Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Role of Urinary Biomarker Levels in Assessing the Presence and Severity of Ureteropelvic Junction Obstruction in Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Thalassemia Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, IR Iran Infectious Disease Research Center with Focus on Nosocomial Infection, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, IR Iran Molecular and Cell Biology Research Center, Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, IR Iran Corresponding author: Hamid Mohammadjafari, Infectious Disease Research Center with Focus on Nosocomial Infection Bou Ali Hospital, Sari, IR Iran. Tel: +98-1133344506, E-mail: hamidmj46@gmail.com
On the surface physics affecting solar oscillation frequencies

Adiabatic oscillation frequencies of stellar models, computed with the standard mixing-length formulation for convection, increasingly deviate with radial order from observations in solar-like stars. Standard solar models overestimate adiabatic frequencies by as much as ~ 20 {\mu}Hz. In this letter, we address the physical processes of turbulent convection that are predominantly responsible for the frequency differences between standard models and observations, also called `surface effects'. We compare measured solar frequencies from the MDI instrument on the SOHO spacecraft with frequency calculations that include three-dimensional (3D) hydrodynamical simulation results in the equilibrium model, nonadiabatic effects, and a consistent treatment of the turbulent pressure in both the equilibrium and stability computations. With the consistent inclusion of the above physics in our model computation we are able to reproduce the observed solar frequencies to < 3 {\mu}Hz without the need of any additional ad-hoc functional corrections.
The Value of Flexible Contracts: Evidence from an Italian Panel of Industrial Firms

Since the mid-1980s fixed-term contracts have been used in many European countries to reduce firing costs. As this strategy may have led to segmented labour markets, recent policy interventions have enhanced permanent jobs by cutting their labour costs. Efficient design of these policies requires knowledge of the costs associated with employment protection legislation. In this paper we evaluate these costs by measuring firmsi? ½ willingness to trade fixed-term for open-ended contracts in exchange for a cut in the labour cost of permanent jobs. Our results are based on a panel of Italian firms in the engineering sector whose labour costs were reduced by a tax credit granted to firms hiring workers on open-ended rather than fixed-term contracts. The trade-off is identified by comparing how the composition of recruitment by type of contract changed for firms that received the tax credit and those that did not. Potential distortions due to self-selection into the programme, firm-specific timevarying shocks or mechanical correlation induced by the selection rule into the programme, are accounted for by estimating the spurious effect of the tax credit in the years when it was not in force. Estimation is carried out in both a parametric and non-parametric setting that uses p-score to control for different probabilities of receiving the tax credit. We found that firms value the possibility of hiring one per cent new workers on a fixed-term contract as much as a cut in the labour cost of an open-ended worker in the range of 1.3-2.8 per cent. This result helps to explain recent employment growth in Italy, where the share of fixed-term contracts among new hires grew from 34 to 42 per cent between 1995 and 2003. Using our most conservative results, we evaluate that the labour cost reduction associated with this expansion amounted to anything between 10.4 and 22.4 per cent. Given the elasticity of employment to wages, the advent of flexibility in the Italian labour market can account for a large share, between 37 and 80 per cent, of employment growth in the private sector.
Ethical Professional (Trans)Formation: Early Career Lawyers Make Sense of Professionalism

This study investigated early-career lawyers’ understanding of professionalism using Robert Kegan’s theory of lifespan identity development. Kegan’s theory posits that the capacity for growth in mental complexity (i.e., identity development) can increase throughout the lifespan, and that one’s level of mental complexity shapes how one makes sense of the self in relation to others and to society. We assessed Kegan’s stages of mental complexity using a short essay survey of lawyers four and five years into their careers after their graduation from the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, Minnesota (n=37). We used content analysis of responses about the meaning of professionalism to identify themes, which included: (1) the importance of successful relationships; (2) competence at the technical skills of lawyering; (3) growth in understanding professionalism; (4) compliance with the professional rules; and (5) honesty or other personal characteristics viewed as central to professionalism. We also conducted in-depth interviews (n=7) to assess developmental stage and to gauge the construct validity of the online questionnaire assessment on professionalism. The implications for legal education are that ethical professional identity, or professionalism, can be empirically assessed, and that growth occurs from law school through the early years of lawyers’ careers. The ethical professional identity assessment can be used (1) by faculty, coaches, or mentors to assess and to foster student development of professionalism; and (2) to assess law school outcomes related to professionalism. Implications for law firms and bar organizations include the use of this assessment in professional development and coaching of associates and as an assessment tool in mentoring programs. This study also provides a baseline of identity development for early career lawyers.
Undergraduate Saudi Nursing Students Attitudes towards Nursing Profession

Aim of the study: To identify the attitudes of undergraduate Saudi nursing students towards studying nursing profession. Background: Nursing profession is the backbone of the healthcare services and nurses in the workplace should be accountable to deliver high-quality of care. The Saudi Society, cultural forces and values influence nursing profession and its development. Assessment of undergraduate attitudes towards nursing profession is vital as it can help to identify the potential barriers, deficits and challenges to conquer them. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was administered. The survey design was intended to identify the undergraduate Saudi nursing students’ attitudes towards studying nursing profession. Questionnaires were randomly distributed to 250 nursing students. Descriptive statistics were employed to identify the students’ attitudes towards the profession. Results: A total of 141 students completed the survey questionnaires giving a response rate of 56.4%. The participating students 70 (52%) indicated that the most commonly reason to choose studying nursing was their own interest. Most of the students (48.90%) agreed that their English language proficiency is the hardest in the nursing program. The results showed that students favor to work on direct patient care rather than holding managerial or educational tasks. Generally speaking, the students’ families and friends had positive attitudes towards nursing profession. Conclusion: The nursing students and families in Saudi Arabia had strong positive attitudes towards studying nursing profession. Universities in Saudi Arabia are to increase enrolling students to study nursing and should commit to graduate highly competent nurses to compensate the nursing shortage. Lack of students’ awareness of workplace literacy requirements might lead to difficulty in designing appropriate curriculum.
A Craniometric Study of Adult Humans Skulls from Southwestern Nigeria

The study aims at determining the cranial indices of some skulls recovered from cadavers sourced from Southwestern regions of Nigeria, mainly populated by Yoruba ethnic tribe. The cranial indices of 85 human skulls were determined by measuring the maximum cranial length (mcl) and maximum cranial breadth (mcb) using Goniometre fitted with sliding calliper. The cranial index was determined by finding the percentage of the ratio mcb to mcl x100. The skulls were deemed from adult individuals because of their complete teeth eruption and obliteration of sutures. Gross sexual dimorphic characteristics such as size and overall rugose expression of cranial features (pronounced mastoid process, strong brow ridge) were used to divide skulls into 56 males and 29 females. The mean cranial indices for male and female skulls examined were 72.97±2.16 and 71.72±2.48, respectively, thus putting them in the dolichocranic population. There were no significant differences in the cranial indices of the male and female skulls (p>0.05). Thus cranial index is not sexually dimorphic in the studied skulls. The result of this study will be of forensic anthropologic importance to the populations from where the skulls were sourced.
Improving the reliability of demand estimation using traffic counts by including information on link flow observability

Demand estimation problems are traditionally solved by an optimisation problem, where some distance between measured and simulated flows is minimised. To limit the effects of solution underdeterminedness in such problems, a-priori assumptions on the OD matrix structure are adopted. In this paper we study the impact of sensor locations on the quality of OD estimations. We show that linear correlations between link flow data may negatively affect the estimation reliability. By contrast, efficient sensor location models, able to identify sensor positions that collect linearly independent link flows allow improving the reliability of the estimation process, especially when no good prior information is available on the OD matrix structure. In addition, we show that by selecting sensor locations according to partial observability metrics introduced by the authors in recent research, the contribution of the additional information in the objective function also improves with respect to alternative metrics introduced in the literature.
Comparing Turkish and Pakistani Teachers’ Professionalism

The purpose of this study was to compare and contrast the perceptions of teaching professionalism between Turkish and Pakistani teachers using the quantitative, non-intervention, descriptive survey design research method. The research sample consisted of 315 teachers from Turkey and 202 from Pakistan. The teacher professionalism (TP) scale used to collect data included 46 items, two of which were negative, along with nine dimensions and subsequently, the Alpha reliability coefficient was shown to be high (0.93). The TP scale revealed a total variance of 58.96%. Results of the composite professionalism scale revealed that the teachers in Pakistan had more significant positive / higher perceptions than the teachers in Turkey. In the comparisons of the sub-dimensions of the TP scale, Pakistani teachers had more positive / higher perceptions in five of the nine sub-dimensions, whereas only one sub-dimension was positive / higher for teachers in Turkey. In Pakistan, male teachers had more positive / higher perceptions of professionalism than females. Other findings showed that there was no significant difference between the Turkish and Pakistani teachers according to school type.
Improving Quality: Current Evidence on What Affects the Quality of Commissioned Evaluations

With the increase in resources that organisations are dedicating to evaluation the issue of evaluation quality has risen up the agenda and a growing number of commissioners are now looking at how to ensure the studies they commission are of sufficient quality. While a plethora of evaluation quality standards exist that identify the factors that shape quality, most are experiential rather than based on research evidence. Particularly in the context of commissioning and implementing evaluation in bilateral donors, there has been limited empirical research on identifying the factors that underlie evaluation quality. Drawing on the findings of two recent studies into the quality of evaluations and other recent work in this area, this CDI Practice Paper by Rob Lloyd and Florian Schatz starts to fill this gap in evidence. The paper argues that the current debate on evaluation quality has become fixated on the issue of methodology to the neglect of other equally important issues. While methodological rigour is important, a singular focus on this issue is unwise. Considerations of quality need to permeate all stages of the evaluation process and evaluation quality needs to be recognised as a product of the capacities of the evaluation commissioner and evaluation team, the relationship between them, and the wider institutional environment in which the evaluation is being conducted. CDI Innovation and learning in impact evaluation Centre for Development Impact PRACTICE PAPER Box 1 What is evaluation quality? Quality cuts across all stages of the evaluation process. Evaluation quality includes the quality of evaluation planning and design, evaluation management, evaluation implementation, and the quality of the evaluation product itself. Existing evaluation quality standards are in line with this view and are taken as a starting point for this paper. A review of specific standards is beyond the scope of this paper.
Distribution, Ecology and Potential Impacts of the Chinese Mitten Crab (Eriocheir sinensis) in San Francisco Bay

The arrival of the Chinese mitten crab to the San Francisco Bay-San Joaquin Delta (Bay- Delta) ecosystem has been a source of widespread concern. This crab has spread from its native range, in China, to coastal ecosystems throughout Europe and, most recently, into North America. The Chinese mitten crab population in California has exploded within the last decade to cover hundreds of miles of the Bay-Delta and its tributaries. The Chinese mitten crab is a large, catadromous crab, moving from freshwater habitats where it spends its juvenile years to saltwater habitats in order to reproduce. In other countries into which this species has been introduced, the abundance and behavior of the crab has caused detrimental impacts to fisheries and loss of bank stability in areas where it burrows. Through a grant from the Water Resources Center, we set out to examine the ecology, distribution, and economic and ecological impacts of the Chinese mitten crab in the fresh and saline waters of San Francisco’s South Bay. The Chinese mitten crab offers excellent opportunities to: 1) study the population dynamics of an invasive species; 2) examine differences and similarities for this organism between its native and new environments; and 3) use research findings to make recommendations for understanding and control of this organism.
Empirical Analysis of Factors Influencing Use of Internet on Ships

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the factors influencing the emergence of internet on ships and the resultant cost. Data collected from 255 respondents, mainly seafarers (captain and officers) and shore- based ship managers revealed that emergence of the internet on ships is influenced by perceived usefulness, organisation readiness, external pressure and technology penetration. It is also witnessed that cost of internet on ships has an effect on the penetration of the internet and new technology. The emergence of the internet on ships provides an effective communication link with all stakeholders of the ship, enhances safety and security with real time data on cargo, incidents, piracy, terrorism and weather conditions. It facilitates timely delivery of stores and spare parts for ship repairs and maintenance, thus providing immense satisfaction to all stakeholders. It thus has a significant impact on the industry.
Applying Systemic Functional Linguistics to Bahasa Indonesia Clauses

Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) concerns the three metafunction meanings: clause as message, clause as exchange, and clause as representation. This article tries to apply the metafunctions based on SFL to Bahasa Indonesia clauses. The points of this paper are only two kinds of metafunctions could be applied to Bahasa Indonesia clauses: clause as message and clause as representation. The clause as exchange, according to the present writer, could not be applied to Bahasa Indonesia clauses since Bahasa Indonesia has no finite concept. The present writer found the word ‘there’ in English is equivalent to the word ‘ada’ in Bahasa Indonesia. Both of the words have no representational function; they are required because of the need for a subject in English.
Pathwise Viscosity Solutions of Stochastic PDEs and Forward Path-Dependent PDEs

In this paper we propose a new notion of pathwise viscosity solution for a fairly large class of fully nonlinear (forward) Stochastic PDEs whose diffusion term is allowed to depend on both the solution and its gradient. With the help of the newly developed pathwise analysis in the sense of Dupire [10], we shall identify a forward SPDE as a Path-dependent PDE. We then propose a notion of (pathwise) viscosity solution to the PPDE in terms of the pathwise stochastic Taylor expansion, developed in our previous work [5] within Dupire’s pathwise analysis paradigm. Under some general assumptions on the coefficients, we prove the wellposedness of the viscosity solution: consistency, stability, existence, comparison principle and uniqueness.
Childhood Aggression: Fallout from Violent Movies Viewing

The focus of this study was to examine the issue of childhood aggression as a result of violent movies being paraded on the television screens. The level of aggression shown by children particularly during their formative and educational years have been found to be associated to the volume and type of aggression and violence they see paraded on the television. The study sample consisted of 199 students drawn from a secondary school in Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State. Video films consisting of violent scenes were shown to the participants for a period of time after which they were examined for their level of aggression after watching the films. The results showed that participants who were exposed to viewing violent movie reported higher level of aggression than those who are exposed to non-violent movies (t = 3.593, df = 197, p>0.05). The result also showed that female participants reported a higher level of verbal aggression than their male counterparts (t = 0.002 df = 197, p<0.05). The study opined that young children needs to be monitored in the selection of what they watch on television because they could be easily influenced or prone to imitating any action they observe on the screens. Keywords: aggression, television, violence, influence, movies
Self-regulated learning in Singaporean context: a congeneric approach of confirmatory factor analysis

The motivated strategies for learning questionnaire (MSLQ) is widely used as a self-report instrument to assess students’ motivation and self-regulation. This study utilized the MSLQ Junior High to examine the motivational beliefs and self-regulation of secondary school students (Grades 8 and 9) from Singapore. The instrument was slightly modified and administered to students (N = 610) in mathematics and science classes. In the first sample, 314 students completed the MSLQ Junior High while a second sample of 296 students completed the revised MSLQ Junior High. Using a congeneric approach of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the five-factor measurement model was determined with the first sample. This measurement model was further supported using a second sample and its goodness-of-fit indices were compared with other CFA models. Statistical findings showed that the five-factor structure of the revised MSLQ Junior High had a good model fit. The present study contributes a novel methodological approach by investigating the parsimony confirmatory factor structure of the revised MSLQ Junior High in local academic contexts.
Extreme wind climatology of winter storms in Germany

A method for the assessment of the local hazard caused by large-scale winter storms is described in detail and applied to all of Germany. Spatially highly resolved wind fields of severe storm events in the climatological period from 1971 to 2000 are modeled by a statistical—dynamical downscaling approach with the Karlsruhe Atmospheric Mesoscale Model KAMM, using both ERA- 40 re-analysis and observation data. Hazard curves, including quantification of the uncertainties, are determined for all grid points with a distance of 1 km from the modeled wind fields by applying extreme value statistics. The hazard maps reveal critical regions with potentially extreme wind speeds depending on exposure, terrain height and land use. For an exceedance probability of 0.05 yr -1 that equals a return period of 20 yr, the maximum gusts range between 26 m s -1 in deep val- leys and >45 m s -1 near the coast as well as over the crests of the low mountain ranges. Particularly saddles, edges, flanks and summits feature a higher hazard for extreme wind speeds. Comparisons of model data and observations confirm the applicability and the high precision of the method.
The effects of short-term resistance program on vertical jump ability in elite male volleyball players during the competition season

The aim of this study was to describe the effects of 6 weeks of combined strength and jump training which incorporated moderate loads and high intensity contractions on the vertical jump ability (VJ), loaded jumps and velocity of execution in full squat in a group of professional male volleyball players during the competition season. It was hypothesized that the VJ improved by cross combined strength and jump training both characterized by high velocity of execution (>1m/s). The participants in this study were twelve players who competed in the first national division of the Spanish National League during the 2011-2012 season. The neuromuscular performance was estimated by unloaded (CMJ) and loaded countermovement jumps (CMJloaded) height (cm); and by velocity of displacement in the concentric phase of full squat (FS) (m/s). There was a significant increase in CMJ and CMJloaded after 6-week of training (5%, p<0.01; and 5.7%, p<0.05; respectively). These changes were accompanied by a small and moderate value of Effect Size (0.47, and 0.67; respectively). No significant differences were observed for velocity of displacement in FS. The linear correlation analysis showed a single moderate correlation statistically significant between the changes in CMJ-CMJloaded and CMJ-FS (r=0.62 and r=0.59, p<0.05; respectively). Albeit speculative, our results suggest that the use of moderate loads could be enough to improve the vertical jump performance, since in our study a load equivalent to 60% 1RM in the FS was not exceeded and jumping exercises were performed with light loads