Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Design, Adjust and Reuse -- How Teachers Script Pedagogical Activities

Teachers are trained to plan and conduct pedagogical activities. But, as these activities become richer -i.e. more collaborative, with more open resources, and building upon increasing number of digital tools- planning becomes increasingly important. We conducted contextual interviews with seven middle and high school teachers, about their practices in planning and conducting pedagogical activities. We found that teachers design scripts to guide them through the session and scripts for students to use independently. They adjust their scripts during a session and edit them afterward. They reuse old scripts, adapt scripts from other teachers, and from online and physical sources.We derive implications for the design of scripting tools: sup-porting scripts at multiple levels of detail, or annotations for adjusting scripts during and after teaching sessions.
Automatic reconstruction of B-spline surfaces of arbitrary topological type

Creating freeform surfaces is a challenging task even with advanced geometric modeling systems. Laser range scanners offer a promising alternative for model acquisition—the 3D scanning of existing objects or clay maquettes. The problem of converting the dense point sets produced by laser scanners into useful geometric models is referred to as surface reconstruction. In this paper, we present a procedure for reconstructing a tensor product B-spline surface from a set of scanned 3D points. Unlike previous work which considers primarily the problem of fitting a single B-spline patch, our goal is to directly reconstruct a surface of arbitrary topological type. We must therefore define the surface as a network of B-spline patches. A key ingredient in our solution is a scheme for automatically constructing both a network of patches and a parametrization of the data points over these patches. In addition, we define the B-spline surface using a surface spline construction, and demonstrate that such an approach leads to an efficient procedure for fitting the surface while maintaining tangent plane continuity. We explore adaptive refinement of the patch network in order to satisfy user-specified error tolerances, and demonstrate our method on both synthetic and real data. CR
Fast H.264 Picture in Picture (PIP) transcoder with B-slices and direct mode support

H.264, the modern standard for video coding, has become increasingly popular in recent years, and offers solutions for many applications requiring video compression. Some of these applications require insertion of content into an already compressed video. This operation incurs high computational cost if a naive approach of full re-encoding is taken. Previous efforts in this field targeted the Baseline Profile of the H.264 standard. The Main Profile, that offers very efficient encoding modes using B-slices and Spatial Direct encoding, has not been addressed. We present Guided Encoding - a novel solution for efficient Picture-in-Picture embedding using the coding parameters of the original compressed bit stream. We also present an algorithm for handling Spatial Direct mode encoding to prevent propagation of errors caused by the embedding of new content into the original sequence. We reduce the computational time by an average factor of five in comparison to performing full re-encoding while preserving the video quality.
Dynamic gate-level body biasing for subthreshold digital design

Dynamic gate-level body biasing has been recently proposed as an alternative design methodology for subthreshold logic gates. According to this approach, a simple body biasing circuit, embedded in the logic gate, is exploited to change dynamically the threshold voltage of transistors on the basis of the gate status. This allows fast gate switching, while maintaining high energy efficiency. In this work, the proposed technique is exploited to design a low voltage mirror full-adder. When implemented in a 45 nm commercial technology, the designed circuit is 2 and 1.3 times faster than its standard CMOS and DTMOS counterparts. This is achieved while maintaining the lowest total energy per operation consumption and robustness against temperature and process variations.
Investigating How Online Help and Learning Resources Support Children's Use of 3D Design Software

3D design software is increasingly available to children through libraries, maker spaces, and for free on the web. This unprecedented availability has the potential to unleash children's creativity in cutting edge domains, but is limited by the steep learning curve of the software. Unfortunately, there is little past work studying the breakdowns faced by children in this domain-most past work has focused on adults in professional settings. In this paper, we present a study of online learning resources and help-seeking strategies available to children starting out with 3D design software. We find that children face a range of challenges when trying to learn 3D design independently-tutorials present instructions at a granularity that leads to overlooked and incorrectly-performed actions, and online help-seeking is largely ineffective due to challenges with query formulation and evaluating found information. Based on our findings, we recommend design directions for next-generation help and learning systems tailored to children.
A direct role for murine Cdx proteins in the trunk neural crest gene regulatory network

Numerous studies in chordates and arthropods currently indicate that Cdx proteins have a major ancestral role in the organization of post-head tissues. In urochordate embryos, Cdx loss-of-function has been shown to impair axial elongation, neural tube (NT) closure and pigment cell development. Intriguingly, in contrast to axial elongation and NT closure, a Cdx role in neural crest (NC)-derived melanocyte/pigment cell development has not been reported in any other chordate species. To address this, we generated a new conditional pan-Cdx functional knockdown mouse model that circumvents Cdx functional redundancy as well as the early embryonic lethality of Cdx mutants. Through directed inhibition in the neuroectoderm, we provide in vivo evidence that murine Cdx proteins impact melanocyte and enteric nervous system development by, at least in part, directly controlling the expression of the key early regulators of NC ontogenesis Pax3, Msx1 and Foxd3. Our work thus reveals a novel role for Cdx proteins at the top of the trunk NC gene regulatory network in the mouse, which appears to have been inherited from their ancestral ortholog. Summary: A novel role for the Cdx proteins at the top of the trunk neural crest gene regulatory network is revealed via a neuroectoderm-directed functional knockdown approach in mouse.
Spatial Social Media: Towards Collaborative Mixed Reality Telepresence “On The Go”

Live video streaming is becoming an increasingly popular form of interaction in social media, with mobile devices being used for sharing of remote situation "on the go. " We are interested in how such forms of interaction can be applied to mobile telepresence, i.e., a quick and effortless way of "teleporting" users to a remote location, where they can share each others' viewpoints and collaborate. We developed an application that achieves such effect by taking advantage of spatial data inferred from mobile devices' onboard sensors and embeds realtime video streams into panoramic mixed reality displays. To validate our solution we conducted a preliminary study and observed a statistically significant decrease in cognitive workload as well as increase in spatial and situational awareness among users in comparison with a regular videoconferencing application. Believing in the novelty of our approach, we plan to extend our application with environment mapping and empathic interface functionality.
Non-destructive 3D profiling of orthopaedic titanium bone plate using fringe projection profilometry and fourier transform analysis

The measurement and testing of 3D profile plays a vital role in characterizing orthopaedic bone plates. As being implanted in human body, its shape must be accurately defined in order to avoid harmful side effects. In present communication, we report a low-cost, non-destructive measurement of 3D surface profile of titanium bone plate using fringe projection and automated interferogram analysis technique. Collimated light from a He-Ne laser is incident on a grating and the resultant sinusoidal pattern is projected on bone plate sample. Resulting deformed fringe pattern carries the information of the sample surface. For measurement of 3D topographic information, interferograms are recorded and analyzed using Fourier transform method. The proposed setup provides its feasibility of being non-contact, non-destructive, fast, low-cost and robust against environmental perturbations.
WHAT ’ S THE BUZZ ? LINKING BPM , JAVA , SIMULATION , THE UML & GRID TECHNOLOGY WITH DEFENCE CONTRACT MANAGEMENT THROUGH BID , SUPPLY AND SUSTAINMENT PHASES

Yes that’s a lot of buzzwords. And you’d be right in thinking that there is a huge amount written about these technologies independently so why link them like a strange radio show challenge. Well, it turns out that many of the technologies are reaching a stage of maturity that could potentially move simulation into the more common IT realm of business process management. This is the world of business rules, distributed computing and automated business simulation (ABS) and it could change the way that Defence contractors plan to deliver and maintain assets for the MoD. It could change your business too.
Challenges of automated machine learning on causal impact analytics for policy evaluation

Automated machine learning (AutoML) refers to the full aspects of automation machine learning without human in the analytics loop. The main goals of big data analytics are to determine correlation, prediction, and cause-effect among high-dimensional data features. Until now, AutoML systems were primarily proposed for classification and regression, and lacked causal impact analytics. In this study, we address the possible challenges of extending AutoML on causal impact analytics for a policy evaluation. A simplified causal inference model has been implemented on a generic AutoML system Spark ML pipeline for a scenario of policy evaluation for (inter-)national stock market impacts analytics based on GDELT big datasets.
The Effect of Different Pouring Interval of Conventional Impression on the Marginal Accuracy of Full Contour Zirconia Crowns in Comparison with Digital Impression : An in Vitro Study

Background: The success and maintenance of indirect dental restorations is closely related to the marginal accuracy, which is affected by many factors like preparation design, using of different fabrication techniques, and the time of taking final impression and pouring it. The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the effect of different pouring time of conventional impression on the vertical marginal gap of full contour zirconia crowns in comparison with digital impression technique. Materials and Methods: Forty sound recently extracted human permanent maxillary first premolar teeth of comparable size and shape were collected. Standardized preparation of all teeth samples were carried out to receive full contour zirconia crown restoration with deep chamfer finishing line all around the tooth with (1mm) depth, axial length (4mm) and convergence angle (6 degree). The specimens separated into two groups; Group A; eight specimens were scanned digitally by using Omnicam scanner; Group B; conventional impressions were taken for the remaining thirty two specimens and further subdivided to four groups according to the time of impression pouring; Group B1: PVS were poured after 30 minutes; Group B2: PVS were poured after 24 hours; Group B3: PVS were poured after 7 days; Group B4:PVS were poured after 14 days. Marginal discrepancy was measured at four points at each tooth surface. Sixteen points per tooth were measured using digital microscope at (180X) magnification. One-way ANOVA test and LSD test were carried out to see if there was any significant difference among the means of the conventional impression groups. Independent samples t-test was carried out to examine if there is any significant difference between digital and conventional impression technique. Results: group B2 had the least mean of marginal gap with statistically significant difference when compared to group B1 and statistically highly significant difference when compared to group B3 and B4. There was a statistically highly significant difference in the vertical marginal gap between digital impression technique and conventional impression. Conclusions: the pouring of conventional impression after 24 hours provides better marginal fit than other pouring time. The digital impression provides better marginal fit than conventional impression.
A Spatial Domain Object Separability Based no-Reference Image Quality Measure using mean and variance

In many modern image processing applications determining quality of the image is one of the most challenging tasks. Researchers working in the field of image quality assessment design algorithms for measuring and quantifying image quality. The human eye can identify the difference between a good quality image and a noisy image by simply looking at the image, but designing a computer algorithm to automatically determine the quality of an image is a very challenging task. In this paper, we propose an image quality measure using the concept of object separability. We define object separability using variance. Two objects are very well separated if variance of individual object is less and mean pixel values of neighboring objects are very different. Degradation in images can be due to a number of reasons like additive noises, quantization defects, sampling defects, etc. The proposed no-reference image quality measure will determine quality of degraded images and differentiate between good and degraded images.
Modular finger and hand motion capturing system based on inertial and magnetic sensors

Abstract: The assessment of hand posture and kinematics is increasingly important in various fields. This includes the rehabilitation of stroke survivors with restricted hand function. This paper presents a modular, ambulatory measurement system for the assement of the remaining hand function and for closed-loop controlled therapy. The device is based on inertial sensors and utilizes up to five interchangeable sensor strips to achieve modularity and to simplify the sensor attachment. We introduce the modular hardware design and describe algorithms used to calculate the joint angles. Measurements with two experimental setups demonstrate the feasibility and the potential of such a tracking device.
The relationship between mother to child calories served and maternal perception of hunger.

BACKGROUND Research has examined self-serving portions in adults and children and has shown that larger portion size is related to more calories consumed. The present study examines factors that may influence the portion sizes a mother serves her child at a mealtime. METHODS The present observational study included a community-based sample of 29 mother-child dyads. Dyads attended a 1-h session in which they shared a meal together. A buffet of food was provided and the mother was asked to serve her child and herself. The amount of food served and consumed by the child was recorded. Main independent variables of interest included maternal body mass index (BMI), child BMI Z-score, and maternal perception of personal and child hunger. The primary dependent variable was the total calories the mother served her child. Regression models and a moderated mediation were used to examine the relation between variables. RESULTS Calories served to the child was positively associated with calories consumed by the child. Maternal perception of her own hunger was related to her perception of her child's hunger. Furthermore, maternal perception of child hunger explained the relationship between maternal perception of personal hunger and total calories served to the child, although only for obese mothers. CONCLUSIONS Mothers may be serving their children larger portion sizes based on their personal weight and their perception of their child's hunger. To help children obtain or maintain a healthy weight, obesity prevention and intervention programmes should help mothers serve more appropriate serving sizes to their children.
Supporting Workplace Detachment and Reattachment with Conversational Intelligence

Research has shown that productivity is mediated by an individual's ability to detach from their work at the end of the day and reattach with it when they return the next day. In this paper we explore the extent to which structured dialogues, focused on individuals' work-related tasks or emotions, can help them with the detachment and reattachment processes. Our inquiry is driven with SwitchBot, a conversational bot which engages with workers at the start and end of their work day. After preliminarily validating the design of a detachment and reattachment dialogue frame-work with 108 crowdworkers, we study SwitchBot's use in-situ for 14 days with 34 information workers. We find that workers send fewer e-mails after work hours and spend a larger percentage of their first hour at work using productivity applications than they normally would when using SwitchBot. Further, we find that productivity gains were better sustained when conversations focused on work-related emotions. Our results suggest that conversational bots can be effective tools for aiding workplace detachment and reattachment and help people make successful use of their time on and off the job.
Microfluidics: A Groundbreaking Technology for PET Tracer Production?

Application of microfluidics to Positron Emission Tomography (PET) tracer synthesis has attracted increasing interest within the last decade. The technical advantages of microfluidics, in particular the high surface to volume ratio and resulting fast thermal heating and cooling rates of reagents can lead to reduced reaction times, increased synthesis yields and reduced by-products. In addition automated reaction optimization, reduced consumption of expensive reagents and a path towards a reduced system footprint have been successfully demonstrated. The processing of radioactivity levels required for routine production, use of microfluidic-produced PET tracer doses in preclinical and clinical imaging as well as feasibility studies on autoradiolytic decomposition have all given promising results. However, the number of microfluidic synthesizers utilized for commercial routine production of PET tracers is very limited. This study reviews the state of the art in microfluidic PET tracer synthesis, highlighting critical design aspects, strengths, weaknesses and presenting several characteristics of the diverse PET market space which are thought to have a significant impact on research, development and engineering of microfluidic devices in this field. Furthermore, the topics of batch- and single-dose production, cyclotron to quality control integration as well as centralized versus de-centralized market distribution models are addressed.
Crowdsourcing Treatments for Low Back Pain

Low back pain (LBP) is a globally common condition with no silver bullet solutions. Further, the lack of therapeutic consensus causes challenges in choosing suitable solutions to try. In this work, we crowdsourced knowledge bases on LBP treatments. The knowledge bases were used to rank and offer best-matching LBP treatments to end users. We collected two knowledge bases: one from clinical professionals and one from non-professionals. Our quantitative analysis revealed that non-professional end users perceived the best treatments by both groups as equally good. However, the worst treatments by non-professionals were clearly seen as inferior to the lowest ranking treatments by professionals. Certain treatments by professionals were also perceived significantly differently by non-professionals and professionals themselves. Professionals found our system handy for self-reflection and for educating new patients, while non-professionals appreciated the reliable decision support that also respected the non-professional opinion.
Role of Plastic Encapsulant on the RF Performance of the GaN Based HEMT Amplifier

This paper presents design, realization and plastic encapsulation of the GaN HEMT die for high power applications. Design & realization of GaN discrete HEMT die based high-power amplifier is carried out to evaluate the performance of the module using selected encapsulant material. The power amplifier is designed at S-band frequencies with 5-watt output power to meet aerospace system requirements. The optimum values of the circuit elements are simulated in standard software. Large signal simulations have showed an output power of 37.4 dBm with 18 dB gain at 2.2 GHz. The simulated input and output return losses are 15 dB and 9 dB respectively. The simulated design is implemented using hybrid microwave integrated circuit (HMIC) approach. The amplifier is realized using thin film processes and packaging techniques. The discrete GaN HEMT die is assembled in a package with Cu-W base to meet reliability requirements of the aerospace system. The realized power amplifier module is characterized initially without encapsulant for small and large signal measurements. The fabricated power amplifier achieved 15 dB small signal gain with 37 dBm output power and 50% PAE across the band 2.1-2.4 GHz. The simulated and measured results of the designed amplifier are comparable. Later plastic encapsulation is performed and module is characterized. GaN HEMT die is encapsulated using dam & fill technology using manual dispensing method. The plastic encapsulation has not degraded the performance of the module and meeting the aerospace system specifications.