Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Wikoff Spiritual Focus Questionnaire

Spirituality is a concept that has been a part of nursing since nursing began. In every culture spirituality is a component of healing. However, in the United States, nurses seldom assess the concept of spirituality and the patient’s spiritual needs are often not addressed. Wikoff Spiritual Focus Questionnaire was designed to help nurses assess and meet the patient’s spiritual needs. A review of literature revealed that spirituality was comprised of a relationship between a Higher Power, Self, Others, and Nature which resulted in a sense of being, knowing and life purpose. A fifth dimension of Religion was identified through a pilot study of the Wikoff Spiritual Focus Questionnaire. The purpose of this study was to refine and test the psychometric properties of the Wikoff Spiritual Focus Questionnaire (WSFQ). Psychometric analysis of the WSFQ was used to refine the questionnaire from 50-items to 20-items using the results from item analysis and exploratory factor analysis. The final 20-items were tested for internal consistency reliability and confirmatory factor analysis. The WSFQ was validated with a convenience sample (N=256) of women using exploratory factor analysis and with a sample of acute care inpatients (N=200) using confirmatory factor analysis. The resulting analysis revealed that the five components (a relationship with a Higher Power, Self, Others, Nature and Religion) were demonstrated have a Coefficient Alpha that ranged from . 89-. 96. The confirmatory factor analysis yielded a mediocre fit to the postulated five-factor solution. There is strong support for the ongoing use and testing of this questionnaire. Recommendations include continued evaluation using a larger sample size and in combination with the nursing care plan. This tool can provide nursing with method of measuring spiritual importance in the patient’s life and can then Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. lead to developing appropriate nursing interventions to improve spiritual coping and improved healing overall. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my husband Jim Wikoff. Jim died just four months before the completion of this dissertation making this a bittersweet accomplishment. I would never have accomplished this goal without his unfailing support, his encouragement and dedication to “our” goal. Jim’s love has sustained me through the final phase of this accomplishment.
Becoming an Expert Teacher: Assessing Expertise Growth in Peer Feedback Video Recordings by Lexical Analysis

Teacher education enables students to grow from ‘novice’ into ‘starting expert’ teachers. In this study, students’ textual peer feedback on video recordings of their teaching practice was analysed to determine the growth of their expertise in relation to blended curriculum design. The degree to which curriculum and literature influenced their feedback was assessed by semantic network analysis of prominent words from the literature that was studied, as well as the lexical richness and semantic cohesion of students’ peer feedback and reflections. The lexical richness and the semantic cohesion increased significantly by the end of the semester. This means that students incorporated new vocabulary and maintained semantic consistency while using the new words. Regarding the semantic network analysis, we found stronger connections between the topics being discussed by the students at the end of the semester. Active use of video and peer feedback enhances students’ active knowledge base, thus furthering effective teaching.
Lip print recognition using LBP based on bit plane

Personal identification is a very important technique in the computer vision. Recognition of biological feature (e.g., lip) is broadly applied because of its uniqueness and convenience. This paper proposed a framework for lip print recognition using Local Binary Pattern based on bit plane (BLBP). The BLBP features were first obtained from lip print. In order to achieve robust recognition, the BLBP features were normalized and Support Vector Machine (SVM) with Gaussian radial basis function was used for classification. The results showed that the proposed framework was more effective and accurately comparing with other methodologies.
ON DIRECT KERNEL ESTIMATOR OF DENSITY RATIO

Estimation for a density ratio has an important role in statistical inference. We can use the estimator for testing homogeneity of two samples, detecting change point etc. Let f ( x ) and g ( x ) denote probability density functions and g ( x 0 ) ̸ = 0 ( x 0 2 R ). There are several ways to estimate the density ratio f ( x 0 ) =g ( x 0 ). In this paper we discuss a kernel estimation that is a popular method in nonparametric statistical inference. A naive estimator is constituted from separate estimators of f ( x 0 ) and g ( x 0 ), which we call an indirect estimator. Another estimator is proposed by (cid:19)Cwik and Mielniczuk (1989), which we call a direct estimator. Extending (cid:19)Cwik and Mielniczuk (1989)’s method, we propose a new direct estimator, and derive an asymptotic mean squared error. We also prove central limit theorem of the new estimator, and compare mean squared errors of the proposed estimator and the direct estimator by
Effects of a Dominant Species on the Functional Diversity of Coexisting Species in Temperate Deciduous Understorey

The herb layer plays a significant role in maintaining forest functions, and its community composition is determined by various abiotic factors and biotic interactions. This study attempted to investigate the interspecific plant–plant biotic interactions using a functional traits approach. Specifically, the effects of a dominant species coverage on the functional diversity of coexisting species in the temperate forest understory were studied. Species coverage and soil moisture data were collected using a 1 m2 quadrat couplet (2 × 1 m2) from six sites alongside a 20 m linear transect encompassing a cover gradient of Allium ursinum in southwest Hungary. Major plant functional dimensions i.e., aboveground, and clonal functional traits were considered. Linear and nonlinear mixed models to quantify the effects of biotic interaction on the functional diversity of every single trait and multiple traits were employed. Both aboveground traits and clonal traits of persistent clonal growth organs responded positively to the A. ursinum L. , cover gradient. The coexistence of understory species in the presence of a monodominant species seems to be mainly influenced by aboveground traits as compared to the clonal traits suggesting, a role of niche differentiation. The consistent impact of A. ursinum coverage on coexisting species dynamics highlights a need for similar in-depth studies in various forest settings.
Preparation and characterization of an electromagnetic composite polypyrrole/polyethylene short filament geotextile

In this paper, firstly, polypyrrole was prepared by in situ polymerization using pyrrole as the monomer, hexahydrate ferric chloride as the oxidizer and dopant, and polyethylene geotextile as the substrate to prepare a polypyrrole/polyethylene short filament geotextile composite; secondly, the electromagnetic microwave absorption property and shielding property of the polypyrrole/polyethylene short filament geotextile composite were investigated; finally, the chemical structure of the polypyrrole/polyethylene short filament geotextile composite was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Raman test methods. The results show that the reflection loss value is up to the minimum value of –17.53 dB in the frequency range of 0–3 GHz and the best absorbing performance is obtained at the frequency of 1.12 GHz. In the frequency range of 0.95–1.25 GHz, the reflection loss value is less than –10 dB, and the electromagnetic wave is effectively absorbed. The shielding effectiveness value is up to the maximum value of 16.07 dB at the frequency of 1.19 GHz, that is, the shielding ability becomes strongest at the frequency of 1.19 GHz; otherwise, the shielding effectiveness is higher than 14 dB in the frequency range of 0.17–3.0 GHz. The FTIR, Raman, XRD, and DSC tests result show that polypyrrole has been successfully loaded on the polyethylene geotextile, improving the crystallinity and thermal stability property of the composite.
Monetary and Fiscal Policies Interaction in a Large Emerging Economy: Which Is the Leader Policy?

This article analyzed the intertemporal interaction between monetary and fiscal policies in Brazil. We aimed at identifying if structural innovations to the real interest rate were able to induce unexpected effects on fiscal and inflation dynamics. To do so, we estimated Structural Vector Autoregressive (SVAR) models over the period from Jan/2004 to Apr/2019. Moreover, we filtered out the time series’ long-memory component through a fractional integration approach, so that we did not build our analysis on traditional unit root tests. The findings showed that monetary policy shocks robustly activated an unconventional transmission channel based on the Fiscal Theory of the Price Level, i.e., an unexpected and induced change in primary surpluses, through a wealth effect, as mechanism to satisfy the Government’s intertemporal budget constraint. Such a result is strongly linked to another evidence, that is, the monetary policy`s role as a leader in shaping inflation over time.
Additions to Occultibambusaceae (Pleosporales, Dothideomycetes): Unrevealing Palmicolous Fungi in China

During a survey of microfungi associated with palms from karst formations, three novel ascomycetes were found from decaying petioles of Trachycarpus fortunei (Arecaceae) in Guizhou, China. Multi-gene phylogenetic analyses based on a combined SSU, ITS, LSU, RPB2 and TEF1α sequence data showed that these collections were affiliated to Brunneofusispora and Neooccultibambusa in the family Occultibambusaceae. A new species Brunneofusispora inclinatiostiola is introduced. It is phylogenetically close to B. clematidis but represents a distinct lineage. Morphologically, it differs from the latter in having immersed ascomata with eccentric, periphysate ostiole and smaller ascospores. Morpho-phylogenetic evidence also revealed two new Neooccultibambusa species, N. kaiyangensis and N. trachycarpi. Together with the generic type N. chiangraiensis, they formed a distinct lineage within the genus Neooccultibambusa. Three novel palmicolous fungi of Occultibambusaceae are described, illustrated and notes on their identification are provided. The ecological significance of the new taxa and the phylogenetic relationship of genera in Occultibambusaceae is discussed.
Varied midlatitude shortwave cloud radiative responses to Southern Hemisphere circulation shifts

Changes in midlatitude clouds as a result of shifts in general circulation patterns are widely thought to be a potential source of radiative feedbacks onto the climate system. Previous work has suggested that two general circulation shifts anticipated to occur in a warming climate, poleward shifts in the midlatitude jet streams and a poleward expansion of the Hadley circulation, are associated with differing effects on midlatitude clouds. This study examines two dynamical cloud‐controlling factors, mid‐tropospheric vertical velocity, and the estimated inversion strength (EIS) of the marine boundary layer temperature inversion, to explain why poleward shifts in the Southern Hemisphere midlatitude jet and Hadley cell edge have varying shortwave cloud‐radiative responses at midlatitudes. Changes in vertical velocity and EIS occur further equatorward for poleward shifts in the Hadley cell edge than they do for poleward shifts of the midlatitude jet. Because the sensitivity of shortwave cloud radiative effects (SWCRE) to variations in vertical velocity and EIS is a function of latitude, the SWCRE anomalies associated with jet and Hadley cell shifts differ. The dynamical changes associated with a poleward jet shift occur further poleward in a regime where the sensitivities of SWCRE to changes in vertical velocity and EIS balance, leading to a near‐net zero change in SWCRE in midlatitudes with a poleward jet shift. Conversely, the dynamical changes associated with Hadley cell expansion occur further equatorward at a latitude where the sensitivity of SWCRE is more strongly associated with changes in mid‐tropospheric vertical velocity, leading to a net shortwave cloud radiative warming effect in midlatitudes.
Understanding the Electronic Interactions, Vertical Excitation Analysis, and the Photovoltaic Properties of 5-(2-ethylhexyl)-1,3-di(furan-2-yl)-4H-thieno[3,4-c]pyrrole-4,6-dione

Organic photovoltaic (OPV) are a promising new class of photovoltaic as they offer several advantageous features including large surface area to volume ratio, low cost, lightweight properties, and durability. The limitation of OPV that prevented their adoption for use in the past was their low power conversion efficiency (PCE) but that drawback has been solved by the development of the donor-acceptor-donor (D-A-D) system with high conversion efficiencies. Herein, 5-(2-ethylhexyl)-1,3-di (furan-2-yl)-4H-thieno [3,4-c]pyrrole-4,6(5H)-dione (FTPF), a donor-acceptor-donor monomer was investigated for its optoelectronic, excited state, and photovoltaic properties using a density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density function theory (TD-DFT) at the B3LYP/6-31+G(d,p) theoretical method. The spectral analysis (FT-IR, UV-vis, and NMR), electronic molecular properties, natural bonding orbitals (MOs and NBOs) analyses, and excitation were studied at this level in gas, hexane, DMF, and THF. The UV-Vis spectrum showed that FTPF exhibited mono-absorption in non-polar gas and hexane, but dual absorptions in polar solvents (DMF and THF) having maximum wavelength (λmax) at 351, 359, 371 and 373 nm in gas, hexane, THF, and DMF respectively, showing a major red shift as solvent became polar. The hole-electron excitation studies of the first five singlet states: S0→S1/S2/S3/S4/S5 in gas and DMF phases showed that S0→S1 is a delocalized π→π* Rydberg excitations originating from the D-A-D C=C π bonds, S0→S2 is π→π* local excitation, while S0→S3 in water occurred as an n→π* from the carbonyl and azolide groups of the acceptor unit, but n→π* charge transfer (CT) in DMF. The S0→S5 in water and S0→S4 are n→π* LE type excitations, while S0→S5 in DMF conformed to a delocalized π→π* excitation extended over the D-A-D conjugated backbone. FTPF provided efficient electron injection in all studied solvent; showing that FTPF is a sure-bet for opto-electronic application.
Impairment of Episodic-Specific Autobiographical Memory in Individuals with Subjective Cognitive Decline and in Patients with Prodromal or Mild Alzheimer's Disease.

BACKGROUND Autobiographical memory (AM) is a personal form of memory that becomes impaired in the early, clinical stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In the "preclinical" phase of AD, neuropathological hallmarks are present (especially in a brain network underpinning AM), but performance on standardized neuropsychological tests is normal. Even so, some patients have subjective cognitive decline (SCD). OBJECTIVE The aim was to 1) investigate AM performance on two tests with different approaches in SCD, and in prodromal and mild AD, and 2) examine the association between the AM tests. METHODS We included 17 SCD patients with heightened risk of AD, 17 amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) patients, 17 patients with mild dementia due to AD, and 30 healthy controls. Patients were diagnosed according to international criteria, and all participants had MMSE scores≥24. AM was assessed using the Columbia Autobiographical Memory Interview-Short Form (CAMI-SF) and the Three Events Test. These tests measure the production of contextual details. RESULTS Significant group effects were found for the Three Events Test and the CAMI-SF. All patient groups produced significantly fewer contextual details than the controls on the Three Events Test. On CAMI-SF, the aMCI and mild AD groups were able to answer fewer questions or gave significantly less detailed answers than the other groups. The SCD patients performed below the controls on CAMI-SF, but the difference was not significant. CONCLUSION AM may be impaired in very early AD, even in the phases where standardized episodic memory tests show no decline.
Forecasting the Spread of COVID-19 in Asia: A Clustering and Seasonal Analysis

The objective of this research is to analyze COVID-19 outbreak data in Asia using k-means and Seasonal Patterns techniques. The data was gathered from various organizations worldwide, available on GitHub from February 24, 2020, to May 16, 2022. The population density in Asia was clustered into Clusters_0 (high density), Clusters_1 (low density), and Clusters_2 (medium density) using k-means clustering. Moreover, forecasting was performed using the seasonal variation technique to create a map of the COVID-19 spread in Asia. Based on the available actual data, the spread of COVID-19 is expected to exhibit a decreasing trend in transmission over the next 30 days with a total margin of reliability rate of 81.21%. This research can be useful for policymakers, organizations, and public health officials to make informed decisions about future COVID-19 response plans.
Complete chloroplast genome sequences of five Bruguiera species (Rhizophoraceae): comparative analysis and phylogenetic relationships

Bruguiera is a genus of true mangroves that are mostly distributed in the Indo-West Pacific region. However, the number of published whole chloroplast genome sequences of Bruguiera species are limited. Here, the complete chloroplast sequences of five Bruguiera species were sequenced and assembled using Illumina data. The chloroplast genomes of B. gymnorhiza, B. hainesii, B. cylindrica, B. parviflora and B. sexangula were assembled into 161,195, 164,295, 164,297, 163,228 and 164,170 bp, respectively. All chloroplast genomes contain 37 tRNA and eight rRNA genes, with either 84 or 85 protein-coding genes. A comparative analysis of these genomes revealed high similarity in gene structure, gene order and boundary position of the LSC, SSC and two IR regions. Interestingly, B. gymnorhiza lost a rpl32 gene in the SSC region. In addition, a ndhF gene in B. parviflora straddles both the SSC and IRB boundary regions. These genes reveal differences in chloroplast evolution among Bruguiera species. Repeats and SSRs in the chloroplast genome sequences were found to be highly conserved between B. cylindrica and B. hainesii as well as B. gymnorhiza and B. sexangula indicating close genetic relationships based on maternal inheritance. Notably, B. hainesii, which is considered a hybrid between B. gymnorhiza and B. cylindrica, appears to have inherited the chloroplast from B. cylindrica. Investigating the effects of selection events on shared protein-coding genes showed a positive selection in rps7 and rpl36 genes in all species compared to land-plant species. A phylogenetic analysis, based on 59 conserved chloroplast protein-coding genes, showed strong support that all Bruguiera species are in the clade Rhizophoraceae. This study provides valuable genetic information for the study of evolutionary relationships and population genetics in Bruguiera and other mangrove species.
Transparent backsheets for bifacial photovoltaic (PV) modules: Material characterization and accelerated laboratory testing

Interest in bifacial modules has rapidly increased over the past decade due to their ability to generate more power than conventional monofacial photovoltaic (PV) technology as they can absorb sunlight from both sides of the module. Compared to the traditional glass/glass bifacial modules, glass/backsheet modules show many advantages including lighter weight, high light transmittance, and high corrosion resistance. However, research on the weatherability and long‐term reliability of transparent backsheet materials and their usage in bifacial modules under service environments is lacking. In this study, accelerated weather testing using the NIST SPHERE (Simulated Photodegradation via High Energy Radiant Exposure) was conducted to investigate the durability of three fluoropolymer‐based transparent backsheets and their laminated coupon counterparts. The transparent backsheets were exposed at 75°C/50% relative humidity (RH), while the coupons were exposed at 65°C/50% RH, both subjected to UV irradiance of approximately 140 W/m2 for up to 2000 h. Results indicate that a fluoroethylene vinyl ether (FEVE)/polyethylene terephthalate (PET)/ethylene‐vinyl acetate (EVA)‐based transparent backsheet (CB3) exhibited substantial chemical, optical, thermal, and mechanical changes and ultimate cracking after 1200 h (≈600 MJ/m2). The other two backsheets, polyvinyl fluoride (PVF)/PET/FEVE‐based (CB1) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)/PET/FEVE‐based (CB2) backsheets, showed no obvious signs of cracking up to 2000 h of UV exposure (≈1000 MJ/m2). For all three backsheets, the PET core layer demonstrated the greatest material property changes after UV exposure indicating that this layer is the most susceptible to UV degradation. Results indicate that the application of transparent backsheets for bifacial modules is promising. However, proper design of the layers of the backsheets for increasing the stability of PET core layer under UV exposure is critical. This study will provide a scientific basis for material choice and product development for a more reliable bifacial PV technology.
Three-dimensional point cloud registration algorithm based on quadratic error

Three-dimensional point cloud registration is a research hotspot in the field of computer vision. The shape of the point cloud is an essential form of describing the point cloud. Many registration algorithms form feature descriptors that can describe the shape by extracting features. These feature descriptors express the difference in the shape of the point cloud. This paper proposes a new feature descriptor based on quadratic error, which has rotation invariance. Two feature descriptors are obtained by extracting the quadratic error of the point and the quadratic error of the neighborhood point. Although the point cloud registration algorithm based on Gaussian mixture model has good robustness in terms of noise and outliers, this type of method does not perform well for larger-scale rotations. In this paper, the quadratic error feature descriptor is used as the local features of the Gaussian mixture model to optimize the registration effect of the Gaussian mixture model in larger rotations, and a dual-feature-based registration strategy is proposed to optimize the defects of single-feature-based registration. The experiment compares our proposed algorithm with the robust ICP algorithm and the popular feature-based registration algorithm regarding registration efficiency and registration accuracy. The efficiency is 3-4 times that of robust ICP. In large-scale rotation, our proposed algorithm has good robustness and is superior to mainstream algorithms.