Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Finance and Growth: Too Much of a Good Thing?

While theory does not predict an unambiguous relationship between finance and growth, over the past 20 years, economists have accumulated a substantial body of empirical evidence that financial sector deepening is a critical part of the economic development process. At the same time, the banking crisis literature has identified rapid credit growth as good predictor of systemic banking distress. Both findings are consistent with the theoretical literature, as the growth benefits of finance rely on maturity transformation and agency relationships, which makes it susceptible to fragility. This is a very important point that is often ignored both by analysts and policy makers.
Angiotensin II receptor-mediated stimulation of cytosolic-free calcium and inositol phosphates in chick myocytes.

We have described previously positive inotropy and increased levels of inositol-l-phosphate as in vitro responses to angiotensin II in cardiac tissue. In this study, changes in cardiac myocyte-free cytosolic calcium stimulated by angiotensin II were monitored with the fluorescent calcium indicator dye Fura-2. There was an initial peak transient increase followed by a sustained increase in cytosolic-free calcium in response to angiotensin II (10(-9)-10(-6) M). The peak transient response in cytosolic-free calcium after addition of angiotensin II (10(-7) M) occurred at 23 +/- 4 sec and was stimulated 2.16-fold (332 +/- 56 nM) above basal levels (154 +/- 14.7 nM). The calcium response was blocked or reversed by addition of verapamil (10(-8) M), lanthanum (0.2 mM) and zero calcium buffer. Angiotensin II receptor-mediated stimulation of inositol phosphates was quantified after separation by high-performance liquid chromatography in cultured chick heart cells prelabeled with L-myo-[1,2-3H(N)]inositol. A time course indicated that the peak response of the angiotensin II (10(-8) M)-stimulated increase in inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate was at 30 sec. Angiotensin II (10(-8) M) significantly stimulated inositol-1,4-diphosphate (45%) and inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate (78%) above basal levels. Bordetella pertussis toxin treatment of myocyte cultures in doses (500 ng/ml, 24 hr) shown to fully ADP-ribosylate a toxin-sensitive 41 KD alpha-subunit, blocked completely the angiotensin II-stimulated increases in inositol 1,4-diphosphate, inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate and inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate. The rise in cytosolic-free calcium in response to angiotensin II was not blocked or inhibited by toxin pretreatment. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Relationship between leadership power bases and job stress of subordinates: example from boutique hotels

Purpose – To examine the influence of leadership power bases on subordinates’ job stress at boutique hotels.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 400 subjects (20 managers and 380 non‐managerial employees) participated in this study from 20 boutique hotels. Participants were told that the study was designed to collect information on the leadership power bases used by first line managers and on the job stress levels of employees in the hospitality workforce. The Rahim Leader Power Inventory and Spielberger and Vagg's Job Stress Survey were used to assess leadership power bases and job stress, respectively.Findings – There are significant relations between leader power bases and subordinates’ job stress. The findings support the suggestion in the literature that positional power bases stimulate job stress in the hospitality industry.Research limitations/implications – The study has several limitations that could be future research topics, such as hotels’ source of funding, demographic characteristics of .
The impact of tumor necrosis factor α inhibitors on radiographic progression in ankylosing spondylitis.

OBJECTIVE To study the effect of tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) inhibitors on progressive spinal damage in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). METHODS All AS patients meeting the modified New York criteria who had been monitored prospectively and had at least 2 sets of spinal radiographs a minimum of 1.5 years apart were included in the study (n=334). The patients received standard therapy, which included nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs and TNFα inhibitors. Radiographic severity was assessed by the modified Stoke Ankylosing Spondylitis Spine Score (mSASSS). Patients with a rate of AS progression that was ≥1 mSASSS unit/year were considered progressors. Univariable and multivariable regression analyses were done. Propensity score matching and sensitivity analysis were performed. A zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) model was used to analyze the effect of TNFα inhibitors on the change in the mSASSS with varying followup periods. Potential confounders, such as disease activity (as assessed by the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index), the erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein level, HLA-B27 positivity, sex, age at onset, smoking burden (number of pack-years), and baseline damage, were included in the model. RESULTS TNFα inhibitor treatment was associated with a 50% reduction in the odds of progression, with an odds ratio (OR) of 0.52 (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.30-0.88, P=0.02). Patients with a delay of >10 years in starting therapy were more likely to experience progression as compared to those who started earlier (OR 2.4 [95% CI 1.09-5.3], P=0.03). In the ZINB model, the use of TNFα inhibitors significantly reduced disease progression when the gap between radiographs was >3.9 years. The protective effect of TNFα inhibitors was stronger after propensity score matching. CONCLUSION Treatment with TNFα inhibitors appears to reduce radiographic progression in AS patients, especially with early initiation and with longer duration of followup.
Monetary policy through the ‘credit-cost channel’: Italy and Germany pre- and post-EMU

We present an empirical analysis of the ‘Credit-Cost Channel’ (CCC) of monetary policy transmission. This channel combines bank credit supply and interest rates on loans as a cost to firms. The thrust of the CCC is that it makes both aggregate demand and aggregate supply dependent on monetary policy. As a consequence (1) credit market conditions (e.g. risk spreads) are important sources and indicators of macroeconomic shocks, (2) the real effects of monetary policy are larger and persistent. We have applied the Cointegrated Vector Autoregression (CVAR) econometric methodology to Italy and Germany in the ‘hard’ EMS period and in the European Monetary Union (EMU) period. The short-run and long-run effects of the CCC are detectable for both countries in both periods. Simulation of the estimated model also confirms that inflation-targeting by way of inter-bank rate control stabilizes inflation through structural shifts of the stochastic equilibrium paths of both inflation and the output.
The Ubiquitin-homology Protein, DAP-1, Associates with Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor (p60) Death Domain and Induces Apoptosis*

The tumor necrosis factor receptor, p60 (TNF-R1), transduces death signals via the association of its cytoplasmic domain with several intracellular proteins. By screening a mammalian cDNA library using the yeast two-hybrid cloning technique, we isolated a ubiquitin-homology protein, DAP-1, which specifically interacts with the cytoplasmic death domain of TNF-R1. Sequence analysis reveals that DAP-1 shares striking sequence homology with the yeast SMT3 protein that is essential for the maintenance of chromosome integrity during mitosis (Meluh, P. B., and Koshland, D. (1995) Mol. Biol. Cell 6, 793–807). DAP-1 is nearly identical to PIC1, a protein that interacts with the PML tumor suppressor implicated in acute promyelocytic leukemia (Boddy, M. N., Howe, K., Etkin, L. D., Solomon, E., and Freemont, P. S. (1996) Oncogene 13, 971–982), and the sentrin protein, which associates with the Fas death receptor (Okura, T., Gong, L., Kamitani, T., Wada, T., Okura, I., Wei, C. F., Chang, H. M., and Yeh, E. T. (1996) J. Immunol. 157, 4277–4281). The in vivo interaction between DAP-1 and TNF-R1 was further confirmed in mammalian cells. In transient transfection assays, overexpression of DAP-1 suppresses NF-κB/Rel activity in 293T cells, a human kidney embryonic carcinoma cell line. Overexpression of either DAP-1 or sentrin causes apoptosis of TNF-sensitive L929 fibroblast cell line, as well as TNF-resistant osteosarcoma cell line, U2OS. Furthermore, the dominant negative Fas-associated death domain protein (FADD) protein blocks the cell death induced by either DAP-1 or FADD. Collectively, these observations highly suggest a role for DAP-1 in mediating TNF-induced cell death signaling pathways, presumably through the recruitment of FADD death effector.
Alliances in the Shadow of Conflict

Victorious alliances often fight about the spoils of war. This article presents an experiment on the determinants of whether alliances break up and fight internally after having defeated a joint enemy. First, if peaceful sharing yields an asymmetric rent distribution, this increases the likelihood of fighting. In turn, anticipation of the higher likelihood of internal fight reduces the alliance’s ability to succeed against the outside enemy. Second, the option to make nonbinding nonaggression declarations between alliance members does not make peaceful settlement within the alliance more likely. Third, higher differences in the alliance players’ contributions to alliance effort lead to more internal conflict and more intense fighting.
Comprehensive Breast Reconstruction in an Academic Surgical Practice: An Evaluation of the Financial Impact

Background: This study assessed the financial implications of providing all forms of breast reconstruction at a single academic institution with insurance as the primary mode of reimbursement. Methods: Billing records of 152 patients who underwent postmastectomy breast reconstruction offered at the University of Michigan for the 2012 fiscal year were reviewed. Professional and facility revenue, cost, and earnings for the first stage of reconstruction were calculated by applying actual collections and charges. Similar financial data were compiled for a subset of 49 patients who went on to complete reconstruction. Results: The professional revenue and expenses allocated to breast reconstruction were $647,437 and $591,184, respectively (8.7 percent margin). Health care system facility revenue and costs were $2,762,797 and $2,773,131, respectively (−0.4 percent margin). Physician reimbursement by surgical time was highest for delayed tissue expander placement ($3505 per operating room hour). Abdominal free flap reconstructions resulted in greater professional revenue for the first stage of reconstruction ($7801 versus $2961) and for completed reconstructions ($14,943 versus $7703) relative to implant reconstructions. The facility also did better fiscally after the first stage of abdominally based reconstruction compared with implant reconstructions (10 percent versus −10.4 percent margin). Conclusions: Postmastectomy breast reconstruction for this academic surgical practice remains fiscally profitable. Implant-based reconstruction compared with abdominal flap reconstruction produces greater revenue per operative hour but ultimately generates less total revenue and results in financial losses for the facility. Abdominally based perforator flap reconstruction reimbursed through standard insurance plans can be financially advantageous for the academic surgical practice and health care system.
Livestock products Demand in Indonesia: Choosing between AIDS and Rotterdam Demand Models

This paper examines the livestock products demand in Indonesia. This objective is accomplished by estimating a food demand model using Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) and Rotterdam model, and choose an appropriate demand model which best fits the data. A test to choose among the alternative joint model specifications is provided and the methodology is applied to data on demand for livestock products i.e. meat, egg, and milk. To make consistency with Rotterdam form, first difference LA/AIDS is applied in this study. The estimated parameters find the reasonable sign and significant for the most part of the coefficient. Own price elasticity shown negative sign, indicating that meat, egg and milk are sensitive to prices except for egg in the first differences LA/AIDS model. Real expenditure has significantly effect to the consumption of livestock products. The joint model approach was used to select the appropriate model in this study results that the first difference LA/AIDS or the Rotterdam models are both appropriate to represent Indonesian livestock products demand. For the discrimination of the models, the goodness-of-fit (adjusted R2), forecasting accuracy (RMSE) and the elasticity of the demand models are also considered to measure the best model. The first difference LA/AIDS model fits well as reflected by its higher adjusted R2 and the lower RMSE relative to the Rotterdam model. The LA/AIDS model accommodates the high elasticities better than the Rotterdam, since AIDS performed well. Keywords: livestock products demand, Rotterdam model, Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) model, joint model
Educating Multi-disciplinary Student Groups in Entrepreneurship: Lessons Learned from a Practice Enterprise Project

The target audiences for entrepreneurial university studies are most often students of different fields of business studies, or economics; entrepreneurship studies are a part of their normal curriculum. Entrepreneurs, however, are not a group that consists only of business professionals, but a group of people from all walks of life. The basic procedures and laws governing the starting of a company are most often same for all companies and individuals. It is important to acknowledge these two facts, when designing curriculums for university studies: basic courses in entrepreneurship (starting a business) are important for students of all disciplines. This paper reports experiences from educating multi-disciplinary student groups in entrepreneurship, presents preliminary data about student background and attitudes towards entrepreneurship, and discusses some lessons learned from the experiences.
Impact of Minimum Wages on Other Wages, Employment, and Family Incomes

ONE OF THE ISSUES that has traditionally split politicians from economists, and now splits radical economists from traditional economists, is the minimum wage. As the passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938 testified, many politicians have seen the minimum wage as a direct means of reducing poverty and providing decent living standards to lowwage workers. In this belief they have recently been joined by economists asserting that higher wages will prod firms to create better and more productive jobs for workers, that the marginal product of labor is basically unmeasurable anyway, or that labor demand is simply quite inelastic. Other economists have objected strenuously to such ideas, insisting that the long-run distortions and disemployment effects of minimum wages far outweigh any supposed short-run benefits. For all the controversy engendered by minimum wages, the United States has not pursued the policy very aggressively, at least in an aggregate sense. In 1975 the head of a family working full time at the basic minimum of $2.10 per hour would have earned $4,368, 20 percent less than the poverty standard for a nonfarm family of four. This minimum
Functional properties of K+ currents in adult mouse ventricular myocytes

Although the K+ currents expressed in hearts of adult mice have been studied extensively, detailed information concerning their relative sizes and biophysical properties in ventricle and atrium is lacking. Here we describe and validate pharmacological and biophysical methods that can be used to isolate the three main time‐ and voltage‐dependent outward K+ currents which modulate action potential repolarization. A Ca2+‐independent transient outward K+ current, Ito, can be separated from total outward current using an ‘inactivating prepulse’. The rapidly activating, slowly inactivating delayed rectifier K+ current, IKur, can be isolated using submillimolar concentrations of 4‐aminopyridine (4‐AP). The remaining K+ current, Iss, can be obtained by combining these two procedures: (i) inactivating Ito and (ii) eliminating IKur by application of low concentration of 4‐AP. Iss activates relatively slowly and shows very little inactivation, even during depolarizations lasting several seconds. Our findings also show that the rate of reactivation of Ito is more than 20‐fold faster than that of IKur. These results demonstrate that the outward K+ currents in mouse ventricles can be separated based on their distinct time and voltage dependence, and different sensitivities to 4‐AP. Data obtained at both 22 and 32°C demonstrate that although the duration of the inactivating prepulse has to be adapted for the recording temperature, this approach for separation of K+ current components is also valid at more physiological temperatures. To demonstrate that these methods also allow separation of these K+ currents in other cell types, we have applied this same approach to myocytes from mouse atria. Molecular approaches have been used to compare the expression levels of different K+ channels in mouse atrium and ventricle. These findings provide new insights into the functional roles of IKur, Ito and Iss during action potential repolarization.
Phase sampling: a new approach to the design of LF direct digital frequency synthesizers

A direct digital frequency synthesizer (DDFS) is a circuit capable of producing programmable-frequency sinusoids from a reference clock signal. Its operation is based on a counter whose output serves as address to a ROM, from which voltage (or current) samples are retrieved at constant time intervals. The power and area demanded by the ROM constitute its main limitation. To circumvent it, we describe a time-domain (phase) sampling approach, in which the samples are taken at constant voltage (or current) intervals rather than at constant time intervals. The result is a system with a smaller ROM and a simpler DAC. The main drawback is the reduced maximum frequency attainable with this approach
Lung deposition of fine and ultrafine particles outdoors and indoors during a cooking event and a no activity period.

UNLABELLED Some indoor activities increase the number concentration of small particles and, hence, enhance the dose delivered to the lungs. The received particle dose indoors may exceed noticeably the dose from ambient air under routine in-house activities like cooking. In the present work, the internal dose by inhalation of ultrafine and fine particles is assessed, using an appropriate mechanistic model of lung deposition, accommodating aerosol, and inhalation dynamics. The analysis is based on size distribution measurements (10-350 nm) of indoor and outdoor aerosol number concentrations in a typical residence in Athens, Greece. Four different cases are examined, namely, a cooking event, a no activity period indoors and the equivalent time periods outdoors. When the cooking event (frying of bacon-eggs with a gas fire) occurred, the amount of deposited particles deep into the lung of an individual indoors exceeded by up to 10 times the amount received by an individual at the same time period outdoors. The fine particle deposition depends on the level of physical exertion and the hygroscopic properties of the inhaled aerosol. The dose is not found linearly dependant on the indoor/outdoor concentrations during the cooking event, whereas it is during the no activity period. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS The necessity for determining the dose in specific regions of the human lung, as well as the non-linear relationship between aerosol concentration and internal dose makes the application of dosimetry models important. Lung dose of fine and ultrafine particles, during a cooking event, is compared with the dose at no indoor activity and the dose received under outdoor exposure conditions. The dose is expressed in terms of number or surface of deposited particles. This permits to address the dosimetry of very small particles, which are released by many indoor sources but represent a slight fraction of the particulate matter mass. The enhancement of the internal dose resulting from fine and ultrafine particles generated during the cooking event vs. the dose when no indoor source is active is assessed. The results for those cases are also compared with the dose calculated for the measured aerosol outdoors.
Encouraging Preventive Services for Low-Income Children: The Effect of Expanding Medicaid

Every year since 1984, Congress has expanded Medicaid to cover an increasing proportion of low-income children. In this study, a multivariate analysis of data from the 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey was used to determine whether expanded Medicaid eligibility is likely to be effective in encouraging recommended preventive visits for low-income, preschool children. For low-income children who would otherwise be uninsured, a full year of Medicaid increased the probability of any well-child visits by 17 percentage points, and compliance with the guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics for well-child visits increased by 13 percentage points. The generosity of Medicaid fees did not alter the magnitude of these effects. However, even if all uninsured children under 200% of the poverty line were eligible for Medicaid, low-income children would continue to lag behind other children in their use of preventive services. Factors other than insurance and income, such as the lower educational attainment of low-income mothers, explain approximately 80% of the gap between children above and below 200% of poverty. The rate of compliance with the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines was less than 50% for all preschool children. Departures from the recommended schedule of visits were particularly pronounced in the second year of life and may interfere with children receiving the recommended immunizations in a timely manner.
Direct Field Block with 40 ML of 0.125% Bupivacaine in Conjunction with Intrathecal Morphine for Analgesia after Cesarean Section: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of direct field block with 40 ml of 0.125% bupivacaine on the top of intrathecal morphine on postoperative pain free period. MATERIAL AND METHOD The present prospective randomized controlled trial was undertaken in 56 pregnant patients that underwent elective cesarean delivery at Siriraj Hospital. All patients were randomized into two groups to receive spinal block with intrathecal morphine as a control group, or direct field block on the top of spinal block with intrathecal morphine as a study group. The assessment ofpain score, 24-hour morphine usage, satisfaction score, pruritus, nausea and vomiting, sedation score, and motor power were recorded. RESULTS Both groups had similar pain score. The number of subjects who had pain free period during the 24 hours in the direct field block group was seven of 28, while in the control group it was four of 28. Median time of pain free period was 2.10 hours in control group and 2.36 hours in direct field block group. There was no significant difference in 24-hour morphine consumption, satisfaction score, pruritus, nausea, vomiting, and sedation score. Motor power was fully recovered within six hours postoperative in both groups. CONCLUSION Direct field block with 40 ml of 0.125% bupivacaine in conjunction with intrathecal morphine for cesarean section did not increase pain free period or decrease morphine consumption.