Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Guide to Health Measurement

Limited healthcare dollars have resulted in insistence that the benefit of new therapies be evaluated before being approved for marketing or reimbursement under health service systems. Adequate evidence of a treatment’s effectiveness includes evidence of impact on patient’s health-related quality of life, including physical, mental, and emotional health. There are two types of measures of health-related quality of life. One, general health and utility measures, inquire about health in a broad sense, and can be applied and compared across many situations. The second type, specific measures, addresses narrower aspects of life related to a specific problem, function, or manifestations of an underlying disease process. Results of studies focusing on healthrelated quality of life only will be useful if the measurement instrument is valid and capable of detecting important change. Investigators should make a good choice of measurement instrument, and then ensure their study design will yield valid results. We offer basic guidelines for the measurement of health-related quality of life as an outcome in clinical research. This discussion addresses clinicians, who are making decisions regarding the relevance of study results, and investigators who are designing studies.
FPGA-based self-tuning PID controller using RBF neural network and its application in X-Y table

Based on FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) technology, the realization of a motion control system using RBF NN (Radial basis function neural network) self-tuning PID controller for X-Y table is proposed in this paper. Firstly, to cope with the system and external load uncertainly, a self-tuning PID controller using RBF NN is adopted and derived for X-Y table. Then, an FPGA-based motion control IC using the aforementioned controller is introduced. The motion controller IC includes two modules. The first module, which performs two PMSM's position servo controllers for X-Y table, is implemented by hardware in FPGA. The position servo controller adopts self-tuning PID controller. The second module, which performs the motion trajectory planning for X-Y table, is implemented by software in Nios II processor. As the result, the hardware/software co-design technology can make the motion controller of X-Y table more compact, robust, flexible, and less cost.
Long-run money demand function in Argentina during 1935–1962: evidence from cointegration and error correction models

This paper provides a study of Argentina's money demand function during 1935–62 and 1946–62. These priods not only involved several important changes in Argentina's economy and banking system but also included high and volatile inflation. Using cointegration tests and error correction moderlling, results shows that even in periods of large variability there exists a stationary long-run demand function for real M1 and real M2 in Argentina. Error Correction models show that there is biddirectional causality between real money stock (M1 and M2) and the rate of inflation in both periods. Real income is found to be exogenous in all relationships. Thus results presented in this paper provide merit to Cagan's form of money demand function during high inflation periods.
Full Exclusion of Retirement Income from State Taxation: Evaluating the Impact in Wisconsin

The school takes no stand on policy issues; opinions expressed in these pages reflect the views of the authors. The University of Wisconsin–Madison is an equal opportunity and affirmative-action educator and employer. We promote excellence through diversity in all programs. Wisconsin Department of Revenue. Our objective is to provide graduate students at La Follette the opportunity to improve their policy analysis skills while contributing to the capacity of the Department of Revenue to evaluate tax policy proposals. The La Follette School offers a two-year graduate program leading to a master's degree in public affairs. Students study policy analysis and public management, and they can choose to pursue a concentration in a policy focus area. They spend the first year and a half of the program taking courses in which they develop the expertise needed to analyze public policies. The authors of this report are all in their final semester of their degree program and are enrolled in Public Affairs 869 Workshop in Public Affairs. Although acquiring a set of policy analysis skills is important, there is no substitute for doing policy analysis as a means of learning policy analysis. Public Affairs 869 gives graduate students that opportunity. This year the workshop students were divided into six teams. Other teams completed projects for the Division of Budget and Management of the City of Milwaukee; the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services; the Department of Public Instruction; and the Wisconsin Legislative Council. Under Wisconsin law, retirement income receives favorable income tax treatment. Most notably, Social Security benefits are completely excluded from taxation. Legislation has been introduced to expand significantly those preferences. Beyond that, some Wisconsin policymakers are interested exempting all retirement income from state taxation. In this report, the five authors conduct a comprehensive analysis of a full exclusion of retirement income from state taxation. The report also benefited greatly from the support of the staff of the La Follette School. Marjorie Matthews contributed logistic support and Karen Faster, the La Follette School's Publications Director, edited and managed production of the final bound document. By involving La Follette students in the tough issues confronting state governments, I hope they not only have learned a great deal about doing policy viii analysis but have gained an appreciation of the complexities and challenges facing state government in Wisconsin and elsewhere. I also hope that this report will …
Subcontracting, Posted Migrants and Labour Market Segmentation in Finland

Using evidence from the shipbuilding and construction industries in Finland, this article shows how trade union responses to the introduction of migrant workers can be conditioned by product markets. Growing numbers of ‘posted workers’, or intra‐European Union work migrants employed via transnational subcontractors, are segmenting the labour market, by competing with domestically domiciled workers whose employment is more tightly regulated. In Finland, the construction worker's union has had a far more assertive and successful approach to enforcing wage norms than the union in shipbuilding. This appears to be related to the greater exposure of shipbuilding to international product market competition.
Epidermal chemokines and modulation by antihistamines, antibiotics and antifungals

Abstract: Growing evidence has demonstrated that chemokines released from epidermal cells control inflammatory skin diseases. Keratinocytes elaborate both Th1‐ and Th2‐associated chemokines, although the former is more abundantly produced than the latter. Downmodulation of keratinocyte production of chemokines is one of the therapeutic approaches for cutaneous inflammatory disorders. Recent observations have shown that keratinocyte chemokine production can be modulated by well‐used drugs, including antihistamines, antibiotics and antifungals. Utilization of the beneficial side effects of these drugs may by clinically valuable.
The Rising Tide Lifts...?

To what extent did the economic boom of the 1990s-early 2000s improve the well-being of persons in the bottom rungs of the income distribution? This paper uses a pooled cross-state time series regression design to estimate the effect of earnings, unemployment, and inequality on poverty in the boom. I find that the tight labor market reduced poverty substantively, gainsaying the gloom that developed in the 1980s about the effect of economic growth on the less advantaged; and that socially undesirable behaviour also fell in the period, potentially due in part to the boom. While the rising tide of economic progress can lift many boats, however, around 6-8% of Americans cannot be so helped, and thus constitute a relatively long term poverty population. Moreover, the level of the tide needed to improve the conditions of the less advantaged is a 4-5% unemployment rate, not the 6-6.5% unemployment once viewed as the NAIRU.
Supervisory Perceptions of the Impact of Public Sector Personnel Practices on the Achievement of Multiple Goals

Strategic human resource management enhances productivity and the effectiveness of organizations. Research shows that when organizations employ such personnel practices as internal career ladders, formal training systems, results-oriented performance appraisal, employment security, employee voice and participation, broadly defined jobs, and performance-based compensation, they are more able to achieve their goals and objectives. Using ordinal regression analyses of data from a survey of North Carolina county social service directors and supervisors, this study examines the extent to which strategic human resource management is perceived to affect outcome assessments (or performance measurements) for welfare reform. Although strategic human resource management practices are perceived to be present, with training and employment security having notable impacts, they clearly are not a predominant feature in North Carolina counties.
Performance Measurement, Accountability, and Improved Performance

Duing the past 20 years, performance measurement has become a salient item for governments all over the world. In the United States, the interest in performance measurement was demonstrated when President Clinton signed into law in 1993 the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). Similar legislation can be found at the national and state (provincial) levels in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the countries of Western Europe. Reasons for the recent interest in performance measurement include the following:
Using employee surveys to attract and retain the best talent

Purpose – This feature seeks to demonstrate the importance of organizations understanding how they are perceived externally as an employer, and how regularly tracking the opinions of staff can ensure the best talent are engaged and stay with an organization. Design/methodology/approach – ORC International is an expert in employee engagement research. This article incorporates findings from its global HR survey “HR Reflections”, and includes two case studies that demonstrate how regular tracking and deep analysis of staff opinions can help organizations to boost their employer brand and retain their best talent. Findings – Advanced analysis of employee surveys can predict how employees are feeling to help organizations retain their most valuable staff. Practical implications – This is a practical paper designed to give ideas and good practice to readers facing similar situations. Originality/value – The paper combines findings from a global survey with case study content to help employers to understand how to improve engagement and retention of staff through effective use of regular employee surveys.
Auction implementation problems using Lagrangian relaxation

Lagrangian relaxation (LR) is used as an auction method for bidding in a deregulated environment. This paper focuses on the problems that occur while using LR as an auction method. Identical or similar units can prevent LR from finding the optimal solution. If the units are similar, LR may have trouble selecting some of them for the optimal solution. A feasible solution may thus not be found. Since a heuristic selection of which unit data to alter has to be applied, this is inequitable to the unit(s) not selected and may result in lawsuit(s). Because the dispatcher has to use heuristic selection, there is no "fair" solution to these problems. The authors suggest previously published methods to implement auctions. Sensitivity analysis has also been applied in this paper to show that the percentage difference of similarity between units may affect the solution found.
Markets with consumer switching costs

Ex ante homogeneous products may, after the purchase of one of them, be ex post differentiated by switching costs including learning costs, transaction costs, or "artificial" costs imposed by firms, such as repeat-purchase discounts. The nonco-operative equilibrium in an oligopoly with switching costs may be the same as the collusive outcome in an otherwise identical market without switching costs. However, the prospect of future collusive profits leads to vigorous competition for market share in the early stages of a market's development. The model thus explains the emphasis placed on market share as a goal of corporate strategy.
Role of arachidonic acid in the regulation of the NMDA‐evoked release of acetylcholine in striatal compartments

The role of endogenously released arachidonic acid in the control of the NMDA (50 μM)‐evoked release of [3H]‐acetylcholine previously formed from [3H]‐choline was investigated in striosome‐enriched areas and in the matrix of the rat striatum using a microsuperfusion procedure in vitro. Experiments were performed with either mepacrine (0.2 μM) or bovine serum albumin (BSA, 0.02%) which inhibits phospholipase A2 activity or binds endogenously released arachidonic acid, respectively. Both treatments similarly reduce the NMDA‐evoked release of [3H]‐acetylcholine, this effect being more pronounced in striosomes than in the matrix. These reductions result from a facilitation of dopamine release, since they were not observed in the presence of (‐)sulpiride, the D2 dopamine receptor antagonist. Moreover, the superfusion with BSA was shown to enhance the release of [3H]‐dopamine (formed from [3H]‐tyrosine), this effect being of larger amplitude in striosomes than in the matrix. In control conditions, due to the blockade of the presynaptic inhibitory effect of GABA on dopamine release, bicuculline (GABA A receptor antagonist) reduces the NMDA‐evoked release of [3H]‐acetylcholine in both striatal compartments. Bicuculline was no longer effective following superfusions with either mepacrine or BSA, suggesting that these treatments eliminate the GABAergic presynaptic inhibitory control on dopamine transmission and thus lead to the dopamine‐mediated inhibition of [3H]‐acetylcholine release. These results indicate that arachidonic acid endogenously formed under weak stimulation of NMDA receptors contributes to the regulation of the evoked release of [3H]‐acetylcholine by facilitating GABAergic transmission and that this process is more important in striosomes than in the matrix. Synapse 31:140–150, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Stimulation through electrodes implanted near the subthalamic nucleus activates projections to motor areas of cerebral cortex in patients with Parkinson's disease

High‐frequency electrical stimulation through electrodes implanted in the subthalamic nucleus (STN) has been shown to reduce significantly the cardinal symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). Despite the success of this treatment, the mechanisms of action of stimulation are poorly understood. To elucidate further the mechanisms of action of deep brain stimulation and its effects on cortical activity, we recorded electroencephalographic potentials from 61 scalp‐surface electrodes during low‐frequency (5–10 Hz) bipolar stimulation in 11 patients with advanced PD (14 implanted electrodes were tested). In all electrodes tested, stimulation through at least one of the four contacts produced a medium‐latency waveform with an average onset of 14 ± 3 ms and peak at 23 ± 4 ms. This potential typically increased in magnitude across contacts from ventral to dorsal. Within‐subject comparisons of median nerve somatosensory evoked potentials demonstrated that the generator of the medium‐latency potential was within the primary sensorimotor cortex or lateral premotor cortex ipsilateral to stimulation. The timing and topography of this potential were consistent with indirect activation of the cortex by excitation of pallido‐thalamic axons that traverse the dorsal aspect of the STN. The potential evoked by stimulation through the contact used for optimal clinical effect was highly variable across electrodes and frequently different from the medium‐latency potential described above, suggesting that the neuronal elements mediating the medium‐latency potential were different from those that mediate the clinical effects.
Comment on Bruce J. Katz and Margery Austin Turner's “who should run the housing voucher program? A reform proposal”

Abstract Increasingly, public housing authorities (PHAs) in general and the tenant‐based Section 8 voucher program in particular are seen as the means to promote mixed‐income communities and the deconcentration of poverty. Katz and Turner contend that the current fragmented system, consisting of thousands of local PHAs, undermines the potential of the voucher program to achieve these goals. While Katz and Turner's proposal for regional administration and privatization is an earnest look at the future of PHAs and Section 8, we are not convinced that their proposal will address the causes of concentrated poverty. Assessing the validity of these arguments will require much work before their hypotheses are translated into overly deterministic “solutions” for the complex, multifaceted problems of spatial concentration of poverty and limited access to affordable housing across the metropolitan area.
Evaluating simulator-based training of skill-based control behavior using multimodal operator models

This paper describes a novel method for analyzing the training effectiveness for skill-based manual control tasks based on multimodal human operator models. For skill-based tracking tasks, it is known that the adopted human operator dynamics can be modeled accurately with multimodal human operator models. In this paper, estimated human operator model parameters are used to explicitly quantify the changes that occur in the operator's use of visual and motion feedback during skill-acquisition and transfer. A quasi-transfer-of-training experiment is described, in which inexperienced participants were trained to perform an aircraft pitch attitude tracking task, either in a fixed-base or in moving-base simulator environment. After the training phase, the participants were transferred to the other simulator setting, to reveal possible transfer effects. Preliminary results from one participant in each experiment group indicate that the fitted models are successful in revealing the changes that occur in the multimodal manual control characteristics of the participants, and show that convergence to a final skill-based control strategy requires significant training. Furthermore, the presented results suggest that there might be limited direct transfer from training in a fixed-base environment to a moving-base environment.
Determinants of Information Systems (IS) Outsourcing in City Government

The burgeoning importance of IS outsourcing has become a critical issue at the city government level. In spite of this importance, comprehensive research on factors influencing IS outsourcing has not been conducted. Due to rapidly changing technology and IS facilities, the determinants of IS outsourcing are substantially different from non-IS outsourcing. In this article, three theoretical perspectives are examined: (1) transaction cost theory, (2) organizational factors, and (3) diffusion of innovation. This empirical study found that transaction cost theory is not an appropriate theory to explain IS outsourcing activity in the city government. Instead, we propose that resource-based theory could cover the explanatory power of transaction cost theory and organizational factors.
Pharmacological specificity of novel, synthetic, cyclic peptides as antagonists at tachykinin receptors

1 The interaction at tachykinin receptors of a series of novel cyclic hexapeptides has been examined by use of radioligand binding assays (NK1 and NK3 sites in rat cortex, NK2 sites in hamster urinary bladder) and functional pharmacological assays (guinea‐pig ileum, rat vas deferens and rat portal vein for NK1, NK2 and NK3 receptors, respectively). 2 The compounds cyclc(GlnTrpPhe(R)Gly[ANC‐2]LeuMet) (L‐659,837) and cyclo(GlnTrpPheGlyLeuMet) (L‐659,877) were powerful and selective displacers of NK2 binding (pIC50 6.9 and 8.0, respectively), and were competitive antagonists of responses to stimulation of NK2 receptors in rat vas deferens (pKB for antagonism of responses to eledoisin 6.7 and 8.1, respectively). Responses in the NK1 and NK3 pharmacological assays were blocked only weakly, if at all. 3 In the longitudinal muscle of the small intestine of the rat, responses to stimulation of the putative NK2 receptor by eledoisin, neurokinin A or neurokinin B were antagonized by both cyclo(GlnTrpPhe(R)Gly[ANC‐2]LeuMet) and cyclo(GlnTrpPheGlyLeuMet) in a manner consistent with the presence in this tissue of a uniform population of receptors, indistinguishable from the NK2 receptor of the rat vas deferens. 4 The compounds cyclo(GlnTrpPheGlyLeuMet) and the lactam‐containing analogue are among the most selective antagonists for the NK2 receptor that have been described; their availability should be of value in the characterization of the receptors mediating responses to tachykinins, and in elucidating the physiological functions of the tachykinin receptors.
Review and comparison of non-conventional imaging systems for three-dimensional digitization of transparent objects

Fashion and design greatly influence the conception of manufactured products which now exhibit complex forms and shapes. Two-dimensional quality control procedures (e.g., shape, textures, colors, and 2D geometry) are progressively being replaced by 3D inspection methods (e.g., 3D geometry, colors, and texture on the 3D shape) therefore requiring a digitization of the object surface. Three dimensional surface acquisition is a topic which has been stu- died to a large extent, and a significant number of techniques for acquiring 3D shapes has been proposed, leading to a wide range of commercial solutions available on the market. These systems cover a wide range from micro-scale objects such as shape from focus and shape from defocus techniques, to several meter sized objects (time of flight technique). Nevertheless, the use of such sys- tems still encounters difficulties when dealing with non-diffuse (non Lambertian) surfaces as is the case for transparent, semi-transparent, or highly reflective materials (e.g., glass, crystals, plastics, and shiny metals). We review and compare various systems and approaches which were recently developed for 3D digitization of transparent objects. © 2012 SPIE and IS&T. (DOI: 10.1117/1.JEI.21.2.021105)
MEASURING PROFESSIONALISM VARIABLES AND THEIR IMPLICATION TO PROCUREMENT OUTCOMES IN UGANDA

In recent years, public sector performance and its capacity to delivery services has received a renewed focus given the declining morals and increasing levels of corruption. There is hardly any country in the world that has escaped the incidence of corruption in Public procurement (Arrowsmith, Linarelli & Wallace (2000); a reality that generated a wave of reforms driven by the imperative to improve the performance and cost effectiveness of the public sector (Self, 1993). Public procurement plays a central role in governance and anti-corruption efforts because of its sheer impact on society considering that, public procurement officials around the globe control spending that is equivalent to 10-30% percent of GNP in any given year (Callender and Mathews, 2000). Wittig, (1999) observed that public procurement remained a big part of the economy of developing countries, accounting for an estimated 9-13% of their gross domestic product. Nevertheless, it is an area in need of attention since resources are not being properly managed in many countries'. This calls for a high degree of professionalism in the conduct of this important function of public significance. This paper presents a descriptive analysis of the implications of professionalism on procurement outcomes in Uganda.