Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determinants of informal entrepreneurship in Africa

This study investigates the determinants of informal entrepreneurship in Africa. Using a cross-section of 21,954 firms from 47 African countries, the study estimates several multivariate models to examine the factors that are associated with the decision of firms to register at the start of their operation and the length of time to remain unregistered. The findings show that entrepreneurship in the informal sector is complex and context-bound as contextual factors unique to Africa, such as, corruption, political instability, crime rate, infrastructure (electricity and transportation), access to land and finance, influence the entrepreneur’s decision to register their firm at the start of its operation. The length of time firms remain unregistered is shown to be positively correlated to access to finance and infrastructural availability and negatively related to crime and political instability. These results vary based on the size of the business with larger businesses being impacted less by these variables.
Using the Black–Litterman Model: A View on Opinions

We provide evidence on using the Black–Litterman (1991, 1992) asset allocation model and show that if investors form even partially correct opinions on small-cap and emerging market stocks, portfolio performance would have improved vis-à-vis no opinions. For the period 20006–2011, we show that the Black–Litterman expected returns for large-cap US stocks, the EAFE index, and the Bloomberg Barclays US aggregate bond index are highly correlated with future five-year returns in each of those assets. Expected returns on US small-cap and emerging market stocks have a low correlation with future returns. If an opinion was only partially correct on the latter assets, the resulting portfolios would have outperformed a market-cap-weighted benchmark portfolio. Thus, we conclude that investors may benefit more from investing resources in forming opinions on the future direction of small-cap and emerging market stocks relative to large-cap stocks.
A Fall-off in Cervical Screening Coverage of Younger Women in Developed Countries

Objectives To analyse cervical screening coverage data by age over time in a number of developed countries throughout the world, with specific emphasis on trends for younger women and on age differentials between younger and older women. Methods Routinely collected cervical screening statistics and survey data were collected on the proportion of women who have undergone cervical screening with cytology in seven countries in the period 1995 to 2005. Results Data for the 25-29 age group were examined. Coverage fell in most countries, in three by more than 5 percentage points. In two countries while overall coverage rose in the period, the rise was not as steep in the youngest group of women. Data for each available 5-year age group for the different countries shows a similar gradient in most, regardless of the absolute level of coverage. Although the trend is not uniform in every country, it appears that generally the gap between coverage of younger women and coverage of older women increased, sometimes dramatically, between the mid-1990s and the mid-2000s. Conclusions There is a general trend in developed countries towards lower coverage in young women (25-29 years old). No common underlying cause has been clearly identified and there is a need for further studies to investigate the possible reasons for this phenomenon.
ACCOUNTABILITY: Mapeamento da produção e Análise de redes dos artigos das divisões de gestão e políticas públicas do EnANPAD

O objetivo do artigo esta em realizar um mapeamento da producao cientifica da area de administracao no que se refere aos estudos sobre accountability , a partir dos artigos apresentados nas divisoes academicas Administracao Publica, Gestao Publica e Governanca, e Politicas Publicas dos Encontros da ANPAD, no periodo de 1997 a 2016. O estudo se mostra relevante em funcao da existencia de muita discussao acerca do conceito de accountability . A pesquisa se caracteriza como um estudo bibliometrico, realizado por meio de analise de acoplamento bibliografico e de analise de cocitacao.Foram verificadas as referencias de 65 artigos. Como resultados, o estudo evidenciou que os artigos que discutem accountability tendem a fazer referencia a um mesmo grupo de obras, ja que a rede formada pelos artigos bibliograficamente acoplados tem densidade considerada alta, de 39,5% e diâmetro 3. Ja em relacao as obras co-citadas, a rede formada apresenta densidade bem menor, de 15,1%, e diâmetro 4. O mapeamento permitiu detectar que a falta de consenso para se chegar a uma definicao mais precisa do termo constitui uma das principais dificuldades nos estudos dessa tematica e reflete a divergencia de ideias entre os academicos sobre o conceito accountability, apesar de, nas ultimas duas decadas, a questao ter sido frequentemente debatida em varios eventos cientificos.
Relaxation Properties of Mammalian Atrial Muscle

The properties of relaxation, in particular the sensitivity of relaxation to load, were analyzed in isolated intact atrial muscle and in manually dissected, detergent-treated cellular prepa- rations from cat, dog, and rat atria. Force and length traces under increasing afterloads and following load clamps were obtained using an electromagnetic lever-force transducer system for the intact muscles and a capacitance transducer system for the cellular preparations. In both types of prepara- tions, the time course of relaxation was hardly affected by the load or by alterations in load (load clamps), unlike intact mammalian ventricular muscle. This load independence of relaxation, which was hardly influenced by variations of initial muscle length, resembled relaxation in intact frog ventricular muscle and in detergent-treated mammalian ventricular single cells. As relaxation of these ventricular preparations with poorly developed (frog) or absent (detergent-treated single cells) calcium-sequester- ing systems was shown to be governed by the dissipation of activation, these results suggest a similar control mechanism for relaxation in mammalian atrial muscle. Furthermore, load independence of relaxation of mammalian atrial muscle in late diastole may promote optimal filling of the ventricle. Circ Res 48: 352-356, 1981
Accuracy of routine fat-suppressed FLAIR and diffusion-weighted images in detecting clinically evident acute optic neuritis.

BACKGROUND Contrast-enhanced, fat-suppressed T1-weighted imaging (CET1WI) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is quite sensitive in detecting acute optic neuritis (ON), but ON remains a clinical diagnosis. MRI is indicated to evaluate demyelinating brain lesions rather than the optic nerves, while "routine" brain protocols typically include axial FLAIR and DWI. PURPOSE To evaluate the accuracy of axial, fat-suppressed FLAIR and DWI sequences used for our routine brain imaging in detecting acute ON, as compared to CET1WI and the clinical diagnosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS The clinical data and MRI examinations were retrospectively reviewed of 60 patients presenting to a neuro-ophthalmologist for various visual symptoms. Each patient underwent dedicated neuro-ophthalmologic examination, with axial 5 mm fat-suppressed FLAIR and DWI (part of "routine" brain MRI protocol), as well as 3 mm axial and coronal fat-suppressed CET1WI (part of dedicated orbit MRI protocol). Two neuroradiologists independently evaluated FLAIR and DWI, while CET1WI was reviewed by consensus. RESULTS Thirty-one patients were clinically positive, 29 negative for ON (total = 34 positive and 86 negative nerves). The sensitivities of FLAIR, DWI, and CET1WI for ON were 75.7-77.3%, 77.3%, and 89.5%, respectively; the specificities were 90.5-93.5%, 80.4-82.7%, and 86.0%, respectively; the accuracies were 85.7-88.2%, 79.5-81.1%, and 87.0%, respectively. Inter-observer kappa was 0.783 for FLAIR, and 0.605 for DWI; intra-observer kappa was 0.746-0.816 for FLAIR, and 0.674-0.699 for DWI (each P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION Being more specific, but not as sensitive, as dedicated CET1WI in acute ON, axial fat-suppressed FLAIR likely has additional value in evaluating for acute ON in "routine" brain MR protocols evaluating for demyelinating disease, while DWI may be hampered by artifacts.
Responses to losses in high-deductible health insurance: persistence, emotions, and rationality

Abstract There have been few empirical studies on how consumers respond to their loss experience over time when choosing between high- and low-deductible health insurance plans. To address this question, we designed a ten-period web-based experiment to explore how subjects respond to the presence or absence of illness-related costs in a given period when making their future health insurance choices when they are explicitly informed that future premiums or loss probabilities will not change over time. A sizable minority of the respondents who initially chose high-deductible plans switched after a loss, and switching is more likely if they self-report negative emotional responses to experiencing an uninsured loss. Switching from low- to high-deductible plans is less likely and less responsive to loss experience. The study reveals that many individuals make their health insurance choices by considering factors not included in classical economic models of choice.
Aplicación del enfoque de ventajas en recursos al estudio de los sistemas de control de gestión inter-organizativo en el sector público de salud chileno: el caso de la región de Ñuble en Chile

El presente estudio realiza un analisis de la relacion entre los instrumentos del Sistema de Control de Gestion intra-organizativo, con el funcionamiento de las relaciones interorganizativas y como se convierte en un mecanismo que favorece el desarrollo de capacidades (como un recurso) en la Red Asistencial Publica de la Region de Nuble de Chile. La metodologia es predominantemente cualitativa y se basa en dos tipos de datos, datos secundarios y datos primarios. Los primeros corresponden a los datos disponibles y oficiales del Servicio de Salud de Nuble, y los segundos, a datos obtenidos mediante el desarrollo de entrevistas, aplicadas a una seleccion de directivos de primer nivel de las organizaciones del sector publico de salud de la Region de Nuble en Chile. Las entrevistas permitieron obtener informacion sobre el diseno y el uso de los metodos que utiliza el Sistema de Control de Gestion. Tambien se analizo la cooperacion y coordinacion que se busca en las relaciones inter-organizativas, y el desarrollo de las capacidades correspondientes. De esta forma, se pudo constatar que existe una relacion positiva entre el diseno del Sistema de Control de Gestion intra-organizativo y el funcionamiento de las relaciones inter-organizativas en el sector publico de salud chileno, a mas de la cooperacion, la coordinacion y el desarrollo de capacidades.
Targeted integration of a dominant neoR marker into a 2- to 3-Mb human minichromosome and transfer between cells

The physical and genetic characterization of a stable human minichromosome in a Chinese hamster hybrid cell is described. The minichromosome is 2–3 Mb in size, is linear, and contains a complementing SDHC gene. It is derived from a human chromosome 1, including the centromere, some pericentric heterochromatin from 1q12, and 1–2 Mb of 1q21. Genomic DNA surrounding the SDHC gene was used to construct a targeting vector with a selectable drug resistance marker (neoR); the marker was then successfully integrated into the minichromosome. With the new selectable marker, the 8.2. 3 minichromosome could be transferred into mouse LMTK– and 3T3 TK– cells.
U.S. EPA Health Assessment for Diesel Engine Exhaust: A Review

In 2002 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a Health assessment Document for Diesel Engine Exhaust. The objective of this assessment was to examine the possible health hazards associated with exposure to diesel engine exhaust (DE). The assessment concludes that long-term inhalation exposure is likely to pose a lung cancer hazard to humans as inferred from epidemiologic and certain animal studies. Estimation of cancer potency from available epidemiology studies was not attempted because of the absence of a confident cancer dose-response and animal studies were not judged appropriate for cancer potency estimation. A noncancer chronic human health hazard is inferred from rodent studies which show dose-dependent inflammation and histopathology in the rat lung. For these noncancer effects a safe exposure concentration for humans was estimated. Short-term exposures were noted to cause irritation and inflammatory symptoms of a transient nature, these being highly variable across an exposed population. The assessment also indicates that there is emerging evidence for the exacerbation of existing allergies and asthma symptoms; however, as of 2002 the data were inadequate for quantitative dose-response analysis. The assessment conclusions are based on studies that used exposures from engines built prior to the mid 1990s. More recent engines without high-efficiency particle traps would be expected to have exhaust emissions with similar characteristics. With additional cancer epidemiology studies expected in 2007–2008, and a growing body of evidence for allergenicity and cardiovascular effects, future health assessments will have an expanded health effects data base to evaluate.
Towards Dynamic Cross-platform Component-driven Applications with Girders Elements Framework

Content management system is often a choice for companies that tend to create a system that simplifies the process of web content creation and management. Component-driven architectures also appear as an option for creating modern web and mobile applications. Dozens of frameworks appear each day, but they put a focus on the UIs, leaving the content in behind, therefore are not suitable for developing dynamic content-intensive applications. To address this challenge, in this paper we propose an architecture based on React framework, which provides cross-platform solution for dynamic applications that are manageable by external CMS systems. A prototype project is implemented, showing the benefits of the proposed architecture.
Relación entre el capital humano y el crecimiento económico en Bolivia, mediante técnicas de cointegración

El objetivo de esta investigacion es examinar el crecimiento economico en Bolivia durante el periodo 1976-2015. Se utilizo datos recopilados del World Development Indicators, elaborado por el Banco Mundial. A traves de tecnicas de cointegracion y correccion de error se busca, demostrar que el capital humano no aumenta el crecimiento economico. Los resultados encontrados basandonos en el contexto boliviano son que a traves del test de Johansen (1988), el capital humano medido por la tasa de alfabetizacion y el crecimiento economico medido por el PIB per capita tienen una relacion estable de largo plazo y mediante el modelo de vector de correccion de error (VEC) tienen relacion de corto plazo. Una implicacion politica economica derivada de la presente investigacion es impulsar La Nueva Politica Economica, cuyo objetivo principal era lograr la estabilizacion como requisito para el crecimiento y justicia social en Bolivia.
Compact Globular Structure of Thermus thermophilus Ribosomal Protein S1 in Solution

Ribosomal protein S1 of Thermus thermophilus overexpressed in Escherichia coli cells has been isolated and subjected to studies by analytical sedimentation and differential scanning microcalorimetry techniques. It has been demonstrated that the protein of 60 kDa sediments at s020,w = 4.6 S and has the diffusion coefficient D020,w = 6.7 × 10–7 cm2/s in 25 mm HEPES-NaOH buffer, pH 7.5 (similarly to bovine serum albumin of 66 kDa that sediments at s0 20,w = 4.4 S and D020,w =6.0×10–7 cm2/s), indicating its compact globular conformation under these conditions. The microcalorimetry study has shown the presence of a cooperative tertiary structure melting at 90 °C, but with several (probably three) independent cooperative domains. In the presence of 100 mm NaCl the protein becomes more asymmetric (s020,w = 3.1 S) but does not lose its cooperativity and thermostability, this suggesting just the weakening of interdomain ionic interactions. The compact globular conformation of protein S1 seems to be most likely within the ribosome.
Review of traffic signal timing optimization based on fuzzy logic controller

In our day to day life increasing the number of vehicles like motorcycle, car, bus, van and truck etc. very rapidly. As a result outcome of traffic blocking and enormous problems in metro cities. Due to traffic jamming problem some large issues are found such as pollution, wastage of time, fuel, and accidents. Traffic jamming arises terribly often time switch in the contemporary world that has an effect on the means of life and introduces such a large amount of issues and challenge. To resolve this problem by using traffic signal timing optimization is the better solution. Fuzzy theory is broadly applied to several applications and it will simply deal with ambiguity, difficulty and inaccuracy in several systems. The issues in traffic trade are mostly characterize by the worldwide, uncertain and unsure parameters. Such kind of parameters fuzzy logic technique is suitable advance for traffic control problem. The presentation of fuzzy logic based mostly controller is superior for two one way street supported extension of time of green light. Afterward fuzzy traffic controller was build up for two ways intersection while not turns, only one intersection through all movements; multiple intersections etc. higher concert of fuzzy logic based on traffic signal timing optimization compare with predictable traffic signal control rising the research field. Fuzzy logic is very useful method for transportation in future use.
What goes up must come down: molecular basis of MAPKAP kinase 2/3-dependent regulation of the inflammatory response and its inhibition

Abstract Inflammation is normally a fast and transient response to microbial invaders or sterile damage and has to be stringently controlled. The closely-related mitogen-activated protein kinase-activated protein kinases MK2 and MK3 are involved in both up- and down-regulation of inflammation in mammals and govern the inflammatory response at different regulatory levels of gene expression and with different kinetics. In conjunction with their activator MAP kinase p38, MK2 and MK3 stimulate the transcription of immediate-early genes including that of the mRNA-binding protein tristetraprolin (TTP). TTP competes with the constitutively expressed protein human antigen R in binding to the mRNA destabilizing adenylate-uridylate -rich element. MK2 and MK3 also regulate the activity of TTP by direct phosphorylation, determine stability and stimulate the translation of cytokine mRNAs. In addition, TTP controls its own re-synthesis via stability and translation of its mRNA in a phosphorylation-dependent manner. This results in a complex scenario of gene expression and guarantees fast up-regulation and intrinsic feedback control of the inflammatory response of macrophages. Inhibition of MK2/3 by small-molecule pharmaceutical inhibitors is an emerging strategy to manipulate the inflammatory response as a therapeutic option. This strategy could display advantages over the direct inhibition of MAP kinase p38.
Centrioles resist forces applied on centrosomes during G2/M transition

Background information. Centrosome movements at the onset of mitosis result from a balance between the pulling and pushing forces mediated by microtubules. The structural stability of the centrosome core structure, the centriole pair, is correlated with a heavy polyglutamylation of centriole tubulin.
Acceptability-Based QoE Models for Mobile Video

Quality of experience (QoE) measures the overall perceived quality of mobile video delivery from subjective user experience and objective system performance. Current QoE prediction models have two main limitations: (1) insufficient consideration of the factors influencing QoE, and (2) limited studies on QoE models for acceptability prediction. In this paper, a set of novel acceptability-based QoE models, denoted as A-QoE, is proposed based on the results of comprehensive user studies on subjective quality acceptance assessments. The models are able to predict users' acceptability and pleasantness in various mobile video usage scenarios. Statistical nonlinear regression analysis has been used to build the models with a group of influencing factors as independent predictors, which include encoding parameters and bitrate, video content characteristics, and mobile device display resolution. The performance of the proposed A-QoE models has been compared with three well-known objective Video Quality Assessment metrics: PSNR, SSIM and VQM. The proposed A-QoE models have high prediction accuracy and usage flexibility. Future user-centred mobile video delivery systems can benefit from applying the proposed QoE-based management to optimize video coding and quality delivery strategies.
Unequal policy responsiveness in the Netherlands

Scholars have long recognized that equality in policy responsiveness is potentially undermined by the existence of economic inequality. However, there is still a lack of empirical research testing whether and how this actually occurs, especially outside of the USA. This study takes up the question whether unequal representation also exists in a country that is in some ways a least-likely case, namely the Netherlands. It does so by linking public opinion to policy on 291 potential policy changes between 1979 and 2012. This reveals, first, that policy responsiveness is much stronger for high incomes than for low or median incomes. Second, an exploration of the underlying causal mechanisms finds support for the role of political participation of wealthier versus poorer citizens, while the socioeconomic background of parliamentarians relative to the broader public does not seem to matter. Corporate lobbying may also contribute to unequal responsiveness.