Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Oral Health–Related Quality of Life in Children with Orofacial Clefts

Objectives To determine the impact of orofacial clefts on the oral health–related quality of life of affected children and whether the oral health–related quality of life of children with orofacial clefts differs among different age groups. To assess whether the responses of children with orofacial clefts differ from the caregivers’ perceptions of their child's oral health–related quality of life and compare with data from a control group. Design Cross-sectional study. Patients/Setting A total of 75 subjects with cleft lip and/or cleft palate (mean age, 13.0 years) from the Nationwide Children's Hospital Craniofacial Anomalies Clinic, as well as their caregivers, and 75 control subjects (mean age, 13.9 years). Main Outcome Measure Self-reported oral health–related quality of life measured with the Child Oral Health Impact Profile, a reliable and valid questionnaire designed for use with children and teenagers. Results Children with orofacial clefts had statistically significant lower quality of life scores than control subjects had for overall oral health–related quality of life, Functional Well-being, and Social Emotional Well-being. There was a statistically significant difference in the interaction of age group and Social-Emotional Well-being between children with orofacial clefts and control children. No statistically significant differences were found between the responses of children with orofacial clefts and their caregivers’ reports. Conclusions Presence of an orofacial cleft significantly decreases overall oral health–related quality of life, Functional Well-being, and Social-Emotional Well-being in children and adolescents. The negative impact of orofacial clefts on Social-Emotional Well-being is greater in 15- to 18-year-olds than in younger age groups. Children with orofacial clefts and their caregivers had very similar evaluations of the child's oral health–related quality of life.
A blind iterative calibration method for high resolution DOA estimation

A novel online antenna array calibration method is presented in this paper. Unlike conventional calibration process, the proposed method is a blind approach that does not require prior knowledge of angles used for calibration and the method can be modified for real time calibration processing. An iterative process is used to converge to the actual bearings while the measured steering vector is estimated via Eigenvalue decomposition. The correction matrix is then estimated by use of the least squares estimator. The last step consists of pre-multiplying the measured data set by the obtained correction matrix which mitigates magnitude, phase, and mutual coupling effects on the acquired data set. The experimental study has been carried out on an 8-element uniform circular array (UCA) with an 8-channel RF receiver board at 5.8GHz. The performance of Bartlett, MUSIC, Beamspace MUSIC, and S2-MUSIC direction of arrival (DOA) estimation algorithms have been examined on CW and Harris SeaLancet RT1944/U radio signals. The lab test results have shown significant improvements on high resolution DOA estimation in terms of accuracy and resolution. The proposed method can be implemented in a direction finding system and can be run periodically to mitigate any changes in the environment and maintain high resolution performance over time. Potential applications of the calibration method include improvement of accurate passive RF signal source localization, high QoS wireless communications with beamforming antennas and sensor networking.
WTO subsidy rules and tariff liberalization: evidence from accession of China

Countries increasingly rely on subsidies to assist their producers leading to concerns about their potential misuse. The WTO regulates its members’ subsidies by defining subsidies that are permissible, as well as by providing means to retaliate against subsidies of partner countries if these subsidies hurt one's interest. However, these subsidy rules might have an unintended effect. As both subsidies and tariffs are substitute instruments of protection, tighter subsidy rules might lead to a decrease in the pace of tariff liberalization. In this paper, we present first empirical evidence in support of this prediction. Using China's accession to the WTO in 2001 as a case study, we show that China's accession to the WTO was associated with a relative increase in its tariffs for products that faced a higher threat of retaliation against subsidies. More importantly, we also show that increases in tariff were larger in products with higher potential costs imposed by retaliation. Finally, we include several robustness tests as well as conduct two counterfactual exercises to verify that the results we obtain are indeed due to perceived threat of retaliation against subsidies.
Removing Poisson noise from images in wavelet domain

In experiments, observations are often modelled as a noisy signal. If the signal is embedded in an additive Gaussian noise, its estimation is often done by finding a wavelet basis that concentrates the signal energy over few coefficients and by thresholding the noisy coefficients. However, in many problems of physics, the recorded data are not modelled by Gaussian noise but as the realization of a Poisson process. In this paper, we study a new approach of removing Poisson noise from a degraded image in wavelet domain. This method widens the conventional BayesShrink approach and is operated by processing not only detail coefficients (wavelet coefficients) but also the coefficients related to the rough approximation (approximation coefficients). In order to remove the large-amplitude noise which cannot be removed by conventional wavelet shrink methods, we propose a new type of directional adaptive center weighted median filter (DACWMF)
Approach of the patient with a liver mass

The widespread use of imaging techniques has led to an increased diagnosis of incidental liver tumours. The differential diagnosis is extremely broad since it may range from benign asymptomatic lesions to malignant neoplasms. The correct characterisation of a liver mass has become a diagnostic challenge for most clinicians. They can be divided in two major categories; cystic lesions, usually benign with excellent long-term outcome, and solid lesions, in which malignancy should be excluded. A particular population is those patients with cirrhosis, who have high risk for hepatocellular carcinoma development. Dynamic imaging techniques have a pivotal role in the diagnostic work-up of liver tumours, allowing a confident diagnosis in most cases. If imaging is not conclusive, a biopsy should be requested to obtain a definitive diagnosis.
The LIFO/FIFO Choice: An Asymmetric Information Approach

There has been a vast empirical literature examining the reactions of investors to a firm's switch from the "first-in, first-out" (FIFO) to the "last-in, first-out" (LIFO) method of valuing inventory, beginning with Sunder [1973] and continuing through Dopuch and Pincus [1988]. This discretionary accounting change has captured the interests of researchers because of the direct effect on the firm's cash flows and presumably also on the firm's value. This body of empirical results has raised several conundrums which question both the rationality of the market response and the economic motivation of managers. Lev and Ohlson [1982] review the empirical studies and conclude that the results subsequent to Sunder [1973] showing a negative market reaction are disturbing. The conundrums are first, that a large number of firms continue to use FIFO, foregoing billions of dollars in tax savings;' second, that firms which switch to LIFO appear to do so slowly;2 and third, that LIFO adoptions may be accompanied by either a positive or a negative stock price change.
Part VII Introduction

The human species is expert at communicating information, ideas, and emotional states. Such communication usually involves complex arrangements of motor movements, varying from the vibration of vocal chords during speech, to the coordination of arm movements during physical gestures, to the bowing of a violin during a musical performance. In recent years, the organization and prediction of such motor behavior has come to the forefront in studies of human perception and cognition, a trend that has been fueled by the discovery of “mirror neurons”1 in macaque brains (neurons that fire not only when an action is performed, but also when that action is heard or observed) and the subsequent identification of a homologous mirror-neuron system (MNS) in the human brain.2 While the original research in this area investigated action and action perception, further exploration has identified the MNS as potentially important in prediction, sequencing, hierarchical organization, and the understanding of intention, with fundamental implications for human communication and human empathy.2–4 Such research raises interesting new questions regarding the neural basis of music perception, and a number of researchers have begun to examine and dis-
The Market in Australian Higher Education and the Concept of Student as Informed Consumer

Government attempts to enhance the quality of higher education through the encouragement of market forces are based on an assumption that students are informed consumers making rational choices of higher education courses and institutions. This article examines some of the problems associated with this approach, in particular the limitations on applicants' knowledge and understanding of the higher education system, revealed in a recent survey of students in three Australian states. It canvasses some possible remedies associated with meaningful differentiation of institutional missions and approaches, and accurate dissemination of these differences to students facing this crucial choice.
A dual-band microstrip antenna using a T-shaped parasitic element

This paper presents a dual-band microstrip antenna using a T-shaped parasitic element that cover GPS L1 (1.575 GHz) and L5 (1.176 GHz) bands. The proposed antenna has dual-band characteristic by placing a T-shaped parasitic element at radiation aperture. The T-shaped parasitic element has effects of perturbation and coupling in the resonator. The size of the designed antenna has half-wavelength at 1.575 GHz (L1 band), and the antenna is miniaturized due to resonate at low frequency (L5 band) by the parasitic element. Furthermore, the antenna is single-layer and low-profile. Also, the broadside radiation patterns are observed in all bands.
Same Work, Different Pay? Evidence from a US Public University

Abstract This study examines detailed data for faculty at a typical public research university in the United States between 1995 and 2004 to explore whether gender wage differentials can be explained by productivity differences. The level of detail – including the number of courses taught, enrollment, grant dollars, and number and impact of publications – largely eliminates the problem of unmeasured productivity, and the restriction to one firm eliminates unmeasured work conditions that confound investigations of wider labor markets. The authors find that direct productivity measures reduce the gender wage penalty to about 3 percent, only 1 percentage point lower than estimates from national studies of many institutions and with fewer productivity controls. The wage structure for women faculty differs markedly from the wage structure for men. Interpreted against the institutional features of wage setting for this population, the paper concludes that penalties for women arise at the department level.
A Century of Public Budgeting Reform

A century of budget reform reflects a century of changing public support for the role of government in American society. When Americans trusted the private sector more than the public sector, budget reform was centered on cost control and improved efficiency. When Americans turned to government to solve problems the private sector could not, budget reform was centered on programmatic effectiveness. We have an answer to V. O. Key’s question about a theory of budgeting. History provides it. A theory of budgeting is a theory of political cycles driven by changing public opinion about the proper role of government. There are two enduring features of budgeting practice that emerged in the past century. Incremental budgeting reflects Americans’ preference for incremental policy change. The traditional or line-item format promotes financial accountability.
Effects of habitat fragmentation, population size and demographic history on genetic diversity: the cross river gorilla in a comparative context

In small and fragmented populations, genetic diversity may be reduced owing to increased levels of drift and inbreeding. This reduced diversity is often associated with decreased fitness and a higher threat of extinction. However, it is difficult to determine when a population has low diversity except in a comparative context. We assessed genetic variability in the critically endangered Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli), a small and fragmented population, using 11 autosomal microsatellite loci. We show that levels of diversity in the Cross River population are not evenly distributed across the three genetically identified subpopulations, and that one centrally located subpopulation has higher levels of variability than the others. All measures of genetic variability in the Cross River population were comparable to those of the similarly small mountain gorilla (G. beringei beringei) populations (Bwindi and Virunga). However, for some measures both the Cross River and mountain gorilla populations show lower levels of diversity than a sample from a large, continuous western gorilla population (Mondika, G. gorilla gorilla). Finally, we tested for the genetic signature of a bottleneck in each of the four populations. Only Cross River showed strong evidence of a reduction in population size, suggesting that the reduction in size of this population was more recent or abrupt than in the two mountain gorilla populations. These results emphasize the need for maintaining connectivity in fragmented populations and highlight the importance of allowing small populations to expand. Am. J. Primatol. 70:848–859, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Atmospheric correction of IKONOS imagery for quantitative retrieval of biophysical parameters

To extract quantitative biophysical parameters from IKONOS imagery, the effect of atmospheric attenuation must be removed. The empirical line method (EL) is a relatively simple means. It has been applied with variable success using simultaneous ground data. However, in most case, there were no ground reflectance were measured during the sensor pass over, especially when dealing with historical data. The EL method by using spectrally stable targets was tested to correct the multispectral IKONOS imagery。 A series of calibration targets which are spectrally stable over time were selected to establish the linear predicted equation. It was concluded that reasonable result can be made using targets which are spectrally stable over time. Keywordscalibration; empirical line method; IKONOS; spectrally stable targets
Commercial Lending Officer and Small Business Client Relationships

This article presents the results of an April 1986 mail survey of small business firms in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, concerning the relationship with their commercial bank lending officer. The survey examined loan types and rates, types of collateral,and bank and officer characteristics. Results indicate that 1) secured lines of credit were the most common loan type, 2) the reputation of the bank was the most important characteristic, 3) personal guarantees were the most common collateral type, and forty small businesses rely heavily upon the expertise and support of their commercial lending officers the businesses would seldom change banks for a half percent rate advantage.
Effect of pulmonary stretch receptor feedback and CO2 on upper airway and respiratory pump muscle activity in the rat

1 Our purpose was to examine the effects of chemoreceptor stimulation and lung inflation on neural drive to tongue protrudor and retractor muscles in the rat. 2 Inspiratory flow, tidal volume, transpulmonary pressure, compliance and electromyographic (EMG) activity of genioglossus (GG), hyoglossus (HG) and inspiratory intercostal (IIC) muscles were studied in 11 anaesthetized, tracheotomized and spontaneously breathing rats. Mean EMG activity during inspiration was compared with mean EMG activity during an occluded inspiration, at each of five levels of inspired CO2 (0, 3, 6, 9 and 12 %). 3 Lung inflation suppressed EMG activity in all muscles, with the effect on both tongue muscles exceeding that of the intercostal muscles. Static elevations of end‐expiratory lung volume evoked by 2 cmH2O positive end‐expiratory pressure (PEEP) had no effect on tongue muscle activity. 4 Despite increasing inspiratory flow, tidal volume and transpulmonary pressure, the inhibition of tongue muscle activity by lung inflation diminished as arterial PCO2(Pa,CO2) increased. 5 The onset of tongue muscle activity relative to the onset of IIC muscle activity advanced with increases in Pa,CO2 but was unaffected by lung inflation. This suggests that hypoglossal and external intercostal motoneuron pools are controlled by different circuits or have different sensitivities to CO2, lung inflation and/or anaesthetic agents. 6 We conclude that hypoglossal motoneuronal activity is more strongly influenced by chemoreceptor‐mediated facilitation than by lung volume‐mediated inhibition. Hypoglossal motoneurons driving tongue protrudor and retractor muscles respond identically to these stimuli.
Effect of the simultaneous application of NMES and HVPC on knee extension torque.

CONTEXT Electrical stimulation using simultaneous application of two current types for multiple effects is a current treatment option, but the effect of this treatment is not currently known. OBJECTIVES To compare isometric knee extension torque when using neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) in combination with High Voltage Pulsed Current (HVPC) versus NMES alone during three contraction conditions of quadriceps. DESIGN Counterbalanced, within-subjects design to test independent variables, stimulation protocol, and contraction condition; ANOVA to analyze dependent variable, peak torque. SETTING Athletic Training Research Laboratory. PARTICIPANTS 14 healthy subjects (7 male and 7 female, age = 21.9 +/- 2.0 yr, height = 173.4 +/- 10.1 cm, weight = 76.1 +/- 16.7 kg). INTERVENTION Participants performed three contraction conditions during two stimulation protocols. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Peak isometric knee extension torque. RESULTS The main effect for Stimulation Protocol was not significant: F1,26 = . 01, P = . 94. CONCLUSION Simultaneous application of HVPC with NMES does not facilitate the neuromuscular response but may provide an efficient treatment when managing atrophy, strength loss, pain, and edema associated with reconstructive surgery.
Money Demand in Post-Crisis Russia: De-Dollarisation and Re-Monetisation

Estimating money demand functions for Russia following the 1998 crisis, we find a stable money demand relationship when augmented by a deterministic trend signifying falling velocity. As predicted by theory, higher income boosts demand for real rouble balances and the income elasticity of money is close to unity. Inflation affects the adjustment towards equilibrium, while broad money shocks lead to higher inflation. We also show that exchange rate fluctuations have a considerable influence on Russian money demand. The results indicate that Russian monetary authorities have been correct in using the money stock as an information variable and that the strong influence of exchange rate on money demand is likely to continue despite de-dollarisation of the Russian economy.
Absorbed dose estimates for positron emission tomography (PET): C15O, 11CO, and CO15O.

may be determinedusingPET Detailedestimatesof radiationabsorbeddosefor 22 organsand the whole bodyare reportedand comparedfor these gasesadmlnis tered by continuousor bolusinhalationandby Infusiontechniques. rCBV inhalations of CO'5O been used for cardiac and lung studies (7â€”10). Bolus injections of inhalation ofC'5O and CO'5O have also been used to estimate cerebral blood volume and blood flow.
EVALUACIÓN DE LOS ATRACTIVOS NATURALES PARA EL DESARROLLO DEL ECOTURISMO EN LA REGIÓN HUASTECA DE SAN LUIS POTOSÍ, MÉXICO

This aims reveal the natural attractions suitable for ecotourism development in the Huasteca region of the state of San Luis Potosi. This was sorted and classified natural tourism resources and, subsequently, differentiated levels of territorial units for the quantity and types of existing resources. Finally we discuss the elements to consider for community ecotourism project implemented in a territory whose municipal human development indexes show an ethnically heterogeneous context within such actions most be developed.
Splenic Marginal Zone Lymphoma in a Patient with Positive Hepatitis B Virus Serology

We present a case in which an elderly woman diagnosed with a splenic marginal zone lymphoma (MZL) was found to have positive Hepatitis B serology. Link with Hepatitis C virus is well documented but reports of association of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) with splenic marginal zone lymphoma are still emerging. A 69-year-old lady presented with weight loss, pancytopenia and marked splenomegaly. Prior to commencing treatment, Hepatitis B serology confirmed Hepatitis B infection. She was treated with Chlorambucil along with anti-hepatitis B prophylaxis and HBV PCR monitoring. She had an excellent response to treatment with resolution of symptoms and splenomegaly. This case highlights the importance of testing for hepatitis B serology in patients diagnosed with splenic MZLs as causative agent. Although the association between HCV is well documented in the literature, a relationship between HBV may also be important. Also, chemotherapy +/- Rituximab for splenic MZL is associated with the reactivation of latent infections; hence providing prophylactic cover for pre-existing latent HBV infection may be required to prevent reactivation as in this case.
Original Contribution POLITICAL PARTIES AND PARTY POLITICS IN THE NIGERIAN FOURTH REPUBLIC

The paper unfolds the dysfunctional operation of political parties in the Nigerian Fourth Republic as regard the performance of such functions as elite recruitment, political socialization, interest articulation, interest aggregation and political communication which are basic support ingredients of an enduring democracy. The paper through historical analysis further unfolds the gap between the masses and the elites in the post-colonial Nigerian party politics as an intentional device by the elites to manipulate the Nigerian masses for their own selfish interest, and thus stated that for the present democratic experiment in the Nigerian state to survive party politics must be people-centered.