Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Experience in a specialist thyroid surgery unit: a demographic study, surgical complications, and outcome.

OBJECTIVE To present a demographic study of thyroid diseases and thyroid surgical activity, to analyse the results of one department that has specialised in thyroid surgery during an 11-year period, and to try to define those groups of patients at increased risk of complications and untoward sequelae. DESIGN Retrospective study. SETTING Danish regional university hospital. SUBJECTS The total series comprised 1099 consecutive patients who were operated on for benign goitre during an 11-year period. The demographic series comprised a subgroup of 933 patients with goitres from the defined catchment area composed of five municipalities. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Annual number of operations for goitre, waiting time to operation, incidence of complications, and sequelae. RESULTS In the demographic study the number of patients operated on for benign thyroid diseases declined from about 50 cases to about 25 cases/100000 inhabitants during the study period. At the same time the average waiting time between consultation and operation increased from 5-33 weeks. In the total series (n = 1099) 18 patients developed temporary unilateral vocal cord paralysis (2%), and 8 developed permanent paralysis (0.7%). There were no bilateral vocal cord paralyses, 7 patients developed temporary postoperative hypocalcaemia (0.6%), and an additional 8 patients (0.7%) developed permanent hypocalcaemia. 5 patients developed wound haematomas (0.5%), and 3 had wound infections (0.3%). A total of 16 patients (1.5%) had a permanent complication in the form of nerve injury or damage to the parathyroid glands. The rates of postoperative complications were significantly higher among patients who had two or more operations on the neck (p = 0.0004), intrathoracic goitres (p = 0.0002), large goitres (p = 0.0002), and those having emergency operations (p = 0.0091). CONCLUSION The decline in the number of operations for benign goitre at Odense University Hospital parallels the increase it waiting time before operation. This can be explained by loss of operating room capacity rather than introduction of some alternative cure for goitre or change of criteria for operation. Certain groups of patients are at higher risk of complications than others.
The Equity Premium: 100 Years of Empirical Evidence from the UK

We examine the UK equity premium over more than a century using dividend growth to estimate expectations of capital gains employing the approach of Fama and French (2002). Over recent decades estimated equity premia implied by dividend growth have been much lower than that produced by average stock returns for the UK market as a whole; a finding corroborated by all economic sub-sectors. Our empirical analysis suggests this is primarily due to a declining discount rate, during the latter part of the 20th Century, which would rationally stimulate unanticipated equity price rises during this period. Thus, we conclude that historical stock returns over recent decades have been above investors’ expectations.
David Allan, Lead Processing at Leadhills, Pounding the Ore c.1786.

From an opening on the right, pallid hazy sunshine filters through into the dark interior of a high-roofed shed. Two young boys boisterously attack small lumps of grey rock (lead ore) with flat-headed, short-handled, ‘bucking’ hammers, whilst their older colleague in a brown brimmed hat and blue coat feeds their feverish fun by raking rocks down a sloping bench towards them. At the other side of the shed, a young man sedately tips a barrow-load of pounded ore onto the rough earth floor for his mate with a long-handled spade to shovel carefully into the adjacent washing tank. Both men wear frock coats, knee-length breeches, stockings, shoes, leather aprons and neckerchiefs. One has a hat—a sign of seniority? They wear no masks or gloves. In the background at a safe distance from the dust and grime, an elegantly dressed couple, classically posed, are accompanied by a bare-headed man, who points out the mischievous children hard at work. He may be a factory employee but the absence of a hat and the modesty of his dress infer a position too junior to escort such noble visitors. The object in his right hand might be a ledger or possibly a sketchbook. Perhaps he’s the artist, David Allan, who is known to have accompanied the Earl and Countess of Hopetoun on a visit to the Leadhills mineworks [1]. On the right, the rolling Lowther Hills confirm the rural setting, whilst the left reveals smoking chimneys and a burgeoning industrial landscape. The picture (oil on canvas 28 × 58 cm) is from a set of four paintings commissioned by the Earl. The others are Washing the Ore, Smelting the Ore and Weighing the Lead Bars [2]. Allan, perhaps mindful of his patron’s goodwill and personal kindness [3], has romanticized the work scenes emphasizing the outdoor settings and portraying the hazardous employment as graceful, even playful [4]. In contrast to other critical descriptions of the mine’s working conditions [5,6], Allan ‘promotes industry in an acceptably genteel and sanitised way’ [4]. Yet Leadhills was a model workplace with a chaplain, schoolmaster, surgeon, a subscription library, charitable funds and pensions for sick and aged workers [7]. The four paintings were probably hung on the walls of Hopetoun Estates’ administrative HQ, Moffat House, which John Adam built for the Earl in 1767 in the fashionable spa town of Moffat [8].
Which studies should be registered on a clinical trials registry?

All Trials calls for all past and present clinical trials to be registered and their full methods and summary results reported. JAN requires that clinical trials are prospectively registered in a publicly accessible database such as and clinical trial registration numbers should be included in all papers that report their results. Authors are asked to include the name of the trial register and the clinical trial registration number at the end of the abstract. If the trial is not registered, or was registered retrospectively, the reasons for this should be explained. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
ON USE OF GMM FOR MULTILINGUAL SPEAKER VERIFICATION : AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

This paper presents an empirical study on multilingual speaker verification based on a sophisticated statistical model – Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM). The languages used include Mandarin, Cantonese, and English. Comparative results of speaker verification are presented in terms of different databases associated with different languages. Our simulation results indicate that GMM can be used as a unified model in multilingual speaker verification, which provides an easy-touse way for building a multilingual speaker verification system.
Impact of cash holdings and ownership concentration on firm valuation: Empirical evidence from Australia

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of firms' cash holdings and ownership concentration on the firms' valuation using an unbalanced panel dataset of non-financial listed firms in Australia. Design/methodology/approach - The author used a generalized method of moments approach suitable for unbalanced panel dataset to examine the impact of firms' cash holdings and ownership concentration on firms' Findings - The paper finds a positive relationship between cash holdings and Research limitations/implications - The sample consists of non-financial listed firms over the period of 1995 to 2010. Practical implications - The results imply that widely-owned firms have lower cash holdings because managers are able to access capital market easily compared to firms with concentrated ownership, which might have complex agency and information asymmetry problems. These findings are consistent with the agency costs. Managers in less widely-held firms have more discretion over cash holding policies, and the value reduction imposed on these firms may reflect shareholders' recognition of the possibility of managerial expropriations. Originality/value - This is believed to be the first paper to explore agency costs of cash holdings for Australian firms.
Left bisegmentectomy for liver cirrhosis associated primary hepatic carcinoma with preoperative chemoembolization

Abstract Introduction: Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most frequent primary malignant tumor of the liver, being linked in 80% of cases with viral hepatitis ”B” or “C”. Treatment remains a challenge especially in cases with associated hepatic cirrhosis, where preoperative arterial chemoembolization followed by liver resection is recommended. Case report: We discuss the case of a 64 years old cirrhotic patient, diagnosed by echography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance cholangiography with hepatocellular carcinoma (64x52x46 mm). Preoperative chemoembolization was performed with Lipiodol and 5-FU by supra-selective catheterization of left hepatic artery, followed by favorable radiologic response. Two weeks after embolization, the patient was admitted in Surgical Clinic No. 1 Targu Mures where an atypical resection of the left hepatic lobe (bisegmentectomy II-III) was performed with Harmonic Scalpel. Early and late postoperative evolution was favorable. Discussions: The principle of arterial chemoembolization is based on the fact that vasculature of primary hepatic tumors is predominantly arterial. Arterial obstruction may lead to ischemic necrosis while tumor embolization combination with a chemotherapeutic agent significantly improves its local concentration. Decrease in tumor size and its vasculature allows for safe hepatic resection especially in the cirrhotic liver. Conclusion: In case of tumoral cirrhotic liver preoperative chemoembolization decreases intra and postoperative bleeding risk, providing a safe and oncological resection.
Real-time monitoring of radiofrequency ablation and postablation assessment: accuracy of contrast-enhanced US in experimental rat liver model.

PURPOSE To examine the accuracy of the unenhanced zone at contrast material-enhanced ultrasonography (US) in predicting coagulative necrosis during and 21 days after radiofrequency (RF) ablation by using radiologic-pathologic comparison. MATERIALS AND METHODS Animal studies were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. The livers of 28 rats underwent US-guided RF ablation. In four animals, contrast-enhanced US was performed during ablation and 2 hours and 2, 7, 14, and 21 days after ablation. The unenhanced zone area on US images was measured. DiI-labeled microbubbles were administered during ablation at 2, 4, and 6 minutes or at 2 hours and 2, 7, 14, and 21 days after ablation in the remaining 24 animals (n = 3 at each time point). One minute later, the animal was euthanized, and the ablated liver was harvested. Tissue samples were imaged to quantify total fluorescence, and NADH staining was performed on the same slice. Hematoxylin-eosin staining was also performed. The findings on fluorescence images, NADH-stained images, and hematoxylin-eosin-stained images were compared. The areas of DiI bubble-negative zones, NADH-negative zones, and lightly NADH-staining zones were measured. Data were analyzed by using one-way analysis of variance. RESULTS The area of the unenhanced zone on contrast-enhanced US images increased during RF ablation and reached a maximum within 2 days after ablation. At histopathologic examination, a transition zone manifested adjacent to the coagulation zone until 2 days after ablation. The DiI-bubble negative zone on fluorescence images and the damaged zone (transition zone plus coagulation zone) on NADH-stained images increased rapidly within 2 hours after ablation, then slowly reached the maximum on day 2. The ratios of the mean areas of these two zones at hour 2 to those at day 2 were 94.6% and 95.6%, respectively. High uniformity between the damaged zone on NADH-stained images and the DiI bubble-negative zone on fluorescence images was noted at all time points. CONCLUSION The temporary transition zone in NADH staining is partially damaged and should transition to nonviability 2 days after ablation. These results demonstrate that contrast-enhanced US can help delineate the maximum area of cell damage (to within 5% of the maximum) as early as 2 hours after ablation. Contrast-enhanced US may be a simple and accurate tool for monitoring the effects of RF ablation and quantifying the size of thermal damage after treatment.
Dropout Prediction in Home Care Training

In Washington state (WA), SEIU 775 Beneﬁts Group provides basic home care training to new students who will deliver care and support to older adults and people with disabilities, helping them with self-care and everyday tasks. Should a student fail to complete their required training, it leads to a break in service, which can result in costly negative health outcomes (e.g. emergency rooms and hospitalization) for their clients [1]. In this paper we describe the results of utilizing machine learning predictive models to accurately identify students who exhibit a higher risk of drop out in two areas: (1) dropping out before attending ﬁrst class[ﬁrst class attendance]; and (2) dropping out before completing the training[training completion]. Our experimental results show that AdaBoost algorithm gives a useful result with ROC AUC = 0.627 ± 0.013 and Precision at 10 = 0.73 ± 0.12 for ﬁrst class attendance and ROC AUC = 0.680 ± 0.024 and Precision at 10 = 0.67 ± 0.20 for training completion without relying on additional assessment data about students. In addition, we demonstrate the use case for constructing larger decision trees to help front-line training operations staﬀ identify intervention strategies that create the most impact in preventing dropout.
Parental Investment in Childhood and Later Adult Well-Being: Can More Involved Parents Offset the Effects of Socioeconomic Disadvantage?

Parental involvement in their children's lives can have a lasting impact on well-being. More involved parents convey to their children that they are interested in their development, and this in turn signals to the child that their future is valued. However, what happens in socio-economically disadvantaged homes? Can the social capital produced by greater parental involvement counteract some of the harmful effects of less financial capital? These questions are examined on the National Child Development Study; a longitudinal study of children born in Britain in 1958. Results on a sample of children raised in two parent families suggest that parental involvement does matter, but that it depends on when it and poverty are measured, as well as the type of involvement and the gender of the parent. Father interest in education has the strongest impact on earlier poverty, especially at age 11. Meanwhile, both father and mother interest in school at age 16 have the largest direct impact on education. The frequency of outings with mother at age 11 also has a larger direct impact on education than outings with father, however, neither compare with the reduction in the poverty effect as a result of father interest in school.
U.K. and U.S. Trading of British Cross-Listed Stocks: An Intraday Analysis of Market Integration

This article analyzes intraday patterns for U.K. and U.S. trading of British cross-listed stocks. For each market, the intraday patterns for these stocks closely resemble those of otherwise similar, non-cross-listed stocks. There is a 2-hour period each day when cross-listed stocks are traded both in New York and in London. This overlap is characterized by concentrated trading as private information, originating in New York, gets incorporated into prices in both markets. Cross-border competition for order flow tends to reduce already declining spreads in London. By contrast, New York specialists maintain high spreads during the overlap. Overall, the evidence indicates that order flow for cross-listed securities is segmented. Article published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Financial Studies in its journal, The Review of Financial Studies.
Temperament and character profiles of patients with tension‐type headache and migraine

Abstract The aim of this present study was to evaluate the temperament and character profiles of persons with tension‐type headache (TTH) and migraine, and to compare the results with those of healthy controls. The study population consisted of 81 patients with TTH (60 female, 21 male) and 56 patients with migraine (34 female, 17 male) aged 18–50 years, according to the criteria of the International Headache Society with age and gender – matched healthy control subjects (54 female, 28 male). All participants were instructed to complete a self‐administered 240‐item temperament and character inventory (TCI) questionnaire and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The TCI assesses four dimensions of temperament, namely, novelty seeking (NS), harm avoidance (HA), reward dependence (RD), and persistence (P), and three dimensions of character, being self‐directedness (SD), cooperativeness (C) and self‐transcendence (ST). According to the TCI biosocial model, the temperament dimension HA is suggested to indicate central serotonergic turnover, which is further correlated with depressive state. It was found that mean BDI scores were significantly higher in patients with TTH and migraine than in those of the controls. The BDI scores were positively correlated with HA scores (r = 0.295, P < 0.001) and negatively correlated with SD (r = −0.386, P < 0.001) and C scores (r = −0.164, P= 0.016). Multivariate analysis showed that BDI scores had significant covariation for HA, SD and C. Despite using the BDI score as a covariate, TTH patients had higher HA scores (P = 0.01) than did the control subjects. No significant differences were found between the groups regarding main NS, RD, P, SD, C and ST scores. Based on the main results of this study, it is suggested that higher serotonergic activity related to HA scores in TTH patients and their relationship with depressive symptomatology supports the role of central serotonergic involvement in TTH.
Optimal Investment with Costly Reversibility

Investment is characterized by costly reversibility when a firm can purchase capital at a given price and sell capital at a lower price. We derive an explicit analytic solution for optimal investment by a firm facing costly reversibility. In addition, we derive a local approximation to the solution which highlights the effects of the parameters of the problem on the triggers for investment. More generally, we extend the Jorgensonian concept of the user cost of capital to the case of uncertainty and define cU and cL as the user costs of capital associated with the purchase and sale of capital, respectively. Optimality requires the" firm to purchase and sell capital as needed to keep the marginal revenue product of capital in" the closed interval [cU,cL]. This prescription encompasses the case of irreversible investment as well as the standard" neoclassical case of costlessly reversible investment. Finally, quantitative analysis suggests" that even when the difference between the purchase and sale prices of capital is small user costs associated with purchasing and selling capital are closer to those applicable under" complete irreversibility than to those applicable under costless reversibility. "
Optimal Consumption with a Stochastic Income Stream

An infinite horizon consumption model is considered where the labor part of income is random. An upper bound on optimal consumption is obtained by considering the expected value of the optimal return function in the deterministic labor income case. This upper bound on consumption is easily shown to be lower than the value of optimal consumption in the case where the random labor income is replaced by its mean.
An Equilibrium Theory of Excess Volatility and Mean Reversion in Stock Market Prices

Apparent mean reversion and excess volatility in stock market prices can be reconciled with the Efficient Market Hypothesis by specifying investor preferences that give rise to the demand for portfolio insurance. Therefore, several supposed macro anomalies can be shown to be consistent with a rational market in a simple and parsimonious model of the economy. Unlike other models that have derived equilibrium mean reversion in prices, the model in this paper does not require that the production side of the economy exhibit mean reversion. It also predicts that mean reversion and excess volatility will differ substantially across subperiods.
Industry and Skill Wage Premiums in East Asia

This paper focuses on the estimation of skill/industry premiums and labor force composition at the national and sector levels in seven East Asian countries with the objective of providing a comprehensive analysis of trends in demand for skills in the region. The paper addresses the following questions: Are there converging or diverging trends in the region regarding the evolution of skill premiums and labor force composition? Are changes in skill premiums generalized or industry-related? How have industry premiums evolved? The analysis uses labor and household surveys going back at least 10 years. The main trends emerging from the analysis are: (a) increasing proportions of skilled/educated workers over the long run across the region; (b) generally increasing demand for skills in the region; (c) the service sector has become the most important driver of demand for skills for all countries (except Thailand); (d) countries can be broadly categorized into three groups in relation to trends and patterns of demand for skills (Indonesia, Philippines, and Thailand; Vietnam and China; and Cambodia and Mongolia); and (e) industry premiums have increased in three countries of the region (Philippines, Thailand, and Cambodia). These trends point to several policyimplications, including that governments should focus on policies promoting access to education to address the increasing demand for skills and/or persistent skill shortages; support general rather than specific curricula given broad-based increases in skill premiums in most countries; better tailor curriculum design and content and pedagogical approaches to the needs of the service sector; and target some social protection programs to unskilled workers to protect them from the"unequalizing"impact of education.
International Asymmetry in Business Activity and Appreciation of a Stagnant Country's Currency

This paper develops a two-country, two-commodity continuous-time dynamic optimization model that accommodates a liquidity trap and persistent unemployment. It investigates a theoretical possibility of international asymmetry in business activity and a stagnant country's currency appreciation, which has been the common experience of Japan and the USA after Japan's total capital liberalization. It is found that if the marginal utility of consumption relative to that of liquidity exogenously declines in a country, its current account improves and the home currency appreciates. Consequently, home products lose competitiveness, causing home employment to decrease and foreign employment to increase.
Building the Ethical Infrastructure of the Market in Post–Communist Countries: The Case of Bulgaria

This study considers major problems involved in seeking to build a post–communist ethical infrastructure for business transactions in Bulgaria. After an analysis of the basic economic and political realities of the present transition period, some recent empirical findings are presented concerning the emerging ethics and business culture, concluding with practical recommendations for the future. The author is Senior Research Associate and she also teaches the Social and Business Dimensions of Business in the Institute of Economics of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 3, Aksakov Str. , 1040 Sofia, Bulgaria; e–mail; ineco@bgearn.acad.bg.