Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Comparison of Predictive Outcomes of APACHE II and SAPS II in a Surgical Intensive Care Unit

The Acute Physiologic Score and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II and the Simplified Acute Physiologic Scale (SAPS) II are two of the more commonly employed predictors of outcome and performance in the intensive care unit setting. However, controversy persists about whether the scores generated by these systems have similar predictive value. This study compared the predicted mortalities derived from APACHE II and SAPS II and contrasted them to the actual mortality in a surgical intensive care unit (SICU). Data for 1665 patients admitted to the SICU between July 1994 and August 1997 were entered into an SICU computerized database. From recorded demographic, hemodynamic, and laboratory data, APACHE II and SAPS II scores were obtained with corresponding predicted mortalities. Patients were stratified by age into categories of less than and greater than 65 years old. Predicted mortalities by APACHE II and SAPS II were compared for each group. An additional analysis included a comparison of survivors and nonsurvivors. There was no significant difference in predicted mortality between APACHE II and SAPS II in any of the groups. Actual mortality was 30 of 486 (6.2%) in patients less than 65 years of age and 73 of 1179 (6.2%) in patients 65 years of age or greater. The APACHE II and SAPS LI predicted mortalities (mean ± SD) for patients less than 65 years of age were 10.5% ± 10.6% and 10.9% ± 13.3%, respectively (P > .05). The APACHE II and SAPS II predicted mortalities in patients 65 years of age or greater were 19.1% ± 17.8% and 18.7% ± 21.0%, respectively (P > .05). Similarly, when patients were stratified by survival status, no significant difference was present between groups. However, in individual patients, a difference between APACHE II and SAPS II scores was often present. We conclude that although disparities between APACHE II and SAPS II predicted mortalities in individual patients may be significant, APACHE II and SAPS II have similar predictive value in a large SICU patient population. However, both APACHE II and SAPS II systems overestimate mortality in SICU patients. Based on our results, we conclude that either system can be used to measure quality of care in the SICU; however, neither system can be reliably applied to a single patient.
‘Good’ and ‘Evil’: The Relationship Between Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Political Activity

To determine if corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate political activity are economic substitutes or economic complements, I assemble and analyze the largest dataset possible from existing data sources incorporating both types of non-market behavior. Examining the joint distribution of an index of firms’ CSR behavior and an indicator of whether or not firms lobby reveals that firms at both the positive and the negative extremes of social responsibility are more likely to have been politically active. Regressing the CSR index and a measure of lobbying intensity, individually, on Tobin’s Q allows me to test whether CSR and corporate political activity separately enhance firms’ value; regressing an interaction between the CSR index and the measure of lobbying intensity on Tobin’s Q, allows me to test whether they play complementary roles in enhancing firms’ value. Higher CSR ratings, more intensive lobbying, and the interaction between the CSR rating and lobbying intensity all appear to increase value when comparing firms; however, when each firm is studied over time, only the interaction between CSR rating and lobbying intensity appear to increase firm value. Taken together this suggests that firms’ CSR positions work as an economic complement to its political activity rather than a substitute – jointly the two types of non-market behavior increase a firm’s value, while independently each activity is more difficult to reconcile and perhaps may simply be symptomatic of some other inherently unobservable firm-fixed characteristic such as ‘good management’. Illustrative cases round-out the large dataset analysis.
Overdiagnosis in Mammographic Screening because of Competing Risk of Death

Background: Different definitions and estimates of overdiagnosis in mammographic screening reflect a substantial need to investigate and understand the complexity of the issue. This modeling study aims to estimate the number of overdiagnosed women, defined as those diagnosed with breast cancer who die from any cause within the lead-time period. Methods: We used numbers from incidence and death statistics available online and published estimates of lead-time. Postulated cohorts of screened and not screened women ages 50 to 51 were followed for a period corresponding to 10 biennial screening exams during 20 years, and a further 10 years, to ages 78 to 79. The increase in breast cancer incidence because of screening was estimated based on lead-time. The proportion of women diagnosed with breast cancer who died within the lead-time period was assessed based on the differences in the cumulative number of breast cancer diagnosed in a nonscreened and screened cohort. Results: The proportion of inevitable overdiagnosed women in a screened versus nonscreened cohort was 1.9% for England and Wales and 1.8% for Norway. Sensitivity analyses using various assumptions increased the estimates up to a maximum of 4%. Conclusion: The proportion of women with breast cancer diagnosed after participation in a screening program who died within the estimated lead-time period was less than 4%. This inevitable proportion of overdiagnosis should be emphasized in the definition and communication of the issue. Impact: The issue of overdiagnosis is complex and estimates should be interpreted with substantial care. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 25(5); 759–65. ©2016 AACR.
Leisure smoothing: an alternative approach to analysing care policy

Traditionally, the success of child care policies has been studied in terms of their effects on labour force participation and fertility. We take a slightly different perspective by looking at the impact of child care policies on time allocated to leisure. If there is little time left for leisure after parenting tasks, this would indicate that parents have difficulty combining labour and care. Child care policies may potentially smooth leisure over the life course, ensuring that young parents do not face a time squeeze. Using data from the Harmonised European Time Use Surveys, perfect leisure smoothing is defined as parents having the same number of leisure hours as non-parents. The role of child care policy in smoothing leisure is analysed through a comparison across 15 European countries. The approach yields relevant results for understanding the costs of parenthood and the role of child care policy in time allocation of both mothers and fathers.
Land Markets in the Harris‐Todaro Model: A New Factor Equilibrating Rural‐Urban Migration

Recent research in the Harris-Todaro (HT) tradition has added an important new element to the model by incorporating an urban land market. Brueckner and Zenou (1999) (hereafter BZ) argue that a model where migration equalizes expected wages between city and countryside may overlook another important force that equilibrates the process of rural-urban migration. This force is the migration-induced rise in the urban cost of living, which occurs principally through escalation of urban land rents as the city population expands. Land-rent escalation, which tends to limit rural-urban migration, provides an important additional force that may help determine city sizes in developing countries. The present paper provides a simpler alternative to BZ's analysis by assuming that urban residents smooth their income as they cycle between formal and informal employment. This allows migration decisions to be based on the expected wage, as in the usual HT framework, in a model that includes a land market. The analysis shows that this modified framework generates results slightly different from those of BZ. Copyright 2001 Blackwell Publishers
The effects of improved maize technology on household welfare in Buruku, Benue State, Nigeria

Abstract This study was carried out to determine the welfare effects of improved maize technology in Buruku Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. The study also examined the determinants of the adoption of improved maize technology. Structured questionnaires were used in collecting the primary data for the study. A multi-stage random technique was used in selecting 125 farm households for the study. The Logit and ordinary least square (OLS) models were used in analyzing the data. The OLS results show that adoption of improved maize varieties is positively and significantly related to household welfare and thus has contributed to moving farm households out of poverty. Other variables found to be statistically significant in explaining household welfare are education, household size, and landholding. The Logit results show that age, household size, off-farm income, and education were found to be significant in influencing farmers’ adoption decisions. Some robustness checks were performed with different specifications of the Logit and OLS models as well as re-estimation with propensity matching score approach. Overall, the results are robust to different specifications.
Combining Brain and Behavioral Data to Improve Econometric Policy Analysis

Abstract For an economist, ultimate goals of neuroeconomic research include improving economic policy analysis. One path toward this goal is to use neuroeconomic data to advance economic theory, and productive efforts have been made towards that end. Equally important, though less studied, is how neuroeconomics can provide quantitative evidence on policy, and in particular the way in which it might inform structural econometric inference. This paper is a first step in that direction. We suggest here that key forms of preference (or decision strategy) heterogeneity can be identified by brain imaging studies and, consequently, linked stochastically to observable individual characteristics. Then, recognizing that brain-imaging studies are substantially costly, we derive conditions under which the probabilistic link between observable characteristics and type, a quantity critical to policy analysis, can be estimated more precisely by combining data from traditional and brain-based decision studies.
Developing Knowledge States: Technology and the Enhancement of National Statistical Capacity

National statistical systems are the enterprises tasked with collecting, validating and reporting societal attributes. These data serve many purposes - they allow governments to improve services, economic actors to traverse markets, and academics to assess social theories. National statistical systems vary in quality, especially in developing countries. This study examines determinants of national statistical capacity in developing countries, focusing on the impact of general purpose technologies (GPTs). Just as technological progress helps to explain differences in economic growth, states with markets with greater technological attainment (specifically, general purpose technologies) arguably have greater capacity for gathering and processing quality data. Analysis using panel methods shows a strong, statistically significant positive linear relationship between GPTs and national statistical capacity. There is no evidence to support a non-linear function in this relationship. Which is to say, there does not appear to be a marginal depreciating National Statistical Capacity benefit associated with increases in GPTs.
Independent and Competing Disease Risks: Implications for Host Populations in Variable Environments

Disease models usually assume disease to act independently of other mortality‐ and morbidity‐causing factors. Alternatively, disease may function as a competing risk factor, for example, killing already moribund hosts. Using tuberculosis (TB) in African buffalo as a model system, we explore consequences of competing or independent disease effects for host population dynamics. We include scenarios with density‐dependent and density‐independent effects of environmental variation, exemplified by variable food availability (driven by rainfall) and catastrophic droughts, respectively. Independent disease effects reduce population size linearly with prevalence, irrespective of the nature of environmental variation. Competing disease risks alter population size only if density‐independent variation is present; then, disease reduces population size nonlinearly. Field data indicate that the net effect of TB on buffalo likely falls between the extremes of total independence and competition with other risk factors: TB increases mortality and decreases fecundity in some prime‐aged buffalo, suggesting independent disease risks in these individuals, while similar disease effects in senescent buffalo may act as competing risks. Moreover, increased survival and fecundity of TB‐negative buffalo may compensate for some disease‐related losses. Model assumptions on independent or competing disease risks and environmental variability should be considered explicitly when assessing disease effects on wildlife populations.
Pop Culture, Twitter, and Study Abroad: Estonia as a Case Study

Abstract This article highlights a number of different pedagogical practices that can be used with study abroad programs, both classroom methods and out-of-class techniques. In this particular class—which focused on Estonia's Singing Revolution and included a 10-day trip abroad to Estonia—social media platforms like Twitter and Tumblr were frequently used to create collaboration among students. In addition, Estonian music and pop culture were studied, giving students a unique insight into a culture very foreign from their own. Although Estonia was the focus of this particular class, the results of these methods are generalizable to help others who lead study abroad programs and develop creative ways to foster interaction. This article also demonstrates why social media platforms are helpful to political scientists and the political science discipline more generally.
TRPV4 regulates the integrity of the blood‐cerebrospinal fluid barrier and modulates transepithelial protein transport

The diffusion of materials from systemic circulation to the central nervous system (CNS) is restricted by the blood‐brain barrier (BBB) and the blood‐cerebrospinal fluid barrier (BCSFB). Choroid plexus epithelial cells (CPECs) of the brain ventricles constitute the BCSFB and regulate the infiltration of plasma proteins as well as immune cells into the interstitium of the CNS. The barrier function is altered in pathologic conditions. However, the regulatory mechanism of BCSFB is not fully understood. Here, we investigated the function of transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4), a polymodally gated divalent cation channel that is highly expressed in CPECs. TRPV4 was localized broadly on the apical membrane in swine CPECs, in contrast with an intense ciliary localization found on other cell types. Treatment with the TRPV4‐specific agonist, GSK1016790A (GSK; EC50 34 nM), induced a robust calcium influx and an immediate serine/threonine protein phosphorylation. The agonist treatment induced a marked decrease in the amount of filamentous actin and disintegrated the cell junctions in 10‐20 minutes. In contrast, inhibition of the basal TRPV4 activity with the TRPV4‐specific antagonist, HC067047 (HC; IC50 74 nM), reduced the basolateral‐to‐apical transport of α‐2‐macroglobulin (A2M). Overall, this study demonstrated a novel physiologic function of TRPV4 in the regulation of BCSFB permeability. —Narita, K. , Sasamoto, S. , Koizumi, S. , Okazaki, S. , Nakamura, H. , Inoue, T. , Takeda, S. TRPV4 regulates the integrity of the blood‐cerebrospinal fluid barrier and modulates transepithelial protein transport FASEB J. 29, 2247‐2259 (2015). www.fasebj. org
Livelihoods and farm efficiency in rural Georgia

This study contributes to the literature on the role of livelihood strategies in rural growth and poverty reduction. It distinguishes between livelihood diversity strategies that contribute to sustainable growth in household incomes, and those that mainly have a ‘coping’ function. It suggests that typically, the contribution of livelihood diversity to growing household income is through relaxing dependence on credit for access to capital. In this scenario, livelihood diversity would lead to higher technical efficiency in agriculture via investment and thereby to higher household incomes. Survey data from Georgia are introduced and used to test these hypotheses using a Bayesian stochastic frontier approach. The findings are relevant to defining more clearly the scope and aims of policies to stimulate the rural non-farm economy in developing and transition countries.
Assessment of Insulin Sensitivity from Measurements in Fasting State and During an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test in Obese Children

BACKGROUND Few previous studies have examined the validity of the fasting glucose-to-insulin ratio (FGIR), homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and quantitative insulin-sensitivity check index (QUICKI) in pediatric populations. OBJECTIVE To compare simple indices of insulin resistance calculated from fasting glucose and insulin levels with insulin sensitivity indices (area under the response curve [AUCinsulin], insulin sensitivity index [ISI-compositeL) determined by oral glucose tolerance testing (OGTT) in obese children. METHODS One hundred and forty-eight obese children and adolescents (86 girls and 62 boys, mean age: 10.86 +/- 3.08 years, mean body mass index (BMI): 27.7 +/- 4.2) participated in the study. OGTT was performed in all participants. After glucose and insulin measurements from OGTT, the children were divided into two groups according to the presence or absence of insulin resistance. Insulin sensitivity indices obtained from the OGTT were compared between the groups. The total plasma glucose response and insulin secretion were evaluated from the AUC estimated by the trapezoid rule. Cut-off points, and sensitivity and specificity calculations were based on insulin resistance with receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis. RESULTS The prevalence of insulin resistance, glucose intolerance and dyslipidemia was 37.1%, 24.3% and 54% in obese children, respectively. The groups consisted of 93 children without insulin resistance (54 girls and 39 boys; mean age: 10.5 +/- 3.3 years; mean BMI: 27.0 +/- 4.2) and 55 children with insulin resistance (32 girls and 23 boys; mean age: 11.4 +/- 2.5 years; mean BMI: 27.9 +/- 3.9). There were significant differences in mean FGIR (10.0 +/- 7.2 vs 5.6 +/- 2.8, p < 0.001), HOMA-IR (3.2 +/- 2.3 vs 4.9 +/- 2.3, p < 0.001) and QUICKI (0.33 +/- 0.03 vs 0.30 +/- 0.02, p < 0.001) between the groups. The cut-off points for diagnosis of insulin resistance were < 5.6 for FGIR (sensitivity 61.8, specificity 76.3), > 2.7 for HOMA-IR (sensitivity 80, specificity 59.1), and < 0.328 for QUICKI (sensitivity 80, specificity 60.2). CONCLUSIONS Indices derived from fasting samples for diagnosis of insulin sensitivity are reliable criteria in obese children and adolescents. HOMA-IR and QUICKI appeared to have similar sensitivity and specificity and to have higher sensitivity than FGIR.
Crisis Management Plans and Systems of Exporting Companies: An Empirical Study

ABSTRACT Although exporting is a risky and crisis-prone activity (especially when selling to volatile markets in the Third World), little is known about the crisis planning behaviour of exporting firms. This empirical study examined the extents to which export crisis management plans and systems had been developed in a sample of 183 enterprises, all of which exported to Third World nations. Certain antecedents of the development of detailed export crisis management plans were proposed, and a model intended to explain the degrees to which companies engaged in crisis planning was tested. Around a fifth of the businesses in the sample possessed detailed or highly detailed export crisis management plans and systems, while a third had no such plans or systems whatsoever. It emerged that the propensity to engage in crisis planning was as much an “attitude of mind” as a question of resources. Companies with the most extensive crisis management plans and systems tended to be those that had experienced a crisis in.
Gender Equality Legislation: Addressing Gender Issues in Conditions of Work (A Policy Review)

The discourse of gender equality has developed into two major perspectives:the formal and the substantive equality approach. Most recently, the dominance approach or nonsubordination theory has been proposed as an alternative and a critique of the earlier models. Another recent development is the postmodern feminist approach, with its strong anti-essentialist bias that challenges the notion of a monolithic “women’s experience” independent of other facets of experience like race, class, and sexual orientation. With the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Philippine government has adopted the substantive equality approach in legislation. CEDAW’s substantive equality approach, however, permeates the boundaries of other approaches. This paper examines some of these legislative gains in women’s rights and the extent to which these have addressed the gender issues in conditions of work and welfare facilities and promoted gender equality. Part of the analysis is to find out to what extent these laws have come up to international labor standards, especially in terms of providing better working opportunities for women and providing maternal protection for them, and to examine how the discourse on gender equality has influenced the form and content of the so-called “gender equality legislation”.
Public Key Broadcast Encryption Schemes With Shorter Transmissions

Broadcast encryption allows a sender to securely distribute messages to a dynamically changing set of users over an insecure channel. In a public key broadcast encryption (PKBE) scheme, this encryption is performed in the public key setting, where the public key is stored in a user's device, or directly transmitted to the receivers along with ciphertexts. In this paper, we propose two PKBE schemes for stateless receivers which are transmission-efficient. A distinctive feature in our first construction is that, different than existing schemes in the literature, only a fraction of the public key related to the set of intended receivers is required in the decryption process. This feature results in the first PKBE scheme with O(r) transmission cost and O(1) user storage cost for r revoked users. Our second construction is a generalized version of the first one providing a tradeoff between ciphertext size and public key size. With appropriate parametrization, we obtain a PKBE scheme with (Oradicn) transmission cost and O(1) user storage cost for any large set of n users. The transmission cost of our second scheme is at least 30\% less than that of the recent result of Boneh et al.'s PKBE scheme, which is considered as being the current state-of-the-art. By combining the two proposed schemes, we suggest a PKBE scheme that achieves further shortened transmissions, while still maintaining O(1) user storage cost. The proposed schemes are secure against any number of colluders and do not require costly re-keying procedures followed by revocation of users.