Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efficient Saturable Absorber Based on Ferromagnetic Insulator Cr2Ge2Te6 in Er-Doped Mode-Locked Fiber Laser

A ferromagnetic insulator Cr2Ge2Te6 as a saturable absorber in an Er-doped fiber laser (EDFL) was demonstrated. In this work, a CGT-PVA composite film was successfully fabricated using the liquid-phase exfoliation method and employed in an EDFL. The modulation depth and saturation intensity of the SA are 4.26% and 89.40 MW/cm2, respectively. Stable pulses with a minimum pulse width of 978.5 fs when the repetition rate was 3.25 MHz were recorded experimentally. Furthermore, stable solitons still need to be obtained when the pulse energy in the cavity is as high as 11.6 nJ. The results fully suggest that CGT has outstanding nonlinear absorption properties, which may have broad potential applications in ultrafast photons.
Paketierung von IT-Dienstleistungen: Chancen, Erfolgsfaktoren, Umsetzungsformen

Im Markt f? r Informationstechnik kommt neben Hard- und Software den Dienstleistungen eine immer gr? ere Bedeutung zu. Bei gro? en Hardware-Herstellern ? bertreffen inzwischen die Ums? tze mit Dienstleistungen und Software die mit Hardware. Zu Dienstleistungen im IT-Bereich z? hlen insbesondere IT Consulting, System Integration, Outsourcing sowie Hardware Maintenance und Support.
A Review on Ontology Modularization Techniques - A Multi-Dimensional Perspective

In the past two decades, the use of ontologies has grown accompanied by a diversity in ontological representations and applications to more comprehensive domains. Knowledge engineers have found it expeditious to break down large (monolithic) ontologies to work with smaller fragments. Ontology modularization is the process of extracting a fragment, or ”module”, from an ontology, based on predefined requirements. Due to both the diversity in ontological representations and motivations for modularizing, the body of research on ontology modularization techniques has become extremely large and may be intimidating to the novice ontology researcher. The objective of the paper is to present a comprehensive, albeit high-level, review of ontology modularization techniques. A systematic literature review covering January 1st 2000 to July 31st 2020 was performed to find and classify papers on ontology modularization techniques. The techniques exhibiting certain properties with respect to several features were assessed, and the modularization techniques were classified with a multi-dimensional perspective. The classifications are intended to guide one to a suitable modularization process in accordance with the requirements. The limitations of ontology modularization techniques are highlighted in the conclusion, and characteristics of a desirable framework for an ontology representation that would be best-suited for modularization are presented.
Do ageist attitudes affect home care workers’ job satisfaction and retention?

ABSTRACT With the rapid increase of older adults, attracting and retaining home care workers in the long-term care system will be critical to meet demands. This study examined how intrinsic and extrinsic factors of job satisfaction affect home care workers’ intention to stay and determined whether ageist attitudes had a mediating effect on the relationship between job satisfaction and intention to stay. The stratified random cluster sampling method was applied in this study and self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 400 home care workers from home service units in one city in southern Taiwan. Overall, 380 participants completed the measures of job satisfaction, ageist attitudes, and intention to stay in their current job. The monthly wages of NT$30,000 to NT$39,999 were significantly related to home care workers’ intentions to stay. Both intrinsic and extrinsic factors of job satisfaction were significantly associated with the retention of home care workers. However, the ageist attitudes’ separation and affective attitude factors were mainly related to their intention to stay. Ageist attitudes have a significant mediating effect between the intrinsic factors of job satisfaction and intention to stay but have no significance for extrinsic factors. Therefore, we suggested that improving the extrinsic and intrinsic factors of job satisfaction could increase the retention of home care workers. Additionally, providing accurate aging-related knowledge to raise awareness of ageist attitudes may enhance the relationship between the intrinsic factors of job satisfaction and retention. These findings could be valuable for improving the retention of the workforce in long-term care.
From Discovery to Cure, A Great Journey of the Hepatitis C Virus Study

Abstract Hepatitis C virus (HCV) causes chronic infection in over 75% of the HCV-infected individuals, resulting in liver cancer in substantial patients. Since its discovery in 1989, HCV experiences a journey from discovery to cure, largely due to the virology studies and success of direct antiviral agent (DAA) development. We reviewed the HCV research journey, from the discovery of this virus to the development of DAAs for cure. Learning the methodology used in HCV studies and the knowledge of developing DAAs against HCV may inspire the studies of other difficult-to-culture viruses, such as hepatitis E virus and norovirus, as well as the development of DAAs for other single-stranded positive-sense RNA viruses, including the pandemic-causing SARS-CoV-2 virus, which shares the common replication strategy of forming a membrane-bound viral replicase.
Trends in household energy-related GHG emissions during COVID-19 in four Chilean cities

Abstract The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has strongly affected economies and human lifestyles globally. The changes observed in domestic energy consumption patterns have had an impact on household greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Since GHG emissions inventories are only available at the country level and at annual intervals, most studies have calculated the local emission variations by extrapolating annual emissions with smaller time and territorial scale consumption data. This research presents a bottom-up method, based on the exploitation of a survey addressed to 1200 households, that provides the information to calculate directly the variation in their energy-related GHG emissions, without the need for extrapolations. This method has been applied to four medium-sized Chilean cities with serious air quality problems. Given the high correlation between atmospheric pollutants such as NOx and CO2 emissions, we estimate that before the appearance of COVID-19, per capita CO2 emissions were already high. The results show that space heating-related GHG emissions have increased moderately (between 1 and 6%), while emissions from electricity and gas consumption for non-heating uses have increased significantly (between 8 and 23%). This has harmed the household economy, highlighting the importance of considering socioeconomic aspects when assessing the impact of COVID-19 in its entirety.
Six-Dimensional Localization of a Robotic Capsule Endoscope Using Magnetoquasistatic Field

This study presents a six-dimensional (6D) localization method and theoretical analysis for a robotic capsule endoscope (RCE). Herein, the challenge of implementing 6D localization for an RCE, with the simultaneous localization of 3D position and 3D orientation, is resolved using optimization with an induced magnetostatic field and RCE kinematics. The optimization is achieved using three transmitting coils (Txs) that are placed in a foundation bed to generate the magnetoquasistatic field and three orthogonal receiving coils (Rxs) that are embedded in the RCE, which is aligned with a capsule coordinate system (CCS), to detect the magnetoquasistatic field. For the 3D position estimation, a nonlinear net magnetic field model is linearized, and a polynomial equation optimization is formulated. The local existence and uniqueness of the solution in the region of interest (ROI) are proved based on the model and simulation. For the 3D orientation estimation, a rotation matrix describing the RCE orientation is computed using the measured magnetic field at the three orthogonal Rxs, and the orthogonality of the rotation matrix is enhanced by using the polar coordinate decomposition. Both simulations and experiments verify the suitability of the proposed method. The maximum error for position and orientation are 1.68+/−0.76 mm and 1.74+/−1.06°, respectively, under a 5 Hz sampling rate in an applicable spherical ROI with a diameter of 10 cm.
How Can Municipalities Support Aging in Place using Technological Innovations? A Single-case Study in a Canadian City

Governmental planning has to reflect the worldwide shift in demographics as the proportion of older adults is rapidly growing. Concepts such as age-friendly cities and smart cities suggest that municipalities and technologies have a role to play in supporting older citizens. Still, it is not clear how municipalities can actually support aging in place via technology? This single case-study in the city of Côte Saint-Luc, Quebec, Canada gathered via eight focus groups, the perspectives of older citizens, caregivers, and representatives of the City regarding this subject. The approach of Miles et al. (2014) was used for data analysis. Stakeholders believe the City could support aging in place by helping older citizens access existing services through technology. Furthermore, the City could provide an existing infrastructure, maintain the trust of older citizens regarding privacy issues and provide appropriate technology at a cheaper cost. Nonetheless, additional resources and various partners are necessary to undertake this technological endeavour. The City’s main responsibility would be related to the coordination of the new technological ecosystem comprising older citizens, their caregivers, volunteers, and partners providing services. More research involving multiple stakeholders is needed to conceptualize this technological ecosystem before implementing it in a real-world
The showcase of special education in Turkey: Guidance and research centres

ABSTRACT Background Identifying the students with intellectual disabilities and deciding the required services would not be sufficient without parental involvement. The purpose of this study was to understand the perspectives of the parents of students with intellectual disabilities about the Guidance and Research Centres (GRCs) and reveal the parents’ experiences at the GRCs. Method In this qualitative study, unstructured interviews were conducted. Twenty-one parents who had a child with an intellectual disability were asked about their experiences during their visit to the GRCs. Content analysis with an inductive approach was used to analyse the data. Findings Most of the parents reported problems regarding educational evaluation, and communication and collaboration. The participants provided their suggestions about evaluation procedures, professionalism, and institutional practices. Conclusions The problems at the GRCs must be considered by educators and other stakeholders to better provide educational evaluation, support services, and guidance to the students and their parents.
Emotion-related impulsivity: Testing a model of arousal effects on cognitive control

The trait-based tendency to respond rashly to emotions is robustly tied to many forms of psychopathology and poor behavioural outcomes, including aggression and suicidality. Researchers have found associations between response inhibition and emotion-related impulsivity; however, effect sizes are often small. Because emotion-related impulsivity emerges in the context of heightened positive and negative emotions, arousal is a candidate trigger of impulsivity. The goals of the present study were to (1) replicate the association between emotion-related impulsivity and response inhibition, and (2) test whether emotion-related impulsivity is associated with arousal-induced decays in response inhibition performance. Participants (N = 55) completed a self-report measure of emotion-related impulsivity, and then completed a computer-based response inhibition task (the antisaccade task, in which participants must make a rapid saccadic eye movement away from a cue rather than toward it) before and after a well-validated stress induction (the Trier Social Stress Test). Psychophysiological indices of arousal were measured throughout the session. Findings provide partial support for the association between emotion-related impulsivity and pre-stress response inhibition. Contrary to hypotheses, emotion-related impulsivity did not interact with arousal to predict post-stress response inhibition performance after controlling for pre-stress response inhibition performance. Future research is needed to consider clinical samples and to assess whether emotion-related impulsivity is related to deficits in other facets of cognitive control and decision-making.
MEDITERRANEAN CYCLONES TRACKS IN EUROPE WITH SPECIAL VIEW OVER ROMANIA (1985-2015)

Mediterranean cyclones (MCs) affect not only the countries neighboring the Mediterranean basin, but also the weather conditions in regions that are not in direct contact with the Mediterranean basin such as Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, including Romania. They are associated, in general, with extreme weather events. This study considered data over a 30-yr. period (December 1, 1986 – November 30, 2015). For MCs identification and their track tracing, the mean sea level pressure, 500 hPa geopotential heights, 500-1000 hPa relative topography and 850 hPa pseudo-equivalent potential temperature were employed. The European spatial domain was delimited as 30°-60° N latitude and as 20° V - 45 ° E longitude. To select those cyclones influencing the weather in Romania a square-shaped area whose external limits are located about 500 km from the center of Romania was used. For tracing the trajectory, the low-pressure center position at every 6 hours was considered. Frequency of occurence and track density were analyzed considering two temporal approaches: i. for the entire period and for three 10-yr subperiods; ii. the annual and seasonal scale for the entire period. For track density, the anomalies for each 10-yr sub-period and for each season were calculated. The main findings of this study are: the most exposed area to MCs are central and eastern Mediterranean regions, 43.39% of the cyclones generated in the Mediterranean basin crossed the region of Romania; seasonally, the highest occurrence frequency is specific to winter and the lowest to summer; no significant changes in the annual or seasonal occurrence was detected; during the second 10-yr sub-period weak to moderate positive anomalies were detected, whereas during the first and the last ones, positive and negative anomalies were found depending on the season and region; seasonal average position of the MCs tracks revealed the largest shift from one sub-period to another in winter and the smallest in autumn.
Two lineages of bivalve transmissible neoplasia affect the blue mussel Mytilus trossulus Gould in the subarctic Sea of Okhotsk

Abstract There are increasing findings of the bivalve transmissible neoplasia derived from the Pacific mussel Mytilus trossulus (MtrBTN) in populations of different Mytilus species worldwide. The Subarctic is an area where this disease has not yet been sought despite the fact that Mytilus spp. are widespread there, and M. trossulus itself is a boreal species. We used flow cytometry of the hemolymph, hemocytology, and histology to diagnose disseminated neoplasia in a sample of M. trossulus from Magadan in the subarctic Sea of Okhotsk. Neoplasia was identified in 11 of 214 mussels studied. Using mtDNA COI sequencing, we revealed genotypes identical or nearly identical to known MtrBTN ones in the hemolymph of most of the diseased mussels. Both MtrBTN evolutionary lineages have been identified, the widespread MtrBTN2, and MtrBTN1, so far only known from M. trossulus in British Columbia on the other side of the Pacific from Magadan. In addition, MtrBTN2 was represented by 2 common diverged mtDNA haplolineages. These conclusions were confirmed for selected cancerous mussels by molecular cloning of COI and additional nuclear and mtDNA genes. On the background of high genetic diversity, different cancers were similar in terms of ploidy (range 4.0–5.8 n) and nuclear-to-cell ratio. Our study provides the first description of neoplasia and MtrBTN in mussels from the Sea of Okhotsk and from the Subarctic, of both MtrBTN1 and MtrBTN2 in the same mussel population, and the first direct comparison between these transmissible cancers.
PERCEPTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS TO PREVENT CHILDREN VIOLENCE AND ABUSE: A CASE STUDY IN TISHK INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN ERBIL, IRAQ

Violence and abuse against children are important social issues for teachers. The aim of this study was to determine the perceptions of foreign language students, regarding violence and abuse against children, and their suggestions for preventing violence. The research was designed in the case study pattern, which is a qualitative research method. The study group of the research consists of 82 first year and second year foreign language pre-service teachers studying at Tishk International University, Faculty of Education, and voluntarily agreeing to participate in the research. The data of the study were obtained by using the structured “Recommendations Form for Preventing Violence and Abuse Against Children” developed by the researchers. Written data were analyzed by content analysis method. 82 students from first and second years at Education Faculty were interviewed and their opinions were taken. There were some subheadings during the survey: family, laws, national and international non-governmental organizations, schools and teachers, society, media, and art. They expressed their opinions about what the functions of these organs should be to prevent the violence and abuse against children. The pre-service teachers attached important duties to each of these organs separately. It is concluded that the prevention of violence and abuse against children can only be achieved in cooperation and separate duties of these organs. It is also recommended that courses and training that will provide pre-service teachers with knowledge, skills and awareness about violence and abuse against children should be placed in the curriculum as compulsory in education faculties. Keywords: violence and abuse against child, prevention of abuse, foreign language pre-service teacher
Comprehensive Investigation of Diffuser/Nozzle Element at Low Reynolds Number Aimed at Valveless Pump Design

The performance of diffuser/nozzle element in valveless pumps depends upon a number of geometrical and operational parameters. In this study, the characteristics of low Reynolds number (Re < 100) flow through conical and planar diffuser/nozzle elements with varying half-angle and area ratio (AR) were investigated with simulations and experiments. The optimal half-angle, at which maximum diffuser efficiency occurs, was found to decrease with Reynolds number for both conical and planar elements. Therefore, the results provide a selection criterion for a diffuser/nozzle pair in a valveless micropump design, where no such criterion is available so far.
A Study on the Power Parameter in Power Prior Bayesian Analysis

Abstract The power prior and its variations have been proven to be a useful class of informative priors in Bayesian inference due to their flexibility in incorporating the historical information by raising the likelihood of the historical data to a fractional power δ. The derivation of the marginal likelihood based on the original power prior, and its variation, the normalized power prior, introduces a scaling factor in the form of a prior predictive distribution with powered likelihood. In this article, we show that the scaling factor might be infinite for some positive δ with conventionally used initial priors, which would change the admissible set of the power parameter. This result seems to have been almost completely ignored in the literature. We then illustrate that such a phenomenon may jeopardize the posterior inference under the power priors when the initial prior of the model parameters is improper. The main findings of this article suggest that special attention should be paid when the suggested level of borrowing is close to 0, while the actual optimum might be below the suggested value. We use a normal linear model as an example for illustrative purposes.
On reconstruction of binary images by efficient sample-based parameterization in applications for electrical impedance tomography

An efficient computational approach for optimal reconstruction of binary-type images suitable for models in various applications including biomedical imaging is developed and validated. The methodology includes derivative-free optimization supported by a set of sample solutions with customized geometry generated synthetically. The reduced dimensional control space is organized based on contributions from individual samples and the efficient parameterization obtained from the description of the samples' geometry. The entire framework has an easy-to-follow design due to a nominal number of tuning parameters. High efficiency in computational time is achieved through applying the coordinate descent method to work with individual controls in the predefined custom order. Performance of the complete computational framework is tested in applications to 2D inverse problems of detecting inclusions or defective regions by the electrical impedance tomography (EIT). The results demonstrate the efficient performance and high potential for improving the overall quality of the EIT-based procedures including biomedical applications.