Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECT OF COPPER COATED IUCD ON THE UTERINE BLOOD FLOW USING THE TRANSVAGINAL COLOUR AND PULSED DOPPLER SONOGRAPHY

Transvaginal colour Doppler (TVCD) sonography is the gold standard in investigating a gynecological pathologies, in addition to its close proximity to the pelvic organs that gives close view of the morphological features of the organs , it also provides an opportunity to visualize and quantify pelvic blood flow in uterine and adnexial masses. Another use of TVCD to quantify the physiological changes of the uterine and ovarian blood flow in relation to hormonal changes during the menstrual cycle. The follicle and corpus luteum of the ovary and endometrium are the only areas in the normal adult where angiogenesis occur, Findlay J.K. (1986)(1), Kurjak A.et al (1991)(2). The uterine artery waveform analysis shows high to moderate flow velocity as shown in figures ( 1 and 2 ) below. The resistance index (RI) depends on the patients age, the phase of the menstrual cycle, and specific conditions such as pregnancy and uterine tumors.
pidemiology and transmission dynamics of the 1918 – 19 pandemic influenza in lorence , Italy

To investigate the 1918/19 influenza pandemic daily number of new hospitalizations in the only hospital in Florence (Central Italy) were analyzed. In order to describe the transmission dynamics of the 1918/1919 pandemic influenza a compartmental epidemic model was used. Model simulations show a high level of agreement with the observed epidemic data. By assuming both latent and infectious period equal to 1.5 days, the estimated basic reproduction number was R1 0 = 1.03 (95% CI: 1.00–1.08) during the summer wave and R2 0 = 1.38 (95% CI: 1.32–1.48) during the fall wave. Varying the length of the generation 2 panish flu eproduction number taly time or the estimation method, R0 ranges from 1.32 to 1.71. The hospitalization rate was found significantly different between summer and fall waves. Notably, the estimated basic reproductive numbers are lower compared to those observed in other countries, while the age distribution of deaths resulted to be consistent with the patterns generally observed during of the 1918–1919 pandemic. Our knowledge on past pandemics, as for the 1918–19 Spanish influenza, would help improving mathematical modeling accuracy and understanding the mechanisms underlying the dynamics of future pandemics.
The effects of entry timing and business model innovation on performance: the case of the global MP3 player market

This paper explores the effects of entry timing and business model innovation on performance in the early stage of a new product market. Previous research on relationships between entry timing and firm performance has presented conflicting results. Based on a case study of the global MP3 player market, this study examines how entry timing and business model innovation have impacted firms' performances in this new market. A group of market pioneers, including new startups and large early pioneers focusing on hardware-centric product innovations, failed to survive and earn high performance in the new market. In contrast, a late entrant, Apple, with game-changing business model innovations, has dominated the new product market. The business model innovation, which integrated a user-friendly innovative hardware and software platform with the business ecosystem, allows the late entrant to overcome disadvantages from late entry and gain competitive advantages over competitors
The Role of International Property Trusts in Australian Mixed-Asset Portfolios

AbstractAs more LPTs invest overseas, the percentage of international property in LPTs has expanded to over 30% of the total LPT market value. This development has offered new investment opportunities to Australian investors, especially smaller fund managers, to gain exposure to indirect international property investment. Findings of this paper suggest that the addition of international LPTs to the Australian mixed-asset portfolio has resulted in significant diversification gain. The diversification benefit is even more remarkable when direct property is included in the mixed-asset portfolio. Even when the allocations to international LPTs and direct property were constrained, the international LPTs, property and financial assets’ portfolio still outperformed other mixed-asset portfolios.
E-Governance as Strategy of Public Sector Reform: Peculiarity of Japanese it Policy and its Institutional Origin

As the cases of public sector reform and e-governance projects have shown, e-governance can play a role in public sector reform. This paper describes Japanese e-governance policy and its status, focusing on the issues affecting the government and the public. Japan has implemented a series of political and administrative reforms in order to improve accountability. NPM reforms utilize various strategies to manage public policies, and e-governance is a public policy that directly affects other policies and brings about change. Its characteristics as public policy are different from those of other policies, especially in relation to public accountability.
Modelling and performance analysis of maximum achievable rate over Nakagami-m fading uplink channels

It is of great importance and interests for network operators to evaluate the impact of inter-cell co-channel interference on the achievable data rate in cellular networks. In this paper, a closed-form maximum achievable rate over Nakagami-m fading uplink channels based on multicell linear Wyner model is derived. Moreover, the maximum achievable rates in some special cases are investigated. Numerical results show that the maximum achievable rate decreases with the increase of the inter-cell signal interference factor and is also affected by Nakagami-m fading severity parameters and number of users in a cell.
Bicycling Choice and Gender Case Study: The Ohio State University

ABSTRACT This article brings two emerging research areas together: gender differences in travel behavior and travel patterns on college campuses; with a focus on bicycling. Detailed analysis and choice model estimations present the significant effects of gender, travel times, and personal attitudes on the decision to bike. Although men and women experience similar environmental opportunities and constraints, their perceptions in terms of safety and feasibility of alternative transportation modes differ. The models indicate women are more sensitive to being close to bicycle trails and paths. Results reveal different policy and infrastructure changes may be required to encourage more women to bicycle.
Credit Risk Assessment and Relationship Lending: An Empirical Analysis of German Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprises**

We estimate a logit scoring model for the prediction of the probability of default by German small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) using a unique data set on SME loans in Germany. Our scoring model helps SMEs to gain knowledge about their default risk, which can be used to approximate their risk adequate cost of debt. This knowledge is likely to lead to a detection of hold‐up problems that German SMEs might be confronted with in their bank relationships. Furthermore, it allows them to monitor their bank’s pricing behavior and it reduces information asymmetries between lenders and borrowers. Finally, it can influence their future financing decisions toward capital market‐based financing.
Income Inequality and Mobility in Hungary 1992-96

The first half of the 1990s brought major changes to Hungary. The positive sides of the transformation in the Hungarian economy and society were accompanied by less welcome aspects - a sharp fall in GDP, double-digit unemployment and falling real incomes. How have children fared in these circumstances? This paper considers the changing position of children in the Hungarian income distribution, comparing it to that of the elderly - another potentially vulnerable group whose incomes, like those of households with children, are a concern for policymakers.
Notes on using LifeScanner for DNA-based identification of non-marine macroinvertebrates

We at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge (KNWR) have been intent on inventorying and monitoring invertebrates for some time in fulfillment of our Congressional mandate to “to conserve fish and wildlife populations and habitats in their natural diversity. ”2 Recently, the US Fish & Wildlife Service, Alaska Region has collaborated with the University of Alaska Museum to build a DNA barcode library of Alaskan non-marine arthropods to better enable identifications of Alaskan material by DNA barcoding (Sikes et al., 2017). In this project arthropods were submitted for DNA barcoding in 95-well plates to the Canadian Center for DNA Barcoding (CCDB) and resulting sequences were uploaded to BOLD (Ratnasingham and Hebert, 2007). At KNWR, DNA barcoding has enabled us to add to KNWR’s checklist (Kenai National Wildlife Refuge biology staff, 2017) species that could not have been identified by morphological methods. We have also added to our list molecular operating taxonomic units (MOTUs, Blaxter et al., 2005) not necessarily associated with any accepted name, especially those recognized by BOLD’s Barcode Index Number (BIN) algorithm (Ratnasingham and Hebert, 2013). Beginning in fall 2015 KNWR obtained a number of LifeScanner kits (http://lifescanner.net/) for identification of animal specimens. I also purchased kits for use in a homeschool science project on willow rose gall midges and to identify pest insects around my family’s small farming operation in Kasilof. In this article I will present a summary of the results, highlight some of the more noteworthy identifications obtained, and discuss the pros and cons of the LifeScanner service based on my experience.
Adrenal incidentalomas: diagnostic evaluation and long-term follow-up.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the cause and the clinical and laboratory features of adrenal incidentalomas (AI) in 52 patients and to assess the evolution of nonsurgically treated lesions during long-term follow-up. METHODS We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 52 patients with AI undergoing routine follow-up in 2 Brazilian endocrine centers. RESULTS In our study group, nonfunctioning adenomas were the most frequent cause of AI (42%), followed by cortisol-secreting adenomas (15%), metastatic disease (10%), pheochromocytomas (8%), myelolipomas (6%), cysts (6%), carcinomas (4%), lymphomas (4%), tuberculosis (4%), and aldosteronoma (2%). Only 13 lesions (25%) were functioning (8 cortisol-secreting adenomas, 4 pheochromocytomas, and 1 aldosteronoma). Carcinomas were the largest adrenal masses (mean diameter, 11.7 +/- 1.3 cm). With the exception of 1 pheochromocytoma, 1 cyst, and 1 myelolipoma, all AI larger than 6 cm were carcinomas. During follow-up of 21 patients with nonsurgically treated AI for 6 to 36 months (mean, 24.8 +/- 8.9), no patient had tumor reduction or disappearance. After 12 months of follow-up, however, a 45-year-old woman had adrenal mass enlargement from 3.2 cm to 4.4 cm; the excised lesion proved to be an adenoma. Moreover, evidence of cortisol hypersecretion developed after 24 months of follow-up in a 30-year-old man with a 3.5-cm adenoma in the left adrenal gland. CONCLUSION Our findings demonstrate that most AI are nonfunctioning benign lesions and emphasize the need for long-term follow-up of patients with conservatively managed lesions, in light of the potential for evolution to hormonal hypersecretion or tumor growth.
Community Reinvestment and Credit Risk: Evidence from an Affordable Home Loan Program

This paper examines the performance of home purchase loans originated by a major depository institution in Philadelphia under a flexible lending program between 1988 and 1994. The authors examine long-term delinquency in relation to neighborhood housing market conditions, borrower credit history scores, and other factors. The authors find that likelihood of delinquency declines with the level of neighborhood housing market activity. The authors also find that the likelihood of delinquency is greater for borrowers with low credit history scores and those with high ratios of housing expense to income, and when the property is unusually expensive for the neighborhood where it is located.
Testing the Predictive Power of Dividend Yields: Non-Parametric Evidence from the G5

This paper extends US evidence on the ability of current dividend yields to predict future equity returns in the G5 countries. By using non-parametric methods, evidence of a similar non- linear structure is found in all the countries analysed. This casts doubt on the linear framework adopted in earlier studies. The paper also finds that there is a strong relationship between extremes of dividends and future returns (in that very low/high dividends do predict low/high returns whilst intermediate levels of dividends do not). This non-linear structure strengthens the statistical evidence of a relationship between dividend yields and future returns and may help explain why previous studies have found mixed evidence.
An antipyretic role for interleukin-10 in LPS fever in mice

Leon, Lisa R. , Wieslaw Kozak, Karin Rudolph, and Matthew J. Kluger. An antipyretic role for interleukin-10 in LPS fever in mice. Am. J. Physiol. 276 (Regulatory Integrative Comp. Physiol. 45): R81–R89, 1999. —Interleukin (IL)-10 inhibits the synthesis of proinflammatory cytokines implicated in fever, including IL-1b, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a. We hypothesized that IL-10 functions as an antipyretic in the regulation of fevers to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and turpentine. Body temperature was measured by biotelemetry. Swiss Webster (SW) mice treated with recombinant murine IL-10 were resistant to fever induced by a low dose of LPS (100 μg/kg ip) and to the hypothermic and febrile effects of a high (septiclike) dose of LPS (2.5 mg/kg ip). IL-10 knockout mice developed an exacerbated and prolonged fever in response to a low dose of LPS (50 μg/kg ip) compared with their wild-type counterparts. At 4 h after injection of the low dose of LPS, plasma levels of IL-6, but not TNF-a, were significantly elevated in the IL-10 knockout mice compared with their wild-type controls (ANOVA, P , 0.05). After injection of the same high dose of LPS injected into SW mice, wild-type mice developed a fever at 24 h whereas IL-10 knockout mice immediately developed a profound hypothermia that lasted through 41 h (ANOVA, P , 0.05). Body weight and food intake were more significantly depressed in response to the high dose of LPS in the knockout mice compared with their wild-type controls. Only 30% of the IL-10 knockout mice survived compared with 100% of the wild-type mice (Fisher’s exact test, P , 0.05). Fever in response to the injection of turpentine (100 μl/mouse sc) did not differ between wild-type and IL-10 knockout mice. These data support the hypotheses that 1) IL-10 functions as an endogenous antipyretic following exposure to LPS, 2) a putative mechanism of the early antipyretic action of IL-10 is through the inhibition of plasma levels of IL-6, 3) IL-10 has a protective role in the lethal effects of exposure to high levels of LPS, and 4) endogenous IL-10 does not have a role in fever induced by turpentine.
Issues Involved With the Seasonal Adjustment of Economic Time Series

In the first part of this article, we briefly review the history of seasonal adjustment and statistical time series analysis in order to understand why seasonal adjustment methods have evolved into their present form. This review provides insight into some of the problems that must be addressed by seasonal adjustment procedures and points out that advances in modern time series analysis raise the question of whether seasonal adjustment should be performed at all. This in turn leads to a discussion in the second part of issues invloved in seasonal adjustment. We state our opinions about the issues raised and renew some of the work of our authors. First, we comment on reasons that have been given for doing seasonal adjustment and suggest a new possible justification. We then emphasize the need to define precisely the seasonal and nonseasonal components and offer our definitions. Finally, we discuss our criteria for evaluating seasonal adjustments. We contend that proposed criteria based on empirical comparisons of estimated components are of little value and suggest that seasonal adjustment methods should be evaluated based on whether they are consistent with the information in the observed data. This idea is illustrated with an example.
Do Markets Drive Out Lemmings - or Vice Versa?

This paper investigates experimentally a market inspired by two strands of literature: on herd behaviour in non-market situations, and on the aggregation of private information in markets. The first strand suggests that socially undesirable herd behaviour may result when information is private; the second suggests that in a market context the price mechanism may cause the private information to be aggregated correctly and efficiently. This latter therefore suggests that socially undesirable behaviour may be eliminated through the market. We test this experimentally, and find that socially undesirable behaviour may result: the market is misled by agents privately optimizing.
Single trial P300 identification for an auditory BCI: Implementation of a 3D input for convolutional neural networks

The use of electroencephalogram (EEG) data is common to develop brain-computer interface (BCI) applications. Analysis of EEG data in the oddball paradigm has revealed that some electrodes experience clearer manifestations of the P300 wave, giving a particular relevance to their position. For this study, we arrange recorded EEG data as a single trial 3D representation in which spatial and temporal information are kept with few to no modifications for off-line classification. This differs from most studies using EEG data and convolutional neural networks (CNN), for which a 2D-mapped version of the data is normally used. The recorded data used for this study corresponds to the EEG of four subjects that were presented with auditory stimuli via earphones from six different virtual directions following the oddball paradigm to elicit the P300 wave. The stimuli presentation was done at time intervals of 500, 400, and 300 ms to verify the impact of the speed in the performance of an auditory BCI. The results obtained for the identification of P300 within the EEG shows that the 3D input proposed in this study is a reliable approach for input configuration and that the CNN models trained using it tend to correctly differentiate the EEG containing the P300 from that which doesn't with low accuracy variations regardless of the differences of the used models.
Macroeconomics and Health: The Way Forward in the WHO African Region

The specific objectives of this paper were: (i) to estimate the effects of life expectancy and mortality rates on the per capita gross national income; and (ii) to propose to countries in the African region a set of generic steps for implementing the action agenda recommended by WHO Commission for Macroeconomics and Health (CMH), within the context of national development plans and poverty reduction strategies. Four simple double-log (log-linear or constant elasticity) regression equations were estimated with data from the World Health Statistics 2011. The dependent variable in all equations was the logarithm of per capita gross national income. The key findings were as follows: in equation 1 the coefficients for life expectancy and adult literacy had a positive sign and were statistically significant at 95% confidence level; in equation 2 the coefficient for under 5 mortality rate took a negative sign and was statistically significant; in equation 3 the coefficients for adult mortality rate and adult literacy were statistically significant and had expected signs; and in equation 4 the coefficient for maternal mortality was not statistically significant at 95% level of confidence but had a negative sign as expected. These results clearly show a significant correlation between per capita gross national income and life expectancy, under 5 mortality rate, and adult mortality rate. This implies that by working closely with health development partners, countries in the African region can better their economic prospects through greater investments in close-to-client health systems and increased use of proven cost-effective prevention and treatment interventions to curb mortality and increase life expectancy. Keywords: Macroeconomics, Health, African Region, Way Forward
How Informative Is Qualitative Management Earnings Guidance Compared to Quantitative Guidance?

Management earnings guidance is one of the primary sources of earnings expectations for market participants. Broadly speaking, managers disclose their guidance either quantitatively or qualitatively. Comparing these guidance forms by type of news, I find that qualitative bad news forecasts are more informative to investors (i.e., have a stronger market reaction) and analysts (i.e., have larger earnings revisions) than quantitative bad news forecasts. With respect to good news earnings forecasts, I find no significant effect of guidance form. By way of an explanation, I find that qualitative bad news forecasts are more accurate ex post than quantitative bad news forecasts. Empirical results indicate that investors view qualitative bad news forecasts as a signal that the forthcoming earnings surprise may be more negative than anticipated. This result contrasts with prior studies which generally find that more precise earnings guidance is more informative – at least among alternative types of quantitative earnings guidance. Supplemental analysis reveals that managers‘ concern for litigation exposure provides a potential explanation as to why firms might issue qualitative bad news forecasts over quantitative forecasts.
Galton’s Problem and Contagion in International Terrorism along Civilizational Lines

If terror attacks from groups of one country are followed by similar attacks on the same target from groups of other similar countries, then this could be the consequence of contagion. However, just because one terror incident follows another does not necessarily imply that one is caused by the other or, in other words, that terror attacks are what is called spatially dependent. Rather, both incidents could have been triggered by the same underlying cause. This is known as Galton’s problem. One area where this problem is particularly prevalent is international terrorism. According to Huntington, international terrorism is contagious because of civilizational rallying effects. If radical groups from one country attack targets from a country of another civilization, then groups from other countries of the same civilization as the initial terrorist groups will become more likely to also attack this target. Any test of this hypothesis has to solve Galton’s problem and thus to disentangle spatial dependence from spatial clustering of attacks and common shocks and trends, which affect similar groups from different countries similarly. Accounting for such potentially confounding effects, we nevertheless find evidence for spatial dependence in international terrorism along civilizational lines in the post-Cold War period and particularly so for specific inter-civilizational combinations. However, while contagion consistent with Huntington’s predictions exists, spatial dependence seems to have a substantively small effect on patterns of international terrorism.
Supply Chain Management: theory and practice - the emergence of an academic discipline?

Purpose – To introduce the special issue focusing on the question: is supply chain management (SCM) an emerging academic discipline? Design/methodology/approach – A brief discussion of the papers in the special issue.Findings – Outlines how the papers stimulate debate on the nature and development of SCM and indicates that there is an intense research effort being conducted around the world in this field.Originality/value – Provides a summary of the perspectives considered within the issue.