Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Membranous obstruction of the inferior vena cava (obliterative hepatocavopathy, Okuda)

Confusion prevails throughout the world regarding the definition and classification of the Budd–Chiari syndrome. The original patients (Budd and Chiari) described had hepatic vein thrombosis, but this syndrome now encompasses various hepatic venous outflow blocks, of which membranous obstruction of the inferior vena cava (IVC) is the most common. This author has been suggesting that the classical Budd–Chiari syndrome or hepatic vein thrombosis and membranous obstruction of IVC or primary thrombosis of IVC at its hepatic portion are epidemiologically, pathologically and clinically different, and that they should be treated as two clinical entities that are not to be mixed. The two diseases have a different onset, different clinical manifestations and a different natural history. Whereas hepatic vein thrombosis is a severe disease with an acute onset, IVC thrombosis presents mildly at onset, but it recurs and eventually turns into a fibrous occlusion of IVC of varying thickness or stenosis of a various degree. The fibrous IVC occlusion is found as a mysterious thin membrane, but is more often much thicker than a membrane, and therefore ‘membrane’ is a misnomer. Although the genesis is not established, formation of a thin membrane may be an outcome of recurrent thrombosis. The past congenital vascular malformation theory no longer holds, because the disease occurs mostly in adulthood, and transformation of thrombosis into a membrane has now been well documented pathologically as well as clinically. This author suggests that a term ‘obliterative hepatocavopathy’ replace membranous obstruction of IVC, the term ‘Budd–Chiari syndrome’ be abandoned, and that primary hepatic venous outflow block be divided into primary hepatic vein thrombosis and primary IVC thrombosis (obliterative hepatocavopathy).
Assessing the distortionary impact of state trading in China.

State trading is a common feature in the management of imports and exports of agricultural products and it has been a long-standing feature of China's agricultural trade regime. While the use of state trading was modified by China's accession to the WTO, it remains a dominant feature for some commodities, even though there have been recent attempts to diminish its importance. In this article, we review the role that the state trading enterprise (STE), China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Import and Export Company (COFCO), continues to play in the importing and exporting of some agricultural commodities. We then review the economic theory that has been developed to measure the tariff equivalent of importing STEs. Finally, we apply that theory through a calibration exercise to measure the tariff equivalent of COFCO in China's import market for wheat. The distortionary impact of COFCO depends on the bias in government policy toward agriculture, the competitiveness of the domestic procurement market, and also the number of firms that are allocated licenses to import alongside COFCO. Copyright (c) 2010 International Association of Agricultural Economists.
Volatility and Volume in Chinese Stock Markets

The fact that stock market returns in Europe and the USA are characterised by conditional heteroscedasticity is by now well documented in a large literature. We address the question of whether the same is true of the four Chinese stock markets (Shanghai and Shenzhen A and B) over the period from 25 November 1994 to 27 April 2001. Using daily index data, we make two departures from the standard GARCH(1,1) model. First, we use exponential GARCH (EGARCH) to allow for asymmetry in the volatility, which may be present as a result of leverage effects. Second, we respond to evidence of two-way causality between volume and return (and return volatility) by introducing a simultaneous equation model of the relationship. The results of estimating the model indicate that asymmetry does not seem to be present to a significant degree, possibly as a result of lack of information or concern among Chinese investors. We find that volume appears to play a significant part in determining index volatility, which may reflect information arrival effects or may alternatively result from the direct impact of trading on volatility. At the same time, we also find that both the level of returns and their conditional variance have an impact on trade volume, probably because positive (negative) returns tend to attract (deter) investors into the markets.
Laser frequency stabilisation via quasi-monolithic, unequal arm-length Mach-Zehnder interferometer with balanced DC readout

Low frequency high precision laser interferometry is subject to excess laser frequency noise coupling via arm-length differences which is commonly mitigated by locking the frequency to a stable reference system. This is crucial to achieve picometer level sensitivities in the 0.1mHz to 1Hz regime, where laser frequency noise is usually high and couples into the measurement phase via arm-length mismatches in the interferometers. Here we describe the results achieved by frequency stabilising an external cavity diode laser to a quasi-monolithic unequal arm-length Mach-Zehnder interferometer read out at mid-fringe via balanced detection. This stabilisation scheme has been found to be an elegant solution combining a minimal number of optical components, no additional laser modulations and relatively low frequency noise levels. The Mach-Zehnder interferometer has been designed and constructed to minimise the influence of thermal couplings and to reduce undesired stray light using the optical simulation tool IfoCAD. We achieve frequency noise levels corresponding to LISAlike (laser interferometer space antenna) displacement sensitivities below 1 pm/ √ Hz and are able to demonstrate the LISA frequency pre-stabilisation requirement of 300Hz/ √ Hz down to frequencies of 100mHz by beating the stabilised laser with an Iodine locked reference.
Care of Diabetic Pregnant Women by Primary-Care Physicians: Reported Strategies for Managing Pregestational and Gestational Diabetes

Objective —To ascertain the strategies used by primary-care physicians for treating pregestational and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) during pregnancy, because many women with pregnancies complicated by these types of diabetes are treated by physicians who have no special training in intensive diabetes management. Research Design and Methods —Two hundred twenty-four family-practice (FP) physicians and 184 obstetrics/gynecology (OB/GYN) physicians were surveyed by mail. Results —When compared with OB/GYNs, FPs were less likely to screen all pregnant women for GDM (P = 0.03), use multiple-injection insulin regimens (P = 0.004) or self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) (P = 0.01) for Pre-GDM patients, and refer these patients to a specialist for medical (P = 0.01) or ophthalmologic (P < 0.001) care. FPs were more likely to implement insulin therapy (P = 0.003), SMBG (P = 0.02), and examine eyes for retinopathy (P < 0.001) when treating gestational patients. Conclusions —These data show that there are considerable discrepancies between the strategies used by FPs and OB/GYNs and also suggest that physicians in both groups are under-utilizing recommended treatment strategies described in publications targeted specifically to primary-care physicians. Increased exposure to and dissemination of guidelines for diabetes management and additional medical school and postgraduate education programs are recommended as methods to improve utilization of these strategies.
Readability of Internet Information on Hearing: Systematic Literature Review.

PURPOSE This systematic literature review asks the following question: “ What is the readability of Internet information on hearing that people with hearing impairment and their significant others can access in the context of their hearing care? ” METHOD Searches were completed in three databases: CINAHL, PubMed, and Scopus. Seventy-eight records were identified and systematically screened for eligibility: 8 records were included that contained data on the readability of Internet information on hearing that people with hear ing impairment and their significant others can access in the context of their hearing care. RESULTS Records reported mean readability levels from 9 to over 14. In other words, people with hearing impairment and their significant others need 9 to 14 years of education to read and understand Internet information on hearing that they access in the context of their hearing care. CONCLUSION The poor readability of Internet information on hearing has been well documented; it is time to focus on valid and sustainable initiatives that address this problem.
The Underwriter Persistence Phenomenon

This study presents new evidence that initial IPO returns have persistent underwriter-specific components. These components cannot be explained by existing measures of underwriter quality, underwriter service, or controls for several known predictors of initial IPO returns. Tests that trace the roots of persistence most broadly support theories of asymmetric information among underwriters. I present such a model, and consistent with its predictions, I find that high underpricing underwriters (1) are responsible for a majority of the partial adjustment phenomenon, (2) make more informed analyst revisions, (3) experience superior market share growth, and (4) are more likely to serve institutional clientele.
Determination of exploration target based on belief measure in multi-robot exploration

Multi robot exploration is received much attention in various fields. Some research works of multi-robot exploration have studied. We have also proposed a sharing method between robots in multi robot exploration. In our method, the belief measure is used as the explored information in each robot. Then, each robot has grid maps for storing explored information and for sharing information explored by other robots. However, each robot moves randomly and cannot explore efficiently. Therefore, this paper deals with a determination method of exploring points in multi robot exploration. In this method, each robot can determine exploring points considering the belief measures. The key point of this method is that robots have not a common map and determine exploring points independently. The effectiveness of our approach is demonstrated by a real experiments with two mobile robots.
pleural mesothelioma : Genome-wide expression patterns reflecting eneral resistance mechanisms and a proposal of novel targets luf

Malignant pleural mesothelioma is an asbestos-related multi-resistant tumour with increasing incidence worldwide. Well-characterized snap-frozen normal parietal, visceral pleura and mesothelioma samples were analysed with Affymetrix Human Genome U133 Plus 2.0 GeneChip oligoarray of 38 500 genes. We discovered a close relation between gene profile and resistance towards topoisomerase poisons, alkylating agents, antitubulines, antifolates, platinum compounds and radiation therapy. Target genes of chemo(e.g. TOP2A, BIRC5/Survivin and proteasome) and radiotherapy (e.g. BRCA2, FANCA, FANCD2, CCNB1 and RAD50) were significantly overexpressed. The Fanconi anemia/BRCA2 pathway, responsible for homologous recombination DNA repair appears as a key pathway in both chemoand radio-resistance of mesothelioma. Leukocyte trans-endothelial migration gene down-regulation could partly explain resistance against immunological therapies. Gene expression features found in other resistant cancer types icroarray adiation resistance related to DNA repair and replication are shared by mesothelioma and could represent general features of tumour resistance. Targeted suppression of some of those key genes and pathways combined with chemotherapy or radiation could improve the outcome of mesothelioma therapy. We propose CHEK1, RAD21, FANCD2 and RAN as new co-targets for mesothelioma treatment. The pro-angiogenic AGGF1 mRNA and protein was highly overexpressed in all tumours and may serve as a target for anti-angiogenic treatment. Overexpression of NQO1 may render mesothelioma sensitive to the novel compound betaLapachone.
Individual and Collective Impacts and Residents’ Perceptions of Tourism

Abstract This study investigates individual and collective impacts of tourism on the residents of Hat Yai City Municipality as well as their perceptions of tourism development in their residential area through a survey conducted among a sample of residents living in 47 communities within Hat Yai City Municipality. Individual impacts are the impacts that satisfy individual needs, while collective impacts are the impacts that meet communal needs. The results of data analysis reveal that residents who benefit from tourism (individually or collectively) perceive tourism more positively than those who do not benefit from it. Although the study finds that residents are a little more concerned about how they, as individuals rather than as a collective group of community, are affected by tourism, it is unable to conclude which one of these impact categories is more influential in forming residents’ attitudes.
Information Asymmetry and Cross-Sectional Determinants of Insider Trading

We investigate the relationship of candidate information asymmetry measures to aspects of insiders' trades. For two of the measures, the median absolute abnormal return over past earnings announcements (MAG_AR) and whether the firm reports R&D expenditures, associations are consistent with the predictions of a price-taking theory of informed trade. Also, insiders' profits are significantly higher when MAG_AR is greater. For the other measures we consider, associations are inconsistent with the predicted relationships, suggesting that either those measures are poor proxies for information asymmetry or models of informed trade are not descriptive.
Effects of Food Stamp and TANF Policies on Food Stamp Receipt

This article uses data from the period between 1996 and 2003 to measure how the food stamp receipt of a low‐income population is affected by specific Food Stamp Program (FSP) policies, welfare policies, the minimum wage, and the Earned Income Tax Credit. It examines 27 specific program rules that are hypothesized to affect food stamp receipt. The results provide strong evidence that food stamp receipt increases with leniency of vehicle exemption policies, leniency of immigrant eligibility rules, length of recertification periods, and expansion of categorical eligibility. Findings also suggest that food stamp receipt is reduced by the use of biometric technology, which is employed in part to prevent fraud. In addition, the results provide some, but less consistent, evidence that the electronic benefit transfer program and outreach spending increase food stamp receipt.
Differential response of epiblast stem cells to Nodal and Activin signalling: a paradigm of early endoderm development in the embryo

Mouse epiblast stem cells (EpiSCs) display temporal differences in the upregulation of Mixl1 expression during the initial steps of in vitro differentiation, which can be correlated with their propensity for endoderm differentiation. EpiSCs that upregulated Mixl1 rapidly during differentiation responded robustly to both Activin A and Nodal in generating foregut endoderm and precursors of pancreatic and hepatic tissues. By contrast, EpiSCs that delayed Mixl1 upregulation responded less effectively to Nodal and showed an overall suboptimal outcome of directed differentiation. The enhancement in endoderm potency in Mixl1-early cells may be accounted for by a rapid exit from the progenitor state and the efficient response to the induction of differentiation by Nodal. EpiSCs that readily differentiate into the endoderm cells are marked by a distinctive expression fingerprint of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β signalling pathway genes and genes related to the endoderm lineage. Nodal appears to elicit responses that are associated with transition to a mesenchymal phenotype, whereas Activin A promotes gene expression associated with maintenance of an epithelial phenotype. We postulate that the formation of definitive endoderm (DE) in embryoid bodies follows a similar process to germ layer formation from the epiblast, requiring an initial de-epithelialization event and subsequent re-epithelialization. Our results show that priming EpiSCs with the appropriate form of TGF-β signalling at the formative phase of endoderm differentiation impacts on the further progression into mature DE-derived lineages, and that this is influenced by the initial characteristics of the cell population. Our study also highlights that Activin A, which is commonly used as an in vitro surrogate for Nodal in differentiation protocols, does not elicit the same downstream effects as Nodal, and therefore may not effectively mimic events that take place in the mouse embryo.
Sensor based planning for a planar rod robot: incremental construction of the planar rod-HGVG

This work considers sensor based motion planning for rod-shaped robots in unknown environments. The motion planning scheme is based on the rod hierarchical generalized Voronoi graph (rod-HGVG). The rod-HGVG is a roadmap for rod-like robots, and is an extension of a prior roadmap for point-like robots. We give an incremental method to construct the rod-HGVG thereby enabling exploration of unknown environments. An important practical feature of the algorithm is its sole reliance upon the use of work space distance measurements to objects that are within line of sight. Such measurements can be readily provided by conventional range sensors. Moreover, motion planning in a configuration space is achieved without explicitly constructing each configuration space obstacle. A key result derived in this paper is the distance gradient between two convex sets.
EARNINGS, INDEPENDENCE OR UNEMPLOYMENT: WHY BECOME SELF‐EMPLOYED?

ABSTRACT This paper attempts to estimate the role played by three key variables (namely expected earnings, the desire for independence and the ability to find paid employment) on the paid employee/self-employment decision using a simple three stage utility maximization model. The empirical results suggest that individuals are attracted to self-employment because of higher expected earnings relative to paid employment and by the freedom from managerial constraints that it offers. Evidence is also produced supporting the prosperity pull argument for self-employment. Marital status, parents employment status, housing equity and occupational status clearly emerge as significant determinants of labour market choice.
Device-to-device resource scheduling by distributed interference coordination

Device-to-device (D2D) communication overlaying a cellular network has been proved to augment the flexibility and enable new applications (e.g., content distribution) in cellular networks. In this context, it is crucial to design a radio resource management system that allocates the time-frequency (TF) resources to the D2D links in a distributed way, i.e. without any coordination by the cellular network, so as to guarantee the quality of service (QoS), particularly in heterogeneous traffic conditions. Interference-aware resource allocation has the capability to adapt the resource management to a context where multiple D2D links coexist in the same spectrum. In this paper, a distributed scheduling approach is proposed where each D2D link reacts to the locally sensed interference by self-adapting its own TF allocation. Each node autonomously trades the QoS request in term of packet service with the resource availability by inflating/deflating the spectrum allocation based on the sensed interference level. The change of the interference pattern perceived in turn by other D2D links serves as interlink signaling of the need/release of TF resources. Each node optimizes the allocation by iterated local adjustments, till an equilibrium with other D2D links is reached. The paper shows that the proposed scheduling algorithm is able to maximize the total throughput in a fully distributed way, arranging efficiently the radio resources over the TF domain so as to satisfy the QoS requirements for each node.
State-of-Charge (SOC)-Balancing Control of a Battery Energy Storage System Based on a Cascade PWM Converter

Renewable energy sources such as wind turbine generators and photovoltaics produce fluctuating electric power. The fluctuating power can be compensated by installing an energy storage system in the vicinity of these sources. This paper describes a 6.6-kV battery energy storage system based on a cascade pulsewidth-modulation (PWM) converter with focus on a control method for state-of-charge (SOC) balancing of the battery units. A 200-V, 10-kW, 3.6-kWh (13-MJ) laboratory system combining a cascade PWM converter with nine nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery units is designed, constructed, and tested to verify the validity and effectiveness of the proposed balancing control.
The theory behind hoshin: a quantitative investigation of Toyota's strategic planning process

Many companies have attempted to imitate and copy Toyota's strategic planning process more formally known as hoshin kanri in the implementation of lean manufacturing. Unfortunately, most observations of hoshin fail to quantify and accurately represent how such preferences are designed and integrated into Toyota's strategic planning process. This study combines classical strategic planning theory and latent semantic analysis in the study and classification of Toyota's hoshin kanri practices. This study shows that Toyota's hoshin practices inherently have preferences towards resource- and knowledge-based theory which means that internal development of resources, especially human capital is of high importance. Interestingly, Toyota's blend between emergent and deliberate strategic planning approaches creates a targeted creativity style that is difficult to establish without a highly structured problem-solving process. Toyota's hoshin process is also well balanced between the agency aspects of cross-organisational commitment which means that the strategy formation and implementation aspects are more closely integrated compared to traditional approaches. This new insight and others provide an increased understanding of Toyota's hoshin kanri process and practices that relate to the implementation of Toyota production system.
Efficient MHD Riemann solvers for simulations on unstructured triangular grids

Abstract In this paper we compare the accuracy and efficiency of a finite volume scheme solving the ideal MHD equations in one and two space dimensions for interface fluxes obtained by six different MHD Riemann solvers. We suggest a new solver of HLLEM-type (MHD–HLLEM) and show that it is the cheapest one in our comparison. Moreover, we study if the extra effort required for higher order schemes is justified by the gain in accuracy. The two-dimensional version of our code is based on unstructured triangular meshes.