Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Value of having a cytopathologist present during percutaneous fine-needle aspiration biopsy of lung: report of 55 cancer patients and metaanalysis of the literature.

OBJECTIVE Percutaneous fine-needle aspiration biopsy is an accepted procedure for diagnosing intrathoracic malignant disease. The value of having a cytopathologist present during the procedure was studied with respect to the number of needle passes, the accuracy of the procedure, and complications. A metaanalysis was performed on the combined results of the present and previous series. SUBJECTS AND METHODS We analyzed data from 55 adult patients who underwent percutaneous CT-guided fine-needle (22-gauge) aspiration biopsy of the lung for a lesion that either the biopsy or another subsequent invasive procedure showed to be nonlymphomatous and malignant. A cytopathologist was present for the first 25 procedures and not present for the next 30 procedures. When present, the cytopathologist stained the aspirated material with toluidine blue and gave an immediate opinion on the diagnostic adequacy of the specimen based on microscopic evaluation. If appropriate, the radiologist obtained additional biopsy specimens. When a cytopathologist was not present, the radiologist assessed the adequacy of the specimen by gross examination. A metaanalysis was performed of 211 cases from the present study and two previous series with respect to the effect of the presence of a cytopathologist on the diagnostic accuracy of the procedure. RESULTS Biopsy specimens showed cancer in 25 (100%) of 25 patients when obtained while the cytopathologist was present, and in 24 (80%) of 30 patients when obtained while the cytopathologist was absent (p < .05, Fisher exact test). No significant differences in the number of needle passes performed or in the frequency of pneumothorax when aerated lung was traversed were noted between the two groups. Although two previous studies showed nonsignificant trends toward increased accuracy of thoracic fine-needle aspiration when a cytopathologist participated in the procedure, metaanalysis revealed significantly increased accuracy when a cytopathologist was present (p < .02, Mantel-Haenszel chi 2-test). CONCLUSION An accurate diagnosis from fine-needle aspiration biopsy of intrathoracic cancer was more likely when a cytopathologist was present than when not present during the procedure.
Technological Collaboration in the Korean Electronic Parts Industry: Patterns and Key Success Factors

This study empirically examines different patterns of collaborative technological development projects and the key success factors (KSFs), using data from 82 projects in the Korean electronic parts industry. The patterns of technological collaboration were categorized into 4 types by two contingency variables: development motive (technology-push or market-pull) and source of initiation (focal firm- or partner-initiated). The bivariate relationships revealed that project characteristics (technological complexity, demand certainty, and financial support of the government), partner characteristics (the level of trust with partners), and collaborative management practices (commitment of the focal firm, and information sharing in the collaboration process) appear to be different depending on the two contingency variables. Each type of collaborative R&D project also had different KSFs. While diverse characteristics like strategic importance, goal compatibility and information sharing with partners are critical for the success of technology-push projects, just only specificity of collaboration process and outcome appears important to the success of demand-pull projects. For focal firm-initiated projects, project characteristics are KSFs, whilst partner characteristics and collaboration management practice are found to be more critical for the success of partner-initiated projects. The findings suggest that the different contingencies such as development motive and source of initiation bring about different patterns of collaborative technology development projects, which in turn lead to a different set of KSFs, since different information, roles of partners and the focal firms, and collaboration management practices are needed to successfully implement the different types of projects. Based on empirical results, this study discusses managerial, policy, and theoretical implications for the collaborative R&D activities taking place in the Korean electronic parts industry.
IMPACT OF OIL PRICES ON THE DOMESTIC CURRENCY IN A SMALL INDUSTRIAL ECONOMY WITHOUT OIL RESOURCES

This study aims at investigating the link between international oil prices and the exchange rate in case of a small open industrial economy without oil resources such as Poland. The results of Granger-causality test show that the null hypotheses of Zloty-US dollar exchange rate does not granger cause rejection of Oil Price is not rejected while there exists reverse causality in 3 and 4 year lags at 5% and 10% levels. Therefore, we conclude that increases in oil prices have had a positive impact on the exchange rates over the period between 1982:12 and 2006:05.
Sustaining China's Economic Growth: After the Global Financial Crisis

The global financial crisis and ensuing economic downturn has raised many questions concerning the future of global economic growth. Prior to the financial crisis, global growth was characterized by growing imbalances, reflected primarily in large trade surpluses in China, Japan, Germany, and the oil exporting countries and rapidly growing deficits, primarily in the United States. The global crisis raises the question of whether the previous growth model of low consumption, high saving countries such as China is obsolete. Although a strong and rapid policy response beginning in the early fall of 2008 made China the first globally significant economy to come off the bottom and begin to grow more rapidly, critics charged that China's recovery was based on the old growth model, relying primarily on burgeoning investment in the short run and the expectation of a revival of expanding net exports once global recovery gained traction. Critics, however, argued that as government-financed investment inevitably tapered off, the likelihood was that global recovery would not be sufficiently strong for China's exports to resume their former role as a major contributor to China's economic expansion. The prospect, in the eyes of these critics, is that China's growth will inevitably falter. This study examines China's response to the global crisis, the prospects for altering the model of economic growth that dominated the first decade of this century, and the implications for the United States and the global economy of successful Chinese rebalancing. On the first it analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of China's stimulus program. On the second it analyzes the nature of origins of the imbalances in China's economy and the array of policy options that the government has to transition to more consumption-driven growth. On the third successful rebalancing would mean that more rapid growth of consumption would offset the drag on growth from a shrinkage of China's external surplus. Successful rebalancing would mean China would no longer be a source of financing for any ongoing US external deficit. From a global perspective China would no longer be a source of the global economic imbalances that contributed to the recent global financial crisis and great recession.
The Collapse of Global Trade What a tangled web we weave

A unique feature of the financial crisis is the unprecedented collapse in global world trade. The objective of this paper is to explain some of that collapse as a move toward protectionism triggered not by nationalistic interests but by ‘competing’ objectives among trading partners from the Mundell-Fleming Trilemma. Even with the best of intentions, efforts toward internal re-balancing necessarily implies harming your trading partner unintentionally if they should be using conflicting policy objectives of the Trilemma. National interests are at odds between two such countries and their policy prescriptions counteract, and paralyze re balancing and coordination efforts between nations. Policymakers may be forced into protectionists’ stances in an effort to counteract the internal re-balancing efforts of their neighbors.
The Political Economy of Pollution Taxes in a Small Open Economy

Abstract This paper develops a positive theory explaining pollution tax policy outcomes in a small open economy. The equilibrium tax rate depends on lobby group membership, the relative importance of lobbying activities, and the tax elasticity of pollution. The equilibrium properties are investigated. The model is extended to incorporate pollution abatement and a pollution abatement subsidy. We show that total pollution may be increasing in the pollution abatement subsidy rate. This effect arises because the equilibrium pollution tax rate may be decreasing in the subsidy rate due to altered political influence of the lobby groups in the political equilibrium.
Interventions for treating collagenous colitis.

BACKGROUND Collagenous colitis is a disorder that is recognized as a cause of chronic diarrhea. Treatment has been based mainly on anecdotal evidence. This review was performed to identify therapies for collagenous colitis that have been proven in randomized trials. OBJECTIVES To determine effective treatments for patients with clinically active collagenous colitis. SEARCH STRATEGY Relevant papers published between 1970 and January 2002 were identified via the MEDLINE, PUBMED, and EMBASE databases. Manual searches from the references of identified papers, as well as review papers on collagenous or microscopic colitis were performed to identify additional studies. Abstracts from major gastroenterological meetings were searched to identify research submitted in abstract form only. Finally, the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register and the Cochrane Inflammatory Bowel Disease Group Specialized Trials Register were searched for other studies. SELECTION CRITERIA Four randomized trials were identified. One trial studied bismuth subsalicylate (published in abstract form only), and 3 trials (2 published in abstract form only) studied budesonide in the therapy of collagenous colitis. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Data were extracted independently by each author onto 2x2 tables (treatment versus placebo and response versus no response). For therapies assessed in one trial only, p-values were derived using the chi-square test. For therapies assessed in more than one trial, summary test statistics were derived using the Peto odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals. Data were combined for analysis only if the outcomes were sufficiently similar in definition. MAIN RESULTS There were 9 patients with collagenous colitis in the trial studying bismuth subsalicylate (nine 262 mg tablets daily for 8 weeks). Those randomized to active drug were more likely to have clinical (p=0.003) and histological (p=0.003) improvement than those assigned to placebo. A total of 86 patients were enrolled in 3 trials studying budesonide (9 mg daily for 6 to 8 weeks). The pooled odds ratio for clinical response to treatment with budesonide was 16.79 (95% CI 7.28-38.74), with a number needed to treat of 2 patients. There was significant histological improvement with treatment in all 3 trials studying budesonide therapy. REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS Budesonide is effective in the treatment of collagenous colitis. The evidence for bismuth subsalicylate is weaker, but still important. The roles of these and other therapies in inducing or maintaining remission (as opposed to clinical or histological improvement) of collagenous colitis are unknown.
Comportamiento cíclico de la política fiscal en Argentina: ¿Década ganada o década perdida?

Se analiza el gasto del sector público nacional y sus componentes en relación al ciclo económico de Argentina, con series mensuales desde 1993. Se diferencia el análisis cíclico en dos décadas: 1993-2002 y 2003 en adelante, para detectar si hubo una mejora en el comportamiento cíclico de la política fiscal en Argentina, como evidenciaron algunos autores para otros países emergentes. Puede observarse una menor prociclicidad del gasto total a partir de 2003, pero no se detecta un gran avance de Argentina para liberarse de la prociclicidad de la política fiscal. Se destaca el rol del gasto de capital, que puede haber constituido una herramienta anticíclica en la última década. Se advierte un significativo crecimiento del tamaño del Estado, lo que merece una discusión aparte.
The Economics of Block Booking

BLOCK booking involves "the practice of licensing, or offering for license, one feature or group of features on the condition that the exhibitor will also license another feature or group of features released by distributors during a given period. "' This contractual arrangement, common in the American motion picture industry from as early as 1916,2 was declared illegal in two Supreme Court decisions, Paramount Pictures,3 where blocks of films were rented for theatrical exhibition, and Loew's,4 where blocks of films were rented for television exhibition. The primary legal objection to block booking is that the practice "extends monopoly power. " In Paramount the Supreme Court stated that block booking "adds to the monopoly of a single copyrighted picture that of another copyrighted picture. "5 Similarly, in Loew's, the Court asserted that a distributor cannot use the market power granted by the copyright in a "desirable" film to force exhibitors to license a second "undesirable" film, stating that "the antitrust laws do not permit a compounding of
Protective Immunity in Mice Achieved with Dry Powder Formulation and Alternative Delivery of Plague F1-V Vaccine

ABSTRACT The potential use of Yersinia pestis as a bioterror agent is a great concern. Development of a stable powder vaccine against Y. pestis and administration of the vaccine by minimally invasive methods could provide an alternative to the traditional liquid formulation and intramuscular injection. We evaluated a spray-freeze-dried powder vaccine containing a recombinant F1-V fusion protein of Y. pestis for vaccination against plaque in a mouse model. Mice were immunized with reconstituted spray-freeze-dried F1-V powder via intramuscular injection, microneedle-based intradermal delivery, or noninvasive intranasal administration. By intramuscular injection, the reconstituted powder induced serum antibody responses and provided protection against lethal subcutaneous challenge with 1,000 50% lethal doses of Y. pestis at levels equivalent to those elicited by unprocessed liquid formulations (70 to 90% protection). The feasibility of intradermal and intranasal delivery of reconstituted powder F1-V vaccine was also demonstrated. Overall, microneedle-based intradermal delivery was shown to be similar in efficacy to intramuscular injection, while intranasal administration required an extra dose of vaccine to achieve similar protection. In addition, the results suggest that seroconversion against F1 may be a better predictor of protection against Y. pestis challenge than seroconversion against either F1-V or V. In summary, we demonstrate the preclinical feasibility of using a reconstituted powder F1-V formulation and microneedle-based intradermal delivery to provide protective immunity against plague in a mouse model. Intranasal delivery, while feasible, was less effective than injection in this study. The potential use of these alternative delivery methods and a powder vaccine formulation may result in substantial health and economic benefits.
FPGA-based Implementation of Signal Processing Systems

Field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are an increasingly popular technology for implementing digital signal processing (DSP) systems. By allowing designers to create circuit architectures developed for the specific applications, high levels of performance can be achieved for many DSP applications providing considerable improvements over conventional microprocessor and dedicated DSP processor solutions. The book addresses the key issue in this process specifically, the methods and tools needed for the design, optimization and implementation of DSP systems in programmable FPGA hardware. It presents a review of the leading-edge techniques in this field, analyzing advanced DSP-based design flows for both signal flow graph- (SFG-) based and dataflow-based implementation, system on chip (SoC) aspects, and future trends and challenges for FPGAs. The automation of the techniques for component architectural synthesis, computational models, and the reduction of energy consumption to help improve FPGA performance, are given in detail. Written from a system level design perspective and with a DSP focus, the authors present many practical application examples of complex DSP implementation, involving: high-performance computing e.g. matrix operations such as matrix multiplication; high-speed filtering including finite impulse response (FIR) filters and wave digital filters (WDFs); adaptive filtering e.g. recursive least squares (RLS) filtering; transforms such as the fast Fourier transform (FFT). FPGA-based Implementation of Signal Processing Systems is an important reference for practising engineers and researchers working on the design and development of DSP systems for radio, telecommunication, information, audio-visual and security applications. Senior level electrical and computer engineering graduates taking courses in signal processing or digital signal processing shall also find this volume of interest.
Regulatory Trading Restrictions, Overvaluation, and Insider Selling

In 2008, trading restrictions prohibited short selling in nearly 800 U.S. financial stocks with a market value of $1.5 trillion. These measures were quickly adopted abroad and were still being implemented as recently as August 2011. Despite the massive scope, global reach, and continued use of restrictions, outcomes are not well documented or fully understood.This article examines the trading ban and documents four important findings: (1) Trading restrictions stabilized falling prices for most (75%), but not all securities. (2) Price stabilization due solely to TARP is ruled out. (3) Cross-sectional return differences provide further evidence on the relationship between institutional ownership and short sale constraints. Firms with low institutional ownership, low short interest, small market cap, and those traded on the Nasdaq were least affected by the ban. (4) Sharp declines (-40%) in short interest contributed to less informative prices. Overall, results indicate trading restrictions stabilized price but were less effective for securities previously constrained by other factors.Further, benefits from price stabilizing activities were offset by less informative prices.
A comparative study of local perceptions of ecotourism and conservation at Five Blues Lake National Park, Belize

Understanding factors that strengthen community support for ecotourism and conservation is key to a successful ecotourism project. This study of Five Blues Lake National Park in central Belize explored attitudes towards ecotourism and conservation of local people living adjacent to and co-managing a national park. The authors conducted attitudinal surveys of residents of Saint Margarets village in 1995 and in 2003. The data suggested high levels of support for ecotourism development and continued protection of the land and conservation efforts. Despite this support, by 2003, most ecotourism activities and park management had been curtailed. Although the inception of co-managed ecotourism was received well and some level of interest existed, over time, there was a decline in community participation and ecotourism activities. This is attributable to factors including resident apathy, low community participation, diminished financial resources, insufficient local and national management capacity, and perceptions of few personal benefits by residents. Furthermore, the often claimed theoretical benefits of ecotourism in developing communities were not fully realised in this case. As demonstrated by this study, local involvement of residents in development and implementation of ecotourism initiatives, including necessary capacity-building, may help ensure sustainable management and success of long-term ecotourism and conservation efforts.
Pneumococcal serotypes and their clinical relevance

Pneumococcal disease is endemic all over the world. Epidemics may occur, most often in closed institutional settings such as schools and military camps,1-3 but account for only a minority of all the cases. The total incidence of pneumococcal pneumonia in Western populations is 1–5 per 1000 person-years, and several times higher in the very young and the elderly. In developing countries it is estimated that at least one million children below the age of five die each year from pneumococcal pneumonia.4 Streptococcus pneumoniae is also the most important pathogen in bacterial meningitis, otitis media, and sinusitis. The annual incidence of pneumococcal bacteraemia in North America and Europe is at least 10–20 per 100 000 individuals, the majority of cases being due to pneumonia. However, the most common host-parasite interrelationship is the asymptomatic carriage of one (or occasionally two or more) pneumococcal strains in the nasopharynx.5 6 As in other Gram positive bacteria, the pneumococcal cell wall is composed of peptidoglycan and teichoic acid (fig 1). A predominant component of teichoic acid is the C-polysaccharide which is covalently bound to the peptidoglycan layer and distributed both on its inner and outer side.7 The exact chemical structure of the C-polysaccharide has been established as a ribitol teichoic acid containing glucose, 2-acetamido-2,4,6-trideoxygalactose, galactosamine, ribitol phosphate, and phosphorylcholine.8 Interestingly, each of these components has been identified as constituents of different capsular polysaccharides, possibly pointing to an evolutionary origin of the capsular substances from the C-polysaccharide. Figure 1 Schematic illustration of the arrangement of the pneumococcal cell wall. All wild strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae are provided with a polysaccharide capsule. To date, 90 distinct capsular types have been described, six of them very recently.9Some of the types are antigenically related to each other and such related types are included together in …