Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Living While Dying/Dying While Living: Older Clients' Sociocultural Experience of Home-Based Palliative Care

Palliative care involves dynamic relationships among clients, their families, and professionals, all with unique perceptions and approaches to the sociocultural construction of end-of-life care. In the home care context, this subculture may be particularly complex, because clients relate more readily as people than as patients, and professionals are not always prepared for this reality. This article presents ethnographic investigation of the culture of home-based palliative care as experienced by people older than 65 years who are dying of cancer. Through field visits to four client participants over 6 to 10 months, researchers conducted 16 interviews 1 to 2 hours long and participatory observation. Findings portray seniors' dynamic, constantly changing journey of "living while dying/dying while living. " At one and the same time, seniors seized the opportunities and interpersonal relationships of "living while dying" and confronted the challenge of "dying while living" through the following: "celebrating life/grieving losses," "connecting with/detaching from others," "resigning to/accepting life circumstances," and "holding on to/moving beyond life in the present moment. " The insights gained may inform nurses' provision of psychosocial end-of-life care but suggest that more education, time, and informed collegial and employer support would help to optimize their potential for this challenging role.
Multi-value Rule Sets for Interpretable Classification with Feature-Efficient Representations

We present the Multi-value Rule Set (MRS) for interpretable classification with feature efficient presentations. Compared to rule sets built from single-value rules, MRS adopts a more generalized form of association rules that allows multiple values in a condition. Rules of this form are more concise than classical single-value rules in capturing and describing patterns in data. Our formulation also pursues a higher efficiency of feature utilization, which reduces possible cost in data collection and storage. We propose a Bayesian framework for formulating an MRS model and develop an efficient inference method for learning a maximum a posteriori, incorporating theoretically grounded bounds to iteratively reduce the search space and improve the search efficiency. Experiments on synthetic and real-world data demonstrate that MRS models have significantly smaller complexity and fewer features than baseline models while being competitive in predictive accuracy.
Large forest fires in Canada and the relationship to global sea surface temperatures

[1] Relationships between variations in peak Canadian forest fire season (JJA) severity and previous winter (DJF) global sea surface temperature (SST) variations are examined for the period 1953 to 1999. Coupled modes of variability between the seasonal severity rating (SSR) index and the previous winter global SSTs are analyzed using singular value decomposition (SVD) analysis. The robustness of the relationship is established by the Monte Carlo technique. The importance of the leading three SVD modes, accounting for approximately 90% of the squared covariance, to Canadian summer forest fire severity is identified. The first mode relates strongly to the global long-term trend, especially evident in the warming of the Southern Hemisphere oceans, and shows significant positive correlation in the forested regions of northwestern, western and central Canada, while southern B.C., the extreme northwest coastal regions of B.C. and Yukon, and the Great Lakes region are identified as having significant negative correlation. The second mode relates to the multidecadal variation of Atlantic SST (AMO) and shows highly significant negative correlation extending from the western NWT and Canadian Prairie Provinces across northern Ontario and Quebec. The third mode is related to Pacific Ocean processes and the interrelationship between El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and shows strong positive correlation in western Canada and negative correlation in the lower Great Lakes region of southern Ontario and southern Quebec. A 6-month lag relationship between Canadian forest fire variability and large-scale SSTs may provide the basis for developing long-range forecasting schemes for fire severity in Canada.
Low Level Performance Evaluation of InfiniBand with Benchmarking Tools

InfiniBand is widely accepted as a high performance networking technology for datacenters and HPC clusters. It uses the Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) where communication tasks that are typically assigned to CPUs are offloaded to the Channel Adapters (CAs), resulting in a significant increase of the throughput and reduction of the latency and CPU load. In this paper, we make an introduction to InfiniBand and IP over InfiniBand (IPoIB), where the latter is a protocol proposed by the IETF to run traditional socket-oriented applications on top of InfiniBand networks. We also evaluate the performance of InfiniBand using different transport protocols with several benchmarking tools in a testbed. For RDMA communications, we consider three transport services: (1) Reliable Connection, (2) Unreliable Connection, and (3) Unreliable Datagram. For UDP and TCP, we use IPoIB. Our results show significant differences between RDMA and IPoIB communications, encouraging the coding of new applications with InfiniBand verbs. Also, it is noticeable that IPoIB in datagram mode and in connected mode have similar performance for small UDP and TCP payload. However, the differences get important as the payload size increases.
Unit-Root and Stationarity Testing with Empirical Application on Industrial Production of CEE-4 Countries

The purpose of this paper is to explain both the need and the procedures of unit-root testing to a wider audience. The topic of stationarity testing in general and unit root testing in particular is one that covers a vast amount of research. We have been discussing the problem in four different settings. First we investigate the nature of the problem that motivated the study of unit-root processes. Second we present a short list of several traditional as well as more recent univariate and panel data tests. Third we give a brief overview of the economic theories, in which the testing of the underlying research hypothesis can be expressed in a form of a unit-root / stationary test like the issues of purchasing power parity, economic bubbles, industry dynamic, economic convergence and unemployment hysteresis can be formulated in a form equivalent to the testing of a unit root within a particular series. The last, fourth aspect is dedicated to an empirical application of testing for the non-stationarity in industrial production of CEE-4 countries using a simulation based unit-root testing methodology.
In situ characterization of nanoscale contaminations adsorbed in air using atomic force microscopy

Under ambient conditions, surfaces are rapidly modified and contaminated by absorbance of molecules and a variety of nanoparticles that drastically change their chemical and physical properties. The atomic force microscope tip–sample system can be considered a model system for investigating a variety of nanoscale phenomena. In the present work we use atomic force microscopy to directly image nanoscale contamination on surfaces, and to characterize this contamination by using multidimensional spectroscopy techniques. By acquisition of spectroscopy data as a function of tip–sample voltage and tip–sample distance, we are able to determine the contact potential, the Hamaker constant and the effective thickness of the dielectric layer within the tip–sample system. All these properties depend strongly on the contamination within the tip–sample system. We propose to access the state of contamination of real surfaces under ambient conditions using advanced atomic force microscopy techniques.
Public Private Partnership and SMEs Development; The Case of AJ&K Pakistan

This study examines the current developments of SMEs in AJ&K and the effectiveness of Public and Private sectors SME-development programs. Some important facts are presented. A comprehensive international literature study was undertaken. A questionnaire was developed for small and medium sized enterprises owners and top managers to access the status of their enterprises and also to examine SMEs developmental strategies adopted by them. Chi square test was employed for analysis of the data. The study find that SMEs are of overwhelming importance to AJ&K because they account for more than 90 percent of all firms outside the agricultural sector. Second, the main constraints faced by small entrepreneurs are cumbersome and onerous business regulations and restrictions, lack of finance, and low human resource and technological capabilities. Finally, the government has been the most important supporting agency for SMEs in AJ&K. However, evidence of the effectiveness of government and private programs to support SME development is mixed and not so encouraging. After analyzing the current SMEs’ developmental strategies (adopted by both public and private sectors) the study suggested public private partnership (PPP) as future strategy for SMEs’ development in AJ&K Pakistan. Field of Research: SMEs Management
Essential Mechanical Properties of Structural Steels for Steel Reinforced Buildings in the Earthquake Sensitive Areas

During earthquake, the ground along with its various natural and manmade structures experiences shaking of various intensities and frequencies depending on the nature of the earthquake. The loading activities caused by earthquakes on various structures are very much cyclic type, which is popularly known as fatigue loading. On the other hand, for modern high-rise buildings a large volume of steel bar is used to reinforce the concrete because of the pioneer role of steel bars embedded inside the concrete for safety of the buildings. In this study various mechanical properties of reinforcing steel bars that are essential to counter balance the earthquake effects have been identified first. At the same time these essential mechanical properties have been defined and studied for most commonly used reinforcing steel bars. For doing this, both the conventional and advanced structural steels were selected. The mechanical properties and fatigue behaviours of these steels have been presented and discussed in this paper. Keywords : Earthquake; High-rise buildings; Reinforcing steel bars; Conventional structural steel; Advanced structural steel. © 2012 JSR Publications. ISSN: 2070-0237 (Print); 2070-0245 (Online). All rights reserved. doi: http://dx.doi. org/10.3329/jsr.v4i1. 7069 J. Sci. Res. 4 (1), 51-63 (2012)
Black Hole Results from XMM-Newton

XMM-Newton is one of the most successful science missions of the European Space Agency. Since 2003 every year about 300 articles are published in refereed journals making directly use of XMM-Newton data. All XMM-Newton calls for observing proposals are highly oversubscribed by factors of six and more. In the following some scientic highlights of XMM-Newton observations of black holes are summarized.
The Determination of Home Accident Risks and Measures to Prevent Accident of Children: Quasi-Experimental Research

Introduction: This study was planned in order to determine the home accident risks of families with children 0-6 years old. Methods: This semi-experimental study was performed in families with 0-6 years old children (n = 21). Data were collected using a questionnaire and a Home Safety Checklist during two home visits. In the first home visit the risk was determined and families were educated and at the second home visit, which occurred one month later, measures were evaluated based on information provided at the first home visit. Results: After the first home visit, the kitchen and living room were found to be two areas of highest risk. After providing education for the family, the risks identified for the kitchen, bathroom, living room and bedroom in the first visit decreased in a statistically significant manner by the second visit. Conclusion: The provision of home accident education to families was shown to be effective in reducing the risk of home accidents. Giris: Calisma 0-6 yas cocugu olan ailelerin evlerdeki kaza risklerinin belirlenmesi ve onlemlerin alinmasi amaciyla planlandi. Yontem: 0-6 yas cocugu olan aileler (n=21) ile gerceklestirilen yari deneysel bir calismadir. Arastirmanin verileri soru formu ve Ev Guvenlik Kontrol Listesi kullanilarak 1 ay ara ile 2 ev ziyareti yapilarak toplandi. Ilk ziyarette riskler belirlendi, aile bilgilendirildi ve ikinci ziyarette verilen bilgiler dogrultusunda alinan onlemler degerlendirildi. Bulgular: Evlere yapilan ilk ziyarette evin en riskli alanlarinin mutfak ve oturma odasi oldugu bulundu. Birinci ziyarette evlerin mutfak, banyo, oturma odasi, yatak odasi icin belirlenen risklerin verilen egitimle 2. ziyarette istatistiksel acidan anlamli derecede azaldigi saptandi. Sonuc: Ailelere ev kazalarina yonelik verilen egitimin evlerdeki kaza risklerini azaltmada etkili oldugu goruldu.
Análise teórica de Máquinas de Vetores Suporte

O objetivo geral deste trabalho foi realizar um estudo teorico sobre Maquinas de Vetores Suporte, que inclui relatar justificativas para o uso de tal tecnica e exibir sua interpretacao geometrica e perspectiva analitica. Para aplicar a tecnica em problemas de classificacao, buscamos fundamentar matematicamente sua utilizacao, visto que envolve um problema de programacao quadratica, convexa e com restricoes. Para a analise da tecnica, utilizamos a teoria de dualidade Lagrangiana, que notamos facilitar os calculos e a analise das solucoes. Estabelecemos algumas implicacoes e exibimos alguns contraexemplos, para mostrar que certos resultados decorrentes da tecnica encontrados na literatura nao sao precisos.
Business Ontologies Modelling for Communities of Handicraft Women

Social networks are websites or platforms which bring together users in various online communities. Social networking on the Internet capitalizes on the Web’s latent structure as a meta-network of social connections to boost computer-supported collaboration in conjunction with the use of Semantic Web metadata. The Semantic Web effort is in an ideal position to make Social Web sites interoperable. Applying Semantic Web frameworks including SIOC (Semantically Interlinked Online Communities) and FOAF (Friend-of-a-Friend) to the Social Web can lead to a Social Semantic Web, creating a network of interlinked and semantically rich knowledge. Moreover, communities can be professionals who want to share knowledge, to sell their production, to communicate and to collaborate. We are involved in a research project which aims to study the ability of handicraft women to use new technologies. In this paper, we show the manner we elicit and we model knowledge with several business ontologies.
Bioethanol from Lignocellulosic Biomass: A review

The perspectives of biobased fuels as options for partial fossil fuels substitution has encouraged research on the availability of biomass feedstock and development of efficient conversion processes. In the case of fuels for transport, bioconversion of lignocellulosic materials to ethanol has been recognized as one of the promising routes of producing competitive substitutes to gasoline. Lignocellulose is the most abundant natural renewable resource and is one of the preferred choices for the production of bioethanol. As a substrate for bioethanol production it has a barrier in its complex structure, which resists hydrolysis. For lignocellulose to be amenable to fermentation, treatments are necessary that release monomeric sugars, which can be converted to ethanol by microbial fermentation. The current state of the art on acid and enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulose and subsequent microbial fermentation to ethanol are described in this work. Approaches for detoxification of the lignocellulose hydrolysate for effective fermentation to ethanol are also described
Cascade and intermittency of the sea surface temperature in the oceanic system

In this paper, we analyze the sea surface temperature obtained from the global drifter program. The experimental Fourier power spectrum shows a two-decade power-law behavior as Eθ(f) ∝ f−7/3 in the frequency domain. Dimensional argument suggests a two-dimensional-like Lagrangian forward cascade, in which the enstrophy dissipation ϵΩ is involved. Using the Hilbert–Huang transform and multi-level segment analysis, the measured high-order statistics and the corresponding singularity spectrum confirm the existence of the intermittency with a measured intermittency parameter μθ ≃ 0.10, which is much weaker than the prediction by the conventional structure-function method.
Comparison of Critical and Threshold Fluxes on Ultrafiltration and Nanofiltration by Treating 2-Phase or 3- Phase Olive Mill Wastewater

Comparison of Critical and Threshold Fluxes on Ultrafiltration and Nanofiltration by Treating 2-Phase or 3Phase Olive Mill Wastewater Marco Stoller*, Javier Miguel Ochando Pulido , Angelo Chianese a a University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Department of Chemical Engineering, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy b University of Granada, Department of Chemical Engineering, Granada, Spain * marco.stoller@unitoma1.it
Dust and molecular shells in asymptotic giant branch stars - Mid-infrared interferometric observations of R Aquilae, R Aquarii, R Hydrae, W Hydrae, and V Hydrae

Context. Asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars are one of the largest distributors of dust into the interstellar medium. However, the wind formation mechanism and dust condensation sequence leading to the observed high mass-loss rates have not yet been constrained well observationally, in particular for oxygen-rich AGB stars. Aims. The immediate objective in this work is to identify molecules and dust species which are present in the layers above the photosphere, and which have emission and absorption features in the mid-infrared (IR), causing the diameter to vary across the Nband, and are potentially relevant for the wind formation. Methods. Mid-IR (8 13 m) interferometric data of four oxygen-rich AGB stars (R Aql, R Aqr, R Hya, and W Hya) and one carbon-rich AGB star (V Hya) were obtained with MIDI/VLTI between April 2007 and September 2009. The spectrally dispersed visibility data are analyzed by fitting a circular fully limb-darkened disk (FDD). Results. The FDD diameter as function of wavelength is similar for all oxygen-rich stars. The apparent size is almost constant between 8 and 10 m and gradually increases at wavelengths longer than 10 m. The apparent FDD diameter in the carbon-rich star V Hya essentially decreases from 8 to 12 m. The FDD diameters are about 2.2 times larger than the photospheric diameters estimated from K-band observations found in the literature. The silicate dust shells of R Aql, R Hya and W Hya are located fairly far away from the star, while the silicate dust shell of R Aqr and the amorphous carbon (AMC) and SiC dust shell of V Hya are found to be closer to the star at around 8 photospheric radii. Phase-to-phase variations of the diameters of the oxygen-rich stars could be measured and are on the order of 15% but with large uncertainties. Conclusions. From a comparison of the diameter trend with the trends in RR Sco and S Ori it can be concluded that in oxygen-rich stars the overall larger diameter originates from a warm molecular layer of H 2 O, and the gradual increase longward of 10 m can be most likely attributed to the contribution of a close Al2O 3 dust shell. The chromatic trend of the Gaussian FWHM in V Hya can be explained with the presence of AMC and SiC dust. The observations suggest that the formation of amorphous Al2O 3 in oxygenrich stars occurs mainly around or after visual minimum. However, no firm conclusions can be drawn concerning the mass-loss mechanism. Future modeling with hydrostatic and self-consistent dynamical stellar atmospheric models will be required for a more certain understanding.
Object Localization and Activities Identification Using Attribute Details in SMART Meeting Rooms

This paper is concerned with the development of interactive systems for smart meeting rooms. Automated recognition of video events is an important research area. We present an LTL (Linear Temporal Logic) model of basic objects and activities recognition in smart meeting rooms using object attribute details. There are still problems of misrecognizing objects in existing visual recognition methods because lack of enough feature attributive information details. This paper investigates morphological approach to increase recognition accuracy using variability in a limited area of moving object using object attribute details. The proposed methods are also compared to popular and recent methods of visual object and event recognition.
System Transparency in Shared Autonomy: A Mini Review

What does transparency mean in a shared autonomy framework? Different ways of understanding system transparency in human-robot interaction can be found in the state of the art. In one of the most common interpretations of the term, transparency is the observability and predictability of the system behavior, the understanding of what the system is doing, why, and what it will do next. Since the main methods to improve this kind of transparency are based on interface design and training, transparency is usually considered a property of such interfaces, while natural language explanations are a popular way to achieve transparent interfaces. Mechanical transparency is the robot capacity to follow human movements without human-perceptible resistive forces. Transparency improves system performance, helping reduce human errors, and builds trust in the system. One of the principles of user-centered design is to keep the user aware of the state of the system: a transparent design is a user-centered design. This article presents a review of the definitions and methods to improve transparency for applications with different interaction requirements and autonomy degrees, in order to clarify the role of transparency in shared autonomy, as well as to identify research gaps and potential future developments.
Comparison of empirical and theoretical remote sensing based bathymetry models in river environments

Knowledge of underwater morphology is an essential component of many hydrological and environmental applications such as flood modelling and lotic habitat mapping. Remote sensing allows modelling of bathymetry at spatial scales that are impossible to achieve with traditional methods. However, the use of passive remote sensing for modelling water depth in fluvial environments remains a challenge.
Construction of a virtual reality learning environment for teaching structural analysis

This article discusses applying virtual reality (VR) to civil engineering education. It first describes the difficulties of teaching structural analysis in the traditional classroom setting and then outlines the potentials and limitations of using VR for civil engineering education. A VR‐based learning center has been developed for structural analysis curriculum, and its design, development, and evaluation are reported. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 5: 223–230, 1997