Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Thyroid diseases in pregnancy: a review.

OBJECTIVE To provide an overview of the pathophysiology of thyroid diseases in pregnancy and the various treatment methods currently available in its management. DATA SOURCE Review of literature was affected through index medicus search of major published journals and books. DATA SELECTION Published data on thyroid diseases on women in the reproductive age group over the last four decades were utilised. DATA EXTRACTION Abstracts and full text of selected manuscripts were read and analysed to determine their contribution to this article. DATA SYNTHESIS All relevant articles were reviewed and contributions extracted. CONCLUSION Thyroid diseases are the second most common endocrinopathies in pregnancy. Numerous hormonal changes and metabolic demands occur in pregnancy resulting in complex changes in maternal thyroid function. Thyroid diseases involves a multidisciplinary team approach to achieve good metabolic control and excellent obstetric care in order to ensure normal maternal and perinatal outcome.
The effect of fiscal announcements on interest spreads: Evidence from the Netherlands

We estimate the effect of consolidation efforts on investors' perception of government's solvency. To this end, we analyze announcements by Dutch government officials between September 2008 and December 2014 and select those messages that contain relevant new information on the likelihood and substance of consolidation packages. We then scrutinize whether announcements affect the yield spread of Dutch ten year government bonds vis-a-vis German bonds. Our findings indicate that announcements hinting at improvements in the budget balance significantly lowered yield spreads. As most announcements involve events during the negotiation process on consolidation packages rather than the official date of agreement or implementation of these packages, our results illustrate the importance of accurately assessing the news content of messages.
The Performance of Financial Institutions: Modeling, Evidence, and Some Policy Implications

The unique capital structure of commercial banking—funding production with demandable debt that participates in the economy’s payments system—affects various aspects of banking. It shapes commercial banks’ comparative advantage in providing financial products and services to informationally opaque customers, their ability to diversify credit and liquidity risk, and how they are regulated, including the need to obtain a charter to operate, and explicit and implicit federal guarantees of bank liabilities to reduce the probability of bank runs. These aspects of banking affect a bank’s choice of risk versus expected return, which, in turn, affects bank performance. Banks have an incentive to reduce risk to protect their valuable charters in periods of financial distress but also an incentive to increase risk to exploit the cost-of-funds subsidy of mispriced deposit insurance. The balance of these contrasting incentives is tied to bank size. Measuring bank performance and its relationship to size requires untangling cost and profit from decisions about risk. This chapter gives an overview of two general empirical approaches to measuring bank performance and discusses some of the applications of these approaches found in the literature. One application explains how better diversification available at a larger scale of operations generates scale economies that are obscured by higher levels of risk-taking. Studies of commercial banking cost that ignore endogenous risk-taking find little evidence of scale economies at the largest banks, while those that control for this risk-taking find large-scale economies at the largest banks—evidence with important implications for regulation.
The level of information technology adoption and its factors in micro, small, and medium enterprises in Jambi City, Indonesia

This study aims to analyze the conditions and the level of information technology (IT) adoption in micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Jambi City and its factors. The data was obtained by carrying out a sample survey on MSMEs in Jambi City. The study uses descriptive analysis and Structural Equation Modeling-Partial Least Square (SEM-PLS). The results of the study found that: 1) the level of IT adoption in MSMEs in Jambi City is still relatively low. About one third of MSMEs is still using IT only for internally oriented functional integration. On the contrary, only 1.89 percent of MSMEs have been in the stage of business scope redefinition under influence of IT; 2) Behavior intention has a significant effect on the level of IT adoption in MSMEs. Furthermore, there are five variables that influence behavioral intention of MSMEs related to the use of IT. Those are effort expectance, social influence, hedonic motivation, price value, and habit.
β-Asarone Reverses Chronic Unpredictable Mild Stress-Induced Depression-Like Behavior and Promotes Hippocampal Neurogenesis in Rats

In this study, we investigated the influence of β-asarone, the major ingredient of Acorus tatarinowii Schott, on depressive-like behavior induced by the chronic unpredictable mild stresses (CUMS) paradigm and to clarify the underlying mechanisms. The results show that β-asarone treatment partially reversed the CUMS-induced depression-like behaviors in both the forced swim and sucrose preference tests. The behavioral effects were associated with increased hippocampal neurogenesis indicated by bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) immunoreactivity. β-Asarone treatment significantly increased the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) at levels of transcription and translation. Moreover, CUMS caused significant reduction in ERK1/2 and CREB phosphorylation, both of which were partially attenuated by β-asarone administration. It is important to note that β-asarone treatment had no effect on total levels or phosphorylation state of any of the proteins examined in ERK1/2-CREB pathway in no stress rats, suggesting that β-asarone acts in a stress-dependent manner to block ERK1/2-CREB signaling. We did not observe a complete reversal of depression-like behaviors to control levels by β-asarone. To our knowledge, the present study is the first to demonstrate that adult neurogenesis is involved in the antidepressant-like behavioral effects of β-asarone, suggesting that β-asarone is a promising candidate for the treatment of depression.
Differential effect of secondary aqueous humor from rabbit and cat on DNA synthesis of cultured bovine corneal endothelial cells.

The addition of medium containing secondary aqueous humor (2°AH) from either cat or rabbit eyes to quiescent preconfluent cultures of bovine corneal endothelial cells resulted in an increase in the incorporation of 3H-thymidine into DNA. This increase in DNA synthesis in response to 2°AH was dose-dependent and was significantly greater than in control cultures maintained in medium containing 1% bovine calf serum alone. The 2°AH of both cat and rabbit was found to contain elevated levels of protein and 6-keto-prostaglandin-F1α but not thromboxane B2. The proliferative response of bovine cells induced by rabbit 2°AH was significantly greater than the response induced by cat 2°AH containing equivalent amounts of aqueous protein.
A 3-D negative-refractive-index transmission-line medium

An isotropic 3D negative-refractive-index transmission-line medium has been presented. The medium is a network of LC loaded transmission lines in three dimensions. The dispersion characteristic of a specific design obtained through full wave simulations shows a negative refractive index between 1.08 GHz and 1.37 GHz.
An Empirical Analysis of Boardroom Diversity on Firm Performance

This paper analyses the effect of boardroom diversity on firm performance in terms of Return on Assets and Return on Capital Employed. More specifically, this paper focuses on three dimensions of board diversity: 1) gender diversity, 2) age of the board members, and 3) share of independent directors and executives. By doing this, we try to investigate whether diversity within the board members brings out any positive influence on the financial performance. The results show that gender and age have no significant effect on firm performance, whereas, increasing shares of independent directors and executives have a positive influence on firm performance. On the other hand, CEO duality and audit process reduce the financial performance of firms. From the policy point of view, higher share of independent directors on the board may significantly improve the financial performance of a firm.
The Leadership Quarterly , ( 2008 ) 19 , ( 2 ) 195-211

This paper seeks to advance research on interpersonal exchange relationships between supervisors, subordinates, and coworkers at work by integrating social exchange, workplace friendship, and climate research to develop a multi-level model. We tested the model using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) with data obtained from a sample of 215 manager-employee dyads working in 36 teams. At the individual level, leader-member exchange (LMX) was found to be related to workplace friendship. Further, workplace friendship was positively related to team-member exchange (TMX) and mediated the LMXTMX relationship. At the team level, HLM results indicated that the relationship between LMX and workplace friendship was moderated by affective climate. These findings suggest that high-quality LMX relationships are associated with enhanced workplace friendship between employees, especially when the affective climate is strong.
Where's the Money? An Investigation into the Whereabouts and Uses of Australian Banknotes

The Reserve Bank of Australia is the sole issuer and redeemer of Australian banknotes. This means that we know exactly how many banknotes have ever been printed and issued to the public, and how many banknotes, at the end of their life, have been returned to the Reserve Bank and destroyed. Between issuance and destruction, however, there is little public information about where banknotes go or what they are used for. Such information would be of interest for a number of reasons, including to aid in forecasting future banknote demand, and to assess the extent to which banknotes are used to facilitate illegal activities or avoid tax obligations. To address this we use a range of techniques to estimate the whereabouts and uses of Australian banknotes. The techniques that we employ suggest that, of total outstanding banknotes: 15–35 per cent are used to facilitate legitimate transactions; roughly half to three-quarters are hoarded as a store of wealth or for other purposes, of which we can allocate 10–20 percentage points to domestic hoarding and up to 15 percentage points to international hoarding; 4–8 per cent are used in the shadow economy; and 5–10 per cent are lost.
Performance analysis of the protective effects of bicycle helmets during impact and crush tests in pediatric skull models.

OBJECT Bicycle accidents are a very important cause of clinically important traumatic brain injury (TBI) in children. One factor that has been shown to mitigate the severity of lesions associated with TBI in such scenarios is the proper use of a helmet. The object of this study was to test and evaluate the protection afforded by a children's bicycle helmet to human cadaver skulls with a child's anthropometry in both "impact" and "crushing" situations. METHODS The authors tested human skulls with and without bicycle helmets in drop tests in a monorail-guided free-fall impact apparatus from heights of 6 to 48 in onto a flat steel anvil. Unhelmeted skulls were dropped at 6 in, with progressive height increases until failure (fracture). The maximum resultant acceleration rates experienced by helmeted and unhelmeted skulls on impact were recorded by an accelerometer attached to the skulls. In addition, compressive forces were applied to both helmeted and unhelmeted skulls in progressive amounts. The tolerance in each circumstance was recorded and compared between the two groups. RESULTS Helmets conferred up to an 87% reduction in so-called mean maximum resultant acceleration over unhelmeted skulls. In compression testing, helmeted skulls were unable to be crushed in the compression fixture up to 470 pound-force (approximately 230 kgf), whereas both skull and helmet alone failed in testing. CONCLUSIONS Children's bicycle helmets provide measurable protection in terms of attenuating the acceleration experienced by a skull on the introduction of an impact force. Moreover, such helmets have the durability to mitigate the effects of a more rare but catastrophic direct compressive force. Therefore, the use of bicycle helmets is an important preventive tool to reduce the incidence of severe associated TBI in children as well as to minimize the morbidity of its neurological consequences.
Overlapping batch means: something for nothing?

Nonoverlapping batch means (NOLBM) is a we11-known approach For estimating the variance of the sample mean. In this paper we consider an overlapping batch means (OLBM) estimator that, based on the same assumptions and batch size as NOLBM, has essentially the same mean and only 2/3 the asymptotic variance of NOLBM. Confidence interval procedures for the mean based on NOLBM and OLBM are discussed. Both estimators are compared to the classical estimator of the variance of the mean based on sums of covariances.
Power transitions in the host country and the survival of subsidiaries in infrastructure industries

Funding information Fundación Banco Sabadell, through the Cátedra de Crecimiento e Internacionalización Empresarial; Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Grant/ Award Number: ECO2013-46235-RECO2017-86101-P; Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte, Grant/Award: Programa FPU Research Summary: We argue that for firms competing in infrastructure industries, a change in the government that granted the permission to invest in the host country increases the likelihood of divestment of foreign subsidiaries. The logic surrounding this behavior lies in the fact that these firms may develop cooperative relationships with the granting government and that a power transition depreciates the relational capital accumulated and the effectiveness of the commitments achieved. Building on the literature on relational governance and the relational view of corporate political actions, we argue that this effect increases with host country governmental discretion and with investment longevity. An empirical analysis of the survival of foreign investments made by Spanish firms from infrastructure industries during the period 1986 to 2008 provides support for our hypotheses. Managerial Summary: The aim of this article is to analyze how changes in the host government that granted the investment in the host country influence firms’ foreign subsidiaries’ survival in the case of firms competing in infrastructure industries. We found that for firms in these industries, power transitions in the host country erode the cooperative relationship they may have with the granting government, increasing the probability of firms' foreign subsidiary divestiture. In addition, we identify two factors that make this effect greater: the length of operation of the foreign subsidiary and host country governmental discretion.
Hospital Volume, Margin Status, and Long-Term Survival after Pancreaticoduodenectomy for Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

An association between hospital surgical volume and short- and long-term outcomes after pancreatic surgery has been demonstrated. Identification of specific factors contributing to this relationship is difficult. In this study, the authors evaluated if margin status can be identified as a measure of surgical quality, affecting overall survival, as a function of hospital pancreaticoduodenectomy volume. A systematic review of the literature was performed. Two models for analysis were created, dividing the 18 studies identified into quartiles and two quantiles based on the average annual hospital pancreatectomy volume. Regression modeling and analysis of variance were used to find an association between hospital volume, margin status, and survival. Increasing hospital volume was associated with a significantly increased negative margin status rate: 55 per cent for low-volume, 72 per cent for medium-volume, 74.3 per cent for high-volume, and 75.7 per cent for very high-volume centers (P = 0.008). The negative margin status rates were 64 per cent and 75.1 per cent for volume centers with less and more than 12 pancreaticoduodenectomies/year, respectively (P = 0.04). Low-volume centers negatively affected both margin positive resection and 5-year survival rates, compared with high-volume centers. Margin status rate after pancreaticoduodenectomy could, therefore, be considered a measure of quality for selection of hospitals dedicated to pancreatic surgery.
Inhancement activity of mouse immunoglobulin classes.

Enhancing activity of immunoglobulins was studied by means of allogeneic growth of a tumor graft (C57BL tumor EL4 into DBA/2 mice). The active components were obtained by gel filtration followed by electrophoretic fractionation of the 7 S globulins. Enhancing activity was associated with 7 S γ2-immunoglobulin components of the immune serum. Enhancement activity of the serum was not detected in IgM, IgA or 7 S γ1-immunoglobulins. Cytotoxic antibody activity also was found in the slow migrating electrophoretic immunoglobulin fractions.
The Decomposition of Tungsten

THE September issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society contains an account of the preliminary experiments made by Drs. Wendt and Irion on the decomposition of tungsten at extreme temperatures, with the production of helium, a report of which appeared in the daily press, to which reference has already been made in Nature (April 1, 1922, vol. 109, p. 418). The authors regret the exaggerated early report, given wide publicity by the press after its oral presentation, and emphasise the preliminary character of the work. They describe fully the apparatus used for attaining temperatures above 20,000° by passing heavy currents through metal wires, and state that when tungsten wires are exploded in a vacuum at such temperatures the spectrum of helium appears in the gases produced. When the explosion is conducted in carbon dioxide, 0.713 milligram of tungsten gave rise to 1.01 c.c. of gas not absorbed by potash solution. The authors remark that their method “includes factors, both of cause and of error, analogous to those operative in the voluminous and inconclusive controversy on the evolution of helium in various types of low pressure electrical discharge tubes, extending from 1905 to 1915. ”
Prokaryotic community structure and heterotrophic production in a river-influenced coastal arctic ecosystem

Spatial patterns in prokaryotic biodiversity and production were assessed in the Mackenzie shelf region of the Beaufort Sea during open-water conditions. The sampling transect extended 350 km northwards, from upstream freshwater sites in the Mackenzie River to coastal and offshore sites, towards the edge of the perennial arctic ice pack. The analyses revealed strong gradients in community structure and prokaryotic cell concentrations, both of which correlated with salinity. Picocyanobacterial abundance was low (10 2 to 10 3 cells ml -1 ), particularly at the offshore stations that were least influenced by the river plume. Analysis by catalyzed reporter deposition for fluorescence in situ hybridization (CARD-FISH) showed that the dominant heterotrophic cell types were β-Proteobacteria at river sites, shifting to dominance by α-Proteobacteria offshore. Cells in the Cytophaga-Flavobacter-Bacteroides and γ-Proteobacteria groups each contributed 10% of counts in the marine samples. Archaea were detected among the surface-water microbiota, contributing on average 1.3% of the total DAPI counts in marine samples, but 6.0% in turbid coastal and riverine waters. 3 H-leucine uptake rates were significantly higher at 2 stations influenced by the river (1.5 pmol l -1 h -1 ) than at other marine stations or in the river itself (≤0.5 pmol -1 h -1 ). Size-fractionation experiments at 2 coastal sites showed that >65% of heterotrophic production was associated with particles >3 µm. These results indicate the importance of particle- attached prokaryotes, and imply a broad functional diversity of heterotrophic microbes that likely facilitates breakdown of the heterogeneous dissolved and particulate terrestrial materials discharged into arctic seas.
Genetic Association at the 9p21 Glaucoma Locus Contributes to Sex Bias in Normal-Tension Glaucoma.

PURPOSE Many genome-wide association studies have identified common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at the 9p21 glaucoma locus (CDKN2B/CDKN2B-AS1) to be significantly associated with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), with association being stronger in normal tension glaucoma (NTG) and advanced glaucoma. We aimed to determine whether any observed differences in genetic association at the 9p21 locus are influenced by sex. METHODS Sex was assessed as a risk factor for POAG for 2241 glaucoma participants from the Australian and New Zealand Registry of Advanced Glaucoma, the Glaucoma Inheritance Study in Tasmania, and the Flinders Medical Centre. A total of 3176 controls were drawn from the Blue Mountains Eye Study and South Australia: 1523 advanced POAG and 718 nonadvanced POAG cases were genotyped along with 3176 controls. We selected 13 SNPs at the 9p21 locus, and association results were subanalyszd by sex for high-tension glaucoma (HTG) and NTG. Odds ratios (ORs) between sexes were compared. RESULTS A sex bias was present within advanced NTG cases (57.1% female versus 42.9% male, P = 0.0026). In all POAG cases, the strongest associated SNP at 9p21 was rs1063192 (OR, 1.43; P = 4 × 10-18). This association was stronger in females (OR, 1.5; P = 5 × 10-13) than in males (OR, 1.35; P = 7 × 10-7), with a statistically significant difference in female to male OR comparison (P = 1.0 × 10-2). An NTG to HTG subanalysis yielded statistically significant results only in females (OR, 1.63; P = 1.5 × 10-4) but not in males (OR, 1.15; P = 2.8 × 10-1), with a statistically significant difference in female to male OR comparison (P = 1.4 × 10-4). CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrated that female sex is a risk factor for developing advanced NTG. The stronger genetic signals at the 9p21 locus among females may contribute at least in part to the observed sex bias for NTG.
Effective Torque Ripple Compensation in Feed Drive Systems Based on the Adaptive Sliding-Mode Controller

Rotary or linear permanent magnet servo motor systems are widely used in mechatronics applications. When used in direct-drive configuration without any mechanical transmission, one of the bottlenecks in achieving precision positioning is the rejection of torque ripples, which are in the form of high-frequency harmonic disturbances varying with the operating condition of the servos. When attached to mechanical transmission, ripple disturbances occur due to misalignments, repetitive contact, or the process forces itself. In this paper, a robust adaptive sliding-mode control is proposed to reject harmonic disturbances in servo systems and attain accurate positioning. The overall sliding-mode control law is derived from the Lyapunov function without the switching condition allowing convenient implementation in a PID-like form. Effectiveness of the controller is demonstrated experimentally, where the ripple forces that occur due to mechanical contact in spur and worm-gear feed drive servo systems are compensated successfully.