Urdu translation and validation of clinically useful anxiety outcome scale in Pakistan: ‘an observational study’

Objective: To translate and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Clinically Useful Anxiety Outcome Scale on Urdu-speaking population. Method: The observational validation study was conducted in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan, from January 2018 to December 2019 in two phases. In the first phase, the Clinically Useful Anxiety Outcome Scale was forward and backward translated, while in the second phase, the translated scale was validated on a human sample comprising subjects in clinical and nonclinical settings. Item-to-total correlation, internal consistency and test-retest reliabilities were checked with inter-group comparisons. To find out the level of language equivalence between the original and the translated versions, a separate sample of bilingual participants was raised. Data was analysed using SPSS 22. Continue

Adaptation, validity and reliability study of the “Internet Addiction Scale for Adolescents” into Albanian

The aim of this study was to verify the dimensions of Internet addiction in Albanian. This study employed “Internet Addiction Scale for Adolescents” to determine internet addiction. The verification of language equivalence, the scale form was administered to 164 university students studying at AAB College Faculty of Psychology and 61 High School students studying at the British School of Kosovo (altogether 245). In addition, the Cronbach Alpha internal srability coefficient was found to be .828. It was observed that the factor load values of the scale items varied between .56 and .72. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin coefficient (KMO) was 0.82 and the Bartlett x2 Sphericity value was 605,874 (p.000). In confirmatory factor analysis, it was seen that the one-dimensional structure of the scale provided a good fit. [x2=63.168, df=26, x2/df=2.42 RMSEA=.077, RMR=.069, S-RMR=.049, GFI=.95, AGFI=.91, CFI=.94, NNFI=.90, IFI=.94]. The findings obtained as a result of the validity factor analysis and the reliability of the scale show that the Albanian scale is valid and reliable.

Languages of higher-dimensional automata

We introduce languages of higher-dimensional automata (HDAs) and develop some of their properties. To this end, we define a new category of precubical sets, uniquely naturally isomorphic to the standard one, and introduce a notion of event consistency. HDAs are then finite, labeled, event-consistent precubical sets with distinguished subsets of initial and accepting cells. Their languages are sets of interval orders closed under subsumption; as a major technical step, we expose a bijection between interval orders and a subclass of HDAs. We show that any finite subsumption-closed set of interval orders is the language of an HDA, that languages of HDAs are closed under binary unions and parallel composition, and that bisimilarity implies language equivalence.

Equivalence checking for weak bi-Kleene algebra

Pomset automata are an operational model of weak bi-Kleene algebra, which describes programs that can fork an execution into parallel threads, upon completion of which execution can join to resume as a single thread. We characterize a fragment of pomset automata that admits a decision procedure for language equivalence. Furthermore, we prove that this fragment corresponds precisely to series-rational expressions, i.e., rational expressions with an additional operator for bounded parallelism. As a consequence, we obtain a new proof that equivalence of series-rational expressions is decidable.

Coinductive Algorithms for Büchi Automata

We propose a new algorithm for checking language equivalence of non-deterministic Büchi automata. We start from a construction proposed by Calbrix, Nivat and Podelski, which makes it possible to reduce the problem to that of checking equivalence of automata on finite words. Although this construction generates large and highly non-deterministic automata, we show how to exploit their specific structure and apply state-of-the art techniques based on coinduction to reduce the state-space that has to be explored. Doing so, we obtain algorithms which do not require full determinisation or complementation.

A String Diagrammatic Axiomatisation of Finite-State Automata

We develop a fully diagrammatic approach to finite-state automata, based on reinterpreting their usual state-transition graphical representation as a two-dimensional syntax of string diagrams. In this setting, we are able to provide a complete equational theory for language equivalence, with two notable features. First, the proposed axiomatisation is finite— a result which is provably impossible for the one-dimensional syntax of regular expressions. Second, the Kleene star is a derived concept, as it can be decomposed into more primitive algebraic blocks.

Hindi Translation and Validation of Scales for Subjective Well-being, Locus of Control and Spiritual Well-being

Background: Well-being and locus of control have been important areas of research over the last few years. However, limited information is available about the same from India, due to the lack of validated instruments in regional languages for the same.This research aimed to translate, adapt, and validate the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS), Spiritual Well-being Scale (SWBS), and Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC) Scale in Hindi. Methods: The scales were translated into Hindi by following the translation–back-translation methodology as specified by the World Health Organization. Next, the Hindi versions of the scales were completed by 102 participants, and then, the participants completed either the Hindi or the English version of the scales after 3–7 days. Results: The Hindi versions of WEMWBS, MHLC, and SWBS have high cross-language equivalence with the English version of the scale, both at the level of the individual items and the various dimensions in all three scales, which was significant (P < 0.001). Cronbach’s alpha for the Hindi version of WEMWBS, SWBS, and MHLC scales was 0.92, 0.83, and 0.77, respectively. The Spearman–Brown coefficient was 0.82, 0.63, and 0.63 for WEMWBS, SWBS, and MHLC, respectively. As measured on the Centrality of Religiosity Scale (CRS), higher religiosity was associated with greater religious and existential well-being. Conclusion: The Hindi versions of WEMWBS, SWBS, and MHLC have good cross-language equivalence, internal consistency, and test–retest reliability. It is expected that these validated scales will stimulate more research in this area, focusing on evaluating the association of clinical parameters along with well-being and locus of control.

‘He was obliged to seek refuge’: an illustrative example of a cross-language interview analysis

This paper provides one of the first inquiries into the interactional dynamics of an interpreter-mediated research encounter. All spoken interactions – that is, originals and real-time translations produced in a multilingual interview conducted with a Syrian refugee – were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim using conversation analysis notation, retranslated and collaboratively analysed from three major perspectives: common language, equivalence, and loss and gain in translation. A stimulated recall interview, field notes and audio-recorded work sessions documenting our interpretative practices complement the data. Fixing our analytical gaze on the minute details of language use across English–Arabic allowed for a novel inquiry into specific moments of meaning making, role performances and rapport building in qualitative interviewing. Our examples illustrate how an agreed-on sense of the source meaning is established not only during the interview itself, but also at the point of its multilingual representation and analysis.