Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exchange rate policies, patterns of specialization and economic development: theory and evidence in developing countries

The objectives of this paper are twofold. First, it intends to provide theoretical elements to analyze the relation between real exchange rates and economic development. Our main hypothesis is very much in line with the Dutch disease literature, and states that competitive currencies contribute to the existence and maintenance of the anufacturing sector in the economy. This, in turn, brings about higher growth rates in the long run, given the existence of increasing returns in the industrial sector, and its importance in generating echnological change and increasing productivity in the overall economy. The second objective of this paper is empirical. It intends to analyze examples of successful exchange rate policies, such as Chile and Indonesia in the eighties, as a benchmark for comparison with countries where currency overvaluation has taken place, such as Brazil. In the latter case, the local currency is being inflated by large capital inflows, due to high domestic interest rates and to a boom in demand and prices of commodities in the international markets. It will be argued that the industrial sector bears most of the burden when the currency appreciates, and that Brazil risks at deindustrialization if there are no changes in the exchange rate regime
Long-Acting Bronchodilator Therapy for the Treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Objective: To review clinical data on the use of long-acting bronchodilator agents as monotherapy and in combination for the treatment of moderate-to-severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Data Sources: A literature search was performed via MEDLINE (1966–April 2008). In addition, references from publications identified were reviewed. These searches were limited to human data published in the English language. Searches used the following terms: COPD, long-acting β2-agonisls, long-acting anticholinergics, combination therapy, pharmacoeconomics, safety, tiotropium, salmeterol, and formoterol. Study Selection and Data Extraction: Relevant information on the pharmacology, safety, efficacy, pharmacoeconomics, adherence, and available agents used in the treatment of COPD was selected. Randomized clinical trials and retrospective reviews were included. Data Synthesis: The Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease guidelines provide general management recommendations to guide providers regarding treatment choices for COPD; however, they lack clarity regarding which long-acting bronchodilator to use and when combining agents becomes appropriate. Prospective trials evaluating short-acting anticholinergics and long-acting β2-agonists have utilized spirometric endpoints that relate most to short-term symptomatic relief. Tiotropium trials have focused more on patient-oriented outcomes, with data being reported for one year. Tiotropium significantly lowers exacerbation rates and improves health resource usage as well as health-related quality of life. Tiotropium also provides superior bronchodilation and improvement in dyspnea at all timo points, although onset of bronchodilation is slower than with long-acting β2-agonists. Combining these agents has been shown to decrease daytime rescue inhaler use, improve morning and evening peak expiratory flow rates, and improve bronchodilator efficacy compared with monotherapy. Pharmacoeconomic data lend support to the recommendation of tiotropium as a first-line long-acting agent. Conclusions: Tiotropium appears to be the best option as a first-line drug for patients with moderate-to-severe COPD because of its ability to sustain bronchodilator effect, improve quality of life, reduce COPD exacerbations, and reduce health resource usage. Patients who remain symptomatic may benefit from the addition of a long-acting β2-agonist to tiotropium monotherapy.
R&D spillovers and strategic delegation in oligopolistic contests

Considering oligopolistic contests with R&D spillovers and strategic delegation three results can be obtained: (1) There exist multiple asymmetric equilibria where one owner highly favors sales as a basis for his manager's incentives which drives the other firm out of the market. (2) If R&D spillovers are zero, a managerial firm will have a strong strategic advantage when competing with an entrepreneurial firm. If both owners endogenously decide about delegation, each owner's dominant strategy will be to delegate, given that the manager's reservation value is not too large. (3) If R&D spillovers are maximal, collusive market outcomes become very likely, which makes strategic delegation less important. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
How Fast Has Chinese Industry Grown?—Measuring The Real Output Of Chinese Industry, 1949–97

The motivation of this study is to test the widely accepted but never tested hypothesis that Chinese official statistics on growth rates may contain serious upward biases. By adopting a Laspeyres quantity index approach to the recently available official physical output data at commodity level, we have constructed an independent output index for Chinese industry, and produced a unique data set for the value added of 17 major industrial branches at 1987 prices for the period 1949–97. This study has, for the first time, systematically tested this hypothesis with supportive results. It implies that any growth accounting study using the official growth rates may have exaggerated the productivity performance of Chinese industry.
Nurse Managers' prerequisite for nursing development: a survey on pressure ulcers and contextual factors in hospital organizations.

AIM To describe and compare pressure ulcer prevalence in two county councils and concurrently explore Nurse Managers' perspective of contextual factors in a hospital organization. BACKGROUND Despite good knowledge about risk factors and prevention of pressure ulcers, the prevalence of pressure ulcers remains high. Nurse Managers' have a key role in implementing evidence-based practice. METHODS The present study included five hospitals in two Swedish county councils: county council A (non-university setting) and county council B (university setting). A pressure ulcer prevalence study was conducted according to the methodology developed by the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel. The Nurse Managers' answered a (27-item) questionnaire on contextual factors. RESULTS County council B had significantly less pressure ulcers grade (2-4) (7.7%) than county council A (11.3%). The Nurse Managers' assessed only two out of the 27 general contextual items significantly differently. Some significant differences were observed in ward organization. CONCLUSIONS In county council B, the Nurse Managers' seemed more aware of prevention strategies compared with Nurse Managers' in county council A. The Nurse Managers' should take more responsibility to develop the prerequisite for quality improvement in nursing. IMPLICATION FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT Nursing outcomes (e.g. pressure ulcers) should be incorporated into national quality registries for benchmarking and Nurse Managers' competence in evidence-based practice and research methodology increased.
Preclinical Studies of Pf-04849285, An Interferon-α8 Fusion Protein for the Treatment of HCV

Background This study presents preclinical data of a novel interferon (IFN)-α8 fusion protein, PF-04849285, and compares it with IFN-α2 and pegylated IFN-α2; the latter being the current standard of care for HCV. Methods The antiviral properties were evaluated in vitro using the HCV replication assay (replicon) and the general encephalomyocarditis virus assay. The binding affinity to both IFNR-subunits was assessed using surface plasmon resonance. Ex vivo experiments using cynomolgus monkey and human blood were used for the evaluation of induction of IFN-inducible biomarkers (interferon inducible protein 10 [IP-10], 2′-5′-oligoadenylate synthetase [OAS2] and interleukin-6 [IL-6]). The molecule was tested intravenously and subcutaneously in cynomolgus monkey in a single dose study for two weeks at 0.01, 1, 5 and 20 mg/kg. Each route and dose combination was given to a single male animal, blood samples were collected for evaluation of biomarkers and pharmacokinetics. The compound was also tested in cynomolgus monkey in a multiple dose study for four weeks, with a twice-a-week dosing prior to a three-week wash-out period for toxicokinetics, pharmacokinetics, and biomarker evaluation at 20, 50 or 100 mg/kg subcutaneously and 20 mg/kg intravenously. Results The molecule is 10x more potent than the pegylated IFN-α2a, with potency similar to the unmodified IFN-α2a. No unanticipated findings were observed in cynomolgus monkey when dosed up to 20 mg/kg, >10,000-fold margin over the anticipated efficacious human dose. Conclusions The biomarker and toxicological findings were consistent with a potent IFN molecule. The potency and pharmacokinetic properties of the molecule are consistent with dosing at least twice daily with the potential for monthly dosing.
Estimating dynamic causal effects with unobserved confounders: a latent class version of the inverse probability weighted estimator

We consider estimation of the causal effect of a sequential binary treatment (typically corresponding to a policy or a subsidy in the economic context) on a final outcome, when the treatment assignment at a given occasion depends on the sequence of previous assignments as well as on time-varying confounders. In this case, a popular modeling strategy is represented by Marginal Structural Models; within this approach, the causal effect of the treatment is estimated by the Inverse Probability Weighting (IPW) estimator, which is consistent provided that all the confounders are observed (sequential ignorability). To alleviate this serious limitation, we propose a new estimator, called Latent Class Inverse Probability Weighting (LC-IPW), which is based on two steps: first, a finite mixture model is fitted in order to compute latent-class-specific weights; then, these weights are used to fit the Marginal Structural Model of interest. A simulation study shows that the LC-IPW estimator outperforms the IPW estimator for all the considered configurations, even in cases of no unobserved confounding. The proposed approach is applied to the estimation of the causal effect of wage subsidies on employment, using a dataset of Finnish firms observed for eight years. The LC-IPW estimate confirms the existence of a positive effect, but its magnitude is nearly halved with respect to the IPW estimate, pointing out the substantial role of unobserved confounding in this setting.
Inter-Industry Technology Flows and Productivity Growth

An unusually rich data set was tapped to explore the relationship between research and development (R and D) and productivity growth. The most-important finding is that, with disaggregated data, the wrong lag hypothesis is not supported: there is no clear indication that the productivity slump of the 1970s resulted from a decrease in the marginal productivity of R and D. Also important is the evidence of substantial returns to used R and D, i.e., from internal-process work and the purchase of R and D-embodying products, but not (at least in industries with productivity indices based upon physical output or comprehensive price deflators) to the performance of product R and D. Given the fact that three-fourths of all industrial R and D is product-oriented, studies that fail to distinguish between the origination and use of R and D may suffer from appreciable specification errors. Further research using improved R and D and (especially) productivity data is plainly needed, among other things, to clarify the mystery of why estimated R and D-productivity relationships differ for productivity-data subsets of varying quality. 15 references, 3 tables.
Does Regulation Drive Out Competition in Pharmaceutical Markets?*

Most countries regulate pharmaceutical prices, either directly or indirectly, on the assumption that competition is at best weak in this industry. This paper tests the hypothesis that regulation of manufacturer prices and retail pharmacy margins undermines price competition. We use data from seven countries for 1992 to examine price competition between generic competitors (different manufacturers of the same compound) and therapeutic substitutes (similar compounds) under different regulatory regimes. We find that price competition between generic competitors is significant in unregulated or less regulated markets (United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Germany) but that regulation undermines generic competition in strict regulatory systems (France, Italy, and Japan). Regulation of retail pharmacy further constrains competition in France, Germany, and Italy. Regulation thus undermines the potential for significant savings on off‐patent drugs, which account for a large and growing share of drug expenditures. Evidence of competition between therapeutic substitutes is less conclusive owing to data limitations.
Hierarchical sparse learning for load forecasting in cyber-physical energy systems

Cyber-physical energy systems, which emerges as the approach for integrating physical layers and control networks, have drawn extensively attention in recent years. Electric load forecasting is believed to be an important issue in CPES for its applications in prices determination and automatic generation control. Conventional deterministic load forecast method have drawbacks to providing information about the probability distribution of the prediction results, which are important for stochastic decision in power systems. This paper explores a hierarchical probabilistic approach for short-term load forecast, which combines sparse Bayesian learning with empirical mode decomposition, in order to obtain a componential forecasting results, as well as the forecasting uncertainty. Mahalanobis distance based similar day weighting is introduced to prune the training data. The numerical testing results illustrate that the proposed approach exhibits better performance in comparison with original SBL model and weighted SBL without componential analysis.
The Role of Insect-Derived Cues in Eliciting Indirect Plant Defenses in Tobacco, Nicotiana tabacum

In response to insect feeding, plants release complex volatile blends that are important host-location cues for natural enemies of herbivores. These induced volatile responses are mediated by insect-derived cues and differ significantly from responses to mechanical wounding. To improve understanding of the cues that elicit plant volatile responses, we explored the effects of Heliothis virescens saliva on volatile induction in tobacco, Nicotiana tabacum, using an ablation technique that prevents the release of saliva from the labial glands during feeding. Plants damaged by intact caterpillars released 11 volatile compounds. Ablated caterpillars induced these same 11 compounds plus an additional eight. Of the 11 shared compounds, plants damaged by ablated caterpillars released greater quantities of six, most notably volatile nicotine, compared to plants damaged by intact caterpillars. We further investigated the effects of H. virescens oral secretions on volatile induction through the collection and application of caterpillar regurgitant and saliva to mechanically wounded plants. Plants treated with H. virescens regurgitant released significantly more volatile nicotine than plants treated with saliva or those damaged by intact caterpillars. Additionally, application of a mixture of saliva and regurgitant induced less volatile nicotine compared to treatment with regurgitant alone. Our results suggest that saliva has an inhibitory effect on plant volatile responses to H. virescens feeding and that insect-derived cues originating from both regurgitant and saliva may interact to elicit the volatile “signature” of H. virescens.
Toward an Antiphony Framework for Dividing Tasks Into Subtasks

Summary: Task analysis is a staple of ergonomics, neuroergonomics, human factors, and experimental psychology inquiry, and often benefits from granularity beyond the task level to the subtask level. The concept and challenge of identifying the subcomponents of tasks are neither new, nor solved. Practitioners routinely identify individually internally consistent and yet conflicting subdivisions. The challenge of producing reliable, valid subtask data across efforts recommends a unified framework for identifying consistent subtask divisions within tasks. A framework is here forwarded, based upon universal “antiphony” turn-taking behavior in human-human interaction, but adapted to address the highly scripted vocabulary of human-machine interaction. Practical application to a real-world vehicle interface is demonstrated, an example discussed in the light of research design, applied use, and future improvement.
A `Reserve Army of Delinquents'

This article explores the role of `irregular' immigrants in the political economy of Spain, their related criminalization and the forms of punishment that attach to their illegal status. Based on secondary data, government documents and field research, I argue that Spanish immigration laws primarily focus on defining levels of social and economic inclusion/exclusion, and that they have the consequence of marginalizing immigrants and consigning them to the extensive underground economy, as a kind of economic sanction for their illegal status. Finally, it is this punishment and the economic marginalization it helps constitute that shore up the `flexibility' that immigrants provide the post-Fordist economy and for which they are reluctantly tolerated.
[Effects of chronic intermittent hypobaric hypoxia on immune function in rat].

AIM To elucidate the effect of CIHH on cellular immunity and humoral immunity in rat by using flow cytometry method, immunohistochemistry method and electron microscopy techniques. METHODS Forty-eight male adult Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: control(CON) group, 14 days CIHH (CIHH14) group, 28 days CIHH (CIHH28) group, 42 days CIHH (CIHH42) group. The animals in CIHH groups were exposed to 14, 28 and 42 days hypobaric hypoxia(simulated 3 000 m altitude, 5 h per day), respectively. Half of the animals in each group was treated with normaxia and the other half animals were treated with acute hypoxia for 1 h. CD3, CD4, CD8 T lymphocytes, natural killer (NK) cells, IgG, cortisol, epirenamine and C-reactive protein were examined. The weight and ultrastructure of thymus and spleen were observed. RESULTS (1) Compared with CON, both indexes of thymus and spleen in CIHH14 rats were increased significantly. Spleen index, but not thymus index, was increased in CIHH28 and CIHH42 rats. The thymocytes and spleen cytes in rat were injuryed during acute hypoxia, but the damage in CIHH rats was significant slighter than that in CON rats. (2) Compared with CON, CIHH28 and CIHH42, CD8 in CIHH14 rats were decreased, ratios of CD4/CD8 was increased and NK was decreased. (3) The rats of CON during acute hypoxia showed that CD4 was increased, CD8 was decreased, ratio of CD4/CD8 was elevated, and NK was increased. But there were no significant changes of CD3, CD4, CD8 and NK in CIHH28 and CIHH42 animals during acute hypoxia. (4) Compared with CON, CIHH28 and CIHH42, cortisol in CIHH14 rats was increased obviously, Epirenamine, cortisol and C-reactive protein in CON rats were increased, but there were no obvious changes in CIHH rats before and after acute hypoxia. CONCLUSION CIHH protects the immune function of rat against acute hypoxia, which is related with the regulation of neuroendocrine.
[Influence of gender on stimulated cytokine response in patients with severe sepsis].

AIM Studies suggest that female mice have lower mortality rates than males after sepsis or trauma-hemorrhage. This study investigated the impact of gender and disease severity on monocyte hyporesponsiveness in severe human sepsis. METHODS We prospectively investigated 49 (male n=28, female n=21) consecutive patients with severe sepsis. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) were assayed by ELISA in unstimulated whole blood cultures or after stimulation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS; E. coli 0111:B4) or Staph. aureus Cowan strain I (SAC-I) lysate at days 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8 after enrollment. Testosterone and estradiol levels were quantified by electrochemoluminescence immunoassays. RESULTS Mortality was similar for males (35.7%) and females (42.9%). While disease severity was also comparable, septic patients showed a substantial suppression in stimulated TNF-alpha response compared to healthy controls who recovered within 8 days in surviving patients. Stimulated cytokine response recovered in female non-surviving patients, while it remained suppressed in non-surviving male patients and was significantly different compared to female non-surviving patients. Testosterone levels were substantially suppressed in male but not female septic patients compared to normal values but did not differ between surviving and non-surviving patients. Estradiol levels were elevated in female and male septic patients. Addition of different concentrations of testosterone and estradiol to whole blood obtained from younger (<35 years old) and older (>60 years old) male as well as from younger (proestrous premenopausal) and older (postmenopausal) female non-septic volunteers revealed no effect on LPS-stimulated TNF-alpha and IL-10 release. CONCLUSION Severe sepsis leads to a substantial suppression of stimulated cytokine response. Prolonged suppression may serve as a marker of unfavourable outcome in male but not in female individuals suffering from severe sepsis. Furthermore, our data suggest that gender differences in cellular immunity described for young, sexually mature animals obviously persist in typical postmenopausal intensive care unit patients, although a direct interaction between testosterone or estradiol and LPS-stimulated cytokine response could not be demonstrated.
Management by Results: Its Origin and Development in the Case of the Swedish State

ABSTRACT The paper discusses the origin and development of management by results in Swedish state administration. The historical presence and stability of this political institution is analyzed. It is argued that it can be traced to program budgeting, which was introduced in the early 1960s, and that the institution has been marked by a high degree of stability. An attempt is made to explain the constancy of the steering model. The question is brought to the fore by the fact that the learning process has failed in several respects. The course of events is explained from a historical-institutional perspective and different theories of bureaucratic power. It is asserted that different initial decisions made in connection to the introduction of program budgeting created different positive feedbacks, which were to have stabilizing effects on the institution.
Interpreting the Cyclical Behavior of Prices

This paper argues that determining the cyclical behavior of prices by applying the same stationarity-inducing transformation to the levels of both output and prices, and examining the correlations of the resulting series, can be misleading. A more appropriate procedure is to examine the correlations between the rate of inflation and the level of the cyclical component of output. In postwar U.S. data, the correlations between similarly transformed price and output data are consistently and often strongly negative. The rate of inflation, however, is consistently and usually strongly positively correlated with various measures of the cyclical component of output.
Consumer Price Adjustment Under the Microscope: Germany in a Period of Low Inflation

We analyse the adjustment of retail and services prices in a period of low inflation, using a set of individual price data from the German Consumer Price Index which covers the years 1998 to 2003. We strong find evidence of time- and state-dependent price adjustment. Most importantly, the differences in ? unconditional? sectoral price flexibility are found to be linked to input price volatility.