Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impacting student anxiety for the USMLE Step 1 through process-oriented preparation

Background: Standardized examinations are the key components of medical education. The USMLE Step 1 is the first of these important milestones. Success on this examination requires both content competency and efficient strategies for study and review. Students employ a wide variety of techniques in studying for this examination, with heavy reliance on personal study habits and advice from other students. Nevertheless, few medical curricula formally address these strategies. Methods: In response to student-generated critique at our institution, a five-part seminar series on process-oriented preparation was developed and implemented to address such concerns. The series focused on early guidance and preparation strategies for Step 1 and the many other important challenges in medical school. Emphasis was placed on facilitating conversation and mentorship opportunities between students. Results & Conclusions: A profoundly positive experience was reported by our medical students that included a decreased anxiety level for the Step 1 examination.
Atomic Force Microscope Images Molecules in 3 D A new trick simplifies the atomic force microscope imaging of the 3 D structure of nonflat molecules

N early ten years ago, the dream of visualizing the atomic structure of single molecules became a reality. Spectacular textbook images of molecules adsorbed on surfaces could be produced by an atomic force microscope (AFM) with a specially prepared tip [1]. This technique has been applied with great success to many different molecules, allowing researchers to determine the strength of the bonds in molecular structures or monitor surface chemical reactions. In these experiments, the AFM tip stays at a constant height during an imaging scan, which is suitable for flat or nearly flat molecules but not for nonflat molecules with a 3D topography. A team led by Daniel Ebeling from Justus Liebig University Giessen in Germany now demonstrates that an AFM can image the 3D structure of nonflat molecules. In their approach, a tunneling current between the AFM tip and the sample is used to control the tip height, so that it closely tracks the molecule’s topography. This new approach could extend AFM imaging to a much broader class of molecules [2].
Synthesis and Analysis of Graphene Nano Composite

Graphene based composites have various applications in the modern world. In which synthesis of effective composite suitable for applications is a challenging task. One among the application area of graphene composite is in wastewater treatment. Water pollution is now a days consider to be a major global health and environmental issue affecting all ecosystems as well as life forms. While considering pollution the most dominant in creating pollution is found to be the industries and factories. Saying about the industries the available facilities in the water treatment is found to be the major challenges in treating of polluted water caused by heavy metals and dyes. In factories, only lower stage of wastewater treatment is alone found to be available. Some of the industries they are installing economical based treatment plant to manage the government policies and not following the pollutant removal completely. In such case, lower level pollutants alone found to be removed and higher-level hazardous metals and dyes are found to be not removed generally. To overcome such situation and support industries as well as factories introduction of economical adsorbent to remove the waste is the major proposal. This paper discusses various graphene-based adsorbents persisting in the removal of dye and heavy metals as well as synthesis of efficient Composite.
Effects of nicotine patch or nasal spray on nicotine and cotinine concentrations in pregnant smokers

Abstract Objective. To examine the short-term effects of the nicotine patch or nasal spray on measures of nicotine exposure, withdrawal symptoms, and on maternal and fetal heart rates in pregnant smokers. Methods. We measured nicotine/cotinine concentrations and maternal and fetal heart rates during an 8-h monitoring session while smoking and again after 4 days of nicotine patch (15 mg/16 h), nasal spray (recommended regimen of 24 doses per day), or placebo treatment. Nicotine withdrawal symptoms were assessed daily. Results. Twenty-one subjects, who smoked an average of 17 cigarettes per day, completed both monitoring sessions. Nicotine concentrations decreased from baseline smoking concentrations in all groups (p = 0.002). Percent change in cotinine concentration differed across groups (reduction = 77% with placebo, 70% with nasal spray, and 48% with patch; p = 0.029). Maternal heart rate decreased in the placebo and nasal spray groups compared with the patch group (p = 0.021). The baseline fetal heart rate decreased in the placebo group throughout the second monitoring session, but increased slightly in the patch and nasal spray groups. The treatment by time interaction was marginally significant (p = 0.052). Daily, cigarette craving decreased more in the patch versus the other groups (p = 0.025). Conclusions. Nicotine patch and nasal spray reduce maternal nicotine exposure compared with smoking and may be effective for smoking cessation.
Estimating clumping index of woody canopy with terrestrial lidar data

The terrestrial LiDAR technology can provide canopy structural information implicitly contained within point clouds data and it is a popular tool, particularly in forestry applications. Clumping index characterizes the spatial distribution of the canopy and quantifies the degree of the real distribution deviate from the random case. In this paper, a new method was proposed to estimate the clumping index with terrestrial LiDAR data. The canopy clumping index of each zenith angle was estimated by the logarithmic gap averaging method after establishing voxel-based model, Conversing coordinate system and calculating the gap fraction. In addition, the digital hemispherical photographs (DHP) technology was used for verifying the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The results showed that the correlation coefficient R2 between DHP and LiDAR is 0.62 when the voxel size is 0.2m∗0.2m∗0.2m. For a certain zenith angle, the smaller the voxel size is, the larger the clumping index is, and the converse is also true.
Fuzzy Handoff Control in Edge Offloading

Edge computing is a promising paradigm that relies on heterogeneous computing resources located at the edge of the network, close to the end-user. Hence, applications with latency-sensitive and compute-intensive tasks rely on edge resources to offload and complete such tasks. In order to support non-intermittent service in case of user mobility, most of existing approaches focus on how to accelerate the handoff transfer time and not how to reduce its frequency. Moreover, the handoff mechanisms used in cellular networks do not consider the computational workload and therefore are not directly applicable to the edge offloading scenario. Considering dense edge deployment, it is vital to select the optimal edge node for offloading. Therefore, we take into consideration bandwidth, processor speed and latency capabilities in the proposed fuzzy logic node selection algorithm. We evaluate the improvements of the proposed selection, for perceived response time objective, in comparison to offloading to the closest or highest bandwidth node. In addition, we propose a handoff controller, to meet the same performance objective, when the user is moving further from the currently selected edge node. We evaluate our approach by offloading Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) models of real-world mobile applications. The results show that we can significantly reduce both application response time and monetary cost of execution, by controlling the number of handoffs among edge nodes.
THE ASSESSMENT OF INFORMATION SYSTEM EFFECTIVENESS IN E-LEARNING , E-COMMERCE AND E-GOVERNMENT CONTEXTS : A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

The assessment of the effectiveness of the Web Information Systems (WIS) is increasingly needed as it significantly contributes to the organizations at organizational and individual levels. Also, in terms of assessment, many recent IS research indicated a literature gap in the conceptualization and completeness of the variables of Delone and Mclean models. For this reason, this study focuses on the critical review of the IS literature, and specially keeps attention on the concept WIS effectiveness at the individual level where the effectiveness is conceptualized in terms of users’ performance skills. With the emergency of Internet technology, considering the interaction design quality as a determinant of success is highly important. Therefore, this study explores the impact of IS on the employee competencies. A new theoretical framework is also developed to cover the incompleteness problem in the quality factors side by adding a new factor namely interaction design quality. Since this study discusses WIS effectiveness in terms of user professional and interpersonal skills, it is expected that this study would contribute to the empirical studies in the fields of information system management and human resources development.
MATTI MOLKKARI AUTOMATIC CLASSIFICATION OF PERTURBATION-INDUCED QUANTUM SCARS

MATTI MOLKKARI: Automatic Classification of Perturbation-Induced Quantum Scars Tampere University of Technology Bachelor of Science Thesis, 26 pages, 21 Appendix pages June 2018 Degree Programme in Science and Engineering Major: Advanced Engineering Physics Examiners: Janne Solanpää, Joonas Keski-Rahkonen and Prof. Esa Räsänen
From recording discrete actions to studying continuous goal-directed behaviours in team sports

Abstract This paper highlights the importance of examining interpersonal interactions in performance analysis of team sports, predicated on the relationship between perception and action, compared to the traditional cataloguing of actions by individual performers. We discuss how ecological dynamics may provide a potential unifying theoretical and empirical framework to achieve this re-emphasis in research. With reference to data from illustrative studies on performance analysis and sport expertise, we critically evaluate some of the main assumptions and methodological approaches with regard to understanding how information influences action and decision-making during team sports performance. Current data demonstrate how the understanding of performance behaviours in team sports by sport scientists and practitioners may be enhanced with a re-emphasis in research on the dynamics of emergent ongoing interactions. Ecological dynamics provides formal and theoretically grounded descriptions of player-environment interactions with respect to key performance goals and the unfolding information of competitive performance. Developing these formal descriptions and explanations of sport performance may provide a significant contribution to the field of performance analysis, supporting design and intervention in both research and practice.
Challenges Models Speech Interaction Details Application Context Aspects Vision Efficient CNN architecture RNN + NLP Impermeable Emotions Continuous Understanding Camera Touch Screen Motion Sensors GPS Microphone App Context Spoken Dialogue System Adaptive Graphics User Interface Context Specific Mo

Affective Computing has been considered as one of the essential aspects of massive human-computer interaction related projects. This paper provides a broad introduction to recent advances in affective computing for emotion inference based on mobile techniques. We expand the emotion inference principles for different mobile commodity sensors, application context and their possible combinations in recent researches. Then we compare recent popular machine learning methods and models for these sensors, and highlight the most useful techniques and models for their performance. Our comparisons are not limited to traditional machine learning algorithm; they also include the representation learning models. In the end, we discuss few novel applications based on mobile affective computing techniques, such as how adaptive user interface and usability testing work in an emotion-aware system, as well as current limitations and open challenges of this research area.
Automatic Image Transformation for Inducing Affect

Current image transformation and recoloring algorithms try to introduce artistic effects in the photographed images, based on user input of target image(s) or selection of pre-designed filters. These manipulations, although intended to enhance the impact of an image on the viewer, do not include the option of image transformation by specifying the affect information. In this paper we present an automatic image-transformation method that transforms the source image such that it can induce an emotional affect on the viewer, as desired by the user. Our proposed novel image emotion transfer algorithm does not require a user-specified target image. The proposed algorithm uses features extracted from top layers of deep convolutional neural network and the user-specified emotion distribution to select multiple target images from an image database for color transformation, such that the resultant image has desired emotional impact. Our method can handle more diverse set of photographs than the previous methods. We conducted a detailed user study showing the effectiveness of our proposed method. A discussion and reasoning of failure cases has also been provided, indicating inherent limitation of color-transfer based methods in the use of emotion assignment.
Effects of welding on the microstructural properties of AISI 43 ferritic stainless steel

Ferritic stainless steel (FSS) are engineering alloys with high strength, improved ductility and better corrosion resistance in environments containing various compounds of chloride, normally experienced in petrochemical and nuclear power industries. However ferritic stainless steel suffer some weldability issues like grain growth at heat effected zone (HAZ), martensite and carbide formation at grain boundaries, sensitization and intergranular stress corrosion cracking. In this study AISI 430 butt TIG welding is investigated for these issues. The investigations reveal the presence of martensites and carbides in the grain boundaries along with coarse grain structure in HAZ and FZ. The increased hardness and strength at weld zone causes FSS to have low ductility and prone to cracking in stress environment.
Design of a Modular Platform for Static Analysis

We present the design and implementation of Mopsa, a platform that simplifies the construction of semantic static analyzers by abstract interpretation. Mopsa computes sound program invariants and reports run-time errors, undefined behaviors, and uncaught exceptions. Mopsa differs from existing platforms by its highly modular and extensible design: semantic abstractions of numeric values, pointers, objects, control, as well as syntax-driven iterators, are defined in small, reusable domains with loose coupling, that can be combined and reused to a greater extent than in previous work. Moreover, Mopsa aims at supporting several languages (currently, subsets of both C and Python) while sharing abstraction components as much as possible. Mopsa is a work in progress, and not yet capable of analyzing full programs; nevertheless, we report early experimental results on verification benchmarks.
Advances in nanomaterials for use in photothermal and photodynamic therapeutics

Nanomaterials play crucial roles in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Photothermal and photodynamic therapy, as two minimally invasive therapeutic methods, have promising potential in the diagnosis and prevention of cancer. Recently, many photothermal materials (such as noble metal material, transition metal sulfur oxides, carbon material and upconversion nanomaterial) and photodynamic materials (such as phthalein cyanogen, porphyrins and other dye molecules) have been applied in photothermal therapy (PTT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT). Moreover, as nanomaterials have suitable biocompatibility, these materials have been applied in cancer therapy. In the present review, we summarized the effects of different material types, synthesis methods, material morphologies and surface modifications on the outcomes of cancer therapy. The application of nanomaterials in PTT and PDT was introduced and the advantages and disadvantages of PTT and PDT in the prevention of cancer were discussed. Finally, we discussed the application of nanomaterials in the combination of PTT and PDT in cancer treatment.
Instrumen�ng and Analyzing Fabrica�on Ac�vi�es , Users , and Exper�se

The recent proliferation of fabrication and making activities has introduced a large number of users to a variety of tools and equipment. Monitored, reactive and adaptive fabrication spaces are needed to provide personalized information, feedback and assistance to users. This paper explores the sensorization of making and fabrication activities, where the environment, tools, and users were considered to be separate entities that could be instrumented for data collection. From this exploration, we present the design of a modular system that can capture data from the varied sensors and infer contextual information. Using this system, we collected data from fourteen participants with varying levels of expertise as they performed seven representative making tasks. From the collected data, we predict which activities are being performed, which users are performing the activities, and what expertise the users have. We present several use cases of this contextual information for future interactive fabrication spaces. CCS CONCEPTS Human-centered computing → Human computer interaction (HCI)
Clinical significance of secreted protein acidic and rich in cystein in esophageal carcinoma and its relation to carcinoma progression

Secreted protein acidic and rich in cystein (SPARC) is a small extramatrix‐associated protein. Its production increases during angiogenesis and enhances matrix metalloproteinase‐2 (MMP‐2) expression. The goal of this study was to show the clinical relevance of SPARC and its relation to MMP‐2 expression in esophageal carcinoma patients.
Experimental study on air cleaning effect of clean air heat pump and its impact on ventilation requirement

International Centre for Indoor Environment and Energy, Department of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby 2800, Denmark Tianjin Key Laboratory of Indoor Air Environmental Quality Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China School of Environment and Energy Engineering, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beijing 100044, China
In-Situ Observation of Membrane Protein Folding during Cell-Free Expression

Proper insertion, folding and assembly of functional proteins in biological membranes are key processes to warrant activity of a living cell. Here, we present a novel approach to trace folding and insertion of a nascent membrane protein leaving the ribosome and penetrating the bilayer. Surface Enhanced IR Absorption Spectroscopy selectively monitored insertion and folding of membrane proteins during cell-free expression in a label-free and non-invasive manner. Protein synthesis was performed in an optical cell containing a prism covered with a thin gold film with nanodiscs on top, providing an artificial lipid bilayer for folding. In a pilot experiment, the folding pathway of bacteriorhodopsin via various secondary and tertiary structures was visualized. Thus, a methodology is established with which the folding reaction of other more complex membrane proteins can be observed during protein biosynthesis (in situ and in operando) at molecular resolution.
Title DNA intercalator stimulates influenza transcription and virusreplication

Influenza A virus uses its host transcription machinery to facilitate viral RNA synthesis, an event that is associated with cellular RNA polymerase II (RNAPII). In this study, various RNAPII transcription inhibitors were used to investigate the effect of RNAPII phosphorylation status on viral RNA transcription. A low concentration of DNA intercalators, such as actinomycin D (ActD), was found to stimulate viral polymerase activity and virus replication. This effect was not observed in cells treated with RNAPII kinase inhibitors. In addition, the loss of RNAPIIa in infected cells was due to the shift of nonphosphorylated RNAPII (RNAPIIa) to hyperphosphorylated RNAPII (RNAPIIo).
Revisiting semicontinuous silver films as surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy substrates

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a very promising analytical technique for the detection and identification of trace amounts of analytes. Among the many substrates used in SERS of great interest are nanostructures fabricated using physical methods, such as semicontinuous metal films obtained via electron beam physical vapor deposition. In these studies, we investigate the influence of morphology of semicontinuous silver films on their SERS properties. The morphologies studied ranged from isolated particles through percolated films to almost continuous films. We found that films below the percolation threshold (transition from dielectric-like to metal-like) made of isolated silver structures provided the largest SERS enhancement of 4-aminothiophenol (4-ATP) analyte signals. The substrate closest to the percolation threshold has the SERS signal about four times lower than the highest signal sample.
Glacial cycles drive variations in the production of oceanic crust page)

Glacial cycles redistribute water between oceans and continents, causing pressure changes in the upper mantle, with consequences for the melting of Earth s interior. Using Plio-Pleistocene sea-level variations as a forcing function, theoretical models of mid-ocean ridge dynamics that include melt transport predict temporal variations in crustal thickness of hundreds of meters. New bathymetry from the Australian-Antarctic ridge shows statistically significant spectral energy near the Milankovitch periods of 23, 41, and 100 thousand years, which is consistent with model predictions. These results suggest that abyssal hills, one of the most common bathymetric features on Earth, record the magmatic response to changes in sea level.The models and data support a link between glacial cycles at the surface and mantle melting at depth, recorded in the bathymetric fabric of the sea floor. The Ebola epidemic in West Africa has caused substantial morbidity and mortality. The outbreak has also disrupted health care services, including childhood vaccinations, creating a second public health crisis.We project that after 6 to 18 months of disruptions, a large connected cluster of children unvaccinated for measles will accumulate across Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.This pool of susceptibility increases the expected size of a regional measles outbreak from 127,000 to 227,000 cases after 18 months, resulting in 2000 to 16,000 additional deaths (comparable to the