Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
comparison with multidetector CT venography Three-dimensional contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance venography for detection of renal vein

Background: Renal vein thrombosis is not uncommon, however, there have been few reports on the diagnostic accuracy of three-dimensional contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance venography (3D-CE-MRV) in the detection of renal vein thrombosis (RVT). Purpose: To evaluate the value of 3D-CE-MRV for detecting RVT with multidetector computed tomography (CT) venography as reference standard. Material and Methods: Thirty-two patients with nephrotic syndrome underwent renal CT venography and gradient echo pulse sequence (FLASH 3D) 3D-CE-MRV in a clinical 3-T whole-body MR scanner for suspected RVT with time interval of 0–5 days. RVTwas recorded on a per-patient and per-vessel (left renal vein, right renal vein, and inferior vena cava) basis. The diagnostic accuracy of 3D-CE-MRV for detection of RVTwas calculated with CT venography as reference standard. Inter-reader agreement for RVT detection was evaluated using Kappa statistics. Results: Of 32 patients, CT venography detected 22 vessels with thrombosis in 17 patients, including five in right renal veins, 14 in left renal veins, and three in inferior vena cava, while 15 patients had no RVT. 3D-CE-MRV detected 21 vessels (21/96, 21.9%) with thrombosis in 16 patients (6/32, 50%), including five in right renal veins, 13 in left renal veins, and three in inferior vena cava, while 16 patients (16/32, 50%) had no RVT. With CT venography as reference standard, the sensitivities and specificities of 3D-CE-MRV for RVT detection were 94.1%, 100%; 95.5%, 100% on a per-patient and a per-vessel basis, respectively. Excellent inter-reader agreement (Kappa value1⁄4 0.969, P< 0.001) was observed for RVT
Investigations on vitality and genetic structure in oak stands

Six peuplements comportant les deux especes indigenes Quercus petraea et Q robur ont ete analyses dans le but de relier la vitalite des arbres a leur structure genetique. Les peuplements en question souffraient de deperissement marque. Les caracteres notes sur chaque individu etaient la branchaison, le degre de defoliation, les decolorations du feuillage, l'existence de necroses sur les troncs, et la presence de rameaux anticipes sur les troncs et dans les branches. Tous ces caracteres ont ete utilises pour la definition d'un index de vitalite. Des analyses d'isozymes ont ete entreprises pour caracteriser la structure genetique des peuplements, ou de sous-populations differant par leur degre de vitalite. Les resultats indiquent des tendances identiques entre les deux especes: augmentation de l'exces d'homozygotes entre les groupes tolerants et ceux sensibles au deperissement, baisse du degre d'heterozygotie depuis les plus tolerants aux plus sensibles, diversite gametique maximale et faible degre de differenciation entre subpopulations dans les groupes intermediaires. Les deux groupes extremes, a fort degre de differentiation intrapopulation, peuvent constituer des sous-populations resultant d'un processus de selection lie au deperissement. Ils presentent un potentiel reduit de production d'une nouvelle generation avec une large variabilite genetique, par rapport au groupe intermediaire a forte variabilite et a bonne capacite d'adaptation a des modifications des conditions d'environnement.
Disaggregating Operating and Financing Activities : Implications for Forecasts of Future Profitability ”

Academic research and financial statement analysis textbooks have emphasized the importance of disaggregating financial statements into operating and financing activities. Consistent with this notion, the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board recently issued a joint proposal that would require that financial statements be disaggregated into operating and financing activities. In this study, we first consider ‘how’ the operating/financing disaggregation improves forecasts of future profitability (ROE). An ‘aggregate’ approach or a ‘components’ approach can be used for forecasting. The ‘aggregate’ approach forecasts ROE by using coefficient estimates taken from regressing ROE on lagged components, while the ‘components’ approach firsts forecasts each component using separate autoregressive models. Prior accounting research has generally used the ‘aggregate’ approach; however, prior economics research states that the use of an ‘aggregate’ or a ‘components’ forecasting approach is largely an empirical question. Contrary to the use of an ‘aggregate’ forecasting approach by most related prior research, we find that the ‘components’ approach for the operating/financing disaggregation provides more accurate forecasts. Further highlighting the importance of the choice of forecasting approach, we show in additional analyses that the operating/financing disaggregation provides incremental forecast improvement over a model that includes only aggregate information only when using the ‘components’ approach. Using the ‘aggregate’ approach, we find no incremental forecast improvement from the operating/financing disaggregation. Our study also examines ‘when’ the operating/financing disaggregation is useful. Consistent with theory, we document that the incremental usefulness of the operating/financing disaggregation relative to a benchmark model using only aggregate information is a function of growth and accounting conservatism. Finally, we compare the operating/financing disaggregation to the unusual and/or infrequent items disaggregation currently required by U.S. GAAP. We find that the operating/financing disaggregation yields less accurate forecasts than the unusual/infrequent disaggregation. However, we also find that the combination of both disaggregations improves forecasts of future profitability.
Will Academics Drive or Obstruct the Slovenian Government’s Internationalisation Agenda for Higher Education?

The present article is concerned with the question of how conducive the academic culture and climate in Slovenian higher education institutions are to internationalisation. Our underlying assumption is that academic staff represent either an important driving force or an obstacle to the implementation of internationalisation policies formulated at the national level and diffused into institutional practices. Specifically, we investigate whether the present academic attitudes and behaviours are in line with the internationalisation aims and objectives stated in the National Higher Education Programme 2011–2020. Our findings point to generally favourable attitudes of academics towards internationalisation. We also find that academics’ own priorities regarding internationalisation tend to be higher than the perceived priorities of their respective institutions. At the same time, however, the preferences of academics regarding the various activities associated with the “internationalisation of study at home”, especially conducting courses in foreign languages, are lower and highly divergent, and might therefore obstruct the government’s agenda in this regard.
Measuring the supernova unknowns at the next-generation neutrino telescopes through the diffuse neutrino background

The detection of the diffuse supernova neutrino background (DSNB) will preciously contribute to gauge the properties of the core-collapse supernova population. We estimate the DSNB event rate in the next-generation neutrino detectors, Hyper-Kamiokande enriched with Gadolinium, JUNO, and DUNE. The determination of the supernova unknowns through the DSNB will be heavily driven by Hyper-Kamiokande, given its higher expected event rate, and complemented by DUNE that will help in reducing the parameters uncertainties. Meanwhile, JUNO will be sensitive to the DSNB signal over the largest energy range. A joint statistical analysis of the expected rates in 20 years of data taking from the above detectors suggests that we will be sensitive to the local supernova rate at most at a 20−33% level. A non-zero fraction of supernovae forming black holes will be confirmed at a 90% CL, if the true value of that fraction is ≳20%. On the other hand, the DSNB events show extremely poor statistical sensitivity to the nuclear equation of state and mass accretion rate of the progenitors forming black holes.
Persistence in Macroeconomic Time Series: Is it a Model Invariant Property?

This paper argues that persistence is not an invariant feature of a time series, but depends on the context in which the series is used: as the parameters of any dynamic model are defined relative to a particular information set, any change in the set of conditioning variables might affect the resulting estimates. We define persistence of a variable as the rate at which its autocorrelation function decays to zero, and show that inference about persistence of a variable is invariant to the addition of other conditioning variables only if those variables do not Granger-cause the variable of interest. Furthermore, we establish that measured persistence is a function of the model selected in a more fundamental way in the case of unstable systems. These findings suggest that, unless more restrictions derived from economic theory are imposed, issues such as the effectiveness of stabilisation policies cannot be settled empirically, and the debate between Keynesian and RBC theorists will remain inconclusive.
Characterization of N-alkanes and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Water Solution of 180 # Fuel Oil dealt with and without Dispersants

In order to analyze the concentration changes of n-alkanes and PAHs in water solution of oil treated with and without dispersant, 180 # fuel oil was tested with two kinds of dispersants. It was shown that addition of dispersants caused a marked increase in the concentrations of n-alkanes and PAHs in chemically enhanced water-accommodated fractions (CEWAFs) of oil compared to the untreated water-accommodated fractions (WAFs). The times of increase of concentrations were related with the type of dispersant, the dispersed oil, and the ratio of dispersant to oil. As more PAHs were dissolved in CEWAFs, the ecological risk of dispersed oil in water column should be highly concerned. KEYWORD: n-alkane; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; 180 # fuel oil; Dispersant
Analysis of U . S . Data by Offender Gender Male and Female Juveniles Arrested for Murder : A Comprehensive

Murders committed by juveniles remain a serious concern in the United States. Most studies on juvenile homicide offenders (JHOs) have used small samples and have concentrated on male offenders. As a result, little is known about female JHOs and how they differ from their male counterparts on a national level. This study utilized the Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) database to examine more than 40,000 murders committed by male and female juvenile offenders from 1976 to 2005. This research effort, the most expansive to date, replicated previous findings with respect to gender differences using bivariate and multivariate analyses. As predicted, six variables used to test eight hypotheses with respect to male and female JHOs in single-victim incidents were significant (victim age, victim–offender relationship, murder weapon, offender count, victim gender, and homicide circumstance). Regression analysis revealed that all variables remained significant when entered into the model. This article concludes with a discussion of our findings and directions for future research.
Typology of Extra-Curricular Activities and Academic Procrastination among Primary Education Students.

Introducción. Previous works have shown that participation in extracurricular activities optimize both academic grades and socialization processes of the students. However, none of them has related extracurricular activities with the tendency to procrastinate in academic environments, that is, the more or less usual habit of leaving important school duties for later without a reason. The study presented here connects these two variables and is a first in this field. Método. Questionnaires completed by parents of 417 students from the middle and upper primary education were collected. To identify participating in extracurricular activities two parameters have been used: the type of activities and the years of children’s experience in practising them. For academic procrastination we designed a scale asking parents to rate this habit of their children in any point between 0 -he or she doesn’t procrastinateto 10 –he or she always procrastinates or always procrastinates when doing school activities-. Resultados. Results indicate that either the types of extracurricular activities or the level of the students procrastination, show distinct patterns between boys and girls. Male students improve their school procrastination management from 4 years of experience in extra school sport activities; in contrast, girls have better academic procrastination control from 4 years of experience in extracurricular artistic type activities. Discusión y conclusion. The outcomes of the present article are generally consistent with previous results in the procrastination and extraschool activities field and also extend the knowledge by introducing gender differentiation, which allows designing extracurricular activities scenarios more suited and customized for every one of the pupils in primary education. Palabras Clave: extra school or extracurricular activities, academic procrastination, primary school, children aged 8-10, children aged 10-12, gender. Received: 05/02/14 Initial acceptance: 05/25/14 Final acceptance: 30/06/14
Structural Health Monitoring Using Wireless Technologies: An Ambient Vibration Test on the Adolphe Bridge, Luxembourg City

Major threats to bridges primarily consist of the aging of the structural elements, earthquake-induced shaking and standing waves generated by windstorms. The necessity of information on the state of health of structures in real-time, allowing for timely warnings in the case of damaging events, requires structural health monitoring (SHM) systems that allow the risks of these threats to be mitigated. Here we present the results of a short-duration experiment carried out with low-cost wireless instruments for monitoring the vibration characteristics and dynamic properties of a strategic civil infrastructure, the Adolphe Bridge in Luxembourg City. The Adolphe Bridge is a masonry arch construction dating from 1903 and will undergo major renovation works in the upcoming years. Our experiment shows that a network of these wireless sensing units is well suited to monitor the vibration characteristics of such a historical arch bridge and hence represents a low-cost and efficient solution for SHM.
Assessment of Heavy Metal in Surface Sediments of Day River at Beni-Mellal Region, Morocco

The Day River receives domestic and industrial untreated wastewaters from Beni-Mellal city and surrounding villages during the last decades. The present study was to obtain a preliminary assessment about the level and distribution of six heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Zn and Fe) in its surface sediment collected from 13 stations. The metal concentrations (in mg/kg) ranged: Cd, 0.6-6.27; Cr, 52.34-311.69; Cu, 32.69-740.75; Pb, 72.93- 140.36; Zn, 49.84-149.19; and Fe, 15670-36010. Significant spatial variation in concentrations was observed for all metals. Correlation analyses showed that metal content of sediment was controlled by organic matter and Fe contents. Pollution status was evaluated using the enrichment factor, geo-accumulation index and pollution load index and sediment quality guidelines. Based on geoaccumulation index and enrichment factors, Day sediment was treated as unpolluted to moderately polluted with Zn, Fe, Cr and Cu and moderate to considerable with Pb and Cd. Pollution load index and sediment quality guidelines showed that the metal levels exceed local and regional background concentrations, indicating contamination is high enough to be of risk to human health and ecosystem.
Financial development and economic growth in West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU)

This study examines empirically the relationship between financial development and economic growth in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) for the period 1981-2010. Using the General Moment Method (GMM), the study found a positively and statistically significant effect of financial development on economic growth and the causality was bidirectional. In addition, the variable primary completion rate, foreign direct investment and real exchange rate contribute positively to economic growth in the region while inflation and openness discourage the economic growth in the region. In order to maintain a sustainable economic growth in those countries under study, the reforms for financial system improvement and education sector should be implemented. The policy makers should pursue target macroeconomic policies that may attract foreign direct investment while controlling for inflation and trade openness. Key words: Financial development, economic growth, WAEMU, devaluation, franc-CFA.
2 . 2 . Fibrin scaffold components

Intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration is a complex process characterized by elevated concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines and proteolytic enzymes. Because of pro-healing constituents, we hypothesized that fibrin sealant (FS) can reduce inflammation and augment soft tissue healing within the damaged or degenerative IVD. To test this, human and porcine nucleus pulposus (NP) and annulus fibrosus (AF) cells were extracted from tissues and encapsulated into alginate beads (NP cells) and type I collagen sponges (AF cells). Half of the alginate and collagen scaffolds were embedded in FS. To provoke inflammatory behaviours, the constructs were cultured with and without continuous IL-1a (10 ng/ml) for 4, 7 and 14 days. ELISA was used to quantify the cellular synthesis (ng/mg DNA) of clinically relevant cytokines, proteolytic enzymes and growth factors. In NP cell constructs with IL-1a, the syntheses of TNFa, IL-1b, IL-6, IL-8 was elevated at all culture durations. In the presence of FS, secretion of several pro-inflammatory cytokines were significantly reduced [IL-6 and IL-8 (porcine); and TNFa, IL-1b, IL-6, IL-8 (human)]. Consistent with these reductions, human NP cultures exposed to FS and FS+ IL-1a synthesized significantly reduced amounts of MMP-1 and 3 compared to constructs with IL-1a. For porcine and human AF cells, there were no significant differences in the synthesis of the inflammatory or proteolytic cytokines relative to controls (without IL-1a) at any culture duration. However, the porcine AF cells exposed to FS synthesized elevated amounts of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-4. The results suggest that FS may have beneficial effects for patients with degenerated intervertebral discs. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Received 31 May 2011; Revised 10 November 2011; Accepted 24 January 2012
Box 2 Risk factors for perioperative myocardial ischemia in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting Increased plasma catecholamines Increased heart rate Increased pain Increased temperature variation Impaired gas exchange Coagulation abnormalities Decreased fibrinolysis Mechanical graft 

Cardiac complications of open heart surgery can be divided into 2 distinct categories, surgical and physiologic. Mechanical complications are addressed by surgical intervention, whereas physiologic complications may be attributed to changes in preload, afterload, heart rate, and the inotropic or lusitropic state of the heart. Dysrhythmias are not uncommon after cardiac surgery, and have direct effects on myocardial performance. The use of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is also associated with its own set of complications. Proper monitoring is essential in the intensive care unit (ICU) to determine the etiology of changes in cardiac performance. Continuous telemetry, a central venous and/ or pulmonary artery catheter, and direct arterial blood pressure monitoring are frequently used for both intraoperative and postoperative monitoring. These
Determinants of Electronic word of mouth (EWOM) influence on hotel customers' purchasing decision

Research has widely demonstrated that personal sources of information like EWOM are more influential than traditional advertising. The potential impact of others' opinions has dramatically increased with the development of the internet. Since the hospitality and tourism products and services contain more interpersonal interaction that needs to be experienced by consumers, the influence of EWOM in hospitality industry is more significant than in other industries. However, very little is known about what makes certain opinions more influential than other. The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of electronic word of mouth influence on hotel customer purchasing decision. To achieve this goal, the study used a questionnaire to collect data from 500 hotel customers in Sharm-elshikh as one of the touristic destinations in Egypt. It has employed linear regression to measure the influence of EWOM determinants on hotel customer purchasing decision. The study results show that the influence of EWOM depends on source credibility, valence, and volume of information obtained from EWOM. Also we find that there is a relationship between receiver characteristics like receiver expertise and EWOM influence. The results further indicate that the type of website and type of the product which EWOM are about has a significant impact on EWOM influence. The findings of the paper provide information to managers and marketers from hotels as to why there is a necessity to pay close attention to what being said about them via EWOM and also how to effectively manage their online presence.
Elemental Analysis of Nutrients in Dairy Manure by Automated X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry

We have determined that X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry can be used as a rapid and precise method for quantitative elemental analysis of macro and micro nutrients in dairy manure. The elements chosen for this study were N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Zn, Mn, Fe, Cu, Al, Na, B, and C. The wavelength-dispersive XRF spectrometer was calibrated by comparing its results with a panel of dried dairy manure samples with analyses from inductively coupled plasma (ICP) obtained from three independent certified laboratories. In addition, the XRF results for C, N, and S were compared with those from a high-temperature combustion (HTC) analyzer dedicated to measurements of these three elements. Then the performance of the calibrated XRF was tested against a separate panel of dairy manure samples collected at fifteen different sampling points at a manure processing plant. Subsamples from these samples were analyzed for the 14 elements of interest by a certified laboratory. The close agreement between the XRF results and those of the certified laboratory established that XRF can be used as a simple and precise method for the elemental analysis of dairy manure
SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL HETEROGENEITY, MACROINVERTEBRATE RICHNESS AND SPECIES TRAITS IN A TEMPORARY MEDITERRANEAN RIVER SYSTEM: relationships with the River Habitat Template

Natural ecosystems are highly heterogeneous in space and time (Kolasa & Rollo, 1991; Stewart et al., 2000). The heterogeneity concept has implicit the relationship between spatial and temporal variation in environmental constrains and the responses by organisms to them (Milne, 1991). Numerous studies are focused on looking for the biological implications of these constrains in terms of processes and mechanisms (Palmer et al. 1995, 1997; Townsend et al., 1997). However, ecologists have generally consider temporal and spatial heterogeneity separately (see Shachak & Brand, 1991), and in that sense, Resh & Rosenberg (1989) incise in the need to analyze together both heterogeneities in aquatic processes, as they occur in nature at the same time.