Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Time2Cluster: Clustering Time Series Using Neighbor Information

Time series clustering is an important task in its own right, and often a subroutine in other higher-level algorithms. However, clustering sub-sequences of a time series is known to be a particularly hard problem, and it has been shown that naive clustering of subsequences yields “meaning-less” results under common assumptions. In this work, we introduce Time2Cluster, a novel representation and accompanying algorithm that mean-ingfully clusters time series subsequences. Our key insight is to avoid depending solely on relative distance information between subsequences, and instead to exploit information about the “neighbor-hood” subsequences. Our algorithm uses neighborhood information to mitigate the negative effects of small variations, such as phase shift, be-tween the subsequences of time series data.
Revealing the optoelectronic properties of tin-based vacancy ordered double perovskites: K2SnBr6 and Rb2SnBr6

In the field of photovoltaics and optoelectronics, perovskites have drawn significant interest due to their highpower conversion efficiency of 22%. This drives the researchers to search for new lead-free stable materials that can show good performance to use in optoelectronic devices specially in the photovoltaic field. In the present work, we focused to find out the electronic and optical properties of two tin based vacancy ordered double perovskites, K2SnBr6 and Rb2SnBr6. The primary purpose of this work is to provide fundamental understanding on the physical properties of the considered two compounds by calculating its electronic structure and optical characteristics accurately. The calculations are performed by using the Vienna ab-initio simulation package (VASP) based on the density functional theory. We used hybrid functional (Heyd-Scuseria-Ernzerhof) method to account for exchange and correlation effects which provides accurate band gap values. From the electronic property calculation, it can be seen that the compounds have direct band gap nature with optimal band gap energy suitable for photovoltaic applications. For understanding the electronic states and nature of chemical bonding, we calculated the total and partial density of states. In order to obtain a better insight on these material for photovoltaic applications, we simulated excited state spectra and plotted the optical functions such as the absorption coefficient, extinction coefficient, conductivity and reflectivity.
Fate of Heavy Metals Pb and Zn in the West Season at Jeneberang Estuary, Makassar

The pollutant quantity of heavy metals entering water environment does not give complete answer toward the generated effect and risk, however it needs thoroughly study related to the pollutant dynamic. The aim of this research was to investigate the fate of Pb and Zn in water, such as: distribution, behavior, and reactivity (case study: Jeneberang Estuary, Makassar). Pb and Zn concentrations were determined using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS). The distribution of dissolved Pb and Zn showed a pattern that the lowest concentration was in the fresh water (the river zone), whereas the highest concentration was in the salt water (the marine zone). The distribution pattern of particulate Pb and Zn showed that the highest concentration was in the fresh water (the river zone) and the salt water (the marine zone), whereas the lowest concentration was in the estuary zone. The behavior of dissolved Pb and Zn tended to increase the concentration (desorption) along the increased salinity gradient. The residual fraction was the dominant component of geochemical fractions in the sediment that indicated t he sources of Pb and Zn mainly derived from a natural process and the reactivity was low in the water. Keywords : distribution, behavior, reactivity, lead, zinc, pollution
PPA_A_265503 1761..1770

1Reproductive Health Program, Population Council, Nairobi, Kenya; 2Reproductive Health Program, Population Council, New York, NY, USA; 3Reproductive Health Program, Population Council, Dakar, Senegal Purpose: This study explored experiences of selecting and utilizing a newly introduced contraceptive – the progesterone vaginal ring (PVR) – among women seeking a contraceptive method in 3 African capital cities (Abuja, Nairobi, and Senegal). The study explored women’s perceptions of, and lived experiences with, using the new product to better understand their reception of a new contraceptive. This understanding will help inform the design of programs to support women in their adoption and continued use of the PVR and other new contraceptives. Patients and Methods: This longitudinal, qualitative study drew on an interpretive phenomenological approach, involving multiple in-depth interviews (IDIs) with 9 study participants over a 6-month period. Participants involved in the study were postpartum women seeking contraceptive services at participating clinics. A total of 25 IDIs were conducted, and a detailed “within-case” and “cross-case” analysis of participants’ accounts was carried out to identify similar and dissimilar themes along descriptive, linguistic, and conceptual lines. Results: Four overarching themes emerged from the analysis. These themes circulated around the unconventionality of the PVR, which heightened its desirability among participants; the sense of comfort that women gained from opting to use the PVR over other FP methods; narratives of consideration that centered on women’s partners, and that were important for ensuring the sustainability of women’s PVR use; and the conundrums that women grappled with as they prepared to disengage from the PVR after two cycles of use. Conclusion: The PVR is an acceptable contraceptive method to postpartum women in urban African settings. However, prior to its introduction into new country contexts, formative data on women’s perceptions of, and reactions to, the product need to inform country preparation processes. Such information would be useful for tailoring counseling around this contraceptive, as well as for product marketing and robust uptake of the method.
THE INTERRELATIONSHIP OF MARKETING IN THE STRATEGY OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT IN HEALTHCARE SECTOR

The impact of the interrelationship between relationship marketing and strategic business management, as well as the acceptance of a new product by healthcare customers is extremely important and hence has been examined in this research paper. The contemporary technique of explaining healthcare consumer behavior launches a new process of marketing segmentation, relatively based on several characteristics e.g. age, life cycle stage, culture and social, and economic aspects.The researcher proposes that the application of the customer’s segmentation algorithm in accordance with relationship marketing concepts requires considering long-term customer value and the specifics of the client's needs. The methodology that has been adopted by the researcher in the current study is descriptive research in terms of applying the mathematical record of the algorithm. In the researcher’s opinion, this approach allows organizations, from the healthcare and insurance sectors, to reduce the costs associated with maintaining the interrelationships among the groups of non-future clients. Also, it allows for the possibility of shifting the funds saved in this manner to support key clients. Customer segmentation facilitates building the most profitable portfolio, which becomes extremely important, as it enhances an organizations’ ability to gain competitive advantages.
Study on Underwater Navigation for Underwater Track Vehicle

In this study, an underwater navigation algorithm was developed to apply a navigation system to an underwater track vehicle (UTV). Generally, a Doppler velocity log (DVL) is used to obtain the velocity information of underwater vehicles. However, a DVL cannot be used in a UTV owing to vehicle vibration and limited sensing distance. Hence, dead reckoning navigation is typically used, which results in severe errors in altitude and position values over long periods of operation. To address these problems, in this study, we developed a new underwater navigation system for a UTV using navigation sensors comprising an inertial navigation system, an ultra-short baseline, and an encoder sensor on a track wheel. We performed mathematical modeling of the accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer. We constructed a navigation system composed of electronic hardware, a control system, an operating system, and a navigation system and then performed a navigation experiment. Finally, we verified the performance of the developed underwater navigation system using real sea area experiments.
The influence of drifts in the ITER divertor in nonlinear MHD JOREK simulations with fluid and kinetic neutrals

For ITER operation, resonant magnetic perturbations (RMP) applied for ELM control will ergodise the plasma-edge magnetic field. This will strongly influence the topology of the magnetic field at the divertor, leading to 3D patterns in the energy and particles fluxes. This will influence impurity sputtering and transport across the separatrix. The aim is, using the nonlinear extended MHD code JOREK [1], to simulate the MHD response of the plasma to the applied RMP fields, with a consistent 3D description of the divertor. JOREK has previously been extended with a module for kinetic particles (neutrals, impurities, fast particles), non-linearly coupled to the MHD fluid [2]. The extended MHD model includes ExB drifts, diamagnetic drifts and neoclassical flows. These drift can have large influences, on e.g. divertor asymmetries. Realistic divertor conditions are important for impurity sputtering, transport and their effect on the plasma. In this contribution we look at the influence of poloidal flows on divertor conditions in the ITER PFPO-1 (1.8T/5MA) H-mode plasma scenario, and compare the divertor plasma conditions and heat flux to the wall for both the fluid and kinetic neutral model (in JOREK) to the well-established 2D boundary plasma simulation code suite SOLPS-ITER [3].
An Overview of Machine Learning in Chatbots

A chatbot is an intelligent system which can hold a conversation with a human using natural language in real time. Due to the rise of Internet usage, many businesses now use online platforms to handle customer inquiries, and many of them turn to chatbots for improving their customer service or for streamlining operations and increasing their productivity. However, there is still a gap between existing chatbots and the autonomous, conversational agents businesses hope to implement. As such, this paper will first provide an overview of chatbots and then focus on research trends regarding the development of human-like chatbots capable of closing this technological gap. We reviewed the literature published over the past decade, from 1998 to 2018, and presented an overview of chatbots using a mind-map. The research findings suggest that chatbots operate in three steps: understanding the natural language input; generating an automatic, relevant response; and, constructing realistic and fluent natural language responses. The current bottleneck in designing artificially intelligent chatbots lies in the industry’s lack of natural language processing capabilities. Without the ability to properly understand the content and context of a user’s input, the chatbot cannot generate a relevant response.
(Re)Engaging Novice Online Learners in an Educational Programming Game ∗

Many people are learning programming on their own using various on-line resources such as educational games. Unfortunately, little is known about how to keep online educational game learners motivated throughout their game play, especially if they become disengaged or frustrated with their task. Keeping online learners engaged is essential for learning programming, as it may have lasting eﬀects on their views and self-eﬃcacy towards computer science. To address this issue, we created a coarse-grained frustration detector that provided users with customized, adaptive feedback to help (re)engage them with the game content. We ran a controlled experiment with 400 participants over the course of 1.5 months, with half of the players playing the original game, and the other half playing the game with the frustration detection and adaptive feed-back. We found that the users who received the adaptive feedback when frustrated completed more levels than their counterparts who did not receive this customized feedback. Based on these ﬁndings, we believe that adaptive feedback is essential in keeping educational game learners engaged, and propose future work for researchers and designers of online educational games to better support their users.
TPACK for meaningful learning survey: "paths" for professional development of biology teachers in Brazil

In the last decade different instruments were developed to empirically test the TPACK theoretical framework. The TPACK for Meaningful Learning survey was the first survey to obtain statistical validation for all seven predicted constructs. In the present work we used a version of the TPACK for Meaningful Learning survey adapted and validated in the Portuguese language to investigate the TPACK perceptions of Brazilian biology teachers, their interrelationships and relations with demographic variables. Results indicate a strong positive correlation between the constructs that hold the technology component. Path analysis corroborated the hypothesis that TK influences TPK and TCK, and that these two constructs directly influence TPACK. Evidence showed that the variables “age” and “years of service” influence teachers’ perceptions, especially the constructs that hold the technology component. Results obtained in the present study are discussed considering the empirical results obtained in other countries using the TPACK for Meaningful Learning survey. Taken together, our research findings contribute to foster professional development strategies for teachers that aim at the integration of technologies in teaching.
Monitoring of conditions inside gas aggregation cluster source during production of Ti/TiOx nanoparticles

Gas aggregation sources are nowadays rather widely used in the research community for producing nanoparticles. However, the direct diagnostics of conditions inside the source are relatively scarce. In this work, we focused on monitoring the plasma parameters and the composition of the gas during the production of the TiOx nanoparticles. We studied the role of oxygen in the aggregation process and the influence of the presence of the particles on the plasma. The construction of the source allowed us to make a 2D map of the plasma parameters inside the source.
Exploring the need to contextualise professional development programmes for university lecturers: A case study in Thailand

Although the literature on the professional development (PD) of university lecturers is growing, few studies have highlighted the importance of contextualising PD programmes to reflect universities’ idiosyncratic contexts and the specific combination of national and institutional cultures impacting pedagogical practices. In order to investigate how lecturers’ learning needs are shaped by the national and institutional cultures of universities, this study focused on one English-speaking university in Thailand. Data come from a focus group and interviews with 10 lecturers to understand: (i) their PD needs; and (ii) how these needs related to the university context. We compared the findings with themes identified in the literature and highlighted the importance of contextualising PD programmes to meet lecturers’ specific PD needs while responding to the national and institutional cultures of the university.12
Understanding the Determinants of Nascent Entrepreneurship in Entrepreneurially Active and Passive Economies: A Macro-Level Analysis

This quantitative study investigates the determinants of nascent entrepreneurship in GEM participating economies. Findings suggest that various economic and non-economic factors determine nascent entrepreneurial activity in these countries. However, complementing the on-going research on nascent entrepreneurship, the study has addressed a void in literature by examining the impact of entrepreneurial characteristic of an economy on its nascent entrepreneurial activity rate. Empirical estimates suggest that if an economy is entrepreneurially active it offers a significant positive impact on nascent entrepreneurship. Other active factors advancing nascent entrepreneurship in the sample countries include: per capita income, research and development expenditures, days required to start a business, certain age groups of the population, confidence of an individual on his/her skills to do business, desirability to pursue entrepreneurship as a career and the presence of entrepreneurial role models in an economy. Policy implications relate to measures suggested for advancing nascent entrepreneurship in entrepreneurially passive economies.
Mixed ancestry analysis of whole-genome sequencing reveals common, rare, and structural variants associated with posterior urethral valves

Posterior urethral valves (PUV) are the commonest cause of end-stage renal disease in children, but the genetic architecture of this disorder remains largely unknown. To address this, we analyzed whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data from 132 unrelated PUV cases and 23,727 controls of mixed ancestry. We observed enrichment of rare structural variation intersecting with candidate cis-regulatory elements, particularly inversions predicted to affect chromatin looping (P=3.1x10-5). We also identified statistically significant associations with common variants at 12q24.21 (P=7.8x10-12; OR 0.4) and uncommon variants at 6p21.1 (P=2x10-8; OR 7.2), that were replicated in an independent European cohort. Bayesian fine mapping and functional annotation mapped these loci to the transcription factor TBX5 and planar cell polarity gene PTK7, respectively, providing insights into the biological pathways underlying PUV. These findings demonstrate that a well-controlled diverse ancestry WGS approach can reveal the genetic architecture of a complex disorder by increasing power for disease locus discovery and facilitating fine-mapping of causal variants.
VILNIAUS UNIVERSITETAS MATEMATIKOS IR INFORMATIKOS FAKULTETAS

In this paper we investigate the relationship among the biggest Baltic States construction sector companies daily returns. The sample period is from 2008-11-01 to 2016-05-06. An adequate VAR model is constructed after analyzing the stationarity of the variables and performing lag selection. It appears that one company’s return values depend on foreign company’s past values. Later GARCH and DCC models are used to study the conditional correlations among the paired firms. It is discovered that all companies returns correlate positively insignificantly, except Panevėžio Statybos Trestas and Latvijos Tilti returns, which correlate negatively. After construction of GARCH(1,1) and sGARCH(1,1) models for each of the company, it is found out that Panevėžio Statybos Trestas returns are the most sensitive to the external shocks. This sensitivity influences multivariate models: DCC models, where Panevėžio Statybos Trestas conditional correlation with other company’s returns are analysed, have the highest α parameter estimators (0.035074) and the correlations vary the most.
Synthesis and characterization of solid-phase super acid catalysts and their application for isomerization of n-alkanes

ABSTRACT In the present work, first, the reference catalyst super acidic nanostructured sulfated zirconia (SZ) and super acidic nanostructured aluminum chloride impregnated sulfated zirconium oxides in mole ratios of Zr4+:Al3+ as 2:1 (ACSZ-1), 1:1 (ACSZ-2), and 1:2 (ACSZ-3) were synthesized by a simple precipitation method. The catalytic performance of these four catalysts were evaluated during the isomerization of n-hexane, n-heptane, and n-octane to their corresponding branched chain isomers at low temperature and pressure conditions. ACSZ-2 shows high activity toward isomerization of n-hexane, n-heptane, and n-octane into their corresponding branched chain isomers. The reference catalyst SZ was proved to be less effective compare to the other three synthesized ACSZ catalysts. Ammonia-temperature-programmed desorption of these two materials ensures that the super acidity of ACSZ-2 is higher than that of SZ. Atomic force microscopic and scanning electron microscopic pictures predict the nature of the surface of the catalysts. Transmission electron micrographic analysis indicates the presence of particle-bulks having average size 12–20 nm, presenting an amorphous nature and having no definite surface morphology of ACSZ-2. Fourier transform infrared provides an outline regarding different linkages and bond connectivities between atoms and groups in ACSZ-2 and SZ. After catalyst evaluation and characterization a probable reaction mechanism has been proposed theoretically. The reactivity and selectivity of ACSZ-2 and SZ as well as the order and activation energy of the isomerization reactions in presence of ACSZ-2 have been calculated. The use of ACSZ-2 is beneficial from the point of cost efficiency as well as its use is energy saving.
Geomorphology of the Puerto Rico Trench and Cayman Trough in the Context of the Geological Evolution of the Caribbean Sea

This paper concerns the Caribbean Sea submarine geomorphology and bathymetry and especially the Puerto Rico Trench and the Cayman Trough, using thematic mapping, geomorphological modelling and statistical analysis. The technical tools include Generic Mapping Tools (GMT) cartographic scripting toolset. The data include GEBCO digital bathymetric model in grid format, geopotential model of the Earth’s gravity fi eld EGM2008, marine free-air Faye gravity anomalies from a combined GEOS3/SEASAT/GEOSAT altimeter data set, sediment thickness from the GlobSed 5-arc-minute grid model and vector layers of GMT (coastlines, river network, borders). The cross-sectioning was done by the “grdtrack” module. Differences between the form of the Puerto Rico Trench and Cayman Trough presumably result from different structure and geological evolution. The geomorphology of the segment of the Puerto Rico Trench (67.5°W and 19.90°N to 64.1°W and 19.82°N) has a gentle curvature of the slope in plane (about 13° slope steepness). The slopes are steeper in the northern part (about 32°) but higher on the continental slope. The profi les of the Puerto Rico Trench are asymmetric due to the tectonic factors. The seabed of the Cayman Trough is fl at at the segment (80.0°W and 17.7°N to 78.5°W and 19.5°N). Its profi le is asymmetric: northern part is steep (about 57°), southern part is about 16°. A very large negative Faye free-air gravity anomaly (up to –380 mGal) is seen in the Puerto Rico Trench, south of Cuba as well as in the north-eastern part of the Cayman Trough. The tectonic plate subduction in the Lesser Antilles, Central America and seafl oor spreading is refl ected in the morphostructure in the Cayman Trough and Puerto Rico Trench. Modeled cross-sectioning profi les show differences both for the Trench and Trough. In contrast with the Puerto Rico Trench with distinct density peak (680 samples for depths –5,200 to –5,400 m), the Cayman Trough has a bimodal data distribution: two peaks correspond to the two intervals: 1) –3,250 m to –1,000 m; and 2) –5,250 to –3,500. The paper contributes to Caribbean Sea geological studies by using GMT for geomorphological modelling.