Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Breastfeeding and Methadone Therapy: The Maternal Experience

Background Despite evidence of low transfer of methadone into breast milk and the potential physical and psychological benefits that breastfeeding offers for methadone-exposed mothers and infants, the rate of breastfeeding initiation in this population is about half that reported nationally. This study describes the perceptions surrounding breastfeeding decisions and management among pregnant and postpartum women taking methadone. Methods Seven pregnant women and 4 postpartum women enrolled in methadone maintenance programs participated in semistructured, audiotaped interviews and focus groups, respectively, about their breastfeeding experiences. Transcripts were analyzed and coded using qualitative content analysis. Results Three major content categories were identified: (1) fears, barriers, and misconceptions about breastfeeding while taking methadone; (2) motivation and perceived benefits of breastfeeding; and (3) sources of information, support, and anxiety about general breastfeeding management and breastfeeding while taking methadone. Lack of support from the health care community and misinformation about the dangers of combining breastfeeding and methadone therapy represented significant, yet modifiable, barriers to breastfeeding success in methadone-exposed women. Conclusions Interventions to increase the prevalence of breastfeeding among women taking methadone should address identified logistical, educational, and psychological barriers and consider inclusion of women themselves, partners, peers, and clinicians. In particular, clinicians who care for methadone-exposed mothers and infants should be educated on therapeutic communication, up-to-date breastfeeding contraindications, and the health benefits of breastfeeding in this population.
Meridional gradients of light absorbing carbon over northern Europe

In situ measurements have been made in the upper troposphere of the properties of particles containing light absorbing carbon (LAC). These measurements, made in late November 2006 over northern Europe, show that the average LAC mass concentration varies between 1 and 5 ng m−3 over a latitude range 50° to 70°N, with maxima at 50° and 66°. The relative fraction of all particles larger than 0.1 µm that contain LAC decreases at higher latitudes. The derived extinction coefficient, which also increases with latitude, reaches a maximum of 1.4 Mm−1 at 66°. The air mass histories associated with the LAC were evaluated with back trajectory analysis using wind field analysis from the European Center for Median-Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF). A positive correlation exists between the fraction of particles containing LAC and the maximum relative humidity (RH), minimum temperature and maximum number of hours of cloud experienced by the air mass in the 5–10 days prior to being sampled by the aircraft. Air masses arriving from lower altitudes and with trajectories over North America also had larger concentration fractions of LAC. The average LAC mass is in good agreement with previous measurements made over North America for the same latitude range, and the span of values fits best with model predictions of LAC distributions that assume that the LAC transported from surface sources is hydrophobic.
Urban improvement districts in urban restructuring – first results of the German ESG research initiative

Local property owner's associations (Eigentuemerstandortgemeinschaften (ESG)) are a new approach to implementing public–private partnership in urban redevelopment. The approach focuses on smaller landlords in residential areas, providing incentives for the modernization of real estate if their local associations work cooperatively for the revitalization of their neighbourhood. The research initiative consists of 14 model projects spread throughout Germany, which test this relatively informal urban redevelopment approach. The article considers public–private partnership initiatives in the context of stagnating federal financial assistance for urban redevelopment and provides new financing tools such as endowment funds. This article presents first results and suggestions for the continuation of model projects beyond the pilot stage.
Market Structure Dynamics in Indian Industry

Can changes in industry structure be characterized by movements towards a long-run concentration ratio (CR)? This paper estimates an error correction model for thirty-three industries in India for the period 1974-85, using nonlinear estimation methods. The results indicate that structural change in India is composed both of significant changes towards the long-run CR and of significant changes of the long-run CR. The adjustment towards the long-run CR seems to be faster in India than in most Western studies. In spite of this, it is below 0.5 in most industries, indicating that even after eleven years, all the difference between actual and long-run CRs is not eroded and "excess" market shares persist in most industries. Across industries, speeds of adjustment are higher in industries with high profit margins and lower in industries which are reserved for the public sector. Copyright 1998 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the Board of Trustees of the Bulletin of Economic Research
Global Production Sharing and Rising Inequality: A Survey of Trade and Wages

We argue that trade in intermediate inputs, or 'global production sharing,' is a potentially important explanation for the increase in the wage gap between skilled and unskilled workers in the U.S. and elsewhere. Using a simple model of heterogeneous activities within an industry, we show that trade in inputs has much the same impact on labor demand as does skill-biased technical change: both of these will shift demand away from low-skilled activities, while raising relative demand and wages of the higher skilled. Thus, distinguishing whether the change in wages is due to international trade, or technological change, is fundamentally an empirical rather than a theoretical question. We review three empirical methods that have been used to estimate the effects of trade in intermediate inputs and technological change on wages, and summarize the evidence for the U.S. and other countries.
Use of probiotics in pediatric infectious diseases

We summarize current evidence and recommendations for the use of probiotics in childhood infectious diseases. Probiotics may be of benefit in treating acute infectious diarrhea and reducing antibiotic-associated diarrhea. Potential benefits of probiotic on prevention of traveler’s diarrhea,Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea, side effects of triple therapy in Helicobacter pylori eradication, necrotizing enterocolitis, acute diarrhea, acute respiratory infections and recurrent urinary tract infections remain unclear. More studies are needed to investigate optimal strain, dosage, bioavailability of drops and tablets, duration of treatment and safety. Probiotics and recombinant probiotic strain represent a promising source of molecules for the development of novel anti-infectious therapy.
Interest rate sensitivity of US property/liability insurer stock returns

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate interest rate sensitivity of the US property/liability (P/L) insurers stock returns using various return generating process models incorporating different interest rate changes such as actual interest rate changes, unexpected interest rate changes and orthogonalized market returns.Design/methodology/approach – The study follows the 1974 two‐index model by Stone. In the two‐index model, three different interest rate indices are tested one at a time to examine if interest rate sensitivity of the insurers stock returns, if any, is vulnerable to an interest rate index used.Findings – It is found that the US P/L insurers' stock returns are sensitivity to interest rate changes. The impact of actual interest rate changes on the stock returns is little different from that of unexpected interest rate changes, which is consistent with findings in the banking literature. When orthogonalized market returns are used in the models in lieu of actual market returns, t.
Phenotypic and Genotypic Eligible Methods for Salmonella Typhimurium Source Tracking

Salmonellosis is one of the most common causes of foodborne infection and a leading cause of human gastroenteritis. Throughout the last decade, Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium (ST) has shown an increase report with the simultaneous emergence of multidrug-resistant isolates, as phage type DT104. Therefore, to successfully control this microorganism, it is important to attribute salmonellosis to the exact source. Studies of Salmonella source attribution have been performed to determine the main food/food-production animals involved, toward which, control efforts should be correctly directed. Hence, the election of a ST subtyping method depends on the particular problem that efforts must be directed, the resources and the data available. Generally, before choosing a molecular subtyping, phenotyping approaches such as serotyping, phage typing, and antimicrobial resistance profiling are implemented as a screening of an investigation, and the results are computed using frequency-matching models (i.e., Dutch, Hald and Asymmetric Island models). Actually, due to the advancement of molecular tools as PFGE, MLVA, MLST, CRISPR, and WGS more precise results have been obtained, but even with these technologies, there are still gaps to be elucidated. To address this issue, an important question needs to be answered: what are the currently suitable subtyping methods to source attribute ST. This review presents the most frequently applied subtyping methods used to characterize ST, analyses the major available microbial subtyping attribution models and ponders the use of conventional phenotyping methods, as well as, the most applied genotypic tools in the context of their potential applicability to investigates ST source tracking.
Congenital conductive hearing loss

Congenital conductive hearing loss due to ossicular deformities can be treated by either rehabilitation with a hearing aid or surgical reconstruction. We present the results of exploratory tympanotomy performed in a large paediatric otolaryngology centre in 67 patients with non-serous congenital conductive hearing loss. Forty-two children had malformation of one or more ossicles without fixation of the stapes, and 19 had fixed stapes. In 26 cases, the surgeon decided not to perform surgical correction. Seven operated patients were lost to follow-up. As a group, 47 per cent of the patients who underwent reconstruction showed no significant benefit from surgery, with post-operative air-bone gaps (ABG) greater than 30 dB. Assessment of the results by pathology showed that 64 per cent of the patients with mobile stapes had an air-bone gap within 30 dB compared to only 33 per cent of the patients with fixed stapes. One patient sustained severe sensorineural loss after the procedure. Considering that exploratory tympanotomy is a relatively minimal, benign procedure but that findings during exploration may exclude the option of reconstruction (in 39 per cent of our patients), we suggest exploring the ear, but in a more realistic, informed way.
THE RESPONSIVENESS OF HOUSE PRICES TO MACROECONOMIC FORCES: A CROSS-COUNTR Y COMPARISON

This paper examines housing markets in selected European Union countries and investigates the degree of similarity in housing market responses to changes in underlying demand- and supply-side variables. This may help to suggest how EU housing markets may be affected by a single monetary policy and whether housing market integration across the countries may be expected as a result of EMU. The choice of countries is explained followed by a description of the demand and supply characteristics of each country's housing markets. The paper then exploits a data set that has been constructed by combining data from each nation. Attention is paid to the statistical properties of variables used in estimations to construct accurate measurements to compare inter-country similarities/differences in housing market behaviour. The interaction of the housing market with the macroeconomy is then examined. The issue of monetary union and its impact on housing markets is discussed.
The strategy payoff for smaller enterprises

Purpose – This paper seeks to examine business strategy from the small firm and enterprise development perspective. It aims to advocate the value of a well‐considered strategy for the venture for superior business performance and consider the ways in which entrepreneurs can devise, control and communicate strategy.Design/methodology/approach – Strategic thinking and planning are strongly related to small business financial performance. This is confirmed by the research reported here, that showed quite conclusively that strategic thinking is an essential ingredient in enterprise survival, performance and growth. The original research on which this paper is based, had as its central objective to investigate the nature, style, value and development of strategic management in a sample of 87 small businesses in six industry sectors based in the UK Midlands.Findings – A central finding was that the principal value of strategic planning to those firms that practiced and valued it, was that they had a framework f.
The first part-time economy in the world: a model to be followed?

Cet article a posé et a répondu à quatre questions. Quel a été la cause de la diffusion rapide du travail à temps partiel aux Pays-Bas ? Comment a été évitée la marginalisation des travailleurs à temps partiel ? Est ce que l'actuel modèle d'un revenu et demi par ménage constitue une phase transitionnelle vers un modèle à deux revenus; ? et finalement l'exemple hollandais sera-t-il suivi par d'autres Etat Providences européens ? Cet article cherche à montrer que le modèle hollandais d'un revenu et demi n'a pas été le résultat d'une politique délibérément planifiée des gouvernements, des syndicats ou encore des employeurs mais plutôt le résultat des pressions venu d'en bas et de changements politiques les accompagnant. Le choix d'un travail à temps partiel est étroitement lié à l'arrivée tardive et rapide des femmes mariées sur le marché du travail et la pénurie de structures d'accueil des enfants dans ce qui n'était il n'y a pas si longtemps un Etat Providence fortement marqué par le modèle d'un seul revenu masculin. The article asks and answers four main questions: What caused the rapid diffusion of part-time work in the Netherlands? How was marginalization of part-time work avoided? Is the current one-and-a-half earners model a transitional phase towards a doubleearner household model? Will the Dutch example attract followers in other European welfare states? The article seeks to demonstrate that the Dutch one-and-a-half-earners model was not the result of deliberate policy planning by governments, unions or employers, but rather the outcome of `bottom-up' pressures and accommodating policy changes. The choice for part-time work is closely linked to the late and rapid arrival of married women in the labour force and the dearth of child-care provisions in what was not long ago a strong breadwinner welfare state.
Endocrine treatment of transsexual persons: an Endocrine Society clinical practice guideline.

OBJECTIVE The aim was to formulate practice guidelines for endocrine treatment of transsexual persons. EVIDENCE This evidence-based guideline was developed using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) system to describe the strength of recommendations and the quality of evidence, which was low or very low. CONSENSUS PROCESS Committees and members of The Endocrine Society, European Society of Endocrinology, European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology, Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society, and World Professional Association for Transgender Health commented on preliminary drafts of these guidelines. CONCLUSIONS Transsexual persons seeking to develop the physical characteristics of the desired gender require a safe, effective hormone regimen that will 1) suppress endogenous hormone secretion determined by the person's genetic/biologic sex and 2) maintain sex hormone levels within the normal range for the person's desired gender. A mental health professional (MHP) must recommend endocrine treatment and participate in ongoing care throughout the endocrine transition and decision for surgical sex reassignment. The endocrinologist must confirm the diagnostic criteria the MHP used to make these recommendations. Because a diagnosis of transsexualism in a prepubertal child cannot be made with certainty, we do not recommend endocrine treatment of prepubertal children. We recommend treating transsexual adolescents (Tanner stage 2) by suppressing puberty with GnRH analogues until age 16 years old, after which cross-sex hormones may be given. We suggest suppressing endogenous sex hormones, maintaining physiologic levels of gender-appropriate sex hormones and monitoring for known risks in adult transsexual persons.
Are Preferential Trade Agreements Stumbling Blocks

This paper studies the effect of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) on multilateral trading system using a sequential bargaining game. The study considers two formats of PTAs, i.e., when the PTA tariffs are specified before the formation of PTAs and when PTA members have to negotiate PTA tariffs after the formation of PTAs. The study finds that PTAs with specified tariffs can be building blocks to multilateral liberalization while PTAs without specified tariffs are stumbling blocks. The paper also concludes that PTAs can eliminate bargaining inefficiency called forward manipulation when PTA tariffs are specified before PTA negotiation.
Nanopower Subthreshold MCML in Submicrometer CMOS Technology

This paper presents subthreshold MOS current-mode logic (MCML) circuits implemented in a commercial 0.25-mum CMOS technology. We propose the adoption of bulk-drain-connected pMOS transistors as loads for subthreshold MCML gates. The b-d connection extends the linear operating range of the load, thus increasing the output logic swing of the subthreshold MCML gate. Theoretical and measured results are presented for an MCML inverter and a ten-stage ring oscillator operating at supply voltages below the threshold-voltage value, with power consumption on the order of nanowatts. At a 300-mV supply, the oscillator works at a frequency of 638 Hz with a total power consumption of 345 pW.
NN-based modelling of a 2DOF TRMS using RPROP learning algorithm

This paper presents a neural network (NN) based nonlinear dynamic modelling approach for a Twin Rotor MIMO System (TRMS), in terms of its 2 degree of freedom (DOF) dynamics. The TRMS is a highly nonlinear system with significant cross-coupling between its horizontal and vertical axes. It is perceived as an aerodynamic test rig representing the control challenges of modern air vehicles. Accurate dynamic modelling is a prerequisite to address such challenges satisfactorily. A feedforward neural network has been trained using resilient propagation (RPROP) learning algorithm. The trained NN based model has been tested with a set of data that are different from those used for training purpose. For more validation the power spectral density (PSD) of the model is compared with that of the real TRMS and also the correlation validations of the test results are presented in order to show the effectiveness of the proposed model. The results show that the developed model can adequately represent the highly nonlinear features of the system.
A Comparison of Tourists’ Valuation of Climate Change Policy Using Different Pricing Frames

Tourism destinations are increasingly concerned about global climate change and considering to become involved in the adoption of mitigation policies that reduce global emissions. On the other hand, behavioral sciences have shown that consumers’ choices may be significantly influenced by the way that they are framed. In this article, we test the impact of alternative ways to frame the pricing of climate change policies on the values and preferences of tourists. The evidence comes from three different experiments on a proposal to mitigate climate change through a carbon offset program using both an opt-out pricing frame and in an opt-in pricing frame. The results show that the opt-out frame led to a larger probability of accepting to pay the price for a carbon offset policy proposal. The main implication is that destinations’ climate change policies should take into account the designs of the frame in which policies are posed.
Não linearidades, mudanças de regime e assimetrias na taxa de inflação brasileira: análise a partir de um modelo SETAR, 1944-2009

The objective of this research is to investigate asymmetries, nonlinearities and regime changes in the Brazilian inflation rate in a long time span. The process is modeled employing a threshold time series model in order to take into account these parameters. The study was divided in two distinct stages. On the first stage, the Brazilian dataset was tested for several types of nonlinearities applying general and specific tests, e.g., quadratic and threshold behavior. On the second one, the Self-Exciting Threshold Autoregressive (SETAR) model was applied to indicate the threshold to which a signal of turning point could be provided in the states of the inflationary process. All the tests suggest that the Brazilian inflation rate is highly nonlinear and cannot be modeled as a linear and time reversible process. The results support the hypothesis that there are two distinct regimes with different generating processes and different volatilities and persistence. For instance, a lower inflation rate regime is more persistent with lower volatility.
How Should Local Government Be Organised? Reflections from a Swedish Perspective

Abstract Two main arguments are presented in this article. First, when alternatives for the future design of local government are debated, a government needs to address two basic issues simultaneously: (a) ‘how big (and hence how many) municipalities ought the political system have? ’, and (b) ‘how strong and well secured ought the principle of local self-government be in the constitution? ’ Second, by using these two questions as guides for our analysis, we argue that there are instrumental as well as substantial reasons to guarantee a strong local self-government in the constitution. However, such a reform needs to be complemented by a politically neutral body of regulations that, under given conditions, secures geographically concentrated minorities a right to secede. Although we use the Swedish case as the empirical base for the discussion, our analysis has a bearing on recent developments in, for example, the other Nordic countries and England, where amalgamations at the local level have been on the agenda throughout the past decade.
Automatic stage scoring of single-channel sleep EEG based on multiscale permutation entropy

Multiscale entropy is a recently developed method to estimate complexity associated with the long-range temporal correlation of a time series. Since sleep EEG patterns also change regularly from light to deep sleep states, we firstly applied multiscale permutation entropy (MPE) to analysis sleep EEG to investigate the relations between changes of sleep stages and the MPE values. It was observed that correlation coefficient between the averaged MPE values of sleep EEG and the manual scoring of sleep stages can reach over 0.7. Then a MPE-based sleep scoring method for single channel EEG was developed. After training based on the data from 10 subjects, the overall sensitivity of the proposed automatic sleep scoring method combining MPE, autoregressive models, and linear discriminant analysis can reach 89.1% evaluated by the data of the other 10 subjects. Due to high accuracy and requiring only single-channel EEG, the proposed method has good applicability for sleep monitoring and home cares.