Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Validity and Reliability of the Persian Version of the Chronic Pain Grade Questionnaire in Patients with Musculoskeletal Pain

Introduction: Chronic pain which is a pain that remains or repeats for more than 3 to 6 months affects one in every 10 people in the world. Rising direct and indirect costs of chronic pain show the importance of researches which help to find better ways of pain management. Testing the validity and reliability of pain measurement tools in different populations can help this kind of researches. The chronic pain grade questionnaire is devised by Vonkorff and his colleagues. This seven-item instrument gives a score which empowers chronic pain patients to be characterized into one of four hierarchical categories according to pain severity or interference. The goal of this research was to test the validity and reliability of the Persian version of the chronic pain grade questionnaire. Methods: As a cross-sectional study after downloading the questionnaire from the internet and translating from English to Persian by researchers and backward translation by a native researcher, it was answered by 204 patients with musculoskeletal pain. These patients were referred to the physical medicine and rehabilitation clinic in Modarres Hospital and were registered using convenience sampling method. Patients were aged between 18 and 87; suffering from musculoskeletal pain (including primary and secondary pains) for at least the last 6 months. Fifty patients were reevaluated after two weeks. Results: As a result of testing reliability, Cronbach’s alpha was 0.89 and the Guttman split-half coefficient was around 0.82 and Test re-test coefficient using Spearman’s correlation coefficient was 0.89. Only a single component was extracted for the questionnaire, as a result of factor analysis. This component defines 59.8% of the variance. Conclusions: In summary, construct validity and reliability of the Persian version of the chronic pain grade questionnaire are approved, therefore it would be applicable to people with musculoskeletal pain in the Iranian population.
Family Control and Earnings Management: An Empirical Analysis of the Lebanese Banking Sector

This study aims to examine the relationship between board of directors’ characteristics, family control and earnings management practices in Lebanese commercial banks during 2008 to 2016. The characteristics of the board of directors are board size and role duality. Also, the study aims to identify earnings management practices during and after the global financial crisis. Earnings management was measured using discretionary accruals estimated by loan losses provision. The population for the study consists of Lebanese commercial banks registered with the Banque du Liban, which provided 182 bank/year observations during the study period. The results of the study indicate that Lebanese commercial banks with a relatively larger family control are more involved in earnings management practices. The study demonstrates that self-interest overrides common interests, leading the controlling family to maximize its own benefits at the expense of minority owners, resulting in more earnings management practices. In addition, capital adequacy and board size have significant positive influence on earnings management. Earnings management practices were not affected by role duality and bank size. Further, maintaining profitability was found to have a significant impact on earnings management practices. Finally, the results of the study indicate that Lebanese commercial banks became involved in earnings management practices after the global financial crisis compared to the period during the crisis.
Salvage Hyperthermic Gemcitabine and Docetaxel Combination Chemotherapy After BCG Failure in Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer Patients

BACKGROUND: Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) is the recommended therapy for high and intermediate risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), but treatment failure is common. While a radical cystectomy is recommended after BCG failure, some patients desire bladder preservation and others are poor surgical candidates. Salvage chemotherapy treatments may be offered to this subgroup of patients. OBJECTIVE: To assess if combination, hyperthermic Gemcitabine and Docetaxel chemotherapy (GEM/DOCE) is a safe and effective salvage option for treating NMIBC. METHODS: Sixty patients who received our GEM/DOCE protocol between 2007–2017 were identified (51 BCG failures, 9 BCG naïve). This study measured overall treatment success, defined as no recurrence, progression, cystectomy, nor death due to bladder cancer. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to ascertain probability of treatment success. The log-rank test was used to identify factors associated with treatment success. RESULTS: Sixty patients received treatment with a median follow-up of 14.9 months. All patients completed the induction course with no significant adverse effects. Overall treatment success was 83% at first surveillance, 69% at 1 year, and 55% at 2 years in the entire cohort, and 90% at first surveillance, 74% at 1 year, and 56% at 2 years in the BCG-failure patients. All-cause and bladder-cancer-specific survival were both 97.9% at 1 year, 85.9% and 94.6% respectively at 2 years. Three patients underwent cystectomy at a median of 10.2 months, two of these were secondary to recurrences. Three patients had progression of their disease. CONCLUSIONS: Hyperthermic GEM/DOCE seems to be a well-tolerated salvage regimen that demonstrates a reasonable efficacy and warrants further investigation.
THE EFFECT OF COLOR ON DECISION- MAKING IN A LEGAL SETTING

THE EFFECT OF COLOR ON DECISIONMAKING IN A LEGAL SETTING by Neil Garrett Jacobson Master of Arts in Psychology Psychological Science Option California State University, Chico Summer 2013 Two hundred and fifty undergraduate students were presented a legal case perspective regarding a class action lawsuit describing the defendant positively or negatively and were accompanied by one of five stacked-bar graphs, or no graphic at all. The graphics were designed to manipulate visual features of the graph, including salience and hue. We presented learners with either an achromatic graphic, chromatic red graphic or chromatic green graphic representing the success or failure of the company. We measured learner evaluations of the company’s positive and negative characteristics, and doubt about the company’s guilt. Results indicated that there was no difference on evaluations and judgments when an achromatic graph was presented, but that both salience and hue influenced evaluations—specifically, that red lead to negative evaluations, except for when it is accompanied by a positive case perspective. viii
On a type classification of lower crustal layers under Precambrian regions

Various parameters pertinent to the lower crustal layer under Precambrian regions are listed for locations where seismic, and geomagnetic or geoelectric, studies have been undertaken. The parameters define three distinct types of lower crustal layer with certain dominant characteristics: Type I "Normal" typical continental seismic parameters and a high electrical resistivity (103-104 Qm); Type II "Intermediate" high compressional wave velocity (either fixed Vv=7.0 km s1 or transitional Vv= 6.7-->7.3kms1 ) and a moderate resistivity (100-300Qm); Type III "Low" a low shear wave velocity layer (LVsL), high Poisson's ratio ( > 0.30) and low electrical resistivity (10-50 Qm). Possible conditions and rock types, existing at the P-T environment of the lower crust and which could account for the observations, are suggested. The zoning of Canada into types implies that Type II layers are shield "edge" effects, and that inability to observe what is regarded as the final stage of development of a shield region under certain shields may be due to their being
Rhizobium Inoculant Knowledge Dissemination and Farm Household Outcomes in Ghana

Although agriculture remains the pillar for livelihood sustenance, especially for poor rural households in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), productivity in the sector remains low. Key among the factors contributing to low agricultural productivity in the region is poor soil quality. The need to enrich farmlands with the required nutrients to boost crop productivity is therefore high on the region’s agricultural transformation agenda. Application of Rhizobium inoculants to boost nodulation of legumes is a modern soil fertility improvement technology aimed at boosting the productivity of legume farmers, especially in regions with generally poor soil quality such as the 3 northern regions of Ghana. Our study provides impact evaluation evidence from a Randomised Control Trial (RCT) conducted for smallholder farmers in the 3 northern regions of Ghana on knowledge dissemination about inoculants through videos and radio listening clubs. The results provide novel empirical evidence on the potential of radio listening clubs and video documentaries as input information dissemination methods in a farming setting. Using panel data for 1,126 households based on 2 rounds of household surveys collected in the study region over the period 2015-2016, and relying on the predictions of the difference-in-differences estimation technique, we find that video documentaries account for increase in inoculant adoption by 13% points, and that adoption was higher for video documentaries than radio listening clubs by 9% points. Our results also show a positive but weak impact of video documentaries and radio listening clubs on crop yields. Overall, video documentaries and radio listening clubs accounted for 98kg/ha and 73kg/ha increase in crop yields respectively. We also find a positive impact of video documentaries on smallholder farmer incomes, accounting for increases in overall average income by GHC714.00. Generally, compared to radio listening clubs, we find a greater impact of video documentaries on outcome indicators. These findings are relevant for agricultural policy formulation and implementation.
Challenges of women in technical and vocational education: A case study of federal college of education (technical), Gusau

This study investigate challenges of women in technical and vocational education; a case study of Federal College of Education (Technical), Gusau. The concept of technical and vocational education was discussed and review of related literature was done. The use of questionnaire to get data for this study was employed. Tables and percentages were used to analyze the data and chi-square was used to test impact of the variables and it was found that women in technical and vocational education face the challenges of financial constraint, sexual harassment, child birth during course of study and inadequate educational facilities/unqualified lecturers. These challenges have a negative impact on the quest of women in technical and vocational education. The study concludes that government should provide stipends, good learning environment and necessary educational facilities to women who are into vocational and technical education. Key words: Technical, vocational, education, women, challenges.
Heat shock impact on the growth of Bacillus spp. (SUBB01) and its surveillance in minimal medium under shaking condition

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are a family of proteins that are produced by all living organisms in response to exposure to stressful condition. The present research aims to study the physiology of Bacillus spp. (SUBB01) under aeration in diverse culture media and temperature at 47, 48, 49, 50, 52, 53 and 54°C. Bacterial growth was measured through enumeration of the viable and culturable growing cells that are capable of producing the colony-forming units (CFUs) on Luria–Bertani (LB) and nutrient agar (NA) plates for 24 to 48 h. The work also focused on the repercussion of Bacillus spp. against excessive temperatures (37, 45 and 50°C) in minimal media under shaking condition. Isolated microbes were demonstrated under a light microscope to observe their cellular morphology, shape and organization. There was high-temperature shock up to 50°C in both LB, NA, and agar media, with the presence of a demanding defense mechanism against heat shock in these bacterial cells. However, further molecular studies on the genetic makeup of such stress responses as well as the growth retrieval mechanisms of Bacillus spp. through the exogenous organic factors would be very important. Key words: Heat stress, Bacillus spp. (SUBB01), viable cells, minimal media, bacterial growth.
A Reconfigurable Device for GALS Systems

Globally Asynchronous Locally Synchronous (GALS) Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) are composed of standard synchronous reconfigurable logic islands that communicate with each other via an asynchronous means. Past research into fully asynchronous FPGA has demonstrated high throughput and reliability adopting dual-rail encoding. GALS FPGAs have been proposed, relying on bundled-data encoding and fixed asynchronous communication between synchronous islands. This thesis proposes a new GALS FPGA architecture with fully reconfigurable asynchronous fabric, that relies on coarse-grained Configurable Logic Blocks (CLBs) to improve the communication capability of the device. Through datapath dedicated elements, asynchronous pipelines are efficiently mapped onto the device. The architecture is presented as well as the customized tool flow needed to compile Verilog for this new coarse-grained reconfigurable circuit. The main purpose of this thesis is to map communication-purpose user-circuits on the proposed asynchronous fabric and evaluate their performance. The benchmark circuits target the design of a Networkon-Chip (NoC) router and employ two-phase bundled-data protocol. The results are obtained through simulation and compared with the performances of the same circuits on a fine-grained classical FPGA style. The proposed architecture achieves up to 3.2x higher throughput and 2.9x lower latency than the classical one. The results show that the coarse-grained style efficiently maps asynchronous communication circuits, and it may be the starting point for future reconfigurable GALS systems. Future work should focus on improving the back-end synthesis and evaluating the FPGA GALS system as a whole.
Detection of Typical Defects in Silicon Photovoltaic Modules and Application for Plants with Distributed MPPT Configuration

During their operational life, photovoltaic (PV) modules may exhibit various defects for poor sorting of electrical performance during manufacturing, mishandling during transportation and installation, and severe thermo-mechanical stresses. Electroluminescence testing and infrared thermographic imaging are the most common tests for checking these defects, but they are only economically viable for large PV plants. The defects are also manifested as abnormal electrical properties of the affected PV modules. For defect diagnosis, the appropriate parameters on their I-V curves are open circuit voltage, photo-generated current, series resistance, and the shunt resistance. The health of PV modules can be assessed by calculating these values and comparing them with the reference parameters. If these defects are diagnosed in time, the power loss is avoided and safety hazards are mitigated. This paper first presents a review of common defects in PV modules and then a review of the methods used to find the above-mentioned parameters during the normal PV operation. A simple approach to determine the resistances of the equivalent circuit is discussed. Finally, through a modification in an ordinary maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm, information about the state of health of PV modules is obtained. This method is effective, especially if applied to submodule-integrated MPPT architectures.
Introducing the Transnational Climate Impacts Index: Indicators of country-level exposure – methodology report

Climate change mitigation is widely regarded as a global problem, but climate change impacts and adaptation are typically described as regional or local issues. This reflects the locationspecific nature of physical impacts, but it fails to recognize the many interconnections among countries and regions, particularly in an increasingly globalized economy. This paper introduces a new framework for examining climate change impacts and adaptation needs from an international perspective. Based on this framework, we develop indicators of country-level exposure to what we call the transnational impacts of climate change: those that occur in one place as a consequence of climate impacts somewhere else. The indicators allow us to quantify each country’s exposure across multiple dimensions. We also construct a composite index: the Transnational Climate Impacts Index. The paper explains the rationale and methodology by which indicators were selected, and invites feedback and suggestions from readers on how to further develop this research. We see significant opportunities to strengthen and deepen the quantitative assessment of exposure to transnational climate impacts, including via applications of the framework at the national rather than global level. INTRODUCING THE TRANSNATIONAL CLIMATE IMPACTS INDEX SEI-WP-2016-07
Running head: Clipless and Sutureless Laparoscopic Adrenalectomy-Simforoosh et al. Feasibility and Safety of Clipless and Sutureless Laparoscopic Adrenalectomy: A 7-Year Single Center Experience

Purpose: Laparoscopic adrenalectomy (LAD) is considered the gold standard surgical method for resecting adrenal tumors. To date, only few small studies have investigated the safety of clipless laparoscopic adrenalectomy in which the adrenal vessels were controlled by the LigaSure system or bipolar coagulation. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the safety and feasibility of sutureless and clipless laparoscopic adrenalectomy operations performed in our center. Materials and Methods: All patients with functional adrenal tumors, nonfunctional adrenal tumors larger than 5 cm and secondary adrenal metastases from the kidneys, lungs or breasts who had underwent an LAD procedure between 2012 to 2019 were included in our study. In all of the cases, complete coagulation of adrenal veins was achieved through bipolar cautery and no vascular staplers, clips or other energy sources were used for controlling the adrenal vessels whatsoever. Outcomes of interest included operation time, length of hospital stay, changes of serum hemoglobin level, and occurrence of major complications. Results: Of a total 251 patients, unilateral right and left-side adrenalectomy was performed in 168 and 67 cases, respectively, and 16 cases had underwent bilateral adrenal resection. The mean age (SD) of patients was 40.7 (13.6) years old at the time of operation and the mean size (SD) of the adrenal lesions was 5.2 (3.1) cm as measured by the greatest diameter. Histological examination showed that the most common pathology of the resected adrenal glands was adrenal adenoma (n=82) followed by pheochromocytoma (n=78). None of the laparoscopic operations required a conversion to open surgery. Also, major bleeding or other serious complications did not occur in any of the cases either intraoperatively or postoperatively. Conclusion: Clipless and sutureless laparoscopic adrenalectomy seems to be feasible and safe for removing adrenal tumors. Moreover, bipolar cautery is associated with an acceptable outcome for vessel closure.
Comparison of Non-Coherent Linear Detection Algorithms Applied to a 2-D Numerical Breast Model

A comparative analysis of an imaging method based on a multi-frequency Multiple Signal Classification (MUSIC) approach against two common linear detection algorithms based on non-coherent migration is made. The different techniques are tested using synthetic data generated through CST Microwave Studio and a phantom developed from MRI scans of a mostly fat breast. The multi-frequency MUSIC approach shows an overall superior performance compared to the non-coherent techniques. This paper reports that this highly performing algorithm does not require any antenna calibration or phase response estimation and allows the use of efficient and complex antenna geometries without difficult algorithm redefinitions.
Risk Factors for Pre-eclampsia and Eclampsia Disorders in Tertiary Care Center in Sukkur, Pakistan

Introduction Pakistan has the third-highest incidence of maternal, fetal, and child mortality, according to a recent systemic analysis of global mortality. Thirty-four percent of maternal deaths are attributed to eclampsia among those who are admitted into tertiary care hospitals in Pakistan for delivery. In this study, we determine the risk factors associated with pre-eclampsia and eclampsia in the rural city of Sukkur, Pakistan. Methods and materials In this prospective observational study, a semi-structured questionnaire was developed to record information about maternal age, education status, parity, the status of chronic hypertension, gestational diabetes, anemia, body mass index (BMI), and history of cardiac disease of all women attending the antenatal clinic. Women diagnosed with pre-eclampsia and eclampsia were placed in a group, and their characteristics were compared with women with any pre-eclampsia and eclampsia. Results The incidence of pre-eclampsia and eclampsia was 5.6% (n=112/2212). Identified risk factors for pre-eclampsia and eclampsia included hypertension (28.7%), gestational diabetes (25.9%), anemia (14.9%), maternal age > 35 years (9.3%), BMI greater than 30 kg/m2 (8.1%) and 35 kg/m2 (11.7%), nulliparity (6.5%), unbooked status (i.e., lack of antenatal care; 6.4%), and low education level (5.8%). Conclusion It is important to identify the markers for pre-eclampsia and eclampsia, as they will help physicians and caregivers to reduce maternal and fetal mortality and the complications associated with it.
Analysis ofthe role ofthe two£agella ofBradyrhizobium japonicum in competition for nodulationof soybean

Bradyrhizobium japonicum has two types of flagella. One has thin filaments consisting of the 33-kDa flagellins FliCI and FliCII (FliCI-II) and the other has thick filaments consisting of the 65-kDa flagellins FliC1, FliC2, FliC3, and FliC4 (FliC1-4). To investigate the roles of each flagellum in competition for nodulation, we obtained mutants deleted in fliCI-II and/or fliC1-4 in the genomic backgrounds of two derivatives from the reference strain USDA 110: the streptomycin-resistant derivative LP 3004 and its more motile derivative LP 3008. All mutations diminished swimming motility. When each mutant was co-inoculated with the parental strain on soybean plants cultivated in vermiculite either at field capacity or flooded, their competitiveness differed according to the flagellin altered. DfliCIII mutants were more competitive, occupying 64–80% of the nodules, while DfliC1-4 mutants occupied 45–49% of the nodules. Occupation by the nonmotile double mutant decreased from 55% to 11% as the water content of the vermiculite increased from 85% to 95% field capacity to flooding. These results indicate that the influence of motility on competitiveness depended on the water status of the rooting substrate.