Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Emergency medical services in Saudi Arabia: A study on the significance of paramedics and their experiences on barriers as inhibitors of their efficiency

Background: Emergency Medical Services (EMS) provides out-of-hospital acute medical care to different types of serious emergencies. The team of EMS includes paramedics, besides many other staff working in the pre-hospital setting. Although the paramedics are the first responders to the patient in emergency, they face several barriers, which interfere with their efficiency. Aim: However, the magnitude of these obstacles is not known, hence; it was found worthwhile to evaluate the depth of these difficulties. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire that included eight different commonly experienced barriers and four different variables of strength was framed. The questionnaire was served to 140 paramedics in three different regions (Jeddah, Riyadh, and Dammam) of Saudi Arabia. Results: The positive response obtained was statistically significant for traffic congestion (P<0.01; P<0.001), nuisance by bystanders and family members (P<0.001), lack of competence of doctors and the administration in the EMS routines (P<0.05; P<0.01; P<0.001), lack of trust and confidence (P<0.001) lack of independence (P<0.001), patient's resistance (P<0.001), Interference of legal issues and litigation proceedings (P<0.05; P<0.001), paramedic's impression on general public and the family of the patients (P<0.001). Conclusions: The authorities in the hospitals and EMS administration should improve the barriers which interfere with the efficiency of a paramedic and cause gross humiliation to the patients, and the Health authorities should impart proper education and training to the paramedics.
Do Demand Curves for Small Stocks Slope Down

Stocks added to the S&P 500 generally experience positive abnormal returns following the announcement. Several competing explanations exist for this reaction, but small sample sizes and other issues make it difficult to distinguish among them. We examine this subject using the small-cap Russell 2000 index, which has a number of advantages over the S&P 500 in this context. Our primary finding is that stocks added to or deleted from the Russell 2000 experience significant changes in stock price and trading volume, but the effect is transitory. The results support the price pressure hypothesis.
European Integration and Spatial Rescaling in the Baltic Region: Soft Spaces, Soft Planning and Soft Security

Abstract Spatial rescaling arguably represents one of the most significant recent changes in planning. Rescaling processes do not merely imply changes in powers across existing layers of decision-making, but also entail new scales of intervention, new actor constellations and new geometries of governance. A wide range of examples of spatial rescaling can be seen across Europe, varying from local through to regional and international. The emergence of “soft spaces”—regions in which strategy is made between or alongside formal institutions and processes—is one of the phenomena associated with contemporary spatial rescaling. These spaces are often overlapping and characterized by fuzzy geographical boundaries. The formation of soft spaces is often articulated in terms of breaking away from the rigidities associated with the practices and expectations of working within existing political or administrative boundaries but can also be viewed as providing a means of bypassing formal procedures and reducing democratic accountability. Focusing on European territorial cooperation and development strategies in the Baltic region, this paper discusses how they are contributing to spatial rescaling in soft spaces and how the strategies can be seen as a form of soft planning and as a means to promote soft security policy (which could be considered as a wider form of foreign policy).
Metastatic uterine leiomyomata. A case report

Pulmonary metastases from uterine leiomyomata are extremely rare and unpredictable, despite the high frequency of uterine leiomyoma. Review of the literature reveals seven previous examples of pulmonary metastasis from uterine leiomyomata; other cases may exist, but they were not considered because there was little evidence to distinguish them from leiomyosarcoma. The case we report is unusual in: 1) its prolonged course of 21 years, 2) its lack of pulmonary symptoms, despite extensive multiple nodules; and 3) the cystic change of the multiple lesions, which mimicked cystic lung disease.
cAMP-stimulated Protein Phosphatase 2A Activity Associated with Muscle A Kinase-anchoring Protein (mAKAP) Signaling Complexes Inhibits the Phosphorylation and Activity of the cAMP-specific Phosphodiesterase PDE4D3*

The concentration of the second messenger cAMP is tightly controlled in cells by the activity of phosphodiesterases. We have previously described how the protein kinase A-anchoring protein mAKAP serves as a scaffold for the cAMP-dependent protein kinase PKA and the cAMP-specific phosphodiesterase PDE4D3 in cardiac myocytes. PKA and PDE4D3 constitute a negative feedback loop whereby PKA-catalyzed phosphorylation and activation of PDE4D3 attenuate local cAMP levels. We now show that protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) associated with mAKAP complexes is responsible for reversing the activation of PDE4D3 by catalyzing the dephosphorylation of PDE4D3 serine residue 54. Mapping studies reveal that a C-terminal mAKAP domain (residues 2085–2319) binds PP2A. Binding to mAKAP is required for PP2A function, such that deletion of the C-terminal domain enhances both base-line and forskolin-stimulated PDE4D3 activity. Interestingly, PP2A holoenzyme associated with mAKAP complexes in the heart contains the PP2A targeting subunit B56δ. Like PDE4D3, B56δ is a PKA substrate, and PKA phosphorylation of mAKAP-bound B56δ enhances phosphatase activity 2-fold in the complex. Accordingly, expression of a B56δ mutant that cannot be phosphorylated by PKA results in increased PDE4D3 phosphorylation. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that PP2A associated with mAKAP complexes promotes PDE4D3 dephosphorylation, serving both to inhibit PDE4D3 in unstimulated cells and also to mediate a cAMP-induced positive feedback loop following adenylyl cyclase activation and B56δ phosphorylation. In general, PKA·PP2A·mAKAP complexes exemplify how protein kinases and phosphatases may participate in molecular signaling complexes to dynamically regulate localized intracellular signaling.
Influence for Sale : Evidence from the Italian Advertising Market ∗

What is the impact of conflict of interest, in the absence of precise rules? We consider the case of Italy, which does not require a prime minister to divest business holdings. Indeed, since 1994, Berlusconi has been three times prime minister while remaining in control of the major private television networks. Firms who want to curry favor may hence shifts their advertising from the public channels to the private ones, thus benefiting Berlusconi himself. We find evidence that such shift takes place when Berlusconi is in power, and significantly more so for more companies in more regulated industries. As predicted by the model, the effect induces both a higher price for ads in Berlusconi’s network when he is in power, as well as some evidence of a cross-sectional shift in companies spending. These findings highlight the possible distortions associated with conflict of interest in the absence of divesture rules. ∗We thank Daniel Diermeier, Oliver Latham, Maria Petrova, Michele Polo and Francesco Siliato for helpful comments and discussions. We also thank participants at the 2012 Nemmers Prize Conference, the 2012 Workshop on Media Economics (Bogotá) and the 2013 AEA conference, and seminar participants at Bocconi, Frankfurt, CSEF Naples for helpful discussion. Barbara Biasi, Elia Boe, Emanuele Colonnelli, Monica Consorti, Simone Lenzu, Anna Martinolli, Arianna Ornaghi and Edoardo Teso provided excellent research assistance. †University of California Berkeley and NBER ‡Sciences Po §Brown University and NBER ¶Bocconi University and IGIER
Social enterprise and social entrepreneurship: where have we reached?: A summary of issues and discussion points

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss social enterprises, social entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurs. The paper draws on published work to flag key issues and discussion points that affect the clarity of the understanding. It aims to provide some greater insight and help both scholars and practitioners in their respective quests for understanding and improvement. The paper could further help people clarify what needs to be covered on courses and degrees in this subject area.Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on the work of others and to this adds personal conclusions from both direct experience and observation. It attempts to deal with complex issues and tensions in a straightforward style and thus draw attention to key debates.Findings – The central argument is that if we see social enterprises, social entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurs bound together, operating with a common purpose and approach and pursuing the same ends, then we misunderstand this critically importa.
Does Government Ownership Affect the Cost of Debt? Evidence from Privatization

We explore whether government ownership affects the cost of debt using a sample of fully and partially privatized companies. On average across firms, a one-percentage-point decrease in government ownership is associated with an increase in the credit spread, used as a proxy for the cost of debt, by three-quarters of a basis point. However, fully privatized companies exhibit lower credit spreads than partially privatized firms, indicating the cost of a lengthy privatization process. Empirical evidence suggests that these findings result from decreasing government guarantees, firm performance improvements, ownership uncertainty, and bondholder-shareholder conflicts. The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Society for Financial Studies. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com. , Oxford University Press.
The immunoregulatory role of the macrophage.

Phagocytosis of opsonized antigen has been shown to be just the starting point for a sequence of biologic activities that encompasses virtually the full spectrum of immunologic reactivity. Included are antigen processing and presentation to the various lymphocyte populations and the release of soluble mediators that amplify the cellular and humoral limbs of the immune response.
Tobacco consumption and policy in the United Kingdom

In recent years, several structural changes and sequences of shocks have occurred in the market for tobacco in the UK, including an explosive growth in smuggling. This study examines whether it is still possible to estimate a reliable, plausible tobacco demand equation from time series data for the UK whilst allowing for all of the various shocks and structural changes. A second objective of this study is to use the estimated demand function to evaluate tobacco policy in the UK, including the scope for using tax increases to achieve reduced consumption and increased revenues. It is found that smuggling has diminished the revenue yield of higher rates of duty, but total consumption of tobacco has been reduced. In addition to the introduction of further measures to control smuggling, policy may need to place more emphasis in the future on health campaigns and smoking restrictions.
On the Properties of Regression Tests of Asset Return Predictability

This paper investigates, both in finite samples and asymptotically, statistical inference on predictive regressions where time series are generated by present value models of asset prices. We show that regression-based tests, including robust tests such as robust conditional test and Q-test, are inconsistent and thus suffer from lack of power in local-to-unity models for the regressor persistence. The main reason is that the near-integrated regressor from the present value model slows down the convergence rates of the estimates, an effect which is masked in predictive regressions analysis with exogenous constant covariance of innovations. We illustrate these properties in a simulation study and analyze the predictability of several stock returns series.
The Effect of Monetary Policy on Real Commodity Prices

Commodity prices are back. This paper looks at connections between monetary policy, and agricultural and mineral commodities. We begin with the monetary influences on commodity prices, first for a large country such as the United States, then smaller countries. The claim is that low real interest rates lead to high real commodity prices. The theory is an analogy with Dornbusch overshooting. The relationship between real interest rates and real commodity prices is also supported empirically. One channel through which this effect is accomplished is a negative effect of interest rates on the desire to carry commodity inventories. The paper concludes with a consideration of implications for monetary policy.
Are feral pigs (Sus scrofa) a pest to rainforest tourism?

Invasive alien species potentially pose a threat to the sustainability of ecotourism by degrading the quality of the environment on which the industry depends. However, little research has investigated such implications. In this paper, we offer a case study on the impacts of feral pigs (Sus scrofa), a major environmental pest in Australia, on rainforest-based ecotourism in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area (WTWHA) of North Queensland, Australia. Our study found that feral pigs seem to have negligible implications for tourists' rainforest experience owing to their lack of prior knowledge about the existence of these animals within the WTWHA and rare sighting and acknowledgement of the damage caused by them. Nonetheless, values that tourists ascribed to the WTWHA rainforest were negatively affected once they acknowledged the existence of feral pigs. We propose that effective provision of environmental education as part of ecotourism experience can result in the management of both sustainable ecotourism and the invasive species.
Macrophage matrix metalloproteinase-9 regulates angiogenesis in ischemic muscle.

Angiogenesis is the formation of new blood vessels from existing endothelial cell–lined vessels. It occurs during normal development, and in many pathological conditions including tumor growth, would healing, inflammation, ischemia, and atherosclerosis. The development of new vessels can occur by abluminal sprouting of endothelial cells to form new branches or by the longitudinal splitting of existing vessels in a process termed “intussusception. ” The activation phase of angiogenesis begins with increased vascular permeability leading to extravasation of fibrin, degradation of the endothelial cell basement membrane, and migration and proliferation of endothelial cells to form new vascular channels. The resolution phase of angiogenesis involves the cessation of endothelial cell proliferation and migration, synthesis of new basement membrane, junctional complex maturation, and recruitment and differentiation of pericytes or smooth muscle cells. It is increasingly recognized that the structure and composition of the extracellular matrix in the microenvironment surrounding the cells plays an important role regulating the process of angiogenesis. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a family of enzymes that have in common the ability to degrade many molecules of the extracellular matrix (>25 MMPs have been identified). MMP activity can be inhibited by endogenous tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs), and the net proteolytic activity within a tissue is a function of the balance of MMPs/TIMPs. Numerous studies have shown that various MMPs and TIMPs are expressed by endothelial cells during angiogenesis. Furthermore, experiments using broad-spectrum synthetic or natural inhibitors of the MMPs have shown that blocking MMPs can inhibit angiogenesis; however, the role of any given MMP remains uncertain, since these inhibitors target several …
Human resource management outsourcing: The make or buy decision

Executive Overview Just-in-time human resource (HR) management, sell and lease-back human resource programs, and do-it-yourself HR—all of these phrases characterize how companies manage outsourced HR functions. This article reports results of interviews conducted with senior HR executives and professionals in 25 organizations to identify outsourcing rationales and consequences. Companies were found to use HR outsourcing for both operational and strategic reasons. Based on these findings, we present guidelines for selecting vendors, managing the outsourcing transition, managing vendor relations, and monitoring vendor performance. HR outsourcing is not a fad, and it can enhance the HR value chain as well as support the development of HR as a business partner and strategic contributor to the organization's goals.
Cholera Epidemic in Haiti, 2010: Using a Transmission Model to Explain Spatial Spread of Disease and Identify Optimal Control Interventions

BACKGROUND Haiti is in the midst of a cholera epidemic. Surveillance data for formulating models of the epidemic are limited, but such models can aid understanding of epidemic processes and help define control strategies. OBJECTIVE To predict, by using a mathematical model, the sequence and timing of regional cholera epidemics in Haiti and explore the potential effects of disease-control strategies. DESIGN Compartmental mathematical model allowing person-to-person and waterborne transmission of cholera. Within- and between-region epidemic spread was modeled, with the latter dependent on population sizes and distance between regional centroids (a "gravity" model). SETTING Haiti, 2010 to 2011. DATA SOURCES Haitian hospitalization data, 2009 census data, literature-derived parameter values, and model calibration. MEASUREMENTS Dates of epidemic onset and hospitalizations. RESULTS The plausible range for cholera's basic reproductive number (R(0), defined as the number of secondary cases per primary case in a susceptible population without intervention) was 2.06 to 2.78. The order and timing of regional cholera outbreaks predicted by the gravity model were closely correlated with empirical observations. Analysis of changes in disease dynamics over time suggests that public health interventions have substantially affected this epidemic. A limited vaccine supply provided late in the epidemic was projected to have a modest effect. LIMITATIONS Assumptions were simplified, which was necessary for modeling. Projections are based on the initial dynamics of the epidemic, which may change. CONCLUSION Despite limited surveillance data from the cholera epidemic in Haiti, a model simulating between-region disease transmission according to population and distance closely reproduces reported disease patterns. This model is a tool that planners, policymakers, and medical personnel seeking to manage the epidemic could use immediately.
Trust, Contract and Economic Cooperation

After providing a brief overview of the standard economic analysis of incomplete contracts in terms of property rights, transaction costs and self-enforcing implicit contracts, the author shows why, in the orthodox view, trust is not a pertinent category to their negotiation or effectiveness. Drawing on various empirical studies which he has undertaken in the area of industrial relations, the author develops an alternative approach to the study of incomplete contracts in which the concept of trust is central. In this alternative vision, boundedly rational agents with limited foresight form provisional judgements about the trustworthiness of their trading partners based on the success of their past encounters. A consequence of this alternative understanding of incomplete contracts is that there is no guarantee that cooperation will succeed, even when the circumstances appear to promise mutual gain. The author argues, however, that by establishing an appropriate set of procedural rules to guide their response to the unanticipated, agents can promote the kinds of mutual learning that contribute to the build-up of trust and that increase the likelihood of successful cooperation. Copyright 1999 by Oxford University Press.
Poverty Dynamics in Turkey

type="main"> This paper examines poverty dynamics in Turkey using a nationally representative panel data covering the 2005–08 period. The aim is to understand mobility in and out of poverty and its correlates. We find that almost a quarter of the poor are persistently poor. The conditional and unconditional exit rates that we estimate are within the range of values reported for developed countries in the literature. That the income events—but not transfers—dominate both poverty entries and exits is indicative of the major role labor markets play in the lives of the poor. In particular, we argue that given the characteristics of the poor and modest levels of social assistance, the reason for mobility rates close to European averages must be sought in the informal economy.
A Community-Partnered Approach to Inform a Culturally Relevant Health Promotion Intervention for Stroke

Background. The purpose of this study was to generate information from multiethnic, high-risk communities to inform the creation of culturally relevant health promotion intervention for increasing early hospital arrival after stroke. Methods. The study employed a qualitative design, using focus groups with African American, Caucasian, and Hispanic adults in two Chicago community areas. The study relied heavily on stakeholder input in creating the focus group guide, recruiting participants, and interpreting the analysis. Results. Six focus groups gained information from 51 participants, including insights and perspective on participants’ stroke experience and knowledge as well as on facilitators and barriers to calling 9-1-1. Qualitative analysis uncovered themes relating to risk factors, symptoms, knowledge of stroke mechanisms, experience of acute stroke, help seeking, stroke education, recovery, treatment, and emotions. Communities were closely aligned in their knowledge of stroke, but had differing ideas around stroke education and dissemination of education. Discussion. This study identified nuances in real-world barriers to receiving acute stroke services in minority and disadvantaged communities in Chicago neighborhoods. Our findings indicated significant amount of variation by race/ethnicity and, in particular, a lack of similarities based on race/ethnic groups in different communities. These findings underscore the importance of working with communities to fully understand the community-level dynamics that occur.
4D quick Diff-Tomo analyses of short-term decorrelation of distributed scatterers

In the framework of developments of 3D forest Tomography, the issue of extensive and detailed characterizations of temporal decorrelation phenomena has recently emerged, especially for the future spaceborne missions. In particular, height-varying (stratified) behaviour of long-term temporal decorrelation mechanisms has been analyzed by advanced 4D (3D+Time) Differential SAR Tomography processing applied to airborne data, and dedicated radar-tower campaigns have been conducted or are running. In this work, new Differential Tomography analyses exploiting a very quick acquisition ground-based miniradar are presented, aiming to open investigation of both height- and time-varying characteristics of the short-term decorrelation processes of the complex moving and non-stationary (dynamic) volumetric scatterers of windblown forests. This innovative characterization methodology and the first reported findings can be useful especially for the development of advanced spaceborne Tomography systems based on formation-flying and 3D correlative track-pair only processing.