Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Perinatal outcome of singletons and twins after assisted conception: a systematic review of controlled studies

Abstract Objective To compare the perinatal outcome of singleton and twin pregnancies between natural and assisted conceptions. Design Systematic review of controlled studies published 1985-2002. Studies reviewed 25 studies were included of which 17 had matched and 8 had non-matched controls. Main outcome measures Very preterm birth, preterm birth, very low birth weight, low birth weight, small for gestational age, caesarean section, admission to neonatal intensive care unit, and perinatal mortality. Results For singletons, studies with matched controls indicated a relative risk of 3.27 (95% confidence interval 2.03 to 5.28) for very preterm (< 32 weeks) and 2.04 (1.80 to 2.32) for preterm (< 37 weeks) birth in pregnancies after assisted conception. Relative risks were 3.00 (2.07 to 4.36) for very low birth weight (< 1500 g), 1.70 (1.50 to 1.92) for low birth weight (< 2500 g), 1.40 (1.15 to 1.71) for small for gestational age, 1.54 (1.44 to 1.66) for caesarean section, 1.27 (1.16 to 1.40) for admission to a neonatal intensive care unit, and 1.68 (1.11 to 2.55) for perinatal mortality. Results of the non-matched studies were similar. In matched studies of twin gestations, relative risks were 0.95 (0.78 to 1.15) for very preterm birth, 1.07 (1.02 to 1.13) for preterm birth, 0.89 (0.74 to 1.07) for very low birth weight, 1.03 (0.99 to 1.08) for low birth weight, 1.27 (0.97 to 1.65) for small for gestational age, 1.21 (1.11 to 1.32) for caesarean section, 1.05 (1.01 to 1.09) for admission to a neonatal intensive care unit, and 0.58 (0.44 to 0.77) for perinatal mortality. The non-matched studies mostly showed similar trends. Conclusions Singleton pregnancies from assisted reproduction have a significantly worse perinatal outcome than non-assisted singleton pregnancies, but this is less so for twin pregnancies. In twin pregnancies, perinatal mortality is about 40% lower after assisted compared with natural conception.
Inflation, money, and output under alternative monetary standards

Our study examines whether there is a systematic relationship between the monetary standard under which a country operates and the rate of inflation it experiences. It also explores whether there are other properties of inflation, money, and output that differ between economies operating under a commodity standard and economies operating under a fiat standard. The basis for our study is price, money, and output data for 15 countries that have operated under both types of monetary standards. For each of these countries the data cover 80 years, and for most the data cover more than 100 years. With these data we are able to establish several facts about the differences in inflation, money growth, and output growth between economies operating under commodity standards and those operating under fiat standards. Specifically, we find that the following facts emerge when comparing commodity standards to fiat standards: inflation, money growth, and output growth are all lower; growth rates of monetary aggregates are less highly correlated with each other; growth rates of monetary aggregates are less highly correlated with inflation; and growth rates of monetary aggregates are more highly correlated with output growth.
The impact of senior managers’ commitment on the success of TQM programmes: An empirical study

To date, little research has examined the role and impact of managers on the success of total quality management (TQM) programmes. Evaluations of TQM initiatives have been based on ad hoc surveys rather than longitudinal research designs. This paper presents the results of a cohort of 113 TQM programmes over a five‐year period. It highlights the impact of the softer elements of TQM, such as senior management commitment and employee involvement, on programme outcomes. We conclude that senior managers’ involvement, understanding and customer focus are essential antecedents of TQM success. These findings have important implications for strategic management, leadership and training in TQM organisations.
Long-Term Relationships as Safeguards ; Can dishonest types induce honest behavior ?

Overview and Results. Recently there has been a surge of interest in how cooperative behavior can arise as an equilibrium outcome in a dynamic community setting. The problem that has to be overcome in such setting is that individuals interact with varying opponents so the usual mechanism of personal and quick retaliation against noncooperators is not available. In this paper we continue this line of research, studying the role of heterogeneity of types, the endogenous formation of long term relationships, and the role of legal institutions in this process. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the endogenous formation of long term relationship may help solve the problem of non-cooperative, or dishonest, behavior. As one example consider the banking industry. The banking literature speaks of “customer relationships,” suggesting that customers who prove themselves to be honest, i.e., who pay back their loans on time, are able to enter into long term relationships and borrow at a lower interest rate or borrow a larger amount. On the other hand, new customers may have to pay a higher interest rate (or borrow a smaller amount) and customers who are not current on their loans are denied credit and may have to turn to other institutions for future business and pay a higher interest rate. Thereby the promise of forming a long term relationship and enjoying higher payoffs and the punishment of severing a relationship, entering into a pool of incognitos, and suffering low payoffs induces borrowers to behave honestly. The model we construct and analyze in this paper delivers these features in a game theoretic setting. More specifically, the setting we consider consists of three elements. The first element is that relationships are constantly reshuffled, i.e., individuals interact with varying opponents over time. This reshuffle is partly exogenous, i.e., induced by exogenously imposed separations and partly endogenous, i.e., induced by individuals’ decisions whether to continue interacting with the same partner or seek a new partner. This implies that the choice of a partner and the longevity of a partnership are, to some extent, endogenous. The second element is that individuals play a prisoner’s dilemma game and are able to observe their partner’s behavior within the relationship (but not his behavior in previous relationships with other agents). Thereby individuals are able to condition their continuation vs. separation decision on that behavior. In particular an individual can leave a partner who cheats her. Conversely, an individual can induce her partner to stay and form a long-term relationship by being honest. The third element of our model is that individual players are of different types. Some players (called good)
What Do We Know about Early Childhood Education?: Research Based Practice

PART 1: USING RESEARCH TO INFORM PRACTICE. Chapter 1: The Importance of a Research Base. Chapter 2: Reading and Interpreting Research. Chapter 3: Accessing Sources of Research in Early Childhood Education. PART 2: WHAT DOES RESEARCH TELL US ABOUT THE ISSUES? Chapter 4: Does Early Education Make a Difference? Chapter 5: Who is Coming to School? Chapter 6: How Long Should Young Children be in School? Chapter 7: Does Grouping Pattern Affect Achievement? Chapter 8: What are the Effects of Failure? Chapter 9: Does the Physical Environment Affect Young Children? Chapter 10: What Do We Know about Guidance and Discipline? Chapter 11: Does Delivery of the Curriculum Affect Learning? Chapter 12: Does Parent Involvement in School Impact Young Children? PART 3: CONNECTING RESEARCH TO PRACTICE. Chapter 13: Case Scenarios to Examine. Chapter 14: Projects and Activities.
Light element abundances in carbon-enhanced metal-poor stars

We model the evolution of the abundances of light elements in carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars, under the assumption that such stars are formed by mass transfer in a binary system. We have modelled the accretion of material ejected by an asymptotic giant branch star on to the surface of a companion star. We then examine three different scenarios: one in which the material is mixed only by convective processes, one in which thermohaline mixing is present and a third in which both thermohaline mixing and gravitational settling are taken in to account. The results of these runs are compared to light element abundance measurements in CEMP stars (primarily CEMP-s stars, which are rich in s-processes elements and likely to have formed by mass transfer from an AGB star), focusing on the elements Li, F, Na and Mg. None of the elements is able to provide a conclusive picture of the extent of mixing of accreted material. We confirm that lithium can only be preserved if little mixing takes place. The bulk of the sodium observations suggest that accreted material is effectively mixed but there are also several highly Na and Mg-rich objects that can only be explained if the accreted material is unmixed. We suggest that the available sodium data may hint that extra mixing is taking place on the giant branch, though we caution that the data are sparse.
A History of Thailand

Since it was first published in 2005, A History of Thailand has been hailed as an authoritative, lively and readable account of Thailand's political, economic, social and cultural history. From the early settlements in the Chao Phraya basin to today, Baker and Phongpaichit trace how a world of mandarin nobles and unfree peasants was transformed by colonialism, the expansion of the rice frontier and the immigration of traders and labourers from southern China. This book examines how the monarchy managed the foundation of a new nation‐state at the end of the nineteenth century, and how urban nationalists, ambitious generals, communist rebels and business politicians competed to take control through the twentieth century. It tracks Thailand's economic changes, globalisation and the evolution of mass society, and draws on popular culture to dramatize social trends. This edition contains a new chapter on Thailand's turbulent politics since 2006 and incorporates new sources and research throughout.
Hardware runtime verification of embedded software in SoPC

This paper discusses an implementation of runtime verification for embedded software running on a System-on-Programmable-Chip (SoPC) composed of a micro-controller and a FPGA. The goal is to verify at runtime that the execution of the software on the micro-controller conforms to a set of properties. To do so, a minimal instrumentation of the software is used to send events to a set of monitors implemented in the FPGA. These monitors are synthesised from a formal specification of the expected behavior of the system expressed as a set of past-time linear temporal logic (ptLTL) formulas.
Intellectual capital and performance of pharmaceutical firms in India

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between intellectual capital (IC) and performance of pharmaceutical firms in India. The secondary objective is to propose and test modified models of Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC™) method. Design/methodology/approach – Data on 22 large pharmaceutical firms collected for empirical investigation. Return on assets and return on sales are performance variables. IC and its components – human capital, structural capital and relational capital (RC), are predictor variables. Three extended and modified VAIC™ models (e-VAIC™) are proposed. Multiple regression technique is applied on pooled data to draw inferences. Findings – Results show instances of positive relationship between IC and performance variables. RC, the new variable, does not demonstrate statistically significant relationship with performance variables. Research limitations/implications – Due to inadequate reporting of IC and its components, availability of data on various.
Compact Millimeter-Wave CMOS Bandpass Filters Using Grounded Pedestal Stepped-Impedance Technique

This paper presents compact CMOS millimeter-wave bandpass filters based on a new stepped-impedance technique by incorporating a grounded pedestal into the microstrip line. The characteristic impedance of a microstrip line can be effectively changed by varying both the height of pedestal and the width of line. Therefore, the stepped-impedance resonators and stubs can be realized in the compact three-dimensional forms in CMOS. Two millimeter-wave bandpass filters were designed by using the new stepped-impedance resonators and stubs. Their chip sizes are significantly miniaturized to 0.37 x 0.2 mm2, equivalently 0.012 λg2 . The first chip filter has the insertion loss of 3.1-3.4 dB in 59-71 GHz and the second filter has the insertion loss of 3.5-3.8 dB in 53-64 GHz. Both chip filters have good stopband suppression attributed from the existence of transmission zeros.
Economic Growth, Financial and Trade Globalization in the Philippines: A Vector Autoregressive Analysis

This study was conducted to examine the relationship among Economic Growth, Financial and trade Globalization in the Philippines from 1980 to 2011. The study used the Vector Autoregressive VAR (1) model and Granger Causality test. It was found out that the current value of GDP is positively affected by the previous value of itself and trade openness. The estimation results suggested that growth in trade volumes accelerate economic growth. However, financial openness has no significant effect on the current value of GDP. This implies that the level of openness of the Philippine economy is not sufficient to obtain the potential benefits of financial globalization in enhancing economic growth.
Quantitative and Qualitative Responses to Topical Cold in Healthy Caucasians Show Variance between Individuals but High Test-Retest Reliability

Increased sensitivity to cold may be a predictor of persistent pain, but cold pain threshold is often viewed as unreliable. This study aimed to determine the within-subject reliability and between-subject variance of cold response, measured comprehensively as cold pain threshold plus pain intensity and sensation quality at threshold. A test-retest design was used over three sessions, one day apart. Response to cold was assessed at four sites (thenar eminence, volar forearm, tibialis anterior, plantar foot). Cold pain threshold was measured using a Medoc thermode and standard method of limits. Intensity of pain at threshold was rated using a 10cm visual analogue scale. Quality of sensation at threshold was quantified with indices calculated from subjects' selection of descriptors from a standard McGill Pain Questionnaire. Within-subject reliability for each measure was calculated with intra-class correlation coefficients and between-subject variance was evaluated as group coefficient of variation percentage (CV%). Gender and site comparisons were also made. Forty-five healthy adults participated: 20 male, 25 female; mean age 29 (range 18–56) years. All measures at all four test sites showed high within-subject reliability: cold pain thresholds r = 0.92–0.95; pain rating r = 0.93–0.97; McGill pain quality indices r = 0.87–0.85. In contrast, all measures showed wide between-subject variance (CV% between 51.4% and 92.5%). Upper limb sites were consistently more sensitive than lower limb sites, but equally reliable. Females showed elevated cold pain thresholds, although similar pain intensity and quality to males. Females were also more reliable and showed lower variance for all measures. Thus, although there was clear population variation, response to cold for healthy individuals was found to be highly reliable, whether measured as pain threshold, pain intensity or sensation quality. A comprehensive approach to cold response testing therefore may add validity and improve acceptance of this potentially important pain measure.
Acute febrile torticollis in youth: clinical investigation and current management

Acute febrile torticollis in children is a rare and a special clinical picture of variable causes. It may indicate an inflammatory or an infectious pathology affecting any of the anatomical structures of the neck. Treatment is quite clearly defined, and it may be a therapeutic emergency. It is a condition that all ENT specialists must be familiar with since they are most likely to be the first physician to whom such a child is brought
Prescriptions for Ethical Blindness: Improving Advocacy for Indigent Defendants in Criminal Cases

The reasons criminal lawyers so often fail to provide adequate legal representation to indigent defendants are well-known: severe underfunding, excessive workloads and other disincentives for competent representation work together to encourage quick disposition of cases, with little regard for the quality of legal services that are provided. Yet, largely overlooked in this equation is whether defense lawyers who provide subpar representation are aware of their own shortcomings. To answer this question, this article focuses on the psychology of ethical decision-making. Relying on research that reveals the subtle ways that self-interest can cause people to overlook unethical behavior, it argues that defense lawyers will tend to be “ethically blind” to their own poor performance. Concluding that lawyers who suffer from ethical blindness cannot be expected to improve the quality of legal representation on their own, it recommends ways to reduce psychological barriers to competent representation that have proven successful in other contexts.
Carbon Tetrachloride Flow Behavior in Unsaturated Hanford Caliche Material: An Investigation of Residual Nonaqueous Phase Liquids

At many contaminated sites, nonaqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) persist in the vadose zone for long periods of time. This occurs because the permeability of the NAPL becomes negligible at some saturation and downward movement ceases, resulting in residual NAPL. To obtain data that can be used to study the development of a residual NAPL saturation and to test corresponding models, a detailed transient experiment was conducted in a 170 cm long by 90 cm high by 5.5 cm wide flow cell. Fluid saturation measurements were obtained with a dual‐energy γ radiation system. The experimental conditions reflected those at the Hanford Site in Washington State, where an estimated 363 to 580 m3 of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) was disposed to the subsurface. A key subsurface feature at the Hanford Site is a sloped Plio‐Pleistocene caliche layer, which was reproduced in the experiment as a sloped lens in a medium‐grained, uniform, sand matrix. The caliche contains considerable amounts of CaCO3 and may have fluid wettability properties other than strongly water wet. A total of 800 mL of CCl4 was injected into the experimental domain at a rate of 0.5 mL min−1 from a small source area located at the surface. After apparent static conditions were obtained with respect to CCl4 redistribution, saturation measurements indicated that all of the dense nonaqueous phase liquids (DNAPL) that had initially moved into the caliche remained in this layer. Water was subsequently applied to the surface at a constant rate over the full length of the caliche layer to study CCl4 displacement as a result of changing water saturations. Water saturation in the caliche layer rose to as high as 0.91 during water infiltration. Results show that 25% of the DNAPL present in the caliche migrated from this layer as a consequence of water infiltration, while 75% remained in the caliche layer. The experimental results could not be reproduced with numerical multifluid flow simulations based on common constitutive theory. This indicates that improvements in constitutive theory may be needed to accurately model air−DNAPL−water flow behavior.
Fiscal sustainability and policy rules under changing demographic forecasts

All practical evaluations of fiscal sustainability that include the effects of population ageing must utilize demographic forecasts. It is well known that such forecasts are uncertain, and that has been taken into account in some studies by using stochastic population projections jointly with economic models. We develop this approach further by introducing regular demographic forecast revisions that are embedded in stochastic population projections. This allows us to separate systematically, in each demographic outcome and under different policy rules, the expected and the actualized effects of population ageing on public finances. We show that the likelihood of sustainability risks is significant, and that it would be wise to consider policies that reduce the likelihood of getting highly indebted. Furthermore, although demographic forecasts are uncertain, they seem to contain enough information to be useful in forward-looking policy rules.
A neuro-fuzzy approach to obtain interpretable fuzzy systems for function approximation

Fuzzy systems can be used for function approximation based on a set of linguistic rules. We present a method to obtain the necessary parameters for such a fuzzy system by a neuro-fuzzy training method. The learning algorithm is able to determine the structure and the parameters of a fuzzy system from sample data. The approach is an extension to our already published NEFCON and NEFCLASS models which are used for control or classification purposes. The NEFPROX model, which is discussed in this paper is more general, and it can be used for any problem based on function approximation. We especially consider the problem to obtain interpretable fuzzy systems by learning.
Self-Regulation and E-Learning

E-learning is a rapidly growing form of organizational learning and is being widely used to train and educate employees. However, the specific learner characteristics that lead to performance in an elearning environment are unclear. This study investigated this problem in corporate e-learning environments from an academic self-regulated learning (SRL) perspective. A causal model was introduced, highlighting dimensions of self-regulation hypothesized to be predictors of perceived elearning performance, in terms of mastery, retention and job performance. The eight dimensions of academic self-regulation considered are intrinsic goal orientation, extrinsic goal orientation, selfefficacy for SRL, computer self-efficacy, e-learning self-efficacy, time management, environment management, and help seeking. Quantitative data was gathered using an online questionnaire which was administered to employees at four major organizations and a group of students undertaking a postgraduate Information Technology course at the University of New South Wales, who are also fulltime employees at various organizations. Statistical analyses performed using the Partial Least Squares (PLS) technique demonstrated that e-learners with higher levels of intrinsic goal orientation, self-efficacy for SRL, e-learning self-efficacy, and environment management are likely to have better e-learning course performance. This study has both theoretical and practical implications for researchers, organizations and learners.