bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Correlation between global longitudinal strain and SYNTAX score in coronary artery disease evaluation
Authors: Abdelrazek Gomaa , Yassin Alaa , Elkhashab Khaled
Published: May 2020

Background

Speckle tracking echocardiography may allow the evaluation of myocardial systolic and diastolic dynamics across different physiologic and pathologic conditions beyond traditional echocardiographic techniques. The use of STE longitudinal strain in identification and risk stratification of CAD has good reproducibility and accuracy. The study aims to detect the relationship between SYNTAX score and global longitudinal peak systolic strain (GLPSS) in patients undergoing coronary angiography, with no history of myocardial infarction.

Results

The study included 70 symptomatic patients suspected to have chronic coronary syndrome aging 20–80 years (excluding those with significant structural heart disease). All patients underwent clinical evaluation, surface ECG, laboratory assessment, transthoracic echocardiographic (TTE), color TDI tracings, two-dimensional speckle tracking, and conventional coronary angiography with SYNTAX score calculation. Patients were divided into 3 groups based on the results of the coronary angiogram: normal CAD on angiogram (n = 10, control group), low SS (n = 25, SS < 22), and high SS (n = 35, SS ≥ 22).

The mean age was 55 ± 9.6 years; 54% were males; two third of patients were hypertensive; 52% were diabetic; high percentage of high syntax score were noticed among males, diabetic patients, and smokers; and also low mean of GLS was noticed among diabetic patients and smokers. There was a statistically significant positive correlation between syntax score and each of LVEDD and LVESD and, on the other hand, statistically significant negative correlation between syntax score and each of E/A, GLS, AP2LS, AP3LS, and AP4LS was noticed. Peak GLS cutoff value of 17.8 and 16.5 showed 84% and 93% sensitivity and 70% and 91% specificity to detect high and low syntax score, respectively.

Conclusion

2D longitudinal strain analysis has incremental diagnostic value over visual assessment during echocardiography in predicting significant coronary artery disease; GLS may offer a potential sensitive tool to detect significant CAD.
Comparison between the outcome of single versus multiple uterine fibroids after uterine artery embolization
Authors: Elsharkawy Ahmed M. , Elsaeed Haytham H. , Kamel Ahmed H. , Morgan Robert , Elshafey Mohamed H.
Published: May 2020

Background

Uterine fibroids are the most common benign tumor of the reproductive tract in women. Uterine artery embolization has been approved as an alternative treatment option for uterine fibroids to reduce uterine and fibroid volumes as well as to relieve the patient symptoms. The current study included 80 patients with symptomatic uterine fibroids. All patients underwent pre-embolization MRI, uterine artery embolization, and follow-up post-embolization MRI at 6 months post procedure for a reduction in uterine and dominant fibroid volumes. The aim of the study was to assess the role of transcatheter uterine artery embolization in reducing the uterine fibroid volume.

Results

There was a significant difference in the uterine volume reduction between a group with single fibroids and a group with multiple uterine fibroids The mean uterine volume reduction in the first group was 46.5% compared to 37.4% reduction in the second group. While there was no significant difference in the dominant fibroid volume reduction between both groups (48.8% and 44.9% respectively).

Conclusions

UAE has a high efficacy in the reduction of both the uterine volume and the dominant fibroid volume, which results in improvement in patient’s quality of life.
A scalable online algorithm for passive seismic tomography in underground mines
Authors: Delplancke Claire , Fontbona Joaquín , Prado Jorge
Published: May 2020

Understanding and monitoring the seismic responses of rock masses to massive mining are crucial for safety and economic viability of ever larger and deeper underground operations. Seismic monitoring can be used to detect stress variations and hazardous instabilities, but its effectiveness requires accurate estimations of the nonhomogeneous propagation velocity of microseismic waves. While predetermined velocity models are not accurate enough and might bias hypocenter localization, using active-source seismic tomography methods to estimate the velocity field provides limited spatial coverage. Thus, passive seismic tomography using first-arrival traveltimes of mining-induced microseisms (of unknown hypocenters) constitutes a promising tool. However, available methods solving this high-dimensional statistical inverse problem do not scale well with the data set size and cannot easily refine or update estimations with new data. We have developed a novel passive seismic tomography method able to dynamically learn the nonhomogeneous velocity field from a streaming of noisy first-arrival times, online (in real time) or from catalogs. We have developed a new Bayesian approach that avoids linearizing the forward problem and allows for general 3D velocity models. This is combined with the use of the stochastic gradient descent (SGD) method, which underlies much of the recent progress in machine learning and provides increasing accuracy at a cost scaling linearly with the data set size. Moreover, we introduce an adaptive variant of SGD based on raypath density, which significantly improves the speed of the algorithm, and we implement a parallel version of our method enabling its systematic use in real applications. These include the design of optimal sensor locations, the dynamic update of velocity estimates in production conditions, and the real-time determination of hypocenters and their uncertainty. Our method’s reach and effectiveness are illustrated with simulated seismic data on 3D checkerboards, using synthetic and real acquisition geometries, and on a dense 2D velocity grid.
Bayesian full waveform inversion in anisotropic elastic media using the iterated extended Kalman filter
Authors: Huang Xingguo , Eikrem Kjersti Solberg , Jakobsen Morten , Naevdal Geir
Published: May 2020

Uncertainty quantification in the context of seismic imaging is important for interpretinginverted subsurface models and updating reservoir models. The limited illumination, noisydata and poor initial model in the seismic full waveform inversion (FWI) lead to inversionuncertainties. This is particularly true for anisotropic elastic FWI, which suffers from extra parameter trade-off problems. In this work, we address the uncertainty quantificationof anisotropic elastic FWI problem in the framework of Bayesian inference. Specially, weestimate the uncertainties of the subsurface elastic parameters in the Bayesian anisotropicelastic FWI by combining the iterated extended Kalman filter with an explicit representation of the sensitivity matrix with Green’s functions. The sensitivity matrix is based onthe integral equation approach, which is also within the context of nonlinear inverse scattering theory. We give the results of numerical tests with examples for anisotropic elasticmedia. They show that the proposed Bayesian inversion method can provide reasonablereconstructed results for the elastic coefficients of the stiffness tensor and the framework issuitable for accessing the uncertainties.
Before It’s Too Late: Multistakeholder Perspectives on Compassionate Access to Investigational Drugs for Pediatric Patients With Cancer
Authors: Gerasimov Elena , Donoghue Martha , Bilenker Josh , Watt Tanya , Goodman Nancy , Laetsch Theodore W.
Published: May 2020

Patients and their families, physicians, drug companies, and regulatory agencies have common goals: to find effective therapies for life-threatening conditions. In oncology, the lines between clinical research and treatment are often blurred; parents and physicians of patients who have exhausted standard-of-care treatments and cannot participate in a clinical trial are likely to consider seeking compassionate use access to investigational drugs; however, knowledge and perspectives about compassionate use may differ among these groups. There are unique considerations associated with providing compassionate use to children diagnosed with cancer, including evaluation for potential developmental toxicities, the need for pediatric-specific dosing and formulations, informed consent, and, when appropriate, patient assent. Positive impacts of providing access to investigational therapies to children include potential treatment benefits to patients who obtain investigational agents as well as benefits to future patients if data from expanded access support drug development for childhood cancer. Challenges for physicians seeking compassionate use access to investigational drugs for their patients include obtaining the drug sponsor’s agreement to provide the investigational drug as well as lack of knowledge about the process and regulatory requirements. Clinical trials in oncology provide the possibility of therapeutic benefit for pediatric patients; when feasible and warranted, these benefits should also be available to patients on a compassionate use basis outside of trials.
Immune Therapy Opportunities in Ovarian Cancer
Authors: Kandalaft Lana E. , Odunsi Kunle , Coukos George
Published: May 2020

Immunotherapy has emerged as a highly promising approach in the treatment of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy, PARP inhibitors (PARPis), neoantigen vaccines, and personalized T-cell therapy have been associated with encouraging clinical activity in a small subset of patients. To increase the proportion of patients who are likely to derive benefit, it will be important not only to generate sufficient numbers of antitumor T cells but also to overcome multiple inhibitory networks in the ovarian tumor microenvironment (TME). Therefore, a major direction is to develop biomarkers that would predict responsiveness to different types of immunotherapies and allow treatment selection based on the results. Moreover, such biomarkers would allow rational combination of immunotherapies while minimizing toxicities. In this review, we provide progress on immune therapies and future directions for maximally exploiting immune-based strategies for the treatment of ovarian cancer.
Cardiometabolic Medicine: Development of a New Subspecialty
Authors: Saxon David R , Reiter-Brennan Cara , Blaha Michael J , Eckel Robert H
Published: May 2020

Context

The worldwide rise in the prevalence of cardiometabolic disease, and the introduction of therapeutic options for treating metabolic disease that also lower cardiovascular risk, calls for a restructuring of how we care for patients with cardiometabolic disease. We propose establishment of a new medicine subspecialty, Cardiometabolic Medicine.

Evidence Acquisition

This summary is based on a synthesis of published original and review articles identified through PubMed, professional society guidelines, and the authors’ knowledge of the fields of metabolism, diabetes, and cardiology.

Evidence Synthesis

The growing prevalence of cardiometabolic disease will continue to be perhaps the greatest challenge in the United States and throughout the world. We have entered an era where a large set of clinical tools are available that help prevent and treat cardiometabolic disease; however, our old models of clinical training and siloed care are barriers to rapid uptake and efficient healthcare delivery and are in need of change.

Conclusions

Establishing the field of Cardiometabolic Medicine would be a small step in the right direction towards providing the best possible comprehensive care for those with complex cardiometabolic disease.
Incidence, Prediction, and Causes of Unplanned 30-Day Hospital Admission After Ambulatory Procedures
Authors: Teja Bijan , Raub Dana , Friedrich Sabine , Rostin Paul , Patrocínio Maria D. , Schneider Jeffrey C. , Shen Changyu , Brat Gabriel A. , Houle Timothy T. , Yeh Robert W. , Eikermann Matthias
Published: May 2020

BACKGROUND:

Unanticipated hospital admission is regarded as a measure of adverse perioperative patient care. However, previously published studies for risk prediction after ambulatory procedures are sparse compared to those examining readmission after inpatient surgery. We aimed to evaluate the incidence and reasons for unplanned admission after ambulatory surgery and develop a prediction tool for preoperative risk assessment.

METHODS:

This retrospective cohort study included adult patients undergoing ambulatory, noncardiac procedures under anesthesia care at 2 tertiary care centers in Massachusetts, United States, between 2007 and 2017 as well as all hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers in New York State, United States, in 2014. The primary outcome was unplanned hospital admission within 30 days after discharge. We created a prediction tool (the PREdicting admission after Outpatient Procedures [PREOP] score) using stepwise backward regression analysis to predict unplanned hospital admission, based on criteria used by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, within 30 days after surgery in the Massachusetts hospital network registry. Model predictors included patient demographics, comorbidities, and procedural factors. We validated the score externally in the New York state registry. Reasons for unplanned admission were assessed.

RESULTS:

A total of 170,983 patients were included in the Massachusetts hospital network registry and 1,232,788 in the New York state registry. Among those, the observed rate of unplanned admission was 2.0% (3504) and 1.7% (20,622), respectively. The prediction model showed good discrimination in the training set with C-statistic of 0.77 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.77–0.78) and satisfactory discrimination in the validation set with C-statistic of 0.71 (95% CI, 0.70–0.71). The risk of unplanned admission varied widely from 0.4% (95% CI, 0.3–0.4) among patients whose calculated PREOP scores were in the first percentile to 21.3% (95% CI, 20.0–22.5) among patients whose scores were in the 99th percentile. Predictions were well calibrated with an overall ratio of observed-to-expected events of 99.97% (95% CI, 96.3–103.6) in the training and 92.6% (95% CI, 88.8–96.4) in the external validation set. Unplanned admissions were most often related to malignancy, nonsurgical site infections, and surgical complications.

CONCLUSIONS:

We present an instrument for prediction of unplanned 30-day admission after ambulatory procedures under anesthesia care validated in a statewide cohort comprising academic and nonacademic hospitals as well as ambulatory surgery centers. The instrument may be useful in identifying patients at high risk for 30-day unplanned hospital admission and may be used for benchmarking hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, and practitioners.
The Political Limits of Economics
Authors: Zingales Luigi
Published: May 2020

We economists do not apply economic tools to analyze our own discipline. If we were to do so, we would discover that we have self-motivated explanations for why political systems fail, explanations that entitle us to impose our views on elected representatives. We would also discover that we have preferences not aligned with the rest of the population, we can be captured, and we suffer of groupthink. I propose some remedies our profession can adopt to reduce these problems, including becoming less clubbish and more inclusive.
Preventing the Spread of Antibiotic Resistance
Authors: Adda Jérôme
Published: May 2020

This paper studies the spread of antibiotic resistance and its determinants, relying on unique data at state, year, bacteria, and drug level, covering all US states. I relate antibiotic resistance to the use of antibiotics in human prescription and animal production in a triple difference-indifference design to control for confounders. Despite that animal production absorbs most of the antibiotic production, the results show that the main determinant of resistance is in fact human prescriptions, emphasizing the role of policies targeting hospitals and ambulatory care. Resistance is particularly sensitive to antibiotic use for newer drugs.
Brexit Uncertainty: Trade Externalities beyond Europe
Authors: Graziano Alejandro G. , Handley Kyle , Limão Nuno
Published: May 2020

We examine if Brexit uncertainty has trade externalities beyond Europe. Using detailed data on export values and participation, tariffs, and Brexit probabilities prior to the referendum, we estimate ongoing negative trade-uncertainty elasticities between the United Kingdom and its non-European partner countries in preferential trade agreements that will require renegotiation post-Brexit. We use them to isolate the impact of the referendum on export values and net entry; we find effects similar to those identified by Graziano et al. (2018) for the UK and EU.
Banking Panics as Endogenous Disasters and the Welfare Gains from Macroprudential Policy
Authors: Gertler Mark , Kiyotaki Nobuhiro , Prestipino Andrea
Published: May 2020

We study the welfare effects of macroprudential policy in a macroeconomic model of banking instability. Banking panics are endogenous economic disasters caused by banks' excessive leverage during credit booms. The model matches the frequency and severity of banking panics and the statistical relationship between panics and credit booms. A simple countercyclical macroprudential rule can achieve non-negligible welfare gains. These gains rise substantially when the run probability increases during a credit boom and, ex post, if a run is actually avoided. In a model without panics in which financial crises are driven by fundamentals only, the gains are much more limited.
NKV: A New Keynesian Model with Vulnerability
Authors: Adrian Tobias , Duarte Fernando , Liang Nellie , Zabczyk Pawel
Published: May 2020

We present a New Keynesian model with endogenous risk. The conditional output gap volatility depends on the price of risk, giving rise to a vulnerability channel of monetary policy. Lower interest rates not only shift consumption intertemporally but also shift conditional output risk. The model fits estimates of the conditional output gap distribution 1 to 12 quarters ahead and suggests an intertemporal risk return trade-off for policymakers. Via the impact on risk taking, easy monetary policy lowers short-term downside risks to growth but increases medium-term risks. The framework can be used to jointly consider macroprudential and monetary policy.
Theory and Measurement of Common Ownership
Authors: Backus Matthew , Conlon Christopher , Sinkinson Michael
Published: May 2020

The common ownership hypothesis, that the presence of diversified investors with holdings in competing firms distorts behavior away from own-firm profit maximization, has generated substantial controversy. Here, we focus on the problem of measuring common ownership. We reflect on three approaches, in order of the degree of modeling structure imposed. First, a purely descriptive summary of investor cross holdings; second, a theoretically motivated notion of “profit weights,” which captures the distortion without modeling the strategic interaction of firms; and finally, the fully structural approach, which consists of modeling both the distortions and the strategic game itself.
Diversification, Common Ownership, and Strategic Incentives
Authors: Banal-Estañol Albert , Seldeslachts Jo , Vives Xavier
Published: May 2020

We argue that within-industry investor diversification is directly related to common ownership incentives (profit loads on rival firms by the manager of a firm) in product markets. Because of their respective investment strategies, passive investors are naturally more diversified than active investors. If more money flows from active toward passive investors, then common ownership incentives increase. The opposite occurs if active investors receive more money flows. This pattern is shown in two example US industries for the period 2004-2012.
Active Investors, Passive Investors, and Common Ownership
Authors: Shy Oz , Stenbacka Rune
Published: May 2020

Recent studies have extensively examined the hypothesis that a higher degree of common ownership relaxes competition. This approach has typically conducted comparative statics analysis based on exogenously given rates of common ownership. This study constructs a simple model in which common ownership emerges as an equilibrium outcome resulting from ownership acquisition. We characterize the equilibrium incentives of institutional owners to acquire common ownership of the firms operating in a duopolistic product market. Further, we explore the effects of common ownership on passive investors, consumer welfare, and total welfare.
Provider Discretion and Variation in Resource Allocation: The Case of Triage Decisions
Authors: Chan David C. , Gruber Jonathan
Published: May 2020

One of the most challenging environments in health care is the emergency department (ED) A key decision-maker in that context is triage nurses, who assess patient illness severity and influence wait times for medical attention. We gather novel data on the triage process across 108 EDs, including wait times, triage nurse identities and assessments, and detailed patient information and outcomes. Using quasi-random assignment to ED, we find a striking rate of “inversions,” where patients who are sicker based on either ex ante information or ex post outcomes are scored as sicker and wait longer than their healthier counterparts.
The Allocation of Decision Authority to Human and Artificial Intelligence
Authors: Athey Susan C. , Bryan Kevin A. , Gans Joshua S.
Published: May 2020

The allocation of decision authority by a principal to either a human agent or an artificial intelligence (AI) is examined. The principal trades off an AI's more aligned choice with the need to motivate the human agent to expend effort in learning choice payoffs. When agent effort is desired, it is shown that the principal is more likely to give that agent decision authority, reduce investment in AI reliability, and adopt an AI that may be biased. Organizational design considerations are likely to have an impact on how AIs are trained.
The Managerial Effects of Algorithmic Fairness Activism
Authors: Cowgill Bo , Dell’Acqua Fabrizio , Matz Sandra
Published: May 2020

How do ethical arguments affect AI adoption in business? We randomly expose business decision-makers to arguments used in AI fairness activism. Arguments emphasizing the inescapability of algorithmic bias lead managers to abandon AI for manual review by humans and report greater expectations about lawsuits and negative PR. These effects persist even when AI lowers gender and racial disparities and when engineering investments to address AI fairness are feasible. Emphasis on status quo comparisons yields opposite effects. We also measure the effects of “scientific veneer” in AI ethics arguments. Scientific veneer changes managerial behavior but does not asymmetrically benefit favorable (versus critical) AI activism.
Diagnosing the Learning Environment for Diverse Students in Introductory Economics: An Analysis of Relevance, Belonging, and Growth Mindsets
Authors: Bayer Amanda , Bhanot Syon P. , Bronchetti Erin T. , O’Connell Stephen A.
Published: May 2020

Using administrative and survey data, we diagnose the learning environment in an introductory economics course. Relative to men from overrepresented groups, women and underrepresented minority students finish the course reporting significantly lower measures of relevance, belonging, and growth mindsets, factors related to college success. For example, they are less likely to agree that their professor used relatable examples, more likely to report feeling different than the typical economics major, and less likely to report believing they could learn the material. We also describe a new, low-cost initiative expanding the role of undergraduate teaching assistants to promote a more inclusive environment.
Technology and Big Data Are Changing Economics: Mining Text to Track Methods
Authors: Currie Janet , Kleven Henrik , Zwiers Esmée
Published: May 2020

The last 40 years have seen huge innovations in computing and in the availability of data. Data derived from millions of administrative records or by using (as we do) new methods of data generation such as text mining are now common. New data often requires new methods, which in turn can inspire new data collection. If history is any guide, some methods will stick and others will prove to be a flash in the pan. However, the larger trends toward demanding greater credibility and transparency from researchers in applied economics and a 'collage' approach to assembling evidence will likely continue.
College Attainment, Income Inequality, and Economic Security: A Simulation Exercise
Authors: Hershbein Brad , Kearney Melissa S. , Pardue Luke W.
Published: May 2020

We conduct an empirical simulation exercise that gauges the plausible impact of increased rates of college attainment on a variety of measures of income inequality and economic insecurity. Using two different methodological approaches--a distributional approach and a causal parameter approach--we find that increased rates of BA and AA attainment would meaningfully increase economic security for lower income individuals and shrink gaps between the 90th percentile and lower percentiles. Increases in college attainment would not significantly reduce inequality at the very top of the distribution, as measured by the 99/90 earnings ratio.
Visible Hands: Governance of Value Creation—Within Firms and Beyond
Authors: Gibbons Robert
Published: May 2020

Economic transactions can be divided into (1) those that are priced versus (2) those that are governed by visible hands, and within the latter (2a) those within a single organization versus (2b) those in nonintegrated settings. Nonintegration is not always “the market” [i.e., (1)]. The conventional distinction between markets versus firms, (1) versus (2a), is misleading. The fundamental distinction is between transactions that are priced versus those that are governed, (1) versus (2). Unifying (2a) with (2b) highlights their commonalities and suggests directions for future research, especially the problem of building (not selecting) an equilibrium.
National Fiscal Policies to Fight Recessions in US States
Authors: Dynan Karen , Elmendorf Douglas
Published: May 2020

Countercyclical fiscal policy generally focuses on national economic downturns. But US states experience significantly different patterns of unemployment, and demand shocks appear to drive much of that variation. State budget rules limit the ability of states to mount their own countercyclical policies. Federal taxes and spending programs have countercyclical effects within states, but the magnitude of those effects depends on policies that were designed based on other considerations (just as the extent of national automatic stabilizers is the result of policies based on other considerations). Enacting countercyclical fiscal policy calibrated to state unemployment rates would reduce the cost of recessions.
Do Pre-analysis Plans Hamper Publication?
Authors: Ofosu George K. , Posner Daniel N.
Published: May 2020

Scholars assert that pre-analysis plans (PAPs) generate boring, lab-report style papers and thus hamper publication. We test this claim by comparing the publication rates of experimental NBER working papers with and without PAPs. We find that articles with PAPs are slightly less likely to be published. However, conditional on being published, PAP-generated papers are significantly more likely to land in top-five journals. Also, PAP-based journal articles generate more citations. Our findings suggest that the alleged trade-off between career concerns and the scientific credibility that comes from registering and adhering to a PAP is less stark than is sometimes alleged.
Cost-Effectiveness Implications of Carbon Price Certainty
Authors: Aldy Joseph E. , Armitage Sarah
Published: May 2020

While a firm knows the carbon price with certainty under a tax, it must form an expectation about future allowance prices to identify its cost-effective abatement investment under a capand-trade program. We illustrate graphically how errors in forming this expectation increase the costs of irreversible pollution abatement investment under cap-and-trade relative to a tax. We describe empirical “cost-effectiveness anomalies” in allowance markets that may be attributed to cap-and-trade's inherent uncertainty. We model investment under simulated US carbon tax and cap-and-trade policies and find that allowance price uncertainty can increase resource costs 20 percent for a given quantity of emission abatement.
Stories at Work
Authors: Akerlof Robert , Matouschek Niko , Rayo Luis
Published: May 2020

Organizational stories are commonplace and a crucial force shaping employee behavior. We show how an organization's choice of story can be formally incorporated into its design problem. In our simple model, the organization optimally becomes either “purpose driven,” which involves pairing flat money incentives with a story that emphasizes the importance of generating output (e.g., saving lives, putting a person on the moon), or “incentive driven,” which involves pairing steep money incentives with a narrower story that emphasizes the importance of maintaining ethical standards (e.g., maintaining quality, helping peers). We illustrate the applicability of these results using a variety of examples.
Do Sounder Banks Make Calmer Waters? The Link between Bank Regulations and Capital Flow Waves
Authors: Forbes Kristin J.
Published: May 2020

This paper tests if prudential and macroprudential regulations have meaningfully reduced the incidence of capital flow “waves,” that is, of sudden stops and surges of capital flows from abroad. The results support other work documenting changes since 2008 in how global factors affect capital flows but provide mixed evidence on how regulations have affected the incidence of sharp capital flow movements. Regulations that strengthen banks (such as higher capital-asset ratios) meaningfully reduce the incidence of surges, but tighter macroprudential regulations appear to have done little to reduce the incidence of capital flow waves--and are even correlated with an increased risk of sudden stops. This may reflect their limited use to date, or how they interact with different types of capital flows. Macroprudential regulations may have reduced the volume and volatility of bank flows but shifted financial intermediation outside the regulated sector and thereby increased the volatility of debt and equity flows. These reforms could still provide important benefits, however, in terms of building the resilience of banks and thereby mitigating the negative effects of capital flow waves on the broader economy. Even if the waters are not much calmer, the waves should do less damage.
Who Ran on Repo?
Authors: Gorton Gary B. , Metrick Andrew , Ross Chase P.
Published: May 2020

The sale and repurchase (repo) market played a central role in the recent financial crisis. From the second quarter of 2007 to the first quarter of 2009, net repo financing provided to US banks and broker-dealers fell by about $900 billion--more than half of its pre-crisis total. Significant details of this “run on repo” remain shrouded because many of the providers of repo finance are lightly regulated or unregulated cash pools. Our analysis highlights the danger of relying exclusively on data from regulated institutions, which would miss the most important parts of the run.
A Skeptic’s Guide to Modern Monetary Theory
Authors: Mankiw N. Gregory
Published: May 2020

This essay discusses a new approach to macroeconomics called modern monetary theory (MMT). It identifies the key differences between MMT and the approach found in mainstream textbooks. It concludes that while MMT contains some kernels of truth, its most novel policy prescriptions do not follow cogently from its premises.
Are Large Deficits and Debt Dangerous?
Authors: Boskin Michael J.
Published: May 2020

The traditional view of large deficits and debt is that they are harmful, save in recession/early recovery, for tax smoothing or to fund productive public investment, as they crowd out private investment and lower future income, and taken to extremes, can cause inflation, even a financial crisis. Blanchard (2019) concludes they may have no fiscal cost and increase welfare. I present evidence of a debt problem, policies necessary to contain it, effects on recovery, interest rates, and long-run growth. There are several serious issues with Blanchard's reading of key data and modeling assumptions, the changing of which would reverse his conclusions.
Wealth Stratification and Portfolio Choice
Authors: Boulware Karl David , Kuttner Kenneth N.
Published: May 2020

This paper investigates the past decade's increase in wealth inequality along racial and ethnic lines. Using a new measure of wealth stratification based on data from the Survey of Consumer Finances, we find that stratification increased significantly for blacks from 2007 to 2016; Hispanics exhibited a similar but less pronounced trend. Our regression analysis shows that relative to whites, blacks and Hispanics tend to invest more in houses and less in stocks, controlling for observable demographic factors. Consequently, these groups did not benefit as much as whites from the decade's spectacular increase in stock prices.
The Impact of School Finance Reforms on Local Tax Revenues
Authors: Bayer Patrick , Blair Peter Q. , Whaley Kenneth
Published: May 2020

For many applications in public finance, it is difficult to find a source of exogeneous variation in local taxes. In this paper we use an event study design to show that the school finance reforms are one potential source of exogenous variation in taxes. This new instrument enlarges the tool kit for applied economists and other social scientists studying public finance and education.
Hispanic and Asian Earnings Inequality: New Workers and Immigrants
Authors: Akee Randall , Jones Maggie R. , Porter Sonya R. , Simeonova Emilia
Published: May 2020

Using confidential-use, individual-level Internal Revenue Service and US Census data, we follow the earnings of Hispanics and Asians between the ages of 18-45 with panel data that spans the years 2005-2014. These two groups represent the largest immigration flows in recent years. We examine the impact that labor market entrants and new immigrant arrivals within each group have on group earnings inequality. We show that labor market entrants and immigrants increase inequality for both groups.
Disparities in Police Award Nominations: Evidence from Chicago
Authors: Rim Nayoung , Ba Bocar , Rivera Roman
Published: May 2020

This study provides evidence of racial and gender disparities among police officers by examining a key metric of internal recognition: departmental award nominations. Using a novel dataset on Chicago police officers, we find that black (female) officers are significantly less likely to be nominated compared to their white (male) colleagues, even after controlling for cohort, age, experience, and key policing activity metrics such as arrests, uses of force, and complaints. Further, the discrepancy is likely not a result of statistical discrimination on the part of nominators, as the minority nominations gap grows among higher award percentiles.
Panorama mundial de estudos com a hidroxicloroquina para o tratamento da COVID-19
Authors: Pacheco Thyago José Arruda , De Souza Danielle Galdino , De Lima Luiza Ianny , Longo João Paulo Figueiró
Published: May 2020

Objetivo: analisar os recentes estudos com a hidroxicloroquina no tratamento da COVID-19. Métodos: comunicação breve relatando os principais resultados com o uso da hidroxicloroquina em ensaios clínicos e o panorama mundial desses estudos. Resultados: a maioria dos ensaios clínicos no mundo é com a hidroxicloroquina, e os resultados com o seu uso são variados. Conclusão: é urgente avaliar melhor a eficácia da hidroxicloroquina no possível tratamento da COVID-19 em pacientes não severos.
Early childhood bilingualism: effects on brain structure and function
Authors: Goksan Sezgi , Argyri Froso , Clayden Jonathan D. , Liegeois Frederique , Wei Li
Published: May 2020

Growing up in a bilingual environment is becoming increasingly common. Yet, we know little about how this enriched language environment influences the connectivity of children’s brains. Behavioural research in children and adults has shown that bilingualism experience may boost executive control (EC) skills, such as inhibitory control and attention. Moreover, increased structural and functional (resting-state) connectivity in language-related and EC-related brain networks is associated with increased executive control in bilingual adults. However, how bilingualism factors alter brain connectivity early in brain development remains poorly understood.

We will combine standardised tests of attention with structural and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in bilingual children. This study will allow us to address an important field of inquiry within linguistics and developmental cognitive neuroscience by examining the following questions: Does bilingual experience modulate connectivity in language-related and EC-related networks in children? Do differences in resting-state brain connectivity correlate with differences in EC skills (specifically attention skills)? How do bilingualism-related factors, such as age of exposure to two languages, language usage and proficiency, modulate brain connectivity?

We will collect structural and functional MRI, and quantitative measures of EC and language skills from two groups of English-Greek bilingual children - 20 simultaneous bilinguals (exposure to both languages from birth) and 20 successive bilinguals (exposure to English between the ages of 3 and 5 years) - and 20 English monolingual children, 8-10 years old. We will compare connectivity measures and attention skills between monolinguals and bilinguals to examine the effects of bilingual exposure. We will also examine to what extent bilingualism factors predict brain connectivity in EC and language networks.

Overall, we hypothesize that connectivity and EC will be enhanced in bilingual children compared to monolingual children, and each outcome will be modulated by age of exposure to two languages and by bilingual language usage.
The invisible workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic: Family carers at the frontline
Authors: Phillips Dominique , Paul Gillian , Fahy Majella , Dowling-Hetherington Linda , Kroll Thilo , Moloney Breda , Duffy Clare , Fealy Gerard , Lafferty Attracta
Published: May 2020

This is an open letter to acknowledge the essential and increasingly challenging role unpaid family carers are playing in the COVID-19 pandemic. The letter is written by members of the CAREWELL team, a HRB-funded project that aims to promote health and self-care behaviours among working family carers. Family carers provide care to family and friends in the community who need support due to old-age, disability and chronic illness. In many cases, family carers are supporting those who are considered most at risk in this pandemic meaning carers must reduce their own risk of infection in order to protect their dependent family members. The temporary reduction of some home care services, as well as school and creche closures, means that family carers are providing increased levels of care with little or no support. At a time when both worlds of work and care have been dramatically transformed, we wish to shed light on those who are currently balancing paid employment with a family caregiving role. We argue that there is much to be learned from the recent work restrictions that could benefit employees, including working family carers, beyond this pandemic. We also wish to build on the potential positives of a transformed society and encourage policy makers and employers to focus on what is currently being implemented, and to identify which measures could be used to create a bedrock of policies and practices that would offer robust and effective support to family carers. It is hoped that family carers will receive greater recognition for the significant role they play in society, providing essential care and alleviating the strain on health and social care systems, both during and post the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lack of change in CA1 dendritic spine density or clustering in rats following training on a radial-arm maze task
Authors: Craig Emma , Dillingham Christopher M. , Milczarek Michal M. , Phillips Heather M. , Davies Moira , Perry James C. , Vann Seralynne D.
Published: May 2020

Background: Neuronal plasticity is thought to underlie learning and memory formation. The density of dendritic spines in the CA1 region of the hippocampus has been repeatedly linked to mnemonic processes. Both the number and spatial location of the spines, in terms of proximity to nearest neighbour, have been implicated in memory formation. To examine how spatial training impacts synaptic structure in the hippocampus, Lister-Hooded rats were trained on a hippocampal-dependent spatial task in the radial-arm maze. 

Methods: One group of rats were trained on a hippocampal-dependent spatial task in the radial arm maze. Two further control groups were included: a yoked group which received the same sensorimotor stimulation in the radial-maze but without a memory load, and home-cage controls. At the end of behavioural training, the brains underwent Golgi staining. Spines on CA1 pyramidal neuron dendrites were imaged and quantitatively assessed to provide measures of density and distance from nearest neighbour. 

Results: There was no difference across behavioural groups either in terms of spine density or in the clustering of dendritic spines.

Conclusions: Spatial learning is not always accompanied by changes in either the density or clustering of dendritic spines on the basal arbour of CA1 pyramidal neurons when assessed using Golgi imaging.
THE PROBLEM OF PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT SPECIALISTS IN THE CONTEXT OF THEIR EMPLOYMENT
Authors: Romanova I. , Laas N. , Gurova E.
Published: May 2020

The article presents the results of a study on the employment of graduates of the first in the Russian Federation department of personnel management at the State University of Management (Moscow). A survey of former students showed that most of the respondents work in their specialty in organizations of various forms of ownership and areas of the economy. The positions of graduates and the job responsibilities performed by them reflect the whole range of professional activities of HR specialists, starting from the general management of personnel of specific organizations and ending with narrowly targeted posts. At the same time, respondents, as professionals, were identified the “weaknesses” of their training at the university, which were mostly related to the limited practical orientation of training, namely, the formation of competencies in the use of relevant personnel management tools. The questionnaire also revealed the variability of the professional interests of graduates, reflecting modern HR trends. The practical focus of the study lies in the possibility of studying the real state of personnel management practice through the professional experience of graduates; as a resource for scientific, educational, methodological and educational purposes for improving the educational process of the department; for the organization of career guidance work among students studying at the department and the formation of their professional culture; to develop a community of teachers, graduates and students of the department through the development of trusting mutually beneficial relationships.
MACROECONOMIC IMPACT ON LABOR MARKETS IN THE FACE OF GLOBAL RECESSION RISKS
Authors: Smirnov E.
Published: May 2020

The relevance of the problems researched in the article is due to the determining influence of global recessions on the labor markets of foreign countries and the growing imbalances in this market. In the economic policy and practice of developing countries, in addition to the traditional issues of revitalizing the financial system and commodity markets, it’s crucial the policy of post-crisis recovery of labor markets. At the same time, we note a significant differentiation of approaches to the analysis of employment, unemployment and modeling the response of labor markets to economic downturns. In the framework of our study were proposed the effects of recessions on labor markets were analyzed, and government policy measures aimed at overcoming disruptions in the labor market during global economic recessions, counteracting polarization in the labor market and reducing the risks of increasing informal employment.
PREPARING AND CONDUCTING A SPECIAL ASSESSMENT OF WORKING CONDITIONS: OPINIONS OF PARTICIPANTS AND RECOM-MENDATIONS TO CUSTOMER ORGANIZATIONS
Authors: Luzakov A. , Tkachenko D.
Published: May 2020

Special assessment of working conditions (SAWС) is a set of measures to identify harmful and (or) dangerous factors of the production environment and the labor process and assess the level of their impact on the employee. SAWС is regulated by the law of the Russian Federation and is mandatory for employers organizations. The current rules have been applied in practice relatively recently, since 2014. Despite a lot of comments on the legal aspects of SAWС, there is little research on the subjective perception of customers and performers of problems related to special assessment. The article presents some of the results of a survey of experts who conduct SAWС and representatives of customer organizations. The difficulties and reasons for dissatisfaction arising during the SAWС are identified, which relate to the choice of the contractor, the interest and involvement of customers, and compliance with procedures and deadlines by both parties. Based on the results of the survey and regulatory documents, step-by-step recommendations were developed and presented to help customer organizations. Recommendations contain a list of common errors that should be avoided. They will allow you to properly prepare and conduct all the stages of the SAWС, starting from the formation of the Commission to the application of the results.
Variable structure and provision of guideline-based care in specialist heart failure centres in the UK: a survey of 100 health professionals
Authors: Masters Helena , Freeman Jon , Dixon Samantha
Published: May 2020

Background/aims

Chronic heart failure is a common condition with a poor prognosis, and its prevalence is increasing in the UK and elsewhere. Patients with heart failure require complex multidisciplinary care, with appropriate medicines optimisation, nursing support and management of comorbidities, ideally delivered via a multidisciplinary team integrated between the community and the hospital. This study aimed to investigate how heart failure care services are structured and delivered.

Methods

A survey of 100 health professionals in 79 heart failure centres was conducted by post or telephone using the same structured question format.

Results

There was widespread variability in the provision of key elements of heart failure nursing (specialist heart failure nurses, nurse prescriber, nurse consultant). A total of 15% of trusts had no local consultant with special interest in heart failure; 73% had no pharmacist; and 83% had no mental health specialist working in the heart failure healthcare team. Dedicated administrative support was absent in 24% of trusts. One-fifth (20%) did not offer exercise rehabilitation. A total of 68% reported insufficient resources available locally for individualised exercise rehabilitation, in accordance with guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

Conclusions

The structure and provision of heart failure care is variable across the UK, and not always consistent with current guidelines. Reducing this variability across the UK is an urgent priority and will require increased resources, especially for specialist nurses embedded within the routine care of patients with chronic heart failure.