Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adsorption phenomena at the surface of silica spheres in a binary liquid mixture.

Etudes a l'aide de la methode de diffusion de lumiere dans le cas de suspensions de particules spheriques de silice (de 1600 A de diametre) dans des melanges d'eau et de lutidine-2,6. Mise en evidence d'une forte influence de la temperature et de la concentration
Current and Voltage Measurements in the Gaseous Electronics Conference RF Reference Cell

Measurements of the electrical characteristics of discharges in the Gaseous Electronics Conference Radio-Frequency Reference Cell are reviewed here. Topics include: common sources of error in the measurements; comparisons of current and voltage data among GEC cells; the effects of gas impurities, surface conditions and the external circuitry on the reproducibility of the electrical characteristics; and comparisons of current and voltage data with results of other measurements.
Prognostic score of short-term survival in HIV-infected patients admitted to medical intensive care units

A retrospective cohort was set up to identify prognostic factors associated with in-hospital survival in HIV-infected patients admitted to medical intensive care units (MICUs), from 1991 to 1994. Survival from MICU admission to hospital discharge (or in-hospital fatal issue) was estimated and a prognostic score at MICU admission was developed. One hundred and thirty patients were recruited of whom 20% were AIDS-free prior to admission. In-hospital mortality rate was 65%. Median survival was 20 days. The following variables were predictive of mortality: Simplified Acute Physioloy Score II (SAPS II): (hazard ratio [HR]=1.5 for 10 points higher, P<10-3), time between HIV diagnosis and admission >5 years (HR=2.7, P<10-4), hypoalbuminaemia (HR=1.2 per 5 g/l lower, P=0.03). The prognostic score developed was: SAPS II+25 (if time between HIV diagnosis and MICU admission >5 years) albuminaemia (g/l). A new prognostic score including SAPS II, prior HIV history and albuminaemia better reflected the in-hospital mortality than SAPS II alone. Our findings may still be useful to better evaluate the immediate prognosis of current HIV-infected patients admitted to MICU, particularly those naive to antiretroviral therapy or in treatment failure.
Compton Heating of the Intergalactic Medium by the Hard X-Ray Background

High-resolution hydrodynamics simulations of the Lyα forest in cold dark matter dominated cosmologies appear to predict line widths that are substantially narrower than those observed. Here we point out that Compton heating of the intergalactic gas by the hard X-ray background (XRB), an effect neglected in all previous investigations, may help to resolve this discrepancy. The rate of gain in thermal energy by Compton scattering will dominate over the energy input from hydrogen photoionization if the XRB energy density is ~0.2 x/⟨ϵ⟩ times higher than the energy density of the UV background at a given epoch, where x is the hydrogen neutral fraction in units of 10-6 and ⟨ϵ⟩ is the mean X-ray photon energy in units of mec2. The numerical integration of the time-dependent rate equations shows that the intergalactic medium approaches a temperature of about 1.5×10 K at z>3 in popular models for the redshift evolution of the extragalactic background radiation. The importance of Compton heating can be tested experimentally by measuring the Lyα line width distribution as a function of redshift, thus the Lyα forest may provide a useful probe of the evolution of the XRB at high redshifts.
A reliable and data aggregation aware routing protocol for wireless sensor networks

This paper presents the Data-Aggregation Aware Routing Protocol, DAARP, for wireless sensor networks. This novel protocol reduces the number of messages necessary to set up a routing tree, maximizes the number of overlapping routes, selects routes with the highest aggregation rate, and performs reliable data aggregation transmission. DAARP was compared to three existing solutions reported in the literature regarding communication costs, delivery efficiency, aggregation rate and aggregated data delivery rate. The results show that DAARP outperforms these solutions for different scenarios in all evaluations performed.
Self-Employed Hispanics and Hispanic Wage Earners: Differences in Earnings

The influence of employment sector on the income of Hispanics is examined using data from the 1990 U.S. Decennial Census. Human capital theory is augmented with measures of acculturation, and income equations are estimated separately for self-employed Hispanics and Hispanic wage earners. The results suggest that self-employment offers economic benefits. The importance of acculturation varies by employment sector. Decomposition of the differences in income between self-employed Hispanics and Hispanic wage earners indicates that these income differences are due more to differences in worker characteristics between the two employment sectors than to differences in rates of return to these characteristics.
Was it Discrimination or the Market? Female Employment and the Wage Gap

This paper quantitatively tests how much of the post-WWII evolution in employment and average wages by gender can be explained by a model where changing labor demand requirements are the driving forces. I argue that a big fraction of the original female employment and wage gaps in mid-century, and the subsequent shrinking of both gaps, are explained by labor reallocation from brawn-intensive to brain-intensive jobs favoring women’s comparative advantages in brain over brawn. I analyze the eects of an exogenous \brain-biased" technical change, increasing the relative productivity of brain-intensive to brawn-intensive production processes, on aggregate employment and wage gap trends. Initial results suggest the mechanism to be able to explain 37 to 67 percent of the rise in married female labor force participation, about 89 percent of the rise in single female labor force participation and about 53 to 62 percent of the closing wage gap, with an initially slower growth rate in average female to male wages due to selection bias. Moreover, the model, similar to the data, generates fairly steady married and single men’s labor force participation over time.
Hepatocellular carcinoma in a large medical center of China over a 10-year period: evolving therapeutic option and improving survival

Background Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is among the most common and lethal cancers worldwide, especially in China. Methods We retrospectively analyzed data from patients who were diagnosed and treated HCC between 2002 and 2011 in a large hospital in northwest China and compared the data between periods 2002–2006 (P1) and 2007–2011 (P2). Results 2045 patients were included in analysis. The HCC stages at diagnosis according to the Barcelona clinic liver cancer staging system had no significant change. Treatment options of liver transplantation, transcatheter arterial chemoembolization and other therapy decreased while percutaneous local ablation and supportive care increased from P1 to P2. Options of surgical resection and systematic therapy had no significant change. Patient survival rates at 1, 3 and 5 years significantly improved from P1 to P2. The treatments with increasing option trend had a higher magnitude of survival increase and vise versa. Conclusion Over the last 10 years, the patient survival had a significant increase which was mainly a result of the optimal therapeutic selections according to disease stages in this center. However, the proportion of patients diagnosed at early stages of HCC remained low and did not increase, a result calling for implementing surveillance system for at risk patients.
Ethnic Origin and Residential Attainment of Immigrants in European Countries

Segregated ethnic neighborhoods are prevalent in most contemporary European cities. Whereas patterns of segregation have been studied extensively in America, research on immigrants’ segregation and residential location in Europe is relatively new. The present research utilizes data from the European Social Survey to examine patterns of locational attainment among immigrants across 13 European countries and the extent to which they are influenced by immigrants’ tenure in the host country, socio–economic characteristics, preferences for residential location, exposure to discrimination, and ethnic and cultural origin. The analysis reveals that residential attainment varies considerably across ethnic and cultural groups: immigrants from Asia or Africa as well as Muslims are less likely to reside in neighborhoods which are perceived to be inhabited mostly by Europeans. Although the effects of generation, ethnic origin, and Muslim religion on residential location are quite uniform across countries, some meaningful cross–national differences in patterns and levels of immigrants’ residential segregation are observed and discussed. Net of other effects, differential residential preferences and perception of discrimination are found to influence perceived ethnic composition of immigrants’ neighborhoods.
Enhancing the solubility and masking the bitter taste of propiverine using crystalline complex formation

Abstract Context: Patient compliance can be reduced when bitter-tasting compounds, such as propiverine hydrochloride, are administered orally. Propiverine hydrochloride is an example of a drug with a bitter taste, used for the treatment of overactive bladders. Objective: This study tested whether propiverine free base palatability and aqueous solubility could be improved by crystalline complex formation. Materials and methods: We used 42 compounds, and found 9 new propiverine crystalline complexes. The properties and solubility of these complexes were studied using a range of techniques. A taste perception study was carried out using a taste sensor to evaluate the taste masking ability of the crystalline complex formation. Results: The melting points of the crystalline complexes were higher than that of propiverine. The dissolution rates of the crystalline complexes in aqueous buffer solution (pH 6.8) and in purified water were much faster than that of propiverine. Propiverine salicylic acid crystalline complex had substantially less bitterness than propiverine hydrochloride, which was extremely bitter. Discussion: The present findings indicated that crystalline complex formation provided an effective approach to enhancing propiverine solubility, and to masking its bitter taste. Conclusion: Crystalline complex formation represents a useful and valuable technique for the preparation of orally disintegrating tablets and improving patient compliance, even for substances with bitter tastes.
Cognitive Learning Strategy as a Partial Effect on Major Field Test in Business Results

An experiment was developed to determine if cognitive learning strategies improved standardized university business exam results. Previous studies revealed that factors such as prior ability, age, gender, and culture predicted a student's Major Field Test in Business (MFTB) score better than course content. The experiment control consisted of identical syllabi and faculty (except for the treatment). The analysis of covariance results were statistically significant (n = 134) with a 40% effect size (and a 74% effect size using multiple regression). The study demonstrated that cognitive learning strategies (accounting for gender and course level grade point average) can influence a student's MFTB exam score. An analysis of covariance can be used to accurately measure student learning gain regardless of prior ability.
Analyzing IO Amplification in Linux File Systems

We present the first systematic analysis of read, write, and space amplification in Linux file systems. While many researchers are tackling write amplification in key-value stores, IO amplification in file systems has been largely unexplored. We analyze data and metadata operations on five widely-used Linux file systems: ext2, ext4, XFS, btrfs, and F2FS. We find that data operations result in significant write amplification (2-32X) and that metadata operations have a large IO cost. For example, a single rename requires 648 KB write IO in btrfs. We also find that small random reads result in read amplification of 2-13X. Based on these observations, we present the CReWS conjecture about the relationship between IO amplification, consistency, and storage space utilization. We hope this paper spurs people to design future file systems with less IO amplification, especially for non-volatile memory technologies.
Issues and Models Concerning the Processing of a Finite Number of Inputs
 1

Eighty years ago or so the title would probably have been something like "An Attempt at Clarification of Proposed and Counter-Proposed Properties of Consciousness. •• The revolution in information, computer, and communication sciences (a Ia Shannon, Von Neumann. and Wiener) and the growing vapidity of behaviorism led in the 1950's and 1960's to a resurgent interest in centralism. that is. a renewed interest in the study of properties of the mind, as opposed to the exclusive peripheralistic study of stimulus-response correspondences. The terminology of the "new" psychology bas been almost completely drawn from the above disciplines, but very recently investigators have become less self-conscious about employing mentalistic terms and concepts that would have brought applause from the structuralists and phenomenologists of yesteryear (see, e.g., Boring, 1950). Althoagh skirting the interesting questions involving possible fruits and pitfalls of this trend, I might simply note that this chapter continues. after the introduction, in the recent tradition of use of information-processing argot. ln the present approach, we go inside the human qua information processor to as shallow or deep a level as we care to, and seize upon an abstract black box residing there in the processing chain. We shall think of our black box as engaging in the processing of some finite number of inputs (or elements). Words like "processing"
The Learnability of Phonotactic Patterns in Onset and Coda Positions

Cross-linguistically, languages allow a wider variety of phonotactic patterns in onsets than in codas. However, the variability of phonotactic patterns in coda position in different languages suggests these patterns must, at least in part, be learned. Two experiments were conducted to explore whether there is an asymmetry in English-learning infants’ ability to learn novel phonotactic patterns in word-medial onset and coda positions. In Experiment 1, English-learning 8- and 12-month-olds were familiarized with bisyllabic nonsense words with voiced fricatives restricted to either word-medial onset (Onset condition) or word-medial coda positions (Coda condition). At test, infants heard novel words that either followed or violated the familiarized patterns. Twelve-month-olds in the Onset condition showed a preference for the familiarized pattern; however, 12-month-olds in Coda condition as well as 8-month-olds in both conditions displayed no such preference. To explore whether there is a developmental pattern in these positional effects, in Experiment 2, 15-month-olds were tested in only the Coda condition. These toddlers showed a preference for the familiarized phonotactic pattern. These findings support the hypothesis that infants’ learning of positional phonotactics is asymmetrical.
Exact Algorithms for Terrain Guarding

Given a 1.5-dimensional terrain T, also known as an x-monotone polygonal chain, the Terrain Guarding problem seeks a set of points of minimum size on T that guards all of the points on T. Here, we say that a point p guards a point q if no point of the line segment pq is strictly below T. The Terrain Guarding problem has been extensively studied for over 20 years. In 2005 it was already established that this problem admits a constant-factor approximation algorithm (SODA 2005). However, only in 2010 King and Krohn (SODA 2010) finally showed that Terrain Guarding is NP-hard. In spite of the remarkable developments in approximation algorithms for Terrain Guarding, next to nothing is known about its parameterized complexity. In particular, the most intriguing open questions in this direction ask whether, if parameterized by the size k of a solution guard set, it admits a subexponential-time algorithm and whether it is fixed-parameter tractable. In this article, we answer the first question affirmatively by developing an nO(√ k)-time algorithm for both Discrete Terrain Guarding and Continuous Terrain Guarding. We also make non-trivial progress with respect to the second question: we show that Discrete Orthogonal Terrain Guarding, a well-studied special case of Terrain Guarding, is fixed-parameter tractable.
Critical Factors to Consider in Evaluating Standard-Setting Studies to Map Language Test Scores to Frameworks of Language Proficiency

In this article, we consolidate and present in one place what is known about quality indicators for setting standards so that stakeholders may be able to recognize the signs of standard-setting quality. We use the context of setting standards to associate English language test scores with language proficiency descriptions such as those presented in the Common European Framework of Reference (Council of Europe, 2001). The criteria we discuss, however, apply to any language test and language framework. Standard-setting practices are often used to associate test scores with descriptions of language proficiency, as that is one way to provide meaning to the scores. However, there are a large number of standard-setting methods and procedures, and although there are suggested guidelines on how to implement such studies, not all studies necessarily follow the guidelines or follow them to the same extent. This makes it difficult to evaluate the quality of standard-setting results. Our intention is to offer guidance to policymakers, decision makers, and researchers about important factors they may consider to evaluate the rigor and credibility of standard-setting studies conducted to associate language test scores with language frameworks.
Design of a low power wide-band high resolution programmable frequency divider

The design of a high-speed wide-band high resolution programmable frequency divider is investigated. A new reloadable D flip-flop for the high speed programmable frequency divider is proposed. It is optimized in terms of propagation delay and power consumption as compared with the existing designs. Measurement results show that an all-stage programmable counter implemented with this D flip-flop using the Chartered 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS process is capable of operating up to 1.8 GHz for a 1.8 V supply voltage and a 5.8-mW power consumption. By using this counter, an ultra-wide range high resolution frequency divider is achieved with low power consumption for 5-6-GHz wireless LAN applications.
The fallibility of memory in judicial processes: Lessons from the past and their modern consequences

The capability of adult and child witnesses to accurately recollect events from the past and provide reliable testimony has been hotly debated for more than 100 years. Prominent legal cases of the 1980s and 1990s sparked lengthy debates and important research questions surrounding the fallibility and general reliability of memory. But what lessons have we learned, some 35 years later, about the role of memory in the judicial system? In this review, we focus on what we now know about the consequences of the fallibility of memory for legal proceedings. We present a brief historical overview of false memories that focuses on three critical forensic areas that changed memory research: children as eyewitnesses, historic sexual abuse and eyewitness (mis)identification. We revisit some of the prominent trials of the 1980s and 1990s to not only consider the role false memories have played in judicial decisions, but also to see how this has helped us understand memory today. Finally, we consider the way in which the research on memory (true and false) has been successfully integrated into some courtroom procedures.
Responding to Scars After Breast Surgery

This article represents a phenomenological study on how women endow meaning to their scarred bodies after breast cancer treatment. Data collection consisted of multiple interviews with 10 women who had mastectomy, and 9 women who had breast-saving surgery. Against the background of the phenomenological premise that one’s body can appear to oneself in various ways, we identified meaningful differences between experiences that go together with one’s body “at a distance” and experiences that go together with one’s body’s “closeness. ” The diversity in body experiences we have revealed in our study calls for reconsidering the prejudiced critique of the “body as object” in mainstream phenomenology of health care, and invites medical professionals to develop the ability to recognize different perspectives on embodiment.
From AutomationML to ROS: A model-driven approach for software engineering of industrial robotics using ontological reasoning

One of the major investment for applying industrial robots in production resides in the software development, which is an interdisciplinary and heterogeneous engineering process. This paper presents a novel model-driven approach that uses AutomationML as modeling framework and ontological reasoning as inference framework for constructing robotic application using Robot Operating System (ROS). We show how different robotic components can be classified and modeled with AutomationML, how these components can be composed together to a production system, and how the AutomationML models can be processed semantically by utilizing Semantic Web technologies and ontological reasoning. By applying model-to-text transformation techniques, executable ROS code can be generated from the models that foster fast prototyping and the reuse of robotic software.
Online human action recognition based on improved dynamic time warping

Online human action recognition has broad application prospect in many fields of computer vision. Simultaneously, with the advent of depth camera, it brings on a new trend of online human action recognition but still present some unique challenges. In this paper, to solve the lower accuracy of the existing online human action recognition algorithm based on depth camera, we adopt the improved Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) algorithm to reduce the pathologic alignment caused by traditional DTW algorithm in features extraction and template generation, and then the recognition accuracy will be enhanced. Finally, this proposed approach will be evaluated on MSRC-12 Kinect Gesture dataset. The experimental evaluations show that the proposed approach achieves superior performance to the state of the art algorithms.