Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Differences in amniotic fluid patterns and fetal biometric parameters in third trimester pregnancies with and without diabetes

Objective. The amniotic fluid index (AFI) has been increasingly used in the assessment of fetal well-being. We conducted the study to evaluate and compare the amniotic fluid index in third trimester normal and diabetic human pregnancy and to assess the correlation between the AFI and the fetal biometric parameters. Methods. Real-time ultrasound was performed to evaluate the AFI (four-quadrant technique), and to measure the biparietal diameter, head circumference, abdominal circumference, and femur length in 225 normal and 120 diabetic pregnant women from 27 to 42 weeks of gestation. Each patient was studied only once. Results. AFI in normal pregnancies was less than that in diabetic pregnancies throughout the gestational ages studied (27–42 weeks). In normal pregnancy, the mean AFI was 14.0 cm at 27 weeks and decreased to 11.4 cm at 42 weeks (r = 0.25, p = 0.0005), whereas in diabetic pregnancies, the values remained stable throughout the gestational ages studied. There exist significant differences in AFI, estimated fetal weight, estimated fetal weight %, abdominal circumference, abdominal circumference %, and head circumference to abdominal circumference ratio between the two groups. In both normal and diabetic pregnancies, there is a positive correlation between the AFI and the percentile of abdominal circumference (p < 0.0001), and between the AFI and the percentile of estimated fetal weight (p < 0.0001). Conclusion. This study provides gestational age-specific values of the AFI in normal and diabetic pregnancies. Diabetic pregnancy has greater AFI values than normal pregnancy between 27 and 42 weeks. The AFI correlates to the percentile of the estimated fetal weight and the abdominal circumference in both groups, suggesting that there may be a relationship between increased AFI and large for gestational age fetus independent of diabetes.
Empirical Performance of Commodity Derivative Models

The valuation of commodities contingent claims depends on the process assumed for the underlying asset. While the drift is important for futures pricing, the volatility is the price driver for options. In this paper we compare the empirical pricing performance of a model with constant volatility (CV) with one with a stochastic volatility specification (SV). These models are applied to oil, copper and gold getting consistent results for all three commodities. First, the CV model is clearly a better alternative to price futures contracts; not only it is simpler, but also it has smaller errors. However, if it is used to price options contracts the error could be considerable higher. Second, the longer the option maturity, the less relevant are the differences in pricing errors. Third, the higher complexity of the SV model is reflected in the, about 10 times, larger execution times. Fourth, the results of the SV model, applied for the first time to gold and copper, strongly suggest the presence of unspanned stochastic volatility components in all three commodities. Choosing the best model to implement in a real situation depends on the objectives pursued and on the tradeoffs between effort and precision. The results presented are then not only new, but also relevant from a practitioner point of view.
nemy encodes a cytochrome b561 that is required for Drosophila learning and memory

Although many genes have been shown to play essential roles in learning and memory, the precise molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying these processes remain to be fully elucidated. Here, we present the molecular and behavioral characterization of the Drosophila memory mutant nemy. We provide multiple lines of evidence to show that nemy arises from a mutation in a Drosophila homologue of cytochrome B561. nemy is predominantly expressed in neuroendocrine neurons in the larval brain, and in mushroom bodies and antennal lobes in the adult brain, where it is partially coexpressed with peptidyl α-hydroxylating monooxygenase (PHM), an enzyme required for peptide amidation. Cytochrome b561 was found to be a requisite cofactor for PHM activity and we found that the levels of amidated peptides were reduced in nemy mutants. Moreover, we found that knockdown of PHM gave rise to defects in memory retention. Altogether, the data are consistent with a model whereby cytochrome B561-mediated electron transport plays a role in memory formation by regulating intravesicular PHM activity and the formation of amidated neuropeptides.
The Radioresistance to Killing of A1–5 Cells Derives from Activation of the Chk1 Pathway*

Checkpoints respond to DNA damage by arresting the cell cycle to provide time for facilitating repair. In mammalian cells, the G2 checkpoint prevents the Cdc25C phosphatase from removing inhibitory phosphate groups from the mitosis-promoting kinase Cdc2. Both Chk1 and Chk2, the checkpoint kinases, can phosphorylate Cdc25C and inactivate its in vitro phosphatase activity. Therefore, both Chk1 and Chk2 are thought to regulate the activation of the G2 checkpoint. Here we report that A1–5, a transformed rat embryo fibroblast cell line, shows much more radioresistance associated with a much stronger G2 arrest response when compared with its counterpart, B4, although A1–5 and B4 cells have a similar capacity for nonhomologous end-joining DNA repair. These phenotypes of A1–5 cells are accompanied by a higher Chk1 expression and a higher phosphorylation of Cdc2. On the other hand, Chk2 expression increases slightly following radiation; however, it has no difference between A1–5 and B4 cells. Caffeine or UCN-01 abolishes the extreme radioresistance with the strong G2 arrest and at the same time reduces the phosphorylation of Cdc2 in A1–5 cells. In addition, Chk1 but not Chk2 antisense oligonucleotide sensitizes A1–5 cells to radiation-induced killing and reduces the G2 arrest of the cells. Taken together these results suggest that the Chk1/Cdc25C/Cdc2 pathway is the major player for the radioresistance with G2 arrest in A1–5 cells.
Grid tied converter with virtual kinetic storage

The increase of relatively small scale dispersed power generation (DG) is likely to impact the structure and operation of power generation and distribution systems. The current power system comprises multiple generators. Their intrinsic kinetic energy buffer (rotor inertia) plays an important role in short term system stability. Generators that are connected via power electronic power converters lack these kinetic buffers. Optimal power transfer from source to grid is often used as a control objective to optimize the energy yield. At power system level this approach may compromise stability. In this paper it is demonstrated that by emulation of rotor inertia, stability problems on a system level can be mitigated. For that purpose a short-term energy buffer is added to the system that can be controlled at a fast rate, thereby forming a so-called Virtual Synchronous Generator (VSG). Power system stability support then becomes an additional control objective of the DG. Maximum rotor angular speed deviation and maximum critical clearing time are used as performance indicators for the evaluation. Sizing of the short term buffer constitutes a second topic of this paper.
Reference database of hypervariable genetic markers of Argentina: Application for molecular anthropology and forensic casework

The population of Argentina is mostly composed of people of European ancestry. Aboriginal communities are at present very reduced in number and restricted to small geographically isolated patches. Three aboriginal communities, the Mapuche, Tehuelche and Wichi, were selected for short tandem repeat (STR) investigation. The metropolitan population of the city of Buenos Aires was analyzed, with both micro‐ and minisatellites. The minisatellite loci D1S7, D2S44, D4S139, D5S110, D8S358, D10S28, and D17S26 were typed on HaeIII‐digested DNA obtained from unrelated individuals. D1S80 was typed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The autosomal STRs THO1, FABP, D6S366, CSF1PO, TPOX, F13A1, FES/FPS, vWA, MBPA/B, D16S539, D7S820, D13S317, and RENA4 and the sex chromosome STRs HPRTB, DYS385, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS19, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393 and YCAII were also investigated. As a by‐product of our investigations, a reference database was created that is routinely used in forensic casework and paternity testing. STR allele frequency distributions are characterized by significant differences within and also between different populations. In contrast, the minisatellite bin distribution of the metropolitan population is not significantly different from other Caucasian populations.
Cultural Diversity and Education

Cultural Diversity and Education in Great Britain: A Case Study, deals with the importance of students cultural background and their identity. The purpose of the publication is to raise the awareness of teachers in this matter. Main aspects of the educational system in the United Kingdom are briefly described. The cultural part of the study has put emphasis on the collectivism-individualism dimension and analyses the significance of identity of students including the problems with ethnicities and diaspora. The final part of the publication is a research conducted at a secondary school in Nottingham. The overall aim is to assess the values of students and find relevance between their cultural background and interaction with others in class.
Intravascular MR imaging in a porcine animal model

An opposed solenoid intravascular receiver coil is used in a series of five pigs to generate images of the aorta. Severe ghosting artifacts are shown to occur if the motion of the intravascular coil is not restricted with respect to the vessel wall. Restricting coil motion and saturating the blood signal superior to the imaging plane are shown to produce high quality MR images. Layers within the artery wall could be discerned and the results of the in vivo analysis compared favorably with high resolution MR images of the corresponding tissue after excision.
Active Redundant Submodule Configuration in Modular Multilevel Converters

The modular multilevel converter (MMC) is based on the cascaded connection of identical submodules (SMs) enabling additional redundancies. This paper proposes the configuration of the MMC topology with redundant SMs and demonstrates the effects of active redundancies. The proposed configuration decreases the switching frequency per SM while reducing the SM capacitor voltage ripples. An analytical model for determining the SM capacitor voltage ripple and voltage dynamics is derived. The results from the analytical model are compared with the switching model for a 21-level MMC with five redundant (25 in total) SMs per arm. Experimental results based on a single-phase laboratory prototype with five SMs per arm and a single redundant cell further illustrate the operation and verify the derived mathematical model and simulation results.
Validation of the Mother-Generated Index in Iran: A Specific Postnatal Quality-of-Life Instrument

Background: The mother-generated index (MGI) is one of only a few existing specific questionnaires for assessing the postnatal quality of life (QoL). MGI is a single-form questionnaire that asks postnatal mothers to specify up to eight areas of their lives which have been affected by giving birth to a baby. Using this tool, it is possible to score and rank the QoL of mothers. This study aimed to validate the questionnaire for use in Iran. Methods: Forward translation was used to translate the questionnaire from English to Farsi (Persian). The questionnaire was then administered to a sample of postnatal women attending two teaching hospitals in Tehran, Iran. Face validity and criterion validity were performed to establish the validity for the Iranian version of the MGI. Face validity was assessed by asking women to indicate whether they understood the wording of the questions, how easy the questionnaire was, and so on. Criterion validity was examined using the Short Form 36-item (SF-36) Health Survey. It was hypothesized that the MGI would significantly correlate with the SF-36. Results: In all, 124 women were approached. Of these, 119 women were eligible and 96 women agreed to take part in the study. Face validity was good and all of the women found the MGI straightforward to complete; as criterion validity, the MGI scores and the subscales of the SF-36 were moderately correlated (for all subscales: Pearson r > 0.4; P < 0.001). The mean MGI primary score was 5.38 (SD = 3.05). Women who had comorbidity had significantly lower MGI scores than women without comorbidity (P = 0.04). Correlation between aggregate of comments and primary score was high (r = 0.68, P < 0.01). Conclusions: In general, the Iranian version of the MGI performed well and our data suggest that it is a valid measure to assess health-related QoL among postnatal women.
Bayesian analysis of culture and PCR methods for detection of Campylobacter spp. in broiler caecal samples

SUMMARY The objective of this study was to estimate the sensitivity and specificity of a culture method and a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method for detection of two Campylobacter species: C. jejuni and C. coli. Data were collected during a 3-year survey of UK broiler flocks, and consisted of parallel sampling of caeca from 436 batches of birds by both PCR and culture. Batches were stratified by season (summer/non-summer) and whether they were the first depopulation of the flock, resulting in four sub-populations. A Bayesian approach in the absence of a gold standard was adopted, and the sensitivity and specificity of the PCR and culture for each Campylobacter subtype was estimated, along with the true C. jejuni and C. coli prevalence in each sub-population. Results indicated that the sensitivity of the culture method was higher than that of PCR in detecting both species when the samples were derived from populations infected with at most one species of Campylobacter. However, from a mixed population, the sensitivity of culture for detecting both C. jejuni or C. coli is reduced while PCR is potentially able to detect both species, although the total probability of correctly identifying at least one species by PCR is similar to that of the culture method.
The Effect of Job Satisfaction on the Organisational Commitment of Administrators

Administrators are an important human resource in Higher Education because they perform various duties that are critical to the daily operations of universities. In light of this, organisational commitment and job satisfaction of administrators are essential for the efficiency and effectiveness of universities. Notwithstanding the critical relevance and necessity of organisational commitment and job satisfaction, there is evidence of paucity of research on these areas among administrative staff in the South African higher education sector. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between organisational commitment and overall job satisfaction on the organisational commitment of administrators at a university in Gauteng. To achieve the aforementioned objective, a quantitative survey approach was used to examine the relationship between overall job satisfaction and organisational commitment. The selfadministered structured questionnaires were issued to 383 administrative staff members. Descriptive statistics was utilised to assess the levels of both organisational commitment and job satisfaction, results of which revealed that administrators were satisfied with and committed to the university. Spearman’s rho correlation analysis showed that there was a strong correlation between affective commitment and job satisfaction; and moderate correlations between job satisfaction and moral imperative. Similar strong correlation was observed between indebted obligation and job satisfaction. Conversely, a weak correlation occurred between job satisfaction and continuance commitment. Regression coefficients indicated that job satisfaction contributed positively to the prediction of affective commitment, moral imperative, indebted obligation and continuance commitment. Based on these findings, the recommendations and future research opportunities were suggested.
An evaluation of alirocumab for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia

Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) plays an important role in lipoprotein metabolism, mainly by modulating LDL receptor activity. Alirocumab is a fully human IgG1 monoclonal antibody that binds PCSK9, increases the number of LDL receptors and decreases the levels of LDL cholesterol. The efficacy of alirocumab has been evaluated in more than 6000 subjects with primary hypercholesterolemia; in Phase III trials, alirocumab consistently reduced LDL-cholesterol up to 62% with every 2 weeks dosing compared with placebo and up to 36% compared with ezetimibe. Two doses, 75 and 150 mg, have been developed to propose a tailored approach in the treatment of hypercholesterolemic patients not controlled by maximally tolerated lipid-lowering therapy. Alirocumab was generally well-tolerated, with an acceptable safety profile. The ongoing ODYSSEY OUTCOMES trial will provide definitive evidence on the effect of alirocumab on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality and complementary data on the long-term safety and tolerability. Moreover, a cost–effectiveness analysis would be useful to determine the appropriate price of alirocumab.
Maturity models for management of information systems and technologies in healthcare

The information systems and technologies (IST) in healthcare have evolved gradually, and theories about adoption and maturity of IST are sufficiently established in the literature of organisational management. In this paper we make an approach to the evolution of IST in healthcare, introducing the concepts associated with maturity models, addressing the generic maturity model for IST management and presenting the main maturity models specifically focusing on the management of IST in healthcare. Relatively to the last ones, we conclude that there is still a way to go for having available widespread and detailed maturity models. This finding marks the opportunity to develop new maturity models focusing on the IST management in healthcare.
Dexterous mechanism design for an anthropomorphic artificial hand: Osaka City University Hand I

In this paper we propose our first version of an anthropomorphic robot hand. The cosmetic and the function of our proposed hand allow using the hand as a prosthetic hand in addition to as an open platform of robot hands for robotics research. Our hand is composed of five fingers, with total 19 degrees of freedom (DOF) without considering the wrist joints which has additional 3 DOF with a dexterous design. The thumb finger in our proposed hand has a special design that improves the implementation of the hand. As in human hand, the tip joint of every finger (except the thumb) is engaged with the middle joint by a planar bar linkage mechanism. Also in our proposed hand, the palm has a unique design so as to improve the hand grasping function, and handling different shape objects firmly. The size of the hand is almost the same as a human hand. For maintenance aspects, the fingers of the hand starting from the fingertip till the palm base are uncoupled, in which each finger can be modified individually if needed. All actuators, mechanical parts, and sensors are on the hand. The compact design makes the proposed hand feasible to adapt the hand to the injured wrist. Experiments of grasping and handling several objects are shown in detail.
Poverty and Development in Tanzania

The paper investigates the relationship between development, as measured by the GNI per capita and lived poverty in Tanzania which is measured on the basis of whether and how often respondents go, in the course of one year, without food, water, medical care, cooking fuel and cash income. By using the data collected by Afrobarometer in Tanzania, we are able to create one set of indicators that capture the extension of lived poverty, that is what percentage of the respondents, experiences deprivation, but we also develop a series of indicators that capture the severity of lived poverty, that is how frequently respondents experience this problem. Our statistical analyses reveal that while Tanzanian progress along the developmental path did not have a significant impact on the extension of lived poverty, it made a large and significant contribution to reduce its severity.
A feasibility study of a home-based intervention for elderly depression among Hong Kong Chinese

ABSTRACT The Smiley Activation Programme (SAP) is a home-based intervention that is targeted to reduce depressive symptoms in elderly Hong Kong Chinese. The SAP includes eight social worker’s home visits and two volunteer visits over 19 weeks and a three-month follow-up, integrating problem-solving treatment and behavioural activation. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility of the SAP in reducing depressive symptoms for elderly depression in Hong Kong, by comparing the outcomes at pre-test, post-test and three-month follow-up. Two hundred and nineteen old adults aged 60 or above with depressive symptoms were recruited. Significant improvements in depression (t = 12.79, p < .01) and an effect size of 0.96 were reported. Other benefits include improvements in perceived general health, physical and social activeness and pleasant activity level. The low attrition rate and high participant satisfactory level supported the feasibility of the programme. Implications of social work research and practice are discussed.
A Geography of Unmarried Cohabitation in the Americas.

BACKGROUND In the context of increasing cohabitation and growing demand for understanding the driving forces behind the cohabitation boom, most analyses have been carried out at a national level, not accounting for regional heterogeneity within countries. OBJECTIVE This paper presents the geography of unmarried cohabitation in the Americas. We offer a large-scale, cross-national perspective together with small-area estimates of cohabitation. We decided to produce this map because: (i) geography unveils spatial heterogeneity and challenges explanatory frameworks that may work at the international level but have low explanatory power in regard to intra-national variation. (ii) we argue that historical pockets of cohabitation can still be identified by examining the current geography of cohabitation. (iii) our map is a first step toward understanding whether the recent increase in cohabitation is an intensification of pre-existing traditions or whether it has different roots that also imply a new geography. METHODS Census microdata from 39 countries and 19,000 local units have been pulled together to map the prevalence of cohabitation among women. RESULTS The results show inter- and intra-national regional contrasts. The highest rates of cohabitation are found in areas of Central America, the Caribbean, Colombia and Peru. The lowest rates are mainly found in the United States and Mexico. In all countries the spatial autocorrelation statistics indicates substantial spatial heterogeneity. CONCLUSIONS Our results raise the question as to which forces have shaped these patterns and remind us that such forces need to be taken into account to understand recent patterns, particularly increases, in cohabitation.