Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Is It Merely a Labor Supply Shock? Impacts of Syrian Migrants on Local Economies in Turkey

The authors use the occurrence of a large and geographically varying inflow of more than 2.5 million Syrian migrants to Turkey between 2012 and 2015 to study the effect of migration on local economies. They do not find adverse employment or wage effects for native-born Turkish workers overall or for those without a high school degree. These results are robust to a range of strategies to construct reliable control groups. To explain the findings, the authors document the importance of three migration-induced demand channels: the complementarity between native and migrant labor, housing demand, and increased entrepreneurial activities.
Sounding like a father: The influence of regional dialect on perceptions of masculinity and fatherhood

Abstract Previous work on the Osaka dialect (OD) collectively suggests that this western regional variant of Japanese is associated with informality, masculinity, and affective fatherhood—social meanings that can be recruited in the construction of audio-visual media personas. This study examines the use of OD by one protagonist in the film Soshite chichi ni naru/Like father, like son, as well as the social meanings that listeners attribute to this variety of Japanese. Specifically, we ask two questions: (i) to what extent is the production of OD in the film recognizable to native speakers of Japanese, and (ii) what qualities do Japanese language users attribute to OD? A dialect recognition experiment found low recognizability of OD but high recognizability of a general ‘nonstandard Japanese’ language variety. Qualitative data revealed that Japanese language users perceived OD to index various characteristics including that of a masculine, affective father. (Perception, dialect, fatherhood, Osaka dialect, indexicality)*
CONSIDERATIONS ON THE IMPACT OF ONLINE EDUCATION ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE -AN ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTS OF COVID 19 CONFINEMENT

Given the current panorama of secondary and higher education imposed by the COVID-19, in which face-to-face and non face-to-face classes have to be combined, the question arises as to how this teaching methodology can affect the acquisition of the necessary skills. It is still too early to have data that would allow a comparison of the situation before the confinement with the current one. However, the implementation of the use of computers as a learning tool in some Autonomous Communities in previous courses allows a tentative estimate of what these effects will be. The aim of this paper is to analyse the contribution of the Program School 2.0 to the skill-building in the subject of Mathematics. Between 2009 and 2010, all Autonomous Communities (except Madrid, Murcia and Comunidad Valenciana) participated in this program which pursued the objective of providing individual computer equipment and computer assisted learning to all students in 5º-6º grade of Primary Education and 1º-2º grade of Secondary Education. The availability of PISA 2012 allows the comparison with previous results of PISA 2009, and thus, to contrast the utility of this program. For this purpose, we have estimated a “difference in difference” model for Mathematics score in the general module and in the “computer based assessment (CBA)” module. Results show that for non-repeaters students, the availability of notebook or tablet decreases the score in Mathematics-CBA (-48.35 for participants Communities, -23.26 for non-participants). Non-repeaters students who used the computer for doing their homework 1-2 times per week have experienced a decrease in participant Communities (-3.15), but an increase in non-participant Communities (55.62). However, we cannot discard the existence of positive externalities because students of participant Communities are more prone to help each other with Mathematics as compared to non-participants students.
Challenges and Opportunities Constraining and Enhancing Kenya and Tanzania Participation in the EAC Econo-Political Integration Process

Regionalism and regional institutions are increasingly being challenged and conditioned by the sovereignty-modifying effects of globalisation and humanitarian intervention. Regionalism is facing pressure to become less sovereignty-bound in the sense of going against the norms of non-interference and non-intervention that underpin the Westphalia international system. The study evaluates the challenges and opportunities that constrain and enhance Kenya and Tanzania participation in the EAC econo-political integration process. Three theories, Two-Good theory, Neoclassical Realism and Neo-functionalism theories, were adopted to guide the study. Descriptive research design was used. Respondents were both from Kenya and Tanzania and they comprised cross border business community, government officials in Ministries of EAC and Foreign Affairs, and EAC organs—the Secretariat and Legislative Assembly which were purposively sampled. Both primary and secondary sources data was used while instruments of data collection were: questionnaires, interviews and focus group discussions guides. Findings revealed that challenges that constrain Kenya’s and Tanzania’s participation in the EAC integration emanate from structural, legal and administrative weaknesses and commissions or omissions. The fact that the issue of manifestation of non-tariff barriers disguised as administrative and technical policies is baneful and inimical. Additionally, import substitution strategy and the incongruity in taxation policies are some of the challenges that constrain Kenya’s and Tanzania’s participation in the EAC econo-political integration. The study therefore recommends that the citizens should be at the centre of the EAC integration process through structured stakeholders’ engagement where their input and participation are affirmed. Similarly, taxation of cross border business community should be reviewed and taxes should be harmonised to provide a level playing field in order to address their perennial complaints.
Hidden Non-Performing Loans in China

We study non-performing loan (NPL) transactions in China using proprietary data from a leading market participant. We find these transactions – driven by tighter financial regulation – are consistent with banks concealing non-performing assets from regulators as (i) transaction prices do not compensate for credit risks even though the transactions are supposed to transfer risks; (ii) banks provide funding for the NPL transactions and remain contractually responsible for debt collection for the NPLs removed from their balance sheets; and (iii) over 70% of NPL packages are re-sold at inflated prices to third-parties who are mostly borrowers of the banks and are in the same local areas as the original banks. Altogether, these results imply the transactions do not truly resolve NPLs and raise the question how exposed banks remain to the hidden NPLs. Recognizing these hidden NPLs implies the total NPLs in China is two to four times the reported amount. We discuss implications for financial stability.
Wide Weighted Attention Multi-Scale Network for Accurate MR Image Super-Resolution

High-quality magnetic resonance (MR) images afford more detailed information for reliable diagnoses and quantitative image analyses. Given low-resolution (LR) images, the deep convolutional neural network (CNN) has shown its promising ability for image super-resolution (SR). The LR MR images usually share some visual characteristics: structural textures of different sizes, edges with high correlation, and less informative background. However, multi-scale structural features are informative for image reconstruction, while the background is more smooth. Most previous CNN-based SR methods use a single receptive field and equally treat the spatial pixels (including the background). It neglects to sense the entire space and get diversified features from the input, which is critical for high-quality MR image SR. We propose a wide weighted attention multi-scale network (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\text{W}^{2}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>AMSN) for accurate MR image SR to address these problems. On the one hand, the features of varying sizes can be extracted by the wide multi-scale branches. On the other hand, we design a non-reduction attention mechanism to recalibrate feature responses adaptively. Such attention preserves continuous cross-channel interaction and focuses on more informative regions. Meanwhile, the learnable weighted factors fuse extracted features selectively. The encapsulated wide weighted attention multi-scale block (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\text{W}^{2}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>AMSB) is integrated through a recurrent framework and global attention mechanism. Extensive experiments and diversified ablation studies show the effectiveness of our proposed <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\text{W}^{2}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>AMSN, which surpasses state-of-the-art methods on most popular MR image SR benchmarks quantitatively and qualitatively. And our method still offers superior accuracy and adaptability on real MR images.
Low Auditory-Verbal Cognitive Profile: Α “Risk Factor” for Specific Learning Difficulties in Preschool Children in Greece

Preschool-age children with a low auditory-verbal cognitive profile may be predisposed to develop subsequent learning difficulties. This study, through the use of early diagnostic procedures and a special intervention program, attempts to “balance” these discrepancies. More specifically, aim of the present study is to implement an intervention programme in children being “at risk” for learning difficulties. For the purpose of the present study, the DTLA-2 test was used to assess 420 preschool children aged between 6.0 and 6.4 years. During pretesting, the 420 children were divided into 4 groups according to their cognitive profiles based on the DTLA-2 test assessment. Of the total sample, 40 children according to their low performances in all cognitive verbal and non-verbal sub-tests of DTLA-2 were selected for the final construction of the experimental group (11 boys and 9 girls) and its control group (10 boys and 10 girls). The intervention procedure lasted 3 months and the children attended approximately 20 sessions (20 - 25 minutes each), either individually or in a small group of two or three children. In the three-month follow-up (post-test), a better balance in their cognitive profile was achieved compared to the control group. In a one year follow-up, similar results were detected. More specifically, the differences between the verbal and non-verbal scales of the DTLA-2 test remained significant in the control group, whereas, in the experimental group, no significant differences were detected between the two scales, thus revealing the positive results of intervention, as regards preschool children’s “at risk” specific cognitive profile. These results underline the importance of early diagnosis and appropriate intervention in children with specific cognitive profiles, who are “at risk” for developing subsequent learning difficulties.
Manufacturing and evaluation of multi-channel cylinder applicator with 3D printing technology

Purpose This study was designed to assess dosimetric characteristics of 3D-printed personalized multi-channel cylinder applicator (MCCA). Material and methods UnionTech RS Pro 600 (UnionTech, Inc., Shanghai, China) 3D printer was used for manufacturing MCCA. The geometry of MCCA was designed with Fusion 360 v.2. 0.5827 (Autodesk, Inc.) software. The designed file was exported to Meshmixer v.3. 5 (Autodesk, Inc.) to create three-dimensional model in stereolithography (STL) file format, which is the common file format for inputting data to 3D printers. We used high-temp resin, FLHTAM02 model (Formlabs Inc., MA, USA), as material in 3D printing process. This resin model has good resistance to high temperature and compatibility with various solvents. We created a simple cubic shape phantom for dosimetric evaluation of the applicator with Gafchromic EBT3 films. Also, Monte Carlo method was applied to simulate MCCA in the same configuration as in experimental test. Results The mean ± standard deviation (SD) difference between measured and calculated doses in treatment planning system (TPS) for all control points was 0.0860 ±0.0393 Gy, corresponding to 4.01 ±1.21%. The mean ±SD difference between doses calculated by Monte Carlo simulation and TPS for all control points was 0.0996 ±0.0471 Gy, corresponding to 4.58 ±1.05%. The mean ±SD of dose difference between film measurement and Monte Carlo simulation for all control points was 0.0136 ±0.0200 Gy, corresponding to 0.60 ±0.69%. P-value for dose difference between film measurement and TPS, Monte Carlo and TPS, and film measurement and Monte Carlo were 0.7, 0.66, and 0.95, respectively. Conclusions Dosimetric results and mechanical accuracy of MCCA show that high-temp resin with SLA 3D printing technique can be used for producing patient-specific MCCA in brachytherapy.
Power Conversion Using Analytical Model of Cockcroft–Walton Voltage Multiplier Rectenna

A voltage multiplier rectenna is a combination of a voltage multiplier rectifier and an antenna used for the conversion of AC to DC. It is an essential part of the system of RF energy harvesting. Conventional rectennas are characterized by low conversion efficiency. This study presents an analytical novel mode designed for RF energy harvesting systems to study the voltage and current output of rectifier stages for efficiency optimization. The design contains a voltage multiplier rectification circuit with seven stages. The Schottky diode HSMS 285-C was selected for the circuit modeling voltage multiplier circuit. Advanced Design System (ADS) simulation was used to validate the equations of the theoretical model solved with MATLAB code. The fabricated system was tested for an input power range of 10 μW to 100 mW; the maximum output power is 0.2577 mW with maximum efficiency of 29.85%.
Antioxidant capacity and phenolic profile of berry, seed, and skin of Ekşikara (vitis vinifera L) grape: Influence of harvest year and altitude

ABSTRACT Ekşikara (Vitis vinifera L.) is a poorly known native Turkish grape cultivar, which is being cultivated for thousands of years for table consumption, raisin, and grape molasses production. The aim of this study was to investigate the phenolic profile of whole berry, skin, and seeds of the cultivar and to determine the effect of harvesting year and altitude of the vineyard location. The grape samples were collected from two vineyards, located at 1000 and 1500 m of altitude in year 2014 while it was collected from 1500 m of altitude in year 2015. In addition to phenolic profile, antioxidant activity, total phenolic, anthocyanin, and tannin contents, and fatty acid profile of seed oil were also analyzed. In this study, anthocyanins, resveratrol, rutin, and isorhamnetin-3-glucoside were mainly found in skin while monomers and dimers of flavan-3-ols were present mainly in the seed. Altitude had a drastic effect on phenolic compounds as well as on the antioxidant activity of whole berry, skin, and seeds.
The Role of Preparatory Programming in Increasing the Effectiveness of a Sex Offender Treatment Intervention

ABSTRACT Increasing the effectiveness of programs designed to treat individuals who have sexually offended is a critical step in reducing the rates of sexual violence in our communities. Yet, the research on such programs have yielded inconsistent results with regards to their effectiveness in reducing sexual recidivism among participants. Some researchers have explored whether the dose of treatment impacts recidivism, but there remains limited knowledge around the dose-response relationship for individuals who have sexually offended. The current study examines recidivism rates among 343 individuals who participated in and completed the programs administered by the North Carolina Department of Public Safety (NCDPS): Pre-SOAR (preparatory program), SOAR (full high-dose treatment program), and the combination of both Pre-SOAR and SOAR. Findings demonstrated that men who participated in Pre-SOAR only had the highest rates of recidivism among the three groups. Specifically, the Pre-SOAR only group returned to prison over a year sooner than the other two groups. These findings elucidate that the Pre-SOAR program is not sufficient or the most efficacious as a stand-alone program to reduce recidivism among sex offenders. Next, the Pre-SOAR program did show benefit when combined with the SOAR program, in that approximately 8% fewer of the individuals were reincarcerated during the study window compared to those who only completed the SOAR program. While those individuals who participated in the Pre-SOAR and SOAR programming group returned to prison approximately three days faster than the SOAR-only group, we do not see this to be a significant difference. Programming implications are discussed.
Late Cretaceous to Oligocene overlapping plutonic magmatism episodes in the eastern Mesa Central province of Mexico

ABSTRACT Several plutonic bodies are distributed along the northern and eastern margins of the Mesa Central province, intruding mainly clastic and carbonate sedimentary sequences from the Triassic and Cretaceous. In this work, U-Pb ages in zircon and apatite have been obtained using the LA-ICPMS technique in samples from six of these plutons and some possibly related volcanic rocks. In general, intrusive rocks are porphyritic, suggesting a relatively shallow intrusion and are mostly monzogranite to quartz-monzodiorite in composition, displaying biotite and amphibole. According to the geochronological results, the plutonic rocks can be divided into two groups; a group that varies in age from Campanian-Maastrichtian limit up to Paleocene, and a second group that essentially corresponds to the Oligocene, specifically the Rupelian. Unfortunately, the geochronological data on apatites were not conclusive to establish a trajectory or cooling rate and the ages obtained in this mineral phase for several of these bodies are very similar to the age of zircons, which suggests a relatively rapid cooling, very probably associated with shallow depths of emplacement. The statistical analysis of obtained and published ages suggests two periods of significant magmatic activity that occurred essentially during the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) and during the late Eocene (Bartonian and Priabonian). Notably, the plutonic bodies, particularly those of the group of ancient granites (Paleocene-Late Cretaceous) are very far from the ancient subduction zone to which they have been associated, in addition to being spatially close to plutonic rocks of the Eocene and Oligocene. In this sense, the traditional model of magmatic migration originated by the flat subduction of the Farallon plate is not very consistent, so it will be necessary to evaluate or reconsider the geodynamic evolution associated with magmatism for this region, in view to these new data and to those that could be generated later.
Biological significance of Carbonic Anhydrase IX in ovarian cancer

Einleitung: Die Entstehung von Ovarialkarzinomen kann in den meisten Fallen nicht fruhzeitig erkannt werden, weshalb Tumore oft erst im fortgeschrittenem Stadium diagnostiziert werden und zu einer auserst ungunstigen Prognose fuhren. Auserdem verlauft die Erkrankung oft mit atypischen Symptomen oder sogar symptomlos, was die Diagnostik weiter erschwert. Daraus resultierte das Interesse neue Marker zu erforschen, die eine Entdeckung der Krankheit moglich machen. In diesem Zusammenhang wurde das Enzym Carboanhydrase IX genauer untersucht, welches an der pH Regulation von Tumorzellen beteiligt ist. Dieses sorgt fur eine saure extrazellulare Umgebung und ermoglicht so die Zellproliferation und Einwanderung in gesundes Gewebe. Methoden: Die Expression des Gens CA9, sowie die Expression des CAIX Proteins wurde mittels qPCR in Ovarialkarzinom-Zelllinien festgestellt, welche mit Cisplatin behandelt wurden. Mittels Western Blot wurden in den Zelllinien die CAIX Protein Levels bestimmt, wobei die Zellen mit DFX behandelt wurden, was zu Hypoxie-ahnlichen Bedingungen in der Zelle fuhrt. Auserdem wurden Chemsensitivitats-Assays durchgefuhrt, um die Uberlebensrate der Zellen zu bestimmen, nachdem diese mit Carboplatin und einem CAIX-Inhibitor behandelt wurden. Die losliche Form von CAIX (sCAIX) wurde mittels ELISA analysiert, wobei die Konzentration in Abhangigkeit von der Behandlung mit einer Substanz ermittelt wurde, welche Hypoxie-ahnliche Bedingungen erzeugt. Ergebnisse: Unter den hypoxischen Bedingungen kam es zu einer Abnahme der membrangebundenen Form des CAIX Proteins, sowie zu einer Zunahme der sCAIX Proteine. Dies fuhrt zu der Annahme, dass eine Veranderung der hypoxischen Bedingungen zu einer Freisetzung von CAIX, von der gebundenen in die losliche Form, fuhrt. Auserdem konnte ein antagonistischer Effekt bei der Behandlung mit Carboplatin und einem CAIX Inhibitor beobachtet werden. Des Weiteren fuhrte die Behandlung mit Cisplatin zu einer Down-Regulation der Genexpression von CA9. Auserdem kann von den Untersuchungen abgeleitet werden, dass eine bestimmte Form des Clear Cell Karzinoms eine sehr hohe konstitutive Expression von CAIX aufweist. Schlussfolgerung: Die Expression der CA9 mRNA, sowie die CAIX Proteinexpression sind signifikant in Ovarialkarzinom-Zelllinien. Dies konnte neue Moglichkeiten darstellen, um CAIX als Identifikationsmarker von Ovarialkarzinomen zu verwenden, sowie um den Fortschritt einer Behandlung bewerten zu konnen.
Genetic Algorithm Routing Protocol for Mobile Ad Hoc Network

: Mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a dynamically reconfigurable wireless network with time-variable infrastructure. Given that nodes are highly mobile, MANET’s topology often changes. These changes increase the diffi-culty in finding the routes that the packets use when they are routed. This study proposes an algorithm called genetic algorithm-based location-aided routing (GALAR) to enhance the MANET routing protocol efficiency. The GALAR algorithm maintains an adaptive update of the node location information by adding the transmitting node location information to the routing packet and selecting the transmitting node to carry the packets to their destination. The GALAR was constructed based on a genetic optimization scheme that considers all contributing factors in the delivery behavior using criterion function optimization. Simulation results showed that the GALAR algorithm can make the probability of packet delivery ratio more than 99% with less network overhead. Moreover, GALAR was compared to other algorithms in terms of different network evaluation measures. The GALAR algorithm significantly outperformed the other algorithms that were used in the study.
Spectroscopic Study of the Hydrolysis of PuO2+2 in Aqueous Solution

The hydrolysis of Pu(VI) is investigated under Ar atmosphere in the pH range between 4.5 and 9.0 at 22 °C in 0.1 Μ NaC104 solution in contact with an initial solid phase, Pu02C03(s). Under the given conditions, Pu02C03(s) is changed to Pu02(0H)2(s). The estimated equilibrium partial pressure for the transformation: Pu02C03(s) + H20(1) Pu02(0H)2(s) + C02(g) can reach PCOl ~ 10" 6 atm. In contrast to earlier investigations in oversaturated solution, no polynuclear species formation is observed. Two mononuclear complexes, Pu020H in near neutral and Pu02(0H)2(aq) in weak alkaline solution, are found to be the dominating hydrolysis species of Pu(VI). The stability constants of the two species, evaluated from UV/VIS spectroscopic measurements, are found to be: log/? ,, = 8.10±0.15 and log/? ,2 = 14.25±0.18, respectively. The first equilibrium constant is in good agreement with the corresponding value for the formation of U020H , log/? ,, = 8.4±0.3, indicating a close similarity in hydrolysis between the two actinide ions.