Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimizing Private University Image through Educational Unit Marketing Services Interrelation Strengthened

: This research seeks to reveal the role of performance of educational service marketing mix (physical facilities and processes) and their impact on the university image. This research was conducted by using field survey approach. Data taken from private university students as many as 130 people using convenience sampling technique. Data analysis and hypothesis testing is run by using regression analysis and SPSS software Version 21.0 for windows. The results of this study indicated that the aspect of educational service mix has a significant role in shaping the university image. For marketing performance in the physical facilities mix and process mix affect the university image. The image is emphasizing on the students' point of views, impressions, feelings, conceptions toward the operational activities of education ranging from input, process, output oriented in terms of service directly in the sense of students as recipients of services, which may affect directly or indirectly. Finally, the implications of this study are directed to the development of institutional strategies in service marketing triangles with reference to the marketing service mix aspect and the specific managerial implications in managing universities.
Percutaneous endourologic procedures in high-risk patients in the lateral decubitus position under regional anesthesia.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The prone position is the most commonly used position for percutaneous endourologic procedures. It is usually combined with a general anesthesia. In high-risk patients, this approach can lead to circulatory and respiratory compromises. Operating on such patients in a full lateral position will minimize the hemodynamic and respiratory risks and-if combined with spinal anesthesia-will allow for increased patient comfort and safety. PATIENTS AND METHODS After rigorous preoperative assessment, 27 medical high-risk patients (12 men) with a mean age of 62 years and an American Society of Anesthesiologists score of 3+ were included in this study. The majority (78%) had regional anesthesia and were fully awake and alert during the operation. The procedures consisted of an initial retrograde renal study/filling with contrast medium with the patient in the lithotomy position to aid kidney puncture. The percutaneous procedure was then performed with the patient in the lateral decubitus position, and access was performed under fluoroscopic and/or ultrasonographic guidance. RESULTS Twenty-two percutaneous nephrolithotomies (PCNL), 3 anterograde endopyelotomies (AEP), 1 percutaneous resection of renal pelvic transitional-cell carcinoma, and 1 percutaneous renal cyst sclerotization were performed. After PCNL, 11 patients were stone free postoperatively, and a further 8 were stone free after adjuvant shockwave lithotripsy. Two patients needed temporary Double-J stents. One renal access failed. Two procedures were aborted because of hemorrhage. One patient died in the recovery room from uncontrollable renal bleeding. A renal scan after 3 months showed relief of obstruction in the three patients who had undergone AEP. Ultrasonography confirmed complete resolution of the sclerotized renal cyst. Neither of the patients with regional anesthesia needed conversion to general anesthesia. In two patients who experienced moderate pain, a "top-up" with local anesthesia solved the problem. CONCLUSION The full lateral position-while necessitating expertise and some learning for renal puncture from an unusual angle-is safe in medical high-risk patients. It can be safely performed using regional anesthesia, avoiding the risks of general anesthesia and allowing for patient-anesthetist communication throughout the procedure. Cardiac and respiratory parameters are improved, stable, and easily controlled. As opposed to the supine position, the awake patient is more comfortable, and morbid obesity is not a problem.
Yapay Sinir Ağı Teknikleri Kullanarak Eğitim Yayıncılığı Sektöründe Veri Madenciliği = Data Mining On Education Publishing Sector By Artificial Neural Network Tecniques

Ozet Bu Calismanin amaci, insan beynindeki sinir aglarinin calismasindan yola cikilarak olusturulan Yapay Sinir Aglari (YSA)’nin egitim yayinciligi sektorunde satis tahmininde nasil kullanilabilecegini arastirmak ve satis tahminini yapmak icin en uygun YSA modeline iliskin bir ornek sunmaktir. Kurumlarin gunluk operasyonlari her gun binlerce veri olusturuyor. Yapilan her sey, atilan her adim, kurulan bir iletisim, yazilan her sey bir veri ve hepsi bir anlam icermektedir. Rekabetin artigi gunumuzde fark olusturmak icin bircok kurum tarafindan ihtiyac duyulan bilgi, karsimiza cikan verilerin anlamli bir sekilde duzenlenmesi ile saglanmaktadir. Dosya ve veri tabanlarinda kayitli cogalan verilerle veri madenciliginin asil hedefi; verilere iliskin bilgiyi kesfetmek ve karar verme surecine yardim edebilecek veri tabanindaki yararli bilgileri elde etmektir. Bu calismada egitim yayinciligi sektorunde faaliyet gosteren bir firmanin verileri kullanilmistir. Ilgili firmanin bilgi siteminden veriler alinarak satis tutarini etkileyebilecegi dusunulen kriterler ortaya cikarilmistir. Satis talebini etkileyen faktorler; Satis Hacmi, Ogrenci sayisi, hane egitim harcamasi, dolar kuru, musteri sayisi, TUFE ve UFE’dir. Yapay sinir aginin urettigi sonuclarin gercegi ne kadar yansittigi istatistiksel olarak arastirilmistir. Elde edilen sonuclar, yapay sinir aglarinin egitim yayinciligi ile alakali gelecekteki satislari tahmin etmede basariyla kullanilabilecegini ortaya koymustur. Abstract The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how artificial neural networks which is generated from the natural neural networks in the human brain can be used in sales forecasting in the education publishing sector and to present an example of the most appropriate artificial neural network model for making sales forecasts. The daily operations of institutions makes thousands of data every day. Everything which is done, every step which is taken, an established communication, every data which is written has a meaning. The main target of data mining is to discover information about the data and to provide useful information which will be able to help the proses of decision. The information that is needed by many organizations is provided through a meaningful arrangement of information data. In this study, the data of a company in the education publishing sector were used. Some data were taken from the company’s system to find out criteria affecting sales amount. Factors of influencing sales demand are sales volume, number of students, household education expenditure, dollar exchange rate, number of customers, CPI and PPI. It is investigated statistically how much the results of the artificial neural network reflect the reality. According to results, it is found out that artificial neural networks can be used succesfully to predict future sales amount of educational publications.
Laparoscopic microwave ablation of human liver tumours using a novel three-dimensional magnetic guidance system.

BACKGROUND Accurate antenna placement is essential for effective microwave ablation (MWA) of lesions. Laparoscopic targeting is made particularly challenging in liver tumours by the needle's trajectory as it passes through the abdominal wall into the liver. Previous optical three-dimensional guidance systems employing infrared technology have been limited by interference with the line of sight during procedures. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to evaluate a newly developed magnetic guidance system for laparoscopic MWA of liver tumours in a pilot study. METHODS Thirteen patients undergoing laparoscopic MWA of liver tumours gave consent to their participation in the study and were enrolled. Lesion targeting was performed using the InnerOptic AIM™ 3-D guidance system to track the real-time position and orientation of the antenna and ultrasound probe. RESULTS A total of 45 ablations were performed on 34 lesions. The median number of lesions per patient was two. The mean ± standard deviation lesion diameter was 18.0 ± 9.2 mm and the mean time to target acquisition was 3.5 min. The first-attempt success rate was 93%. There were no intraoperative or immediate postoperative complications. Over an average follow-up of 7.8 months, one patient was noted to have had an incomplete ablation, seven suffered regional recurrences, and five patients remained disease-free. CONCLUSIONS The AIM™ guidance system is an effective adjunct for laparoscopic ablation. It facilitates a high degree of accuracy and a good first-attempt success rate, and avoids the line of site interference associated with infrared systems.
CONVERGENT DEMOGRAPHIC EFFECTS OF INSECT ATTACK ON RELATED THISTLES IN COASTAL VS. CONTINENTAL DUNES

Insect herbivory is common, but the conditions under which it reduces the fitness and population size of plants remain poorly understood. We quantified population- level impacts of floral herbivory by specialized insects on cobweb thistle ( Cirsium occi- dentale var. occidentale) in a California coastal dune ecosystem, and then compared these demographic effects to those published for Platte thistle ( Cirsium canescens) in similarly designed exclusion experiments in the continental sand dune ecosystem in the Great Plains. As a separate test of the strength of the seed-to-seedling linkage, we quantified seedling establishment rates in seed addition plots and compared these results to those obtained in herbivore exclusion experiments. This is the first test of direct vs. indirect methods of evaluating the potential impact of seed loss in plant dynamics. Floral herbivory on cobweb thistle in coastal dunes substantially reduced key components of plant fitness. Reduction of insect feeding within flower heads with insecticide increased mean per capita seed production by 144-316% and led to a 130-196% increase in cumulative seedling recruit- ment in the next generation, depending on dune habitat. Juvenile plant densities around insecticide-treated plants subsequently increased by . 50%. Both seed and flower head addition experiments corroborated the seed limitation of recruitment and juvenile plant establishment for cobweb thistle; exclusion of postdispersal seed predators did not sub- stantially alter this relationship. While seed addition results were qualitatively similar to herbivore exclusion results, seed addition overestimated the seed-seedling transition. These results are broadly parallel to those found previously for Platte thistle in continental dunes, where reduction of insect feeding in Platte thistle flower heads increased mean per capita seed production by 37-240%, depending on year and microhabitat. This reduction in seed translated into a 33-580% increase in cumulative seedling recruitment and juvenile plant density. Thus in both systems, insect exclusions demonstrated that floral herbivory limited numbers of seeds and seedlings and population density of juvenile plants. This unique comparison of effects of insect herbivory on plant dynamics suggests that for related plants, the character and outcome of such interactions are likely to be functionally similar in structurally convergent ecosystems.
An experimental platform for interpreting open-source health data though integration with dynamic disease models and geoplots

We report our work in progress to create an experimental decision support architecture for evidence-based health policy planning employing open data records. It combines a population-level disease control and prevention simulation with de-identified data for patients hospitalized with diabetes in Albany County, New York, USA over a period of years. The geo-coding associated with this combined dataset is visualized through dynamic plots of neighborhood hot-spots over multiple years. This multi-model approach provides a novel tool for reflecting on historical data, policy choices and possible long-term outcomes in numeric and geo-space.
Model Testing for Reliability and Validity of the Outcome Expectations for Exercise Scale

BackgroundDevelopment of a reliable and valid measure of outcome expectations for exercise appropriate for older adults will help establish the relationship between outcome expectations and exercise. Once established, this measure can be used to facilitate the development of interventions to strengthen outcome expectations and improve adherence to regular exercise in older adults. ObjectivesBuilding on initial psychometrics of the Outcome Expectation for Exercise (OEE) Scale, the purpose of the current study was to use structural equation modeling to provide additional support for the reliability and validity of this measure. MethodsThe OEE scale is a 9-item measure specifically focusing on the perceived consequences of exercise for older adults. The OEE scale was given to 191 residents in a continuing care retirement community. The mean age of the participants was 85 ± 6.1 and the majority were female (76%), White (99%), and unmarried (76%). Using structural equation modeling, reliability was based on R 2 values, and validity was based on a confirmatory factor analysis and path coefficients. ResultsThere was continued evidence for reliability of the OEE based on R 2 values ranging from . 42 to . 77, and validity with path coefficients ranging from . 69 to . 87, and evidence of model fit (X 2 of 69, df = 27, p < .05, NFI = .98, RMSEA = .07). ConclusionThe evidence of reliability and validity of this measure has important implications for clinical work and research. The OEE scale can be used to identify older adults who have low outcome expectations for exercise, and interventions can then be implemented to strengthen these expectations and thereby improve exercise behavior.
Etude des phénomènes de non-linéarités ultrasonores : Analyse théorique et expérimentale de systèmes de mesure du paramètre B/A par la méthode d'amplitude finie

L'objectif de cette these est l'etude theorique et experimentale des methodes comparatives utilisees pour la mesure du parametre de non linearite ultrasonore b/a de milieux liquides et biologiques. Ces principes de mesure, appartenant a la famille des methodes dites d'amplitude finie, reposent sur l'analyse harmonique de l'onde ultrasonore detectee apres sa traversee dans le milieu a caracteriser. Dans une premiere partie, apres une presentation des bases theoriques de l'acoustique non lineaire, nous developpons les differentes solutions analytiques reliant le parametre b/a aux composantes harmoniques de l'onde detectee, puis nous proposons de nouvelles solutions pour le second harmonique, plus simples et exploitables experimentalement. Ces solutions integrent les phenomenes de diffraction, d'absorption, et de non linearite. Apres une revue des differentes methodes de mesure decrites dans la litterature, nous consacrons le quatrieme chapitre a l'analyse theorique et experimentale des methodes comparatives utilisant deux transducteurs, pour l'emission et la detection de l'onde ultrasonore. L'originalite de ce travail repose sur la prise en compte des sensibilites des transducteurs dans les differentes expressions du parametre b/a. Nous developpons ainsi une fonction de sensibilite du systeme de mesure permettant de definir les situations experimentales les plus adaptees a la methode comparative. Le principal interet de cette methode est de s'affranchir de la calibration des transducteurs, ce qui est envisageable si la fonction de sensibilite est voisine de l'unite. Des experimentations valident ensuite les differents developpements theoriques. Dans le dernier chapitre nous proposons une methode de mesure originale du parametre b/a en mode pulse-echo n'utilisant qu'un seul transducteur en emission-reception. Ce procede est ensuite complete par un dispositif de filtrage ameliorant la detection du second harmonique de l'echo. Les experimentations confirment les predictions theoriques et montrent la possibilite d'exploiter ce systeme en imagerie medicale quantitative, par la connaissance supplementaire du parametre b/a du milieu biologique analyse.
Multi-level Feature Learning for Face Recognition under Makeup Changes

Face recognition under makeup changes is challenging. In this paper, we propose a new hierarchical feature learning framework for face recognition under makeup changes. We observe that hierarchical structures exist among heterogeneous gaps. That is, features tend to be more invariant on the higher level, and less invariant on the lower level. To better model the structures of domain gaps, we seek for transformations of multi-level features by jointly learning level-wise transformations. Specifically, we adopt both strategies of feature-augmentation and feature-transformation, and combine them in a hierarchical framework. For the feature-augmentation strategy, a rich representation is assembled by features from coarse-to-fine levels. For the featuretransformation strategy, transformations are jointly learned to minimize the domain gap in each level. Further, to preserve the hierarchical structure of domain gap, level-wise regularizations are introduced to model the diverse heterogeneous patterns among different feature levels. Experiments show the superiority of our proposed approach over the state-of-the-art methods.
Challenges and Opportunities of Rural Women for Using Agricultural Extension Services The Case of Fogera district of South Gonder zone.

Background: Agricultural extension system of Ethiopia is striving to address complicated problems of farmers and ensure improvements in their livelihoods through adopting various approaches. It has also been transparently stated in the extension strategy that 30% of the extension beneficiaries shall be women. In spite of this target, the actual implementation has faced challenges of identifying the real problems of women and designing appropriate extension approaches that respond to their real needs and priorities. Methods: This paper used mixed research methods. In-depth interviews, key informant interviews, FGD, and household surveys were employed to collect data, and results were analyzed using descriptive and thematic techniques. Results: The result showed that the major challenges are Extension services shall, therefore, be designed taking into consideration of only agriculture, lack of agricultural training, lack of credit facilities, and unable to access lands and support. Side to side there are opportunities for rural women, these are communication availability such as Mobile and making the work of the household easy as compared to the previous. For example availability grinding mill and markets near to their village are the opportunities rural women explained. Conclusion: More has to be done to alleviate the challenges of rural women so as to achieve better livelihood and sustainable development. So, administrators have to work jointly with other stakeholders and NGOs so as to improve the life of rural women. Key words: Agriculture extension services, development Agents, women
Forwarders’ perceptions of the Silk Route: The case of Finland

The Silk Route is an emerging transportation initiative that aims to connect Europe and Asia by rail link–landbridge. This study investigates freight forwarders’ perceptions of potential benefits for Finland from developing Silk-Route-based transportation solutions. Ten semi-structured interviews with eight freight forwarding and carrier companies in Finland, Russia, Kazakhstan, and China were conducted. The study findings show that there is a demand to transport cargo via the landbridge between China and Europe. Block trains have been running from Germany and Finland to China, suggesting that there is a demand as well as a potential for developing this route. Despite the challenge of a relatively small economy, there is potential for Finland to benefit by its engagement in the Silk Route. A Scandinavian hub in Finland would ensure sufficient volumes to fill block trains, which is the only profitable option for long-distance railway transportation.
Functional tissue engineering for tendon repair: A multidisciplinary strategy using mesenchymal stem cells, bioscaffolds, and mechanical stimulation

Over the past 8 years, our group has been continuously improving tendon repair using a functional tissue engineering (FTE) paradigm. This paradigm was motivated by inconsistent clinical results after tendon repair and reconstruction, and the modest biomechanical improvements we observed after repair of rabbit central patellar tendon defects using mesenchymal stem cell‐gel‐suture constructs. Although possessing a significantly higher stiffness and failure force than for natural healing, these first generation constructs were quite weak compared to normal tendon. Fundamental to the new FTE paradigm was the need to determine in vivo forces to which the repair tissue might be exposed. We first recorded these force patterns in two normal tendon models and then compared these peak forces to those for repairs of central defects in the rabbit patellar tendon model (PT). Replacing the suture with end‐posts in culture and lowering the mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) concentration of these constructs resulted in failure forces greater than peak in vivo forces that were measured for all the studied activities. Augmenting the gel with a type I collagen sponge further increased repair stiffness and maximum force, and resulted in the repair tangent stiffness matching normal stiffness up to peak in vivo forces. Mechanically stimulating these constructs in bioreactors further enhanced repair biomechanics compared to normal. We are now optimizing components of the mechanical signal that is delivered in culture to further improve construct and repair outcome. Our contributions in the area of tendon functional tissue engineering have the potential to create functional load‐bearing repairs that will revolutionize surgical reconstruction after tendon and ligament injury. © 2007 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 26:1–9, 2008