Oral Clefts with Associated Anomalies: Findings in the Hungarian Congenital Abnormality Registry

BACKGROUND: Over the years, great efforts have been made to record the frequency of orofacial clefts in different populations. However, very few studies were able to account for the etiological and phenotypic heterogeneity of these conditions. Thus, data of cases with syndromic orofacial clefts from large population-based studies are infrequent. METHODS: Clinically recognized and notified syndromes and associations including cleft lip with or without cleft palate and other congenital anomalies were selected from the Hungarian Congenital Abnormality Registry (HCAR) between 1973 and 1982 and prevalence rates were calculated. RESULTS: Of 3,110 cases reported as having orofacial clefts, 653 had multiple congenital abnormalities. Of these, 60 (9.2%) had a known etiology (monogenic: 25 or 3.8%, chromosomal: 31 or 4.7%, teratogenic: 4 or 0.6%). Seventy-three subjects (11.2%) had schisis in addition to the oral cleft. Skeletal anomalies were the most common malformations among cases with cleft lip with/without cleft palate (CL/P) and cleft palate (CP). Disorders of the central nervous system and cardiovascular malformations were also frequently associated. CONCLUSION: Surveillance systems, such as the HCAR, provide useful information about prevalence rates of congenital anomalies in a population. However, in a field where new syndromes are being discovered and classifications regularly updated, these rates should only be accepted as provisional.Massachusetts Center for Birth Defects Research and Prevention of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health; Peer Foundation/Cleft Palate Foundation Etiology Gran

Net Revenue Differences for Sellers in Online and Traditional Swine Auction Markets

According to common sense and economic theory, farmers, along with all other vendors, are in continual search for any increment available to augment profit margins and sustain competitiveness. As a result, novel sales techniques have arisen, one of which is online marketing. The focus of this thesis is the hog sector. Some means of electronic livestock sales have shown to have a positive effect on producer revenue presumably because competition is boosted via geographic enlargement of buyer pools. Nevertheless, most historic electronic agricultural markets were established merely for academic study and were subsequently disbanded. Whether or not an online venue will generate higher profits for livestock producers today remains unknown. The core objective of the proposed research is to detail what, if any, net revenue difference there is for livestock producers in online and offline auctions. Utilizing the market for pigs sold for show ring competitions, I will methodically document price dissimilarities between online pig auctions hosted by The Wendt Group, Inc. and regional live sales in Ohio and Indiana. The experiment will follow a matched pair design in order to minimize potentially confounding variables, such as size, breed, sex, age, seller, and quality. Sample data from 78 hogs (39 from each venue), matched on the characteristics listed above, was collected and matched pair net revenue differences were established. Data was statistically analyzed using a standard normal z-test and the non-parametric Wilcoxon test. A mean (n=39) matched pair net revenue difference of 184.8 established a noticeable online advantage. One producer provided the bulk of the matched pairs (n=27) and provided a statistically sound difference of 360.3; the probability that this difference is different than zero is 0.9512 according to the Wilcoxon test. The online sale venue, on average, yielded higher net revenue margins per head for swine producers. Online venue seller benefit and greater auction traffic can help substantiate historic claims that a rise in electronic transaction expenses is easily compensated for via superior bidder competition. Hog farmers may increase profit dividends by 20% through the use of online auction services which may improve industry efficiency and competitiveness. Further study is warranted to better link these conclusions to the financially troubled commercial swine industry.This research has been supported by funds appropriated by the Ohio General Assembly to The Ohio State University, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center.No embarg

Semi-parametric copula sample selection models for count responses

Non-random sample selection arises when observations do not come from a random sample. Instead, individuals select themselves into (or out of) the sample on the basis of observed and unobserved characteristics. In this case, estimates obtained using standard methods such as linear or logistic regression will be biased and inconsistent. This problem can be addressed using sample selection models. In the methodological literature a lot of attention has been given to sample selection models with continuous response. At the same time, not much work has been attributed to sample selection models with count response. The aim of this project is to develop a copula-based sample selection model for count data with flexible covariate effects. First, the literature on sample selection models will be reviewed. Second, two motivating data sets originating from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and the United States Veterans' Administration (VA) will be described and explored. Third, the parametric count sample selection model will be depicted. Fourth, flexible covariate effects will be introduced together with inferential and model selection methods. Fifth, the model will be illustrated on the previously mentioned data sets. Finally, potential extensions for future research will be discussed

Potential implications of labour market opening in Germany and Austria on emigration from Poland

The aim of this study is to present the characteristic of present-day migrants and the potential for possible migration after the opening of the labour markets in Austria and Germany. The econometric analysis shows that differences in unemployment rates between sending and receiving countries were the most important for changes in the emigration from Poland in the period 2002-2009. Mostly due to persistence of these differences the intruduction of the open-door policy by two last EU countries in the spring of 2011 can intensify the further emigration flows from Poland. Data concerning the structure of the present emigration in Germany indicate that emigrants from Poland are mainly persons with vocational and secondary education, working primarily in the sections of services (e.g. health care and social assistance, accommodation and catering). There is also a relatively high percentage of persons employed in agriculture and the construction sector. These sectors will probably continue to be the most frequent workplace for emigrants, where the internal supply of work seems insufficient to meet the needs of this part of the German economy. The current limitations push better educated emigrants from Poland to work mainly as specialists in the sectors of economy preferred by Germany or as self-employed persons. The caps applied by German authorities concerning the number of Polish employees on secondment under the framework of the cross-border provision of services remain underused. Moreover, German data (which do not cover persons holding dual nationality) indicate that for the time being emigration from Poland is, to a large extent, circulatory by nature. Examples of other EU countries which already opened their labour markets indicate that the removal of barriers to access may increase emigration in the first year, but the differences and changes in unemployment rates among countries are a much more important factor for migratory flows, particularly at a later stage. The opening of labour markets in Germany and Austria may contribute to a change in the nature of the present short-term to a more permanent migration from Poland. The first part of the study presents information on the existing work limitations for Poles in Germany and the characteristics of the present emigrants from Poland to Germany and Austria. The second part discusses determinants of emigration in 2002-2009, putting a special emphasis on those countries which already managed to open their labour markets for the ‘new’ EU members. The third part delivers the estimates of possible emigration changes from Poland to Germany and Austria that are going to happen after 1 May 2011.labour migration, open-door policy, Poland, Germany, determinants of migration

Effect of inlet valve timing and water blending on bioethanol HCCI combustion using forced induction and residual gas trapping

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Fuel. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2007 Elsevier B.V.It has been shown previously that applying forced induction to homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) combustion of bioethanol with residual gas trapping, results in a greatly extended engine load range compared to normal aspiration operation. However, at very high boost pressures, very high cylinder pressure rise rates develop. The approach documented here explores two ways that might have an effect on combustion in order to lower the maximum pressure rise rates and further improve the emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx); inlet valve timing and water blending. It was found that there is an optimal inlet valve timing. When the timing was significantly advanced or retarded away from the optimal, the combustion phasing could be retarded for a given lambda (excess air ratio). However, this would result in higher loads and lower lambdas for a given boost pressure, with possibly higher NOx emissions. Increasing the water content in ethanol gave similar results as the non-optimal inlet valve timing

Optical study of flow and combustion in an HCCI engine with negative valve overlap

One of the most widely used methods to enable Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) combustion is using negative valve overlapping to trap a sufficient quantity of hot residual gas. The characteristics of air motion with specially designed valve events having reduced valve lift and durations associated with HCCI engines and their effect on subsequent combustion are not yet fully understood. In addition, the ignition process and combustion development in such engines are very different from those in conventional spark-ignition or diesel compression ignition engines. Very little data has been reported concerning optical diagnostics of the flow and combustion in the engine using negative valve overlapping. This paper presents an experimental investigation into the in-cylinder flow characteristics and combustion development in an optical engine operating in HCCI combustion mode. PIV measurements have been taken under motored engine conditions to provide a quantitative flow characterisation of negative valve overlap in-cylinder flows. The ignition and combustion process was imaged using a high resolution charge coupled device (CCD) camera and the combustion imaging data was supplemented by simultaneously recorded in-cylinder pressure data which assisted the analysis of the images. It is found that the flow characteristics with negative valve overlapping are less stable and more valve event driven than typical spark ignition in-cylinder flows, while the combustion initiation locations are not uniformly distributed. © 2006 IOP Publishing Ltd

Sample selection models for count data in R

We provide a detailed hands-on tutorial for the R package SemiParSampleSel (version 1.5). The package implements selection models for count responses fitted by penalized maximum likelihood estimation. The approach can deal with non-random sample selection, flexible covariate effects, heterogeneous selection mechanisms and varying distributional parameters. We provide an overview of the theoretical background and then demonstrate how SemiParSampleSel can be used to fit interpretable models of different complexity. We use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel survey (SOEP v28, 2012. doi: 10.5684/soep.v28) throughout the tutorial