Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Impact of Advertisers on Media and Journalism in Transitional Democracies: The Case of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Although previous research focused on how governments use advertising to control news media, this study expands the literature on media capture not only by examining how state actors and dominant political parties control the advertising sector in a transitional democracy such as the Kurdistan Region of Iraq but also by exploring the (in)direct impact of various social actors, including corporations, political candidates in election periods, and international nongovernmental organizations. It reports on the findings from 19 in-depth interviews with media professionals and officials from media regulatory authorities. The findings show that advertisers are driven not only by the motivation to influence media content but also by economic interests, such as the colonization of state resources, personal gain, and crony capitalism. We conclude by discussing how precarious socioeconomic conditions lead media professionals to develop informal networks with advertisers—in turn, allowing powerful social actors to use advertising for either capturing news media or expanding their networks with authorities—and how this impacts on journalism practice.
Cancer as Perceived by a Middle-Aged Jewish Urban Population in Israel

Purpose/Objectives: To identify beliefs and attitudes of a Jew-ish urban population in Israel regarding cancer, in the context of the present medical knowledge among lay populations. Research Approach: Qualitative analysis of focus groups. Setting: Israel. Participants: Men and women aged 50 years and older from the larger Tel-Aviv (Israel) metropolitan area. Methodologic Approach: Nine focus group discussions were conducted including 41 men and 41 women. A structured discussion guide was developed to ensure that the groups were facilitated consistently. The discussions were transcribed verbatim. Findings: Medical knowledge expressed in the focus groups was high. Cancer was regarded as many distinct diseases, each one with different chances of early detection and cure. Breast cancer and skin cancer were regarded as diseases from which the chances of recovery were high, compared to colon cancer, which was regarded as fatal. Both traditional fatalistic beliefs and views regarding cancer as a chronic disease were expressed. Genetics was expressed as having a fatalistic role and as prompting early detection. Participants expressed great fear of cancer, particularly fear of treatments and death. Conclusions: The process of incorporating knowledge and experience into the present belief system of this Jewish, urban, middle-aged population has not eliminated barriers to early detection. Interpretation: The notion of cancer as a chronic disease should be promoted. Interventions aimed at forming more positive attitudes toward colon cancer are needed to increase adherence to screening recommendations. Healthcare providers and the media should try to decrease fear of cancer treatments in general.
Treatment outcomes and prognostic factors of esthesioneuroblastoma—a retrospective study from South India

Esthesioneuroblastoma (ENB) or olfactory neuroblastoma is a rare malignant neoplasm arising from the neural crest cells of the olfactory epithelium. The optimum treatment for this rare disease is still unclear. Most of the available literature on this rare head and neck tumour is limited to small retrospective series and single institutional reports. We conducted a retrospective study to investigate the clinical profile, treatment outcomes and prognostic factors of patients with ENB treated at a tertiary cancer centre in south India. Patients with a histopathological diagnosis of ENB treated from 2000 to 2019 were included. Patient demographics, tumour characteristics, stage, treatment details and outcome data were identified from medical records. Overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were estimated using the Kaplan–Meier method and the log-rank test was used for comparison. The prognostic factors were identified using Cox regression analysis. Forty-two patients underwent treatment for ENB from 2000 to 2019. Twenty-six patients underwent surgery. Twelve patients received radical radiotherapy (RT) while 24 patients underwent adjuvant radiation. After a median follow-up of 71 months, the estimated OS and DFS at 4 years were 64.4% and 54%, respectively. The estimated 4-year OS for modified Kadish A, B, C and D stages was 75.0%, 90.9%, 56.4% and 0%, respectively. Modified Kadish stage, nodal involvement, orbital invasion, intracranial extension, surgery, RT treatment and use of chemotherapy were significant predictors of OS and DFS in univariate Cox regression analysis. Orbital invasion and RT treatment were significant predictors of DFS in the multivariate analysis as well. However, only RT treatment came out to be a significant predictor for OS in multivariate Cox regression analysis. Surgery is the mainstay of treatment. Adjuvant RT may improve local control and survival in advanced cases. Advanced modified Kadish stage, lymph node involvement and orbital invasion are associated with poor outcomes.
A room acoustical quality inventory

In a two-step procedure, a new psychological measuring instrument has been developed for the acoustical perception of room acoustical environments for speech and music. As a first step, an expert focus group of room acoustical scholars and consultants was formed in order to reach a consensus on a vocabulary as complete as possible to describe room acoustical qualities. In a second step, this inventory was used for the evaluation of 35 different simulated room acoustical environments presented by binaural synthesis to 190 subjects of different age and expert level. Based on the ratings of this room sample, a comprehensive psychometric analysis was performed in order to evaluate the preliminary item battery with respect to reliability, discriminative power, and redundancy. The resulting room acoustical quality inventory, together with the database of room acoustical models as well as their monaural and binaural transfer functions and their perceptual evaluation, can be used as a ground truth for the validat.
Electronic structure and magnetism of strained bcc phases across the fcc to bcc transition in ultrathin Fe films

We investigated the electronic structure of the bcc metastable phases involved in the fcc to bcc transition of Fe. Ultrathin Fe films were grown on a 2-monolayer (ML) Ni/W(110) substrate, where a fcc lattice is stabilized at low Fe coverages and the transition proceeds through the formation of bcc nuclei showing a specific “Kurdjumov-Sachs” orientation with the substrate. A comprehensive description of the electronic structure evolution is achieved by combining spin-resolved UV photoemission spectroscopy and ab initio calculations. According to our results, an exchange-split band structure is observed starting from 2 ML of Fe, concomitant with the formation of ferromagnetic bcc nuclei. Continuous modifications are observed in the spin-resolved photoemission spectra for increasing Fe coverage, especially for what concerns the minority states, possibly indicative of the progressive relaxation of the strained bcc phase starting from the bcc/fcc interface.
Techniques for solving Boolean equation systems

Boolean equation systems are ordered sequences of Boolean equations decorated with least and greatest fixpoint operators. Boolean equation systems provide a useful framework for formal verification because various specification and verification problems, for instance, μ-calculus model checking can be represented as the problem of solving Boolean equation systems. The general problem of solving a Boolean equation system is a computationally hard task, and no polynomial time solution technique for the problem has been discovered so far. In this thesis, techniques for finding solutions to Boolean equation systems are studied and new methods for solving such systems are devised. The thesis presents a general framework that allows for dividing Boolean equation systems into individual blocks and solving these blocks in isolation with special techniques. Three special techniques are presented, namely: (i) new specialized algorithms for disjunctive and conjunctive form Boolean equation systems, (ii) a new encoding of a general form Boolean equation system into answer set programming, and (iii) new encodings of a general form Boolean equation systems into satisfiability problems. The approaches (ii) and (iii) are motivated by the recent success of answer set programming solvers and satisfiability solvers in formal verification. First, the thesis presents especially fast solution algorithms for disjunctive and conjunctive classes of Boolean equation systems. These special algorithms are useful because many practically relevant model checking problems can be represented as Boolean equation systems that are disjunctive or conjunctive. The new algorithms have been implemented and the performance of the algorithms has been compared experimentally on communication protocol verification examples. Second, the thesis gives a translation of the problem of solving a general form Boolean equation system into the problem of finding a stable model of a logic program. The translation allows to use implementations of answer set programming solvers to solve Boolean equation systems. Experimental tests have been performed using the presented approach and these experiments indicate the usefulness of answer set programming in this problem domain. Third, the thesis presents reductions from the problem of solving general form Boolean equation systems to the satisfiability problems of difference logic and propositional logic. The reductions allow to use implementations of satisfiability solvers to solve Boolean equation systems. The presented reductions have been implemented and it is shown via experiments that the new approach leads to practically efficient methods to solve general Boolean equation systems.
Géométrie hyperkählérienne des espaces hermitiens symétriques complexifiés

© Séminaire de Théorie spectrale et géométrie (Grenoble), 1997-1998, tous droits réservés. L’accès aux archives de la revue « Séminaire de Théorie spectrale et géométrie » implique l’accord avec les conditions générales d’utilisation (http://www.numdam.org/legal.php). Toute utilisation commerciale ou impression systématique est constitutive d’une infraction pénale. Toute copie ou impression de ce fichier doit contenir la présente mention de copyright.
A transformed Eulerian mean diagnostics for a sun-weather relation

The aim of this study is to find a linkage of atmospheric responses to the solar sector boundary (SSB) passages (Wilcox et al., 1974; Misumi, 1981; 1983). Variations of both zonal mean fields and planetary waves around the SSB passages are investigated using the transformed Eulerian mean (TEM) equations system including the refractive index. Deviations from the time mean field in 8 winters from 1964 to 1972 are mainly discussed. It is found that the Eliassen-Palm (EP) flux for zonal wavenumber 2 and 3 in the troposphere begins to decrease about 5 days prior to SSB passages. Such decrease leads to the divergence of the EP flux near the tropopause in high latitudes. This is responsible for the temperature decrease in the polar troposphere, and consequently for the decrease of the vorticity area index in the upper troposphere. The decreases of the EP flux for both wavenumber 2 originating from the troposphere and wavenumber 1 being at the 150mb level on 4 days before the SSB passages seem to create the minimum of the polar temperature in the middle stratosphere. Among above mentioned processes, only the decrease of the EP flux is not diagnosed by the TEM equations system. The decrease of the EP flux in the troposphere is statistically significant and is seen only in the same period that other atmospheric responses occur. This type response would be due to the external modulation.
Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome: Observations on Altered Consciousness

Summary A young man with a previously untreated schizophrenia devel oped a neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) on the second day of neuroleptic treatment. The dominant symptom was deep coma. The NMS occurred on the second day of neurolep tic therapy with rapidly progressing mental deterioration, tem perature elevation, and extrapyramidal signs. After anticholin ergics were injected the patient regained consciousness. This suggests that a cholinergic hyperactivity in the central nervous system (rather than hyperthermia) is responsible for the dis turbance of consciousness in NMS. The experimental evidence that central cholinergic systems are stimulated by neuroleptics is discussed. It is concluded that anticholinergics might be helpful in treating coma during NMS.
Efficient Radar Forward Operator for Operational Data Assimilation within the COSMO-model

Doppler radars provide unique 3D information about precipitating clouds in high spatial and temporal resolutions. However, the observed quantities (reflectivity, Doppler velocity and polarization properties) are not directly comparable to the variables of numerical prediction models. In order to enable radar data assimilation, a comprehensive modular radar forward operator has been developed.
PETRA III Diagnostics Beamline for Emittance Measurements

The new 3rd generation hard x-ray synchrotron light source PETRA III at DESY operates at a beam energy of 6 GeV with an extremely small horizontal design emittance of 1 nm rad. For a precise emittance online control, a dedicated diagnostics beamline was built up to image the beam profile with synchrotron radiation (SR) from a bending magnet in the x-ray region. The beamline is equipped with two interchangeable x-ray optical systems, a pinhole optic for standard operation and a high resolution compound refractive lens optic. This article describes the setup and reports about first experience with these systems.
Preparing the future post-mortem analysis of beryllium-based JET and ITER samples by multi-wavelengths Raman spectroscopy on implanted Be, and co-deposited Be

This study demonstrates that Raman microscopy is a suitable technique for future post mortem analyses of JET and ITER plasma facing components. We focus here on laboratory deposited and bombarded samples of beryllium and beryllium carbides and start to build a reference spectral databases for fusion relevant beryllium-based materials. We identified the beryllium phonon density of states, its second harmonic and E 2G and B 2G second harmonic and combination modes for defective beryllium in the spectral range 300–700 and 700–1300 cm−1, lying close to Be–D modes of beryllium hydrides. We also identified beryllium carbide signature, Be2C, combining Raman microscopy and DFT calculation. We have shown that, depending on the optical constants of the material probed, in depth sensitivity at the nanometer scale can be performed using different wavelengths. This way, we demonstrate that multi-wavelength Raman microscopy is sensitive to in-depth stress caused by ion implantation (down to ≈30 nm under the surface for Be) and Be/C concentration (down to 400 nm or more under the surface for Be+C), which is a main contribution of this work. The depth resolution reached can then be adapted for studying the supersaturated surface layer found on tokamak deposits.
Quality analysis of Acacia nilotica (Babul) gum exudates

Gums are polysaccharide compounds having many medicinal and food uses. The tapping and extraction of gum was carried out with the trees of desired diameter at different tapping height from ground level. 4–7 cm wise cut treated with different concentration of H2SO4. After collection and purification of the gum, the different quality parameters and their optimum value in the gum sample were determined such as moisture content 15.31%, wb, ash content 1.89%, volatile matter content 65.78%, pH 4.44, protein content 16.54 mg/g, tannin content 0.0032 mg/g, methoxyl content 1.37%, major elemental contents in ppm like copper 67.02, ferrous 1247.90, manganese 95.39 and zinc 94.97 when tree diameter was more than 20 cm and tapping height either more than 80 cm or less than 40cm from ground level. Treating the tapped portion with different concentration of H2SO4 did not show significant effect.
Tissue Expansion Reconstruction of the Scalp

The involvement of the head and neck can occur in 25 to 45% of patients with burn injuries. Unfortunately, scalp burns can result in signiﬁcant burn alopecia. The management of these problems depends on the location and extent of the alopecia. Tissue expansion has become an important part of the armamentarium for correction of this problem with acceptable complication rates. The results of correction of burn alopecia with tissue expansion are an important part of our surgical strategy in the aesthetic reconstruction of cicatricial alopecia.
Test–retest: Agreement or reliability?

Test–retest is a concept that is routinely evaluated during the validation phase of many measurement tools. However, this term covers at least two related but very different concepts: reliability and agreement. Reliability is the ability of a measure applied twice upon the same respondents to produce the same ranking on both occasions. Agreement requires the measurement tool to produce twice the same exact values. An analysis of research papers showed that the distinction between both concepts remains anything but clear, and that the current practice is to evaluate reliability only, generally on the basis of the sole Pearson’s correlation. This practice is very problematic in the context of longitudinal studies because it becomes difficult to determine whether a difference between two successive observations is attributable to a real change of the respondents or only to the characteristics of the measurement tool, which then leads to a possible misinterpretation of the results. More focus should be given on the real interpretation of linear correlation, and when agreement is required in addition to reliability, then correct alternative, such as the Bland–Altman plot, should be more generally used.
Complex Regional Pain Syndromes

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS; reﬂex sympathetic dystrophy and causalgia) is a heterogeneous chronic pain condition that usually develops following a traumatic injury, usually to an extremity. Although there has been considerable research regarding the mechanisms responsible for pain in CRPS, its pathophysiology remains unclear. The hallmark of CRPS is spontaneous and/or evoked pain. Although signs and symptoms of sympathetic nervous system dysfunction are commonly present, not all patients demonstrate a signiﬁcant component of sympathetically maintained pain. There is no speciﬁc test or ﬁnding that is diagnostic of CRPS, and the diagnosis is largely clinical. Treatment of CRPS can be challenging. Management of the patient with CRPS should involve a multidisciplinary approach, and early intervention is important in this regard. The goals of treatment include reduction in pain but, just as important, functional restoration of the affected body part. Management of CRPS includes any combination of pharmacotherapy, physical and occupational therapy, regional anesthetic blocks, behavioral therapies, and surgery. The primary surgical procedures that have been effective for CRPS include spinal cord stimulation, intrathecal drug infusion, and sympathectomy. Surgical intervention is usually most effective earlier rather than later, when patients have developed end-stage CRPS.
Integrated weed management in chilli under rainfed condition

A field experiment was conducted during Kharif 2010, 2011 and 2012 at Agricultural Research Station, Gadhinglaj under rainfed condition in sub-montane zone of Maharashtra. The experiment consisting of eight treatments, viz. two pre-emergence and one post-emergence herbicides alone and in combination with one hoeing and one weeding with weed free and weedy check was laid out in randomized block design with three replications. The predominant weed flora observed in the experimental field was dicot weeds. The result revealed that pre-emergence application of pendimethalin + 1 hoeing + 1 hand weeding recorded minimum weed density, weed biomass and weed index as compared with all treatments. Gross and net returns were significantly higher with pendimethalin + 1 hoeing + 1 hand weeding which was at par with butachlor + 1 hoeing +1 hand weeding and superior over rest of treatments. Higher weed control efficiency and B: C ratio were recorded by the same treatments.
Event generation at hadron colliders

This work deals with the accurate simulation of high energy hadron–hadron– collision experiments, as they are currently performed at Fermilab Tevatron or as they are expected at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. For a precise description of these experiments an algorithm is investigated, which enables the inclusion of exact multi-jet matrix elements in the simulation. The implementation of this algorithm in the event generator “SHERPA” [1] and the extension of its parton shower is the main topic of this work. The results are compared with those of other simulation programs and with experimental data.
Rigid meromorphic foliations on complex surfaces

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Obstetrical Brachial Plexus Palsy: The Istanbul Experience

Among various congenital disabilities following birth trauma, brachial plexus palsy has remained one of the most devastating for many years. The debates about physical therapy alone versus surgical intervention, as well as the proper timing for surgery if indicated, are still open. In our institute, brachial plexus palsies with hand involvement and Horner’s sign are surgically treated at the third month of age, and infants with insufﬁcient elbow ﬂexion undergo surgery at the ﬁfth month. Although early neural reconstruction decreases the need for future reconstructive surgical procedures, the children can still have upper extremity deformities that may need to be treated by future muscle releases and transfers. We believe that in patients who missed the chance of primary neural reconstruction, satisfying shoulder function can still be achieved by palliative surgery before glenohumeral joint deformity occurs.
Management of Acute Colitis and Toxic Megacolon

Severe colitis is a well-deﬁned condition that can develop in patients afﬂicted with ulcerative colitis, but typically responds to a variety of medical therapies. Operative intervention is warranted when massive hemorrhage, perforation, or peritonitis complicates the clinical scenario or medical therapy fails to control the disease. Of the operative options, total/subtotal colectomy and end ileostomy is the usual procedure of choice especially if the operation can be performed through a laparoscopic approach.