing for HPV DNA may be sufficiently sensitive for the detection of high-risk HPV DNA among adolescent and young adult women in clinical settings. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II-3
Neuropsychological benefits of computer-assisted cognitive rehabilitation (using FORAMENRehab program) in children with mild traumatic brain injury or partial epilepsy: A pilot study.

INTRODUCTION The number of children with different cognitive difficulties is constantly increasing. Still, too few evidence-based pediatric neurocognitive rehabilitation programs exist. The main aim of the study was to assess the efficiency and usability of computer-assisted FORAMENRehab program for training specific components of attention in children with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and partial epilepsy (PE). The second aim was to specify short- and long-term effects of the intervention. METHODS Eight children between the ages of 9-12 years with attention impairment (3 with PE and 5 with mTBI) and 18 healthy controls participated. FORAMENRehab Attention software, adapted by the authors, was used for intervention. Strict intervention protocol consisting of patients completing 10 sessions over a 6-week-period to train four components of attention (sustaining, focusing, dividing, tracking) was designed and applied. Follow-up assessments were conducted after the end of the last training and 1.63 years later. RESULTS After the intervention patients' sustained and complex attention improved. Long-term follow-up revealed continuing positive rehabilitation effects. 100% compliance suggested that the used method is attractive for children. CONCLUSIONS These preliminary results of the pilot study give reason to presume that the method is effective in attention impairment remediation. However, more thorough research is needed.
USING VARIAN PHOTON BEAM SOURCE MODEL FOR DOSE CALCULATION OF SMALL FIELDS

The use of small fi elds in radiotherapy techniques has increased substantially, in particular in stereotactic treatments and large uniform or nonuniform fi elds that are composed of small fi elds, such as for intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). This clinical perspective will focus on an experimental evaluation of the dose calculation accuracy of the anisotropic analytical algorithm (AAA) and Acuros® XB advanced dose calculation (Acuros XB) for small fi eld sizes. All measurements were performed with fi lm, as well as with point dose detectors suitable for small fi eld aperture. Clinical perspectives | Varian Photon Beam Source Model
The American Sugar Refinery Company, 1887-1914: The Story of a Monopoly

THIS paper examines the formation and aspects of the operation until 1914 of the American sugar monopoly. In so doing, it casts some doubts on what is more or less the standard interpretation1 of this period, especially as it pertains to the concepts of excessive or ruinous competition, retail price maintenance, and predatory pricing. The paper, therefore, necessarily reflects on the viability of modern notions partially derived from this era. Specifically, this paper deals with the question of why and how the sugar monopoly was formed and with certain of its subsequent operations.
Change talk sequence during brief motivational intervention, towards or away from drinking.

AIM To investigate whether different sequences of 'change talk' utterances within a brief motivational intervention (BMI) are associated with drinking outcomes. DESIGN Speech content analysis of recorded BMI. SETTING BMI delivered in an emergency department for at-risk drinking. PARTICIPANTS Ninety-seven subjects who received a BMI. MEASUREMENTS Ninety-seven BMI were coded in duplicate by two psychologists with the Motivational Interviewing Skill Code (MISC), a Hidden Markov Model was used to identify three different patient states reflecting attitudes regarding changing their drinking behaviour within a BMI: towards change, away from change and non-determined. Adjusted regression models were used to predict drinking at 12 months' follow-up using patient attitudes regarding changing drinking at the beginning, during the intervention and at the end. FINDINGS The dynamic process at place within a BMI was marked mainly by stability: at each point during the intervention, staying in the same attitude was far more likely than transitioning from one attitude to another. When subjects did change from one attitude to another, they were more likely to move from an 'away from change' to a 'towards change' state. At 12 months, subjects with an attitude towards change at the end of the BMI drank significantly less (13.1 drinks per week) than subjects with an attitude away from change, independent of their attitude at the beginning of the intervention. CONCLUSIONS Transition in 'change talk' between 'away from change' and 'towards change' appears to be rare in brief motivational intervention for excessive alcohol consumption. Moreover, change talk 'towards change' at the end of the intervention is associated with improved outcomes at follow-up, independently of the type of change talk at the beginning of the intervention, suggesting that it is important to end a BMI session with a positive attitude towards change by the client.
Protecting biodiversity in the European Union: national barriers and European opportunities?

The European Union (EU) is an evolving system of multi-level governance (MLG). For scholars of the EU, a critical question is which level of governance has the most decisive influence on the integration process? Some studies of EU regional policy claim that subnational actors, using channels of interest representation that bypass national officials, interact directly with EU policy-makers generating outcomes that are neither desired nor intended by national executives. This article examines the development of EU biodiversity policy over a thirty-year period (c. 1970-2000) and finds that environmental groups, who were generally marginalized at the national level in Britain, have learnt to use EU opportunities to outflank the government, resulting in policy outcomes that they would be unlikely to secure through national channels of representation. However, the evidence presented suggests that supranational actors were the major cause of these unintended consequences, not environmental groups.
Disability retirement and unemployment - substitute pathways for labour force exit? An empirical test for the case of Germany

This paper studies the determinants of disability retirement and unemployment of older workers, two labour market phenomena which the German public discussion combines under the label of early retirement. The implicit assumption that these two mechanisms are exchangeable pathways into permanent retirement is tested. Using panel data the transition rates from employment into disability retirement and into unemploymentare estimated and compared. Statistical tests reject the hypothesis that disability retirement and unemployment are substitutes.
The Inequality of Influence

This paper develops a proxy measure of the inequality of influence on the basis of survey evidence from 2002 Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS) conducted among 6,500 firms in 27 transition countries. We refer to the resulting inequality as crony bias in the political system that can be measured at both the firm and country level. We examine the impact of crony bias at both the firm and country levels on three indicators of institutional subversion: 1) perceptions of and interaction with courts; 2) security of property rights; 3) tax compliance; and 4) bribery. We find a consistent pattern in which the inequality of influence has a strongly negative impact on assessments of public institutions that ultimately affects the behavior of firms towards those institutions. Crony bias at both the firm and the country levels is associated with a significantly more negative assessment of the fairness and impartiality of courts and the enforceability of court decisions. Further, firms that report crony bias are significantly less likely to use courts to resolve business disputes. Such firms are shown to have less secure property rights than more influential firms. We also find that crony bias is associated with lower levels of tax compliance and significantly higher levels of bribery. The evidence suggests that the inequality of influence not only damages the credibility of institutions among weak firms, but affects the likelihood that they will use and provide tax resources to support such institutions. By withholding tax revenues, paying bribes, and avoiding courts, these firms ensure that such state institutions are likely to remain weak and subject to capture by the more influential. The inequality of influence thus appears to generate a self-reinforcing dynamic in which institutions are subverted further strengthening the underlying political and economic inequalities.
Promoting Teacher Ethics in Colleges of Teacher Education in Tanzania: Practices and Challenge

This paper focuses on the initiatives and challenges of promoting ethics in teacher training colleges. It draws on qualitative data; generated from Dar es Salaam, Iringa and Mbeya regions of Tanzania in East Africa. Data collected reflect views of informants, including teacher educators, school teachers, student teachers, school inspectors, Teachers Service Department (TSD) officers, and education officers. The data was generated from both interviews (primary) and documentary (secondary) sources. Analysis of data involved data reduction, organization, and interpretation (Huberman & Miles 1994). The findings unveiled two major initiatives: the use of college regulations and the teaching of religious code of conduct. Challenges, on the other hand, ranged from the absence of a course related to teacher ethics, professional "incompetence" of teacher educators, shortage of qualified teachers, lack of resources, the moral problem of society or the irresponsibility of parents and society. The study has concluded that without a well-defined education policy in favour of promoting teacher ethics education, efforts to that effect are doomed to fail
Preadmission Use of Calcium Channel Blockers and Outcomes After Hospitalization With Pneumonia: A Retrospective Propensity-Matched Cohort Study

In sepsis, an overwhelming immune response, as mediated by the release of various inflammatory mediators, can lead to shock, multiple organ damage, and even death. Pneumonia is the leading cause of sepsis. In animal septic models, sepsis could induce uncontrolled calcium (Ca2+) leaking, raising cytosolic Ca2+ to a toxic level, causing irreversible cellular injuries and organ failure. All types of calcium channel blockers (CCBs), by inhibiting Ca2+ influx, have been shown to decrease overall mortality in various septic animal models. However, to our best knowledge, no clinical study had been conducted to investigate the beneficial effect(s) of CCBs in sepsis. We conducted a retrospective propensity-matched cohort study after screening 2214 patients hospitalized for pneumonia from year 2012 to 2014 at our institution. We identified 387 preadmission CCB users and 387 nonusers by propensity score matching. Logistic regression analysis was then used to determine the association between preadmission CCB use and outcomes in pneumonia. Our study showed that the odds for development of severe sepsis was significantly lower in the CCB user group [odds ratio (OR), 0.466; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.311–0.697; P = 0.002]. Preadmission CCB use was associated with a lower risk of contracting bacteremia (OR, 0.498; 95% CI, 0.262–0.99; P = 0.0327), lower risk of acute respiratory insufficiency (OR, 0.573; 95% CI, 0.412–0.798; P = 0.001), lower risk of intensive care unit admission (OR, 0.602; 95% CI, 0.432–0.840; P = 0.0028). In conclusion, our study suggested preadmission CCB use was associated with a reduction in the risks of development of respiratory insufficiency, bacteremia, and severe sepsis in patients admitted to the hospital with pneumonia.
Strategic Fit to Political Factors and Subsequent Performance

Several scholars have asserted strategic fit to nonmarket factors is positively related to economic performance. Political strategic fit has traditionally been conceptualized as an incremental decision: firms engage in political activities to the extent nonmarket factors suggest firm political actions will improve economic performance. However, the decision to engage in political activity is more of a dichotomous decision (political activity versus free riding). Both incremental and dichotomous political strategic fit are empirically evaluated in the U.S. coal industry from 1986 to 2000. Empirical evidence suggests that political strategic fit should be modeled as a dichotomous decision and that engaging in political activity is positively related to economic performance. Under investing in political activity or pursuing a free riding strategy was negatively related to economic performance.
Stimulation of calcium uptake and cyclic GMP synthesis in rat basophilic leukemia cells by Escherichia coli heat-stable enterotoxin

The effect of Escherichia coli heat-stable (ST) enterotoxin on calcium and cyclic nucleotide metabolism in rat basophilic leukemia cell cultures was investigated. Addition of ST enterotoxin to rat basophilic leukemia cell cultures resulted in dose- and time-dependent stimulation of calcium uptake and elevation of the intracellular cyclic GMP (cGMP) concentration. The effect of ST enterotoxin on calcium uptake (P less than 0.02) and cGMP synthesis (P less than 0.02) was demonstrated after 5 and 30 min of incubation at 37 degrees C, respectively. In further studies ST enterotoxin did not enhance calcium release or the intracellular concentration of cyclic AMP. The stimulation of calcium uptake and cGMP synthesis by ST enterotoxin was inhibited by pharmacological and chemical agents which block cellular calcium entry and prostaglandin synthesis. These results demonstrate that ST enterotoxin induces calcium uptake and cGMP synthesis in rat basophilic leukemia cell cultures.
The comparison of quality of life among people with mild dementia in nursing home and home care—a preliminary report

Background Living arrangements play an important role in determining the quality of life (QoL) of people with dementia. Although informal care (home-based) is favored, the transition to formal (institutional) care often becomes necessary, especially in the later stages of dementia. Nevertheless, there is currently no definitive evidence showing that informal or formal care provides a higher QoL for those with dementia. Objective To compare the QoL of people with dementia in the nursing home and home care, and identify factors that differentiate their QoL. Design and methods This was a cross-sectional survey. A total of 49 people with dementia ≥60 years old were recruited from government nursing homes and hospitals (home care). Consenting participants were assessed on cognitive severity, QoL, activities of daily living (ADLs), depression, and social isolation/connectedness by the Short Mini Mental State Examination (SMMSE), the WHO-8 (the EUROHIS-QOL), Short Assessment of Quality of Life (AQoL-8), Barthel Index (BI), Cornell Scale for Depression (CSDD), and Friendship Scale (FS). Results There were significant differences in QoL, HRQoLs, ADLs, and social connectedness among people with dementia in home care (n = 19) and those in nursing homes (n = 30) (p < 0.01). No significant differences were found by socio-demographic factors, cognitive severity, or depression between the study cohorts. Conclusions Older adults with dementia who were living at home experienced higher QoL, ADLs, and social connectedness compared with those living in institutional care. Support should be provided enabling home care and empowering caregivers to provide better care for people with dementia.
A model to explain intellectual capital disclosure in UAE banks

The aim of this study is to formulate a model to explain the reasons for the changes in the disclosure level of intellectual capital by UAE National Banks over the period 2005-2009. Multiple regression analysis is used to test the relationship between the level of intellectual capital disclosure as a dependent variable and certain independent variables. The results show that total reserves as a comprehensive bank risks indicator and customer satisfaction and loyalty variables which have not been considered in previous studies, have a significant impact on the level of intellectual capital disclosure. In addition, the results shows that bank size and bank age have significant impact on the level of intellectual capital disclosure. On the other hand, the results show that human capital pressure variable, which has not been considered in previous studies and variable of role duality has no impact on the level of intellectual capital disclosure.
Mean Platelet Volume—A Predictive Factor for the Diagnosis of Nonsymptomatic Prostatitis

Mean platelet volume (MPV) has been reported to be related to inflammation. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a protein produced by the prostate, and this protein may be elevated for several reasons, including prostatitis, benign prostatic hyperplasia, and/or cancer. The aim of the current study was to investigate the predictive effect of MPV values on nonsymptomatic prostatitis diagnosis and the relation between MPV and PSA. A total of 275 patients, 89 affected by benign prostate hyperplasia, 94 by prostate adenocancer, and 92 by prostatitis were included in the current study. PSA, total blood count parameters, and urine analysis were investigated. Findings were compared with the groups. The correlation between MPV and the other parameters were analyzed. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to determine independent predictors of nonsymptomatic prostatitis diagnosis. MPV was significantly higher in patients with nonsymptomatic prostatitis than the other groups. There were negative correlations between MPV and age, total PSA or free PSA (r = −.123; p = .042, r = −.235; p < .001, r = −.184; p = .006, respectively). According to multivariate regression model, only MPV was identified as the predictive factor for nonsymptomatic prostatitis (odds ratio: 1.451, 95% confidence interval [1.116, 1.887], p = .005). MPV, in the absence of other reasons that increased the MPV level, was significantly increased in cases with nonsymptomatic prostatitis; this increase is significantly higher than elevated PSA level in nonsymptomatic prostatitis patients. MPV could have a predictive value for the diagnosis of nonsymptomatic prostatitis.
The impact of 3-year changes in lifestyle habits on metabolic syndrome parameters: the D.E.S.I.R Study

Background The effect of lifestyle changes in cohorts of free-living populations has been surprisingly little evaluated. Design A longitudinal study. Methods In the French Data from an Epidemiological Study on the Insulin Resistance (D.E.S.I.R) study of 1958 men and 2028 women, aged 30-65 years, the impact of 3-year changes in lifestyle habits (sporting activity, physical activity at home and at work, alcohol drinking, smoking) on metabolic syndrome parameters [insulin, glucose, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, systolic blood pressure, waist circumference] and on body mass index (BMI) were investigated. Results In men, 3-year increases in sporting activity were associated with a lowering of insulin, glucose, systolic blood pressure and waist circumference (all P>0.05). For women, the only effect was on lowering waist circumference (P>0.03). Increases in physical activity at home were beneficially associated with HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, waist circumference and BMI changes (all P>0.05) in men, but had no apparent effect in women. Decreases in alcohol intake only had an effect in men, with decreases in HDL-cholesterol and systolic blood pressure (P>0.05), whereas decreasing cigarette smoking in men was associated with significant increases in insulin, glucose, triglycerides, waist and BMI (P>0.001), and in women HDL-cholesterol, waist circumference and BMI increased (P>0.02). These results were mainly caused by those who had stopped smoking. Conclusions Increases in physical activity over the 3-year period were associated with beneficial effects on syndrome parameters, particularly in men. Smoking cessation and alcohol moderation produced mixed effects on these parameters. Eur J Cardiovasc Prev Rehabil 13:334-340 © 2006 The European Society of Cardiology
Equity Issuance and Adverse Selection: A Direct Test Using Conditional Stock Offers

The authors conduct a unique test of adverse selection in the equity issuance process. While common stock is the dominant means of payment in bank mergers, stock acquisition agreements provide target shareholders with varying degrees of protection against adverse price movements in the bidder's stock between the time of the merger agreement and the time of merger completion. The authors show that it is the degree of protection against adverse price changes and not the percent of stock offered in a bank merger that explains bidder merger announcement abnormal returns. This result is difficult to explain outside of an adverse selection framework. Copyright 1997 by American Finance Association.
Postwar U.S. Business Cycles: An Empirical Investigation

The authors propose a procedure for representing a time series of a smoothly varying trend component and a cyclical component. They document the nature of the comovements of the cyclical components of a variety of macroeconomic time series. The authors find that comovements are very different than the corresponding comovements of the slowly varying trend components. Copyright 1997 by Ohio State University Press.