Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Referral by clergy who counsel older adults

The purpose of this cross sectional study of clergy (N = 493) was to examine the likelihood of referral to formal mental health providers by those clergy who counsel older adults. Responding clergy completed a brief questionnaire that included information on the amount of counselling they do with older adults, the Attitudes towards Older Adults and Mental Illness (AOAMI) scale, their relationships with mental health professionals, their knowledge of resources for referring people for additional help, and basic demographic data, such as race, age, years in the clergy, and education level. In logistic regression analysis, respondents with more education, those who felt less prepared to provide counselling, and those with more positive attitudes based on the AOAMI indicated that they were more likely to refer, and no differences were found based on their denominational affiliation race, relationships with mental health professionals, or knowledge of resources for referring people for additional help. We believe that public-private partnerships should be formed to help clergy recognise when referrals are appropriate, and to help improve relationships between clergy and mental health professionals.
Quantitative & Qualitative Evaluation of Three Search Engines (Google, Yahoo, and Bing)

As Internet evolution becomes bigger every day, people become more interested in finding services and information spread all over the web. This is a difficult process because of the neuromas number of sites released every day. This brings the importance of search engines to be very high to web users so they can surf the web easily. Search engines are required to provide appropriate and accurate results to users looking for any information. This research evaluates three of the top search engines over the internet (i.e. Google, Yahoo, and Bing) using well know qualitative and quantitative approaches. According to the research results, Google is the best of the three engines in term of quality of search results while Yahoo is the best in terms of search speed.
Exploiting two ambidextrous robotic arms for achieving cooperative tasks

This paper is about designing two ambidextrous robotic arms to achieve tasks cooperatively. The design is concerned with offering a flexible and humanlike dual arm behavior to be used as a true production partner with humans in different industrial and medical applications. After introducing the kinematics of this design, a new switched two functionality controller will be used to guide the actuators with an efficient method for planning the movement. Also a new and efficient algorithm of collision avoidance will be used. Experiments and results are given using the task of the Russian Matryoshka doll assembling and disassembling, which can be generalized to do any other sophisticated tasks.
Digital generation of signal quadrature for synthetic aperture radiometers

A study of digital signal processing techniques for generating signal quadrature in synthetic aperture radiometers with difference equations derived from digital systems using finite impulse response (FIR) filters is presented. In one system block diagram, the FIR is a low pass filter; and in the other, the FIR is a Hilbert transform. It is shown that both systems reduce to the same set of difference equations. The effect of reducing the number of coefficients in the FIR is studied and characterized through the use of test data.
Application of Various Student Assessment Methods by Educational Departments in Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran

Background & Objective: In recent years, with increasing awareness of limitations of traditional assessment methods in the measurement of learner capabilities, assessment methods have undergone many changes. This survey addresses the extent to which educational departments in Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, use various student assessment methods. Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted using a researcher developed tool to gather information about student assessment methods in 2012. Based on Miller’s pyramid of assessment, common student assessment methods were classified into written and oral assessment, clinical reasoning assessment, clinical skills assessment, and workplace-based assessment. Study sample consisted of all educational departments. Sampling was performed using the census method, which determined the use or lack of use of each method of assessment at different educational levels. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: The response rate was 70.43%; 81 of 115 departments completed the questionnaire. The most frequently used methods by departments were written and oral exams. Among them, the multiple choice test was the most widely applied assessment method. Patient management problem (PMP) was the most broadly used method to assess clinical reasoning. Moreover, among clinical skills assessment, objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) was the most commonly applied method in medical clinical courses. Conclusion: Graduates of medical universities must acquire capabilities far beyond the acquisition of theoretical knowledge, but assessment methods used by departments do not necessarily assess their capabilities. The results of this study emphasize the need for the revision of medical student assessment programs. Key Words: Student assessment methods, Miller’s pyramid, Medical education
Using COTS-Widgets Architectures for Describing User Interfaces of Web-Based Information Systems

Modern Web-based Information Systems (WIS) must be flexible and prepared to be easily accessible and manageable in real-time. WIS user interfaces (UI) are still being constructed on the basis of traditional software development paradigms, without taking into account in their construction (or in the knowledge managed by the systems) the main criterion of globalization, that they must be distributed, open and changing. WIS-UI must be able to be constructed depending on the type of interaction (individual or collective) and the purpose of the interaction (management, technical, etc.). In this paper, the authors present a component-based development perspective to build user interfaces of WIS by means of the composition of widgets-components architectures and MDD approaches.
Clinical implications of residual sleep apnoea after chronic CPAP therapy

Several recent studies have documented residual sleep apnoea in continuous positive airway pressure-treated patients, and the term complex sleep apnoea has been used by some to describe this phenomenon. The consequences of residual sleep apnoea are unknown but could be significant, since patients with even mild obstructive sleep apnoea may be at increased risk of cardiovascular complications and motor vehicle crashes. The current study aimed at evaluating the prevalence and clinical implications of residual sleep apnoea.
Cross-lingual Investigation of User Evaluations for Global Restaurants

Twitter, as one of the most popular social network services, is now widely used to query public opinions. In this research, Twitter data, along with the reviews collected from review websites is used to carry out some basic, sentimental, and culture-based analysis, so as to figure out the cultural effects on user evaluations for global restaurants. This research is based on the authors’ previous work, which only considers posts and reviews written in English. In this research, a language expansion is carried out that more than 30 languages are taken into account. By using a range of new and standard features, a series of classifiers are trained and applied in the later steps of sentiment analysis, through which some informative results are obtained considering the relationship between user evaluations and cultural backgrounds.
4 The Choral Ode from Antigone: “πολλὰ τὰ δεινὰ [. . .]” Refracted Through Cornelius Castoriadis and Martin Heidegger

Coming from opposite ends of the political spectrum, Cornelius Castoriadis and Martin Heidegger produced world views that stand in stark contrast to one another. Their contrasting readings of the same canonical text by Sophocles, a famous choral ode, or stasimon , from Antigone may offer an illuminating perspective on precisely where their visions of humanity differ. In this chapter, the author establishes for English-speaking readers just what aspects of Heidegger's German version of the stasimon , by Sophocles provoke Castoriadis's ire, attempting an adjudication of points at issue. He tests Castoriadis's claim that the aetiology of Heidegger's reading is to be found purely in his Nazism. What Castoriadis asks, however, is: does this have anything to do with the central import of the Sophoclean choral ode? Castoriadis accuses Heidegger of falsifying the syntax of the original. Castoriadis's own reading is not tendentiously socialist, but simply follows the mainstream of scholarship. Keywords: antigone ; Cornelius Castoriadis; Martin Heidegger; Nazism; Sophoclean choral ode; stasimon
The APN role in holistic assessment and integration of spiritual assessment for advance care planning

Purpose: Provide advanced practice nurses (APNs) with tools and guidance on spiritual assessment for advance care planning(ACP); to review the literature on the connectedness between spiritual assessment and ACP; and to discuss implications for the APN in application of these concepts with a case study. Data sources: Selected research and clinical articles. Conclusions: There is a disconnect between what patients have expressed as their wishes regarding end-of-life care (EOLC) and what occurs. Spiritual beliefs and values impact patients' and families' decisions regarding EOLC, but if not discussed in advance, most wishes, especially dying at home, do not occur. Implications for practice: Incorporating spiritual assessment in a holistic assessment, it is possible to assist patients and families prior to crisis in sorting out patients' wishes with respect to EOLC during clinic visits. With the use of a simple mnemonic to guide spiritual assessment, the APN can bridge the gap between what the patient wants and what care is received at end of life.
Design of 3D virtual world as a media of E-learning

Digital applications in teaching and learning is an urgent need since the online learning system is believed to be able to significantly improve the quality of education due to its nature in passing through time and space which are now very limited. And now, 3D interface system used as a media of online learning has perfected the system of 2D interface system. However, what kind of 3D interface system should be designed in order to increase students' interactivity and engagement towards the system? This paper details a design of 3D interface that can meet the demands of interactivity and engagement required to the system. By applying the Qualitative-Interactive approach, initially data were collected through literature study and interviews with several experienced practitioners in the field of online learning. Based on the results of data analysis, it was concluded that there were two key features that should be included in the design of 3D interface, namely avatar and environment. The presence of both features is expected to increase students' interactivity and engagement towards online learning system. A prototype design was created to provide a more concrete picture on the benefits and the ease of use of 3D interface system equipped with avatar and environment features.
Extracorporeal shock wave therapy: Clinical applications and regulation

Abstract Shock wave therapy is a relatively new modality for use in equine practice. The application of shock waves is dependent on an accurate diagnosis and localization of the lesion. At this time we are still gaining knowledge on proper application and what musculoskeletal problems will respond to treatment. This chapter describes how we use shock wave therapy and what we currently treat with shock wave therapy.
Recording of multiple videos in a large-scale space for large-scale virtualized reality

A system for recording multiple videos in a very large-scale space, such as a soccer stadium, is described. It overcomes the problems of difficulty in recording synchronized multiple videos and in calibrating multiple cameras in a large-scale space. The system can record completely synchronized multiple videos with an identical timestamp for every frame captured at the same instant. Camera calibration in a large-scale space requires setting up an accurate coordinate system of the 3D world and defining many landmarks. The proposed system does this by combining a calibration board with a 3D laser-surveying instrument. A method for synthesizing a novel view from the multiple videos is also described, along with some experimental results. The technique deserbed in this paper is essential to realize a virtualized reality in a large-scale space.
Modulation de l'activité de structures cérébrales sous-corticales par optogénétique

Optogentics is a promising technic for neuronal activity modulation. By inserting a microbial opsin in the plasma membrane and by its photonic activation, it is possible to regulate neuronal activity with high temporal and spatial resolution. A lot of work has been done to characterize and synthetize new opsins. Thus, a wide variety of opsins are now available, presenting different kinetics and sensibility to specific wavelengths. Indeed, different opsins can either increase or decrease neuronal activity such as channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) or halorhodopsin (NpHR), respectively. This technology has the potential to stimulate a specific region within the brain in a highly reversible manner. However, little work was accomplished in this way, because to limitations due to absorption and scattering of light in biological tissue. This master’s thesis presents the conception of a side-firing optical fiber, capable of guiding light to specific structures within the brain. We conducted in vivo experiments in the visual system of transgenic mice expressing ChR2 in the entire central nervous system. In the visual system, retinal inputs are relayed to the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) before reaching the primary visual cortex (V1). To validate the capacity of the designed optogenetic assembly to stimulate specific sub-populations of neurons, we took advantage of the retinotopic organization existing in the visual system. By optogenetically stimulating the LGN and rotating the optical fiber around its axis with a motor, it is possible to sequentially stimulate different portions of this thalamic structure and consequently, different portions of the visual field. Activation of thalamic projections will be recorded in area V1 using intrinsic optical imaging, a technic allowing to image variations of blood oxygenation and blood volume in neuronal tissue over large cortical areas. Activation at the level of the cortex will reveal the spatial extent of the optogenetic stimulation in the LGN as retinotopic organization is maintained in V1 cortical area. In vivo experiments showed that displacing the optical fiber in the LGN allowed stimulation of different neuronal
Altering American Consciousness: The History of Alcohol and Drug Use in the United States 1800–2000. By Sarah W. Tracy and Caroline Jean Acker

Altering American Consciousness: The History of Alcohol and Drug Use in the United States 1800–2000. By Sarah W. Tracy and Caroline Jean Acker. University of Massachusetts Press, February 2004. £27.50. Paperback: 448 pp. ISBN 9781558494251 This book began as a conference in 1997 on the history of alcohol and drug use in American society over the last 200 years. The book charts societies’ attitudes to alcohol and drug problems over this period, including attitudes to psychotropic drugs, psychedelic drugs and cigarette smoking. As in other countries, attitudes toward alcohol have varied from a disease concept, which as the authors point out, frequently benefits treaters as well as individuals to a model of moral degeneracy. A second variant, as also occurred in the United Kingdom, certainly in relation to alcohol, is focusing on the problems of dependence …
A Framework for a More Structured, Integrated and Effective Software Measurement Process

Software organizations have been initiating measurement programs as part of their software process improvement practices which in turn increase the quality of the software products. However, high numbers of organizations reported their measurement programs as failures. One of the major difficulties they faced was stated to be the difficulty in deciding which set of measures to collect for different software entities; products, processes, and resources. In addition to what should be collected, organizations would like to collect as minimum number of measures as possible in order to be cost effective. Different goal based measures selection models have been introduced to aid in these, namely Goal Question Metric (GQM) is one of the most well known and adopted ones by software organizations. It facilitates measurement programs to define goals and then collect measures according to goals. However, the current approaches require being more structured and integrated to enable an effective software measurement process. ‘Structured’ means the goals, questions and measures as well as their vertical and horizontal relations are well-defined. A structured measurement process can be ‘integrated’ to the organization via establishing links between business and organizational goals and the measurement process. The whole process becomes more ‘effective’ as these goals and measures become traceable, and hence the mechanisms to prioritize and select the optimum set of measures could be established. In this research work our main focus is to evaluate goal based models and to develop a framework for a more effective measurement process, called Structured Optimized Measurement Selection (SOMS). As part of SOMS, alternative ways for goals prioritization and measures optimization are proposed. In order to make the whole process more efficient, a tool is developed as well. Both SOMS with different alternative prioritization and optimization techniques as well as the tool were evaluated by conducting case studies in a CMMI level 3 software development organization and the results are compared to a previous case study conducted on the same case by using other techniques which are extensions of GQM, i.e. namely Structured Prioritized Goals Questions Metrics (SPGQM) and Optimum Measures Set Decision (OMSD).
Joint Pushing and Caching for Bandwidth Utilization Maximization in Wireless Networks

Joint pushing and caching is recognized as an efficient remedy to the problem of spectrum scarcity incurred by tremendous mobile data traffic. In this paper, we design the optimal joint pushing and caching policy to maximize bandwidth utilization, which is of fundamental importance to mobile telecom carriers. In particular, we consider a multiuser wireless network with multicast opportunities where each user is equipped with a cache of limited size. First, we formulate the stochastic optimization problem as an infinite horizon average cost Markov decision process. By the structural analysis, we show that how the optimal policy achieves a balance between the current transmission cost and the future average transmission cost. We also show that the optimal average transmission cost decreases with the cache sizes, revealing a tradeoff between storage and bandwidth. Then, due to the fact that obtaining a numerical optimal solution suffers the curse of dimensionality and implementing it requires a centralized controller and global system information, we develop a low-complexity decentralized policy (LDP) by using a linear approximation of the value function and transforming challenging discrete optimization problems into difference of convex (DC) problems, which can be efficiently solved by using DC algorithms. We also obtain an upper bound on the performance gap between the average cost of LDP and the minimum average cost, which can be easily evaluated. Next, we propose an online decentralized algorithm to implement the proposed LDP, when priori knowledge of user demand processes is not available. Finally, using numerical results, we demonstrate the advantage of the proposed solutions over some existing designs. The results in this paper offer useful guidelines for designing practical cache-enabled multiuser wireless networks.
A Functional Approach to Hardware Software Co-Design

Developing software for embedded systems presents quite the challenge---not only do these systems demand good knowledge of the hardware they run on, but their limited resources also make it difficult to achieve efficiency. For embedded systems with different kinds of processing elements, the challenge is even greater; the presence of heterogeneous elements both raises all of the issues associated with homogeneous systems, and may also cause non-uniform system development and capability. In this thesis we explore a functional approach to heterogeneous system development, with a staged hardware software co-design language embedded in Haskell, to address many of the modularity problems typically found in such systems. This staged approach enables designers to build their applications from reusable components and skeletons, while retaining control over much of the generated source code. Design exploration also benefits from the functional approach, since Haskell's type classes can be used to ensure that certain operations will be available. As a result, a developer can not only write for hardware and software in the co-design language, but she can also write generic programs that are suitable for both. Internally, the co-design language is based on a monadic representation of imperative programs that abstracts away from its underlying statement, expression, and predicate types by establishing an interface to their respective interpreters. Programs are thus loosely coupled to their underlying types, giving a clear separation of concerns. The compilation process is expressed as a series of translations between progressively smaller typed languages, which safeguards against many common errors. In addition to the hardware software co-design language, this thesis also introduces a language for expressing digital signal processing algorithms, using a model of synchronous data-flow that is embedded in Haskell. The language supports definitions in a functional style, reducing the gap between an algorithm's mathematical specification and its implementation. A vector language is also presented, which builds on a functional representation that guarantees fusion for arrays. Both of these languages are intended to be extensions of the co-design language, but neither one is dependent on it and can thus be used to extend other languages as well.
Distributed computing environment for community and social health studies

The paper presents an artificial societies simulator, based on multilevel distributed computing, and some of its applications in the fields of community and social health. Artificial societies allow some fascinating experiments on the evolution of societies of agents in different conditions for modeling complex and dynamic social environment. It is estimated so that most of the social mechanisms can be modeled in this way, including the formation and evolution of social classes, the prediction of election results, the initiation and developpment of social trends and movements, the outspreading of epidemics etc. In our computing environment it is essential for modeling each real phenomenon in society to find libraries of rules of evolution based on exploring and understanding the interaction between individuals and between individuals and the social environment in a given context.The tool proved to be useful to predict social and health problems and also for identifying solutions and develop strategies to apply them for different landscapes and social contexts.