Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Death under Control: The Portrayal of Death in Mass Print English Language Magazines in Canada

The purpose of this article is to discuss the portrayal of death in modern North American society in the highest circulating English language magazines available in Canada and published either in the United States or in Canada, in 1991, 1996, and 2001. The prevailing underlying frame/discourse of which there were a number of sub-variants, was the notion of the control of death. Stories focused on people taking control of death by 1) passive and active euthanasia, 2) suicide with political and social motivations and messages, 3) suicide deaths among celebrities and the families of celebrities, 4) dramatic murders, 5) issues in the “right to die movement,” and 6) new techniques and technologies for life extension. There was a very small minority of articles on miscellaneous issues such as death rates and their variation across geographic region, social class, environmental condition, and cause. The article ends with discussion of the ways that this portrayal of death obfuscates the real lack of control most North Americans, particularly those who are poor or “racialized,” have over the timing, or circumstances of death. In addition, as a critical discourse analysis, it discusses the interests that are served by this perspective.
A 6-weeks Treatment Program Improves HRV in Eating Disorder Patients

Background: Eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa present with a significant cardiovascular associated risk of sudden cardiac death. Bradycardia is a serious complication of eating disorders. Methods: Eating Disorder (ED) patients were admitted to a 6-week treatment program and assessed for of heart rate variability (HRV) at entrance to the program and at discharge from hospital. Linear heart rate variability measures were determined using Kubios software from Lead 3 ECG recordings following a 5-minute rest period. Nonparametric statistics were applied and significance set at p < 0.05. Results: No significant differences in HRV parameters were noted for the control group following the 6-week treatment program. For the ED group, mean RR interval length decreased significantly following treatment compared (median ± IQR; -64 ± 76; p = 0.002). Sympathovagal function was abnormal in the ED group on admission but improved following treatment, showing a decrease in RMSSD (median ± IQR; -9 ± 18; p = 0.048) and SD1 (median ± IQR; -6 ± 13; p = 0.048). Sample entropy, a, measure of heart rate complexity did not change significantly. Conclusion: At admission to hospital the ED group was more parasympathetic during rest compared to controls, but they became more sympathetic after the intervention and approached the HRV measures of the controls.
Human Gender Prediction on Facial Images Taken by Mobile Phone using Convolutional Neural Networks

: The interest in automatic gender classification has increased rapidly, especially with the growth of online social networking platforms, social media applications, and commercial applications. Most of the images shared on these platforms are taken by mobile phone with different expressions, different angles and low resolution. In recent years, convolutional neural networks have become the most powerful method for image classification. Many researchers have shown that convolutional neural networks can achieve better performance by modifying different network layers of network architecture. Moreover, the selection of the appropriate activation function of neurons, optimizer and the loss function directly affects the performance of the convolutional neural networks. In this study, we propose a gender classification system from facial images taken by mobile phone using convolutional neural networks. The proposed convolutional neural networks have a simple network architecture with appropriate parameters can be used when rapid training is needed with the amount of limited training data. In the experimental study, the Adience benchmark dataset was used with 17492 different images with different gender and ages. The classification process was carried out by 10-fold cross validation. According the experimental results, the proposed convolutional neural networks predicted the gender of the images 98.87% correctly for training and 89.13% for testing.
Optimal predictive kernel regression via feature space principle components

We propose a simple use of principal component analysis in feature space that allows the derivation of optimal predictive kernel regression. The proposed approach is shown to perform well on both artificial and real data. Despite its incredible simplicity, the proposed method is found to compete very well with sophisticated statistical approaches like the Relevance Vector Machine and the Support Vector Machine.
Characteristics of Insulation Diagnosis and Failure in Gas Turbine Generator Stator Windings

In order to evaluate the insulation deterioration in the stator windings of five gas turbine generators(137 MVA, 13.8 kV) which has been operated for more than 13 years, diagnostic test and AC dielectric breakdown test were performed at phases A, B and C. These tests included measurements of AC current, dissipation factor, partial discharge (PD) magnitude and capacitance. ΔI and Δtanδ in all three phases (A, B and C) of No. 1 generator stator windings showed that they were in good condition but PD magnitude indicated marginally serviceable and bad level to the insulation condition. Overall analysis of the results suggested that the generator stator windings were indicated serious insulation deterioration and patterns of the PD in all three phases were analyzed to be internal, slot and spark discharges. After the diagnostic test, an AC overvoltage test was performed by gradually increasing the voltage applied to the generator stator windings until electrical insulation failure occurred, in order to determine the breakdown voltage. The breakdown voltage at phases A, B and C of No. 1 generator stator windings failed at 28.0 kV, 17.9 kV, and 21.3 kV, respectively. The breakdown voltage was lower than that expected for good-quality windings (28.6 kV) in a 13.8kV class generator. In the AC dielectric breakdown and diagnostic tests, there was a strong correlation between the breakdown voltage and the voltage at which charging current increases abruptly (Pi₁, Pi₂).
Airborne and ground-based observations of ammonium-nitrate-dominated aerosols in a shallow boundary layer during intense winter pollution episodes in northern Utah

Abstract. Airborne and ground-based measurements of aerosol concentrations, chemical composition, and gas-phase precursors were obtained in three valleys in northern Utah (USA). The measurements were part of the Utah Winter Fine Particulate Study (UWFPS) that took place in January–February 2017. Total aerosol mass concentrations of PM1 were measured from a Twin Otter aircraft, with an aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS). PM1 concentrations ranged from less than 2 µg m−3 during clean periods to over 100 µg m−3 during the most polluted episodes, consistent with PM2.5 total mass concentrations measured concurrently at ground sites. Across the entire region, increases in total aerosol mass above ∼2 µg m−3 were associated with increases in the ammonium nitrate mass fraction, clearly indicating that the highest aerosol mass loadings in the region were predominantly attributable to an increase in ammonium nitrate. The chemical composition was regionally homogenous for total aerosol mass concentrations above 17.5 µg m−3, with 74±5 % (average ± standard deviation) ammonium nitrate, 18±3 % organic material, 6±3 % ammonium sulfate, and 2±2 % ammonium chloride. Vertical profiles of aerosol mass and volume in the region showed variable concentrations with height in the polluted boundary layer. Higher average mass concentrations were observed within the first few hundred meters above ground level in all three valleys during pollution episodes. Gas-phase measurements of nitric acid (HNO3) and ammonia (NH3) during the pollution episodes revealed that in the Cache and Utah valleys, partitioning of inorganic semi-volatiles to the aerosol phase was usually limited by the amount of gas-phase nitric acid, with NH3 being in excess. The inorganic species were compared with the ISORROPIA thermodynamic model. Total inorganic aerosol mass concentrations were calculated for various decreases in total nitrate and total ammonium. For pollution episodes, our simulations of a 50 % decrease in total nitrate lead to a 46±3 % decrease in total PM1 mass. A simulated 50 % decrease in total ammonium leads to a 36±17 % µg m−3 decrease in total PM1 mass, over the entire area of the study. Despite some differences among locations, our results showed a higher sensitivity to decreasing nitric acid concentrations and the importance of ammonia at the lowest total nitrate conditions. In the Salt Lake Valley, both HNO3 and NH3 concentrations controlled aerosol formation.
Defining and Managing the Quality of Wilderness Recreation Experiences

There is a substantial body of scientific literature on defining and managing the quality of wilderness experiences. Two conceptual frameworks derived from this literature—carrying ca- pacity and the Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (ROS)—suggest that wilderness recreation experiences can be defined through indicators and standards of quality, and that wilderness recreation should be managed to ensure that standards of quality are sus- tained over time. This paper briefly describes the conceptual frame- works of carrying capacity and ROS; reviews the growing literature on wilderness-related indicators and standards of quality, and wilderness recreation management; and suggests a number of issues that warrant further research and management attention. The Wilderness Act, along with the organic legislation creating the four federal wilderness management agencies, prescribes multiple objectives of wilderness. One of the principal objectives of this legislation is to provide outdoor recreation opportunities. Passage of the Wilderness Act in 1964 marked the beginning of a period of intensive research on outdoor recreation in wilderness and related areas, and this research has given rise to a substantial body of scientific literature on defining and managing the quality of wilder- ness experiences. While the literature on wilderness recreation is diverse, several conceptual frameworks have evolved that help inte- grate and synthesize information from recreation research. Two traditional frameworks are carrying capacity and the Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (ROS). Both of these frameworks suggest that wilderness and related outdoor recreation experiences can be defined through indicators and standards of quality, and that wilderness recreation should be managed to ensure that standards of quality are sustained over time. This paper uses the above conceptual frameworks and approaches to review and synthesize the literature on defin- ing and managing wilderness and related outdoor recreation experiences. The conceptual frameworks of carrying capac- ity and ROS are briefly reviewed in the first section to trace the evolution and contemporary emphasis on indicators and standards of quality and related wilderness recreation man- agement practices. The next two sections review the growing literature on wilderness-related indicators and standards of quality and wilderness recreation management. A final section suggests a number of issues that warrant further research and management attention. This paper takes an expansive approach to reviewing the literature on management of wilderness and related areas for recreation experiences. Studies included in this review focus on both designated wilderness areas and areas that might be described as wilderness with a lower case "w. " The intent is to identify principles, concepts and patterns that can be synthesized from the growing scientific literature on defining and managing wilderness-related recreation experiences.
DYNAMIC STABILITY ENHANCEMENT OF A PLANNED WIND FARM WITH A STATIC VAR COMPENSATOR

In the present paper the use of a static var compensator for the purpose of improving the dynamic characteristics of a planned wind farm is investigated. First, an eigenvalue analysis is performed by taking into account various pairs of gain and time constants of the voltage regulator of the static var compensator in order to choose the most suitable ones according to the location of the eigenavalues of the system under investigation. Then a further improvement of the dynamic characteristics of the wind farm is attempted by designing a fixed-gain PID controller with a two stage lead-lag compensator that uses, as feedback signal, the speed of one of the nine induction generators (IGs) of the involved wind farm and utilizes it as an additional signal to the voltage regulator of the static var compensator. The validation of the effectiveness of the proposed PID controller is assessed through digital simulations by using the EMTP-ATP program when applying a 3-phase fault. The controller is also applied to other known operating conditions of the system through digital simulations to amply verify its suitability.
Maslahah-Mafsadah Approach in Assessing the Shari'ah Compliance of Islamic Banking Products

The recent financial crisis has intensified the discussion regarding the authenticity of Islamic banking modes of operation. Scholars have been increasingly demanded Islamic banks to re-instill the philosophy of Islamic economics in their products and services. Semantic modification is no longer seen an appropriate orientation. Instead, the 'Islamic' alterations are required to include genuine economic substance. The present paper advocates the role of shari'ah advisors in achieving the objective. Their role in making a new product legal and saleable in the market is significance. However, analysis of a few resolutions issued by the current shari'ah advisors of Malaysian Islamic banks indicates their incoherent legal methodology. In determining the shari'ah compliance of proposed banking products, the scholars can be very rigid, concentrating solely on the legal technicality and at the same time be very flexible, adapting an unregulated doctrine of maslahah. Both approaches are taken to satisfy the requirements of the Islamic banking sector. As more conscious Muslims begin to questioning the validity of these resolutions, the present paper supports Siddiqi's idea concerning the adaptation of maslahah-mafsadah calculus in order to reach more precise ijtihad in this matter.
BILAYER AND FLOATING-BIOADHESIVE TABLETS: INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO GASTRORETENSION

A bilayer and floating-bioadhesive drug delivery system exhibiting a unique combination of floatation and bioadhesion to prolong residence in the stomach. Bilayer tablet is new era for the successful development of controlled release formulation along with various features to provide a way of successful drug delivery system. Controlled release (CR) dosage forms have been extensively used to improve therapy with several important drugs. Incorporation of the drug in a controlled release gastroretentive dosage forms (CR-GRDF) which can remain in the gastric region for several hours would significantly prolong the gastric residence time of drugs and improve bioavailability, reduce drug waste, and enhance the solubility of drugs that are less soluble in high pH environment. Several approaches are currently utilized in the prolongation of the GRT, including floating drug delivery systems (FDDS), swelling and expanding systems, polymeric bioadhesive systems, high-density systems, modified-shape systems and other delayed gastric emptying devices. The floating and bioadhesive drug delivery systems are considerably easy and logical approach. An attempt has been made in this review article to introduce the society to the current technological developments in bilayer and floating- bioadhesive drug delivery system
Crack-tip Stress Field, Coulomb Failure, and the Spectral Characteristics of Tensile Rupture

Summary By combining recent empirical observations with classical theory from fracture mechanics and earthquake seismology, we develop a simple geodynamical framework for simulation of frac-induced microseismicity. Using analytical expressions for crack-tip stress, we apply the Coulomb failure criterion to obtain a scalar field with units of stress, known as the Coulomb stress field. This approach is motivated by many previous studies in earthquake seismology that have demonstrated a possible link between co-seismic Coulomb stress change and the distribution of aftershocks. Subject to excedance of a threshold value of time-dependent Coulomb stress, microseismicity is postulated to occur at random locations and with event magnitudes that satisfy the Gutenberg-Richter magnitude-recurrence relation. We also consider representative source spectra for both tensile and shear events, which are parameterized by P- and S-wave corner frequencies and DC displacement coefficients. This analysis shows that pure tensile events may be distinguished from shear slip events based on low S/P amplitude ratios. For both types of events, velocity spectra, i.e. those computed directly using the output of geophones and seismometers, exhibit a spectral peak near the corner frequency that scales with seismic efficiency, η (the ratio of radiated seismic energy to deformation energy). Finally, a crack that opens and closes very quickly (delay time ~ 50 ms) is characterized by periodic resonance and spectral notches that may be diagnostic of this phenomenon.
Domain-to-Domain Translation Model for Recommender System

Recently multi-domain recommender systems have received much attention from researchers because they can solve cold-start problem as well as support for cross-selling. However, when applying into multi-domain items, although algorithms specifically addressing a single domain have many difficulties in capturing the specific characteristics of each domain, multi-domain algorithms have less opportunity to obtain similar features among domains. Because both similarities and differences exist among domains, multi-domain models must capture both to achieve good performance. Other studies of multi-domain systems merely transfer knowledge from the source domain to the target domain, so the source domain usually comes from external factors such as the search query or social network, which is sometimes impossible to obtain. To handle the two problems, we propose a model that can extract both homogeneous and divergent features among domains and extract data in a domain can support for other domain equally: a so-called Domain-to-Domain Translation Model (D2D-TM). It is based on generative adversarial networks (GANs), Variational Autoencoders (VAEs), and Cycle-Consistency (CC) for weight-sharing. We use the user interaction history of each domain as input and extract latent features through a VAE-GAN-CC network. Experiments underscore the effectiveness of the proposed system over state-of-the-art methods by a large margin.
Simulation of mixing and precipitation of nanoparticles for pharmaceutical applications with CFD and MD

We present a new approach to calculate the nucleation rate in solvent-displacement processes. The expression obtained from classic nucleation theory seems not to be adequate to describe this kind of process when macromolecules of polymer are used, due to the number of approximations involved. A new expression for the nucleation rate is derived and molecular dynamics simulations are used to obtain all the parameters involved. This expression is then implemented together with the classical one into computational fluid dynamics simulations and predictions compared
A new analysis of the short-duration, hard-spectrum GRB 051103, a possible extragalactic soft gamma repeater giant flare

GRB 051103 is considered to be a candidate soft gamma repeater (SGR) extragalactic giant magnetar flare by virtue of its proximity on the sky to M81/M82, as well as its time history, localization and energy spectrum. We have derived a refined interplanetary network localization for this burst which reduces the size of the error box by over a factor of 2. We examine its time history for evidence of a periodic component, which would be one signature of an SGR giant flare, and conclude that this component is neither detected nor detectable under reasonable assumptions. We analyse the time-resolved energy spectra of this event with improved time and energy resolution, and conclude that although the spectrum is very hard its temporal evolution at late times cannot be determined, which further complicates the giant flare association. We also present new optical observations reaching limiting magnitudes of R > 24.5, about 4-mag deeper than previously reported. In tandem with serendipitous observations of M81 taken immediately before and 1 month after the burst, these place strong constraints on any rapidly variable sources in the region of the refined error ellipse proximate to M81. We do not find any convincing afterglow candidates from either background galaxies or sources in M81, although within the refined error region we do locate two UV bright star-forming regions which may host SGRs. A supernova remnant (SNR) within the error ellipse could provide further support for an SGR giant flare association, but we were unable to identify any SNR within the error ellipse. These data still do not allow strong constraints on the nature of the GRB 051103 progenitor, and suggest that candidate extragalactic SGR giant flares will be difficult, although not impossible, to confirm.
Testing the randomness of causality networks from multivariate time series

In network analysis it is important to contrast the given or formed network to a random network, typically by means of significance testing of some network measures. This requires the generation of random networks that preserve certain properties of the original network, i.e. the total number of nodes and connections or even the number of connections of each node. In this paper we show that these schemes are not appropriate for correlation or causality networks formed from multivariate time series, which have nodes the observed variables and connections given by some measure of correlation (undirected connections) or Granger causality (directed connections). Further, we propose a scheme that performs the randomization on the time series rather than the network connections. Particularly for the networks formed by cross correlation, we generate surrogates for each time series preserving the marginal distribution and linear autocorrelation, and form the network from the surrogate multivariate time series. Simulations on multivariate time series with no inter-dependencies shows that the classical network randomization erroneously tends to reject the null hypothesis of random network, whereas the proposed scheme does not.
SELECTION OF SOLID CARBIDE END MILL FOR MACHINING ALUMINUM 6082-T6 USING CRITIC AND TOPSIS METHODS

Received: 30 March 2017 / Accepted: 20 April 2017 Abstract: The selection of the best end mill is a complex task because there are many alternatives and criteria to be taken into consideration when making decisions. In this paper, the selection of solid carbide end mill for machining Al 6082-T6 is presented using TOPSIS multi-criteria decision making method, where the objective weights are determined by CRITIC method. Based on the four criteria (number of end mill teeth, cutting speed, feed per tooth and the price) a selection of the most appropriate alternative of the six, i.e. from different manufacturers of cutting tools (Seco, YCT and Iscar).