Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Classification, Terminology, and Application of the Modular Multilevel Cascade Converter (MMCC)

This paper discusses the modular multilevel cascade converter (MMCC) family based on cascade connection of multiple bidirectional chopper cells or single-phase full-bridge cells. The MMCC family is classified from circuit configuration as follows: the single-star bridge cells (SSBC); the single-delta bridge cells (SDBC); the double-star chopper cells (DSCC); and the double-star bridge cells (DSBC). The term MMCC corresponds to a family name in a person while, for example, the term SSBC corresponds to a given name. Therefore, the term “MMCC-SSBC” can identify the circuit configuration without any confusion. Among the four MMCC family members, the SSBC and DSCC are more practical in cost, performance, and market than the others although a distinct difference exists in application between the SSBC and DSCC. This paper presents application examples of the SSBC to a battery energy storage system (BESS), the SDBC to a static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) for negative-sequence reactive-power control, and the DSCC to a motor drive for fans and blowers, along with their experimental results.
Using Visualizations to Enhance Users' Understanding of App Activities on Android Devices

The ever-increasing number of third-party applications developed for Android devices has resulted in a growing interest in the secondary activities that these applications perform and how they affect a user’s privacy. Unfortunately, users continue to install these applications without any concrete knowledge of the breadth of these activities; hence, they have little insight into the sensitive information and resources accessed by these applications. In this paper, we explore users’ perception and reaction when presented with a visual analysis of Android applications activities and their security implications. This study uses interactive visual schemas to communicate the effect of applications activities in order to support users with more understandable information about the risks they face from such applications. Through findings from a user-based experiment, we demonstrate that when visuals diagrams about application activities are presented to users, they became more aware and sensitive to the privacy intrusiveness of certain applications. This awareness and sensitivity stems from the fact that some of these applications were accessing a significant number of resources and sensitive information, and transferring data out of the devices, even when they arguably had little reason to do so.
Modeling Spatial Relations for Image Retrieval by Conceptual Graphs

—Content-based image retrieval is one attractive research ﬁeld in computer vision, but also one facing critical problems. Approaches using the image as a whole and those focused on identifying relevant objects in the image, usually fail with several topics, for which they cannot provide a rich enough representation. Recent methods try to solve this problem by considering additional information. In this paper we present a retrieval method based on spatial relations and designed using conceptual graphs. Our results are competitive with state of the art approaches, and three important observations are made: ﬁrst, this method shows spatial relations improve results; second, it corroborates having more samples improves retrieval; third, this method is better suited for queries focused in the contents of the image, rather than on its associated text.
Empirical validation and application of the computing attitudes survey

Student attitudes play an important role in shaping learning experiences. However, few validated instruments exist for measuring student attitude development in a discipline-specific way. In this paper, we present the design, development, and validation of the computing attitudes survey (CAS). The CAS is an extension of the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey and measures novice to expert attitude shifts about the nature of knowledge and problem solving in computer science. Factor analysis with a large, multi-institutional data-set identified and confirmed five subscales on the CAS related to different facets of attitudes measured on the survey. We then used the CAS in a pre–post format to demonstrate its usefulness in studying attitude shifts during CS1 courses and its responsiveness to varying instructional conditions. The most recent version of the CAS is provided in its entirety along with a discussion of the conditions under which its validity has been demonstrated.
Craving Activity and Losing Objectivity

In light of U.S. society’s ever increasing need for activity, the authors used three experiments to examine how general action concepts, activated by subtle priming methods, influence choices to approach information that confirms a recent decision. Findings from Experiments 1 to 3 revealed that viewing action (vs. control) words prior to information selection increased selective approach to supporting information, but viewing inaction (vs. control) words reduced this bias. Experiment 3 also showed that the effect of the action words on this confirmation bias was smaller when participants were allowed to self-affirm by writing about an important personal value. In addition, the experiments found that viewing the action words caused the selection of more total information than viewing the inaction words. The authors conclude that the growing need for activity in the United States may contribute to a loss of objectivity in the way citizens gather information.
Social Capital, Academic Achievement, and Postgraduation Plans at an Elite, Private University

Many studies have explored how social capital influences the academic experiences of secondary school students. A distinct literature has demonstrated the beneficial effects of social contacts on occupational attainment and the job search process. However, few studies have explored the effects of social capital at the postsecondary level. This study bridges this gap in the literature by examining the effects of campus social networks on college academic achievement and postgraduation education and occupation plans, using detailed panel data from an elite, private university. Results indicate that campus social networks have little effect on early college outcomes, although students with extensive networks are more likely to graduate with honors and continue on to graduate school. Students with extensive campus networks and extracurricular memberships are more likely to aspire to high-status professional occupations, especially as medical doctors, while family or personal networks are more important for aspiring lawyers.
Knowledge Representation for Matchmaking in P2p E-commerce (extended Abstract)

1 Motivation The widespread use of E-commerce technology gives the possibility of an interaction with a huge number of potential counterparts for doing business. The bottleneck is that it is difficult finding a match — possibly the best one — between parties. Matchmaking can be defined as the process of searching the space of possible matches between demands and supplies. This process becomes difficult, yet challenging, when counterparts are peer entities. The Peer-to-Peer (P2P) E-commerce scenario can be seen as an electronic marketplace, or better an agora 1 , where peer entities may propose their goods and services and dynamically deal with counteroffers or further specifications, through the mediation of a matchmaking infrastructure. This scenario also lends itself to the fine-grained Person-to-Person E-commerce envisaged in [4], which has the potentials for widespread diffusion. Currently, the largest part of approaches to matchmaking are based on Business-to-Consumer (B2C) portals, which strive to reproduce, with limited success, the usual commercial interaction taking place in physical stores. The technology relies on vague query answering [8], with the aid of weights attributed to several search variables. Many B2C portals on the Internet still basically follow that approach, allowing the specification of given ranges for say, price, dates, etc. Other approaches recently implemented carry out a surrogate of match-making as an auction, where some of the information is hidden. However, such database-technology solutions capture only half of the matching of supply and demand in P2P E-commerce. In fact, it captures the request of a customer as a query, to be answered in a web-based database of offers by suppliers. But on the other hand, also the offer of a supplier can be treated as a query for interested customers in a database of customer requests, or even personal profiles. The choice of which is the data, and which is the query, depends, in this framework, just on a point of view, and maybe, on who is more willing to actively find the other commercial partner. Hence, there is the need for an infrastructure treating in a uniform way suppliers and demanders, which should base the matches on a common, extensible ontology for describing both supplies and demands [6]. Knowledge representation (KR) can deal with this uniform treatment of knowledge from suppliers and customers, by modelling both as generic concepts to be matched. In fact, the 1 Agora: An assembly; hence, the place of assembly, especially the …
Effects of a strengths-based perspective support group among Taiwanese women who left a violent intimate partner relationship.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES To examine the effects of an 8-week strengths-based perspective group intervention on hope, resilience and depression in Taiwanese women who left a violent intimate partner relationship. BACKGROUND Studies on interventions for abused women have primarily focused on psychological problems. However, the effect of group intervention on the psychological strengths of abused women is still unknown. DESIGN A two-group, quasi-experimental design using repeated measures was used in this study. METHODS Twenty-nine Taiwanese women who left violent intimate partner relationships were assigned to two groups and five participants did not complete the study. The experimental group (n = 8) underwent an 8-week strengths-based perspective group intervention developed by the investigators; the control group (n = 16) received no intervention. The effects of the intervention on the participants' hope, resilience and depression levels were evaluated as a pretest, post-test 1 (8th week) and post-test 2 (12th week) and were compared. The Chinese version of the State Hope Scale, the 25-item Resilience Scale, and the Taiwanese Depression Questionnaire were used in this study. RESULTS On the eighth and twelfth weeks after the strengths-based perspective group intervention, we found significantly lower scores on the depression scale in the experimental group. In the eighth week, participants in the experimental group had significantly lower scores on the pathway of hope subscales than those in the control group. CONCLUSIONS A strengths-based perspective support group intervention designed specifically for women who left a violent intimate partner relationship significantly reduced the participants' level of depressive symptoms and improved the pathway component of hope. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE This research highlights the importance of nurses not only focused on problems but also on the psychological strengths in practice of abused women survivors.
FAK promotes organization of fibronectin matrix and fibrillar adhesions

Targeted disruption of the focal adhesion kinase (FAK) gene in mice is lethal at embryonic day 8.5 (E8.5). Vascular defects in FAK-/- mice result from the inability of FAK-deficient endothelial cells to organize themselves into vascular network. We found that, although fibronectin (FN) levels were similar, its organization was less fibrillar in both FAK-/- endothelial cells and mesoderm of E8.5 FAK-/- embryos, as well as in mouse embryonic fibroblasts isolated from mutant embryos. FAK catalytic activity, proline-rich domains, and location in focal contacts were all required for proper allocation and patterning of FN matrix. Cells lacking FAK in focal adhesions fail to translocate supramolecular complexes of integrin-bound FN and focal adhesion proteins along actin filaments to form mature fibrillar adhesions. Taken together, our data suggest that proper FN allocation and organization are dependent on FAK-mediated remodeling of focal adhesions.
Synchrophasor reference algorithm for PMU Calibration System

This paper describes a reference algorithm specifically designed for PMU Calibration System. Contrary to existing DFT-based and curve fitting-based methods, which use a single signal model, the proposed algorithm applies an adaptive mechanism, and switches signal models according to specific signal input. Signals are modeled with parameters with apparent and certain physical meaning, fundamentally avoiding error magnification from derivative calculation for frequency and rate of change of frequency estimation. Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm is used for solving the signal parameters. The test results show that the proposed algorithm has a much higher accuracy than the requirements of IEEE standard C37.118. 1, and hence can serve as a reference algorithm in a PMU Calibration System.
Examining the association between pain severity and quality-of-life, work-productivity loss, and healthcare resource use among European adults diagnosed with pain

Abstract Objective: The goal of this research was to quantify the association between pain severity and several health outcomes in a large sample of patients diagnosed with some form of pain. Methods: Responses from patients who had been diagnosed with some form of pain (n = 14,459) were drawn from the 2013 EU National Health and Wellness Survey (NHWS; n = 62,000). Respondents reported their subjective pain severity in the past week on a numerical rating scale (0–10) as well as the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form (SF-36), Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire (WPAI), and healthcare resource utilization in the past 6 months (healthcare professional (HCP) visits, emergency room (ER) visits, and hospitalizations). Associations between pain severity and health outcomes were examined via a series of regression models controlling for a set of demographic and health-related covariates. Results: After controlling for demographics and comorbidities, pain severity in the past week was shown to be significantly negatively associated with Health Utilities (b = −0.022, p < 0.001) and positively associated with overall WPAI scores (b = 0.18, p < 0.001) and healthcare resource use (Hospitalizations: b = 0.13, p < 0.001; ER Visits: b = 0.14, p < 0.001; HCP Visits: b = 0.08, p < 0.001). The nature of these relationships (linear, curvilinear, etc.) is also explored. Limitations: This study was a self-report cross-sectional study which may have biased the results and does not allow for causal inferences to be made. Finally, the regression models run were limited to available covariates and, hence, some potentially important covariates may not have been included in these models. Conclusions: The findings suggest that reducing pain severity could result in an increase in patients’ quality-of-life and work productivity, and a decrease in healthcare resource use. The equations, linking pain and outcomes, were presented in an accessible format so they could be readily applied in healthcare decision-making.
Generalized Berlekamp-Massey decoding of algebraic-geometric codes up to half the Feng-Rao bound

Summary form only given, as follows. Efficient decoding of BCH- and Reed-Solomon codes can be done using the Berlekanp-Massey (1969) algorithm, and it is natural to try to use the extension of this to N dimensions of Sakata (see Inform. Computat., vol.84, no.2, p.207, 1990) to decode algebraic geometry codes. We treat a general class of algebraic geometry codes and show how to decode these up to half the Feng-Rao (see IEEE Trans. Inform. Theory, vol.IT 39, no.1 p.37-45, 1993) bound, using an extension and modification of the Sakata algorithm. >
The gender news use divide: Impacts of sex, gender, self-esteem, achievement, and affiliation motive on German newsreaders' exposure to news topics

Abstract To examine the psychological origins of sex-typed news preferences, an online newsmagazine was presented to 246 German participants in a quasi-experimental design. The presented articles featured equal portions of social/interpersonal and achievement/performance topics. Newsreaders' selective news exposure was unobtrusively logged. Results show that, even when various intervening factors are eliminated, women read more about social/interpersonal topics than men did, and men spent more time on achievement/performance-related news than women. Newsreaders' self-esteem and gender role orientation influenced the preference of news content. This contribution will also discuss the effects of sex-typed news exposure.
Drilling Simulated Temporal Bones with Left-Handed Tools: A Left-Hander's Right?

Objectives: Left-handed trainees can be at a disadvantage in the surgical environment because of a right-handed bias. The effectiveness of teaching left-handed trainees to use an otologic drill designed for their dominant hand versus the conventional right-handed drill was examined. Methods: Novice medical students were recruited from the university community. Twenty-four subjects were left-handed, and 12 were right-handed. Eight left-handed surgeons also participated. A randomized controlled trial was conducted to compare the performance of left-handed trainees using novel left-handed drills to that of left-handed trainees using right-handed tools and to that of right-handed trainees using right-handed tools. The evaluation consisted of 3 phases: Pretest, skill acquisition, and 2 post-tests. The measurement tools included expert assessment of performance, and subjective and objective final product analyses. Results: An initial construct validity phase was conducted in which validity of the assessment tools was ensured. Both the left-handers using left-handed tools and the right-handers using right-handed tools significantly outperformed the left-handers using right-handed tools at pretest, immediate posttest, and delayed posttest. All participants improved their performance as a function of practice. Conclusions: The left-handed trainees learned bone drilling better with tools designed for the left hand. These tools may be incorporated into residency training programs for the development of surgical technical skills. Future studies should assess skill transfer between the left-handed and right-handed drills.
Masculinity at Work

This article presents the findings of a research project on the implications of men’s non-traditional career choices for their experiences within the organization and for gender identity. The research is based on 40 in-depth interviews with male workers from four occupational groups: librarians, cabin crew, nurses and primary school teachers. Results suggest a typology of male workers in female dominated occupations: seekers (who actively seek the career), finders (who find the occupation in the process of making general career decisions) and settlers (who settle into the career after periods of time in mainly male dominated occupations). Men benefit from their minority status through assumptions of enhanced leadership (the assumed authority effect), by being given differential treatment (the special consideration effect) and being associated with a more careerist attitude to work (the career effect). At the same time, they feel comfortable working with women (the zone of comfort effect). Despite this comfort, men adopt a variety of strategies to re-establish a masculinity that has been undermined by the ‘feminine‘ nature of their work. These include re-labelling, status enhancement and distancing from the feminine. The dynamics of maintaining and reproducing masculinities within the non-traditional work setting are discussed in the light of recent theorizing around gender, masculinity and work.
RyR2 Modulates a Ca2+-Activated K+ Current in Mouse Cardiac Myocytes

In cardiomyocytes, Ca2+ entry through voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels (VDCCs) binds to and activates RyR2 channels, resulting in subsequent Ca2+ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) and cardiac contraction. Previous research has documented the molecular coupling of small-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channels (SK channels) to VDCCs in mouse cardiac muscle. Little is known regarding the role of RyRs-sensitive Ca2+ release in the SK channels in cardiac muscle. In this study, using whole-cell patch clamp techniques, we observed that a Ca2+-activated K+ current (IK,Ca) recorded from isolated adult C57B/L mouse atrial myocytes was significantly decreased by ryanodine, an inhibitor of ryanodine receptor type 2 (RyR2), or by the co-application of ryanodine and thapsigargin, an inhibitor of the sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase (SERCA) (p<0.05, p<0.01, respectively). The activation of RyR2 by caffeine increased the IK,Ca in the cardiac cells (p<0.05, p<0.01, respectively). We further analyzed the effect of RyR2 knockdown on IK,Ca and Ca2+ in isolated adult mouse cardiomyocytes using a whole-cell patch clamp technique and confocal imaging. RyR2 knockdown in mouse atrial cells transduced with lentivirus-mediated small hairpin interference RNA (shRNA) exhibited a significant decrease in IK,Ca (p<0.05) and [Ca2+]i fluorescence intensity (p<0.01). An immunoprecipitated complex of SK2 and RyR2 was identified in native cardiac tissue by co-immunoprecipitation assays. Our findings indicate that RyR2-mediated Ca2+ release is responsible for the activation and modulation of SK channels in cardiac myocytes.
Active power management in multiple microgrids using a multi-agent system with JADE

This paper presents a Multi-Agent System (MAS) to model and enable an active power management in a multiple microgrids system consisting of batteries, photovoltaic and diesel micro sources in islanded or grid-connected operation. The multi-agent system was developed in JADE (Java Agent DEvelopment Framework), a Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents (FIPA) and a compliant open source multi-agent platform. All the six case studies presented in this paper were modeled using JADE. The cases were chosen considering the real life possible scenarios, such as: discharging the battery (boost mode), energy export from the microgrid, charging the battery (buck mode), energy import from diesel generator, energy import from the grid and the system halt. However, considering that the results for the first two cases can demonstrate the performance and features of the proposed MAS, this paper focuses on the results of these cases. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithms, necessary for coordinated control and power management, and show the possibility of autonomous built-in operation of a microgrid with a multi-agent system using JADE.