Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On the Assessment of Paramedic Competence: A Narrative Review with Practice Implications

Abstract Introduction Paramedicine is experiencing significant growth in scope of practice, autonomy, and role in the health care system. Despite clinical governance models, the degree to which paramedicine ultimately can be safe and effective will be dependent on the individuals the profession deems suited to practice. This creates an imperative for those responsible for these decisions to ensure that assessments of paramedic competence are indeed accurate, trustworthy, and defensible. Purpose The purpose of this study was to explore and synthesize relevant theoretical foundations and literature informing best practices in performance-based assessment (PBA) of competence, as it might be applied to paramedicine, for design or evaluation of assessment programs. Methods A narrative review methodology was applied to focus intentionally, but broadly, on purpose relevant, theoretically derived research that could inform assessment protocols in paramedicine. Primary and secondary studies from a number of health professions that contributed to and informed best practices related to the assessment of paramedic clinical competence were included and synthesized. Results Multiple conceptual frameworks, psychometric requirements, and emerging lines of research are forwarded. Seventeen practice implications are derived to promote understanding as well as best practices and evaluation criteria for educators, employers, and/or licensing/certifying bodies when considering the assessment of paramedic competence. Conclusions The assessment of paramedic competence is a complex process requiring an understanding, appreciation for, and integration of conceptual and psychometric principles. The field of PBA is advancing rapidly with numerous opportunities for research. TavaresW, BoetS. On the assessment of paramedic competence: a narrative review with practice implications. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(1):64–73.
Function of cGMP-dependent Protein Kinases in the Nervous System

The second messenger cyclic guanosine-3',5'-monophosphate (cGMP) mediates many effects of nitric oxide in the nervous system. cGMP may act through various intracellular receptors, among them a family of serine/threonine kinases, the cGMP-dependent protein kinases (cGKs). Hitherto, three mammalian cGKs have been identified: cGKIalpha, cGKIbeta and cGKII. Discrete functions of cGKI and cGKII are determined by their distinct expression patterns and targeting to specific substrates. This review provides an overview about the expression and functions of cGKs in the nervous system. Main emphasis is put on the discussion of phenotypes observed in cGK-deficient mouse models that lack cGKI and/or cGKII globally or selectively in brain regions of interest. Recent data demonstrate important functions of cGKI in (1) the development and sensitization of nociceptive neurons, and (2) synaptic plasticity and learning. There is also evidence suggesting that cGKII in the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus is involved in the regulation of circadian rhythmicity. Thus, cGKs serve key functions in the transduction of cGMP signals into cellular responses in distinct regions of the nervous system. -
An adaptive algorithm for grid-connected inverter to suppress current harmonics and instabilities due to grid impedance and distortion

For grid-connected inverters, the feedforward of the grid voltage at the point of common coupling (PCC) highly suppresses the grid current harmonics caused by the grid distortion; however, when the PCC grid is weak with non-negligible grid impedance, the feedforward of the PCC voltage arouses serious current harmonics or even instability. In order to maintain the stability in the weak grid case, the typical robust design usually had to compromise the dynamic performance or the harmonics rejection performance, while the typical adaptive control had to measure the grid impedance precisely through injecting extra harmonics into the system. Both solutions are not satisfactory enough. Therefore, this study proposes a novel adaptive control algorithm which has overcome the drawbacks of typical solutions. In the propose algorithm, the band-pass filters at harmonics frequencies are used to detect the variation of the grid impedance as well as to facilitate the adaptive PCC voltage feedforward. It is not necessary to inject any extra harmonics to estimate the grid impedance. In this paper, the realization and logic of the proposed control algorithm are briefly explained, and selected waveforms are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposal.
Antifouling potential of Subtilisin A immobilized onto maleic anhydride copolymer thin films

The proteinaceous nature of the adhesives used by most fouling organisms to attach to surfaces suggests that coatings incorporating proteolytic enzymes may provide a technology for the control of biofouling. In the present article, the antifouling (AF) and fouling release potential of model coatings incorporating the surface-immobilized protease, Subtilisin A, have been investigated. The enzyme was covalently attached to maleic anhydride copolymer thin films; the characteristics of the bioactive coatings obtained were adjusted through variation of the type of copolymer and the concentration of the enzyme solution used for immobilization. The bioactive coatings were tested for their effect on the settlement and adhesion strength of two major fouling species: the green alga Ulva linza and the diatom Navicula perminuta. The results show that the immobilized enzyme effectively reduced the settlement and adhesion strength of zoospores of Ulva and the adhesion strength of Navicula cells. The AF efficacy of the bioactive coatings increased with increasing enzyme surface concentration and activity, and was found to be superior to the equivalent amount of enzyme in solution. The results provide a rigorous analysis of one approach to the use of immobilized proteases to reduce the adhesion of marine fouling organisms and are of interest to those investigating enzyme-containing coating technologies for practical biofouling control.
HemOnc.org: A Collaborative Online Knowledge Platform for Oncology Professionals.

PURPOSE Cancer care involves extensive knowledge about numerous chemotherapy drugs and chemotherapy regimens. This information is constantly evolving, and there has been no freely available, comprehensive, centralized repository of chemotherapy information to date. METHODS We created an online, freely accessible, ad-free, collaborative wiki of chemotherapy information entitled HemOnc.org to address the unmet need for a central repository of this information. This Web site was developed with wiki development software and is hosted on a cloud platform. Chemotherapy drug and regimen information (including regimen variants), as well as other information of interest to hematology/oncology professionals, is housed on the site in a fully referenced and standardized format. Accredited users are allowed to freely contribute information to the site. RESULTS From its inception in November 2011, HemOnc.org has grown rapidly and most recently has detailed information on 383 drugs and 1,298 distinct chemotherapy regimens (not counting variants) in 92 disease subtypes. There are regularly more than 2,000 visitors per week from the United States and international locations. A user evaluation demonstrated that users find the site useful, usable, and recommendable. CONCLUSION HemOnc.org is now the largest free source of chemotherapy drug and regimen information and is widely used. Future enhancements, including more metadata about drugs and increasingly detailed efficacy and toxicity information, will continue to improve the value of the resource.
Does institutional quality drive innovation? Evidence from system-GMM estimates

This paper investigates the influence of institutional quality on innovation performance in developing countries by employing annual data from 1997-2014. The system-generalized method of moments (GMM) is used as the empirical method. Estimation results reveal that bureaucratic quality, government stability, democratic accountability, and law and order indicators that represent institutional quality have had a positive influence on innovation performance. These results indicate that improving the institutional structure in the developing countries would have a significant contribution to the innovation process and hence economic development
Exertional dyspnoea and cortical oxygenation in patients with COPD

This study was designed to investigate the association of perceived dyspnoea intensity with cortical oxygenation and cortical activation during exercise in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and exertional hypoxaemia. Low-intensity exercise was performed at a constant work rate by patients with COPD and exertional hypoxaemia (n=11) or no hypoxaemia (n=16), and in control participants (n=11). Cortical oxyhaemoglobin (oxy-Hb) and deoxyhaemoglobin (deoxy-Hb) concentrations were measured by multichannel near-infrared spectroscopy. Increased deoxy-Hb is assumed to reflect impaired oxygenation, whereas decreased deoxy-Hb signifies cortical activation. Exercise decreased cortical deoxy-Hb in control and nonhypoxaemic patients. Deoxy-Hb was increased in hypoxaemic patients and oxygen supplementation improved cortical oxygenation. Decreased deoxy-Hb in the pre-motor cortex (PMA) was significantly correlated with exertional dyspnoea in control participants and patients with COPD without hypoxaemia. In contrast, increased cortical deoxy-Hb concentration was correlated with dyspnoea in patients with COPD and hypoxaemia. With the administration of oxygen supplementation, exertional dyspnoea was correlated with decreased deoxy-Hb in the PMA of COPD patients with hypoxaemia. During exercise, cortical oxygenation was impaired in patients with COPD and hypoxaemia compared with control and nonhypoxaemic patients; this difference was ameliorated with oxygen supplementation. Exertional dyspnoea was related to activation of the pre-motor cortex in COPD patients. Exertional dyspnoea was related to activation of the pre-motor cortex in COPD patients http://ow.ly/QUHfC
Using a Kinked Policy Rule to Estimate the Effect of Experience Rating on Disability Inflow

We study whether the experience rating of employersâ€™ disability insurance premiums affects the inflow to disability benefits in Finland. To identify the causal effect of experience rating, we exploit â€œkinksâ€ in the rule that specifies the degree of experience rating as a function of firm size. Using comprehensive matched employer-employee panel data, we estimate the effects of experience rating on the inflow to sickness and disability benefits. Our results suggest that experience rating has reduced the disability inflow among men under age 50. For other groups we find no significant effects, yet we cannot rule out relatively small effects.
The effect of oral administration of Carum carvi on weight, serum glucose, and lipid profile in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of oral administration of caraway (Carum carvi) on the blood glucose level, lipid profile, and the weight of diabetic rats. METHODS This investigation was carried out in Ahvaz University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran between April and June 2010. Twenty-four male Wistar rats weighing 200-250 g were randomly divided into 3 groups: normal, diabetic, and caraway treated diabetic groups and were studied for 3 weeks. Diabetes was induced by intraperitoneal injection of 60 mg/kg body weight streptozotocin. Caraway was given orally at a dose of 1g/kg body weight daily, and the body weight of animals was measured every day. Blood samples were collected and blood glucose levels and lipid profile were determined. RESULTS The results showed that oral administration of caraway caused a significant decrease in blood glucose level of treated rats (p = 0.001) and alleviated their body weight loss (p = 0.037). Furthermore, it caused significant decrease in total cholesterol (p = 0.036), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (p = 0.001) in the treated animals compared with the diabetic control rats, and with no significant change in triglyceride and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. CONCLUSION Caraway has both antihyperglycemic and hypolipidemic activity in diabetic rats. Nevertheless, it is not recommended before further investigations in animals and humans.
Separating between Unobserved Consumer Types: Evidence from Airlines

We propose an alternative approach to identify unobserved consumer types and assess whether firms price discriminate. Unlike other screening schemes that rely on quantity discounts or product differentiation, in our finite mixture structure individuals have unit demands and the product is homogeneous. We implement the model using an original U.S. airlines data set. The results support the existence of two demand types. The high‐type “business” traveler is less price sensitive, has a higher valuation, and pays a higher price than the low type “tourist. ” The proportion of high types also increases as the departure date nears. (JEL C23, L93, R41)
Revenue Management Outsourcing: A Hybrid Model of Transaction Cost Economics and Organizational Capability

Hotel revenue management is an activity domain that is uniquely technical, complex, and dynamic, and as such, it is often outsourced. This study explores the motivation of hotels to outsource their revenue management function to an outside entity. The major theoretical contribution is in being first to suggest, and empirically test, the notion that in complex environments, such as revenue management, the firm’s capabilities are moderating the impact of assets specificity on managers’ inclination to outsource. From a practical perspective, this study is the first to empirically explore the contextual determinants of the decision to outsource in the hotel-specific domain of revenue management.
Neutralizing Antibody Responses in Acute Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Subtype C Infection

ABSTRACT The study of the evolution and specificities of neutralizing antibodies during the course of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection may be important in the discovery of possible targets for vaccine design. In this study, we assessed the autologous and heterologous neutralization responses of 14 HIV-1 subtype C-infected individuals, using envelope clones obtained within the first 2 months postinfection. Our data show that potent but relatively strain-specific neutralizing antibodies develop within 3 to 12 months of HIV-1 infection. The magnitude of this response was associated with shorter V1-to-V5 envelope lengths and fewer glycosylation sites, particularly in the V1-V2 region. Anti-MPER antibodies were detected in 4 of 14 individuals within a year of infection, while antibodies to CD4-induced (CD4i) epitopes developed to high titers in 12 participants, in most cases before the development of autologous neutralizing antibodies. However, neither anti-MPER nor anti-CD4i antibody specificity conferred neutralization breadth. These data provide insights into the kinetics, potency, breadth, and epitope specificity of neutralizing antibody responses in acute HIV-1 subtype C infection.
Feasibility of Helicobacter pylori identification by a slide agglutination test

Culture isolation and identification of Helicobacter pylori represents a considerable work load in clinical microbiology. The aim of this study was to test if antibody‐mediated bacterial agglutination could be used for rapid identification of H. pylori. Rabbit antiserum against H. pylori strain I and against another strain, H. pylori 330, which was very weakly agglutinated (1+) by anti‐H. pylori I serum, were mixed and used in a slide agglutination test. Of 107 consecutive clinical isolates tested, 101 (94%) strains showed 2+ or 3+ reaction using the antiserum mixture, whereas 6 (6%) strains could not be evaluated owing to autoagglutinability. Bacteria of a variety of other species, including Campylobacter spp. , showed no agglutination with the antiserum mixture. The results support the notion that reliable identification of the majority of cultured H. pylori strains should be possible in less than 3 min by agglutination testing.
Functional Analysis of Shigella VirG Domains Essential for Interaction with Vinculin and Actin-based Motility*

The VirG (IcsA) protein of Shigella is required for recruitment of host actin filament (F-actin) by intracellularly motile bacteria. An N-terminal 80-kDa VirG portion (α-domain) is exposed on the bacterial surface, while the following C-terminal 37-kDa portion (β-core) is embedded in the outer membrane. Here, we report that the surface exposed α-domain of VirG possesses two distinct functional domains; one is the N-terminal two-thirds portion of the α-domain which is required for eliciting F-actin assembly on the bacteria in infected cells, and the other one is the rest of the C-terminal portion of the VirG α-domain, which is essential for the asymmetric distribution of VirG on the bacterial surface. Furthermore, we found that vinculin, an actin-binding cytoskeletal protein, accumulates on the surface of bacteria expressing VirG in infected cells, and that the distribution of vinculin coincided with the distribution of VirG and assembled F-actin. The vinculin accumulation depended on the expression of the α-domain VirG portion required for F-actin assembly, but the recruitment of vinculin on Shigella appeared prior to the appearance of F-actin in the infected cells. Analysis of proteins interacting with VirG using Xenopus laevis eggs extracts revealed that vinculin was a protein that bound to the α-domain portion. This was further confirmed using purified chicken gizzard vinculin, in that the 95-kDa vinculin head part, but not the 30-kDa tail part, directly bound to the α-domain portion. These results suggest a possible role for vinculin in recruitment of F-actin to the VirG moiety exposed on Shigella in infected mammalian cells.
The Pragmatics of Financial Communication. Part 1: From Sources to the Public Sphere

Research in financial communication has long been dominated by scholars in accounting and finance, who largely focused on the extratextual aspects of financial disclosures, such as the choice (not) to reveal information or the impact of new regulatory standards. In contrast, the past decade and a half has witnessed a significant shift of attention toward the linguistic and textual elements of financial communication. Finance scholars have started to develop text analysis approaches to investigate, in particular, market sentiment and its impact on stock prices. At the same time, accounting scholars have engaged in the so-called narrative turn by investigating the rhetorical aspects of voluntary disclosure. Recent developments in the field, however, dig deeper and are beginning to shed light on the crucial functions of language use in financial communication. There is a growing interest throughout the disciplines to analyze the interplay of micro and macro structure in financial communication, which has been clearly reflected in academic initiatives and rapidly evolving subject areas in recent years. Bringing together these initiatives on a higher level, the AILA research network in financial communication, set up in early 2018, enables scholars from all over the world to strengthen and elaborate on their research and its dissemination. The two parts of the special issue “The Pragmatics of Financial Communication” aim to reflect these recent developments and to foster current and future initiatives in the field.
Preferences for psychological therapy in psychosis: trial participation, mode of treatment, and willingness to be randomised

Abstract Background: Psychological therapies for psychosis are well evidenced; however, service user preferences for psychological treatment and trial participation have been little researched. Aims: To investigate preferences for psychological treatments for psychosis and trial participation decisions within a sample of people with experience of psychosis. Method: Hypothetical preferences were assessed in 90 individuals diagnosed with non-affective psychosis: (a) willingness/unwillingness to participate in a psychological therapy trial; (b) willingness/unwillingness to be randomised to treatment condition; (c) preference for mode of therapy; (d) reasons for preferences; (e) socio-demographic and clinical characteristics associated with preferences. Results: Most participants reported willingness to participate in a therapy trial and preferred not to be randomly allocated. Reasons for preferences were diverse, and preferences were not associated with socio-demographic or clinical variables. Conclusions: The need for treatment choice in services for psychosis and further research in this area has been highlighted.
Integrated switched-capacitor voltage doubler with clock transition periods boosting and transfer blocking techniques

In this paper, a CMOS switched-capacitor voltage doubler is proposed. It employs the techniques of clock synchronization and charge transfer blocking to minimize the reversion loss. The clock transition period detection and boosting circuit modules allow continuous charge action to the output node, which significantly improves operation performances. The proposed voltage doubler was designed using IBM 180nm CMOS process, with a 1.2V supply voltage. Under no-load condition, it achieves 99.92% of ideal voltage level with 8mV voltage ripple, while consuming only 9. 6µW of quiescent power. With a load ranging from 20kΩ to 200kΩ, the up-conversion ratio performs 45% better than the prior arts.
Economics blogs sentiment and asset prices

One of the most important research streams in finance is to understand the determinants of stock market dynamics. Using a large amount of linguistic data regarding 960,808 posts during a 5â€ year time period (from March 1, 2008, to August 31, 2013), we develop an economics blogs pessimism indicator (considered as a proxy for either investor sentiment or risk aversion), and we show its validity to build performing trading strategies.
Dismissal laws, innovation, and economic growth

We show theoretically and empirically that dismissal laws—laws that impose hurdles on firing of employees—spur innovation and thereby economic growth. Theoretically, dismissal laws make it costly for firms to arbitrarily discharge employees. This enables firms to commit to not punish short-run failures of employees. Because innovation is inherently risky and employment contracts are incomplete, dismissal laws enable such commitment. Specifically, absent such laws, firms cannot contractually commit so ex ante. The commitment provided by dismissal laws encourages employees to exert greater effort in risky, but path-breaking, projects thereby fostering firm-level innovation. We provide empirical evidence supporting this thesis using the discontinuity provided by the passage of the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. Using the fact that this Act only applied to firms with 100 or more employees, I undertake difference-in-difference and regression discontinuity tests to provide this evidence. Building on endogenous growth theory, which posits that economic growth stems from innovation, I also show that dismissal laws correlate positively with economic growth. However, other forms of labor laws correlate negatively with economic growth and swamp the positive effect of dismissal laws.