Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ownership Reform and Efficiency of Nationwide Banks in China

This research analyses the efficiency of China’s banks using the data envelopment analysis (DEA). The Chinese government began its reforms of the banking industry reform since 1978. Our data set contains twelve banks in China during the period of 1996 to 2003. All nominal variables are transformed into real variables in the 2003 prices. There are twelve banks including four state-owned specialised banks, three policy-related banks and five nationwide joint-equity commercial banks. First, DEA approach is used to estimate the efficiency scores of these twelve banks in each year in China. Second, the Tobit regression is used to analyse how the environmental variables affect the efficiency scores of these twelve banks. The following are the study’s empirical findings: (1) Nationwide joint-equity commercial banks have significantly higher overall technical and scale efficiencies but lower pure technical efficiency than state-owned specialised banks. (2) The marginal increasing relation exists between deposit-loan ratio and allocative efficiency. (3) Small-sized banks have higher cost, allocative, overall technical, and pure technical efficiencies than large-sized banks. (4) These twelve banks have lower cost, overall technical, pure technical, and scale efficiencies after the 2001 WTO participation. (5) These twelve banks have lower cost efficiency after the 1997 Asian financial crisis. (6) As a whole, these twelve banks in China have significantly increasing overall technical and scale efficiencies from 1996 to 2003.
STUDIES ON PRIMARY ATYPICAL PNEUMONIA. I. CLINICAL FEATURES AND RESULTS OF LABORATORY INVESTIGATIONS.

"Primary atypical pneumonia, etiology unknown" (1) is one of many terms used to designate an acute respiratory infection which has been widely prevalent in recent years. The illness is characteristically gradual in onset, with constitutional as well as respiratory symptoms, and pulmonary changes more manifest in roentgenograms than by physical examination. The course of illness varies considerably in duration and severity. Complications are uncommon and although convalescence is frequently protracted the illness almost invariably terminates with complete recovery. Therapy with sulfonamide drugs is not effective. Contemporary interest in this form of pneumonia was aroused by several fairly recent reports (2 to 4), although one author (5) had observed patients with a similar illness several years earlier. Numerous other descriptions and investigations of primary atypical pneumonia have since been published, and have been reviewed recently (6 to 9). In some of these reports, unusual outbreaks of acute respiratory illnesses described during the past century were cited to show that primary atypical pneumonia is probably not a new disease. Nevertheless, it is apparent from these reports that, in recent years, the incidence of the disease has actually increased. The rate of its occurrence in the civilian population is not known. In the armed
Effects of a motilin receptor agonist (ABT-229) on upper gastrointestinal symptoms in type 1 diabetes mellitus: a randomised, double blind, placebo controlled trial

INTRODUCTION Erythromycin, a motilin agonist, is a potent prokinetic. ABT-229 is a specific motilin agonist that dose dependently accelerates gastric emptying. Dyspepsia and gastroparesis are common problems in type 1 diabetes mellitus. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of ABT-229 in symptomatic diabetic patients with and without delayed gastric emptying. METHODS Patients with type 1 diabetes and postprandial symptoms were randomised (n=270). Based on a validated C13 octanoic acid breath test, patients were assigned to either the delayed or normal gastric emptying strata. Patients received one of four doses of ABT-229 (1.25, 2.5, 5, or 10 mg twice daily before breakfast and dinner) or placebo for four weeks following a two week baseline. A self report questionnaire measured symptoms on visual analogue scales; the primary outcome was assessment of change in the total upper abdominal symptom severity score (range 0–800 mm) from baseline to the final visit. RESULTS The treatment arms were similar regarding baseline characteristics. There was symptom improvement on placebo and a similar level of improvement on active therapy for the upper abdominal discomfort severity score (mean change from baseline −169, −101, −155, −143, and −138 mm for placebo, and 1.25, 2.5, 5, and 10 mg ABT-229, respectively, at four weeks by intent to treat). The results were not significantly different in those with and without delayed gastric emptying. The severity of bloating, postprandial nausea, epigastric discomfort, heartburn, and acid regurgitation worsened dose dependently in a greater number of patients receiving ABT-229 than placebo. Overall, 63% of patients on placebo reported a good or excellent global response, and this was not different from the active treatment arms. CONCLUSIONS The motilin agonist ABT-229 was not efficacious in the relief of postprandial symptoms in diabetes mellitus in the presence or absence of delayed gastric emptying.
Preparation of SiC/LDPE nanocomposites surface modified by KH-560 and its space charge property

The space charge distribution of the polymer is an important factor affecting the insulating properties. This paper studies the characteristics of space charge distribution of SiC/LDPE nanocomposites surface modified by the coupling agent KH-560. The experimental results show that the interface between the nano-SiC particles and polyethylene itself is the main source of the trap, and add different nano-particles have different implications on space charge distribution of nanocomposites, and there is a certain inhibition of the charge injection of the same polarity. It can be analyzed that the coupling agent has important implications on the nature and level of the traps, because of the coupling agent KH-560 molecule containing asymmetric side chain and terminal group structure which prone to deep traps with negative polarity tendency. The modified SiC/LDPE nanocomposites have good suppression effect of space charge injection and its migration, which helps enhancing the electrical properties of LDPE.
Evaluation of handgrip strength as an indicator of nutritional status in laborers

Background: The laborers constitute an important workforce in the society. Their working efficiency very much depends on their muscle strength. Hand grip strength (HGS) determines the muscular strength of an individual. Nutritional deficiency can affect the muscle strength in laborers. The current study was carried out to assess whether HGS can be useful as an indicator of nutritional status. Aims and Objectives: To assess the relationship between handgrip strength and nutritional status in laborers and to compare it with sedentary counterparts. Materials and Methods: This crosssectional study included 60 laborers and 60 age-matched sedentary counterparts (controls). HGS was measured with hand grip dynamometer. Anthropometric parameters were recorded by standard methods. Data obtained were tabulated and statistically analyzed. Results: HGS and anthropometric parameters were significantly lower in laborers compared to controls. Moreover, all the variables of nutrition, the mean height, weight, body mass index, mid-upper arm circumference, arm muscle girth and arm muscle area in laborers, and sedentary counterparts showed significant positive correlation with the handgrip strength in laborers except for triceps skinfold thickness. Conclusion: The study concluded that there exists a significant correlation between nutritional status and handgrip strength. Efforts should be taken to educate the workers on fundamentals of nutrition emphasizing role of good nutrition in improving work capacity.
Decorating tokens to facilitate recognition of ambiguous language constructs

Software tools are fundamental to the comprehension, analysis, testing and debugging of application systems. A necessary first step in the development of many tools is the construction of a parser front‐end that can recognize the implementation language of the system under development. In this paper, we describe our use of token decoration to facilitate recognition of ambiguous language constructs. We apply our approach to the C++ language since its grammar is replete with ambiguous derivations such as the declaration/expression and template‐declaration/expression ambiguity. We describe our implementation of a parser front‐end for C++, keystone, and we describe our results in decorating tokens for our test suite including the examples from Clause Three of the C++ standard. We are currently exploiting the keystone front‐end to develop a taxonomy for implementation‐based class testing and to reverse‐engineer Unified Modeling Language (UML) class diagrams. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Chorioamniotic Membrane Separation following Open Fetal Surgery: Pregnancy Outcome

Objective: To review the incidence of posthysterotomy chorioamniotic membrane separation and delivery outcome following open fetal surgery [myelomeningocele (MMC); cystic adenomatoid malformation (CCAM); congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH); sacrococcygeal teratoma (SCT)]. Study Design: Retrospective review of a maternal population undergoing open fetal surgery at a single tertiary level program (1998–2001) following the initiation of close postoperative ultrasound follow-up for membrane separation. Onset of membrane separation was coded as not present (NP), immediate (<2 weeks) or delayed (>2 weeks) from day of surgery. Results: Fifty-three charts were reviewed: MMC 43, CCAM 7, CDH 1, and SCT 2. In the MMC group there were 26 NP, 8 immediate, and 9 delayed. Preterm labor occurred in 4 patients with only 2 having had membrane separation. Risk of membrane separation is increased for surgery done at less than 23 weeks gestation (p < 0.005). Delay from MMC surgery to delivery was 11.0, 9.8, 12.0 weeks for NP, immediate, and delay, respectively. In the MMC group, there were 3 neonatal deaths (NND) at 9, 9, and 21 days post surgery (PROM/PTL; chorioamnionitis, PROM/PTL, respectively). No membrane separation was present in the CCAM, CDH, and SCT cases. Conclusions: (1) Membrane separation was significantly more likely to occur if surgery was performed prior to 23 weeks. (2) Membrane separation post hysterotomy (17/50 = 34%) may be associated with an increased risk of PROM but not delivery before 30 weeks gestation. (3) Delivery prior to 33 weeks gestation for MMC groups was 12/43 (28%) with 3 NND (7%). (4) Elective delivery at 36–37 weeks gestation was possible for 43% of the fetal surgery population.
Biological potential of extraterrestrial materials. 2. Microbial and plant responses to nutrients in the Murchison carbonaceous meteorite.

Meteoritic materials are investigated as potential early planetary nutrients. Aqueous extracts of the Murchison C2 carbonaceous meteorite are utilized as a sole carbon source by microorganisms, as demonstrated by the genetically modified Pseudomonas fluorescence equipped with the lux gene. Nutrient effects are observed also with the soil microorganisms Nocardia asteroides and Arthrobacter pascens that reach populations up to 5 x 10(7) CFU/ml in meteorite extracts, similar to populations in terrestrial soil extracts. Plant tissue cultures of Asparagus officinalis and Solanum tuberosum (potato) exhibit enhanced pigmentation and some enhanced growth when meteorite extracts are added to partial nutrient media, but inhibited growth when added to full nutrient solution. The meteorite extracts lead to large increases in S, Ca, Mg, and Fe plant tissue contents as shown by X-ray fluorescence, while P, K, and Cl contents show mixed effects. In both microbiological and plant tissue experiments, the nutrient and inhibitory effects appear to be best balanced for growth at about 1:20 (extracted solid : H2O) ratios. The results suggest that solutions in cavities in meteorites can provide efficient concentrated biogenic and early nutrient environments, including high phosphate levels, which may be the limiting nutrient. The results also suggest that carbonaceous asteroid resources can sustain soil microbial activity and provide essential macronutrients for future space-based ecosystems.
Health status and bio-indicators among elderly people in rural areas, Thailand.

OBJECTIVE This community based cross-sectional study design aimed to assess health status among people aged > or = 60 years living in rural areas of northern Thailand. MATERIAL AND METHOD The questionnaires, physical examination, and 5 milliliters of blood specimen had been obtained. The face-to-face interview was conducted by trained interviewers and physical examination made by physician. A Chi-square test and multiple logistic regression were used to determine significant association at alpha = 0.05. RESULTS Three hundred twenty eight subjects were recruited into the study: 60.7% had chronic diseases, 73.2% received health care at health promoting hospitals, 32.1% received regular medication, 85.4% had abnormality of mobility, 30.5% had cataract, and 11.6% had hearing loss. Females had smoked longer than males (p-value < 0.05), but males had drank alcohol longer than females (p-value < 0.05). In this group, 12.2% had Cholesterol > or = 251 mg/dl, 27.5% had Triglyceride > or = 171 mg/dl, 10.5% had FBS > or = 121 mg/dl, 15.4% had SGPT > or = 311 U/L, and 21.5% had Uric acid > or = 7.1 mg/dl. CONCLUSION Effective health promoting program is still necessary for improving elderly health in rural Thailand.
Serum iron and ferritin levels in Behçet's disease.

The study consisted of 48 BD patients who were diagnosed according to the criteria of the International Study Group for BD and 49 sexand age-matched individuals as the healthy control group. Exclusion criteria were disorders effecting the ferritin levels and use of iron preperations. The duration of the disorder, current and previous findings of BD patients and serum iron, IBC and ferritin levels of the patients and controls were obtained retrospectively. Disease activity was determined by the presence of at least one symptom within the last month at the time of blood sampling. Data were compared statistically by the Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman correlation test.
Treatment of Infantile Spasms

Infantile spasms is an epileptic encephalopathy of early infancy with specific clinical and electroencephalographic (EEG) features, limited treatment options, and a poor prognosis. Efforts to develop improved treatment options have been hindered by the lack of experimental models in which to test prospective therapies. The neuropeptide adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) is effective in many cases of infantile spasms, although its mechanism(s) of action is unknown. This review describes the emerging candidate mechanisms that can underlie the therapeutic effects of ACTH in infantile spasms. These mechanisms can ultimately help to improve understanding and treatment of the disease. An overview of current treatments of infantile spasms, novel conceptual and experimental approaches to infantile spasms treatment, and a perspective on remaining clinical challenges and current research questions are presented here. This summary derives from a meeting of specialists in infantile spasms clinical care and research held in New York City on June 14, 2010.
Mini-circuit cardiopulmonary bypass with vacuum assisted venous drainage: feasibility of an asanguineous prime in the neonate

Conventional cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) in neonates results in increased transfusion requirements and hemodilution. There has been little advancement in CPB for the neonatal population. There is evidence that increased priming volumes and blood product transfusion enhances inflammatory response to CPB and increases myocardial and pulmonary dysfunction. We have devised a miniaturized CPB circuit that utilizes vacuum-assisted venous drainage (VAVD) in an effort to decrease priming volume and avoid transfusion requirements. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of this miniaturized CPB system and determine the feasibility of an asanguineous prime. Ten 1-week-old piglets were randomized to five mini- and five conventional CPB pump circuits. Subjects were supported with CPB at 100 ml/kg/min, cooled to 28°C, exposed to 10 min aortic crossclamp with cardioplegic arrest, rewarmed to 37°C, weaned from bypass, and subjected to modified-ultrafiltration (MUF) for approximately 10 min. This method was chosen to simulate a situation with all the elements of clinical CPB. Blood transfusion trigger was a hematocrit <15 on CPB. Serum samples were obtained pre-CPB, at 15 min of CPB onset, immediately post-CPB completion, and immediately post-MUF. Indices of hemolysis (SGOT, LDH), production of inflammatory mediators (interleukin (IL)-8, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα)), and physiologic parameters of inflammation were measured. The overall blood requirement was significantly less in the mini-circuit compared to conventional CPB (47.0 ± 5.8 ml vs 314.2 ± 31.6 ml; p < 0.0001). The only significant blood requirement in the mini-circuit was to replace the volume removed for samples. During the study, mean arterial pressure (MAP) (p = 0.004), static pulmonary compliance (p = 0.04), platelets (p = 0.0003), and white blood cells (p = 0.003) significantly decreased across the groups. Lung water content (p = 0.02), TNFα levels (p = 0.05), and SGOT (p = 0.009) increased significantly during the study, across the groups. Among all parameters tested, except for blood requirement and hematocrit post-CPB, there were no significant differences between the two circuits. VAVD makes asanguineous prime in neonates feasible. When used in this study to miniaturize a conventional-CPB circuit, VAVD with a reconfigured neonatal CPB console and circuit resulted in no detrimental effects, and allowed for markedly decreased priming volumes and blood transfusion requirements.
Factors in primary school teachers' beliefs about mathematics and teaching and learning mathematics

This paper is a report on the development of an instrument to identify and measure factors associated with primary teachers' purported beliefs about mathematics and teaching and assessing mathematics. Current literature relating to teachers' beliefs provided a theoretical framework for the development of the questionnaire. The sample consisted of 387 primary teachers. The results of a factor analysis identified seven factors that appear to represent teachers' purported beliefs three relating to beliefs about assessment, two relating to beliefs about mathematics, and two relating to beliefs about teaching mathematics.
Is the response to programmed electrical stimulation diagnostic of mechanisms for arrhythmias?

OVER THE LAST DECADE programmed electrical stimulation has been increasingly employed to study patients with cardiac arrhythmias. 1 2 The use of single and multiple premature depolarizations as well as brief periods of sustained pacing to induce and terminate arrhythmias not only has been of value in assessing the actions of antiarrhythmic drugs and predicting the likelihood of their efficacy in treating arrhythmias,34 but also has been used to help identify the mechanisms responsible for arrhythmias. In such studies there is the requirement that paced beats gain access to either the site of origin or the pathway of propagation of the arrhythmia. It is well recognized that the failure of all or a fraction of paced impulses to gain access to a site at which they can modify the arrhythmia may complicate the interpretation of the response to pacing. Taking this factor into account, it was generally assumed through the mid 1970s that two specific types of arrhythmias could be identified by programmed pacing. One was the socalled automatic arrhythmia, which could be overdrive suppressed by sustained periods of pacing and reset by single premature depolarizations. ' The type of overdrive suppression seen was characteristic in that it resulted in cessation of the arrhythmia for a variable period of time, the duration of which depended on the actual rate as well as the duration of the period of overdrive stimulation. The faster the rate and/or the longer the period of overdrive stimulation, the longer the interval before the arrhythmia reemerged. Moreover, when it did reemerge it did so slowly, gradually accelerating to its previous rate. For reentrant arrhythmias the major diagnostic feature was the ability to initiate and to terminate an arrhythmia with single or multiple premature depolarizations.5-7 It was recognized that a window or spectrum of cycle lengths could be identified for any reentrant rhythm during which premature stimulation resulted in termination of the arrhythmia. Moreover, termination
Mutations on the DNA Binding Surface of TBP Discriminate between Yeast TATA and TATA-Less Gene Transcription

ABSTRACT Most RNA polymerase (Pol) II promoters lack a TATA element, yet nearly all Pol II transcription requires TATA binding protein (TBP). While the TBP-TATA interaction is critical for transcription at TATA-containing promoters, it has been unclear whether TBP sequence-specific DNA contacts are required for transcription at TATA-less genes. Transcription factor IID (TFIID), the TBP-containing coactivator that functions at most TATA-less genes, recognizes short sequence-specific promoter elements in metazoans, but analogous promoter elements have not been identified in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We generated a set of mutations in the yeast TBP DNA binding surface and found that most support growth of yeast. Both in vivo and in vitro, many of these mutations are specifically defective for transcription of two TATA-containing genes with only minor defects in transcription of two TATA-less, TFIID-dependent genes. TBP binds several TATA-less promoters with apparent high affinity, but our results suggest that this binding is not important for transcription activity. Our results are consistent with the model that sequence-specific TBP-DNA contacts are not important at yeast TATA-less genes and suggest that other general transcription factors or coactivator subunits are responsible for recognition of TATA-less promoters. Our results also explain why yeast TBP derivatives defective for TATA binding appear defective in activated transcription.
Catch-up growth and growth deficits: Nine-year annual panel child growth for native Amazonians in Bolivia

Abstract Background: Childhood growth stunting is negatively associated with cognitive and health outcomes, and is claimed to be irreversible after age 2. Aim: To estimate growth rates for children aged 2–7 who were stunted (sex-age standardised z-score [HAZ] <−2), marginally-stunted (−2 ≤ HAZ ≤−1) or not-stunted (HAZ >−1) at baseline and tracked annually until age 11; frequency of movement among height categories; and variation in height predicted by early childhood height. Subjects and methods: This study used a 9-year annual panel (2002–2010) from a native Amazonian society of horticulturalists–foragers (Tsimane’; n = 174 girls; 179 boys at baseline). Descriptive statistics and random-effect regressions were used. Results: This study found some evidence of catch-up growth in HAZ, but persistent height deficits. Children stunted at baseline improved 1 HAZ unit by age 11 and had higher annual growth rates than non-stunted children. Marginally-stunted boys had a 0.1 HAZ units higher annual growth rate than non-stunted boys. Despite some catch up, ∼ 80% of marginally-stunted children at baseline remained marginally-stunted by age 11. The height deficit increased from age 2 to 11. Modest year-to-year movement was found between height categories. Conclusions: The prevalence of growth faltering among the Tsimane’ has declined, but hurdles still substantially lock children into height categories.