Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Psychometric Properties and Hidden Dimensionality of the Sinhala Version of End Stage Renal Disease Adherence Questionnaire (SINESRD-AQ) Among Patients Receiving Haemodialysis in a Selected Hospital in Sri Lanka

BackgroundAdherence to a complex therapeutic regimen is crucial to maintain the quality of life of patients receiving haemodialysis. End Stage Renal Disease Adherence Questionnaire (ESRD-AQ) is a valid and most widely used instrument to assess all dimensions of treatment adherence among patients receiving in-center haemodialysis. Though the precise evaluation is fundamental, availability of valid and reliable instruments to evaluate treatment adherence is limited in Sri Lanka. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of Sinhala translated version of ESRD-AQ.MethodsThe translation and cultural adaptation of ESRD-AQ underwent forward and back translation, expert committee consolidation and pretesting among patients (n=10). Face and content validity were evaluated with a panel of experts (n=6) and group of patients (n=10). Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was performed to evaluate construct validity of two subscales of SINESRD-AQ. Subsequent Categorical Principal Component Analysis (CATPCA) was performed to identify a more parsimonious dimensionality to assess treatment adherence behaviors among patients. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics Review Committee, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura and Teaching Hospital, Kurunegala, Sri Lanka. ResultsA total of 150 patients with mean age of 54.08±10.78 (±SD) years were included. Majority were males (72.7%). Excellent face and content validity of SINESRD-AQ was reported. The CFA of two subscales of ESRD-AQ demonstrated barely acceptable model fit (SRMR=0.120, CFI=0.913, GFI=0.997, AGFI=0.996, NNFI=0.896). Subsequent CATPCA revealed new dimensionality with five components explaining 74% of the total variance. Convergent validity of new dimensionality was confirmed with Composite Reliability (CR) and Average Variance Extracted (AVE) with the values greater than 0.7 and 0.5 respectively. According to the Fornell Larcker criterion (1971), the square root of AVEs of components were greater than the inter component correlations and heterotrait-monotrait values were less than the threshold of 0.85 demonstrated the discriminant validity of new dimensionality.ConclusionSINESRD-AQ is a valid and a reliable instrument to assess treatment adherence behaviors among Sinhala speaking patients receiving haemodialysis in Sri Lanka. A follow-up CFA is to be performed to confirm the revised dimensionality of SINESRD-AQ.
Skeleton-Based Attention Mask for Pedestrian Attribute Recognition Network

This paper presents an extended model for a pedestrian attribute recognition network utilizing skeleton data as a soft attention model to extract a local feature corresponding to a specific attribute. This technique helped keep valuable information surrounding the target area and handle the variation of human posture. The attention masks were designed to focus on the partial and the whole-body regions. This research utilized an augmented layer for data augmentation inside the network to reduce over-fitting errors. Our network was evaluated in two datasets (RAP and PETA) with various backbone networks (ResNet-50, Inception V3, and Inception-ResNet V2). The experimental result shows that our network improves overall classification performance with a mean accuracy of about 2–3% in the same backbone network, especially local attributes and various human postures.
Contextualizing Motivating Language to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): How Leader Motivating Language Affects Employees’ CSR Engagement and Employee–Organization Relationships

Drawing on motivating language theory (MLT), this paper aims to demonstrate the effects of strategic leader speech in the context of internal corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication. Specifically, the study (1) examines how leader motivating language strategies used in CSR communication influence employees’ CSR engagement and employee–organization relationships (EORs) and (2) identifies the mediator explaining the underlying psychological mechanism of the effects. Structural equation modeling was performed on a sample of 406 participants who are full-time and part-time employees in the U.S. The results showed that leader motivating language was positively associated with employees’ CSR engagement and EOR quality. Such relationships were significantly mediated by person–organization (PO) fit. This study advances CSR research and practice by explicating the impact of leaders’ oral communication in constructing employees’ CSR experiences and relationships with the employer.
Methods and Applications of Causal Reasoning in Medical Field

Causal reasoning is an important component of explainable AI and has been a key research topic across domains, especially in the medical field. O ne o f t he c ore problems is to infer the causal effect of treatment from medical data. However, when the traditional methods of dealing with effect estimations are applied to medical cases, there are obstacles such as instability, incomprehensibility, and unexplainability, which may not be able to deal with special medical data. Furthermore, there is no thorough survey of causal reasoning methods for specific medical problems. Therefore, we present a comprehensive survey of causal reasoning methods in the context of medicine, combining the advantages of both the medical field a nd causal reasoning. And take specific examples t o s how t he contribution of causal reasoning methods in disease prediction, diagnosis decision-making, treatment effect estimation, causal relationship mining, medical image analysis, and so on. This shows that causal reasoning methods have theoretical and practical significance in the medical field.
Small Molecule Inhibitors Targeting Nuclear Factor κB Activation Markedly Reduce Expression of Interleukin-2, but Not Interferon-γ, Induced by Phorbol Esters and Calcium Ionophores

The T-box transcription factor Eomesodermin (Eomes) promotes the expression of interferon-γ (IFN-γ). We recently reported that the small molecule inhibitors, TPCA-1 and IKK-16, which target nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) activation, moderately reduced Eomes-dependent IFN-γ expression in mouse lymphoma BW5147 cells stimulated with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) and ionomycin (IM). In the present study, we investigated the direct effects of NF-κB on IFN-γ expression in mouse lymphoma EL4 cells and primary effector T cells. Eomes strongly promoted IFN-γ expression and the binding of RelA and NFATc2 to the IFN-γ promoter when EL4 cells were stimulated with PMA and IM. Neither TPCA-1 nor IKK-16 reduced IFN-γ expression; however, they markedly decreased interleukin (IL)-2 expression in Eomes-transfected EL4 cells. Moreover, TPCA-1 markedly inhibited the binding of RelA, but not that of Eomes or NFATc2 to the IFN-γ promoter. In effector CD4+ and CD8+ T cells activated with anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 antibodies, IFN-γ expression induced by PMA and A23187 was not markedly decreased by TPCA-1 or IKK-16 under conditions where IL-2 expression was markedly reduced. Therefore, the present results revealed that NF-κB is dispensable for IFN-γ expression induced by PMA and calcium ionophores in EL4 cells expressing Eomes and primary effector T cells.
Effect of Die Configuration on the Physico-Chemical Properties, Anti-Nutritional Compounds, and Sensory Features of Legume-Based Extruded Snacks

Legumes are not valued by all consumers, mostly due to the prolonged soaking and cooking process they require. This problem could be solved by preparing legume-based ready-to-eat snacks. In this study, the effect of two different dies (circular and star-shaped, with cross-sections of 19.6 and 35.9 mm2, respectively) on the physico-chemical properties, anti-nutritional compounds, and sensory features of extruded breakfast snacks was determined. Extruded products were obtained from 100% legume flours of red lentil, faba bean, brown pea, and common bean. The extrusion-cooking conditions were 2.5 g/s feed rate; 160 ± 1 °C die temperature; 16 ± 1 g/100 g feed moisture, and 230 rpm screw speed. Star-shaped extrudates showed a lower expansion ratio, degree of starch gelatinization, and water solubility index, as well as higher bulk density, hardness, crunchiness, and lightness (L*) values. The oligosaccharides showed non univocal variations by changing the die, whereas phytates did not vary at all. The extrudates from lentil flour (richer in fiber) were the least preferred by sensory panelists, due to their hard texture. However, the spherical extrudates were preferred over the star-shaped product. These results emphasize the possibility of improving the physico-chemical and sensory properties of legume extrudates by selecting a proper die.
Radio and TV interference extraction for ultrawideband radar

This paper describes a computationally efficient, high-performance, UWB radar interference suppression algorithm. An adaptive FIR (finite impulse response) prediction-error noise- whitening filter exhibits minimal computational complexity and achieves 30 dB interference reduction per pulse (1 microsecond(s) long) with 16-bit simulated interference. Using measured interference data digitized to 8-bits with a 6.5 effective bit digitizer, collected just north of Washington, DC at the Army Research Laboratory, the technique achieved 20 to 27 dB of reduction. To minimize the computational load, the filter weights are periodically determined from data collected during a fraction of a radar range sweep. These weights are found to be effective for hundreds of subsequent radar pulses. Previous work on an estimate-and-subtract, tone-extraction technique resulted in 20 dB average interference reduction on the same measured data with a computational load linearly related to the number of tones extracted. The adaptive filtering approach uses an over-determined system producing an FIR filter with N taps, independent of the number of interference signals. An iterative technique to reduce the range sidelobes caused by the filter's impulse response is also presented. The computational load of this iterative stage is, at worst, linearly related to the number of targets whose sidelobes are extracted. It is shown that, with a small reduction in performance, the sidelobe reduction can be accomplished with a relatively small increase in the overall computational load. The computational complexity of the proposed technique relative to the estimate-and- subtract technique depends on the signal and interference environment and on the acceptable sidelobe level. A comprehensive radio and TV interference simulator was developed to test the interference suppression algorithm. It avoids difficulties in memory requirements and code complexity typically encountered in high-sample rate, long duration, and UWB simulations. Data was generated for various population densities, sampling rates, and quantization levels. Results using the simulation data showed that the performance of the algorithm was related to the quantization level with more bits producing better results.
Distribution of recombination currents in the space charge region of heterostructure bipolar devices

This paper addresses the problem of the space charge region Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH) recombination currents in heterojunctions with one noncrystalline side. A formulation which generalizes previous works is discussed. The approach is based on the drift-diffusion model with a thermionic-field emission boundary condition. The main physical parameters which determine the relative contribution of each zone of the space charge region (SCR) to the total recombination current are identified. The general analysis is applied for the first time to amorphous/crystalline heterojunctions and design criteria are established to minimize the total recombination current.
Design, fabrication, and characterization of thin film PZT membranes for high flux electronics cooling applications

An extensive numerical and experimental study of deep reactive ion etched (DRIE) thin film Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT) membranes used to enhance heat transfer between an immersed integrated circuit and a dielectric fluid is presented. Modal and harmonic analysis of the vibrating PZT membranes was performed using finite element techniques for a frequency range from 0 to 5 MHz. Experimental and numerical results showed that as the size of the PZT membranes increased, their fundamental resonance frequency decreased and they exhibited an increase in the number of resonance points in a given frequency range. Square and rectangular PZT membranes showed similar resonant characteristics, while elliptic membranes displayed more resonant points than circular devices. For a specified frequency range and equivalent surface areas, square membranes had more resonant points than circular membranes. When the thin film PZT membranes are immersed in a dielectric fluid, substantial vortices and turbulences, along with distinct particle flow paths, were observed.
A Hierarchical History Matching Method and its Applications

Modern reservoir management typically involves simulations of geological models to predict future recovery estimates, providing the economic assessment of different field development strategies. Integrating reservoir data is a vital step in developing reliable reservoir performance models. Currently, most effective strategies for traditional manual history matching commonly follow a structured approach with a sequence of adjustments from global to regional parameters, followed by local changes in model properties. In contrast, many of the recent automatic history matching methods utilize parameter sensitivities or gradients to directly update the fine-scale reservoir properties, often ignoring geological inconsistency. Therefore, there is need for combining elements of all of these scales in a seamless manner. We present a hierarchical streamline-assisted history matching, with a framework of global-local updates. A probabilistic approach, consisting of design of experiments, response surface methodology and the genetic algorithm, is used to understand the uncertainty in the large-scale static and dynamic parameters. This global update step is followed by a streamline-based model calibration for high resolution reservoir heterogeneity. This local update step assimilates dynamic production data. We apply the genetic global calibration to unconventional shale gas reservoir specifically we include stimulated reservoir volume as a constraint term in the data integration to improve history matching and reduce prediction uncertainty. We introduce a novel approach for efficiently computing well drainage volumes for shale gas wells with multistage fractures and fracture clusters, and we will filter stochastic shale gas reservoir models by comparing the computed drainage volume with the measured SRV within specified confidence limits. Finally, we demonstrate the value of integrating downhole temperature measurements as coarse-scale constraint during streamline-based history matching of dynamic production data. We first derive coarse-scale permeability trends in the reservoir from temperature data. The coarse information are then downscaled into fine scale permeability by sequential Gaussian simulation with block kriging, and updated by local-scale streamline-based history matching. he power and utility of our approaches have been demonstrated using both synthetic and field examples.
A Soft Start Approach of Solid-State Transformer

The Solid-State Transformer (SST) is one of the most important devices for the future grid. To begin with, this paper discusses the impact of auxiliary power supply (APS) on the start-up process, and then introduces a soft-start approach for a zero-voltage switching (ZVS) SST topology. Finally, the start scheme is verified by the experiment.
Teeth Arrangement and Pole–Slot Combination Design for PMLSM Detent Force Reduction

This paper introduces and investigates a new design method that employs both teeth arrangement and pole–slot combination to reduce the detent force of permanent magnet linear synchronous motors (PMLSMs) for precision position control. The proposed topology is a 10-pole, 12-slot-based PMLSM comprising two sections that significantly reduce the detent force without implementing a skewing design. It was analytically and experimentally confirmed that the proposed design effectively reduces detent force with a negligible sacrifice of mover length. The general characteristics and servo performance of the proposed PMLSM were experimentally examined and then discussed.
An extended finite-element model coupled with level set method for analysis of growth of corrosion pits in metallic structures

Mass balance between metal and electrolytic solution, separated by a moving interface, in stable pit growth results in a set of governing equations which are solved for concentration field and interface position (pit boundary evolution). The interface experiences a jump discontinuity in metal concentration. The extended finite-element model (XFEM) handles this jump discontinuity by using discontinuous-derivative enrichment formulation, eliminating the requirement of using front conforming mesh and re-meshing after each time step as in the conventional finite-element method. However, prior interface location is required so as to solve the governing equations for concentration field for which a numerical technique, the level set method, is used for tracking the interface explicitly and updating it over time. The level set method is chosen as it is independent of shape and location of the interface. Thus, a combined XFEM and level set method is developed in this paper. Numerical analysis for pitting corrosion of stainless steel 304 is presented. The above proposed model is validated by comparing the numerical results with experimental results, exact solutions and some other approximate solutions. An empirical model for pitting potential is also derived based on the finite-element results. Studies show that pitting profile depends on factors such as ion concentration, solution pH and temperature to a large extent. Studying the individual and combined effects of these factors on pitting potential is worth knowing, as pitting potential directly influences corrosion rate.
Quantification of motorway capacity variation: influence of day type specific variation and capacity drop

Summary Many road authorities work with static values for road capacities, while it has been proven that capacity is not a fixed quantity. At the same time, there is an increasing need for accurate stochastic input for traffic models, such as the variation in road capacity. In this paper, a methodological framework with a conceptual model for practical stochastic capacity estimation is presented, and a quantification of motorway capacity variation is given for the influence of day-type specific variations in capacity values. The results of the analysis show that there is a reduction in motorway breakdown capacity of 4% on weekend days in comparison with workdays. Furthermore, a capacity decrease of 8% was found for the discharge capacity in comparison with workdays. The analysis further shows that the breakdown capacity on holidays is not significantly lower than on workdays. Discharge capacity and capacity drops are also derived in each case. The results show that the capacity is significantly different depending on the type of day. A quantification of these differences is given in the form of a Weibull capacity estimation fit for each type-of-day scenario. Further consideration of the implications and applications of the framework is also given. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Genetic Landscape of Patent Foramen Ovale: A Systematic Review

Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO) is a common postnatal defect of cardiac atrial septation. A certain degree of familial aggregation has been reported. Animal studies suggest the involvement of the Notch pathway and other cardiac transcription factors (GATA4, TBX20, NKX2-5) in Foramen Ovale closure. This review evaluates the contribution of genetic alterations in PFO development. We systematically reviewed studies that assessed rare and common variants in subjects with PFO. The protocol was registered with PROSPERO and followed MOOSE guidelines. We systematically searched English studies reporting rates of variants in PFO subjects until the 30th of June 2021. Among 1231 studies, we included four studies: two of them assessed the NKX2-5 gene, the remaining reported variants of chromosome 4q25 and the GATA4 S377G variant, respectively. We did not find any variant associated with PFO, except for the rs2200733 variant of chromosome 4q25 in atrial fibrillation patients. Despite the scarceness of evidence so far, animal studies and other studies that did not fulfil the criteria to be included in the review indicate a robust genetic background in PFO. More research is needed on the genetic determinants of PFO.
Health and Culture: The Association between Healthcare Preferences for Non-Acute Conditions, Human Values and Social Norms

Preference for professional vs. non-professional or informal healthcare for non-acute medical situations influences healthcare use and varies strongly across countries. Important individual and country-level drivers of these preferences may be human values (the fundamental values that individuals hold and guide their behavior) and country-level characteristics such as social tightness (societal pressure for “acceptable” behavior). The aim of this study was to examine the relation of these individual and country-level characteristics with healthcare preferences. We examined European Social Survey data from 23,312 individuals in 16 European countries, using a multi-level, random effect approach, including individual and country-level factors. Healthcare preferences were explained by both human values (i.e., Schwartz values) and societal tightness (i.e., tightness-looseness scores by Gelfand). Stronger conservation increased, whereas self-transcendence and openness to change decreased preference for professional healthcare. In socially tight countries, we found a higher preference for professional healthcare. Furthermore, we found interactions between social tightness and human values. These results suggest that professional healthcare preference is related to both people’s values and societal tightness. This improved understanding is useful for both predicting and channeling healthcare seeking behavior across and within nations.
Study of small wideband folded-patch-feed antennas

A small wideband patch antenna which exhibits an impedance bandwidth (Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) ≤ 2) of more than 70% with an antenna size of 0. 314λo×0. 314λo×0. 146λo (where λo is the guided wavelength of the centre operating frequency) is presented. Bandwidth broadening is achieved by an E-shaped patch fed by a folded-patch feed, whereas the size reduction is realised through the use of a shorting wall. As the antenna can be made from a single piece of copper plate, it is easier to fabricate than the wideband U-shaped-slot and L-shaped-slit folded-patch-feed antennas previously reported. Parametric studies of the proposed antenna are performed numerically to review its radiation mechanism. These include the purposes of having a shorting wall and two arms attaching on the upper patch forming the E-shaped pattern and the analysis of the input impedance of the antenna. Approximate equations for designing the proposed antenna are also presented. To verify the working principle, the proposed antennas are fabricated and tested for three different frequency bands. Stable radiation patterns are obtained across the band.