Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Translation and Adaptation into Hindi of Central Religiosity Scale, Brief Religious Coping Scale (Brief RCOPE), and Duke University Religion Index (DUREL)

Background: Religion/religiosity plays an important role in the lives of most Indians. However, there are lack of validated instruments in regional languages to assess the various dimensions of religiosity in the Indian population. This limits evaluation of religion/religiosity and comparison of Indian data with western research for health-related issues. Methods: The CRS, BRCOPE, and DUREL scales were translated into Hindi by using the standard translation-back-translation methodology as specified by the World Health Organization. Initially, the Hindi version of each scale was completed by 132 participants, and the second time, participants completed either the Hindi or the English version of the scales after 3–7 days. Data were evaluated for cross-language equivalence, test–retest reliability, internal consistency, and split half reliability. Results: The Hindi version of CRS, DUREL, and RCOPE had good cross-language equivalence with the English version for all the items and dimensions in all three scales, which was highly significant (P < 0.001). The test–retest reliability was also high for all three scales (Cohen's Kappa value >0.67 for various items and subscales P < 0.001). Cronbach's alpha for the Hindi version of the scales was 0.95, 0.76, and 0.89 for CRS, DUREL, and BRCOPE, respectively. The Spearman–Brown coefficient was 0.89, 0.70, and 0.43 for CRS, DUREL, and BRCOPE, respectively. Conclusion: The Hindi version of CRS, DUREL, and BRCOPE has good cross-language equivalence, internal consistency, split-half reliability, and test–retest reliability. It is expected that availability of these validated versions will provide impetus to research evaluating the association of clinical parameters and religiosity.
Pull-in suppression and torque magnification in parallel plate electrostatic actuators with side electrodes

In this paper we introduce a new electrostatic actuator that provides a large increase in neutral position (no rotation) torque and suppression of pull-in compared to a conventional parallel-plate structure. The actuator geometry incorporates raised electrodes on the side of the rotating element that generate torque versus angle behavior much different than convention parallel plate actuators. Using this electrode configuration we have demonstrated 17-degree stable mechanical rotation on large (950 /spl mu/m diameter) mirrors with 100 V single ended drive-a rotation of 60% of the gap. Driving the mirrors with a differential drive scheme we have demonstrated stable 8-degree rotation with as little as /spl plusmn/18 V.
A case study of pre -service teachers experiences in a reform geometry course

This study documented 25 pre-service elementary and middle school teachers’ experiences in an inductive geometry course. It utilized a qualitative case study design in order to gain insight into the participants’ reactions. Data were collected through indepth student interviews that elicited information about students’ previous mathematics courses; their reaction to this particular mathematics course; their view of themselves as mathematicians; their beliefs about mathematics teaching and learning; and their perspective about the role that this particular mathematics class played in their preservice teacher training. Additional data came from student reflections on a summary essay question; their responses to an attitude about mathematics assessment; and their answers on a geometry knowledge assessment. Data were also collected in the form of frequent classroom observations. Overall, Students’ beliefs about teaching and learning were transformed during this semester. They also gained pedagogical skills on which to draw when they become teachers and learned how to create a constructivist classroom environment complete with supportive tools and resources. Students developed an appreciation for (1) the process of obtaining an answer, (2) multiple solutions to mathematical problems, (3) learning for mathematical understanding, (4) the value of cooperative learning in the classroom, (5) the impact of meaningful, high-demand mathematics on understanding,
Oscillating gradient measurements of water diffusion in normal and globally ischemic rat brain

Oscillating gradients were used to probe the diffusion‐time/frequency dependence of water diffusion in the gray matter of normal and globally ischemic rat brain. In terms of a conventional definition of diffusion time, the oscillating gradient measurements provided the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of water with diffusion times between 9.75 ms and 375 μs, an order of magnitude shorter than previously studied in vivo. Over this range, ADCs increased as much as 24% in vivo and 50% postmortem, depending on the nature of the oscillating gradient waveform used. Novel waveforms were employed to sample narrow frequency bands of the so‐called diffusion spectrum. This spectral description of ADC includes the effects of restriction and/or flow, and is independent of experimental parameters, such as diffusion time. The results in rat brain were found to be consistent with restricted diffusion and the known micro‐anatomy of gray matter. Differences between normal and postmortem data were consistent with an increase in water restriction and/or a decrease in flow, and tentatively suggest that physical changes following the onset of ischemia occur on a scale of about 2 μm, similar to a typical cellular dimension in gray matter. Magn Reson Med 49:206–215, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Endothelin Receptors in Light-Induced Retinal Degeneration

Excessive light exposure leads to retinal degeneration in albino animals and exacerbates the rate of photoreceptor apoptosis in several retinal diseases. In previous studies we have described the presence of endothelin-1 (ET-1) and its receptors (ET-A and ET-B) in different sites of the mouse retina, including the retinal pigment epithelium, the outer plexiform layer (OPL), astrocytes, the ganglion cell layer (GCL), and vascular endothelia. After light-induced degeneration of photoreceptors, endothelinergic structures disappear from the OPL, but ET-1 and ET-B immunoreactivities increase in astrocytes. Here, we present novel observations about the course of light-induced retinal degeneration in BALB-c mice exposed to 1500 lux during 4 days with or without treatment with tezosentan, a mixed endothelinergic antagonist. Retinal whole mounts were immunostained with anticleaved caspase-3 (CC-3) serum to identify apoptotic photoreceptor cells within the outer nuclear layer (ONL). Glial activation was measured as glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) immunoreactivity in retinal whole mounts and in Western blots from retinal extracts. Tezosentan treatment significantly reduced both the number of CC3-immunoreactive cells and GFAP levels, suggesting that inhibition of endothelinergic receptors could play a role in photoreceptor survival. Using confocal double immunofluorescence, we have observed that ET-A seems to be localized in bipolar cell dendrites, whereas ET-B is localized in horizontal cells. Our observations suggest the existence of an endothelinergic mechanism modulating synaptic transmission in the OPL. This mechanism could perhaps explain the effects of tezosentan treatment on photoreceptor survival.
Three Roles for Statistical Significance and the Validity Frontier in Theory Testing

This study offers a method for empirically testing theories operationalized in the form of multivariate statistical models. An innovation of the method is that it distinguishes testing into three separate forms, “effect testing,” “prediction testing,” and “theory testing,”where statistical significance plays a separate role in each one. In another innovation, the researcher specifies not only his or her desired level of statistical significance, but also his or her desired level of practical significance. Statistical significance and practical significance each serve as a dimension in a two-dimensional table that specifies the rejection region– the region where the researcher can justify the decision to reject the theory being tested. The boundary of the rejection region is the “validity frontier,” which ongoing research may advance so as to reduce the sizeof the rejection region. (Less)
Enhancing Pinning Controllability of Complex Networks Through Link Rewiring

In this brief, we propose a method to optimize the topology of networks to enhance their pinning controllability while the locations of the drivers and their associated feedback gains are fixed. Inspired by the master stability function approach, pinning controllability is measured by the eigenratio of the augmented Laplacian matrix. A perturbation mechanism is used to approximate the influence of adding or removing edges on pinning controllability, which leads to a criterion for efficient rewirings. Simulation results on model scale-free networks show that the proposed rewiring-based topology optimization strategy can successfully optimize pinning controllability. The optimized networks show significantly different topological properties as compared with the original networks. Furthermore, regardless of the initial choice of drivers, they become hubs in the optimized networks.
Design of Mobile Services Supporting Knowledge Processes on Building Sites

Mobile work in an exposed physical working environment, e.g. the building industry, challenges the design and use of mobile services. So far, little or no use of mobile services on the building sites exists. This research presents mobile services that were developed and used in order to support knowledge processes in the building industry. The building workers used the mobile services to capture and report experiences and knowledge using pictures, audio records and textual information. It also presents experiences from using the mobile services as a part of a mobile knowledge management. The workers experienced that the mobile services could improve paper-driven knowledge processes on sites. Also, by using the mobile services the building workers contributed to improve the quality of work for the whole enterprise. This research also reveals unforeseen new use patterns that did not come in conflict with the existing knowledge processes.
Expanding applications of chemical genetics in signal transduction

Chemical genetics represents an expanding collection of techniques applied to a variety of signaling processes. These techniques use a combination of chemical reporters and protein engineering to identify targets of a signaling enzyme in a global and non-directed manner without resorting to hypothesis-driven candidate approaches. In the last year, chemical genetics has been applied to a variety of kinases, revealing a much broader spectrum of substrates than had been appreciated. Here, we discuss recent developments in chemical genetics, including insights from our own proteomic screen for substrates of the kinase ERK2. These studies have revealed that many kinases have overlapping substrate specificity, and they often target several proteins in any particular downstream pathway. It remains to be determined whether this configuration exists to provide redundant control, or whether each target contributes a fraction of the total regulatory effect. From a general perspective, chemical genetics is applicable in principle to a broad range of posttranslational modifications (PTMs), most notably methylation and acetylation, although many challenges remain in implementing this approach. Recent developments in chemical reporters and protein engineering suggest that chemical genetics will soon be a powerful tool for mapping signal transduction through these and other PTMs.
Microgrid central controller development and hierarchical control implementation in the intelligent microgrid lab of Aalborg University

This paper presents the development of a microgrid central controller in an inverter-based intelligent microgrid (iMG) lab in Aalborg University, Denmark. The iMG lab aims to provide a flexible experimental platform for comprehensive studies of microgrids. The complete control system applied in this lab is based on the hierarchical control scheme for microgrids and includes primary, secondary and tertiary control. The structure of the lab, including the lab facilities, configurations and communication network, is first introduced. Primary control loops are developed in MATLAB/Simulink and compiled to dSPACEs for local control purposes. In order to realize system supervision and proper secondary and tertiary management, a LabVIEW-based microgrid central controller is also developed. The software and hardware schemes are described. An example case is introduced and tested in the iMG lab for voltage/frequency restoration and voltage unbalance compensation. Experimental results are presented to show the performance of the whole system.
A Novel Coplanar Waveguide-Fed Slot Antenna for Ultrawideband Applications

A new coplanar waveguide-fed slot antenna for ultrawideband (UWB) applications is presented. The proposed X-shape antenna is analyzed both numerically and experimentally. The UWB characteristics of the antenna are achieved through the electromagnetic coupling between two adjacent slot arms. All the design procedures are performed by using CST MS software. The antenna operates with VSWR lower than 2.2 (S11< -8.5 dB) over the whole frequency band from 3.1 GHz to 10.6 GHz. In addition to the return loss, dispersion characteristic of the antenna is considered in the design procedure. A parametric study is presented to investigate the effect of the antenna geometrical parameters on its performance. The antenna shows fairly stable radiation pattern over the frequency range of interest. Furthermore, to analyze the dispersion behavior of the antenna, the frequency-domain and time domain characteristics of the antenna are investigated by means of the antenna transfer function.
Expression of oestrogen receptor alpha variants in non‐malignant breast and early invasive breast carcinomas

Oestrogen receptor (ER) α variants have been described in normal breast and breast carcinomas, but their presence in a range of benign conditions and in small early invasive breast carcinomas has not been considered. Cryostat tissue sections from 19 normal and proliferative breast lesions and 44 carcinomas 15 mm and less in size detected by mammographic screening were screened for ERα splice variants using reverse transcriptase‐nested PCR. The carcinomas were assessed for mutation by single‐stranded conformational polymorphism analysis and variant forms/band shifts were sequenced. ERα was detected in all 19 non‐malignant cases and exon 7‐deleted variants were found in 16 of them. Three cases showed weak expression of exon 5, and two of exon 3 variants. There was no relationship between the presence of variants and the extent of proliferative change, ER status or age. ERα mRNA was not detected in two carcinomas; exon 3 deletions were found in four (9.5%) of the other carcinomas, exon 5 in two (4.8%), and exon 7 in 11 (26.2%), with two variants in four carcinomas and a total of 29.5% of all cases having detectable variants. Two point mutations were found in one, which was a tubular carcinoma. Variant forms were identified in carcinomas of all sizes (bar<10 mm) but were more frequent in those of 15 mm. There was no relationship with type, grade or receptor status. The main difference between non‐malignant breast and early invasive cancers related to exons 3 and 5. The findings suggest that ERα variants are not involved in breast cancer development but occur with tumour progression and may be a consequence rather than a cause. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A Digital-to-Time Converter with Coupled Phase-Rotating LC Oscillators in 90-nm CMOS Technology

This paper presents the design and implementation of a digital-to-time converter with coupled phase-rotating LC oscillators. Unlike conventional quadrature signal generation where circuit symmetry is carefully maintained, in the proposed design, the coupling circuits are intentionally skewed for phase and timing adjustments, while the total phase delay through the coupling circuits is set properly to ensure resonant operation. With 7-bit control across a full cycle, the proposed design can provide unlimited adjustment range. A prototype is designed and implemented with a 90-nm CMOS process, and a phase-locked loop is adopted to stabilize the operating frequency. With the core oscillators operating at 9.87 GHz, measurement results show an effective timing resolution of 1.71 ps. Phase noise at 1 MHz and 10 MHz offset aie −117.7 dBc/Hz and −124.7 dBc/Hz, respectively. The entire DTC design consumes less than 50 mW at all output settings.
Leaderless Synchronization of Heterogeneous Oscillators by Adaptively Learning the Group Model

This note addresses the problem of leaderless synchronization in a network of linear heterogeneous oscillators. It is well known that a synchronizing controller can be constructed when a common reference model is available to (some of) the agents. In this note, we show that synchronization can also be achieved without any access to such reference, by letting the agents cooperatively learn a suitable common model, which we refer to as group model. We show that there exists a group model that has the same structure as the oscillators and that the agents can learn its parameters and synchronize to it, by using a combination of consensus dynamics and adaptive regulation. This learning is even possible if the agents do not know their own dynamics, by using adaptive state observers. The distinguishing feature of this approach is making the agents collectively self-organize to their natural group model, instead of making them synchronize to an external reference.
Graphical Newton for Huge-Block Coordinate Descent on Sparse Graphs

Block coordinate descent (BCD) methods are often very effective for optimization problems where dependencies between variables are sparse. These methods can make a substantial amount of progress by applying Newton’s method to update a block of variables, but this leads to an iteration cost of O(|b|) in terms of the block size |b|. In this paper, we show how to use message-passing to compute the Newton step in O(|b|) when the block has a forest-structured dependency. Consequently, this allows us to update huge blocks for sparse problems, resulting in significant numerical improvements over existing approaches. We also present a greedy approach for selecting forest-structured blocks.
Differences in self-reported sleep complaints in elderly persons living in the community who do or do not take sleep medication.

BACKGROUND Sleep disorders and the use of sleep medication are major health issues. Since complaints about sleep disturbances are subjective phenomena, the aim of the present study was to investigate which sleep complaints and self-reported disturbances of sleep behavior are connected with the utilization of sleep medication. METHOD In the Berlin Aging Study, a random sample of 516 persons aged 70 to over 100 underwent extensive psychiatric and medical examinations including several medication assessments and a special interview on sleep complaints and sleep behavior. RESULTS 19.1% of the elderly were taking some form of sleep medication. Univariate and discriminant analyses showed that neither self-reported duration of sleep time nor difficulties with sleeping through the night but complaints about difficulties initiating sleep and global complaints about disturbed sleep differentiated between those who do or do not take sleep medication. CONCLUSION Persons taking sleep medication nevertheless have a higher rate of sleep-related complaints than those who take no medication. Waking up in the night per se does not discriminate between drug users and controls. Instead, it is the inability to fall asleep or fall back into sleep after waking and global discontent with subjective sleep quality that make a difference.
Infliximab treatment for steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Tumor necrosis factor a is one of the principal cytokines involved in the pathogenesis of acute graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD). Infliximab is an antibody to this cytokine. DESIGN AND METHODS We performed a retrospective analysis to evaluate the activity of infliximab in 32 patients with severe steroid-refractory acute GVHD. The patients received a median of 3 weekly courses of infliximab. The main organs involved in the patients were skin (n=2) liver (n=1), bowel (n=19), liver and bowel at the same stage (n=10). RESULTS Nineteen out 32 patients (59%) responded to infliximab with 6 (19%) complete and 13 (40%) partial responses. Age younger than 35 years, intestinal involvement and a longer time between hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and infliximab administration were factors predicting a favorable response. Infective episodes developed in 23/32 (72%) patients. All the 13 unresponsive patients died of GVHD shortly after infliximab. Thirteen of 19 responsive patients were alive at a median follow-up of 449 days (range 155-842) after infliximab, with no signs of chronic GVHD (n=5), limited (n=5) or extensive involvement (n=3). Six patients who responded subsequently died, one of chronic lung GVHD, the others of vascular complications or infections (2 fungal diseases). INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS We conclude that infliximab is active in the treatment of severe steroid-refractory acute GVHD, particularly when the intestine is involved. Infections commonly followed its administration. The clinical activity of infliximab and the possibility that it increases the risk of infections are worth investigating in prospective trials.
ToF Estimation Based on Compressed Real-Time Histogram Builder for SPAD Image Sensors

This paper presents a FPGA implementation of a novel depth map estimation algorithm for direct time-of-flight CMOS image sensors (dToF-CISs) based on single-photon avalanche-diodes (SPADs). Conventional ToF computation algorithms rely on complete ToF histograms. The next generation of high speed dToF-CIS is expected to have wide dynamic range and high depth resolution. Applications such as 3D imaging based on dToF-CISs require pixel-level ToF histograms which have to be stored by huge fully-random access memory (RAM) modules. The proposed shifted inter-frame histogram (SiFH) algorithm has the same accuracy but requires a memory footprint 128 times smaller than the conventional algorithm. Thus a much larger number of pixels can be resolved using limited block RAM resources of FPGAs. Moreover the overall frame rate is also remarkably improved compared to the scanning method. The proof of concept of the SiFH algorithm on 15 bits has been implemented on Spartan-3E. An automated testbench was developed to confirm that no ambiguity errors occur along the entire dynamic range.
Democracy and institutions in postcolonial Africa

Abstract Africa has seen a steady rise in democracy since the end of the Cold War. This paper investigates two possible implications of democratization in African countries: better economic growth through improved institutions and less civil conflict through increased political participation. Instrumental variables regressions are estimated with the spatial lag of democracy. This instrument varies over time, allowing for consideration of country fixed effects in IV regressions. Large positive impacts of institutions on economic growth and of political participation on reducing civil conflict are found in IV regressions with fixed effects. Further estimates show that both growth and civil violence effects may be driven by civil liberties.