Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Validation of the Simplified Chinese Version of the Functional Rating Index for Patients With Nonspecific Neck Pain in Mainland China

Study Design. Validation of a self-report questionnaire, Functional Rating Index (FRI). Objective. To evaluate the psychometric properties of the simplified Chinese (SC) version of FRI in patients with nonspecific neck pain (NP). Summary of Background Data. FRI has been cross-culturally validated in few languages with excellent reliability, validity, and clinical utility when it is applied in patients with low back pain. Recently, it has been pointed out that FRI can be employed to assess patients with NP. However, FRI has not been validated in patients with NP in China. Methods. The cross-culturally adapted 10-item SC-FRI was completed by 122 patients with nonspecific NP, along with the Neck Disability Index, Neck Pain and Disability Scale, 36-Item Short Form Health Survey, and Pain Visual Analogue Scale. Psychometric evaluation included score distribution, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and construct validity. Results. SC-FRI attained a high completion rate (96.9%). Each item was scored with a normal distribution without any floor and ceiling effects. The internal consistency and test-retest reliability were good to excellent (Cronbach &agr; coefficient = 0.86; intraclass r = 0.97). Construct validity was confirmed by a strong correlation with Neck Disability Index, Neck Pain and Disability Scale, and Visual Analogue Scale (r = 0.77, 0.78, and 0.86, respectively, all P < 0.0001), and with the physical functioning and bodily pain domains (r = −0.69 and −0.66, respectively, both P < 0.0001), and by a weak correlation with the vitality, role-emotional, and mental health domains of 36-Item Short Form Health Survey. Conclusion. SC-FRI showed satisfactory clinical utility, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and construct validity in Chinese-speaking patients with nonspecific NP. Level of Evidence: 3
External Balances, Trade Flows and Financial Conditions

This paper studies how changing expectations concerning future trade and financial conditions are reflected in international external positions. In the absence of Ponzi schemes and arbitrage opportunities, the net foreign asset position of any country must, as a matter of theory, equal the expected present discounted value of future trade deficits, discounted at the cumulated world stochastic discount factor (SDF) that prices all freely traded financial assets. I study the forecasting implications of this theoretical link in 12 countries (Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, The United States and The United Kingdom) between 1970 and 2011. I find that variations in the external positions of most countries reflect changing expectations about trade conditions far into the future. I also find the changing forecasts for the future path of the world SDF are reflected in the dynamics of the U.S. external position.
Improving Resilience by Deploying Permuted Code onto Physically Unclonable Unique Processors

Industrial control systems (ICSs) are, at present, extremely vulnerable to cyber attack because they are homogenous and interconnected. Mitigating solutions are urgently required because systems breaches can feasibly lead to fatalities. In this paper we propose the deployment of permuted code onto Physically Unclonable Unique Processors in order to resist common cyber attacks. We present our proposal and explain how it would resist attacks from hostile agents.
A cardiac arrhythmia syndrome caused by loss of ankyrin-B function

220-kDa ankyrin-B is required for coordinated assembly of Na/Ca exchanger, Na/K ATPase, and inositol trisphosphate (InsP3) receptor at transverse-tubule/sarcoplasmic reticulum sites in cardiomyocytes. A loss-of-function mutation of ankyrin-B identified in an extended kindred causes a dominantly inherited cardiac arrhythmia, initially described as type 4 long QT syndrome. Here we report the identification of eight unrelated probands harboring ankyrin-B loss-of-function mutations, including four previously undescribed mutations, whose clinical features distinguish the cardiac phenotype associated with loss of ankyrin-B activity from classic long QT syndromes. Humans with ankyrin-B mutations display varying degrees of cardiac dysfunction including bradycardia, sinus arrhythmia, idiopathic ventricular fibrillation, catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia, and risk of sudden death. However, a prolonged rate-corrected QT interval was not a consistent feature, indicating that ankyrin-B dysfunction represents a clinical entity distinct from classic long QT syndromes. The mutations are localized in the ankyrin-B regulatory domain, which distinguishes function of ankyrin-B from ankyrin-G in cardiomyocytes. All mutations abolish ability of ankyrin-B to restore abnormal Ca2+ dynamics and abnormal localization and expression of Na/Ca exchanger, Na/K ATPase, and InsP3R in ankyrin-B+/- cardiomyocytes. This study, considered together with the first description of ankyrin-B mutation associated with cardiac dysfunction, supports a previously undescribed paradigm for human disease due to abnormal coordination of multiple functionally related ion channels and transporters, in this case the Na/K ATPase, Na/Ca exchanger, and InsP3 receptor.
Apoptotic glial cell death and kinetics in the spinal cord of the myelin‐deficient rat

This study examined the glial cell kinetics and death in the thoracic spinal cord of normal and myelin‐deficient (md) rats between 1 and 21 days of age and determined whether the observed glial cell death primarily affected oligodendrocytes and had the morphologic and molecular features of apoptosis. In the md rat spinal cord there was an increase in cell division and death in a pattern that correlated with the onset of myelination. The dying cells were identified as oligodendrocytes ultrastructurally as many had the characteristic distention of the rough endoplasmic reticulum seen in the md rat glia. Double labeling using PLP in situ hybridization and a modified TUNEL method also suggested that the dying cells, in both mutant rats and control littermates, were oligodendrocytes. These findings were compared with previous studies on the md rat optic nerve and those in other PLP mutants. J. Neurosci. Res. 51:497–507, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Self-reconfigurable modular robot M-TRAN: distributed control and communication

M-TRAN is a self-reconfigurable modular robot: each module has an independent battery, two-degree-of-freedom motion, six-surface-connection capability, and intelligence with inter-module communication. The M-TRAN system can perform flexible and adaptive locomotion in various configurations using coordination control based on a central pattern generator (CPG). Various structures of several modules can perform metamorphosis, such as that between a four-legged robot and a snake-like one. In addition to these self-reconfigurations with synchronous control, M-TRAN structures having regularity can move using parallel distributed control and message exchange via the network bus. Self-reconfiguration using infrared local communication has been attempted to improve the system's scalability.
Irreversible Investments Revisited

A multi-dimensional, non-linear dynamic model in continuous time is presented for the purpose of finding the optimal combination of exploitation and capital investment in optimal renewable resource management. Non-malleability of capital is incorporated in the model through an asymmetric cost-function of investment, and investments can be both positive and negative. Exploitation is controlled through the utilisation rate of available capital. A novel feature in this model is that there are costs associated with the available capital, whether it is utilised or not. And, in contrast to most of the previous literature, the state variables, namely the physical capital and the biological resource, enter the objective function. Due to the nonlinearities in this model, some of the results are in sharp contrast to previous literature.
Crowding-out effects of affordable and unaffordable housing in China, 1999–2010

Using panel data on housing construction, this article examines the crowding-out effects of affordable and unaffordable housing in China from 1999 to 2010. Applying a dynamic panel model allows us to examine the dynamic interactions between affordable and unaffordable housing constructions when controlling for region-specific fixed and time-specific effects. We analyse whether affordable (unaffordable) housing construction has changed in response to the past and contemporaneous construction of unaffordable (affordable) housing. Our empirical results reveal an asymmetric crowding-out pattern between affordable and unaffordable housing. We also observe that when urbanization rate is lower than 57.39%, unaffordable housing construction crowds out affordable housing construction. Moreover, the crowding-out effect of unaffordable housing on affordable housing decreases with rising urbanization rates.
Broadband and Multiband Antenna Design Using the Genetic Algorithm to Create Amorphous Shapes Using Ellipses

A method is demonstrated for generating compact, broadband and multiband antennas using ellipses to create new amorphous shapes with greater bandwidth and less return loss that previously demonstrated. Four designs are presented including a tri-band patch antenna optimized for low reflection loss at 1.6, 1.8, and 2.45 GHz. A broadband patch is designed for 1.9-2.1 GHz. A dual-band design embedded in a dielectric is created for use at GSM frequencies, and a broadband monopole is created that operates from 2-6 GHz with low reflection loss. The genetic algorithm is used to optimize the designs. FDTD is used to simulate the designs allowing a low reflection loss design embedded directly into a heterogeneous structure or dielectric material
The Experiment in the History of Economics

List of Contributors Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Experimental Economic Games 2. The Allais Paradox and its Immediate Consequences For Expected Utility Theory 3. Experimentation, General Equilibrium and Games 4. Thought - and Performed Experiments in Hayek and Morgenstern 5. Social Comptabilism and Pure Credit Systems 6. The Vanity of Rigour in Economics
Equivalent Substrate Model for Lateral Super Junction Device

The equivalent substrate (ES) model and the accordant optimized structure for the lateral super junction (LSJ) device are proposed in this paper. The ES, defined as the combination of the depleted substrate under the reverse voltage and the charge compensation layer (CCL) in the substrate, is treated as a whole to analyze the modulation impact of the compensation electric field ΔE on the total electric field of the LSJ. The analytical formulas for the surface electric field profiles of the LSJ are deduced from the 3-D Poisson equation and the Green function. The ES model reveals the essence and the suppression of the substrate-assisted depletion effect in the LSJ, from which the optimized substrate conditions are achieved. The optimized substrate condition allows the LSJ device featuring a similar breakdown voltage to that of the vertical super junction. Then four typical doping concentrations of the CCLs with four different compensation electric field strengths ΔEs are compared. The developed novel device with optimized CCL delivers a breakdown voltage of 301 V, realizing 157% improvement compared with the conventional LSJ with Ld=15 μm, which shows a superior performance to the LSJ devices reported. It is noteworthy that the ES model can also be used to analyze other LSJs.
A Dynamic Model of Oligopolistic Market Structure, Featuring Positioning Investments

Abstract In their efforts to create and maintain a position in a market, firms make positioning investments of various sorts, in R&D, plant, advertising, and location, or more generally, in product development and maintenance. In an environment where the success of positioning investments is stochastic, the positioning game played by firms that compete to serve a market is necessarily dynamic. We model the positioning and operating decisions of firms in an environment of this sort. When the market is large enough to support at least one active firm, in the steady state equilibrium, the expected number of firms serving the market at a point in time is a nearly continuous function of market size, in sharp contrast to the familiar integer-valued step function seen in classic models, and expected total and consumer surplus are higher than standard non-stochastic models would indicate. This suggests that the classic models are not always a sound guide for policy.
Relational‐Interdependent Self‐Construal and Gender Predicting Blood Pressure Reactivity and Recovery From Stress in Early Adolescence

This study investigated the association between relational-interdependent self-construals (relational interdependence) and blood pressure reactivity and recovery from two types of peer stressors (i.e., relational and instrumental) and gender as a moderator of this association. One hundred and ninety-six early adolescents (M = 10.11 years) reported their relational interdependence and participated in a laboratory stress protocol in which their systolic and diastolic blood pressures before, during, and after experiencing peer stressors were assessed. Results indicated that for males only, those with high relational interdependence showed greater systolic blood pressure reactivity and, at a trend level, impaired recovery from instrumental stressors; females with high relational interdependence showed greater diastolic blood pressure reactivity to relational stressors.
Complex-source-point beam scattering by a thin high-contrast dielectric disk

In this paper, we consider the scattering of a complex-source-point beam by a thin high-contrast dielectric disk. To find the solution of the problem, we use analytical-numerical method which is based on the generalized boundary conditions, dual integral equations, and the method of analytical regularization. We present the normalized radiated and absorbed powers as functions of the electrical radius of the disk and far field radiation patterns of the total field at resonance points.
Energy efficient scheduling with QoS guarantee for IEEE 802.16e broadband wireless access networks

This paper proposes three energy efficient scheduling approaches for 802.16e broadband wireless networks. Instead of considering a single Mobile Subscriber Station (MSS) as most of the current researchers do, multiple MSSs are considered in our work. The constant bit rate traffic with QoS delay constraint is considered in this paper. The proposed approaches address both energy efficiency and bandwidth utilization. We reuse the idle fragmentation of the allocated OFDM frames to balance power saving and bandwidth utilization. Simulation results show that our proposed approaches benefit with more sleep time and higher bandwidth utilization. Furthermore, we give a QoS scheduling mechanism to find the maximum sleeping time for single MSS, called Minimum Wakeup Time (MWT) scheduler. Even though we don't know whether exists a feasible scheduling to satisfy all MSSs with MWT, it will serve as an upper bound for the power-saving scheduling in IEEE 802.16e.
Understanding and Diagnosing Antimicrobial Resistance on Social Media: A Yearlong Overview of Data and Analytics

ABSTRACT To better understand user conversations revolving around antibiotics and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) on Twitter, we used an online data collection and analysis toolkit with full firehose access to collect corpuses of tweets with “antibiotic” and “antimicrobial resistance” keyword tracks. The date range included tweets from November 28, 2015, to November 25, 2016, for both datasets. This yearlong date range provides insight into how users have discussed antibiotics and AMR and identifies any spikes in activity during a particular time frame. Overall, we found that discussions about antibiotics and AMR predominantly occur in the United States and the United Kingdom, with roughly equal gender participation. These conversations are influenced by news sources, health professionals, and governmental health organizations. Users will often defer to retweet and recirculate content posted from these official sources and link to external articles instead of posting their own musings on the subjects. Our findings are important benchmarks in understanding the prevalence and reach of potential misinformation about antibiotics and AMR on Twitter.
A Novel Heteroplasmic tRNASer(UCN) mtDNA Point Mutation Associated With Progressive Ophthalmoplegia and Dysphagia

We report a novel heteroplasmic mitochondrial DNA mutation in the tRNASer(UCN) gene at nucleotide 7458 (m.7458G>A) in a 26-year-old patient affected with sporadic progressive external ophthalmoplegia associated with dysphagia. Muscle biopsy showed a strong succinate dehydrogenase staining, ragged red fibers, and 15% of cytochrome c oxidase-negative fibers. Activities of mitochondrial respiratory chain complexes I+III and IV were reduced. The mutation was heteroplasmic (75%) in the muscle, but undetectable in accessible tissues from the patient and his maternal relatives. This report expands the molecular heterogeneity of progressive external ophthalmoplegia.
Using School Evaluation Policy to Effect Curriculum Change?: A Reflection on the SSE and ESR Exercise in Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, despite the officials' efforts to reform the school curriculum, studies have found that implementation of the proposed changes has been superficial (Yeung, 2006, 2009). Recently, evidence-based school self-evaluation has become a global trend in the school improvement movement. The Education Bureau in Hong Kong has followed this trend and launched a school evaluation policy - School Self Evaluation (SSE) and External School Review (ESR). The pair of evaluation measures was initiated to help schools to evaluate their own effectiveness, to ensure public accountability and to achieve self development (Quality Assurance Division, 2006). This paper shares the findings from a local research, which looks into the perception of the policy by school curriculum leaders and its possible impact on the school curriculum and teachers. The curriculum leaders described both positive and negative effects, potential threats and weaknesses of the school evaluation policy. Specific attention was given to how effective school evaluation in effect makes curriculum reform mandatory. Findings show how the local school curriculum can be controlled by bureaucratic preferences through SSE and ESR, and ultimately lost its ability to deal with diversity. It also shows how such forces impede teachers' professional autonomy and liberty.
Utilitarian Premises and the Evolutionary Framework of Marshall's Economics

Alfred Marshall's ethics, critically examined by Parsons in the 1930s and often the target of unfair remarks in the past, has become the object of more sympathetic and detailed studies in recent years. These studies have tried to redress the balance that had been upset by routine criticisms, and to prove that Marshall's interest in ethics was neither lip-service to conventional morality nor uncritical acceptance thereof. Moreover, they have vindicated Marshall's claim that his economics, though unconnected to any ethical philosophy, was still one of the moral sciences, inseparable from ethical considerations.
Multioctave Frequency Selective Surface Reflector for Ultrawideband Antennas

In this letter, we demonstrate the gain enhancement of an ultrawideband (UWB) antenna, achieved using an appropriately designed multioctave dual-layer frequency selective surface (FSS) reflector. The proposed novel FSS reflects effectively in phase over a bandwidth of about 120%. Hence, significant enhancement in antenna gain has been achieved with a low-profile configuration without compromising the impedance bandwidth of the UWB antenna. The proposed FSS reflector has a low transmission coefficient and linearly decreasing phase over an ultra-wide frequency band, which is the key requirement for providing an effectively in-phase reflection at the antenna plane. The composite structure is compact, with a total height of λ/4, where λ is the free-space wavelength at the lowest operating frequency of 3 GHz. Experimental results show an impedance bandwidth of 122%. The antenna gain is maintained around 7.5 dBi from 3 to 7 GHz. Between 7-14 GHz, the antenna is more directive with a gain of about 9 dBi with ±0.5 dB variation. Experimental measurements con firm the predicted wideband antenna performance and gain enhancement due to the FSS reflector.
The Game is Not the Same: The Demand for Test Match Cricket in Australia

We estimate a cricket demand equation for test matches played in Australia. Consistent with previous studies of the demand for professional sport, demand is specified as a function of both economic factors (such as admission price, income and market size) and match specific factors (such as the uncertainty of outcome, weather conditions and the presence of star players). Our results suggest that match specific factors, rather than economic factors, influence attendance. We compare our results to those of previous studies for Australia and England which estimate the demand for cricket.
Low fertility and labour force participation of Italian women

In Italy, as well as in other Southern European countries, low labor market participation rates of married women are observed together with low birth rates. Our proposed explanation for this apparent anomaly involves the Italian institutional structure, particularly as reflected in rigidities and imperfections in the labor market and characteristics of the publicly-funded child care system. These rigidities tend to simultaneously increase the costs of having children and to discourage the labor market participation of married women.We analyze a model of labor supply and fertility, using panel data from the Bank of Italy which have been merged with regional data describing the available opportunities in each sample household’s environment. The empirical results show that the availability of child care and part time work increase both the probability of working and having a child. Policies which would provide more flexible working hours choices and greater child care availability .
Population characteristics and the impact of tourism on economic development

Currently, there are two opposing research lines regarding the capacity of tourism to influence the level of economic development. In this context, this research study, after analysing the validity of each one of these two lines, advocates for an intermediate situation based on the premise that there is no automatic relationship between these two dimensions, but instead, a country must meet certain characteristics in order for this link to occur. In this sense, once proven the importance of population characteristics in the level of socioeconomic progress by scientific literature, applying an econometric model, using a sample of 144 countries – divided between more developed countries and less developed countries –, it has showed that the reduction of the emigrant population – especially high-qualified people – and the existence of low unemployment rates have contributed to the transformation of tourism growth into economic development. In addition, it has also demonstrated that countries with regressive population pyramids have greater difficulties for tourism growth improve their socioeconomic conditions. Therefore, international agencies and institutions that seek to use tourism as an effective tool for alleviate poverty should consider these factors before making significant investments that ultimately do not produce the expected results