Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
What Drives Public Employment in Developing Countries?

An excessive level of employment is a frequent complaint made about public-sector governance in developing economies. The explanation typically offered is that governments use public-sector employment as a tool for generating and redistributing rents. This article suggests an alternative hypothesis: relatively safe government jobs represent partial insurance against undiversifiable external risk faced by the domestic economy. I show that countries that are greatly exposed to external risk have higher levels of government employment and have experienced faster rates of growth of government consumption. The basic finding on this (partial) correlation is robust against the hypotheses typically offered. Copyright 2000 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd
NIVEL DE RIESGO EN LA RETRIBUCIÓN DEL MÁXIMO RESPONSABLE EJECUTIVO

El objetivo del trabajo es analizar, en las sociedades cotizadas españolas, la influencia de la composición y estructura del Consejo de Administración, las características personales del máximo responsable ejecutivo y distintas contingencias de la empresa en el nivel de riesgo del paquete retributivo del primer ejecutivo. Los resultados revelan que el riesgo del paquete retributivo es mayor cuando la empresa está diversificada y cuando desarrolla una estrategia competitiva proactiva.
Voluntary Association Activity in Quebec and English Canada: Assessing the Effects of Region and Language

Abstract. This paper presents the first multivariate analysis of the combined effects of region and language on voluntary association membership in Canada. National survey data from 2000 indicate that Quebecers have the lowest average number of memberships, with Western Canadians highest and Atlantic and Ontario residents in between. Preliminary results also confirm that francophones report fewer memberships than anglophones. Findings from Poisson regression models, however, indicate a significant interaction between region and language: francophones have lower membership levels only in Quebec, and in Western Canada have higher levels than anglophones or allophones. These results hold even with controls for a number of possible explanatory factors suggested in the literature, including religious and socioeconomic differences across the regions and language groups. The implications for understanding patterns of voluntary association activity in Canada are discussed. Résumé. Cet article présente la première analyse multivariable des effets combinés de la région et de la langue sur l'adhésion d'aux associations volontaires au Canada. Les données nationales de 2000 indiquent que les Québécois ont le plus bas nombre moyen d'adhésions, avec les Canadiens de l'Ouest plus hauts et des résidants de la région atlantique et de l'Ontario entre les deux. Les résultats préliminaires confirment que les francophones ont moins d'adhésions que les anglophones. Les résultats indiquent une interaction significative entre la région et la langue: les francophones ont moins d'adhésion seulement au Québec; dans le Canada de l'Ouest les francophones ont plus d'adhésion que les anglophones et les allophones. Ces résultats se tiennent même avec contrôle d'un certain nombre de facteurs explicatifs possibles suggérés dans la littérature, y compris des différences religieuses et socio-économiques à travers les régions et les groupes linguistic. Nous discutons les implications quant aux modèles d'association volontaire au Canada.
Risk-sensitive optimal control for jump systems with application to sampled-data systems

The optimal stochastic control of jump systems with sampled inputs and observations, which minimizes the expected value of an exponential cost criterion is considered. The information state, which is the sufficient statistics for the problem, is employed to solve the problem. The optimal controller is derived through a combination of the continuous-time and discrete-time Riccati equations. The result for the jump systems is extended to sampled-data systems. Asymptotic behaviors of small noise and small risk limits of the problems, which correspond to deterministic game and risk-neutral stochastic problems, respectively, are also analyzed.
Evaluation of screening schemes for eye disease in a primary care setting.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Screening in a primary care setting could be an effective method for detection of eye disease. This study was designed to evaluate a questionnaire and a battery of tests for their performance in eye disease screening at a primary care clinic. METHODS 405 patients aged 40 years or older were interviewed and received a comprehensive eye examination including visual acuity and visual field testing, tonometry, slit-lamp examination, dilated fundus examination and photography. Sensitivity and specificity for the identification of eye disease were calculated for each test and various combinations of tests. RESULTS A questionnaire-based algorithm for detection of overall eye disease was sufficiently sensitive (90%) but less specific (44%) than an ideal screening test. Distance visual acuity with presenting correction of < or = 20/40 had a sensitivity of 61% and specificity of 72%. A dilated fundus examination had a sensitivity of 79% and specificity of 82%. In screening for glaucoma, tonometry was ineffective (sensitivity = 27% and specificity = 96%), while visual field testing by suprathreshold screening had a sensitivity of 70% and specificity of 67%. Among a variety of combinations, a two-stage strategy with the questionnaire as a first-stage and visual acuity and ophthalmoscopy as second-stage tests provided the best balance of sensitivity (83%) and specificity (76%). CONCLUSION Among currently available ophthalmic tests, an eye examination including a thorough fundus examination is critical in detection of eye disease. A five-item questionnaire may be useful to identify patients at high risk in primary care practice. More effective tests are needed to improve performance of eye disease screening.
TIME-VARYING TERM PREMIA AND THE BEHAVIOR OF FORWARD INTEREST RATE PREDICTION ERRORS

In this paper I examine the time-varying expected term premium argument for the failure of the expectations hypothesis of the term structure of U.S. interest rates. Using an unobserved components model to estimate expected term premia from March 1951 to January 1991, I find considerable variation in estimated premia and significant persistence in their volatility over time.
The Economic Impact Of Rural Festivals And Special Events: Assessing The Spatial Distribution Of Expenditures

The spatial distribution of the expenditures associated with a rural arts and crafts festival was examined. Of the nonresident expenditures associated with the festival, the mean percentage spent in the community by the survey respondents was 69.7%. Importantly, however, 77.9% of this spending was to thefestival booths, many of which were not operated by local residents. More specifically, of the $43,689 spent by the survey re spondents, $32, 719 (74.9%) was to entities outside the local economy. While the generalizability of these results is limited, the findings imply that research which fails to correct for nonlocal spending may significantly overestimate the economic benefits of festivals to the host community.
Laparoscopic appreciation of the adrenal artery: fact or fiction?

BACKGROUND It is well accepted that identification and control of the adrenal vein is a critical step in laparoscopic adrenalectomy. The surgical and anatomic literature propagates the notion of a dominant or multiple dominant adrenal arteries that should likewise be controlled during surgical extirpation. MATERIALS AND METHODS We assessed the frequency of adrenal-artery identification and the need for formal ligation in an extensive series of laparoscopic adrenalectomies. RESULTS In our experience, even using a magnified laparoscopic view, we found it possible to identify and necessary to formally ligate an adrenal artery in only 3 of 265 cases (1.1%). Further, in this series, only the inferior adrenal artery was ever seen definitively to require formal clip ligation, while a discrete middle or superior adrenal artery was almost never seen, and the vasculature in these areas could be controlled with electrocautery or ultrasonic energy alone during routine dissection. CONCLUSIONS The need to search for and ligate the arterial supply during laparoscopic adrenalectomy is not as clinically significant as once thought, and formal control appears unnecessary unless the vessels are serendipitously encountered during the routine dissection.
Judicial Interpretations of Federal Consistency under the Coastal Zone Management Act

The federal consistency provision of the Coastal Zone Management Act (1972) created a new form of interaction between federal and state governments. The implementation of this provision has significant ramifications for coastal management and intergovernmental cooperation in the United States. Past studies have focused on the provision's implementation patterns among U.S. coastal states and federal-state disputes mediated by the Secretary of Commerce. This supplemental article examines judicial interpretations of the federal consistency provision over the past two decades in relation to major issues deliberated by Congress at the time of enactment. Recent changes in the provision, as well as those unresolved issues likely to resurface in future litigation, are also discussed. Seemingly, coastal land use authority and offshore energy exploration remain the most contentious issues surrounding the federal consistency provision.
PARENTAL WORK, CHILD-CARE USE AND YOUNG CHILDREN'S COGNITIVE OUTCOMES

This paper examines the effects of parental labour supply and child-care use on pre- school children's PPVT scores using a sample of children aged three and a half to five from the 1994, 1996 and 1998 National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY). OLS estimates indicate that children of mothers with above (below) average parenting skills and education have slightly worse (better) PPVT scores when their mothers work full-time outside the home rather than stay at home, but that for the average child, maternal labour supply has little effect. OLS estimates also indicate that hours in substitute care have no overall effect on PPVT scores, but hours in care are associated with higher scores for children in higher income families than for those in lower income families. Fixed effect findings are generally weaker but consistent with OLS findings. Using the unemployment rate to construct an instrumental variable, the hypothesis of exogeneity of maternal labour supply cannot be rejected.
Geografía virtual: ¿espacio cibernético global o reproducción de las fronteras territoriales?

Si bien en sus origenes Internet parecia ser un espacio libre y horizontal, actualmente comenzaron a surgir marcos de regulacion complejos cuyo objetivo es controlar la actividad en la red. El presente articulo analiza como, a traves de dichos marcos regulatorios, las fronteras nacionales territoriales se ven reflejadas al interior del espacio virtual, reproduciendo al mismo tiempo desigualdades y jerarquias.
Management of recalcitrant hidradenitis suppurativa with ustekinumab.

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory disease resulting from occlusion of the pilosebaceous units within the intertriginous regions of the body. It is characterized by very tender papules, nodules, and neutrophilic abscesses. Sinus tracts with malodorous drainage and scarring can develop. Long-term complications include lymphoedema and fistulae formation. We present here a difficult case of HS that responded well to ustekinumab.
A competitive algorithm approach to adaptive filtering

This paper explores an emerging method with deep roots in machine learning and game theory that has been applied to a number of signal processing applications. This competitive algorithm-based framework is particularly attractive for applications in which there is a large degree of uncertainty in the statistics and behavior of the signals of interest. Problems of prediction, equalization and adaptive filtering can be cast in a manner intimately related to repeated game playing as a game between a player, who can observe the outcomes from a large class of competiting algorithms, and an adversarial nature that produces the observations. The player in such a formulation attempts to outperform the best “expert” in this class, while nature is free to select the outcomes to defeat the player. Min-max strategies for the player naturally arise with corresponding bounds on performance that can be obtained with relatively little knowledge or contraints on the outcomes. This paper reviews the history of these methods, together with a number of robust adaptive filtering and prediction techniques that have been developed. Examples of competition classes comprising a finite number of adaptive filtering algortihms are considered along with examples of continuous classes of competing algorithms. Methods for incorporating time variation and nonlinearity explicity into the competition classes are also described.
Resenha de "Macroeconomia Moderna: Keynes e a Economia Contemporânea" A review of: "Macroeconomia Moderna: Keynes ea Economia Contemporânea"

J. M. Keynes é um dos principais nomes do pensamento econômico do século XX. Seu livro mais importante, A Teoria Geral do Emprego, do Juro e da Moeda, publicado em 1936, pode ser considerado um marco na moderna tradição macroeconômica, tendo alterado decisivamente os rumos da teoria econômica. Observando os elevados e persistentes níveis de desocupação na Inglaterra durante a Grande Depressão dos anos 30, Keynes buscou elaborar uma teoria alternativa à ortodoxia clássica, que via o desemprego involuntário como um desequilíbrio transitório a ser automaticamente superado pela ação das forças de mercado. De fato, o grande impacto das idéias e concepções de Keynes após a publicação da Teoria Geral pode ser atribuído, em boa medida, à relativa incapacidade da teoria clássica em explicar e, conseqüentemente, propor remédios para combater o problema do desemprego naquele período. Ao enfocar a determinação do nível de produto em economias monetárias, a partir de flutuações de demanda agregada, Keynes demonstrou que a renda de equilíbrio não corresponde necessariamente ao pleno emprego. Este passou a ser visto como uma situação limite entre as várias posições de equilíbrio, e que só ocorreria se os gastos em investimento fossem exatamente suficientes para suprir a lacuna entre a renda “potencial” e o consumo a este nível de renda. Ademais, Keynes rejeitou a visão de que o sistema econômico é eminentemente estável e auto-regulável, tendendo a um equilíbrio ótimo se deixado à própria sorte. Ao contrário, mostrou a possibilidade de que a economia permaneça em equilíbrio com desemprego, sem que haja qualquer mecanismo automático de convergência ao pleno emprego.
Corporate Governance in the Russian Federation: the relevance of the OECD Principles on shareholder rights and equitable treatment

Despite progress in developing extensive legislation and regulations, there is still a long way to go before the standards of corporate governance in Russia will instil widespread confidence in investors. The emphasis is now on their implementation and enforcement by the state and private sector institutions. Transparent, equitable rules and predictable enforcement mechanisms are necessary to make the Russian economy attractive to both domestic and foreign investors, and enhance public confidence in the overall reform process. This paper uses the first two chapters of the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance on shareholder rights and their equitable treatment and looks through their prism at the Russian corporate governance condition.
The Robustness of Risk-Return Nonlinearities to the Normality Assumption

Abstract In a recent study, Tinic and West (1986) empirically reexamine the risk-return relationship posited by the traditional mean-variance CAPM. They find a positive nonlinear relationship between risk and return, except during January when the market rewards bearing nonsystematic risk. This study examines the hypothesis that nonnormality of return distributions may account for some of these anomalous results. We compare Shalit and Yitzhaki's (1984) mean-extended Gini CAPM—an equilibrium asset pricing relation that is independent of the form of the underlying asset distribution—with the traditional CAPM. Our results indicate that the nonlinear risk-return relationship and the size and January effects are robust to nonnormality of return distributions.
Subtype and pathway specific responses to anticancer compounds in breast cancer

Breast cancers are comprised of molecularly distinct subtypes that may respond differently to pathway-targeted therapies now under development. Collections of breast cancer cell lines mirror many of the molecular subtypes and pathways found in tumors, suggesting that treatment of cell lines with candidate therapeutic compounds can guide identification of associations between molecular subtypes, pathways, and drug response. In a test of 77 therapeutic compounds, nearly all drugs showed differential responses across these cell lines, and approximately one third showed subtype-, pathway-, and/or genomic aberration-specific responses. These observations suggest mechanisms of response and resistance and may inform efforts to develop molecular assays that predict clinical response.
Nonoperative management of blunt hepatic injury: An Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma practice management guideline

Background During the last century, the management of blunt force trauma to the liver has changed from observation and expectant management in the early part of the 1900s to mainly operative intervention, to the current practice of selective operative and nonoperative management. These issues were first addressed by the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma in the Practice Management Guidelines for Nonoperative Management of Blunt Injury to the Liver and Spleen published online in 2003. Since that time, a large volume of literature on these topics has been published requiring a reevaluation of the previous Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma guideline. Methods The National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health MEDLINE database were searched using PubMed (www.pubmed.gov). The search was designed to identify English-language citations published after 1996 (the last year included in the previous guideline) using the keywords liver injury and blunt abdominal trauma. Results One hundred seventy-six articles were reviewed, of which 94 were used to create the current practice management guideline for the selective nonoperative management of blunt hepatic injury. Conclusion Most original hepatic guidelines remained valid and were incorporated into the greatly expanded current guidelines as appropriate. Nonoperative management of blunt hepatic injuries currently is the treatment modality of choice in hemodynamically stable patients, irrespective of the grade of injury or patient age. Nonoperative management of blunt hepatic injuries should only be considered in an environment that provides capabilities for monitoring, serial clinical evaluations, and an operating room available for urgent laparotomy. Patients presenting with hemodynamic instability and peritonitis still warrant emergent operative intervention. Intravenous contrast enhanced computed tomographic scan is the diagnostic modality of choice for evaluating blunt hepatic injuries. Repeated imaging should be guided by a patient’s clinical status. Adjunctive therapies like angiography, percutaneous drainage, endoscopy/endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and laparoscopy remain important adjuncts to nonoperative management of hepatic injuries. Despite the explosion of literature on this topic, many questions regarding nonoperative management of blunt hepatic injuries remain without conclusive answers in the literature.
Findings of the First Consensus Conference on Medical Emergency Teams*

Background:Studies have established that physiologic instability and services mismatching precede adverse events in hospitalized patients. In response to these considerations, the concept of a Rapid Response System (RRS) has emerged. The responding team is commonly known as a medical emergency team (MET), rapid response team (RRT), or critical care outreach (CCO). Studies show that an RRS may improve outcome, but questions remain regarding the benefit, design elements, and advisability of implementing a MET system. Methods:In June 2005 an International Conference on Medical Emergency Teams (ICMET) included experts in patient safety, hospital medicine, critical care medicine, and METs. Seven of 25 had no experience with an RRS, and the remainder had experience with one of the three major forms of RRS. After preconference telephone and e-mail conversations by the panelists in which questions to be discussed were characterized, literature reviewed, and preliminary answers created, the panelists convened for 2 days to create a consensus document. Four major content areas were addressed: What is a MET response? Is there a MET syndrome? What are barriers to METS? How should outcome be measured? Panelists considered whether all hospitals should implement an RRS. Results:Patients needing an RRS intervention are suddenly critically ill and have a mismatch of resources to needs. Hospitals should implement an RRS, which consists of four elements: an afferent, “crisis detection” and “response triggering” mechanism; an efferent, predetermined rapid response team; a governance/administrative structure to supply and organize resources; and a mechanism to evaluate crisis antecedents and promote hospital process improvement to prevent future events.
Functional Anatomy of Perceptual and Semantic Processing for Odors

The functional anatomy of perceptual and semantic processings for odors was studied using positron emission tomography (PET). The first experiment was a pretest in which 71 normal subjects were asked to rate 185 odorants in terms of intensity, familiarity, hedonicity, and comestibility and to name the odorants. This pretest was necessary to select the most appropriate stimuli for the different cognitive tasks of the second experiment. The second one was a PET experiment in which 15 normal subjects were scanned using the water bolus method to measure regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) during the performance in three conditions. In the first (perceptual) condition, subjects were asked to judge whether an odor was familiar or not. In the second (semantic) condition, subjects had to decide whether an odor corresponded to a comestible item or not. In the third (detection) condition, subjects had to judge whether the perceived stimulus was made of an odor or was just air. It was hypothetized that the three tasks were hierarchically organized from a superficial detection level to a deep semantic level. Odorants were presented with an air-flow olfactometer, which allowed the stimulations to be synchronized with breathing. Subtraction of activation images obtained between familiarity and control judgments revealed that familiarity judgments were mainly associated with the activity of the right orbito-frontal area, the subcallosal gyrus, the left inferior frontal gyrus, the left superior frontal gyrus, and the anterior cingulate (Brodmann's areas 11, 25, 47, 9, and 32, respectively). The comestibility minus familiarity comparison showed that comestibility judgments selectively activated the primary visual areas. In contrast, a decrease in rCBF was observed in these same visual areas for familiarity judgments and in the orbitofrontal area for comestibility judgments. These results suggest that orbito-frontal and visual regions interact in odor processing in a complementary way, depending on the task requirements.