Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Trust and control: public administration and risk society

Today we live in a society with many choices and possibilities which were absent just a few decades ago. Knowledge is seen as temporary, and many paradoxes are experienced in the flow of information surrounding us. A basic insecurity can be seen as a consequence of this development. This paper re-thinks the consequences at the administrational and organisational levels, when mistrust is institutionalised as the natural and rational mindset instead of trust. Another consequence is a desire to reduce actual risk by attempting to control the future with risk assessment and control procedures, instead of accepting the complexity as something that is. An administrative strategy based upon mistrust and focused on control and management of colleagues seems self-perpetuating and contributes to a form of management cynicism that is neither effective nor professionally stimulating or innovative. The benefit of behaving trustingly can override having to tolerate some insecurity and deviation.
The Added Worker Effect for Married Women in Australia

This article investigates the labour supply responses of married women in Australia to their partners' involuntary job loss. We study women's labour market activities in the periods before and after their partners' job loss. We find a significant added worker effect (AddWE) in terms of increased full-time employment and working hours. The findings also suggest that it is harder for the female partners of men who have recently lost jobs to enter the labour market than it is for those already working to increase their working hours to compensate for lost income incurred by their partners' job loss. The effect is persistent; one year after the partners' job loss, women would still like to work more hours than they actually work. These findings suggest that marriage plays a risk-sharing role through the AddWE in Australia.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Parotid Gland Tumors: Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Sequence Evaluation

Objective The aim of the study was to evaluate dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in the characterization of parotid gland tumors. Methods Fifty-five parotid lesions in 55 patients were retrospectively included. Two observers interpreted 2 reading protocols derived from all MR imaging in 2 distinct sessions, independently and blinded. Benign versus malignant distinction was carried out for protocol 1 (without contrast administration) and protocol 2 (with dynamic contrast-enhanced sequence). Histopathological results after surgical resection were used as the criterion standard. Diagnostic accuracy was compared between protocols using McNemar test. A P values of less than 0.05 indicated significant difference. Results There was no intraobserver statistical discordance between protocols for both observers (P = 0.27 and P = 1). Interobserver reliability showed moderate agreement for protocol 1 (&kgr; = 0.591; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.376–0.806) and 2 (&kgr; = 0.463, 95% CI, 0.226–0.701). Intraobserver reliability showed moderate agreement for observer 1 (&kgr; = 0.507; 95% CI, 0.279–0.736) and 2 (&kgr; = 0.477; 95% CI, 0.241–0.712). Conclusions Magnetic resonance imaging protocol including dynamic sequence for the characterization of parotid gland lesion yielded nonsignificant increases in sensitivity, specificity, or positive predictive values, and negative predictive values over noninjected protocol.
Pricing Internal Trade to Get a Leg Up on External Rivals

The pricing of transfers from parent to subsidiary is an oft-explored issue. Linking the cost of internal transfers with external market prices is one common approach, typically justified when the market for the good is perfectly competitive. This paper shows that imperfect competition may also justify market-based transfer prices. Concern that transfer price will deviate from marginal cost and thereby distort subsidiary choices can lead a parent to undertake actions to influence the market price of the upstream good. Such efforts can provide a desirable strategic posture in the upstream market.
Hemostatic markers in acute ischemic stroke. Association with stroke type, severity, and outcome.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Hemostatic markers can identify activation of the coagulation system in stroke patients. We evaluated whether the levels of these markers at the time of stroke are correlated with stroke severity, type, or mortality. METHODS We measured fibrinopeptide A, cross-linked D-dimer, and beta-thromboglobulin in 70 patients within 1 week of stroke. We examined the association between the level of each of these markers and survival. We adjusted for the possible confounding effect of age, stroke type, or stroke severity using a multivariate Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS The median follow-up was 1.22 years. Fourteen patients died during follow-up. Univariate survival analysis identified age (hazard ratio, 1.06; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.00 to 1.12), stroke type (hazard ratio, 4.44; 95% CI, 1.29 to 15.23), initial Toronto Stroke Scale score (hazard ratio, 5.05; 95% CI, 2.08 to 12.27), cross-linked D-dimer (hazard ratio, 6.43; 95% CI, 2.83 to 14.62), fibrinopeptide A (hazard ratio, 2.14; 95% CI, 1.26 to 3.63), and beta-thromboglobulin (hazard ratio, 7.63; 95% CI, 2.22 to 26.28) as significantly associated with mortality. In a multivariate model, initial stroke severity and each of the hemostatic markers were independently associated with subsequent mortality. CONCLUSIONS Elevated hemostatic markers after acute ischemic stroke identify patients with increased risk for mortality. This association appears to be independent of stroke severity or stroke type.
In vitro inhibition and intracellular enhancement of lysosomal alpha-galactosidase A activity in Fabry lymphoblasts by 1-deoxygalactonojirimycin and its derivatives.

Fabry disease is a lysosomal storage disorder caused by deficient lysosomal alpha-galactosidase A (alpha-Gal A) activity. Deficiency of the enzyme activity results in progressive deposition of neutral glycosphingolipids with terminal alpha-galactosyl residue in vascular endothelial cells. We recently proposed a chemical chaperone therapy for this disease by administration of 1-deoxygalactonojirimycin, a potent inhibitor of the enzyme, at subinhibitory intracellular concentrations [Fan, J.-Q. , Ishii, S. , Asano, N. and Suzuki, Y. (1999) Nat. Med. 5, 112-115]. 1-Deoxygalactonojirimycin served as a specific chaperone for those mutant enzymes that failed to maintain their proper conformation to avoid excessive degradation. In order to establish a correlation between in vitro inhibitory activity and intracellular enhancement activity of the specific chemical chaperone, a series of 1-deoxygalactonojirimycin derivatives were tested for activity with both alpha-Gal A and Fabry lymphoblasts. 1-Deoxygalactonojirimycin was the most potent inhibitor of alpha-Gal A with an IC50 value of 0.04 microM. alpha-Galacto-homonojirimycin, alpha-allo-homonojirimycin and beta-1-C-butyl-deoxygalactonojirimycin were effective inhibitors with IC50 values of 0.21, 4.3 and 16 microM, respectively. N-Alkylation, deoxygenation at C-2 and epimerization at C-3 of 1-deoxygalactonojirimycin markedly lowered or abolished its inhibition toward alpha-Gal A. Inclusion of 1-deoxygalactonojirimycin, alpha-galacto-homonojirimycin, alpha-allo-homonojirimycin and beta-1-C-butyl-deoxygalactonojirimycin at 100 microM in culture medium of Fabry lymphoblasts increased the intracellular alpha-Gal A activity by 14-fold, 5.2-fold, 2.4-fold and 2.3-fold, respectively. Weaker inhibitors showed only a minimum enhancement effect. These results suggest that more potent inhibitors act as more effective specific chemical chaperones for the mutant enzyme, and the potent competitive inhibitors of alpha-Gal A are effective specific chemical chaperones for Fabry disease.
Ketamine preserves and propofol potentiates hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction compared with the conscious state in chronically instrumented dogs.

BACKGROUND The authors tested the hypothesis that ketamine and propofol anesthesia would alter the magnitude of hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction compared with the conscious state. In addition, they assessed the extent to which cyclooxygenase pathway inhibition and adenosine triphosphate-sensitive potassium channel inhibition modulate hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction in the conscious state, and whether these pathways are altered during propofol anesthesia. METHODS Twenty conditioned, male mongrel dogs were chronically instrumented to measure the left pulmonary vascular pressure-flow relationship. Pressure-flow plots were measured during normoxia and hypoxia (systemic arterial PO2 reduced to about 60 and about 50 mm Hg) on separate days in the conscious state, during ketamine anesthesia, and during propofol anesthesia. The effects of indomethacin and glibenclamide on the magnitude of hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction were also assessed in the conscious and propofol-anesthetized states. RESULTS Neither ketamine nor propofol had an effect on the baseline pressure-flow relationship during normoxia compared with the conscious state. Hypoxia resulted in stimulus-dependent pulmonary vasoconstriction (P<0.01) in the conscious state. Compared with the conscious state, the magnitude of hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction was preserved during ketamine but was potentiated (P<0.01) during propofol anesthesia. Indomethacin enhanced (P<0.01) hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction in both the conscious and propofol-anesthetized states. In contrast, glibenclamide only enhanced (P<0.01) hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction in the conscious state and had no effect during propofol anesthesia. CONCLUSION Hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction is preserved during ketamine anesthesia but is potentiated during propofol anesthesia. The potentiated response during propofol anesthesia appears to be caused by inhibition of adenosine triphosphate-sensitive potassium channel-mediated pulmonary vasodilation.
Innovation and Trade Performance in the United Kingdom

A popular explanation for the U.K.'s poor trade performance in the postwar period is that insufficient attention was paid to the quality of goods offered to consumers. The authors explore the role of both price and quality factors in determining the net trade balances of a number of U.K. manufacturing and service industries. Particular attention is paid to the role of innovation, used empirically as a proxy for product improvement. The findings show considerable support for the view that an advanced industrial country like Britain needs to continually upgrade its products to avoid erosion of its domestic and international market shares. Copyright 1990 by Royal Economic Society.
Una funcion de reaccion para los cambios del tipo de intervencion del BCE

Estimamos una función de reacción para los cambios del tipo de intervención del BCE mediante un modelo probit ordenado dinámico (B. Eichengreen, M.W. Watson y M.S. Grossman, Bank Rate Policy Under the Interwar Gold Standard, Economic Journal, 1985, vol. 95, pp. 725–745). El modelo probit ordenado dinámico permite dar un tratamiento expĺıcito al carácter discreto y más bien infrecuente de los cambios del tipo de intervención de la poĺıtica monetaria en la eurozona, aśı como a la dependencia serial presente en series temporales. La estimación se lleva a cabo mediante el algoritmo de Gibbs. Los resultados obtenidos confirman la existencia de inercia en la evolución del tipo de intervención debida a que sus cambios han sido siempre de una magnitud múltiplo de 25 puntos básicos, y permiten determinar la divergencia máxima entre el tipo de intervención vigente y su nivel deseada que es tolerable para las autoridades monetarias antes de decidir un cambio del tipo de intervención.
Assessing the Short-term Forecasting Power of Confidence Indices

This paper assesses the predictive power of the main confidence indices available in Brazil to forecast economic activity. More specifically, we consider a set of economic activity variables and, for each of those, compare the predictive power of a univariate autoregressive model to that of a similar model that includes a confidence index. Preliminary results using the Diebold Mariano test suggest that the Industry Confidence Index provides relevant information, for both present and the near future, on some economic activity variables of interest to the economic agents.
Choline deficiency: A cause of hepatic steatosis during parenteral nutrition that can be reversed with intravenous choline supplementation

Patients receiving long‐term total parenteral nutrition (TPN) develop hepatic steatosis as a complication. Our previous studies have shown this to be caused, at least in part, by choline deficiency. We studied four patients (1 man, 3 women) aged 50 ± 13 years who had low plasma‐free choline concentrations 4.8 ± 1.7 (normal, 11.4 ± 3.7 nmol/mL). The patients had received TPN for 9.7 ± 4.7 years. They received parenteral nutrition solutions containing choline chloride (1 to 4 g/d) for 6 weeks. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) was performed at baseline, biweekly during the choline supplementation, and 4 weeks after discontinuation of choline. During choline administration, the plasma‐free choline concentration increased into the normal range within 1 week in all four patients and remained at or above the normal range for all 6 weeks, but decreased back to baseline when choline supplementation was discontinued. Hepatic steatosis resolved completely, as estimated by CT. Liver density increased from −14.2 ± 22.3 Hounsfield units (HU) to 8.4 ± 10.3 HU at week 2 (P = .002); 9.6 ± 10.7 HU at week 4 and 13.1 ± 7.3 HU at week 6, as determined by the liver‐spleen CT number difference obtained by the subtraction of the average spleen CT number (in HU) from the average liver CT number. This improvement continued up to 4 weeks after choline supplementation (13.8 ± 2.8 HU). Hepatic steatosis was shown to have recurred in one patient after 10 weeks of return to choline‐free parenteral nutrition. The hepatic steatosis associated with parenteral nutrition can be ameliorated, and possibly prevented, with choline supplementation. Therefore, choline may be an essential nutrient for patients who require long‐term parenteral nutrition. (Hepatology 1995; 22:1399–1403).
Muscarinic inhibitory receptors in pulmonary parasympathetic nerves in the guinea‐pig

1 In anaesthetized guinea‐pigs, gallamine produced a dose‐related potentiation of the bronchoconstriction induced by electrical stimulation of the cervical vagus nerves; (+)‐tubocurarine and suxamethonium lacked this effect. 2 The bronchoconstriction produced by intravenous injection of acetylcholine or histamine, however, was not potentiated by gallamine. 3 Vagally‐induced bradycardia was abolished by gallamine, confirming antagonism of the effect of acetylcholine on muscarinic receptors in the heart. 4 The muscarinic receptor agonist pilocarpine, had the opposite effect to gallamine in the lung as it inhibited vagally‐mediated bronchoconstriction. 5 Pretreatment of guinea‐pigs with either guanethidine or propranolol did not affect the gallamine‐induced potentiation of vagally‐mediated bronchoconstriction. 6 The potentiating effect of gallamine in the lung can be explained by blockade of inhibitory, muscarinic receptors located in the parasympathetic nerves supplying the lungs.
Trabajadores de empresas de trabajo temporal y sus riesgos laborales

En este trabajo busco las causas de la mayor proporción de accidentes en el trabajo para los trabajadores de empresas de trabajo temporal (ETI) con respecto al resto. Para este fin expongo las características más sobresalientes del trabajo temporal por agencia y hago referencia a las consideraciones de la literatura sobre las causas de accidentes laborales. Así, podemos concluir que entre éstas, la edad y el clima psicológico pueden estar en el origen de esa mayor proporción de accidentes en el trabajo. A fin de reducir estos efectos propongo la adopción de algunas medidas o procedimientos.
Changes in lung function between age 8 and 14 years in children with birth weight of less than 1,501 g

We set out to determine whether lung function of children with a birth weight of <1,501 g changed relative to expectations between the ages of 8 and 14 years. We hypothesized that changes in lung function may differ between those of birth weight above and below 1,000 g. The subjects of this study were born in the Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne. There were 86 consecutive survivors with birth weights <1,000 g born between January 1, 1977 and March 31, 1982, and 124 consecutive survivors with birth weights 1,000–1,500 g born between October 1, 1980 and March 31, 1982. Lung function was measured at both age 8 and 14 years, corrected for prematurity in 78% (67/86) of those with birth weight <1,000 g, and in 69% (86/124) of those with birth weight 1,000–1,500 g.
Cardiac Resynchronization—A Heart Failure Perspective

Over the past 15–20 years the development of new heart failure pharmacologic therapy has lowered mortality by 30–40% for this serious and prevalent clinical syndrome, within clinical trials conducted in patients with a dilated cardiomyopathy phenotype. However, over the past 5 years progress in the development of additional effective drugs has slowed, in part due to the success of neurohormonal inhibitors, on which background new therapies must be developed. That there is not an absolute ceiling on the development of new heart failure therapies has been convincingly recently demonstrated in electrophysiologic device trials, conducted on the background of maximal neurohormonal inhibition. Two trials, COMPANION and CARE‐HF, have demonstrated unambiguously that in advanced heart failure patients with a marker of mechanical intraventricular dyssynchrony, increased QRS duration, cardiac resynchronization therapy in the form of biventricular pacing can improve major clinical outcomes including mortality. In addition, COMPANION also demonstrated that the addition of an ICD further improved mortality reduction, by lowering the incidence of sudden death. These trials indicate that device/drug therapy is at least additive in the treatment of heart failure, and they herald a new era in the multi‐modality approach to therapeutics.
Structural Analysis of Electricity Demand and Supply Interactions

We specify a structural asymmetric vector error-correction model to identify and estimate the demand and supply functions in hourly day-ahead wholesale electricity markets. In doing so, we provide, inter alia, new insights into a well-established but unresolved issue concerning the extent of the demand elasticity to price in these markets. We show that whilst demand appears to be inelastic in the short-run, the quantity traded on the market is significantly influenced by the price level and responds to previous disequilibria in the supply curve through an asymmetric error-correction mechanism, reacting to a positive disequilibrium but not to a negative one.
Enhanced pro-inflammatory chemokine/cytokine response triggered by pathogenic Entamoeba histolytica: basis of invasive disease

The virulence of Entamoeba histolytica is governed by adhesion/colonization in the gut which is mediated by a galactose specific lectin. Two morphologically identical but distinct species i.e. pathogenic E. histolytica and non-pathogenic E. dispar, can be differentiated by distinct epitopes in the lectin. Both species bind to colonic epithelial cells, but only E. histolytica infection induces an inflammatory response and subsequent pathogenesis. Thus, comparing the responses of the intestinal cells to pathogenic and non-pathogenic lectins is a point of interest. The pathogenic lectin causes cytolysis of epithelial and immune-competent cells. Our data (both qualitative and mRNA quantitation) indicate that the epithelial cells responded to E. histolytica lectin with an increased expression of pro-inflammatory IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, MIP-1α, MCP-1, RANTES, GROα and GMCSF as compared to E. dispar lectin. The pathogenic LCM induced a significant increase in intracellular calcium concentration, proliferative response and chemotaxis of lymphocytes from ALA patients as compared to non-pathogenic LCM. High RANTES and IL-6 were induced in patients' lymphocytes by pathogenic LCM, along with their receptors CCR5 and CD126 as compared to NP-LCM. The local release of such a complex network of cytokines/chemokines could explain the histopathology of E. histolytica infection. The comparative low levels of these chemokines/pro-inflammatory cytokines and high levels of anti-inflammatory IL-10 in response to non-pathogenic E. dispar could explain the absence of an acute inflammatory response and the disease process. The cytokines and chemokines may provide a mechanism for initiation, amplification or containment of inflammation during disease state.
Stonewalling and Suspicion during Presidential Scandals

Scholars possess little theoretical understanding of how presidents behave during scandals. Existing presidential scholarship has focused on “offensive” communication, aimed at achieving legislative or policy goals, whereas the authors’ interest is in “defensive” communication. Using a game-theoretic signaling model of the president–media relationship, the authors identify conditions affecting White House stonewalling and media feeding frenzies. The president’s optimal behavior changes depending on circumstances, particularly the level of presidential involvement in the alleged misdeeds. The authors illustrate this with a case study of the Iran-Contra scandals and an empirical analysis of scandals from the Nixon through the Bush administrations.
A study of micro‐level variation in appraisal‐based capitalisation rates

This paper explores how appraisal‐based going‐in and exit capitalisation (cap) rates vary on the micro‐level, i.e. how they differ from property to property. The studied database consists of 3022 discounted cash flow market valuations of office properties in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö during 1998–2004. The purpose of the paper is to test the ‘rationality’ of Swedish office property valuations. By rationality is meant the extent to which appraisals, in particular appraisal cap rates, follow from economic theory. This is an important issue since commercial property markets rely heavily on valuations. Cap rates are regressed on characteristics of the property, other valuer assumptions regarding the property (i.e. the property’s market rent) and variables that capture broad time series variation in cap rates. For the most part the studied appraisals follow the expected pattern. They do not exhibit major evidence of irrationality in the above mentioned sense though some of the findings point to the need for further research.