Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A national survey of attitudes toward intimate partner violence among married women in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan: Implications for health prevention and intervention

ABSTRACT Attitudes toward intimate partner violence (IPV) can affect the prevalence of IPV, response of victims’ to IPV (e.g., whether to seek help), and the response of professionals (e.g., police, social workers, health care professionals) to IPV. Knowledge about IPV-related attitudes is essential for developing effective social work and violence-related programs. Using data from the 2005–2006 Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, this study examines attitudes toward IPV and socio-demographic predictors of these attitudes among married women in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Women were asked whether they approved of a husband beating his wife: if she goes out without telling him, neglects their children, argues, refuses to have sex, and burns food. The prevalence of IPV acceptance for at least one of the five reasons varied from 12.3% in Kazakhstan to 45.3% in Kyrgyzstan and 74.5% in Tajikistan. Women who were less educated, members of Asian ethnic groups, resided in middle-class urban areas, and lived in specific regions were more likely to accept IPV. Few age differences that emerged indicated that young women were more approving of IPV. Proactive efforts are needed to confront attitudes about gender roles and IPV in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Snakes on a plan: Toward combining planning and control

Highly articulated robot locomotion systems, such as snake robots, present special motion planning challenges. They possess many degrees of freedom, and therefore are modeled by a high dimensional configuration space which must be searched to plan a path. Kinematic and dynamic constraints further complicate the selection of effective controls. Finally, snake robots often have multiple modes of interaction with the terrain as contacts are made and broken, leading to complex and imperfect motion models. We believe that the space of useful controls that provides desirable motions, however, is much smaller. Useful net motions for such systems are often generated via gaits, or cyclic motions in the shape space. Gaits transform a high-dimensional continuum search into a relatively tractable discrete search. In this paper, we put forward a framework which allows a planner to generate paths in a low dimensional work space and select among gaits, pre-planned motions in the robot's shape space. The contribution of this paper rests on the “virtual chassis” which is a choice of body frame for the snake robot that allows the planner to efficiently select among and plan with gaits to direct the robot along the work space path. We demonstrate this planner running on a simulated snake robot navigating through a variety of clutter scenarios. The virtual chassis also has the benefit of allowing us to generalize notions of controllability to gait motions.
Projection-Free Online Optimization with Stochastic Gradient: From Convexity to Submodularity

Online optimization has been a successful framework for solving large-scale problems under computational constraints and partial information. Current methods for online convex optimization require either a projection or exact gradient computation at each step, both of which can be prohibitively expensive for large-scale applications. At the same time, there is a growing trend of non-convex optimization in machine learning community and a need for online methods. Continuous DR-submodular functions, which exhibit a natural diminishing returns condition, have recently been proposed as a broad class of non-convex functions which may be efficiently optimized. Although online methods have been introduced, they suffer from similar problems. In this work, we propose Meta-Frank-Wolfe, the first online projection-free algorithm that uses stochastic gradient estimates. The algorithm relies on a careful sampling of gradients in each round and achieves the optimal $O( \sqrt{T})$ adversarial regret bounds for convex and continuous submodular optimization. We also propose One-Shot Frank-Wolfe, a simpler algorithm which requires only a single stochastic gradient estimate in each round and achieves an $O(T^{2/3})$ stochastic regret bound for convex and continuous submodular optimization. We apply our methods to develop a novel "lifting" framework for the online discrete submodular maximization and also see that they outperform current state-of-the-art techniques on various experiments.
Practical challenges of IR-UWB based ranging in harsh industrial environments

Impulse radio ultra-wideband (IR-UWB) ranging and localization have recently received significant attention due to the high accuracy and precision. This high accuracy can be exploited for many location aware applications in a wide variety of environments. Although most research efforts have focused on location-aware applications for indoor or outdoor environments, there are other environments, such as industrial, which introduce unique challenges. In an effort to understand how industrial environments affect IR-UWB based ranging and localization performance, this paper introduces the principles behind ranging in industrial environments and highlights practical challenges which have an impact on the ranging accuracy of IR-UWB. Results from field tests which illustrate the impact of harsh conditions on the ranging accuracy are presented.
Patient outcomes up to 15 years after stroke: survival, disability, quality of life, cognition and mental health

Background The global epidemiological shift of disease burden towards long-term conditions means understanding long-term outcomes of cardiovascular disease is increasingly important. More people are surviving stroke to experience its long-term consequences, but outcomes in people living more >10 years after stroke have not been described in detail. Methods Data were collected for the population-based South London Stroke Register, with participants followed up annually until death. Outcomes were survival, disability, activity, cognitive impairment, quality of life, depression and anxiety. Findings Of 2625 people having first-ever stroke, 262 (21%) survived to 15 years. By 15 years, 61% (95% CI 55% to 67%) of the survivors were male, with a median age of stroke onset of 58 years (IQR 48–66). 87% of the 15-year survivors were living at home and 33.8% (26.2% to 42.4%) had mild disability, 14.3% (9.2% to 21.4%) moderate disability and 15.0% (9.9% to 22.3%) severe disability. The prevalence of disability increased with time but 1 in 10 of the 15-year survivors had lived with moderate-severe disability since their stroke. At 15 years, the prevalence of cognitive impairment was 30.0% (19.5% to 43.1%), depression 39.1% (30.9% to 47.9%) and anxiety 34.9% (27.0% to 43.8%), and survivors reported greater loss of physical than mental quality of life. Conclusions One in five people live at least 15 years after a stroke and poor functional, cognitive and psychological outcomes affect a substantial proportion of these long-term survivors. As the global population of individuals with cardiovascular long-term conditions grows, research and health services will need to increasingly focus on preventing and managing the long-term consequences of stroke.
Assessing the Benefits of Drug Delivery by Nanocarriers: A Partico/Pharmacokinetic Framework

Objective: An in vivo kinetic framework is introduced to analyze and predict the quantitative advantage of using nanocarriers to deliver drugs, especially anticancer agents, compared to administering the same drugs in their free form. Methods: This framework recognizes three levels of kinetics. First is the particokinetics associated with deposition of nanocarriers into tissues associated with drug effect and toxicity, their residence inside those tissues, and elimination of the nanocarriers from the body. Second is the release pattern in time of free drug from the nanocarriers. Third is the pharmacokinetics of free drug, as it relates to deposition and elimination processes in the target and toxicity associated tissues, and total body clearance. A figure of merit, the drug targeting index (DTI), is used to quantitate the benefit of nanocarrier-based drug delivery by considering the effects of preferential deposition of nanoparticles into target tissues and relative avoidance of tissues associated with drug toxicity, compared to drug that is administered in its free form. Results: General methods are derived for calculating DTI when appropriate particokinetic, pharmacokinetic, and drug release rate information is available, and it is shown that relatively simple algebraic forms result when some common assumptions are made. Conclusion: This approach may find use in developing and selecting nanocarrier formulations, either for populations or for individuals.
On Time Optimization of Centroidal Momentum Dynamics

Recently, the centroidal momentum dynamics has received substantial attention to plan dynamically consistent motions for robots with arms and legs in multi-contact scenarios. However, it is also non convex which renders any optimization approach difficult and timing is usually kept fixed in most trajectory optimization techniques to not introduce additional non convexities to the problem. But this can limit the versatility of the algorithms. In our previous work, we proposed a convex relaxation of the problem that allowed to efficiently compute momentum trajectories and contact forces. However, our approach could not minimize a desired angular momentum objective which seriously limited its applicability. Noticing that the non-convexity introduced by the time variables is of similar nature as the centroidal dynamics one, we propose two convex relaxations to the problem based on trust regions and soft constraints. The resulting approaches can compute time-optimized dynamically consistent trajectories sufficiently fast to make the approach realtime capable. The performance of the algorithm is demonstrated in several multi-contact scenarios for a humanoid robot. In particular, we show that the proposed convex relaxation of the original problem finds solutions that are consistent with the original non-convex problem and illustrate how timing optimization allows to find motion plans that would be difficult to plan with fixed timing ††Implementation details and demos can be found in the source code available at https://git-amd.tuebingen. mpg.de/bponton/timeoptimization.
Mapping and Characterization of the fefe Gene That Controls Iron Uptake in Melon (Cucumis melo L.)

Iron (Fe) deficiency in plants limits crop growth and productivity. Molecular mechanisms that plants use to sense and respond to Fe deficiency by coordinated expression of Fe-uptake genes are not fully understood. The C940-fe chlorotic melon (Cucumis melo) mutant known as fefe is unable to upregulate Fe-uptake genes, however, the FeFe gene had not been identified. In this study, we used two F2 mapping populations to map and identify the FeFe gene as bHLH38, a homolog of subgroup Ib bHLH genes from Arabidopsis thaliana that are involved in transcriptional regulation of Fe-uptake genes in partnership with the FIT gene. A Ty1-copia type retrotransposon insertion of 5.056 kb within bHLH38 is responsible for the defect in bHLH38 in fefe, based on sequencing and expression analysis. This retrotransposon insertion results in multiple non-functional transcripts expected to result in an altered and truncated protein sequence. Hairy root transformation of fefe plants using wild-type bHLH38 resulted in functional complementation of the chlorotic fefe phenotype. Using a yeast-2-hybrid assay, the transcription factor Fit interacted with the wild-type bHLH38 protein, but did not interact with the fefe bHLH38 protein, suggesting that heterodimer formation of Fit/bHLH38 to regulate Fe-uptake genes does not occur in fefe roots. The second subgroup Ib bHLH gene in the melon genome is not functionally redundant to bHLH38, in contrast to Arabidopsis where four subgroup Ib bHLH genes are functionally redundant. Whereas the Arabidopsis bHLH transcript levels are upregulated by Fe deficiency, melon bHLH38 was not regulated at the transcript level. Thus, the fefe mutant may provide a platform for studying bHLH38 genes and proteins from other plant species.
Power converters for the magnets of the Linac Warm Units of ESS

ESS, the European Spallation Source, will be a major user facility at which researchers from academia and industry will investigate scientific questions using neutron beams. ESS will deliver its protons to a solid, rotating tungsten target, which will in turn generate neutrons. A linear accelerator (Linac) creates protons at the ion source, accelerates them to an appropriate energy and steers them onto the target to create neutrons via the spallation process. Among the cryogenic accelerating sections, there are “warm” magnets for correcting the proton beam “optics”. This paper reports the chosen strategies for the power converters in these LWUs (Linac Warm Units). Amongst the power converters, we will highlight the 4-quadrant corrector magnets ones, based on a high precision and high bandwidth MOSFET H-bridge chopper, and a proposed novel topology for pulsed quadrupole magnets, instead of traditional DC ones. We will also demonstrate the interest of using pulsed magnets in place of DC ones in low duty-cycle Linacs, reducing the magnet losses and therefore the power consumption up-to 90%.
Performance comparison of Simplified Feedback Linearization control with classical dual loop control for single-phase grid-connected inverters

In Distributed Power Generation Systems (DPGS), the control system of the converter, interfacing the electrical source with the main grid, is generally based on a dual loop cascade control structure where the internal loop is in charge of the current control while the outer loop controls the voltage at the DC link. The DC voltage can be subjected to transient conditions due to the change of the power produced by the source. If the system experiences high and abrupt variations of the DC voltage, the control system designed starting from a small signal linearized model can fail. In this paper, a Simplified Feedback Linearization (SFL) control is designed for a single-phase grid-connected converter. The system is compared with a classical dual loop control in terms of stability and dynamics performances. Simulation and experimental results confirms the effectiveness of the SFL control also in case of high variations of the DC voltage reference.
Evaluation of a Multimodal, Direct‐to‐Patient Educational Intervention Targeting Barriers to Osteoporosis Care: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Osteoporosis treatment rates are declining, even among those with past fractures. Novel, low‐cost approaches are needed to improve osteoporosis care. We conducted a parallel group, controlled, randomized clinical trial evaluating a behavioral intervention for improving osteoporosis medication use. A total of 2684 women with self‐reported fracture history after age 45 years not using osteoporosis therapy from US Global Longitudinal Study of Osteoporosis in Women (GLOW) sites were randomized 1:1 to receive a multimodal, tailored, direct‐to‐patient, video intervention versus usual care. The primary study outcome was self‐report of osteoporosis medication use at 6 months. Other outcomes included calcium and vitamin D supplementation, bone mineral density (BMD) testing, readiness for behavioral change, and barriers to treatment. In intent‐to‐treat analyses, there were no significant differences between groups (intervention versus control) in osteoporosis medication use (11.7% versus 11.4%, p = 0.8), calcium supplementation (31.8% versus 32.6%, p = 0.7), vitamin D intake (41.3% versus 41.9%, p = 0.8), or BMD testing (61.8% versus 57.1%, p = 0.2). In the intervention group, fewer women were in the precontemplative stage of behavior change, more women reported seeing their primary care provider, had concerns regarding osteonecrosis of the jaw, and difficulty in taking/remembering to take osteoporosis medications. We found differences in BMD testing among the subgroup of women with no prior osteoporosis treatment, those who provided contact information, and those with no past BMD testing. In per protocol analyses, women with appreciable exposure to the online intervention (n = 257) were more likely to start nonbisphosphonates (odds ratio [OR] = 2.70; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.26–5.79) compared with the usual care group. Although our intervention did not increase the use of osteoporosis therapy at 6 months, it increased nonbisphosphonate medication use and BMD testing in select subgroups, shifted participants’ readiness for behavior change, and altered perceptions of barriers to osteoporosis treatment. Achieving changes in osteoporosis care using patient activation approaches alone is challenging. © 2018 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
Evaluation of the Homework, Organization, and Planning Skills (HOPS) Intervention for Middle School Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder as Implemented by School Mental Health Providers

Abstract. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the Homework, Organization, and Planning Skills (HOPS) intervention for middle school students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as implemented by school mental health (SMH) providers using a randomized trial design. Seventeen SMH providers from five school districts implemented the HOPS intervention. Forty-seven middle school students with ADHD (Grades 6–8) were randomly assigned to receive the HOPS intervention or to a waitlist comparison group. Parent and teacher ratings of organizational skills and homework problems were collected pre- and postintervention and at a 3-month follow-up; school grades were also collected. Intervention participants demonstrated significant improvements relative to the waitlist comparison across parent-rated organized action (d = 0.88), planning (d = 1.05), and homework completion behaviors (d = 0.85). Intervention participants did not make significant improvements relative to the comparison group according to teacher ratings. SMH providers were able to implement the HOPS intervention with fidelity despite the fact that no formal ongoing consultation was provided.
Improving instruction cache behavior by reducing cache pollution

Compiler techniques for improving instruction cache performance are described. Through repositioning of the code in the main memory, leaving memory locations unused, code duplication, and code propagation, the effectiveness of the cache can be improved due to reduced cache pollution and fewer cache misses. Results of experiments indicate that significant reduction in bus traffic results from the use of these techniques. Since memory bandwidth is a critical resource in shared memory multiprocessors, such systems can benefit from the techniques described. The notion of control dependence is used to decide when instructions belonging to different basic blocks can be allowed to share the same cache line without increasing cache pollution. <<ETX>>
Convergent Block Coordinate Descent for Training Tikhonov Regularized Deep Neural Networks

By lifting the ReLU function into a higher dimensional space, we develop a smooth multi-convex formulation for training feed-forward deep neural networks (DNNs). This allows us to develop a block coordinate descent (BCD) training algorithm consisting of a sequence of numerically well-behaved convex optimizations. Using ideas from proximal point methods in convex analysis, we prove that this BCD algorithm will converge globally to a stationary point with R-linear convergence rate of order one. In experiments with the MNIST database, DNNs trained with this BCD algorithm consistently yielded better test-set error rates than identical DNN architectures trained via all the stochastic gradient descent (SGD) variants in the Caffe toolbox.
A Model Predictive Control technique for utility-scale grid connected battery systems using packed U cells multilevel inverter

Grid-connected energy storage systems have been implemented in ac power systems as uninterruptable power supplies (UPS). Batteries and bi-directional power converters provide electrical power when off-grid and recharge when grid-connected. In this paper, a packed U cells (PUC) seven-level inverter has been selected as the grid-interface due to the lower cost and fewer number of components compared to other bi-directional topologies. Additionally, the PUC has higher power quality when compared to the traditional H-bridge. Compared to the traditional PI controller, Model Predictive Control (MPC) is attracting more interest due to its good dynamic response and high accuracy of reference tracking. Through the minimization of a user-defined cost function, the proposed MPC technique can simultaneously achieve unity power factor, low total harmonics distortion of the grid-side current and balance the PUC capacitor's voltages at the grid side, and control bi-directional power flow in the batteries-PUC system. The presented topology and proposed control technique are verified by simulating a 600 W reduced-scale prototype. The theoretical principles are validated by implementing the controller on the prototype using dSPACE 1007 platform.
Multivariable control for a three-phase rectifier based on deadbeat algorithm

This paper presents a deadbeat control technique applied in a voltage source rectifier to regulate both the dc voltage (active power) and reactive power injected to the grid. As the deadbeat control is based on the system model, it leads to a faster response, without overshoot and no need to tune the controller parameters. Hence, it is used to fully control the voltage source rectifier, achieving a fast dynamic response for both the dc voltage and the power factor at the point of connection. However, there are some issues related to the high amount of power required to reach the references -especially in the dc voltage- in a few control steps. The proposed technique also protects the equipment by limiting the maximum power drained to/from the source. The mathematical development is made as a function of the converter power in order to limit it, but at the same time tracking the references with high dynamics, characteristic typical of deadbeat control.