Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of Victim, Offender, and Relationship Characteristics on Frequency and Timing of Intimate Partner Violence using Life History Calendar Data

Objectives: To examine whether victim, offender, and relationship characteristics increase the risk and frequency of intimate partner violence (IPV). The effect of separation length on the risk of IPV is also evaluated. Methods: Using abuse incident data (N = 4,960) from IPV victims (n = 497), who accessed a health-care facility over a one-year period, between-individual differences in the frequency and timing of abuse were assessed. Dependence of event times within respondents was accounted for with conditional risk set “gap time” models, which stratified participants across event number and failure order. Results: Employment of both partners and only the victim decreased the risk and frequency. Employment of only the abuser and length of separation decreased frequency but was not significantly associated with timing of abuse. Separated and non-separated respondents were not significantly different in frequency (incident risk ratio = 1.06, p > .05) and timing of abuse, (exp (b) = 0.95, p > . 05). Conclusions: By capturing the timing between abuse incidents, insight into the long-term risk of abuse is provided and accounts for selection effects. Findings call for an improvement in measuring relationship status indicators, including relationship length and time since separation. Future research should examine within-individual changes in separation and IPV risk.
Sequential circuit design using Quantum-dot Cellular Automata (QCA)

As the size of CMOS transistors keep shrinking, it will eventually hit its limitation. Hence, an alternative device has to be discovered to continually improve the development of electronics devices. Quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA), is a potential device that can be used to implement digital circuits. In this paper, we present the basic theory of QCA cell and some fundamental gates of QCA scheme. The fundamental gates, such as the QCA inverter and QCA majority gate are then used to build more complex logic circuits. Several design of sequential circuits such as gated D latch, RS latch, JK flip-flop, T flip-flop, D flip-flop, 2-bit counter, 4-bit counter, and 4-bit shift register are presented in QCA architecture. These designs are captured and simulated using a design software called QCADesigner.
Mutant prion protein‐mediated aggregation of normal prion protein in the endoplasmic reticulum: implications for prion propagation and neurotoxicity

Familial prion disorders are believed to result from spontaneous conversion of mutant prion protein (PrPM) to the pathogenic isoform (PrPSc). While most familial cases are heterozygous and thus express the normal (PrPC) and mutant alleles of PrP, the role of PrPC in the pathogenic process is unclear. Plaques from affected cases reveal a heterogeneous picture; in some cases only PrPM is detected, whereas in others both PrPC and PrPM are transformed to PrPSc. To understand if the coaggregation of PrPC is governed by PrP mutations or is a consequence of the cellular compartment of PrPM aggregation, we coexpressed PrPM and PrPC in neuroblastoma cells, the latter tagged with green fluorescent protein (PrPC–GFP) for differentiation. Two PrPM forms (PrP231T, PrP217R/231T) that aggregate spontaneously in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) were generated for this analysis. We report that PrPC–GFP aggregates when coexpressed with PrP231T or PrP217R/231T, regardless of sequence homology between the interacting forms. Furthermore, intracellular aggregates of PrP231T induce the accumulation of a C‐terminal fragment of PrP, most likely derived from a potentially neurotoxic transmembrane form of PrP (CtmPrP) in the ER. These findings have implications for prion pathogenesis in familial prion disorders, especially in cases where transport of PrPM from the ER is blocked by the cellular quality control.
Boosting in Random Subspaces for Face Recognition

Boosting is an excellent machine learning algorithm. In this paper, we propose a novel boosting method - boosting in random subspaces. Instead of boosting in original feature space, whose dimensionality is usually very high, multiple feature subspaces with lower dimensionality are randomly generated, and boosting is carried out in each random subspace. Then the trained classifiers are further combined with simple fusion method. Compared with boosting in original feature space, there are two advantages. The first is that the computation complexity of training is reduced, which is obvious. The second is that fusion further improves accuracy, which is verified by our extensive experiments on FERET database
Shortest Non-Crossing Rectilinear Paths in Plane Regions

Let A be a plane region inside an outer rectangle with r rectangular obstacles, and let k terminal pairs lie on the boundaries of the outer rectangle and one of the obstacles. This paper presents an efficient algorithm which finds "non-crossing" rectilinear paths in the plane region A, each connecting a terminal pair without passing through any obstacles, and whose total length is minimum. Non-crossing paths may share common points or line segments but do not cross each other in the plane. The algorithm takes time O(n log n) where n = k + r.
Three good reasons NOT to use five and seven point Likert items

One of the main sources of knowledge development in tourism has been survey research. Through surveys of tourists, surveys of the tourism industry and surveys of residents living in tourism destinations, our understanding of the positive and negative impact of tourism has increased and we are now better able to understand and respond to tourists' needs. The underlying measure in survey research is the question respondents are asked or, more specifically, the answer options that respondents are offered. The most popular answer formats in tourism are the seven and the five point answer formats (based on a review of JTR publications over the past 5 years). We challenge the currently dominant belief that five and seven point Likert items are the single best measure to capture human beliefs. There are (at least) three good reasons why they can be a dangerous default choice for survey researchers: (1) five and seven point Likert items suffer from response style bias, It is widely acknowledged that not only do individuals differ in their response styles, but, more critically, groups of respondents coming from different cultures display different response styles. This is particulary problematic in tourism research where often respondents from a range of countries of origin are surveyed. (2) seven point Likert items are inherently unstable: respondents chose different answer options when asked to complete a survey twice in a row. (3) Both five and seven point Likert items take relatively long to complete thus increasing the danger of respondent fatigue and, as a consequence, reduced data quality. An alternative measure is recommended and empirical evidence for its superiority presented.
Agile and Wellbeing -- Stress, Empowerment, and Performance in Scrum and Kanban Teams

Little research data exist about agile teams and wellbeing. After changing our software engineering mode to agile, we wanted to find out if people experienced more or less stress than before. This study is based on a company-wide survey of 466 software engineering practitioners. We asked about their subjective feelings about stress, empowerment, and performance in their respective engineering teams after they had started to use agile methods. The results reveal that the feelings of higher performance improvement and sustainable pace are related, and that this difference is statistically significant. Respondents who feel that their team is empowered also feel less stress. However, no significant difference in feelings of stress and empowerment was found between respondents working in Kanban and Scrum mode after transition to agile. The group that was improving its performance because of agile was also reporting a better workload balance. The group that was experiencing worse performance because of agile methods was also more stressed. The differences may be explained by the management styles being practiced in the teams. The results are important as those verify in industrial setting what some agile books suggest: limiting workload and team empowerment has an impact on performance and stress. This contributes to our understanding how agile teams should be managed.
Radiation and scattering from bi-isotropic bodies of revolution

Bi-isotropic (BI) media has invoked considerable interests in the fields of millimeter-wave and microwave. It can be characterized by a bi-isotropic constitutive relation, which complicates the solution of the electromagnetic scattering and radiation problems associated with bi-isotropic medium. Although lots of papers have been published on this subject, many of them concentrate on chiral media, in which Tellegen parameter is zero. A general solution based on surface integral equation (SIE) is developed to analyze the scattering and radiation of arbitrarily shaped BI bodies, which takes both chiral and Tellegen parameters in consideration. However, this general solution is of poor efficiency when it comes to solve bodies of revolution (BOR). In this paper, a dedicated solution is developed for bi-isotropic BOR (BI-BOR). In order to deal with the BI media, the fields in BI medium are split into two pairs of fields. Each pair of fields is related with respective medium and can be treated as in normal medium. By expanding surface equivalent currents in terms of Fourier series, they can be determined one mode by one via MoM method. Once the surface equivalent currents are determined, the far-zone scattering field can be readily calculated.
From Experimental Approaches to Computational Techniques: A Review on the Prediction of Protein-Protein Interactions

A crucial step towards understanding the properties of cellular systems in organisms is to map their network of protein-protein interactions (PPIs) on a proteomic-wide scale completely and as accurately as possible. Uncovering the diverse function of proteins and their interactions within the cell may improve our understanding of disease and provide a basis for the development of novel therapeutic approaches. The development of large-scale high-throughput experiments has resulted in the production of a large volume of data which has aided in the uncovering of PPIs. However, these data are often erroneous and limited in interactome coverage. Therefore, additional experimental and computational methods are required to accelerate the discovery of PPIs. This paper provides a review on the prediction of PPIs addressing key prediction principles and highlighting the common experimental and computational techniques currently employed to infer PPI networks along with relevant studies in the area.
Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis: Considerations for Evidence-Informed Decision Making

Evidence-based practice is a standard for pediatric physical therapy and occupational therapy. The phrase evidence is never enough (Guyatt et al., 2000) reflects the integral role of health care providers in translation of research to practice. Evidence-informed decision making refers to a process in which, in addition to research evidence, child and family values, and preferences; the home, school, and community environment, and therapist practice knowledge are considerations in the decision-making process (Palisano et al., 2012). Evidence-informed decision making is in accord with the definition of evidence-based practice by Sackett et al. (1996): “Evidence-based practice refers to the use of current knowledge and research to guide clinical decision making within the context of the individual client. ” The systematic review and meta-analysis have long been recommended as important resources to enable practitioners to keep abreast of current research. A systematic review is a retrospective appraisal of original research on a particular topic (a study of studies). Rigorous methods are used to identify, select, appraise, and synthesize the results of all relevant studies. Meta-analysis refers to a systematic review in which statistical methods are used to analyze the combined data from studies to determine an overall effect. In 2008, Submitting a Systematic Review was published in Physical & Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics to encourage the shift from the traditional literature review to the systematic review (Palisano, 2008). A recent database search supported my impression that educators and researchers have responded to the need for systematic reviews and meta-analyses of research on children with developmental conditions. In the past 5 years, 10 systematic reviews have been published in Physical & Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics. Simple MEDLINE searches in which “cerebral palsy” and “developmental coordination disorder” were each combined with “systematic review” identified 14 systematic reviews of research on children with cerebral palsy and five reviews of research on children with developmental coordination disorder published in the past 5 years that I judged to have application to pediatric physical and occupational therapy practice.
ARTEMIS: An Aging-Aware Runtime Application Mapping Framework for 3D NoC-Based Chip Multiprocessors

In emerging 3D NoC-based chip multiprocessors (CMPs), aging in circuits due to bias temperature instability (BTI) stress is expected to cause gate-delay degradation that, if left unchecked, can lead to untimely failure. Simultaneously, the effects of electromigration (EM) induced aging in the on-chip wires, especially those in the 3D power delivery network (PDN), are expected to notably reduce chip lifetime. A commonly proposed solution to mitigate circuit-slowdown due to aging is to hike the supply voltage; however, this increases current-densities in the PDN due to the increased power consumption on the die, which in turn expedites PDN-aging. We thus note that mechanisms to enhance lifetime reliability in 3D NoC-based CMPs must consider circuit-aging together with PDN-aging. In this paper, we propose a novel runtime framework (ARTEMIS) for intelligent dynamic application-mapping and voltage-scaling to simultaneously manage aging in circuits and the PDN, and enhance the performance and lifetime of 3D NoC-based CMPs. We also propose an aging-enabled routing algorithm that balances the degree of aging between NoC routers and cores, thereby increasing the combined lifetime of both. Our framework also considers dark-silicon power constraints that are becoming a major design challenge in scaled technologies, particularly for 3D stacked CMPs. Our experimental results indicate that ARTEMIS enables the execution of 25 percent more applications over the chip lifetime compared to state-of-the-art prior work.
Draft Genome Sequence of Pseudomonas syringae PDD-32b-74, a Model Strain for Ice-Nucleation Studies in the Atmosphere

ABSTRACT We report here the whole genome sequence of Pseudomonas syringae PDD-32b-74, a gammaproteobacterium isolated from cloud water. This microorganism is equipped with ice-nucleation protein and biosurfactant genes that could potentially be involved in physicochemical processes in the atmosphere and clouds.
Sexual Dysfunction in Females after Cancer Treatment: an Unresolved Issue

Cancer besides being a leading cause of mortality also creates a myriad of morbidities in survivors whether treated or untreated. Among women surviving after gynecological malignancies sexual dysfunction is a morbidity unexplored in Indian context because of cultural barriers. With the increasing proportion of women surviving carcinoma of the cervix, quality of life has become an important clinical issue. Despite the immense distress it causes in patients, sexual dysfunction is neither screened nor treated in Indian scenario. Despite this recognition, the area is not well researched and there is a paucity of information on the impact of cancer treatment on sexual health in Indian Context. Research has shown that up to 50% of women treated for cervix cancers have sexual dysfunction as they recover and become cancer survivors. This article aims to review the phases of sexual response and how each may be affected by the physical and emotional stress of cancer diagnosis and treatment. We will then discuss existing tools for assessment of sexual function and approaches to their treatment. Finally, we will conclude with advice to health care professionals based on current research and suggest questions for future study.
Impact of personality on termination of short‐term group psychotherapy in depressed elderly outpatients

Termination in group psychotherapy is an essential phase of the psychotherapeutic process, yet its clinical determinants remain largely unknown, especially in elderly patients. The aim of this study was to assess how patients' personality traits influence their way of leaving a short‐term psychotherapy group as well as a larger therapeutic community program.
Teletrabajo en España: acuerdo marco y Administración Pública

This article discusses the evolution of telework in European countries and in Spain in recent years in terms of the extent to which it has been implemented and which sectors and activities have been most affected. It also presents the state of the art of the regulation of telework in the context of the EU since the European Framework Agreement on Telework in 2002 and informs about the strategies that social actors and the Administration have adopted to mitigate the lack of of regulation of the practices associated with telework.
Evidence of an upper mantle seismic anomaly opposing the Cocos slab beneath the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico

Subduction of the Cocos plate beneath southern Mexico is characterized by several unusual features, such as a discontinuous volcanic arc, unusual arc chemistry, and anomalously low topography of Tehuantepec Isthmus. Recent seismic images from both receiver functions and seismic tomography suggest that there may be an additional, opposing structure dipping to the southwest from the Gulf of Mexico, and these images have been previously explained by a southwest‐dipping slab. However, standard models of the Caribbean tectonic history do not support this interpretation. To better define the Cocos slab's structure and the possible existence of a structure dipping in the opposite direction, dense seismic data across southern Mexico are used to form high‐resolution seismic images, based on the 2‐D generalized radon transform method, and to relocate regional earthquakes. Our images show the Cocos plate dipping at 30° to the northeast encounters the anomaly that is dipping in the opposite sense at ∼150 km depth. Relocated seismicity clearly delineates a Wadati‐Benioff zone that marks the subducting Cocos plate. A cluster of seismicity also appears at ∼150 km depth which may be related to the subduction of the Tehuantepec ridge and/or to the imaged seismic structure with opposite polarity.
NEW KRYLOV-SUBSPACE SOLVERS FOR HERMITIAN POSITIVE DEFINITE MATRICES WITH INDEFINITE PRECONDITIONERS

Incomplete LDL∗ factorizations sometimes produce an inde nite preconditioner even when the input matrix is Hermitian positive de nite. The two most popular iterative solvers for Hermitian systems, MINRES and CG, cannot use such preconditioners; they require a positive de nite preconditioner. We present two new Krylov-subspace solvers, a variant of MINRES and a variant of CG, both of which can be preconditioned using any non-singular Hermitian matrix as long as the original system is positive de nite. These algorithms allow the use of incomplete-factorization preconditioners for Hermitian positive de nite systems, even when the preconditioner is inde nite, without resorting to a more expensive non-symmetric iterative Krylov-subspace solver.
An Intercultural Approach for Language Teaching: Developing Critical Cultural Awareness

This article presents the pedagogical experience of a teacher implementing an intercultural approach in an undergraduate foreign language teaching program. The students who participated in this experience were interviewed in order to demonstrate that an intercultural approach is an effective alternative to developing students’ critical cultural awareness, as well as to explore the critical relationship between language and culture. Analysis of the interviews revealed critical cultural awareness in students’ teaching practices and personal views. It also showed students becoming conscious of the essential role of culture in language teaching. How to reference thus article: Agudelo, J. J. (2007). An Intercultural Approach for Language Teaching: Developing Critical Cultural Awareness. Íkala. 12(1), pp. 185 – 217.
Systematic Modeling and Symbolically Assisted Simulation of Power Systems

Large disturbance behavior of power systems often involves complex interactions between continuous dynamics and discrete events. Such behavior can be captured in a systematic way by a model that consists of differential, switched algebraic, and state-reset (DSAR) equations. The paper presents a practical object-oriented approach to implementing the DSAR model. Each component of a system can be modeled autonomously. Connections between components are established by simple algebraic equations. Simulation of the model using numerically robust implicit integration requires the generation of partial derivatives. The object-oriented model structure allows this differentiation to be achieved symbolically without sacrificing simulation speed.
Sustainable Reverse Logistics for Distribution of Industrial Waste/Byproducts: A Joint Optimization of Operation and Environmental Costs

Byproducts and waste materials are potentially valuable inputs into a variety of industrial processes. Markets are being developed to capitalize on the use and reuse of these materials as inputs. The literature on reverse logistics analysis mostly concentrates on the end-of-life product recovery systems and mainly does not address the recovery process for waste/byproduct streams in an exchange network among industries. We have developed a reverse logistic model that minimizes the operational and environmental costs of exchanging waste and byproduct materials in a business-to-business network. The network contains firms, value-added process (VAP) centers (e.g., disassembly, recycling, or remanufacturing), disposal centers, and a virgin material market. The model takes the form of a mixed integer linear model. The model output contains the locations of the VAP centers and the material movement that minimizes the weighted sum of the operational and environmental costs. Because the problem is NP-hard, we developed a genetic algorithm (GA) to efficiently solve the model for large-sized problem instances. We demonstrated the modeling and solution approach for aluminum waste/byproducts in Los Angeles County. For this demonstration, we used data results from numerous past studies to assess the operational costs of waste/byproduct collection, processing, and movement. To estimate the environmental costs and parameters, we utilized published economic input-output results from previous studies. This model can be used as a guide for policies to encourage the development of sustainable supply networks.
An Efficient Batch Verification Protocol for Value Added Services

In this paper, we introduce an efficient batch oriented authentication and key agreement protocol for value added services named VAS-AKA to authenticate multiple requests sent from different mobile stations at a time. The reliability of the protocol is discussed along with the algorithm to detect one or more invalid mobile user(s) in a batch. The security analysis and performance evaluation in terms of communication and computation overhead, batch and re-batch verification delay is presented. Using this protocol, the authentication server efficiently able to verify authentication requests sent from multiple mobile users.