Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does Regional Financial Development Matter for Growth? Evidence from Indian States

ABSTRACT The paper investigates finance–growth relationship across 26 Indian states over the period 1981–2012 in a panel setting. We use four indicators of financial development: credit-GSDP ratio, deposit-GSDP ratio, credit-deposit ratio and branch density and apply panel generalized method of moments (GMM) techniques. We observe positive and significant effect of financial development on economic growth and our findings are robust across alternate indicators of financial development and model specifications. Our findings highlight pivotal role played by financial intermediaries in fostering savings mobilization and financing investment activities across states through channels of deposit mobilization, expansion of credit and greater branch expansion in unbanked locations and consequent reduction of transactions costs. These findings are consistent with observations that much of India’s superior growth performance is attributed to high level of domestic savings. The paper also takes care of issues of bias and precision of various GMM estimators arising out of small sample typically prevalent in empirical growth models like ours.
Academicians in Turkey: An Evaluation of Current Status of Academic Staff in Higher Education

The history of Turkish higher education dates back to Turkish nations of 1000 years ago. The beginning of higher education institutions are accepted as madrasahs that continue its existence during the Ottoman period. After the foundation of the Turkish republic, rapid changes and developments have been observed in the higher education like in all fields. Since this period of time, Turkish higher education institutions have been grouped in two categories, which are universities producing information-knowledge and vocational schools training people oriented with employment. Considering the both types of these institutions, the aim of Turkish higher education system is to sustain manpower considering the needs of the nation and the public; provide education and training facilities based on the secondary education; maintain the quality and quantity of scientific researches under the control of universities. In this context, the purpose of this study is to present the certain dimensions of Turkish higher education system, which are academicianship, current facts related to academicianship, the stages in academic career, achievements in academy and the status of women academicians in Turkey. Related documents have been analyzed and the current status of Turkish higher education system has been discussed by concluding the results.
The advantage of total thyroidectomy to avoid reoperation for incidental thyroid cancer in multinodular goiter.

HYPOTHESIS To investigate the impact of total thyroidectomy on the rate of completion thyroidectomy for incidentally found thyroid cancer in euthyroid multinodular goiter. DESIGN A randomized, prospective clinical trial. SETTING A tertiary referral center. PATIENTS Patients with euthyroid multinodular goiter without any preoperative suspicion of malignancy, history of familial thyroid cancer, or previous exposure to radiation were randomized (according to a random table) to total or near-total thyroidectomy leaving no remnant tissue or less than 1 g (group 1; n = 109) or bilateral subtotal thyroidectomy leaving 5 g or more of remnant tissue (group 2; n = 109). Patients with preoperative or perioperative suspicion of malignancy were excluded. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES We compared the complication rates and the incidence of thyroid cancer requiring radioactive iodine ablation and completion thyroidectomy between groups. RESULTS There were no permanent complications. The rates of temporary unilateral vocal cord dysfunction and hypoparathyroidism showed no significant difference between groups 1 and 2 (0.9% vs 0.9% and 1.8% vs 0.9%, respectively; P>.05). Papillary cancer was found in 10 group 1 patients (9.2%) and 8 group 2 patients (7.3%) (P =.80). Of the 9 patients requiring radioactive iodine ablation, reoperation was avoided in 5 group 1 patients; the remaining 4 group 2 patients underwent completion thyroidectomy (P =.007). CONCLUSION We recommend total or near-total thyroidectomy in multinodular goiter to eliminate the necessity for early completion thyroidectomy in case of a final diagnosis of thyroid cancer.
The Online Communication of Corporate Social Responsibility in Subsidiaries of Multinational Companies in Hungary

Abstract Background and Purpose: Many studies have explored the differences in the management of corporate social responsibility (CSR) of multinational companies across the globe. The main question of the study was, are there differences between CSR practices between home country and host country operations? Design/Methodology/Approach: This study investigates the differences in online CSR communication between global corporate websites and the webpages of local subsidiaries in Hungary. The sample contains 70 multinational companies (MNCs) and their Hungarian subsidiaries. All the subsidiaries of the sample are listed amongst the largest 200 companies (based on turnover) in Hungary. Both the local (Hungarian) and the global internet sites of these MNCs were visited, and pre-defined categories were sought on the corporate websites. The presence/lack of these CSR themes and topics on the websites were recorded. Results: The findings show that online CSR disclosure of the subsidiaries is usually more limited than the global communication. Moreover, distance from the headquarters seems to matter, the farther the headquarters of the MNC is located, the narrower CSR presence on the websites of the local subsidiary can be observed. Conclusion: The paper’s main contribution is to deepen our knowledge about the CSR strategies of the multinational companies across their operations. It was confirmed that their CSR practices significantly differ between the host and home countries.
In vitro propagation of Pelecyphora aselliformis Ehrenberg and P. strobiliformis Werdermann (cactaceae)

SummaryDevelopment of efficient in vitro propagation, systems for Pelecyphora aselliformis Ehrenberg and P. strobiliformis Werdermann, two endangered Mexican species of cacti, are described. Multiple shoot formation from areoles of in vitro-germinated plantlets was achived in two types of explants (apical and transversal) cultured in Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal media supplemented with 30 or 50 gl−1 sucrose, 10 gl−1 agar and various treatments with cytokins. Shoot production in these proliferation media was evaluated after one (60 d) and three (180 d) culture cycles. In P. asellifornis 13.7 shoots per explant were produced after the first cycle using apical explants in medium with 8.8 μM 6-benzylaminopurine (BA) and 30 gl−1 sucrose. In P. strobiliformis the highest proliferation rate (12.4 shoots per explant) was reached using 8.8 μM Ba and 50 gl−1 sucrose with shoot transverse segments as explants. After the third proliferation cycle, 128.1 and 136.3 shoots per explant were obtained in P. aselliformis and P. strobiliformis, respectively. The shoots were clongated in MS basal medium with 3 gl−1 activated charcoal and rooted in MS basal media indoleacetic acid (2.85 or 5.71 μM) or indolebutyric acid (2.46 or 4.90 μM). On averge, rooting efficiency was 89% for P. aselliformis and 87% for P. strobiliformis. The survival frequency, of the plants once transferred, to soil was on average 88%.
Multioccupancy hospital rooms: veterans' experiences and preferences.

BACKGROUND Although common, multioccupancy hospital rooms have long been criticized for concerns about safety and privacy. In 2006, despite limited evidence, the Health Guidelines Revision Committee recommended to eliminate them entirely from U.S. hospitals. We used a survey to evaluate patients' experiences and preferences regarding room type in order to help inform public policy decisions. METHODS Medical service inpatients at the Washington DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center were asked upon discharge to complete an anonymous written survey containing questions about privacy, nursing availability, loneliness, fear of death, interactions with roommates, and room preferences. RESULTS Of the 162 patients who completed surveys, private room patients were more likely to report adequate privacy (92% vs. 53%; P < or = 0.01) and available nursing (79% vs. 64%; P = 0.025) than shared room patients. There was no difference in reported loneliness or fear of death. Most shared room patients (59%) indicated that they enjoyed speaking with their roommates, and 35% reported receiving help from roommates. The overall preference strongly favored private rooms (79%), most commonly for the sake of privacy. Patients who preferred shared rooms most often cited a desire for conversation. CONCLUSIONS Patients felt that privacy was inadequate in the shared rooms, and a strong preference was found for private rooms. For those who preferred shared rooms, positive aspects of the experience included exchange of conversation and assistance between roommates.
Pharmacokinetics of G3139, a phosphorothioate oligodeoxynucleotide antisense to bcl-2, after intravenous administration or continuous subcutaneous infusion to mice.

An 18-mer full-phosphorothioate oligonucleotide with sequence antisense to the first six codons of the open reading frame of bcl-2 (G3139) has shown efficacy against the DoHH2 lymphoma implanted in severe combined immunodeficient mice. This study evaluated the pharmacokinetics of 35S-labeled G3139 in female BALB/c mice after single i.v. bolus administration or s.c. infusion for 1 week. After 100 microg i.v. bolus (approximately 5 mg/kg), the radioactivity was rapidly distributed and eliminated, with low blood levels 6 hr after administration. Most of the initial plasma radioactivity was protein bound (98% at 5 min). Tissue to plasma ratios were 87 for kidney, 17 for liver, 5 for spleen, 2.5 for heart and lung and 3.5 for gut. High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of G3139 showed triexponential kinetics, with alpha, beta and gamma half-lives of 5 min, 37 min and 11 hr, respectively. After 106 microg/day s.c. infusion, plasma steady state was reached by day 3, when half of the radioactivity was protein bound and 66 to 86% of the radioactivity was associated with parent drug (0.9 microg/ml). The plasma half-life of elimination for G3139 was 22 hr. Tissue to plasma ratios were similar to those after i.v. bolus administration, but accumulation was observed in all organs including bone marrow, where the levels reached were in the cytotoxic range. G3139 was metabolized to at least three different products, all observed in plasma, liver and kidney. Two metabolites eluted before the parent compound and one after the parent compound. There was greater degradation in the liver 6 hr after i.v. administration than at 24 hr, 48 hr, 3 days and 7 days after s.c. administration. In the kidney, most radioactivity was G3139. All degradation products were found in the urine but only traces of parent drug were eliminated. After both routes of administration, most of the radioactivity was eliminated in the urine and to a lesser extent in the feces. Significantly more radioactivity was excreted in the urine after i.v. bolus, compared with s.c. infusion (33% on day 1 and 55% by day 3 for i.v. vs. 7.2% on day 1 and 12.9% by day 3 for s.c.). These data show that s.c. infusion resulted in less excretion and metabolism of the administered dose.
aWGRS: Automates paired-end whole genome re-sequencing data analysis framework

In order to enable people to avoid too many cumbersome and complex operations of the command line and repeated parameter adjustments, automates pair-end whole genome re-sequence (aWGRS) data processing whereby pre-installed dependencies are presented in this paper, which are used to map reads to a reference and realign variations. This method presents aWGRS which is a method that takes as input paired-end reads and a reference genome and returns re-sequencing information. The concept behind the development of this tool is that re-sequencing requires several steps: alignment to the reference, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) calling, Insertion / Deletion (InDels) calling, structure variant (SVs) calling, and annotation. By introducing and adjusting a new concept called the recall rate, the coverage rate and accuracy rate can be met at the same time. Within the range of recall rate, a variation is evaluated by two criteria: the quality value and the number of reads that support it, and one read with higher quality value and larger supported number will be picked out finally. Genome-wide genetic variations between precocious trifoliate orange and its wild type are identified in [1], and empirical results show that there is a big reduction in the amount of variation and great improvement of accuracy between the results of aWGRS and [1] which offered by the Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI). Overall, the adjustable parameters adopted in aWGRS can affect the results of the experiment and the default filtering strategy using the mutation recall rate also can attain good results automatically.
Utilizing machine learning in Sentiment Analysis: SentiRobo approach

Following the rapid evolution of Web 2.0, Sentiment Analysis has become one of the major techniques for mining the social media content. It aims to analyze opinions, sentiments, attitudes, and emotions towards entities such as topics, products, organizations, individuals, communities, and services. This paper presents SentiRobo, a supervised machine learning approach for the process of Sentiment Analysis. An enhanced version of Naive Bayes algorithm is introduced to predict the sentiment polarity of social media large data sets. Empirical evaluation over different twitter datasets with more than 300,000 records reveals the merit of this approach in processing of social media datasets.
Bilateral Parry-Romberg Syndrome Associated with Retinal Vasculitis

Purpose To describe an unusual case of bilateral progressive facial hemiatrophy (Parry-Romberg syndrome (PRS)) associated with retinal vasculitis. Methods In a 37-year-old man with bilateral PRS, retinal vasculitis of the right eye was evident on fundus examination and fluorescein angiography. Right temporalis muscle biopsy and needle electromyography of the masseter muscles were performed. The patient underwent immunosuppressive therapy and retinal laser photocoagulation. Results Biopsy specimens showed large fibrosis with focal lymphohistiocytic infiltration of the muscle fibers. Electromyographic findings are consistent with a primary muscle disease. Visual acuity improved from 20/25 to 20/20 in the right eye with a follow-up of one year. Conclusions The evidence of retinal vasculitis and the histologic findings of facial changes observed in this PRS case could support the pathogenetic model of a chronic inflammatory process as a plausible explanation for progressive facial hemiatrophy.
African American Turnout and African American Candidates

Do minority voters respond to co-racial or co-ethnic candidates? That is does the increased chance of substantive representation translate into increased participation? Here, we focus on this question among African American voters. While much of the empirical literature on this question has produced conflicting answers, recent studies suggest that minority candidates can significantly increase minority turnout. We argue that past work on this topic does not adequately account for the fact that minority voters in places with minority candidates may systematically differ in their level of participation than minority voters in places without minority candidates. In this study we address the weaknesses of previous research designs and offer a new design that exploits the redistricting process to gain additional leverage over this question. We find little evidence that African American voter turnout increases when voters are moved to African American candidates. We find some evidence that white voters, however, tend to vote at lower rates when they are represented by African American candidates.
Educational Resilience Inspired by Familial Cuentos (Narratives) and Consejos (Advice): Exploring How Low-Income Mexican-American Women’s Assets Serve as Resources for College Persistence

Author(s): Rocha, Janet | Advisor(s): Solorzano, Daniel; Gutierrez, Kris | Abstract: This study examines the first-year college transition of first-generation college women of Mexican heritage and the strategies they use to persist in college. The sample is comprised of seven low-income, first-year female college students of Mexican heritage at a large, highly competitive public university. I conducted one semi-structured interview, four open-ended interviews, and three photo-elicitation interviews with each participant (56 interviews in total). I also visited each woman’s dorm room to document meaningful artifacts. Additionally, I conducted participant-observations during campus tours led by the women, and also conducted four focus groups to engage them in the process of analysis. This study identified the types of familial-cultural practices these women engaged in with their families and how they developed asset-based resources used to navigate their first year of college. A Latina/o critical race theory framework was used to analyze the raced and gendered layers of their experiences and highlight the forms of resilience and agency developed by study participants.Findings from this study revealed the following: Firstly, familial cuentos and consejos serve as teaching tools that yield critical consciousness. These familial-cultural practices helped these women develop resilient behaviors and positive attitudes that they applied to experiences transitioning into a university setting. Secondly, first-generation female college students of Mexican heritage drew meaning from cuentos and consejos, developing them into asset-based resources that fostered their educational resilience. Thirdly, study participants entered higher education with asset-based resources and identified effective strategies to deploy their assets and resources. Lastly, participants used these strategies to overcome various challenges and persist through their first-year in college. Recommendations gleaned from this study include specific programming suggestions designed to help college administrators interested in college persistence among students of color gain a better understanding of the first-year experience of these students.This study encourages postsecondary institutions to celebrate and honor students’ multicultural college identities through policies and programming agendas that actively encourage personal, academic, and professional development. Understanding how students negotiate the demands of school and their family ties and commitments contributes to the development of methodologies that will better support these students in higher education. Once we more fully understand students’ experiences and assets, universities can build upon their cultural wealth to better help them develop a sense of belonging at their institutions, which will lead to greater postsecondary success.
A controlled evaluation of the WHO Safe Communities model approach to injury prevention: increasing child restraint use in motor vehicles

Objective To measure the effect of the WHO Safe Communities model approach to increasing child restraint use in motor vehicles. Design Pre- and post-intervention observations of restraint use in motor vehicles in several sites in the target area, and in a comparison area community. Setting Community; southeast Dallas, Texas, 2003–2005. Interventions A multifaceted approach to increasing use of child safety seats, booster seats and seat belts that included efforts in schools, day care centres, neighbourhoods and a local public clinic, along with child safety seat classes and a low-cost distribution programme. Main outcome measures Prevalence of restraint use among children 0–8 years old riding in motor vehicles. Results In the target area, the adjusted child restraint use increased by 23.9 percentage points versus 11.8 in the comparison area (difference 12.1; 95% CI 9.9 to 14.3), and adjusted driver seat belt use increased by 16.3 percentage points in the target area versus 4.9 in the comparison area (difference 11.4; 95% CI 11.0 to 11.7). Multivariable multilevel analysis showed that the increase in the target area was significantly greater than in the comparison area for child restraint use (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.2 to 2.2), as well as for driver seat belt use and proportion of children riding in the back seat. Conclusions The Safe Communities approach was successful in promoting the use of child restraints in motor vehicles through a multifaceted intervention that included efforts in various community settings, instructional classes and child safety seat distribution.
Arterial remodeling at the reference site after angioplasty in the atherosclerotic rabbit model.

Recent studies suggest that arterial remodeling plays an important role in restenosis and that remodeling at the reference site may also occur. To assess the chronic effect of the reference site remodeling on angioplasty results, we evaluated reference site remodeling in an experimental atherosclerotic restenosis model. Histological sections of iliac stenoses and their associated proximal reference segments from 50 atherosclerotic rabbits killed 4 weeks after angioplasty were analyzed. Lumen area (LA), external elastic lamina area (EEL), and intimal plus medial areas (I+M) were measured at the lesion (L) and reference (R) sites. Angiography was performed preangioplasty, immediately postangioplasty, and 4 weeks postangioplasty. Restenosis was defined as an angiographic loss/gain ratio of greater than 50% at follow-up angiography. Twenty-three lesions were restenotic (R+) and 32 were not (R-). There was no difference in reference site diameters (RD) between these two groups at the time of angioplasty. However, RDs were significantly smaller in the R+ group than in the R- group (1.24+/-0.18 versus 1.52+/-0.28 mm, n=55, P<.01) at 4-week follow-up. Morphometric analysis also showed a smaller LA(R) in the R+ group (0.85+/-0.27 versus 1.06+/-0.37 mm2, n=55, P<.02), whereas there was no difference in I+M(R) between the two groups. EEL(R) significantly correlated with EEL(L), LA(R), and I+M(R) in both groups combined (r=.53, n=55, P<.0001; r=.62, n = 55, P < .0001; and r = .86, n = 55, P < .0001, respectively). Remodeling can favorably and unfavorably affect both the lesion and the reference sites and appears to occur in parallel and proportionately at both sites. These data suggest that angiographic measurement of late percent stenosis using reference site diameters may lead to an underestimation of the percent luminal narrowing in restenotic lesions because unfavorable remodeling occurs in both the lesion and reference sites in restenotic vessels.
Effectiveness of 8‐ or 12‐weeks of ledipasvir and sofosbuvir in real‐world treatment‐naïve, genotype 1 hepatitis C infected patients

Treatment of genotype 1 hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with combination direct acting anti‐virals is associated with very high rates of sustained virological response (SVR). Daily combination of ledipasvir and sofosbuvir for 12 weeks is approved for the treatment of genotype 1 HCV patients, though noncirrhotic patients who are naïve to treatment with a baseline HCV RNA <6 million IU/mL can be treated for 8 weeks. This guidance stemmed from a post hoc analysis of the ION 3 clinical trial, which demonstrated similar SVR for patients treated with ledipasvir and sofosbuvir with or without ribavirin for 8 or 12 weeks.