Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Transmission Mechanism of Monetary Policy in Central and Eastern Europe

The purpose of this study is to review the existing literature on transmission mechanism in CEE and put it in a broader context of the problems related to research on monetary policy. Also, we attempted to conduct empirical analysis for 10 transition economies using analogous methodology for the same sample period 1995-2000. In this comparative framework a series of Granger causality tests and impulse response analysis were carried out to asses the strength of two major transmission channels: interest rate and exchange rate channel. Also in the empirical part, we tried to look for the existence of long-run relationships between the basic set of macroeconomic variables in the countries under investigation.
Open access publications in sciences and social sciences: A comparative analysis

In this paper, we conduct a comparative analysis to examine the characteristics and evolutionary trends of open access (OA) publications in natural and social sciences. We use data recorded by Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, and Journal Citation Reports during 2001–2015 as the main source. We then comparatively analyse the characteristics of natural and social sciences in terms of historical evolution, main contributors, and distribution of OA journals and publications across different languages, disciplines, and impact factor quartiles. Our results suggest that both natural and social sciences experienced dramatic growth of OA journals since 2009, but the share of social science OA journals within journal impact factor quartile 1 is much lower than that of natural sciences. While natural and social sciences share some similarities in OA publishing activities, such as main countries of contribution, they differ greatly in dimensions such as OA ratio across specific disciplines, countries, and publishing languages. We acknowledge that OA publishing offers a level playing field for traditionally disadvantaged languages, countries, and scientific disciplines, but meanwhile, the advancement of high‐quality OA publishing needs more targeted and sophisticated approaches to tackle differences in natural and social sciences.
Canadians with Disabilities and the Labour Market

The master file of the Labour Market Activity Survey is used to investigate the effect of disability on labour market activity. Our results indicate the importance of acknowledging the severity of disability, of distinguishing between men and women, and of distinguishing between earnings and hours of work when considering the labour market performance of Canadians with functional limitations. Employment policies directed toward Canadians with disabilities should therefore recognize the heterogeneity of this group and consider alternative initiatives to aid those with differing severity of functional limitations. The paper finds no evidence of earnings discrimination against employed men and women with disabilities, although these results must be interpreted cautiously.
Pitfalls in the diagnosis of cerebellar infarction.

BACKGROUND Cerebellar infarctions are an important cause of neurologic disease. Failure to recognize and rapidly diagnose cerebellar infarction may lead to serious morbidity and mortality due to hydrocephalus and brain stem infarction. OBJECTIVES To identify sources of preventable medical errors, the authors obtained pilot data on cerebellar ischemic strokes that were initially misdiagnosed in the emergency department. METHODS Fifteen cases of misdiagnosed cerebellar infarctions were collected, all seen, or reviewed by the authors during a five-year period. For each patient, they report the presenting symptoms, the findings on neurologic examination performed in the emergency department, specific areas of the examination not performed or documented, diagnostic testing, the follow-up course after misdiagnosis, and outcome. The different types of errors leading to misdiagnosis are categorized. RESULTS Half of the patients were younger than 50 years and presented with headache and dizziness. All patients had either incomplete or poorly documented neurologic examinations. Almost all patients had a computed tomographic scan of the head interpreted as normal, and most of these patients underwent subsequent magnetic resonance imaging showing cerebellar infarction. The initial incorrect diagnoses included migraine, toxic encephalopathy, gastritis, meningitis, myocardial infarction, and polyneuropathy. The overall mortality in this patient cohort was 40%. Among the survivors, about 50% had disabling deficits. Pitfalls leading to misdiagnosis involved the clinical evaluation, diagnostic testing, and establishing a diagnosis and disposition. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates how the diagnosis of cerebellar infarction can be missed or delayed in patients presenting to the emergency department.
Dynamic effects of business cycles on business relationships

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to identify the effects of business cycles on industrial business‐to‐business relationships within extremely volatile industries.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is an in‐depth case study on Outotec plc, a leading provider of technologies for the mining and metal industries.Findings – The study identifies the changes in a business relationship during a business cycle as the dominance between the parties and the cooperative and the competitive nature of the relationship alternate.Practical implications – The study identifies ways to smooth the effects of business cycles in extremely volatile industries from the viewpoint of a project‐based technology provider.Originality/value – While a significant amount of macroeconomic research on cycles and a few studies on industry‐specific business cycles can be found, this study is a rare example of company‐specific research on surviving business cycles.
MADE IN EUROPE: SMALL COMPANIES

This is the third report on the ‘Made in Europe’ research programme. Earlier reports concentrated on the maturity of implementation of ‘best practice’ in both the design and manufacturing processes of larger European companies. Here, the authors shift the focus to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) particularly in Britain and Italy. While few SMEs are in the world-class category, small company practices are customer-oriented, responsiveness-focused and concerned with new products. SMEs’ competitive edge typically comes from speed, responsiveness and closeness to customers. SMEs exhibit a greater level of confidence than larger companies in their ability to make change, but neglect training and education. Within the SME sector there are sharp differences between micro (5–20 employees), small (21–50) and medium-sized (51–200) companies while those which are subsidiaries of larger companies have significantly higher levels of best practice. There are differences between countries and regions.
Estimating technical and scale efficiency and sources of efficiency change in banks using balance sheet data : a South African study

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Malmquist DEA is applied to estimate the monthly technical and scale efficiency as well as the causes for efficiency change for the four largest banks in South Africa over a period of 36 months. Bank B appears to be the most technically efficient bank followed by Bank C, Bank A and Bank D, in this order. Bank B, Bank C and Bank A operated mainly in the region of increasing return to scale, implying that they were operating at a scale that is too small. Bank D operated mainly in the region of decreasing return to scale, implying that it was operating at a scale that is too large. From an input-orientated perspective, all four banks could reduce their inputs without reducing their outputs.
Prevention of central nervous system toxicity of the antitumor antibiotic acivicin by concomitant infusion of an amino acid mixture.

Acivicin is an investigational amino acid antitumor antibiotic currently being evaluated in Phase II clinical trials. In humans acivicin causes reversible, dose-limiting central nervous system (CNS) effects including somnolence, ataxia, personality changes, and hallucinations. We have observed and reported previously that acivicin-treated cats exhibit symptoms (ataxia, sedation, somnolence) resembling CNS toxicity reported in humans. We hypothesized that if acivicin uptake into brain were mediated by a saturable transport system common to endogenous amino acids, drug uptake and CNS toxicity might be blocked by elevation of normal amino acid concentrations in circulating plasma. To test this hypothesis, cats received constant-rate i.v. infusions of either saline or Aminosyn, 10% (a commercially available mixture of 16 amino acids not containing glutamine, glutamate, aspartate, or cysteine) for 4 h prior to and 18 h subsequent to administration of acivicin at a dose producing marked behavioral changes in control cats. Presence or absence of ataxia and sedation were noted at intervals after acivicin treatment. Results showed that Aminosyn infusion prevented CNS symptoms in six of eight cats. Subsequent experiments showed that acivicin levels in brain tissue of Aminosyn-treated cats were 13% of the drug levels in saline-infused cats. Acivicin levels in most peripheral tissues were also decreased significantly by Aminosyn infusion but not to the extent observed in brain. Decreased brain uptake was shown to be due to a combination of amino acid blockade of drug transport into that organ and of increased total body clearance of drug. Concomitant Aminosyn treatment did not alter the efficacy of acivicin in mice bearing L1210 leukemia or MX-1 human mammary carcinoma. Further studies demonstrated that a solution containing only four large neutral amino acids (leucine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, and valine) could also protect cats from acivicin-induced CNS toxicity, apparently without increasing acivicin total body clearance. However, a mixture of several other amino acids contained in Aminosyn (alanine, arginine, tyrosine, histidine, proline, serine, and glycine) failed to prevent CNS toxicity. We conclude that cotreatment with Aminosyn or a mixture of large neutral amino acids could protect cancer patients from acivicin-induced CNS toxicity without ablating antitumor efficacy.
Antithrombotic Effects of DMP 728, a Platelet GPIIb/IIIa Receptor Antagonist, in a Canine Model of Arterial Thrombosis

Summary: The platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptor (GPIIb/IIIa, fibrinogen receptor) represents the final common pathway for platelet aggregation. Inhibition of GPIIb/IIIa with antibodies or peptides containing the RGD sequence has been reported to prevent arterial thrombosis. We examined DMP 728 [(cyclic[d-2-aminobutyryl-N2-methyl-l-arginyl-glycyl-l-aspartyl-3-(aminomethyl-benzoic acid], methanesulfonic acid salt], a cyclic peptidomimetic, GPIIb/IIIa receptor antagonist, for prevention of thrombosis and rethrombosis in a canine model of carotid artery thrombosis. Dogs were anesthetized, and both carotid arteries were instrumented with an electrode, a flow probe, and a stenosis. A 300-μA current was applied to the intimal surface in the right carotid artery (RCA, control) through the electrode; time to occlusive thrombus formation and thrombus mass was noted. The RCA served as the control vessel; the left carotid artery (LCA) served as the test vessel after DMP 728 administration (0.1 or 1.0 mg/kg, intravenously, i.v.). As compared with controls, occlusive thrombus formation was reduced by both doses of DMP 728 (control 100% n = 12; 0.1 mg/kg i.v. 17%, p < 0.05, n = 6; 1.0 mg/kg i.v. 0%, p < 0.05, n = 6), time to occlusion was increased (p < 0.05), and thrombus weight was reduced (p < 0.05). Ex vivo platelet aggregation was inhibited in all groups. In a second group of animals, a carotid artery thrombus was formed and lysed with anisoylated plasminogen activator complex (APSAC; 0.05 U/kg intraarterially, i.a.) with or without DMP 728. Dogs receiving saline demonstrated a 100% rate of rethrombosis as compared with 25% of DMP 728-treated dogs reoccluding after recannalization (p < 0.05). Competition binding analysis showed that DMP 728 can prevent binding of 7E3 GPIIb/IIIa antibody to platelets in vitro. The data suggest that DMP 728 may have therapeutic potential as an effective antithrombotic agent by inhibiting the platelet–fibrinogen interaction representing the final common pathway in platelet-dependent thrombus formation.
The Employment Effects of Sustainable Development Policies

As ecological economists we research passionately those issues that will give us a clearer understanding of the complex interaction between the economy and the environment. We believe this to be vital for implementing environmental policies that will have fewer unanticipated or irreversible side effects. However, this paper will argue that whilst we are absorbed in this task, we are tending to ignore some of the simpler political realities associated with attempts to implement sustainable development. When governments reduce access to a threatened natural resource such as groundwater or forests, those who do not share the ecological economist’s views, or those who simply have not stopped to think about it, see only the immediate impacts of the loss of jobs and reduced income multiplier effects in regions. Media reporting of only the most explosive aspects of issues exacerbates a loss of popular support for conservation measures. The debate surrounding the Tasmanian timber industry in the 2004 federal election in Australia provides a graphic example.
Bayesian 2-D deconvolution: a model for diffuse ultrasound scattering

Observed medical ultrasound images are degraded representations of the true acoustic tissue reflectance. The degradation is due to blur and speckle and significantly reduces the diagnostic value of the images. To remove both blur and speckle, we have developed a new statistical model for diffuse scattering in 2-D ultrasound radio frequency images, incorporating both spatial smoothness constraints and a physical model for diffuse scattering. The modeling approach is Bayesian in nature, and we use Markov chain Monte Carlo methods to obtain the restorations. The results from restorations of some real and simulated radio frequency ultrasound images are presented and compared with results produced by Wiener filtering.
The Freedom to Drink and the Freedom to Sell Drink: A Hundred Years of Danish Alcohol-Control Policy

Alcohol-coopl rolicies nt in he t Ndic or countries hahist ve icallor y ben e losc y eltied to the development of the welfare states. Th e balancing act between the freedom of citizens to drink alcohol and the freedom to make a living selling alcohol has to be considered against the public health and the public good. All of the involved interests have sound arguments; everybody wants freedom, health, and public order. From the start of the twentieth century, Danish poli-cymakers have strived to achieve “increased sobriety and quiet in the streets”
CRM Sales Prediction Using Continuous Time-Evolving Classification

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems play an important role in helping companies identify and keep sales and service prospects. CRM service providers offer a range of tools and techniques that will help find, sell to and keep customers. To be effective, CRM users usually require extensive training. Predictive CRM using machine learning expands the capabilities of traditional CRM through the provision of predictive insights for CRM users by combining internal and external data. In this paper, we will explore a novel idea of computationally learning salesmanship, its patterns and success factors to drive industry intuitions for a more predictable road to a vehicle sale. The newly discovered patterns and insights are used to act as a virtual guide or trainer for the general CRM user population.
Extra-Dimensional Approach to Option Pricing and Stochastic Volatility

The generalized 5D Black-Scholes differential equation with stochastic volatility is derived. The projections of the stochastic evolutions associated with the random variables from an enlarged space or superspace onto an ordinary space can be achieved via higher-dimensional operators. The stochastic nature of the securities and volatility associated with the 3D Merton-Garman equation can then be interpreted as the effects of the extra dimensions. We showed that the Merton-Garman equation is the first excited state, i.e. n=m=1, within a family which contain an infinite numbers of Merton-Garman-like equations.
On Global Governance in The 21st Century

By the end of the twentieth century, the world is witnessing the outcome of a dramatic sociopolitical evolution that has been taking place for over a century, namely the emergence of the age of applied science or technique and its sociopolitical consequences. The present drama has more serious consequences than those of the Renaissance. The Renaissance was characterized by a mental outlook that distanced itself from the Medieval era. It diminished the authority of the church, increased individualism, and established an age of democracy and subjective judgment, a framework that is apparently self-contradictory. In contrast, the evolving age of technique, although it reduces the authority of Religion, its power is social rather than individualistic, its governance is authoritative, and its value is mechanistic, thus leading to reduced human freedoms and humane values. This article examines the structure of the evolving global system, the reasons for its apparent negative impact on human values and development, the dangers to human survival if the present pattern of its governance and outcomes continue, and the possibility of establishing an effective global government that controls the extremes of the evolving system. It is not technology that is being blamed in the present analysis. It is the management of applied science and the choice of its present path that requires rehabilitation and monitoring. Such rehabilitation is possible since there are limits to reduced human freedom. However, the road is difficult as the discussion illustrates. But on the optimistic side, since the distribution of knowledge and information is becoming more widespread and equitable, the cost of control of human freedoms will exceed the benefit of control by the governing minority.
Optimal disturbances in boundary layers subject to streamwise pressure gradient

Laminar-turbulent transition in shear flows is still an enigma in the area of fluid mechanics. The conventional explanation of the phenomenon is based on the instability of the shear flow with respect to infinitesimal disturbances. The conventional hydrodynamic stability theory deals with the analysis of normal modes that might be unstable. The latter circumstance is accompanied by an exponential growth of the disturbances that might lead to laminar-turbulent transition. Nevertheless, in many cases, the transition scenario bypasses the exponential growth stage associated with the normal modes. This type of transition is called bypass transition. An understanding of the phenomenon has eluded us to this day. One possibility is that bypass transition is associated with so-called algebraic (non-modal)
Plasma Stromal Cell–Derived Factor-1: Host Derived Marker Predictive of Distant Metastasis in Breast Cancer

Purpose: Homing of breast cancer cells to metastatic sites may be regulated by the production of stromal cell–derived factor (SDF)-1 by specific target organs, which attracts CXCR4-expressing breast cancer cells. We investigated the value of SDF-1 as a predictive blood marker of distant metastasis in breast cancer, together with a common polymorphism of SDF-1, SDF-1-3′A. Experimental Design: Plasma samples were collected prospectively for 270 consecutive primary breast cancer patients with a median follow-up of 3.3 years. Plasma SDF-1 levels were measured using an ELISA, and the polymorphism was identified via PCR-RFLP analysis. Results: Plasma SDF-1 levels were divided into two groups, low and high, based on the median SDF-1 value of 2,661 pg/mL. Patients with low SDF-1 showed an increased risk of developing distant metastasis (relative risk, 1.94; P = 0.02) and poorer breast cancer–specific survival [adjusted hazard ratio (AHR), 3.92; P = 0.007]. Patients with both low plasma SDF-1 levels and the SDF-1-3′A polymorphism showed a poorer breast cancer–specific survival (AHR, 3.98; P = 0.001) and distant disease-free survival (AHR, 2.88; P = 0.003). In a separate cohort of 22 breast cancer patients, we found no significant difference in SDF-1 levels before and posttumor resection. Conclusion: We found that low plasma SDF-1 is an independent host-derived predictive marker of distant metastasis in breast cancer. The prognostic value of the combination of a low plasma SDF-1 level and the SDF-1-3′A polymorphism identifies a cohort of patients with an intrinsic susceptibility for poorer survival.
An empirical investigation of the association between quality management practices and organizational climate

Assesses the relationship between quality management practices and organizational climate. This study uses two well‐developed instruments to assess the relationship. A total of 386 questionnaires were mailed to managers drawn from a list of Taiwan’s top 500 manufacturing corporations. A total of 86 middle line managers returned the questionnaires for this study. Discriminant analysis was used to examine the relationship between quality management practices and organizational climate. The result indicates that high quality‐tendency groups perceive a loose organizational structure, while medium quality‐tendency groups perceive a more bureaucratic organizational structure. Regarding people orientation, finds that medium quality‐tendency groups tend to emphasize that more, followed by high quality‐tendency groups and then low quality‐tendency groups. Also identifies the organizational climate indicators that separate high, medium, and low quality‐tendency organizations.
End‐tidal carbon monoxide is predictive for neonatal non‐hemolytic hyperbilirubinemia

Abstract Background : The aim of the present study was to evaluate the value of an end‐tidal carbon monoxide corrected for inhaled carbon monoxide concentration (ETCOc) at the early neonatal period. The value would be useful for predicting subsequent hyperbilirubinemia in non‐hemolytic full‐term infants.
VeLoc: Finding Your Car in Indoor Parking Structures

While WiFi-based indoor localization is attractive, there are many indoor places without WiFi coverage with a strong demand for localization capability. This paper describes a system and associated algorithms to address the indoor vehicle localization problem without the installation of additional infrastructure. In this paper, we propose VeLoc, which utilizes the sensor data of smartphones in the vehicle together with the floor map of the parking structure to track the vehicle in real time. VeLoc simultaneously harnesses constraints imposed by the map and environment sensing. All these cues are codified into a novel augmented particle filtering framework to estimate the position of the vehicle. Experimental results show that VeLoc performs well when even the initial position and the initial heading direction of the vehicle are completely unknown.
A Parallelizable Acceleration Framework for Packing Linear Programs

This paper presents an acceleration framework for packing linear programming problems where the amount of data available is limited, i.e., where the number of constraints $m$ is small compared to the variable dimension $n$. The framework can be used as a black box to speed up linear programming solvers dramatically, by two orders of magnitude in our experiments. We present worst-case guarantees on the quality of the solution and the speedup provided by the algorithm, showing that the framework provides an approximately optimal solution while running the original solver on a much smaller problem. The framework can be used to accelerate exact solvers, approximate solvers, and parallel/distributed solvers. Further, it can be used for both linear programs and integer linear programs.