Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Linking Real Activity and Financial Markets: BEAM model 1

A small monthly macroeconometric model of the Canadian economy built around three cointegrating relationships linking financial and real variables is estimated over the 1975-2002 period. One of the cointegrating relationships allows the identification of a supply shock as the only shock affecting permanently the stock market and a demand shock leading to important transitory stock market overvaluation. We also suggest a monetary policy reaction function using the estimated impact over time of the typical permanent inflation shock to modify the historical reaction function in such a way to eliminate any forecast persistent deviation from target. In-sample simulations over the last ten years suggest that following BEAM’s advice would have cut by more than half the root-mean squared deviation of inflation from target over the period. A technical innovation of the paper consists in showing under which conditions permanent shocks can be identified in a VECM with exogenous variables.
Playing with ‘Scottishness’: musical performance, non-representational thinking and the ‘doings’ of national identity

From the mid-1980s the influence of identity politics and poststructuralism has sought to replace the idea of a ‘unified’ identity with the concept of dynamic, multiple and fractured identities. However, it has been suggested that there is an ontological problem with researching dynamic conceptions of identity and that all too often people treat forming and formative processes (such as the makings and doings of identity) as fixed and formed wholes. This article attempts to address this concern through an exploration of the ‘doings’ of Scottish national identities. Drawing on a nonrepresentational inspired study of (‘Scottish’) musical performances the project presented in this article seeks to explore how a study of the ephemeral, emotionally charged moments of (‘Scottish’) musical performance might shed new light on the nature and (re)production of Scottish national identities in the making or the doing. This article therefore makes a contribution to understandings of ‘Scottishness’ (as lived experiences), but, it also makes a contribution to the geographies of music literature by highlighting the need to further explore the practical and performative dimensions of ‘musicking’.
International Federation for Emergency Medicine model curriculum for medical student education in emergency medicine

There is a critical and growing need for emergency physicians and emergency medicine resources worldwide. To meet this need, physicians must be trained to deliver time‐sensitive interventions and life‐saving emergency care. Currently, there is no internationally recognized, standard curriculum that defines the basic minimum standards for emergency medicine education. To address this lack, the International Federation for Emergency Medicine (IFEM) convened a committee of international physicians, health professionals and other experts in emergency medicine and international emergency medicine development, to outline a curriculum for foundation training of medical students in emergency medicine. This curriculum document represents the consensus of recommendations by this committee. The curriculum is designed with a focus on the basic minimum emergency medicine educational content that any medical school should be delivering to its students during their undergraduate years of training. It is designed, not to be prescriptive, but to assist educators and emergency medicine leadership in advancing physician education in basic emergency medicine content. The content would be relevant, not just for communities with mature emergency medicine systems, but also for developing nations or for nations seeking to expand emergency medicine within current educational structures. We anticipate that there will be wide variability in how this curriculum is implemented and taught, reflecting the existing educational milieu, the resources available, and the goals of the institutions' educational leadership.
Comparison of Goldmann applanation and applanation resonance tonometry in a biomicroscope-based in vitro porcine eye model

We have developed an in vitro porcine eye model based on a biomicroscope, to simulate a clinical situation for IOP measurement on enucleated eyes. The aims of this study were to evaluate the model and to apply and compare Goldmann applanation tonometry (GAT) and applanation resonance tonometry (ART) measurements in porcine eyes. The GAT measurement (IOPGAT) showed a lower pressure, mean – 14.0 mm Hg (SD = 1.7 mm Hg) as compared with the reference pressure. For in vitro measurement with GAT on porcine eyes the linear calibration was IOP = 1.14 IOPGAT + 12.5 mm Hg (R2 = 0.99, p < 0.001, n = 280, four eyes). ART measurements correlated significantly to reference IOP, R = 0.86 (p < 0.001, n = 252, six eyes), with a mean difference of 5.4 mm Hg (SD = 6.7 mm Hg). GAT could only be used on porcine eyes if the IOP exceeded 13 mm Hg. Evaluation of the ART in this in vitro model showed position dependence for the sensor. To facilitate centre positioning a guiding tool is suggested. Porcine eyes are a possible substitute for human eyes in in vitro models for pre-clinical evaluation of new tonometry methods.
Sensitivity and specificity of optic disc variables and analysis of a new variable (MP/D) for glaucoma diagnosis with the Glaucoma-Scope

AIM In an attempt to use the quantitative optic disc measurements of the Glaucoma-Scope (OIS Sacramento, CA, USA) to distinguish glaucomatous from normal optic discs, a new variable was investigated, the mean disc corrected for the disc size by dividing by the disc area: MP/D. METHODS Glaucoma-Scope disc evaluation was performed on 81 eyes of 51 patients split into the following groups based on Humphrey 24-2 visual field and clinical criteria of glaucoma: chronic glaucoma n=27 (including only early, n=17, and low tension glaucoma, n=10), ocular hypertension n=24, pseudoglaucomatous large discs, n=12, and normal eyes, n=18. Classic optic disc variables (the vertical and horizontal c/d ratios, and the c/d area) were compared with the new MP/D index calculating receiver operating characteristic curves. RESULTS The MP/D ratio was able to identify the glaucomatous eyes more easily than other ratios. Areas under the curves were: 0.91 (MP/D); 0.87 (c/d area); 0.85 (c/d vertical); and 0.80 (c/d horizontal). The MP/D index was also correlated with the mean deviation (r=0.466; p=0.001). CONCLUSION MP/D may prove useful in detecting glaucomatous optic nerve damage and could be an interesting screening tool for primary open angle glaucoma.
Justice Interruptus: Critical Reflections on the “Postsocialist” Condition, by Nancy Fraser

While the top three topics for discussion on the left seem to involve (1) bemoaning the end of a coherent socialist project, (2) declaring the commencement of a new socialist project based on their personal conclusions, and (3) debating whether or not to trash postmodernism, Nancy Fraser’s 1997 collection, Justice Interruptus. Critical Reections on the “Postsocialist” Condition, takes these same themes and breathes fresh, credible, and powerful life into them. Justice Interruptus is a collection of new and important articles as well as a number of decisive pieces that Fraser has published previously. When this book burst on the scene in 1997, it was almost impossible to  nd a copy anywhere in the city of Toronto. Students and faculty members were literally  ghting over the last remaining copies in popular left book stores. What, other than academia’s utterly predictable faddishness, accounts for the tremendous popularity of this author and this publication? I assert that there are two main reasons. One, Fraser has an uncanny ability to arc in and out of the ever tricky and contested levels of theory and social action without missing a beat. She does so not in a popularist and reductionist way but in a careful, systematic, and insightful way that peels back the multiple and interlocking elements of each, while never losing sight of her original premise or her project of building collective social projects for justice. Secondly, and this point is almost inseparable from the  rst, Fraser’s style, like her project, invites the reader to cross boundaries and pursue questions from entirely new academic and activist perspectives. Fraser shows how the skillful melding of social sciences and humanities can not only produce better questions and answers, it can also expand the audience for ones message and ensure greater access to scholarly contributions for a wide range of academics and activists. For example, my discipline is social work, a hybrid  eld that awkwardly amalgamates a number of professional and academic bodies of knowledge. Fraser’s work speaks strongly to the social justice mandate within social work on a number of levels and presents innovative ways to rethink social policy, social administration, and political economy as well as practical and theoretical social work intervention models. Consistent with most socialist thought, Fraser asserts that since 1989 struggles for social justice have been deeply impacted by a lack of an overarching socialist programme or vision of transformation. However, Fraser also argues that the “postsocialist” is constituted in large part by a decoupling of redistributive politics (also referred to as socio-economic or politico economico politics) from the politics of recognition (cultural politics). Postsocialism is characterized by a growing, world-wide polarization between those who have access to wealth, health, clean environments, education, BOOK REVIEW S
Competency discourses: an analysis of secondary and tertiary assessments

Analysis of a sample of assessment tasks used in New Zealand first-year clinical and final-year secondary school Biology and Chemistry National Certificate of Educational Achievement summative assessments was conducted to assess whether similarities and differences existed in secondary and tertiary competency discourses. Findings suggested significant differences in language-in-use, especially in the psychomotor and affective domains of learning, reflecting different themes and ideologies. The suggested implication was a lack of preparedness for tertiary clinical learning that focuses on performance-based assessment of the affective and psychomotor domains.
The Prospect of Parenthood For Women and Men

This study, which involved older subjects of both sexes (113 women, 75 men) and variables drawn from a psychodynamic perspective, is an extension of an earlier investigation that explored parenthood motivation in young women. Though feminism was not significantly related to motivation for older subjects of either sex, in both investigations psychological variables accounted for greater variance in female motivation than did demographic variables. The uniquely significant psychological variables in this investigation were narcissism, self-esteem, and memories of father's love. However, demographic variables alone accounted for differences in male motivation. Perceived importance of having a child to the fulfillment of life values was studied as well, with self-esteem, judged effect on one's own parents, and age as instrumental variables for women, and religious background, socioeconomic status, age, and marital status as key correlates for men.
Leucine and Protein Metabolism in Obese Zucker Rats

Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) are circulating nutrient signals for protein accretion, however, they increase in obesity and elevations appear to be prognostic of diabetes. To understand the mechanisms whereby obesity affects BCAAs and protein metabolism, we employed metabolomics and measured rates of [1-14C]-leucine metabolism, tissue-specific protein synthesis and branched-chain keto-acid (BCKA) dehydrogenase complex (BCKDC) activities. Male obese Zucker rats (11-weeks old) had increased body weight (BW, 53%), liver (107%) and fat (∼300%), but lower plantaris and gastrocnemius masses (−21–24%). Plasma BCAAs and BCKAs were elevated 45–69% and ∼100%, respectively, in obese rats. Processes facilitating these rises appeared to include increased dietary intake (23%), leucine (Leu) turnover and proteolysis [35% per g fat free mass (FFM), urinary markers of proteolysis: 3-methylhistidine (183%) and 4-hydroxyproline (766%)] and decreased BCKDC per g kidney, heart, gastrocnemius and liver (−47–66%). A process disposing of circulating BCAAs, protein synthesis, was increased 23–29% by obesity in whole-body (FFM corrected), gastrocnemius and liver. Despite the observed decreases in BCKDC activities per gm tissue, rates of whole-body Leu oxidation in obese rats were 22% and 59% higher normalized to BW and FFM, respectively. Consistently, urinary concentrations of eight BCAA catabolism-derived acylcarnitines were also elevated. The unexpected increase in BCAA oxidation may be due to a substrate effect in liver. Supporting this idea, BCKAs were elevated more in liver (193–418%) than plasma or muscle, and per g losses of hepatic BCKDC activities were completely offset by increased liver mass, in contrast to other tissues. In summary, our results indicate that plasma BCKAs may represent a more sensitive metabolic signature for obesity than BCAAs. Processes supporting elevated BCAA]BCKAs in the obese Zucker rat include increased dietary intake, Leu and protein turnover along with impaired BCKDC activity. Elevated BCAAs/BCKAs may contribute to observed elevations in protein synthesis and BCAA oxidation.
Social deprivation and the performance of retarded and normal children on a satiation type task.

Several investigators have found that retarded children will play simple, open-ended "games" longer than will normal children (4, 6, 14). This finding, that retarded Ss take longer to satiate on such instruction-initiated tasks, has given rise to considerable controversy (3, 5, 9, i1, 14). A review of pertinent studies and a critique of the controversy stemming from them were recently presented by Zigler (12). Two positions have been advanced to explain the lengthier performance of retarded Ss on satiation type tasks. Lewin (6) and Kounin (4) attributed the perseverance exhibited by retarded Ss to their rigid state. Both Lewin and Kounin viewed this rigid state as an outgrowth of a lessened permeability in the boundaries of the life space of the retarded as compared to normals of the same MA. As noted previously (12), the Lewin-Kounin formulation has provided the conceptual foundation for the questionable but widely accepted general hypothesis that retarded individuals are more rigid than normal individuals of the same MA. Stevenson and Zigler (io) were unable to verify predictions derived from the rigidity hypothesis and, after noting a similar failure by Plenderleith (7), rejected the Lewin-Kounin formulation. In its place, these investigators advanced a motivational hypothesis to explain the greater perseverance of retarded Ss. This hypothesis was based on the assumption that institutionalized retarded children tend to have been relatively deprived of adult contact and approval and hence have a higher motivation to secure such contact and approval than do normal children. Thus, on a satiation task, the institutionalized retarded children will play the game longer than will normal children due to the enhanced effectiveness of reinforcers such as adult attention and support. The motivational hypothesis received some support from a recent study by Zigler (I3). This investigator, employing only institutionalized retarded
Walking wisely: Sapiential influence in Psalm 26

Psalm 26 is interpreted by the majority of scholars as a cultic psalm. This has limited research on Psalm 26. There are clear traces of sapiential influence in Psalm 26 concerning its intricately well-thought concentric structure as well as various wisdom connections. This study will however focus on the structure as well as on the core wisdom theme of walking the way of Yahweh. This opens up interpretation possibilities for Psalm 26 and it also indicates that Psalm 26 is a literary creation belonging to the Persian Period.
From Grammar to Lexicon: Unsupervised Learning of Lexical Syntax

Imagine a language that is completely unfamiliar; the only means of studying it are an ordinary grammar book and a very large corpus of text. No dictionary is available. How can easily recognized, surface grammatical facts be used to extract from a corpus as much syntactic information as possible about individual words? This paper describes an approach based on two principles. First, rely on local morpho-syntactic cues to structure rather than trying to parse entire sentences. Second, treat these cues as probabilistic rather than absolute indicators of syntactic structure. Apply inferential statistics to the data collected using the cues, rather than drawing a categorical conclusion from a single occurrence of a cue. The effectiveness of this approach for inferring the syntactic frames of verbs is supported by experiments on an English corpus using a program called Lerner. Lerner starts out with no knowledge of content words---it bootstraps from determiners, auxiliaries, modals, prepositions, pronouns, complementizers, coordinating conjunctions, and punctuation.
Subclinical Myocardial Dysfunction in Metabolic Syndrome Patients without Hypertension

Background The aim of this study was to evaluate myocardial function in patients with non-hypertensive metabolic syndrome. Methods We selected metabolic syndrome patients (n = 42) without evidence of hypertension and compared them to age-matched control individuals (n = 20). All patients were evaluated by two-dimensional and tissue Doppler echocardiography including tissue Doppler derived strain and strain rate measurements. Results There were no significant differences between the two groups in mitral E and A inflow velocities or the E/A ratio. However, systolic and early diastolic myocardial velocities, and strain rate were significantly lower in patients with metabolic syndrome than in the control group (all p < 0.05). Multiple stepwise regression analyses revealed that age, waist circumference, and systolic blood pressure were independently associated with peak systolic myocardial velocity. Conclusion These results indicate that metabolic syndrome patients without hypertension may have decrease of myocardial systolic and early diastolic velocities on tissue Doppler imaging, even if they appear to have normal systolic and diastolic function on conventional echocardiography.
A Chick Embryo Model for Metastatic Human Prostate Cancer

Objective: To establish a suitable experimental model of bone and liver micrometastases from human prostate cancer for evaluating antitumor agents. Methods: PC-3 cells, an androgen-independent prostate cancer cell line, were inoculated into the chorioallantoic membrane vein of 10-day-old chick embryos (106 cells/egg). The polymerase chain reaction product for the human β-globin gene in chick embryo femur and liver was quantified at various time points after inoculation, when immunohistochemical staining was done for Ki-67 antigen and cytokeratin. The antitumor effect of suramin was evaluated using the model, as was regional blood flow after thallium injection. Results: Micrometastases were identified in bone and liver 1 day after inoculation and grew to form established metastatic foci in all embryos. Suramin showed significant antitumor effect for liver metastases, but not for those in bone where blood flow was relatively low. Conclusion: The chick embryo system provides a highly reproducible model for bone and liver micrometastases from human prostate cancer, suitable for evaluating antineoplastic agents at an early stage of the metastatic process.
Past the Tipping Point: The Persistence of Firefighting in Product Development

One of the most common syndromes in product development is firefighting, the unplanned allocation of resources to fix problems discovered late in a product's development cycle. While it has been widely criticized in both the popular and scholarly literature, firefighting is a common occurrence in most product development organizations. Product development systems have a tipping point. In models of infectious diseases, the tipping point represents the threshold of infectivity and susceptibility beyond which a disease becomes an epidemic. Similarly, in product development systems there exists a threshold for problem-solving activity that, when crossed, causes firefighting to spread rapidly from a few isolated projects to the entire development system. The location of the tipping point, and therefore the susceptibility of the system to the firefighting phenomenon, is determined by resource utilization in steady state. Many of the current methods for aggregate resource planning are insufficient and managers wishing to avoid the firefighting dynamic must rethink their approach to managing multi-project development environments.
Nurse Residency Graduates' Commitment to Their First Positions

Between 27% and 53% of new graduates change jobs during the first year of work. One program to address this issue is a national nurse residency program, in which the University of Kansas Hospital has enrolled new graduates since 2003. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among job satisfaction, reasons for staying, and satisfaction with the nurse residency program to job commitment and retention of nurses who completed the program.
Functional consequences of activity-dependent synaptic enhancement at a crustacean neuromuscular junction

SUMMARY This study provides evidence that activity-dependent synaptic enhancement at a neuromuscular junction modifies the characteristics of force production of the receiving muscle during rhythmic motor neuron discharge patterns. Long-lasting augmentation of the excitatory junction potentials (EJPs) quickens and strengthens the muscle response to a given motor pattern. We used the muscle gm6 of the crab Cancer pagurus to study the functional consequences and temporal dynamics of facilitation and augmentation. This stomach muscle is driven by the rhythmic activity of the gastric mill central pattern generator in the stomatogastric nervous system. We tested the response of this muscle to rhythmic motor drive using a variety of gastric mill-like stimulations. EJPs recorded in muscle gm6 were initially small but are summated and facilitated strongly with continuous stimulation. Facilitation increased with shorter interspike intervals and possessed a time constant of decay <1 s. During gastric mill rhythms, motor neuron activity was by contrast represented by bursts of activity with intermittent pauses of several seconds. Recordings in intact animals and in the isolated nervous system showed a great variability in firing frequency and temporal distribution of motor neuron bursts. Train stimulations with various stimulus frequencies (5 Hz, 10 Hz, 20 Hz) and inter-train intervals (2 s, 4 s, 8 s, 16 s, 32 s) revealed that augmentation acted in addition to facilitation. Augmentation increased muscle EJPs during stimulations with inter-train intervals of 16 s or less. The effects of augmentation increased with shorter inter-train intervals, but were independent of stimulus frequency. Augmentation also contributed to the electrical response of the muscle during gastric mill rhythms, which were obtained in vitro and in vivo, and was also reflected by an increase of muscle force and the slope of force development during repetitive train stimulation. We conclude that the augmentation of EJPs at the neuromuscular junction tunes the muscle response to support force production during rhythmic motor patterns.