Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Unsupervised Feature Selection for High-Dimensional Non-Gaussian Data Clustering with Variational Inference

Clustering has been a subject of extensive research in data mining, pattern recognition and other areas for several decades. The main goal is to assign samples, which are typically non-Gaussian and expressed as points in highdimensional feature spaces, to one of a number of clusters. It is well-known that in such high-dimensional settings, the existence of irrelevant features generally compromises modeling capabilities. In this paper, we propose a variational inference framework for unsupervised non-Gaussian feature selection, in the context of finite generalized Dirichlet (GD) mixture-based clustering. Under the proposed principled variational framework, we simultaneously estimate, in a closed-form, all the involved parameters and determine the complexity (i.e. both model an features selection) of the GD mixture. Extensive simulations using synthetic data along with an analysis of real-world data and human action videos demonstrate that our variational approach achieves better results than comparable techniques. Index Terms Mixture models, unsupervised learning, generalized Dirichlet, model selection, feature selection, Bayesian estimation, variational inference, human action videos. Wentao Fan is with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Concordia University, QC, Canada H3G 1T7. (email: wenta fa@encs.concordia.ca) Nizar Bouguila is with the Concordia Institute for Information Systems Engineering (CIISE), Concordia University, Montreal, QC H3G 1T7, Canada (email: bouguila@ciise.concordia.ca). Djemel Ziou is with the Département d’Informatique, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC J1K 2R1, Canada (email: djemel.ziou@usherbrooke.ca). 2
Do personal conditions and circumstances surrounding partner loss explain loneliness in newly bereaved older adults?

This longitudinal study aims to explain loneliness in newly bereaved older adults, taking into account personal and circumstantial conditions surrounding the partner's death. A distinction is made between emotional and social loneliness. Data were gathered both before and after partner loss. Results were interpreted within the framework of the Theory of Mental Incongruity. The findings reveal that being unable to anticipate the partner's death is related to higher levels of emotional loneliness. Standards of instrumental support, measured indirectly by poor physical condition, lead to stronger emotional as well as social loneliness. Standards measured directly by importance attached to support or contacts result in higher emotional loneliness but, unexpectedly, in lower social loneliness. Furthermore, difficulties with establishing personal contacts, caused, for instance, by social anxiety, add to loneliness. It is concluded that circumstances related to the partner's illness may contribute to emotional loneliness after bereavement. Moreover, the results highlight the importance of taking coping attitudes into consideration for a better understanding of how newly bereaved older adults adapt to the loss of a partner.
Passive Wireless Strain Sensors Using Microfabricated Magnetoelastic Beam Elements

This paper describes resonant wireless strain sensors fabricated from magnetoelastic alloys. The transduction mechanism is the ΔE effect-the change in stiffness of magnetoelastic materials with applied strain or magnetic field. This is measured as a shift in the resonant frequency and is detected wirelessly using pick-up coils utilizing the magnetoelastic coupling of these materials. The sensors are fabricated from a 28-μm-thick foil of Metglas 2826 MB (Fe40Ni38Mo4B18), a ferromagnetic magnetoelastic alloy, using microelectrodischarge machining. Two sensor types are described-single and differential. The single sensor has an active area of 7 × 2 mm2, excluding the anchors. At 23°C, it operates at a resonant frequency of 230.8 kHz and has a sensitivity of 13 × 103 ppm/mstrain; the dynamic range is 0.05-1.05 mstrain. The differential sensor includes a strain independent reference resonator of area 2 × 0.5 mm2 in addition to a sensing element of area 2.5 × 0.5 mm2 that is divided into two segments. The sensor resonance is at 266.4 kHz and reference resonance is at 492.75 kHz. The differential sensor provides a dynamic range for 0-1.85 mstrain with a sensitivity of 12.5 × 103 ppm/mstrain at 23°C. The reference resonator of the differential sensor is used to compensate for the temperature dependence of the Young's modulus of Metglas 2826 MB, which is experimentally estimated to be -524 ppm/°C. For an increment of 35°C, uncompensated sensors exhibit a resonant frequency shift of up to 42% of the dynamic range for the single sensor and 30% of the dynamic range of the differential sensor, underscoring the necessity of temperature compensation. The geometry of both types of sensors can be modified to accommodate a variety of sensitivity and dynamic range requirements.
Optimal Bayesian classification in nonstationary streaming environments

A novel method of classifying data drawn from a nonstationary distribution with drifting mean and variance is presented. The novelty of the approach is based on splitting the problem of tracking a nonstationary distribution into separate classification and time series state estimation problems. State space models for drift in both the mean and variance are presented, which are then successfully tracked using a Kaiman filter and a particle filter for the linear and non-linear parts respectively. Preliminary results, which show the promising potential of the approach, are also presented, along with concluding remarks for potential uses of the proposed approach.
Predictors of Self-Medication Behavior: A Systematic Review

Abstract Background Self-medication with over the counter (OTC) and non OTC drugs may provoke serious consequences for users and societies. Recognition of its predictors therefore, is pivotal in plans to hinder the aggregating behavior. This study aimed to identify possibly all predictors of self-medication and the range of its prevalence among different populations. Methods Medline, Amed, Scopus, Medlib, SID, Pub Med, Science Direct, and super searcher of Google Scholar were scrutinized using “self-medication”, “self-prescription” and “self-treatment” key words without a time limit with special focus on Iranian studies. Authors independently assessed the title, abstract and full text of identified articles for inclusion and any disagreement was resolved with consensus. Results The range of reported self-medication in the 70 included publications was 8.5-98.0%. Having a minor illness (15 studies), health care costs (9 studies), lack of adequate time to visit a physician (11 studies), prior experience (7 studies) in using a drug and long waiting time to visit a qualified practitioner (5 studies) were most frequently reported reasons of self-medication. Conclusion The observed diversity in the reported prevalence and reasons of self-medication among different sub-groups of populations (e.g. males vs. females) and between developed and developing countries highlights the importance of explanatory behavioral chain analysis of self-medication in different population groups and countries. Even within a single country, predictors of this harmful practice could be inconsistent. Lack of sufficient quality re-search to identify precipitating factors of self-medication in developing countries is paramount.
More Than Friends: Popularity on Facebook and its Role in Impression Formation

Social networking sites such as Facebook are becoming increasingly popular and important but it remains unclear which aspects of profiles convey information used to form impressions. This study expands on research investigating the role of popularity online and its impact on perceptions of targets' personality and appearance. Facebook profile owners' popularity was manipulated via number of friends and photos, and type of wall activity. Participants were 102 undergraduates who viewed 4 Facebook profiles a popular and unpopular male and female and judged the individuals represented by each. Popular targets were perceived to be more socially and physically attractive, extroverted and approachable than unpopular targets. Findings mirror offline effects and provide clues as to how profiles are examined and information extracted.
To dialyse or delay: a qualitative study of older New Zealanders’ perceptions and experiences of decision-making, with stage 5 chronic kidney disease

Background Issues related to renal replacement therapy in elderly people with end stage kidney disease (ESKD) are complex. There is inadequate empirical data related to: decision-making by older populations, treatment experiences, implications of dialysis treatment and treatment modality on quality of life, and how these link to expectations of ageing. Study population Participants for this study were selected from a larger quantitative study of dialysis and predialysis patients aged 65 years or older recruited from three nephrology services across New Zealand. All participants had reached chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 5 and had undergone dialysis education but had not started dialysis or recently started dialysis within the past 6 months. Methodology Serial qualitative interviews were undertaken to explore the decision-making processes and subsequent treatment experiences of patients with ESKD. Analytical approach: A framework method guided the iterative process of analysis. Decision-making codes were generated within NVivo software and then compared with the body of the interviews. Results Interviews were undertaken with 17 participants. We observed that decision-making was often a fluid process, rather than occurring at a single point in time, and was heavily influenced by perceptions of oneself as becoming old, social circumstances, life events and health status. Limitations This study focuses on participants' experiences of decision-making about treatment and does not include perspectives of their nephrologists or other members of the nephrology team. Conclusions Older patients often delay dialysis as an act of self-efficacy. They often do not commit to a dialysis decision following predialysis education. Delaying decision-making and initiating dialysis were common. This was not seen by participants as a final decision about therapy. Predialysis care and education should be different for older patients, who will delay decision-making until the time of facing obvious uraemic symptoms, threatening blood tests or paternalistic guidance from their nephrologist. Trial registration number Australasian Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN 12611000024943; results.
Cross-Ethnic Self-Disclosure Buffering Negative Impacts of Prejudice on International Students' Psychological and Social Well-Being

Intergroup contact theory suggests that developing a close relationship with outgroup members ameliorates the negative impact of prejudice that individuals perceive from outgroup members. This article specifically investigates the moderating role of cross-ethnic self-disclosure in the link between international students’ perceived ethnic/racial prejudice and depression as well as loneliness. One hundred and forty-three international students in Japan were asked to rate their perceived prejudice, depression, and loneliness as well as their self-disclosure to host nationals. The results showed that self-disclosure buffers the negative effects of prejudice on depression and loneliness such that international students who were more likely to disclose themselves to host nationals were less likely to be influenced by prejudice. Theoretical and practical contributions are considered.
A 17.8 dBm 110–130 GHz Power Amplifier and doubler chain in SiGe BiCMOS technology

A D-Band ×2 frequency multiplier-amplifier chain implemented in a fT/fMAX = 250/330 GHz 0.12 μm SiGe BiCMOS technology is presented. The chain achieves a peak output power of 17.8 dBm at 115 GHz and consists of input balun and push-push frequency doubler which drives a balanced three stages Power Amplifier (PA). It operates from 110 GHz to 130 GHz (3 dB power bandwidth) with -2 dBm input power at V-Band and consumes a total DC power of 600 mW. The PA achieves output 1 dB compression point and saturated power of 13.5 and 17.6 dBm, respectively, at 120 GHz and peak small signal gain of 32 dB.
When Nonresponse Mechanisms Change: Effects on Trends and Group Comparisons in International Large-Scale Assessments

Mechanisms causing item nonresponses in large-scale assessments are often said to be nonignorable. Parameter estimates can be biased if nonignorable missing data mechanisms are not adequately modeled. In trend analyses, it is plausible for the missing data mechanism and the percentage of missing values to change over time. In this article, we investigated (a) the extent to which the missing data mechanism and the percentage of missing values changed over time in real large-scale assessment data, (b) how different approaches for dealing with missing data performed under such conditions, and (c) the practical implications for trend estimates. These issues are highly relevant because the conclusions hold for all kinds of group mean differences in large-scale assessments. In a reanalysis of PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) data from 35 OECD countries, we found that missing data mechanisms and numbers of missing values varied considerably across time points, countries, and domains. In a simulation study, we generated data in which we allowed the missing data mechanism and the amount of missing data to change over time. We showed that the trend estimates were biased if differences in the missing-data mechanisms were not taken into account, in our case, when omissions were scored as wrong, when omissions were ignored, or when model-based approaches assuming a constant missing data mechanism over time were used. The results suggest that the most accurate estimates can be obtained from the application of multiple group models for nonignorable missing values when the amounts of missing data and the missing data mechanisms changed over time. In an empirical example, we furthermore showed that the large decline in PISA reading literacy in Ireland in 2009 was reduced when we estimated trends using missing data treatments that accounted for changes in missing data mechanisms.
An Algorithm For Sketching Design with Pencil and Eraser

We have investigated interaction behavior with physical tools - pencil and eraser together in sketching design and conclude that interaction with pencil and eraser is more natural than with pen alone. We present a new algorithm supporting both sketching design and interaction with pencil and eraser just like designers naturally do on the paper. This interaction technique belongs to the most pervasive computing technology. The algorithm adopts a new data structure, which integrates data structure for image and graph. The graph modification and recognition is based on image along with dynamic information of strokes or context. Experiments for illustrating the efficiency of this algorithm are also included
In situ Biological Dose Mapping Estimates the Radiation Burden Delivered to ‘Spared’ Tissue between Synchrotron X-Ray Microbeam Radiotherapy Tracks

Microbeam radiation therapy (MRT) using high doses of synchrotron X-rays can destroy tumours in animal models whilst causing little damage to normal tissues. Determining the spatial distribution of radiation doses delivered during MRT at a microscopic scale is a major challenge. Film and semiconductor dosimetry as well as Monte Carlo methods struggle to provide accurate estimates of dose profiles and peak-to-valley dose ratios at the position of the targeted and traversed tissues whose biological responses determine treatment outcome. The purpose of this study was to utilise γ-H2AX immunostaining as a biodosimetric tool that enables in situ biological dose mapping within an irradiated tissue to provide direct biological evidence for the scale of the radiation burden to ‘spared’ tissue regions between MRT tracks. Γ-H2AX analysis allowed microbeams to be traced and DNA damage foci to be quantified in valleys between beams following MRT treatment of fibroblast cultures and murine skin where foci yields per unit dose were approximately five-fold lower than in fibroblast cultures. Foci levels in cells located in valleys were compared with calibration curves using known broadbeam synchrotron X-ray doses to generate spatial dose profiles and calculate peak-to-valley dose ratios of 30–40 for cell cultures and approximately 60 for murine skin, consistent with the range obtained with conventional dosimetry methods. This biological dose mapping approach could find several applications both in optimising MRT or other radiotherapeutic treatments and in estimating localised doses following accidental radiation exposure using skin punch biopsies.
Zinc and cadmium accumulation in controlled crosses between metallicolous and nonmetallicolous populations of Thlaspi caerulescens (Brassicaceae)

• Growth and heavy metal (Zn and Cd) hyperaccumulation were investigated in metallicolous and nonmetallicolous Mediterranean populations of Thlaspi caerulescens (Brassicaceae), and in offspring from controlled crosses between these populations. • Seeds for the growth and crossing experiments were collected from a number of sites varying in heavy metal contamination. Tissue Zn and Cd content was determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. • Offspring from crosses between nonmetallicolous populations had the highest Zn concentration ( c . 30 000 μg g − 1 ), compared with 20 000 μg g − 1 for the nonmetallicolous parents. The metallicolous parents and the other crosses had only 10 000 μg g − 1 . Offspring from crosses including a nonmetallicolous parent still had a significantly higher Zn uptake than the metallicolous parents. A trend towards a higher Cd uptake was observed in offspring from crosses with a metallicolous parent. • We suggest that the most probable hypothesis is that the differences in Zn hyperaccumulation between crosses could be explained by a monogenic system with two alleles. The dominant allele would restrict Zn hyperaccumulation at 10 000 μg g − 1
ICT acceptation: the case of CRM project

The implementation of information and communication technology (ICT) project constitutes a major change for any organization, the actual implementation appear to be very heavily biased toward the technological aspects while paying little attention to managing the changes in process, structure and culture. Besides, we wonder what kind of measures should be taken along with the shifts induced by the ICT in order to make them accepted by the users. To give a concrete answer to this challenge, we made a qualitative and exploratory study related to a CRM implementation project in a banking institution. To study the impact of change management measures of the ICT acceptation we propose for the future research adopting an empirical approach based on the technology acceptance model as stated in Davis (1989).
The relationship between EFL teachers’ perception of task-based language teaching and their dominant teaching style

Abstract This study was an attempt to explore the possible relationship between EFL teachers’ perception (understanding and view) of task-based language teaching (TBLT) and their dominant teaching style. In addition, the study investigated whether EFL teachers’ perception of TBLT can predict their dominant teaching style. As for the participants, 180 Iranian EFL teachers took part in this study. The participants, both male and female, were selected using convenience sampling. For data collection, two adapted survey instruments were utilized: Questionnaire for Teacher Perception of TBLT and Teaching Styles Inventory. The results revealed a statistically positive correlation between the participants’ perception (both understanding and view) of TBLT and dominant teaching style. Also, the results of regression analyses indicated that the participants’ perception (both understanding and view) of TBLT was a predictor of the dominant teaching style.
Emerging Electronic Infrastructures

The concepts of electronic government and electronic democracy have common roots in that electronic government must rest on, and support, democratic principles. This article discusses how the components of a democratic society are treated as they are built into the emerging electronic infrastructures, dealing with services and dialogues pertinent to the functioning of the public sector, and tries to find emerging patterns. This article opens a discussion on the nature of the emerging infrastructures by reviewing four implementations of local e-democracy and putting them into the context of global e-government development, in particular the European Union’s development of “eEurope. ” It is found that the cases represent different models of democracy, models that are only partially explicit. The development is governed more by gradual implementation of information and communication technology than a general political agenda. This means local actors have great influence, and hence, e-democracy is not deterministic; it can come in many shapes.
Life and Job Satisfaction Among Public-Sector Social Workers in the occupied Palestinian Territory

ABSTRACT This study examined the direct effects of work-related factors (i.e., organizational support, job security, job stress) on life satisfaction among public-sector social workers (N = 221) in the occupied Palestinian Territory and the indirect effects of those variables on life satisfaction through job satisfaction. Using path analysis, results indicated that job security directly influenced life satisfaction. Organizational support and job stress indirectly influenced life satisfaction through job satisfaction. Policies such as fair work contracts and supportive supervisors could enhance social workers’ well-being. Future research is needed to strengthen our understanding of other factors related to life satisfaction (e.g., trauma exposure).
Is ontology-based activity recognition really effective?

While most activity recognition systems rely on data-driven approaches, the use of knowledge-driven techniques is gaining increasing interest. Research in this field has mainly concentrated on the use of ontologies to specify the semantics of activities, and ontological reasoning to recognize them based on context information. However, at the time of writing, the experimental evaluation of these techniques is limited to computational aspects; their actual effectiveness is still unknown. As a first step to fill this gap, in this paper, we experimentally evaluate the effectiveness of the ontological approach, using an activity dataset collected in a smart-home setting. Preliminary results suggest that existing ontological techniques underperform data-driven ones, mainly because they lack support for reasoning with temporal information. Indeed, we show that, when ontological techniques are extended with even simple forms of temporal reasoning, their effectiveness is comparable to the one of a state-of-the-art technique based on Hidden Markov Models. Then, we indicate possible research directions to further improve the effectiveness of ontology-based activity recognition through temporal reasoning.