Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Follow the Leader: The Effect of Elite Support on Ballot Referendums for Publicly Financed Sports Stadiums

Since the 1960s, most professional sports facilities have been financed through a mix of private and public funds. Team owners contribute private capital to the project, but the majority of the funding comes from the taxpayer. These public dollars are drawn from the supplementation of existing taxes, or the creation of new taxes in the cities or surrounding counties where the sports franchise operates, and are usually subject to a public vote. In most cases, local citizens do not support the use of taxpayer dollars to fund professional sports stadium subsidies. Previous research demonstrates that the local politicians and corporate executives who benefit from hosting a professional sports franchise can influence voter opinion by reframing the tax increases as a means to remain a “major league city,” and by claiming that the economic value of the project will exceed its costs. In this paper, I argue that local political and corporate elites employ their respective strengths and influence to create a positive frame of stadium subsidies for professional sports franchises and thus generate voter support for these subsidies. I examine the legislative processes that provided public funding for the football and baseball stadiums built in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati in the late 1990s. I then use these two cities as a basis for comparison to modern cases in Arlington, San Diego, and Las Vegas, three cities that are currently negotiating financing terms on new professional sports stadiums.
Use of Bulleyaconitine A as an Adjuvant for Prolonged Cutaneous Analgesia in the Rat

BACKGROUND: Bulleyaconitine A (BLA) is an analgesic and antiinflammatory drug isolated from Aconitum plants. BLA has several potential targets, including voltage-gated Na+ channels. We tested whether BLA elicited long-lasting cutaneous analgesia, when co-injected with lidocaine and epinephrine, as a model for prolonged infiltration anesthesia. METHODS: The local anesthetic properties of BLA were assessed by the patch-clamp technique in HEK293t cells expressing Nav1.7 and Nav1.8 neuronal Na+ channels, both crucial for nociception. Drug solutions (0.6 mL) were injected subcutaneously via rat shaved dorsal skin. Inhibition of the cutaneous trunci muscle reflex was evaluated by pinpricks. Skin cross-sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin or with antibodies against PGP9.5. RESULTS: BLA at 10 &mgr;M interacted minimally with resting or inactivated Nav1.7 and Nav1.8 Na+ channels when infrequently stimulated to +50 mV for 3 ms. However, when stimulated at 2 Hz for 1000 pulses, their peak Na+ currents were >90% reduced by BLA. This use-dependent inhibition was not significantly reversed after 15-min washing. Complete nociceptive blockade after injection of lidocaine (0.5%)/epinephrine (1:200,000) lasted for approximately 1 h in rats; full recovery occurred after approximately 6 h. Co-injection of 0.125 mM BLA with lidocaine/epinephrine increased the duration of complete nociceptive blockade to 24 h. Full recovery occurred after approximately 6 days. Skin histology including peripheral nerve fibers appeared unaffected by BLA. CONCLUSIONS: BLA inhibits Nav1.7 and Nav1.8 Na+ currents in a use-dependent manner. Co-injection of BLA at ≤0.125 mM with lidocaine and epinephrine elicits complete cutaneous analgesia that lasts for up to 24 h without adverse effects.
Transthoracic and Transesophageal Echocardiographic Indices Predictive of Sinus Rhythm Maintenance After Cardioversion of Atrial Fibrillation: An Echocardiographic Study During Direct Current Shock

Background: Up to 57% of atrial fibrillation (AF) recurrences after cardioversion take place during the first 30 days following direct current shock (DCS) delivery. Previous echocardiographic studies on sinus rhythm (SR) maintenance after cardioversion have focused mainly on parameters recorded before DCS, while other studies have reported on the indices recorded soon after delivery of the shock. Methods: Therefore, we investigated 18 patients with nonrheumatic AF, selected to undergo DCS, by both transthoracic (TTE) and transesophageal (TEE) echocardiography performed within 10 minutes before and after the electrical shock delivery. TTE was utilized for the evaluation of left atrium and left ventricle shape as well as for mitral Doppler flow sampling, while TEE was used to evaluate left atrial appendage (LAA) morphology and function, to score the LAA spontaneous echo contrast, and to evaluate the flow of left superior pulmonary vein; the transesophageal probe was left in situ during the electrical procedure. Thirty days after cardioversion, 10 (55%) patients maintained SR (Group 1) while 8 (45%) reverted to AF (Group 2). We compared the mean values of the parameters recorded in the two groups both before and after DCS. Results: Although many parameters of preand postcardioversion analysis proved to be significantly different between the two groups, the most marked differences were exhibited by the following postcardioversion indices: Peak Doppler flow velocity of the end‐diastolic mitral flow (30.10 ± 5.24 vs 20.50 ± 6.32 cm/sec, P 0.003); sum of peak velocities of the end‐diastolic contraction (A) and relaxation (A1) of LAA (A + A1= 58.20 ± 17.02 vs 31.25 ± 9.27 cm/sec, P 0.001); duration of A + A1 (162.70 ± 27.01 vs 133.75 ± 5.31 msec, P = 0.002); and sum of durations of the early diastolic forward (E) and reverse (E1) flow of LAA (101.90 35.15 vs 53.33 ± 16.33 msec, P 0.006). Conclusions: Using a single echocardiographic examination during DCS and after induction of anesthesia, without further discomfort to patients, we were able to identify useful parameters for the prediction of future electrical activity of the heart before as well as soon after DCS. Postcardioversion indices, derived by both TTE and TEE, were even more predictive of SR maintenance after 1 month than precardioversion parameters.
Analysis of Thermal and Luminous Performance of MR-16 LED Lighting Module

Light emitting diode (LED) with a long lifetime, low power consumption, and low pollution has been successfully applied in many products. However, due to its low electro-optical conversion efficiency, high percentage of input power transformed to redundant heat, thus increasing the LED temperature. This phenomenon decreases the luminous flux, changing light color, and useful life span of LED. Therefore, thermal management becomes an important issue in high power LED. In this paper, the variation of luminous flux and light color for different LED lighting modules under long time operation has been measured and discussed. In addition, a detailed finite element model of LED lighting module, MR-16, with a corresponding input power and suitable boundary conditions is established by using the ANSYS finite element analysis program. Furthermore, to validate the simulation results, the current-voltage-temperature method for characterization of a diode is utilized to measure the junction temperature of LED chip indirectly and compare with simulation results. After the simulation is validated, various thermal performance assessments under the different design parameters of the LED package and lighting module are also investigated in this paper. The methodology and analysis results of this paper can provide a guideline for the LED lighting module such as MR-16 design in the future.
Stock Price and Exchange Rate Interaction in Indonesia: An Empirical Inquiry

Tujuan utama dari tulisan ini adalah untuk menginvestigasi hubungan kausalitas antara stock price dan exchange rate di Indonesia. Setelah mengintegrasikan setiap series dengan menggunakan unit root test ADF, PP, dan KPSS, seperti hubungan kausalitas diuji dengan Granger non-causality test yang diperkenalkan oleh Toda dan Yamato (1995). Hasilnya menunjukkan bahwa ada kausalitas dua arah (bi-directional) antara exchange rate dan stock price sebelum terjadinya krisis keuangan di Asia. Namun, selama krisis, exchange rate mempengaruhi stock market di Indonesia.
Comparison of MRI Perfusion Imaging and Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography in Chronic Stroke

There have been few direct comparisons between MR perfusion-weighted imaging (PWI) and established perfusion imaging techniques, and none in chronic stroke. We therefore studied 17 chronic hemispheric infarction patients (mean, 90 days) and compared hypoperfusion volumes determined from PWI maps of relative cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and volume (rCBV), and mean transit time (rMTT) with those measured with 99Tc-HMPAO single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Comparisons were also made between infarct size (T2-WI) and clinical scales. Correlations were found between lesion location and volume in all three PWI hemodynamic parameter maps with clinical state and lesions on SPECT and T2-WI. In 3 patients, rCBF and rCBV lesions extended well beyond the borders of moderate-sized infarctions. We conclude that in chronic stroke, PWI can delineate regions of abnormal perfusion that reflect the degree of functional impairment and structural damage. The finding of peri-infarct hypoperfusion suggests that PWI may have the potential to provide a rapid and non-invasive template against which interventional strategies aimed at promoting functional recovery may be investigated.
Effect of Hospital Closures on Acute Care Outcomes in British Columbia, Canada: An Interrupted Time Series Study

Background: In 2002 British Columbia, Canada began redistributing its hospital services. Objective and Design: We used administrative data and interrupted time series analyses to determine how recent hospital closures affected patient outcomes. Subjects: All adult acute myocardial infarction (AMI), stroke, and trauma events in British Columbia between fiscal years 1999 and 2013. Cases were patients whose closest hospital closed. Controls were matched by condition, year of event, and condition-specific hospital volume where treatment was received. Measures: Thirty-day mortality and hospital bypass rates. Results: We matched 3267 AMI, 2852 stroke, and 6318 trauma cases to 1996, 1604, and 3640 controls, respectively. The 30-day mortality rate at baseline was 7.0% [95% confidence interval (CI), 4.0%–10.1%] for AMI, 5.3% (95% CI, 2.4%–8.1%) for stroke, and 1.2% (95% CI, 0.3%–2.1%) for trauma controls. The 30-day mortality rate for cases was 14.3% (95% CI, 7.1%–21.7%) for AMI, 12.0% (95% CI, 5.1%–18.9%) for stroke, and 3.1% for trauma (95% CI, 0.9%–5.2%) cases. There was no significant change in 30-day mortality for cases, and no significant difference in change in mortality rates between cases and controls following the intervention. The difference in hospital bypass rates between cases and controls was 50.1% (95% CI, 42.3%–57.9%) for AMI, 36.2% (95% CI, 27.4%–44.9%) for stroke, and 32.2% (95% CI, 27.7%–36.8%) for trauma cases preintervention. Following the intervention, the difference in bypass rates dropped by 15.5% (95% CI, 3.5%–27.5%) for AMI, 25.3% (95% CI, 11.7%–38.8%) for stroke, and 22.7% (95% CI, 15.7%–29.6%) for trauma cases. Conclusions: Hospital closures did not affect patient mortality.
Impact des réseaux sociaux sur la sociabilité : le cas de Facebook

Nombre de chercheurs se sont interroges depuis au moins une trentaine d'annees, sur l'impact de la diffusion des technologies sur la sociabilite des individus. Facebook, en raison de sa popularite et des pratiques qu'il engendre, est un cas d'etude particulierement interessant. Dans cet article, nous utilisons les donnees issues d'une enquete declarative menee aupres d'un echantillon representatif de 2000 internautes francais utilisateurs de Facebook, afin de mieux comprendre le lien entre l'utilisation du reseau social et la sociabilite. S'il existe un lien positif entre l'intensite d'utilisation de Facebook et la sociabilite, le reseau social est rarement vu comme un moyen de renforcer cette sociabilite. Plus precisement, nous montrons que Facebook contribue plus a augmenter les liens faibles que les liens forts, et que son influence percue sur la sociabilite est fortement dependante du contexte social et generationnel : les classes moins dotees culturellement et financierement percoivent en effet un impact plus fort du service en ligne sur leur sociabilite.
PERAN MODAL MANUSIA DAN MODAL INVESTASI TERHADAP NILAI PRODUKSI INDUSTRI KECIL DI KOTA PEKANBARU

Performance management is a thriving little industry is currently in Pekanbaru related to the weakening of production and market production is still not able to show an encouraging movement when compared to a large industrial sector. While little is known industry was resilient to the crisis of higher and this needs to be addressed. This study uses secondary data and analyzed using SPSS. Based on the study results proved that human capital factors and factors of investing their capital together a significant effect on the value of production. However, partially / singly only human capital factors alone that influence significantly, amounting to 0,000. Also note that the purchasing power factor contributing positively to the production of small industries.
Calculation of ultrasonic transducer signal-to-noise ratios using the KLM model

This paper describes a method for adding thermal and amplifier noise to a KLM model for a transducer element. The model is used to compare the magnitudes of various noise sources in a 5 MHz array element typical of those used for linear array imaging with and without an amplifier. Fundamental signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) issues of importance to array and amplifier designers are explored, including the effect on SNR of effective dielectric constant of the piezoelectric material, individual element size, changing the number of elements, and adding an amplifier to an element before and after a cable. SNR is considered both for the case in which the acoustic output is limited by the maximum rarefactive pressure which is considered safe for a particular application (Mechanical Index limitation) and the case in which acoustic output is limited by the maximum transmit voltage than can he delivered by the imaging system or tolerated by the transducer. It is shown that the SNR performance depends on many controllable parameters and that significant improvements in SNR can be achieved through proper design. The implications for 1.5-D and 2-D array elements are discussed.
Development of Double Side Protection Process with Bump Support Film (BSF) and Backside Coating Tape for WLP

Wafer Level Package (WLP) demand has been increasing in proportion to cost competitive device's demand year by year. In order to manufacture the WLP which has higher reliability efficiently, assembly processes with Bump Support Film (BSF) and Backside coating tape has been developed. The BSF consists of Back Grinding tape (BG tape) for getting a function as a wafer thinning and Bump Support Layer (BSL) which is formed on circuit side around the bump for preventing a bump cracking. In addition, the BG tape has bump absorption layer which is thick enough for applying to various bump pitches, heights and chip geometries. In this paper, two main investigations are reported. One is process evaluation with Test Element Group (TEG) and Substrate. The other is comparison of reliability after Thermal Cycle Test (TCT). As a result, we succeeded in forming BSL with a little of residue at the bump top with bump absorption layer which has higher elastic modulus at the large deformation region than that of BSL, and one minute of plasma etching as cleaning of bump surface. We also succeeded in manufacturing double side protected package which has higher reliability than a package without protection at wafer level.
Endothelial expression of intercellular adhesion molecule 1 and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 is suppressed by postbypass plasma containing increased soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1 and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1.

OBJECTIVE Endothelial cell dysfunction has been implicated in the inflammatory response to cardiopulmonary bypass, and the upregulation of endothelial cell expression of adhesion molecules might promote leukocyte extravasation in vivo. Soluble endothelial cell adhesion molecules are increased after bypass. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between endothelial cell-surface expression of adhesion molecules and their concentration in plasma after coronary artery bypass grafting. METHODS Ten patients undergoing coronary artery bypass with cardiopulmonary bypass had 5 plasma samples taken at defined intervals before, during, and after cardiopulmonary bypass. Plasma was incubated with human umbilical vein endothelial cell monolayers, and expression of E-selectin, intercellular adhesion molecule 1, and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 on the surface of human umbilical vein endothelial cell monolayers was measured by means of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Plasma soluble adhesion molecules, C-reactive protein, interleukin 8, interleukin 10, transforming growth factor beta1, and neutrophil counts were determined for each patient. RESULTS Markers typical of acute inflammation (ie, interleukin 8, neutrophils, and C-reactive protein) were all increased after bypass. Soluble plasma intercellular and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (but not E-selectin) were increased after bypass. However, endothelial cell expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 and intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (but not E-selectin) were significantly decreased by exposure to postbypass plasma. Additionally, postbypass plasma inhibited interleukin 1beta-stimulated endothelial cell expression of vascular cell and intercellular adhesion molecule 1. Interleukin 10 and transforming growth factor beta1, both of which are known to inhibit endothelial cell adhesion molecule expression, were respectively increased 10-fold and 3-fold (P <.05) after bypass. CONCLUSIONS Despite containing increased soluble intercellular and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1, postbypass plasma inhibits endothelial cell expression of intercellular and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1. Upregulated vascular expression of adhesion molecules might not be essential for endothelial activation after bypass.
The Role of Vasopressin in the Treatment of Vasodilation in Shock States

OBJECTIVE: To review the role of vasopressin in the treatment of vasodilatory shock. DATA SOURCES: A MEDLINE search on published reports (1966–April 1999) was conducted. STUDY SELECTION: English-language studies and case reports were selected and evaluated based on quality of review of vasopressin in the treatment of vasodilatory shock. DATA SYNTHESIS: In patients with end-stage vasodilatory shock, baroreceptor reflex is impaired and vasopressin stores are depleted. Persistent elevation of catecholamines may lead to down-regulation of β-adrenergic receptors and reduces smooth-muscle response to catecholamines, leading to inability of maintaining organ perfusion. Small-scale studies and case reports have demonstrated vasopressin's efficacy in maintaining blood pressure in patients with septic shock, cardiac arrest, and end-stage heart failure, refractory to other vasopressor therapies. CONCLUSIONS: Vasopressin may be a reasonable alternative for patients in vasodilatory shock. However, larger-scale controlled clinical trials are warranted before its routine use can be recommended.
Performance Reporting Choices after the Adoption of IAS 1 Revised: Comparative Evidence from Europe and the USA

Motivated by the issuance of International Accounting Standard 1 revised, this paper investigates reporting choices on the Comprehensive Income of listed companies from Europe and the USA. This research aims at verifying the effects of the requirements issued by the International Accounting Standard 1 revised in improving performance evaluation towards the convergence between European and American accounting standards, Our research tests the correlation between the choice of Income Statement format and different variables, such as the size of companies, sign of Other Comprehensive Income, leverage and status of a US listing. This paper also evaluates the effect of Comprehensive Income on financial performance by calculating the Return On Equity. The main findings underline that the format of Income Statement and the “location” of the Comprehensive Income can be interpreted both as factors that can influence the choices of investors and as a tool available to managers to alter the communication of the firm’s performance choices.
Expression vectors for the use of eukaryotic luciferases as bacterial markers with different colors of luminescence

An easy way to identify microorganisms is to provide them with gene markers that confer a unique phenotype. Several genetic constructions were developed to use eukaryotic luciferase genes for bacterial tagging. The firefly and click bettle luciferase genes, luc and lucOR, respectively, were cloned under constitutive control and regulated control from different transcriptional units driven by P1, lambda PR, and Ptrc promoters. Comparison of the expression of each gene in Escherichia coli cells from identical promoters showed that bioluminescence produced by luc could be detected luminometrically in a more sensitive manner. In contrast, luminescence from intact lucOR-expressing cells was much more stable and resistant to high temperatures than that from luc-expressing cells. To analyze the behavior of these constructions in other gram-negative bacteria, gene fusions with luc genes were cloned on broad-host-range vectors. Measurements of light emission from Rhizobium meliloti, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, and Pseudomonas putida cells indicated that both luciferases were poorly expressed from P1 in most bacterial hosts. In contrast, the lambda promoter PR yielded constitutively high levels of luciferase expression in all bacterial species tested. PR activity was not regulated by temperature when the thermosensitive repressor cI857 was present in the bacterial species tested, except for E. coli. In contrast, the regulated lacIq-Ptrc::lucOR fusion expression system behaved in a manner similar to that observed in E. coli cells. After IPTG (isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside) induction, this system produced the highest levels of lucOR expression in all bacterial species tested. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)