Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Elective cesarean section and decision making: a critical review of the literature.

BACKGROUND The cesarean section rate continues to rise in many countries with routine access to medical services, yet this increase is not associated with improvement in perinatal mortality or morbidity. A large number of commentaries in the medical literature and media suggest that consumer demand contributes significantly to the continued rise of births by cesarean section internationally. The objective of this article was to critically review the research literature concerning women's preference or request for elective cesarean section published since that critiqued by Gamble and Creedy in 2000. METHODS A search of key databases using a range of search terms produced over 200 articles, of which 80 were potentially relevant. Of these, 38 were research-based articles and 40 were opinion-based articles. A total of 17 articles fitted the criteria for review. A range of methodologies was used, with varying quality, making meta-analysis of findings inappropriate, and simple summaries of results difficult to produce. RESULTS The range and quality of studies had increased since 2001, reflecting continuing concern. Women's preference for cesarean section varied from 0.3 to 14 percent; however, only 3 studies looked directly at this preference in the absence of clinical indications. Women's preference for a cesarean section related to psychological factors, perceptions of safety, or in some countries, was influenced by cultural or social factors. CONCLUSIONS Research between 2000 and 2005 shows evidence of very small numbers of women requesting a cesarean section. A range of personal and societal reasons, including fear of birth and perceived inequality and inadequacy of care, underpinned these requests.
Prevalence of Vaginal Candidiasis among Pregnant Women in Nnewi Town of Anambra State, Nigeria

Vaginal specimens were collected from three hundred pregnant women attending pre-natal visits in three selected hospitals in Nnewi, Anambra State, Nigeria. All pregnant patients were considered throughout the period of the study, that is, total sampling having obtained an informed consent from them. Ninety patients were positive for vaginal candidiasis thus, giving a prevalence rate of 30%. The pregnant women aged 26 to 30 recorded the highest prevalence (13.669; df = 5) which is statistically significant (p 0.05). Further stratification of the pregnant women according to their parity revealed that Candida infection decreases with parity and is significantly higher in pregnant women who are in their first or second pregnancy p0-1. Consideration of the socio-economic status of the women in terms of vaginal candidiasis showed no significant difference (p>0.05). The findings of the present study were discussed.
Low load for disruptive mutations in autism genes and their biased transmission

Significance Gene targets of de novo mutation in autistic children have a lighter load of rare disruptive variation than typical human genes. This finding suggests such mutations are under negative selection and autism genes are highly vulnerable to mutation. Disruptive variants in these genes have biased transmission: They are more frequently transmitted to affected children, and more often from mothers than from fathers. Targets of mutation in lower intelligence quotient (IQ) affected children have a lower load of disruptive mutations than targets of mutation in higher IQ affected children. Biased transmission is seen more frequently to affected children of lower IQ. These observations are consistent with a correlation between severity of mutations and phenotype, and based on them, we list candidate autism genes ordered by likelihood. We previously computed that genes with de novo (DN) likely gene-disruptive (LGD) mutations in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have high vulnerability: disruptive mutations in many of these genes, the vulnerable autism genes, will have a high likelihood of resulting in ASD. Because individuals with ASD have lower fecundity, such mutations in autism genes would be under strong negative selection pressure. An immediate prediction is that these genes will have a lower LGD load than typical genes in the human gene pool. We confirm this hypothesis in an explicit test by measuring the load of disruptive mutations in whole-exome sequence databases from two cohorts. We use information about mutational load to show that lower and higher intelligence quotients (IQ) affected individuals can be distinguished by the mutational load in their respective gene targets, as well as to help prioritize gene targets by their likelihood of being autism genes. Moreover, we demonstrate that transmission of rare disruptions in genes with a lower LGD load occurs more often to affected offspring; we show transmission originates most often from the mother, and transmission of such variants is seen more often in offspring with lower IQ. A surprising proportion of transmission of these rare events comes from genes expressed in the embryonic brain that show sharply reduced expression shortly after birth.
The Rates of Postmortem Proteolysis of Glutamate Transporters Differ Dramatically between Cells and between Transporter Subtypes

Glutamate transporters (GLT-1, GLAST, EAAC1) limit the actions of excitatory amino acids. Because a disturbed transporter operation can cause or aggravate neurological diseases, transporters are of considerable neuropathological interest. Human samples, however, are seldom obtained fresh. Here, we used mice brains to study how fast glutamate transporters are degraded after death. Immunoblots showed that terminal GLT-1 epitopes (within residues 1–26 and 518–573) had mostly disappeared after 24 hr. GLAST termini (1–25 and 522–543) degraded slightly slower. In contrast, epitopes within central parts of GLT-1 (493–508) and the EAAC1 C-terminus (510–523) were readily detectable after 72 hr. The decline in immunoreactivity of the GLT-1 and GLAST termini was also seen in tissue sections, but proteolysis did not happen synchronously in all cells. At 24 hr, scattered cells remained strongly immunopositive, while the majority of cells were completely immunonegative. GLAST and GLT-1 co-localized in neocortical tissue, but at 12 hr, many GLAST-positive cells had lost the GLT-1 termini. The uneven disappearance of labeling was not observed with the antibodies to GLT-1 residues 493–508. The immunoreactivity to this epitope correlated better with the reported glutamate uptake activity. Thus, postmortem delay may affect epitopes differently, possibly causing erroneous conclusions about relative expression levels.
SOURCES OF REAL EXCHANGE RATE FLUCTUATIONS: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM NINE AFRICAN COUNTRIES

We investigate the sources of real exchange rate fluctuations in a sample of nine African countries from 1980:01 to 2005:04, using a trivariate structural vector autoregression. The analysis is motivated by a stochastic sticky-price model from which three shocks are identified; demand, supply and monetary shocks. The results indicate that demand shocks are the predominant source of real exchange rate movements in these countries, although nominal shocks have also played a small but significant role in South Africa and Botswana, and supply shocks seem to be of some relevance for Algeria, Egypt and Tanzania. Copyright © 2009 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and The University of Manchester.
A treatment outcome study for sexually abused preschool children: initial findings.

OBJECTIVE Treatment outcome for sexually abused preschool-age children and their parents was assessed, comparing the effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral intervention to nondirective supportive treatment. METHOD Sixty-seven sexually abused preschool children and their parents were randomly assigned to either (1) cognitive-behavioral therapy adapted for sexually abused preschool children (CBT-SAP) or (2) nondirective supportive therapy (NST). Treatment consisted of 12 individual sessions for both the child and parent, monitored for integrity with the therapeutic model through intensive training and supervision, use of treatment manuals, and rating of audiotaped sessions. Parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist, the Child Sexual Behavior Inventory, and the Weekly Behavior Report to measure a variety of emotional and behavioral symptoms. RESULTS Within-group comparison of pretreatment and posttreatment outcome measures demonstrated that while the NST group did not change significantly with regard to symptomatology, the CBT-SAP group had highly significant symptomatic improvement on most outcome measures. Repeated-measures analyses of variance demonstrated group x time interactions on some variables as well. Clinical findings also supported the effectiveness of the CBT-SAP intervention over NST. CONCLUSIONS Findings provide strong preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of a specific cognitive-behavioral treatment model for sexually abused preschool children and their parents.
Endovascular Treatment of Middle Cerebral Artery Aneurysms as First Option: A Single Center Experience of 92 Aneurysms

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: We conducted a retrospective evaluation of the results of endovascular treatment (EVT) of middle cerebral artery aneurysms (MCAAs) in a center where embolization is the first treatment option considered. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ninety-two MCAAs were diagnosed in 87 patients between September 2001 and January 2006. The strategy of treatment (endovascular versus surgical), the clinical and angiographic results of embolization, and the ensuing complications are described. RESULTS: Initially, 59 aneurysms (64.1%) in 55 patients were embolized, 18 (19.6%) were clipped, and 15 (16.3%) were not treated. Four endovascular procedures failed (7.3%), and 55 aneurysms in 51 patients were finally treated by embolization. During the procedure, complications occurred in 13 patients (25.5%) comprising 3 ruptures and 10 thromboembolisms. In the follow-up, 4 patients having a preoperative complication had a modified Rankin scale more than 2 (3 patients [5.9%]) or died (1 patient [2.0%]). Of the 55 embolized aneurysms, according to the Raymond scale, 23 (41.8%) were completely occluded, 24 (43.6%) retained a residual neck, and 8 (14.6%) were residual at the end of the first procedure. No bleeding was detected during the follow-up period in the embolized patients. CONCLUSION: EVT of MCAA is effective for preventing rebleeding episodes within the first year of treatment judging by historical controls. The real question is whether clipping or coiling of MCAAs is better in terms of reducing rebleeding rates and complications rates in the long term, and such a determination would require a far larger number of patients over a much longer observation period.
Maternal mortality in an academic institution in Upper Egypt

Abstract Maternal mortality is a worldwide problem. Measuring maternal mortality and identifying its causes is essential, and should be assessed regularly for the purpose of planning, monitoring and evaluation of provided maternal health care. Quality of care indicators such as case fatality rate is used to measure the facility performance, in particular, quality and promptness of care. This descriptive study aimed to calculate maternal mortality ratio, quality of care indicators such as maternal mortality index, case fatality and direct obstetric case fatality rate for the Women’s Health Hospital and identify causes of maternal mortality, and the main deficits in medical records. The Maternal mortality ratio was alarmingly high in Women’s Health Hospital, Assiut University, Egypt reaching 225/100,000, however, those who delivered in the hospital, the MMR was 100.5/100,000. The leading causes of maternal death were obstetric haemorrhage (38.3%), complications of caesarean sections (27.7%) and pre-eclampsia/eclampsia (23.4%). Nearly half (42%) of the deaths occurred during vacations. Quality indicators revealed poor quality of health care.
A simple wideband antenna for mobile handset

A low cost, simple Broadband planar inverted F antenna (PIFA) is presented in this paper. The size of the proposed antenna is 40× 10 × 12 mm3 and is suitable to be embedded in a mobile phone as an internal antenna. It can be achieved a broad bandwidth at VSWR ≪2 about 830MHz (1780–2610 MHz) covering DCS, PCS, DECT, UMTS, Bluetooth , WIFI, HOME RF, NORME 802.15. 3 and WiMax (2 - 2,61GHz). The advantage of the antenna is in its simple form. The simulation results are analyzed by using Method of moment (MoM) from IE3D Software. The proposed antenna shows omni-directional radiation patterns.
Competitive Bidding for Contracts under Alternative Auction Procedures

This paper presents a game-theoretic analysis of the competition for procurement contracts under different auction procedures. One procedure is a "discriminatory" auction in which contractors simultaneously submit sealed bids, and the lowest bidder wins. The other procedure is a "competitive" auction in which the bid price is lowered sequentially until only one interested bidder remains. The focus is on the effect of changes in procurement procedures and the number of bidders on expected procurement costs. If bidders in this model are risk averse, then the expected procurement cost is lower in a discrimatory auction than in a competitive auction.
Types of organizational innovativeness and success in Austrian hotels

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify different types of organizational innovativeness in Austrian hotels and analyze their connection to (innovation) success. In the face of growing international competition, innovation is becoming increasingly important for Austria’s hotel industry. A prerequisite for innovation is organizational innovativeness. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is based on a quantitative survey of 255 Austrian hotel businesses with a minimum of five employees. Innovativeness was measured by three dimensions (willingness, ability and possibility to innovate) and success by five dimensions (overall performance: financial, market and employee-related success; innovation success: product and process innovations). Findings were obtained by combining an exploratory factor analysis with a cluster analysis. Findings – Factor analysis reveals five factors determining organizational innovativeness: “cooperation as trigger for change”; “acceptance of change”; “resource based s.
LAND USE PERMITS AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO FERTILISER AND LEACHING TAXES FOR THE CONTROL OF NITRATE POLLUTION

Legislation emanating from the European Community is establishing pressures to take action to reduce the level of nitrates in water, and the principles established towards environmental management indicate an emphasis on prevention rather than treatment. This paper analyses three possible approaches by means of controls on fertilisers, on nitrate leaching and on land use. These are incorporated into a linear programming model of a catchment in Cambridgeshire. The results indicate the superior cost‐effectiveness of controls over leaching and the severe impact which taxes would have on farm incomes. A system of permits on land use is found to be relatively cost‐effective and to offer an administratively feasible alternative.
German Tax Reform 2000. Description and Appraisal

Stefan Homburg presents the core elements of this tax reform. He focuses on the switch from the imputation method to the so-called half income method and analyses the reform's impact on capital exports and capital imports. His main conclusion is that the reform is at variance with the objectives put forth by the government.
Stock dividend puzzles in China

We examine the stock dividend puzzle in China by analysing the market reaction, who pays more or solely stock dividends compared with cash dividends and why. In general, stock dividends send a positive market signal that is stronger for larger stock dividends and simultaneous cash dividend declarations. Companies take advantage of this positive announcement reaction when they are cash poor, or have low profitability. In addition, when the overall market underperforms, cash dividends decrease while stock dividends increase significantly. Non-tradable shares are owned by two distinct groups that have different incentives and trading ability and therefore are likely to prefer different dividend policies. Consistent with this, we find evidence that state-owned shareholders prefer cash dividends, while legal person shareholders prefer stock dividends.
Evaluation of Collaborative Learning Settings in 3D Virtual Worlds

Virtual 3D worlds are gaining popularity among the general population and the virtual world environment is widely used particularly by the younger generations as a knowledge and social tool. In recent years, universities have conducted experiments with the use of virtual 3D worlds for teaching and learning. Virtual 3D worlds are no longer just for the stereotypical geek. By 2011 it is estimated that about 80% of active Internet users will have an â? avatar
Alliances, Codesharing, Antitrust Immunity and International Airfares: Do Previous Patterns Persist?

This paper revisits the effect of airline cooperation on international airfares, using a panel data set from 1998 to 2009. The findings mostly confirm previous results, showing that full airline cooperation lowers the fares paid by interline passengers, and that incremental improvements to cooperation individually lead to fare reductions. The results, which show that codesharing, alliance service, and antitrust immunity each separately reduces fares below the traditional interline level, overturn contrary and counterintuitive findings in recent U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) studies. The findings thus buttress the consumer-benefit arguments used in many past antitrust-immunity cases, which were called into question by the DOJ studies.
The Tylenol Incident, Ensuing Regulation, and Stock Prices

Abstract The much publicized Tylenol incident in 1982 led to stringent packaging regulations for over-the-counter pharmaceutical drugs. The sudden incident and the swift progression of associated events offer a unique opportunity to assess the wealth effects of the resultant regulations. The market value of common stock of Johnson & Johnson, makers of Tylenol, declined by approximately 29 percent, amounting to $2.31 billion. Although other firms in the industry also suffered significantly, their share price decline did not occur around the Tylenol incident but occurred around the subsequent packaging regulation proceedings. On average, 28 other pharmaceutical firms analyzed in this study experienced a decline of $310 million per firm, or a total of about $8.68 billion. The results suggest that the regulation had a significant negative effect on the common stock prices of firms in the pharmaceutical industry.
Delay Discounting of Different Commodities Varies as a Function of Political Party Affiliation in a College Sample

Delay discounting has been used as a measure of both self control and of value for a particular commodity. Two hundred sixty five college psychology students who self identified as being either a Democrat or a Republican completed a delay-discounting task involving five different commodities (two monetary values, retirement income, Federal legislation, and medical treatment). Analyzing the area under the discounting curve, results showed that Democrats discounted all commodities to a greater extent than did Republicans. These results may suggest that Democrats are more apt than Republicans to prefer immediate results or that they value these commodities to a lesser degree than Republicans. Members of both parties, however, displayed similar changes in discounting across commodities, indicating a similar pattern of relative values.
The Two Faces of Control: Network Closure and Individual Performance among Knowledge Workers

This paper argues that the effect of dense social ties, or network closure, on a knowledge worker's performance depends on the predominant role this worker plays with his or her exchange partners in the relationships affected by that closure. Using data on informal exchanges among investment bankers in the equities division of a large financial services firm operating in Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa, and the Americas in 2001, we find that network closure in relationships in which the banker acts as an acquirer of information increases his or her performance, whereas closure in relationships in which the banker acts as a provider of information decreases it. We also find that these effects are moderated by the bankers' ability to employ alternative means (such as formal authority) to induce the cooperation of exchange partners in their acquirer role, as well as by the extent to which the bankers can benefit from being free from the control of exchange partners in their provider role. Our findings highlight the two sides of the normative control associated with network closure: control benefits people when they need to induce exchange partners to behave according to their preferences, but it hurts them when it forces them to behave according to the preferences of those partners.
Women and risk tolerance in an aging world

Purpose - Using a very large sample of psychometrically derived risk profiles of adult Australians, the paper aims to explore the linkage between financial risk tolerance and gender. Design/methodology/approach - The key proxy of risk tolerance score (RTS) derives from a 25 question survey devised by Finametrica and used in real client situations. Using multiple regression analysis in which RTS is the dependent variable, the paper tested the importance of gender in explaining cross-sectional variation, while controlling for a range of demographic characteristics. The impact of gender was further explored through dummy variable enhanced regression analysis constructed to test the increment in each demographic coefficient derived from being female relative to the base case of being male. Findings - The paper documents strong evidence that women differ from men in their attitude to financial risk taking. In general, women are shown to be less risk tolerant than counterpart males, with this differential varying depending on the demographic feature considered. We also find that marital status, number of dependents, age, education, income, combined income, and net assets are significant determinants of risk tolerance in their own right. Originality/value - Given the extent to which women have more conservative risk profiles and the extent to which this conservatism is exacerbated with age (given the longevity advantage of women), one would expect to see asset allocation decisions leading to an overall shift to less risky investment portfolios.
Predictors of productivity loss in early rheumatoid arthritis: a 5 year follow up study

Objective: To explore baseline risk factors for productivity loss and work disability over 5 years in patients with early, active RA. Patients and methods: In the FIN-RACo trial, 195 patients with recent onset RA were randomised to receive either a combination of DMARDs with prednisolone or a single DMARD for 2 years. At baseline, 162 patients were working or available for work. After 5 years’ follow up, data on sick leave and retirement were obtained from social insurance registers or case records. The cumulative duration of sick leaves and RA related disability pensions was counted for each patient. To analyse predictors of productivity loss, the patients were divided into four groups according to duration of work disability per patient year. Results: Patient’s and physician’s global assessment of RA severity ⩾50 and HAQ score ⩾1.0 were risk factors for extension of productivity loss (OR (95% (CI) 1.77 (1.00 to 3.16), 1.85 (1.03 to 3.32), and 1.78 (1.01 to 3.14), respectively). Additional risk factors were low education level (2.40 (1.18 to 4.88)) and older age (1.03 (1.00 to 1.06)); combination treatment was a protective factor (0.59 (0.35 to 0.99)). Conclusion: At baseline, the risk of future productivity loss is best predicted by education level, age, global assessments of RA severity, and HAQ score.