Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The South-to-North Migration of Women 1

This article challenges the conventional wisdom that, since the circa 1974 discontinuation of policies encouraging temporary labor migration, female migration has significantly outnumbered male migration. Drawing on data from Belgium, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, the article shows that the proportion of women in gross immigration is lower when the flows originate in developing rather than in developed countries. Women outnumber men only in terms of net migration. Each receiving country has its own variations on these generalizations, with the chief variables being the receiving countries’ admission policies and the stage in migration history of the expatriate population.
Numerical Investigation on Ion Inertia Force in Low-Temperature Plasma Using Fluid Model Considering Ion Momentum Equation

In this paper, we would like to numerically investigate the effect of ion inertia force in a typical argon gas discharge using fluid model considering the ion momentum equation, which becomes important under various operating conditions. The proposed self-consistent fluid model consists of the electron continuity equation with the drift-diffusion approximation, the ion continuity equation, the electron energy density equation, the ion momentum equation, and the Poisson equation for electric potential. We studied the plasma properties affected by the inertia force by comparing between the use of momentum equation and drift-diffusion approximation for ion momentum. The results show that the ion inertia force is significant under the low-pressure conditions (<;100 mtorr) as expected, e.g., for plasma etching and radio frequency magnetron sputtering plasma. In addition, we also found when the pressure is higher than 100 mtorr, the inertia force becomes important (e.g., more than 15%) in the sheath region when the driving frequency is high enough (e.g., 60 MHz), e.g., for high-frequency plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. Thus, inclusion of inertia force in the modeling of momentum equation becomes necessary under these operating conditions.
Quantitative measurement of the microphysical and optical properties of cirrus clouds with four different in situ probes: Evidence of small ice crystals

Original microphysical and optical measurements were obtained in cirrus clouds on the Southern and Northern hemispheres during the INCA experiments using four independent techniques: (1) the Counterflow Virtual Impactor, (2) the PMS FSSP‐300, (3) the PMS 2D‐C and (4) the Polar Nephelometer probes. The combination of these four techniques provides a description of particles within a diameter range varying from a few micrometers (typically 3 μm) to 800 μm. Because of the presence of small ice crystals in cirrus clouds, it is particularly important to overcome the limited accuracy of the sensors used in the experiments for the cloud microphysical measurements. Representative examples of combined results suggest that the available measurements are reliable and can be used for the ongoing comparison between the results from the SH and NH campaigns. The results give the definite picture that the observations of numerous (5 to 10 cm−3) small ice crystals in cirrus clouds are a relatively common microphysical feature.
MF Calculator: A Web-Based Application for Analyzing Similarity

This paper presents the metric-frequency calculator (MF Calculator), an online application to analyze similarity. The MF Calculator implements a metric-frequency similarity algorithm for the quantitative assessment of similarity in ill-structured data sets. It is widely applicable as it can be used with nominal, ordinal, or interval data when there is little prior control over the variables to be observed regarding number or content. The MF Calculator generates a proximity matrix in CSV, XML or DOC format that can be used as input to traditional statistical techniques such as hierarchical clustering, additive trees, or multidimensional scaling. The MF Calculator also displays a graphical representation of outputs using additive similarity trees. A simulated example illustrates the implementation of the MF calculator. An additional example with real data is presented, in order to illustrate the potential of combining the MF Calculator with cluster analysis. The MF Calculator is a user-friendly tool available free of charge. It can be accessed from http://mfcalculator.celiasales. org/Calculator.aspx, and it can be used by non-experts from a wide range of social sciences.
Reduced Order H∞ Synthesis using a Particle Swarm Optimization Method

Abstract: H∞ controller synthesis is a well known design method for which efficient dedicated methods have been developed. However, such methods compute a full order controller which has often to be reduced to be implemented. Indeed, the reduced order H∞ synthesis is a non convex optimization problem due to rank constraints. In this paper, a particle swarm optimization method is used to solve such a problem. Numerical results show that the computed controller has a lower H∞ norm than the controller computed from a classical Hankel reduction of the full order H∞ controller.
Factors Predicting Seroma Formation Following Breast Cancer Surgery : A Concise Review

Seroma formation is the most prevalent postoperative complication following breast cancer surgery. The aim of this systematic review was to identify evidence based risk factors for seroma formation. Articles published in English in the last decade were obtained from searches of Medline and additional references were found in the bibliographies of these articles. Risk factors were graded according to the quality and strength of evidence and to the direction of association. One meta-analysis, 15 randomized controlled trials, 6 prospective studies and 2 retrospective studies were identified. There was no risk factor supported by strong evidence, but there was moderate evidence to support a risk for seroma formation in individuals with heavier body weight, extended radical mastectomy as compared with simple mastectomy, and greater drainage volume in the initial 3 days. On the other hand, the following factors did not have a significant influence on seroma formation: duration of drainage; hormone receptor status; immobilization of the shoulder; intensity of negative suction pressure; lymph node status or lymph node positivity; number of drains; number of removed lymph nodes; previous biopsy; removal of drains on the fifth postoperative day versus when daily drainage volume fell to minimal; stage; type of drainage (closed suction versus static drainage); and use of fibrinolysis inhibitor. In contrast, sentinel lymph node biopsy reduced seroma formation. Although a number of factors have been correlated with seroma formation, strong data on factors associated with seroma formation are still rare, and it seems to be difficult to identify patients who will ultimately suffer from seroma. However, this study has provided findings that are useful for identifying commonly cited risk factors that have no evidence to support them.
Sybil attack Detection: Improving security of WSNs for smart power grid application

For a large number of sensor network applications security is crucial, especially if the sensor network protects or monitors critical infrastructures such as electric power infrastructure. Smart grid revolutionizes the current electric power infrastructure by the use of wireless sensor networks. Sybil attack is one of the most disrupting attacks in the context of wireless sensor networks. In this attack a malicious node forges multiple identities and therefore disrupts many network protocols such as routing, voting, data aggregation and misbehavior detection. This attack can make several forms of attacks possible. It is also problematic for protocols that rely on voting schemes. Therefore a security mechanism against this attack for wireless sensor networks is mandatory. In this paper we introduced a novel approach called SDTM (Sybil attack Detection using Traffic Monitoring) in a neighbor-based detection manner to detect such attacks. This approach is based on the traffic density around nodes and uses statistical methods to detect the malicious nodes. For simulating our network we used OMNeT++ simulator. After 80 simulations the proposed mechanism (SDTM) achieved a 95.13% detection rate and a 2.29% misdetection rate. we have shown that the occurrence of a Sybil attack using this method is detectable.
Nonpharmacological Treatment of Hypertension in Diabetes Mellitus

Hypertension may be partially or completely controlled by appropriate use of nondrug therapies. Because diabetic patients are so often hypertensive and because the same nondrug therapies effective for treatment of hypertension may also benefit the diabetes, the use of nondrug therapies is particularly important in these patients. Evidence about the effectiveness of various nondrug therapies is provided along with practical suggestions to improve patient adherence to them.
Digital Earth from vision to practice: making sense of citizen-generated content

Abstract The vision of Digital Earth (DE) put recently forward under the auspices of the International Society for DE extends the paradigm of spatial data infrastructures by advocating an interactive and dynamic framework based on near-to-real time information from sensors and citizens. This paper contributes to developing that vision and reports the results of a two-year research project exploring the extent to which it is possible to extract information useful for policy and science from the large volumes of messages and photos being posted daily through social networks. Given the noted concerns about the quality of such data in relation to that provided by authoritative sources, the research has developed a semi-automatic workflow to assess the fitness for purpose of data extracted from Twitter and Flickr, and compared them to that coming from official sources, using forest fires as a case study. The findings indicate that we were able to detect accurately six of eight major fires in France in the summer of 2011, with another four detected by the social networks but not reported by our official source, the European Forest Fire Information Service. These findings and the lessons learned in handling the very large volumes of unstructured data in multiple languages discussed in this study provide useful insights into the value of social network data for policy and science, and contribute to advancing the vision of DE.
The association of bile acid excretion and atherosclerotic coronary artery disease

Background: Excess cholesterol is usually eliminated from the body by conversion to bile acids excreted in feces as bile salts. The excretion of large amounts of bile protects against atherosclerosis, while diminished excretion may lead to coronary artery disease (CAD). Objective: To investigate a relationship between CAD and bile acid excretion. Methods: Bile acid excretion was compared between 36 patients with proven CAD and 37 CAD-free individuals (controls). The groups were comparable for demographics and selected risk factors. All subjects received a 4-day standard diet that included ∼500 mg of cholesterol. Fecal bile acids from 24-hour stool collections were measured by gas liquid chromatography. Results: CAD patients excreted lower amounts of total bile acids (358 ± 156 mg) than controls (617 ± 293 mg; p < 0.01) and less deoxycholic acid (188.29 ± 98.12 mg versus 325.96 ± 198.57 mg; p < 0.0001) and less lithocholic acid (115.43 ± 71.89 mg versus 197.27 ± 126.87 mg; p < 0.01). Advanced age, male gender, left ventricular ejection fraction and total bile acid levels were significant independent factors that predicted CAD (p < 0.05). Mortality, CAD and cerebrovascular accident development rates were significantly lower for the controls at the 13-year follow up. Conclusion: CAD patients have significantly decreased bile acid excretion levels than non-CAD patients. An impaired ability to excrete cholesterol may be an additional risk factor for CAD development.
Relationship between Concentration of Pyrene and Aerosol Size Distribution in Traffic Exhausts in Taipei, Taiwan

Variations in pyrene concentrations in motor-vehicle emissions were assessed on the basis of aerodynamic particle size and by the type of vehicle (i.e., car, truck, or bus) that passed through a Taipei, Taiwan, highway toll station. Airborne particles were collected with 8-stage cascade samplers equipped with 34-mm polyvinyl chloride filters and located in the breathing zones of toll-station workers. The authors used gas chromatography/mass spectrometry to analyze 22 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that were collected. The absolute concentration of pyrene was highest in the fine-particle emission fraction for trucks, buses, and passenger cars; however, fine particles in truck and bus exhausts contained higher pyrene concentrations than the corresponding size fraction of particles emitted from passenger cars. Truck and bus emissions contained a higher concentration of pyrene than car emissions because trucks and buses produced greater amounts of fine and coarse particles, and their fine particles contained higher concentrations of pyrene.
Cross‐cultural adaptation and validation of the Chinese Comfort, Afford, Respect, and Expect scale of caring nurse–patient interaction competence

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES To investigate the construct validity and reliability of the Chinese Comfort, Afford, Respect, and Expect scale, which can be used to determine clinical nurses' competence. The results can also serve to promote nursing competence and improve patient satisfaction. BACKGROUND Nurse-patient interaction is critical for improving nursing care quality. However, to date, no relevant validated instrument has been proposed for assessing caring nurse-patient interaction competence in clinical practice. This study adapted and validated the Chinese version of the caring nurse-patient interaction scale. DESIGN A cross-cultural adaptation and validation study. METHODS A psychometric analysis of the four major constructs of the Chinese Comfort, Afford, Respect, and Expect scale was conducted on a sample of 356 nurses from a medical centre in China. Item analysis and exploratory factor analysis were adopted to extract the main components, both the internal consistency and correlation coefficients were used to examine reliability and a confirmatory factor analysis was adopted to verify the construct validity. RESULTS The goodness-of-fit results of the model were strong. The standardised factor loadings of the Chinese Comfort, Afford, Respect, and Expect scale ranged from 0.73-0.95, indicating that the validity and reliability of this instrument were favourable. Moreover, the 12 extracted items explained 95.9% of the measured content of the Chinese Comfort, Afford, Respect, and Expect scale. CONCLUSIONS The results serve as empirical evidence regarding the validity and reliability of the Chinese Comfort, Afford, Respect, and Expect scale. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE Hospital nurses increasingly demand help from patients and their family members in identifying health problems and assisting with medical decision-making. Therefore, enhancing nurses' competence in nurse-patient interactions is crucial for nursing and hospital managers to improve nursing care quality. The Chinese caring nurse-patient interaction scale can serve as an effective tool for nursing and hospital managers to evaluate the caring nurse-patient interaction confidence of nurses and improve inpatient satisfaction and quality of care.
An approach to modelling and describing software evolution processes

The importance and popularity of software evolution increase as more and more successful software systems become legacy systems. On the one hand, software evolution has become an important characteristic in the software life cycle. On the other hand, software processes play an important role in increasing efficiency and quality of software evolution. Therefore, the software evolution process, the inter-discipline of software process and software evolution, becomes a key area in software engineering. A well-managed software evolution process can effectively support a successful software evolution; however, a poor software evolution process will lead to the failure of the corresponding software evolution. This thesis aims to model and describe formal software processes that effectively support software evolution. For this purpose, progress has been made in five main aspects: Firstly, five important properties of software evolution processes are analysed. It is indicated that iteration, concurrency, interleaving of continuous and discontinuous change, feedback-driven systems and multi-level frameworks play important roles in software evolution processes. Secondly, a Petri Net is extended with object-oriented technology and Hoare Logic. Based on the extended Petri Net and according to the preceding properties, a formal evolution process meta-model (EPMM for short) is proposed. EPMM can define software evolution process models (EPMs for short) with a four-level framework and can embody some important properties, such as iteration, concurrency, interleaving of continuous and discontinuous change and feedback-driven systems. Thirdly, based on EPMM, an object-based evolution process description language EPDL is designed. It is more detailed and easier to implement in computers than EPMM.
Road Project Investment Evaluation Using Net Present Value (NPV) at Risk Method

Strategic capital investment decisions are crucial and require careful analysis and consideration. This is due to the characteristics of infrastructure projects that are vulnerable to risks and uncertainties. Net Present Value (NPV)-at-Risk model developed by Ye and Tiong (2000) is a tool for investment evaluation under uncertainties. This paper presents an extension of the model to determine NPV at risk proposed by Ye and Tiong (2000). NPV at risk has been determined using three discount methods, cash flow after payment of tax, interest and principal debt, and the results were compared to choose the best one. NPV at risk was also determined using normal distribution and Monte Carlo simulation method with varying debt equity ratio. The evaluation of the road project shows that the NPV-at-risk method can provide a better decision for risk evaluation and investment in privately financed road projects. This paper presents NPV at risk and return at this NPV with a real case study
Branching of streamer type corona discharge

htmlabstractThe behaviour of positive streamers in air is studied in a rather homogeneous field created by a short plane-protrusion gap in air. Branching is observed to be quite limited, the velocity of the streamers increases with travel distance and “late” streamers are observed. The interaction of streamer heads can be interpreted as electrostatic repulsion, while “late” streamers seem to be attracted by the streamer channels, indicating a net negative charge of the channels.
Nonivamide, a capsaicin analogue, exhibits anti‐inflammatory properties in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and U‐937 macrophages

SCOPE Inflammation-related diseases are a worldwide problem. The counteraction of inflammation with compounds activating the trigeminal nerve is one strategy to fight these diseases. Known trigeminally active compounds found in black or red pepper are the tingling t-pellitorine, the pungent capsaicin, and the less pungent nonivamide. The presented study compares the anti-inflammatory potential of nonivamide to the two known anti-inflammatory compounds, elucidating the mechanism of action and the role of transient receptor protein (TRP) channels. METHODS AND RESULTS Primary peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and U-937 macrophages were stimulated with 1 μg/mL LPS from Escherichia coli (EC-LPS) to induce inflammation. Nonivamide attenuated the EC-LPS induced release of IL-6 and TNF-α in PBMCs and U-937 macrophages determined by magnetic bead kit analysis. This anti-inflammatory mechanism was independent from nuclear factor-kappa B pathway but mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway may be involved. In addition, cotreatment of U-937 with the trigeminally active compound and an antagonist of TRPV1 or TRPA1 abolished the anti-inflammatory activity. CONCLUSIONS Nonivamide possessed similar anti-inflammatory potential as capsaicin and t-pellitorine. In U-937 macrophages, the tested compounds exploited an anti-inflammatory effect by inhibiting the EC-LPS induced activation of the MAPK pathway. In addition, the TRP channel activation plays a role in the anti-inflammatory capacity of capsaicin and nonivamide.
Return path for interactive TV using white spaces: A novel application for 802.22 WRAN

Interactive TV capitalizes on the opportunities created by digitisation to offer new services. Depending on the level of interactivity, a return path is required to send data from the home user back to the broadcaster. In this paper, we propose the use of 802.22 WRAN to implement the return path over white spaces. Our approach allows the transmission of interactive data in overlay with broadcast data. Following 802.22's requirements, we analyze the task of selecting settings for cooperative spectrum sensing. First, our numerical results show that the number of cooperative devices used to improve sensing accuracy is constrained to the minimum data rate per device. Second, we show through computer simulations that noise uncertainty limits cooperation gains regardless of how settings are selected. Wrapping up our analysis, real-world conditions are considered through testbed experimentation. Measurements confirm that maximum diversity cannot be achieved under correlated shadowing but cooperation may bring advantages if a subset of cooperative devices malfunctions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on the application of 802.22 WRAN as access technology for return paths of interactive TV.
Representing Clinical Narratives Using Conceptual Graphs

Abstract: The analysis of medical narratives and the generation of natural language expressions are strongly dependent on the existence of an adequate representation language. Such a language has to be expressive enough in order to handle the complexity of human reasoning in the domain. Sowa’s Conceptual Graphs (CG) are an answer, and this paper presents a multilingual implementation, using French, English and German. Current developments demonstrate the feasibility of an approach to natural Language Understanding where semantic aspects are dominant, in contrast, to syntax driven methods. The basic idea is to aggregate blocks of words according to semantic compatibility rules, following a method called Proximity Processing. The CG representation is gradually built, starting from single words in a semantic lexicon, to finally give a complete representation of the sentence under the form of a single CG. The process is dependent on specific rules of the medical domain, and for this reason is largely controlled by the declarative knowledge of the medical Linguistic Knowlege Base.
Energy spectra and their calibration of four-layer DOI detector for brain PET scanner: jPET-D4

A depth of interaction (DOI) detector is being developed for the brain PET scanner, jPET-D4. We introduce a light output correction procedure to compensate for variations among the crystal elements in the DOI detector. Under uniform irradiation with 511 keV gamma rays, we estimate the light output of each crystal element by identifying each crystal, and generate a look-up table (LUT) for light output correction. The variation of light output of each crystal element is 18%. We evaluate the energy resolution of all crystal elements. The energy resolution before light output correction was 40%. Using DOI information, an energy resolution of 18% has been achieved after light output correction. We present and analyze the crystal position dependence of energy spectra due to intercrystal scattering among the multiple crystal elements in the DOI detector