Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Answer is in the Question: A Guide for Describing and Investigating the Conceptual Foundations and Statistical Properties of Cognitive Psychometric Models

One of the most revolutionary advances in psychometric research during the last decades has been the systematic development of statistical models that allow for cognitive psychometric research (CPR) to be conducted. Many of the models currently available for such purposes are extensions of basic latent variable models in item response theory (IRT). While the requirements of basic IRT models in terms of data collection designs, measurement scales of variables, and sample sizes for learners and items are relatively well understood, the added requirements that the cognitive components of modeling processes for CPR bring along with them are understood to a much lesser degree. Therefore, this article contains a guide in the form of a series of questions, which support measurement and substantive specialists in describing and investigating the conceptual foundations and statistical properties of models for CPR. An application of the guide to the rule-space methodology (e.g., Tatsuoka, 1983, 1985, 1995) is presented, which extends the conceptual-logical discussion of Gierl, Leighton, and Hunka (2000) by focusing more heavily on cognitive and statistical considerations.
Design and FPGA implementation of digital pulse compression for chirp radar based on CORDIC

The paper presents a full digitized approach for the pulse compression implementation in chirp radars. The emphasis is to cancel the quadratic phase term of the echo using a coordinate rotation digital computer (CORDIC). This approach has been implemented on a field programmable gates array (FPGA) and the compressed output peak is 100dB larger than the noise.
Opportunities and challenges: Ultra-low voltage digital IC design techniques

Ultra-low voltage digital IC design is promising in achieving ultra-low power consumption for emerging applications such as IoT, smart sensor and wearable computing. This paper discusses the opportunities and challenges of ultra-low voltage digital IC design by reviewing and discussing the major design techniques for enabling ultra-low voltage operation, including ultra-low voltage device sizing, ultra-low voltage level shifter design, ultra-low voltage SRAM design and variation-resilient techniques for ultra-low voltage design.
The role of communication in organisational change

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual framework for the study of communication during organisational change. Although there is an enduring interest in studying (internal) communication during organisational change, there is still little or no empirical research on the topic. Design/methodology/approach – In this conceptual paper a framework is presented on how to study communication during organisational change and how communication could prevent resistance to change. The framework leads to six propositions in which aspects of communication, such as information, feelings of belonging to a community, and feelings of uncertainty, have an influence on resistance to change, which will affect the effectiveness of the change effort. Findings – A distinction between the informative function of communication and communication as a means to create a community was made. In the suggested model communication has an effect not only on readiness for change, but also on uncertainty. Originality/value – This framework can be used by researchers and practitioners to study, guide, frame and model empirical research into this area in the future, and can be used to compare different change programs, within different organisations, to study the contribution of (internal) communication in the success or failure of the change.
Predicting the Survival Time for Bladder Cancer Using an Additive Hazards Model in Microarray Data

Background: One substantial part of microarray studies is to predict patients’ survival based on their gene expression profile. Variable selection techniques are powerful tools to handle high dimensionality in analysis of microarray data. However, these techniques have not been investigated in competing risks setting. This study aimed to investigate the performance of four sparse variable selection methods in estimating the survival time. Methods: The data included 1381 gene expression measurements and clinical information from 301 patients with bladder cancer operated in the years 1987 to 2000 in hospitals in Denmark, Sweden, Spain, France, and England. Four methods of the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator, smoothly clipped absolute deviation, the smooth integration of counting and absolute deviation and elastic net were utilized for simultaneous variable selection and estimation under an additive hazards model. The criteria of area under ROC curve, Brier score and c-index were used to compare the methods. Results: The median follow-up time for all patients was 47 months. The elastic net approach was indicated to outperform other methods. The elastic net had the lowest integrated Brier score (0.137±0.07) and the greatest median of the over-time AUC and C-index (0.803±0.06 and 0.779±0.13, respectively). Five out of 19 selected genes by the elastic net were significant (P<0.05) under an additive hazards model. It was indicated that the expression of RTN4, SON, IGF1R and CDC20 decrease the survival time, while the expression of SMARCAD1 increase it. Conclusion: The elastic net had higher capability than the other methods for the prediction of survival time in patients with bladder cancer in the presence of competing risks base on additive hazards model.
Beyond the Inventory-Interpretation in Substance Flow Analysis

In this paper a tentative framework for the interpretation step in Substance Flow Analysis (SFA) is discussed. SFA is sometimes considered beneficial to the process of decisionmaking since it generates comprehensive overviews of the substance studied. However, quantification of stocks and flows of a certain substance from a spatial point of view does not necessarily provide sufficient information from a management perspective. Hence, for SFA to further contribute to the environmental management process, there is a need for development of the third step of the SFA methodology: interpretation of the results. The tentative framework for interpretation discussed in this paper, focuses on five aspects: Total material quantities, exposure to humans and the environment, resource economy, function and capacity to influence the substance flow. Furthermore, the paper discusses the suggested framework applied to results from the inventory step in two SFAs; “A systems analysis approach to the study of environmental pollution in the road environment” and “Stocks and flows of cadmium in the municipality of Linköping, Sweden”.
MDA5 Plays a Crucial Role in Enterovirus 71 RNA-Mediated IRF3 Activation

Induction of type-I interferons (IFNs), IFN-α/β, is crucial to innate immunity against RNA virus infection. Cytoplasmic retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I)-like receptors, including RIG-I and melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA5), are critical pathogen sensors for activation of type-I IFN expression in response to RNA virus infection. MDA5 is required for type-I IFN expression in mouse models in response to infection by picornaviruses, such as encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) and coxsackievirus B3. Enterovirus 71 (EV71) belongs to picornaviridae and contains positive-stranded RNA genome that is linked with VPg protein at the 5′ end. Although a recent study showed that EV71 3C protease could suppress RIG-I-mediated IFN-β response, the cytoplasmic RIG-I-like receptor that is directly involved in the recognition of EV71 RNA remains unclear. Using EV71-derived RNA as an agonist, we demonstrate that MDA5 is involved in EV71 RNA-mediated IRF3 activation and IFN-β transcription. Our data also show that overexpression of the MDA5 protein reverses the suppression of IRF3 activation caused by EV71 infection. These results indicate that MDA5 is an important factor for EV71 RNA-activated type-I IFN expression. Furthermore, we also show that EV71 infection enhances MDA5 degradation and that the degradation could be inhibited by a broad spectrum caspase inhibitor.
The Press Subsidy System in Norway

The article discusses the origins, functions and future of one particular national regulatory regime, the Norwegian press subsidy system, and asks what the prospects are for this type of specific national policies? The press subsidies were introduced in 1969 with the rather vague intention of maintaining a diverse newspaper structure. Despite the fact that the system is politically controversial and has only partly worked to secure the existence of economically weak newspapers, it has been protected by an alliance of political parties until the present day. Nevertheless, political controversy around the subsidy system is increasing, both because the political justifications of the system need revision, and because the existing regulations are being undermined by the development of the newspaper structure, by the development of the media market and the media economy, and by technological developments.
Control over lossy networks: A dynamic game approach

This paper considers a minimax control (H∞ control) problem for linear time-invariant (LTI) systems where the communication loop is subject to a TCP-like packet drop network. The problem is formulated within the zero-sum dynamic game framework. The packet drop network is governed by two independent Bernoulli processes that model control and measurement packet losses. Under this constraint, we obtain a dynamic output feedback minimax controller. For the infinite-horizon case, we provide necessary and sufficient conditions in terms of the packet loss rates and the H∞ disturbance attenuation parameter under which the minimax controller exists and is able to stabilize the closed-loop system in the mean-square sense. In particular, we show that unlike the corresponding LQG case, these conditions are coupled and therefore cannot be determined independently.
Age-Related Physical Fitness and the Predictive Values of Fitness Tests for Work Ability in Home Care Work

Despite the widespread assessment of physical fitness in occupational medicine and health services, only a few validity studies have been made of the fitness tests used in relation to job demands. The purpose of this study was to assess the physical fitness of female home care workers (n = 132) in relation to age and to evaluate whether the fitness tests used predict work ability over a 5-year period of follow-up. Muscle endurance declined by 18% to 37%, and isometric muscle strength by 10% to 18%, from the youngest (21 to 35 years) to the oldest (45 to 59 years) age group. The proportion of those subjects who could be classified below the average age-related fitness categories according to the maximal oxygen consumption was highest (50%) for the 21-to-35 age group. The logistic regression model showed that obesity (odds ratio [OR] = 7.51) and poor results on the sit-up (OR, 8.9), balance (OR, 6.5), and weight-lifting (OR, 4.6) tests predicted the highest risk for reduced work ability, according to the work ability index used in the 5-year follow-up. Moreover, average results for the trunk side-bending test (OR, 4.6), poor results for the squatting test (OR, 3.8), poor knee extension strength (OR, 4.2), and the average maximal oxygen consumption (l · min−1) (OR, 3.1) indicated a high risk for reduction in work ability. The physical fitness tests were strongly associated with the physical demands of home care work and were relevant for the evaluation of work-related fitness among home care workers.
Positive thinking revisited: positive cognitions, well‐being and mental health

There has been relatively little attention given to the issue of positive cognition in psychological research and therapy. This paper explores reasons for this neglect and presents empirical and conceptual support for the importance of positive cognition in mental health. Evidence is presented that positive and negative aspects of experience are mediated by separate psychological systems rather than being opposite ends of a single dimension. We then review research that describes the potential importance of positive cognition in psychological disorders, especially in recovery and relapse in depression. Finally, we present suggestions for evaluating the validity and helpfulness of positive cognitions within therapy, and discuss some therapeutic approaches that focus on increasing positive cognition and well-being. The case for positive cognitions being important is argued mainly in the context of depression and the therapeutic applications are discussed mainly in relation to cognitive therapy, but the arguments may well be applicable to other disorders and other therapeutic approaches. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Promoting quality of care for ESRD patients: the role of the ESRD Networks.

The 18 End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Networks were established by Congress to oversee the care of Medicare beneficiaries with ESRD, serving as HCFA's primary quality improvement (QI) agents. The Networks play a critical role in the ESRD surveillance system by collecting, analyzing and disseminating data from dialysis clinics regarding the occurrence of ESRD, and the processes of care and outcomes of ESRD patients. In addition, under the direction of volunteer Medical Review Boards, the Networks propose, design and implement regional QI activities targeting specific areas in the delivery of ESRD care, and provide technical assistance to foster QI at the facility level. In this article, we discuss the ESRD Network system and review the scope of QI activities through which the Networks accomplish their mission.
Cross-Language Opinion Target Extraction in Review Texts

Opinion target extraction is a subtask of opinion mining which is very useful in many applications. In this study, we investigate the problem in a cross-language scenario which leverages the rich labeled data in a source language for opinion target extraction in a different target language. The English labeled corpus is used as training set. We generate two Chinese training datasets with different features. Two labeling models for Chinese opinion target extraction are learned based on Conditional Random Fields (CRF). After that, we use a monolingual co-training algorithm to improve the performance of both models by leveraging the enormous unlabeled Chinese review texts on the web. Experimental results show the effectiveness of our proposed approach.
Role of glutathione S-transferase P1-1 in the cellular detoxification of cisplatin

Cells expressing elevated levels of allelic variants of human glutathione S-transferase P1 (GSTP1) and/or efflux transporters, MRP1 or MRP2, were used to evaluate the role of GSTP1-1 in cisplatin resistance. These studies revealed that GSTP1-1 confers low-level resistance (1.4- to 1.7-fold) to cisplatin-induced cytotoxicity in MCF7 cells. However, expression of MRP1 (MCF7 cells) or MRP2 (HepG2 cells) failed to augment or potentiate GSTP1-1-mediated resistance in either cell line. To understand the mechanism by which variants of GSTP1-1 confer resistance to cisplatin, their relative abilities to catalyze conjugation of cisplatin with glutathione were examined. Enzymes encoded by all three alleles tested, GSTP1a (I104A113), GSTP1b (V104A113), and GSTP1c (V104V113), increased the formation rate of the mono-platinum/glutathione derivative of cisplatin with relative catalytic activities of 1.0 (GSTP1a-1a variant) and 1.8 to 1.9 (GSTP1b-1b and GSTP1c-1c variants). Although these data are consistent with the idea that very low level resistance to cisplatin may be conferred by GSTP1-1-mediated cisplatin/glutathione conjugation, two observations indicate that such catalysis plays a minor role in the protection from cisplatin toxicity. First, the rates of GSTP1-1-mediated conjugation are extremely slow (1.7-2.6 h−1 at 25°C). Second, despite an 80% to 90% increase in catalysis of cisplatin conjugation by GSTP1b-1b or GSTP1c-1c over GSTP1a-1a, we observed no discernable differences in relative resistances conferred by these alternative variants when expressed in MCF7 cells. We conclude that high-level cisplatin resistance attributed to GSTP1-1 in other studies is not likely due to catalysis of cisplatin conjugation but rather must be explained by other mechanisms, which may include GSTP1-mediated modulation of signaling pathways. [Mol Cancer Ther 2008;7(10):3247–55]
BCG priming enhances endotoxin-induced acute lung injury independent of neutrophils.

Bacillus Calmette Guérin (BCG) is known to increase susceptibility to endotoxin in some animal species. We investigated the effect of BCG-priming and the role of neutrophils in the priming process on the pathogenesis of acute lung injury caused by intravenously administered Escherichia coli endotoxin (LPS). Guinea pigs were divided into seven groups: (1) control (n = 8), (2) BCG-alone (n = 6), (3) cyclophosphamide (CPA)-alone (n = 6), (4) CPA+LPS (n = 6), (5) LPS-alone (n = 6), (6) BCG+LPS (n = 6), and (7) BCG+CPA+LPS (n = 6). A BCG dose of 8 mg/kg was injected subcutaneously 10 d before the study. CPA was administered intraperitoneally to induce peripheral neutropenia. Animals were observed for 4 h after intravenous administration of 0.2 mg/kg of LPS. The plasma TNF level was measured 2 h after LPS challenge. Lung wet-to-dry weight ratio, [125I] albumin leakage in lung tissue, differential cell count in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid, and histopathologic features were examined immediately after death. Although the LPS-alone group showed PMN accumulation in lung tissue, neither excess lung water nor increased albumin leakage was induced by this dose of LPS. The BCG+LPS group showed increased lung water, histopathologic edema, and increases in BAL fluid cell counts and plasma TNF in comparison with the LPS-alone group. The BCG+CPA+LPS group also showed enhanced lung injury comparable to that seen in the BCG+LPS group. In both the CPA-alone and the CPA+LPS groups, no parameter was increased as compared with those in the control group. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The politics of local research production: surveying in a context of ethnic competition†

Using observations from rural Malawi in 2010, this paper describes and studies two significant challenges when surveying in a context of ethnic competition. First, I provide an empirical account of the local reality of ethnoregional competition as demonstrated in local research assistant selection. Negative local perceptions about how many research assistants came from the field site generated some study refusals. Second, I use subsequent survey data to demonstrate nuanced findings on ethnicity-of-interviewer effects: overall item non-response patterns are not associated with interviewer–respondent ethnic matching; refusal to respond to questions about sexual behavior was higher in co-ethnic interview settings; and respondents inconsistent about reporting their ethnic identity often reported their ethnicity to match that of the interviewer. The findings are critical for individual-level research conducted in divided societies, especially but not exclusively in situations where scholars are studying the causes and effects of social division.
Movers or Stayers? Heterogeneity of Older Adults' Residential Profiles Across Continental Europe

Movers or Stayers? Heterogeneity of Older Adults' Residential Profiles Across Continental Europe Traditionally, the emotional attachment older adults have to their homes and the economic and health burden caused by residential moves have had a deterrent effect on mobility during old age. In spite of this static general trend, 20% of older Europeans change their residential location after the age of 65. Some studies point out that this percentage will increase in the coming decades along with the onset of baby-boom cohorts reaching older ages. The main objective of this article is to describe the residential mobility trends during old age in some European countries and identify the main features of those elderly that move after 65, using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE).
Aspects of Endowment: A Query Theory of Value Construction

How do people judge the monetary value of objects? One clue is provided by the typical endowment study (D. Kahneman, J. L. Knetsch, & R. H. Thaler, 1991), in which participants are randomly given either a good, such as a coffee mug, that they may later sell ("sellers") or a choice between the good and amounts of cash ("choosers"). Sellers typically demand at least twice as much as choosers, inconsistent with economic theory. This result is usually explained by an increased weighting of losses, or loss aversion. The authors provide a memory-based account of endowment, suggesting that people construct values by posing a series of queries whose order differs for sellers and choosers. Because of output interference, these queries retrieve different aspects of the object and the medium of exchange, producing different valuations. The authors show that the content and structure of the recalled aspects differ for selling and choosing and that these aspects predict valuations. Merely altering the order in which queries are posed can eliminate the endowment effect, and changing the order of queries can produce endowment-like effects without ownership.
College Major and Career Inequality: Implications for Black Students.

Over the past decade, interest in women and racial minorities in higher education has been primarily in their access, retention, and patterns of distribution throughout higher education, and the implications of these processes for their career attainment. More recently, this interest has been extended to consider the internal stratification processes within higher education and the academic and social experiences of women and racial minorities in these institutions. The type of college major that students choose (or get selected into) is an important stratification variable within higher education that has direct implications for race and sex inequality in the labor market. For the past three decades, black and female college students have been consistently overrepresented in education, the humanities, and the social sciences. These fields offer lower income for B.A. degree recipients than the natural and technical sciences. The data in Table I reports the annual starting salaries for B.A. recipients in various majors in 1978 and 1982. In both years, students who majored in the humanities and the social sciences received lower salary offers than students who majored in engineering, the computer sciences, and the physical and earth sciences. Thus, part of the race and sex differences in occupational and income attain-
AAEE minimonograph #29: Automatic quantitative electromyography

The present status of different computerized methods of automatic quantitative electromyography are reviewed. Interference pattern methods–turns analysis, spectral analysis–are efficient, but the results usually cannot be directly related to the physiological properties of the motor units. Integration analysis does not currently have a major role in diagnostic electromyography. Traditional measurement of single motor unit action potentials during weak contraction can be facilitated and made more objective with computer assistance, but only the lowest‐threshold motor units in the muscle are amenable to study. A new class of methodologies under development permit the decomposition of interference patterns into their constituent motor unit action potentials for measurement of configurational and behavioral properites. Patient data from these various methods can be statistically compared with normative data bases available on‐line in computerized electromyographs. Both qualitative and quantitative electromyography have applications in the neuromuscular electrodiagnostic examination.