Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Banking Expansion on Profit Efficiency of Saudi Banks

This paper aims at analyzing the profit efficiency of the Saudi banks, and testing how it could be affected by banking expansion. This has been conducted using a sample of 6 commercial banks (out of 11), and covering the period from 1998 to 2007. Profit efficiency has been measured, using the ratio of actual profitability to the best one, which a similar bank (in size) can realize. Tests indicated that we could accept hypotheses regarding the effects of "availability of phone banking", "number of ATMs" and "number of branches" on profit efficiency of Saudi banks, also referred to the need to reject the hypotheses regarding the effects of "number of POSs", "availability of PC banking" and "availability of mobile banking".
Experimental investigation of high temperature thermal-vibration characteristics for composite wing structure of hypersonic flight vehicles

A thermal-vibration test system is established by combining the high-temperature transient heating simulation system and vibration test apparatus, and this system can carry out experimental research on the thermal modal of high-temperature-resistant composite wing structure of hypersonic flight vehicles under high temperature environment with 1100°C. The vibration signals of the composite wing structure in high-temperature environments are transmitted to non-high temperature field by using self-developed extension configurations and then the vibration signals are measured and identified by using ordinary acceleration sensors. Based on a time-frequency joint analysis technique, the experimental data is analyzed and processed to obtain the key vibration characteristic parameters of composite wing structure, such as the natural frequency and mode shapes, in a thermal-vibration coupled environment up to 1100°C. The experimental results provide an important basis for the dynamic performance analysis and safety design of composite wing structure under high-temperature thermal-vibration conditions.
Snapshot versions of life

"Snapshot Versions of Life" is an important foray into the culture of photography and home life from an anthropologist's perspective. Examining what he calls 'Home Mode' photography, Richard Chalfen explores snapshots, slide shows, family albums, home movies, and home videos, uncovering what people do with their photos as well as what their personal photos do for them.Chalfen's 'Polaroid People' are recognizable - if ironically viewed - relatives, uncles, aunts, and All-American kids. As members of 'Kodak Culture' they watch home movies, take pictures of newborn babies, and even, in their darker moments, scratch out the faces of disliked relatives in group photographs. He examines who shoots these photos and why, as well as how they think (or don't) of planning, editing, and exhibiting their shots. Chalfen's analysis reveals the culturally structured behavior underlying seemingly spontaneous photographic activities.
Attitudes toward Science and Scientific Literacy Among Romanian Young Adults

The paper explores attitudes toward science and scientific literacy among Romanian young adults, through an online survey following key dimensions attitudes toward science, integration of science in everyday life, beliefs in pseudoscientific phenomena and knowledge of the scientific method. Moreover, the study focuses especially on healthcare students and professionals’ scientific literacy, exploring the level of scientific reasoning within the medical field. Analysis includes multiple comparisons across different fields of study, professional areas and age groups. The novelty of the study consists in shifting the assessment of scientific literacy from general scientific knowledge toward the understanding of the scientific method. Results of the present study confirmed a deficit in scientific knowledge, but more importantly, demonstrated that the relationship between scientific literacy and attitudes toward science was a non-linear one. In fact, the study found a gap between what people accept to be scientific fact and what they choose to integrate into everyday life. Given these results, we argue that science education’s focus should be on developing scientific reasoning rather than providing scientific knowledge. © 2016 Published by Future Academy www.FutureAcademy. org.uk
Dynamics of grazing lawn formation: an experimental test of the role of scale-dependent processes

Grazing lawns are characteristic for African savanna grasslands, standing out as intensely grazed patches of stoloniferous grazing-tolerant grass species. Grazing lawn development has been associated with grazing and increased nutrient input by large migratory herds. However, we argue that in systems without mass migrations disturbances, other than direct grazing, drive lawn development. Such disturbances, e.g. termite activity or megaherbivore middens, also increase nutrient input and keep the bunch vegetation down for a prolonged time period. However, field observations show that not all such disturbances lead to grazing lawns. We hypothesize that the initial disturbance has to be of a minimal threshold spatial scale, for grazing intensity to be high enough to induce lawn formation. We experimentally tested this idea in natural tall savanna grassland. We mowed different-sized plots to simulate initial disturbances of different scales (six times during one year) and applied fertilizer to half of the plots during two years to simulate increased nutrient input by herbivores or termite activity. Allowing grazing by naturally occurring herbivores, we followed the vegetation development over more than three years. Grazing kept bunch grass short in coarser, fertilized plots, while grasses grew out toward their initial height in fine-scale and unfertilized plots. Moreover, lawn grasses strongly increased in cover in plots with an increased nutrient input but only after coarser scale disturbance. These results support our hypothesis that an increased nutrient input in combination with grazing indeed induces grazing lawn formation, but only above a threshold scale of the initial disturbance. Our results provide an alternative mechanism for the development of grazing lawns in systems that lack mass migrating herds. Moreover, it gives a new spatial dimension to the processes behind grazing lawn development, and hence help to understand how herbivores might create and maintain spatial heterogeneity in grassland systems.
Human Body Effects on Inkjet-Printed Flexible RF Interconnections

The efiect of human body on inkjet-printed ∞exible single- layer transmission lines in immediate proximity of body is investigated by simulations and measurements up to 9GHz. A multiline extraction method is used to obtain efiective material parameters allowing detailed analysis of body efiects. Already at 1mm distance from the body, the line properties converge toward the free-space values. However, at smaller distances and in direct contact with the body, often required in biosensor applications, there is a signiflcant change in characteristic impedance and increase in losses. The results of the paper can be used to evaluate the body efiects at difierent frequencies and at difierent small distances from the body.
Novel Solution of Notch/All-pass Filter with Special Electronic Adjusting of Attenuation in the Stop Band

The notch/all-pass filter with two electronically adjustable three-port current conveyors of the second generation (CCIIs) or oneconveyor and one voltage buffer employing only four passive elements is presented in this paper. Used active elements allow the controlof current transfer via DC control voltage. Therefore an adjusting of the attenuation in the stop band of the notch filter is possible. Thetransfer function and major parasitic influences of real active parts are discussed. The verification includes PSpice simulation withprofessional macromodels and measurement with available current conveyors in frequency domain. Ill. 7, bibl. 40 (in English; abstractsin English and Lithuanian). http://dx.doi. org/10.5755/j01.eee. 113.7. 609
On the Numerical Solution of the ADZ Model

The ADZ model is a simple and effective tool for simulating solute transport in rivers. The study reported here concerns the model's numerical algorithm. Tracer data from the Murray Burn in Edinburgh is used to compare the performance of three alternative formulations. The theoretical advantages of a new algorithm are borne out by simulations of the tracer data, although improvements in simulations, compared to those obtained with the standard algorithm, are probably only significant when the problem is poorly resolved in time. Nevertheless, the new algorithm can be recommended on the grounds that little extra effort is required to use it and simulations so obtained are generally more robust.
New Anastomosis Group F (AG-F) of binucleate Rhizoctonia causing root and stem rot of Pistacia vera

: A total of ten isolates of fungi with Rhizoctonia -like mycelia were obtained from infected roots and stems of Pistachio Pistacia vera grown in a commercial nursery in Rafsanjan, Iran, during the autumn of 2011. The infected seedlings showed symptoms of chlorosis that later turned to necrosis. All of the isolates were identified as binucleate Rhizoctonia on the basis of hyphal characteristics and nuclear number. They were tested for detection of the anastomosis group, optimum growth temperature, rDNA-ITS region traits and pathogenicity on pistachio seedlings in vitro and in vivo . The analysis of hyphal anastomosis reaction was carried out with the tester isolates of binucleate Rhizoctonia AG-A, AG-Ba, AG-G and AG-F as well as multinucleate Rhizoctonia AG4 as already detected on pistachio seedlings. The optimum temperature for growth of binucleate Rhizoctonia sp. was 35 °C. In in vivo test, the symptoms of root rot were observed 30 days after inoculation and mortality happened two weeks thereafter. According to molecular characteristics and anastomosis test groups, all isolates showed greatest similarity to anastomosis group AG-F. This finding is the first report of anastomosis group F (AG-F) of binucleate Rhizoctonia , as causal agent of root and stem rot disease of pistachio in the world and Iran.
Improving Nurses Knowledge and Attitude regarding Early Mobilization of Post-Operative Patients

Introduction: Nurse is the first member of the healthcare team to begin mobilizing the patient. There was little knowledge about nursing decisions on whether to ambulate, how they ambulate, and when they ambulate older hospitalized patients and also lack of knowledge and training. The most important change to improve time starts their first postoperative activity. Dangling the client the of surgery day to enhance the benefits of the early mobility and have to decreased the time from 16.8 to 6 hours with no side effects of client consequences. Methods: An experimental study which was conducted in a tertiary care hospital about improving nurses knowledge and attitude regarding early mobilization of post-operative patients in Lahore, Pakistan. This was a quality improvement project utilized a pre-survey, educational intervention, post survey design. The educational intervention integrated knowledge obtained from the review of literature in the form of a 25 minute Power Point presentation. Pre and post-survey included knowledge-based questions and opinion-based questions. Results: The data was collected from 109 participants from different surgical department’s nurses. It was consist into 2 section pre and post survey, eight multiple choice question knowledge based and five opinion-based statements answered by marking a visual analogue scale. The gander of the surgical nurses all were female and age group was up to 20 years, education of surgical nurses in general nursing was 50.5%, BS Nursing (Generic) was 4.6%, BS Nursing ( Post RN) was 26.6%, Specialization was 18.3%. Marital status of surgical nurses those who married was 54.1% and unmarried was 44.9%. Nursing experience of surgical Nurses was more than 6 months and Department of surgical Nurses in general surgery was 28.4%, ICU was 33.0%, urology was 16.5%, Gynae was 20.2% and neurosurgery was 5.5%. Conclusions: All nurses was correctly responded in both the pre-survey and post-survey to questions regarding the complications of immobility and the positive effect of early mobilization of the postoperative patient. An evaluation piece such as chart reviews at a future date was provided the opportunity to ensure change had embedded into practice, becoming the new status quo. The Advanced Practice Nurse was the ability to devise, implement, and evaluate such initiatives with the purpose of achieving integration of evidence based knowledge into practice and improving patient outcomes. Keywords : Knowledge, Nurses, Early, Mobilization, Post-Operative, Attitude, Patients
The earliest phases of high-mass star formation: the NGC 6334-NGC 6357 complex

Context. Our knowledge of high-mass star formation has been mainly based on follow-up studies of bright sources found by IRAS, and has thus been incomplete for its earliest phases, which are inconspicuous at infrared wavelengths. With a new generation of powerful bolometer arrays, unbiased large-scale surveys of nearby high-mass star-forming complexes now search for the high-mass analog of low-mass cores and class 0 protostars. Aims: Following the pioneering study of Cygnus X, we investigate the star-forming region NGC 6334-NGC 6357 (~1.7 kpc). Methods: We study the complex NGC 6334-NGC 6357 in an homogeneous way following the previous work of Motte and collaborators. We used the same method to extract the densest cores which are the most likely sites for high-mass star formation. We analyzed the SIMBA/SEST 1.2 mm data presented in Munoz and coworkers, which covers all high-column density areas (A v ≥ 15 mag) of the NGC 6334-NGC 6357 complex and extracted dense cores following the method used for Cygnus X. We constrain the properties of the most massive dense cores (M > 100 M_ȯ) using new molecular line observations (as SiO, N2H+,H13CO+, HCO+ (1-0) and CH3CN) with Mopra and a complete cross-correlation with infrared databases (MSX, GLIMPSE, MIPSGAL) and literature. Results: We extracted 163 massive dense cores of which 16 are more massive than 200 M_ȯ. These high-mass dense cores have a typical FWHM size of 0.37 pc, an average mass of M ~ 600 M_ȯ, and a volume-averaged density of ~ 1.5 × 105 cm-3. Among these massive dense cores, 6 are good candidates for hosting high-mass infrared-quiet protostars, 9 cores are classified as high-luminosity infrared protostars, and we find only one high-mass starless clump (~0.3 pc, ~ 4 × 104 cm-3) that is gravitationally bound. Conclusions: Since our sample is derived from a single molecular complex and covers every embedded phase of high-mass star formation, it provides a statistical estimate of the lifetime of massive stars. In contrast to what is found for low-mass class 0 and class I phases, the infrared-quiet protostellar phase of high-mass stars may last as long as their more well known high-luminosity infrared phase. As in Cygnus X, the statistical lifetime of high-mass protostars is shorter than found for nearby, low-mass star-forming regions which implies that high-mass pre-stellar and protostellar cores are in a dynamic state, as expected in a molecular cloud where turbulent and/or dynamical processes dominate. Based on observations made with Mopra telescope. The Mopra telescope is part of the Australia Telescope which is funded by the Commonwealth of Australia for operation as a National Facility managed by CSIRO.Table 1 and Appendix are only available in electronic form at http://www.aanda. orgProfiles as FITS files are only available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat? J/A+A/515/A55
Intestinal parasites and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status of children in Jos, Nigeria

Intestinal parasitic infestations (IPI) are not uncommon in immunocompetent individuals. However, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals with depleted immunity have an abnormally high susceptibility to infections. This study therefore, examines children with intestinal parasites according to HIV status and degree of immunosuppression. Consecutively consenting patients aged 1 to 15 years attending the Paediatric Clinic of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) Prevention Initiative, Nigeria, were recruited as cases, while age and sex matched HIV negative controls were recruited from Out Patient Department of Jos University Teaching Hospital. Stool samples were examined for parasites by direct wet mount, formol-ether and modified Ziehl-Neelsen technique. Levels of immunosuppression were assessed amongst HIV-positive subjects. Five hundred and ten children aged 1 to 15 years equally divided between the two cohorts were enrolled for the study. Seventy-nine had IPI, giving a prevalence rate of 15.5%; 44 (8.6%) HIV positive and 35 (6.9%) HIV-negative children. The most prevalent extracellular parasite was Giardia lamblia, however HIV positives had significantly higher rate of G. lamblia infestation. Among the intracellular parasites, the infection rate in HIV-positive subjects (5.9%) was three times that in HIV-negative subjects (2.0%). HIV positive children with advanced and severe immunosuppression had significantly higher intracellular parasites. HIV status did not significantly predict the overall risk of having extracellular intestinal parasites however, it was noted that G. lamblia infection was significantly higher in HIV positive children. HIV positive children had higher risk of having intracellular parasites especially if they have advanced or severe immunosuppression. Therefore, the policy of screening children for intestinal parasites should continue irrespective of their HIV status. Those that are HIV positive children should specifically be screened for intracellular parasites. Key words: Intestinal parasites, HIV, Children, Prevalence, Immunosuppression.
What makes the difference? Investigating trendsetters' motivations

The current research examines the psychological motivations of consumers and gives new insights into the psychology of fashion opinion leaders and opinion seekers. Furthermore, we offer a first validation of the consumer's need for uniqueness scale in Europe with a mixed European sample, using explanatory factorial analysis. We investigate and relate the three concepts of attention to social comparison information, consumer's need for uniqueness and consumer innovativeness in the framework of fashion. Results are based on 106 subjects who participated in an online questionnaire. The main findings demonstrate that (1) attention to social comparison information was positively related to opinion seeking, while consumer's need for uniqueness was negatively related (2) opinion leadership is positively related to consumer's need for uniqueness, yet fully mediated by fashion innovativeness (3) the validation of the counterconformity motivation scale was successful - contributing to crosscultural authentication of the construct. The presentation of empirical work is followed by the study's design and a discussion about the importance and practicability of the recent findings. Finally, limitations as well as implications for future research in psychology and marketing are presented, in order to get a better understanding of consumer behavior and the role of consumption in people's expression of identity.
Scanning laser vibrometer measurement of guided waves in rails

Guided wave based inspection and monitoring systems for railway tracks operate at frequencies where as many as 40 modes of propagation may exist. During the development of such systems it is advantageous to be able to measure the amplitude of the individual modes of propagation. The availability of scanning laser vibrometer systems has made it possible to measure the displacement or velocity at a large number of points on the rail surface. The contribution of each mode of propagation may be estimated from the measured frequency responses by using a pseudo-inverse technique and mode shape information computed from a semi-analytical finite element model. Scanning laser measurements were performed in the field at distances of 10m and 500m from a transducer used to transmit the guided waves. A scan of 430 measurement points was used to measure 25 modes at 40kHz.
ARE WEB SEARCH QUERIES AN EVOLVING PROTOLANGUAGE

Searching information on the World Wide Web by issuing queries to commercial search engines is one of the most common activities engaged in by almost every Web user. Web search queries have a unique structure, which is more complex than just a bag-of-words, yet simpler than a natural language. This structure has been evolving over the past decade which is an artefact of the way search engines are evolving and aggressively using feedback from past users to serve current and future users better. In this paper, we argue that queries can be considered as an evolving protolanguage from functional, structural and dynamical points of view. Therefore, Web search logs, a perfectly preserved and rich dataset, can probably reveal several interesting facts about the evolution of protolanguage.
rostatic Diseases and Male Voiding ysfunction ffect of Antibiotic Therapy on Interleukin-6 n Fresh Semen and Postmasturbation Urine amples of Patients with Chronic rostatitis/Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome

BJECTIVES To investigate the effect of antibiotic therapy on interleukin (IL)-6 in fresh semen and postmasturbation urine samples of patients with chronic prostatitis or chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS). ETHODS A total of 128 patients with CP/CPPS prospectively underwent the evaluation of IL-6 in fresh semen and postmasturbation urine samples. At 6 weeks after 4 weeks antibiotic therapy, the IL-6 levels were re-evaluated. ESULTS Of the 128 patients, 109 (85.2%) were available for our analysis. Of the 109 patients, 72 (66.1%) met the criteria for National Institutes of Health (NIH) classification for inflammatory CP/CPPS (type IIIa) and 37 (33.9%) met the NIH criteria for noninflammatory CP/CPPS (type IIIb). Before antibiotic therapy, 86 patients (78.9%), irrespective of NIH classification, had an increased IL-6 level in fresh semen; 64 (88.9%) patients with CP/CPPS type IIIa and 22 (59.5%) with type IIIb CP/CPPS had increased IL-6 levels. After 4 weeks of therapy, a significant reduction was found in the IL-6 level, with only 44 (40.4%, P .009) patients showing an increased IL-6 level: 34 patients with type IIIa (47.2%, P .0000) and 10 with type IIIb (27.0%, P .0033). An increased IL-6 level was found in the postmasturbation urine sample in 37 patients (33.9%), irrespective of NIH classification: 28 (38.9%) with type IIIa and 9 (24.3%) with type IIIb. At 6 weeks after therapy, only 3 patients (2.8%, P .000) had an increased IL-6 level: 2 with type IIIa (2.8%, P .0000) and 1 with type IIIb (2.7%, P .02). ONCLUSIONS The IL-6 levels had decreased significantly after antibiotic therapy in patients with CP/ CPPS, suggesting a bacterial inflammatory character. The determination of IL-6 in seminal plasma and postmasturbation urine samples is useful as an addition to the diagnostic test for the patient with CP/CPPS and as an efficacy marker for therapy. UROLOGY 72: 336 –339, 2008. © 2008 Elsevier Inc.