Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
HOSPITAL RESOURCE PLANNING: CONCEPTS, FEASIBILITY, AND FRAMEWORK

The mantra of health care reform in hospitals in the United States and elsewhere, the spiralling costs of health care, and the development of diagnostic‐related groups (DRGS) that define health services as “products” are influencing the strategic role of operations planning and control in hospital delivery systems. We developed a new operations planning and control system that we call “Hospital Resource Planning” (HRP). This system is based on the concept of DRGS and the familiar concept of manufacturing resources planning (MRP‐II). TO determine the potential feasibility of HRP, we gathered longitudinal data from two hospitals, one 300‐bed community hospital and one 1,100‐bed teaching hospital. Our exploratory study indicated that while the concept of MRP‐II can be transferred to hospitals, the traditional MRP logic has shortcomings. HRP advances prior research in three ways: (1) consideration of DRGS as products with a bill of resources structure that simultaneously incorporates both capacity and materials resources, (2) implementation of a hospital‐wide (versus a functional) planning and control'system, and (3) gross‐to‐net requirements logic based on notions of treatment staging. Other feasibility issues that we addressed pertain to a stochastic bill of resources, trends toward hospital product standardization, and the coordination of a central planning system with decentralized decision making. The paper concludes with a description of areas for future research.
Would autocracies promote autocracy? A political economy perspective on regime-type export in regional neighbourhoods

Non-democratic regional powers are increasingly blamed for authoritarian backlashes in formerly democratising countries, or for the persistence of entrenched autocratic regimes in their neighbourhood. Yet there is a striking scarcity of theoretical deliberations as to why powerful autocracies should prefer autocratic neighbours over democratic ones. Employing a rational-choice model that links foreign policy behaviour to the logic of domestic politics, this article develops a theoretical argument why, and under which circumstances, autocratic regional powers should be expected to attempt to impact upon governance structures in their regional environment. Combining a political economy perspective with findings from transition literature, the authors conclude that, all else equal, autocratic regional powers have strong incentives to favour similar political systems in nearby states, but that this interest must be weighted against an overarching interest in political stability. The article discusses these theoretical findings against the backdrop of country cases in the regional environments of Russia and China.
Detecção automática de vazios em isoladores poliméricos por tomografia industrial 3 D Automatic detection of flaws in polymer insulators using 3 D industrial tomography 1

This work presents a methodology for the automatic detection of flaws in polymer insulators using three-dimensional industrial computed tomography (CT), as well as results obtained in the context of power distribution networks. The CT slices were reconstructed using 180 digital radiographs (projections) acquired by a high resolution system (pixel dimension of 50 μm × 50 μm, a-Si). For the reconstruction of 3D CT, 50 μm wide bitmap slices were used. The Marching Cubes algorithm was used to perform the 3D reconstruction, using the Visualization Toolkit (VTK) library and the Java programming language (64 Bits Linux platform). Nine features were obtained from the reconstructed three-dimensional objects for the neural networks training. Results showed to be satisfactory.
Money Demand and the Effects of Fiscal Policies: Reply

Our paper "Money Demand and the Effects of Fiscal Policies" challenged both theoretically and empirically the standard practice of using income as the scale variable in the money demand function. We presented a variety of evidence indicating that consumption is a better scale variable. In the paper's Elnal substantive section, we noted that this seemingly innocuous alteration in the money demand function could crucially affect the implied Elscal policy multipliers. In particular, we suggested that this change "probably" reverses the traditional conclusion that tax cuts increase aggregate demaxld if the money stock is held constant, though we cautioned that "the uncertainty is necessarily large. " James McGibany and Farrokh Nourzad and Darrel Cohen appear to accept our conclusion that consumption is the appropriate scale variable in the money demand function, but seek to reElne and challenge our assessment of the effects of Elscal policy on aggregate demand. While further research on this question is clearly needed, we are not persuaded by the calculations presented in these two comments. To derive our conclusion that a tax cut could be contractionary, we used a textbook IS-LM model with a modiEled money demand function. As in standard analysis, a tax cut shifts outward the IS curve. Yet if money demand depends on consumption rather than income, a tax cut also increases money demand and thus shifts inward the LM curve. The IS shift is expansionary while the LM shift is contractionary the net effect of the tax cut is thus ambiguous. We provided a simple formula showing the conditions under which tax cuts are contractionary:
Sexual networks of pregnant women with and without HIV infection

Objectives: To determine the relationship of HIV infection in pregnant women to sexual network size and other risk factors. Design: Case–control study of women attending the public maternity hospital in Lima, Peru. Methods: We interviewed 75 HIV-seropositive women, 41 of their most recent male partners, and two control groups totaling 137 uninfected pregnant women and 70 of their most recent male partners. Each woman's sexual network size was estimated through second and third-generation partnerships over the past year, 5 years and lifetime. Results: Few HIV-seropositive women reported behavioral risk factors for HIV infection, but 79% of male partners were HIV seropositive. Risk factors in male partners included sex with a female sex worker (FSW) or with another man (MSM). The mean 5-year sexual network sizes through the second generation (8.4 persons for HIV-seropositive women, and 2.5 and 1.9 for women in the two control groups) predicted HIV in the women, independently of her own number of partners. These differences were largely attributable to the number of partners reported by male partners. Using data from concurrent studies of FSW and MSM, estimates of 5-year sexual network sizes through the third-generation, excluding contacts with FSW which were protected by consistent condom use, were 672 persons for HIV-seropositive women, and 160 and 224 for women in the two control groups. Conclusions: HIV infection risk among pregnant women in Lima depends largely on their male partners’ risk behaviors. Even monogamous women had very large sexual networks.
Results from a rapid national assessment of services for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Côte d'Ivoire

Loss‐to‐follow‐up (LTFU) in the prevention of mother‐to‐child HIV transmission (PMTCT) programmes can occur at multiple stages of antenatal and follow‐up care. This paper presents findings from a national assessment aimed at identifying major bottlenecks in Côte d'Ivoire's PMTCT cascade, and to distinguish characteristics of high‐ and low‐performing health facilities.
‘Buy Your Home and Feel in Control’ Does Home Ownership Achieve the Empowerment of Former Tenants of Social Housing?

Abstract Encouraging home ownership is an important aim of housing policy in many countries. It is supposed to have positive effects on individual households and on society as a whole. This article focuses on the effect of home ownership on former tenants of social rented housing in the Netherlands. The central issue is whether becoming a home owner increases one 's sense of freedom and security in the home, one 's sense of control over one 's life, and one 's self-esteem. In other words, to what extent is buying a house a way of empowering individuals and households? Many Dutch housing associations are currently devising sale policies with the aim of empowering their tenants and providing more freedom of choice. We present the results of telephone surveys of 535 Dutch former tenants who bought their social rented dwelling and 602 others who decided not to buy their dwelling. The main question is: to what extent do these two groups differ in their scores on empowerment scales based on earlier research. Scales of ‘perceived control over life’, 'self-esteem' and 'housing-related empowerment' were adapted and measured among respondents of both groups. The results show that tenants who became home owners score higher on the control scale than tenants, but this difference can be explained by other background variables. Moreover, home owners score higher on the scale of housing-related empowerment, but lower on the scale of self-esteem, net of other factors.
Stock Option Schedules and Managerial Opportunism

This study investigates some of the most important avenues that mangers use to manipulate the value of stock option grants. It also compares the use of these avenues in firms that issue scheduled options and in firms that issue irregular options. We document that before the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), cumulative abnormal returns were significantly negative in the 30-day window before an option grant, but cumulative abnormal returns turned significantly positive after the option grant. This pattern is more pronounced for irregular options, and the evidence supports the hypothesis that opportunistic manipulation of strike prices by CEOs maximized the value of the option grants. We find the disclosure requirement of option grants included in SOX successfully curtails opportunistic behavior in firms that issue scheduled options, but has a lesser effect stopping opportunistic behavior in firms that issue irregular options. Firms granting irregular options take larger negative discretionary accruals in advance of the grant than firms that grant scheduled options, and the degree of downward earnings management increases with the size of the subsequent grant. We further show that firms are more likely to issue irregular options when they offer larger option grants, have a less independent board, receive less analyst coverage, have a new CEO, exhibit poor prior performance, have higher stock return volatility and are smaller in size.
Recombinant soluble murine IL-4 receptor can inhibit or enhance IgE responses in vivo.

This study examines the effects of soluble IL-4R (sIL-4R) administration on IgE production in vivo by using an anti-IgD injection model. Anti-IgD-treated mice were given various doses of sIL-4R or anti-IL-4 mAb over a 3-day period and serum IgE levels were determined by ELISA on day 9. The sIL-4R inhibited IgE production by up to 85%. Anti-IL-4 mAb administration resulted in comparable levels of inhibition at considerably lower doses. The disparity in efficacy between sIL-4R and anti-IL-4 mAb was likely the result of differences in the biodistribution and in vivo half-life of the two IL-4-binding proteins. The specificity of the sIL-4R inhibitory effect was assessed by mixing sIL-4R with various concentrations of IL-4 before injection. Exogenous IL-4 partially overcame the inhibitory effect of high-dose sIL-4R or anti-IL-4 mAb. Unexpectedly, coadministration of suboptimal concentrations of anti-IL-4 mAb or sIL-4R with IL-4 resulted in superinduction of the IgE response. This stimulatory effect was dose dependent for both IL-4 and the IL-4 cognates and was not seen in the absence of exogenous IL-4 over the entire concentration range tested for either sIL-4R or anti-IL mAb. The results indicate that sIL-4R can block IgE secretion by neutralizing endogenous IL-4. Furthermore, sIL-4R can enhance, in a dose-dependent manner, the biologic effects of exogenously administered IL-4, presumably by altering the biodistribution of the cytokine. These findings suggest two alternative applications for cytokine-binding proteins, i.e., 1) as antagonists of biologic activities of endogenously produced cytokines and, 2) as vehicles for cytokine delivery.
External Auditors, Audit Committees and Earnings Management in France

ABSTRACT We investigate the effect of various audit quality dimensions (i.e. auditor reputation and tenure, audit committee existence and independence) on earnings management in France. We thus contribute to the empirical audit quality literature in a Continental European environment that markedly differs from the USA in terms of auditing and corporate governance. The main findings are that: (1) the presence of an audit committee (but not the committee's independence) curbs upward earnings management; and (2) the presence of a Big Five auditor makes no difference regarding earnings management activities. Implications of these findings are discussed with regard to the specificities of the French auditing and governance settings. In particular, although the audit committee acts as a device to control the more egregious (i.e. income-increasing) forms of earnings management, the monitoring incentive of outside directors may be hampered by the collective board responsibility for financial reporting quality. Second, the lack of differentiation among Big Five auditors in terms of accounting conservatism is consistent with the lower litigation risk offered by the French Civil Code (vs. the US Common Law system), which is likely to eliminate the deep pockets incentive for investors.
Development of Small-sized Omni-directional Laser Range Scanner and Its Application to 3D Background Difference

This paper presents the small-sized omni-directional 3D laser range scanner. This sensor can scan surrounding 3D form. The existing 2D laser range scanner is rotated in the direction of a pan angle by a turntable. The turntable is made by a stepping motor and a slip ring, a highly accurate positioning is possible. The accuracy of the sensor is pan angle resolution less than 0.5 degrees and measurement more than 300,000 points. By modeling, a surface model is made using the point data measured by this sensor. The modeling is to do connection of triangle polygon and calculation of normal vector. Previously, a target object was not able to be extracted from measured data. Extraction of the target object is possible according to the proposed 3D background difference.
Song recognition by young children with cochlear implants: comparison between unilateral, bilateral, and bimodal users.

PURPOSE To examine song identification by preschoolers with normal hearing (NH) versus preschoolers with cochlear implants (CIs). METHOD Participants included 45 children ages 3;8-7;3 (years;months): 12 with NH and 33 with CIs, including 10 with unilateral CI, 14 with bilateral CIs, and 9 bimodal users (CI-HA) with unilateral CI and contralateral hearing aid. Preschoolers were asked to identify children's songs presented via 5 versions: (a) full (lyrics sung with piano accompaniment); (b) a cappella (only lyrics); (c) melodic (matching main melodic contour); (d) tonal (only pitch information); and (e) rhythmic (only song's rhythm). RESULTS The NH group surpassed all CI groups at identifying songs via melodic and tonal versions, but no significant differences emerged between the NH group and any CI group via full, a cappella, or rhythmic versions. Among the CI groups, no significant differences emerged via melodic or rhythmic versions, but bimodal users performed significantly better than bilateral users via the tonal version. Chronological age and duration of CI use correlated significantly with identification via the rhythmic version. CONCLUSION Bimodal users showed an advantage in identifying songs in the tonal version through use of complementary information.
Corporate operating characteristics and capital structure: causality testing in heterogeneous panel data

This article adopts a new technique, developed by Hurlin (2004), to test for Granger causality between capital structure and corporate operating characteristics including time-invariant, firm-specific effects in heterogeneous panel data from five US industries over the period 1980 to 2002. Previous studies addressed the issue of whether corporate operating characteristics cause changes in capital structure while our study focuses on the causal linkages between capital structure and corporate operating characteristics. For robustness, we validated the results using the Mixed Fixed Random (MFR) technique developed by Nair-Reichert and Weinhold (2001). The results indicate that causality test is more revealing than correlation-based analyses. It is clear that capital structure theories are co-existent in different industries. The study provides ample evidence that simultaneity between corporate operating characteristics and capital structure is prevalent with differential results in different industries and forms of debt.
Dose-response relationship and pharmacogenetics of anti-RhD monoclonal antibodies.

In their paper, Miescher et al[1][1] describe the effect of MonoRho, a recombinant anti-Rhesus D (RhD) human immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1)/kappa monoclonal antibody (mAb), on RhD+ red blood cell (RBC) elimination, and the association between this elimination and both FCGR2A and FCGR3A gene polymorphisms
RELATIVE PRICE DISPERSION, AGGREGATE PRICE MOVEMENT, AND THE NATURAL RATE OF UNEMPLOYMENT

This paper develops a model of relative price stickiness and examines its implications for the relationship between relative prices, inflation, and the natu ral rate of unemployment. Estimation of the model demonstrates that c ausality in the relationship between relative and aggregate prices ru ns in both directions. However, microeconomic disturbances have been the primary source of relative price change variance over the postwar period, and these micro disturbances have exerted a strong effect on inflation in the short run. It also is shown that micro relative pri ce change dispersion has had a significant influence on the natural r ate of unemployment. Copyright 1988 by Oxford University Press.
The Green Climate Fund in Africa: what should be different?

There are several climate funds already in operation before the establishment of the Green Climate Fund (GCF). This paper draws on the analysis of climate funds relevant for climate change activities in Africa to improve stakeholders understanding of what should be different with the GCF in Africa. The analysis indicates that projects financed by climate funds are predominantly small-scale with high transaction costs. The mean amount of total approved projects in Africa is US$7.21 (28.41) million. Over 95% of these projects is funded with grants. The mean disbursement ratio for the projects is 34.9% (45.4) and the mean initial disbursement lag is 1.9 years (1.2). To enhance scalability of projects and predictability of funds, African countries will have to work with the GCF to diversify financial instruments away from grants to loans and private capital to finance medium- and large-scale projects. The analysis also indicates that African countries should rally behind a position for ‘additionality’ of financial flows from the GCF that is realistic. Outsourcing fund management (including risks analysis and due diligence) activities of national funding entities to domestic financial institutions (FIs) will help reduce the expense ratio and enhance mainstreaming of climate finance in FIs in Africa.
Endothelin-A Receptor Blockade Does Not Debilitate the Cardiovascular and Hormonal Adaptation to Xenon or Isoflurane Anesthesia in Dogs

The objective of this study was to investigate whether circulatory and hormonal changes during xenon plus remifentanil or isoflurane plus remifentanil anesthesia are altered by endothelin-A (ETA) receptor blockade. Eight beagle dogs were studied in four protocols (n = 7 each). After a 30-min awake period, anesthesia was induced with 8 mg/kg propofol, administered intravenously (iv), and maintained with either 0.8% ± 0.01% (vol/vol) isoflurane plus 0.5 μg/kg/min remifentanil (Protocol 1) or 63% ± 1% (vol/vol) xenon plus 0.5 μg/kg/min remifentanil (Protocol 2) for 1 hr. Protocols 3 and 4 were preceded by ETA blockade with ABT-627 (Atrasentan; iv bolus of 1 mg/kg, then 100 μg/kg/h continuously). Irrespective of Atrasentan administration, the mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) ranged between 92 and 96 mm Hg in the awake state and fell to 67 ± 3 mm Hg in controls (mean ± SEM) and to 64 ± 2 mm Hg in the Atrasentan group during isoflurane plus remifentanil anesthesia, whereas MAP remained constant during xenon plus remifentanil anesthesia. A decrease in heart rate was observed during either kind of anesthesia, but bradycardia was most prominent during xenon plus remifentanil anesthesia. In the control groups, and in the Atrasentan-treated dogs, a decrease in cardiac output and an increase in systemic vascular resistance were more prominent during xenon plus remifentanil than during isoflurane plus remifentanil anesthesia. Hormonal alterations during anesthesia remained unaffected by ETA receptor blockade. Angiotensin II and vasopressin increased in all protocols, and adrenaline and noradrenaline concentrations rose only during xenon plus remifentanil anesthesia. We conclude that the hemodynamic and hormonal adaptation after xenon plus remifentanil and isoflurane plus remifentanil anesthesia does not depend on the endothelin system, because it is unaffected by ETA receptor inhibition. Therefore, the use of Atrasentan does not impair cardiovascular stability during xenon- or isoflurane-based anesthesia in our dog model. However, the way anesthesia is performed is of crucial importance for hemodynamic and hormonal reactions observed during research in animals because the release of vasopressin and catecholamines may be intensified by xenon plus remifentanil anesthesia.
Examination-induced distress in a public examination at the completion of secondary schooling.

BACKGROUND The context for this study was the Higher School Certificate examination in New South Wales, Australia. AIMS The main research aim was to investigate the association between the Higher School Certificate, the reported distress and anxiety levels of the adolescent students who prepare for and sit for the examination, and various other internal and environmental variables. SAMPLE The random sample consisted of 445 students in their last two years of secondary schooling, with approximately equal numbers of males and females from a diverse range of ethnic backgrounds. METHODS Analysis was carried out using principal components analysis and multiple regression. RESULTS The most significant contribution to distress associated with the examination was made by the personality trait, anxiety proneness. Lower socio-economic status, self-confidence, academic and verbal self-concepts and perceived ability to cope were also found, to a lesser extent, to be associated with increased distress. The interactions sex with ethnic background and year with ethnic background were of particular interest. Students who were male and had an English speaking background, and students in year 11 who had an English speaking background were least likely to experience distress than others in the context of the examination. CONCLUSIONS Whilst results must be treated with caution, particular groups of students potentially vulnerable to distress were identified and directions for future research indicated.