Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mothers’ Strategies of Monitoring Adolescents: A Phenomenological Study in Terms of Privacy and Personal Space

In this study, mothers' experiences of monitoring their adolescents is examined in terms of privacy and personal space. We aimed to understand how much information mothers have about their adolescents, which strategies they use to access information and how they experience the process in terms of their perceptions of privacy and personal space. Adopting an interpretive phenomenological approach, in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 adolescents’ mothers and interpretive phenomenological analysis was used for data analysis. Results of the study revealed that Mothers lack a definition for what is private space, privacy or personal space for their adolescents. Mothers’ sense of control over the information is related to Open communication and mutual trust between mothers and their adolescents, the gender of the adolescent, the parental role of the father and negative past experiences about adolescence. Finally mothers prefer multiple monitoring strategies in different combinations to monitor their adolescents.
Genetic polymorphism CYP17 rs2486758 and metabolic risk factors predict daily salivary 17β-estradiol concentration in healthy premenopausal Norwegian women. The EBBA-I study.

CONTEXT The relationship between low-penetrance genes, metabolic risk factors, and levels of endogenous 17β-estradiol and progesterone, which play a role in breast cancer risk, remains unclear. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to determine whether common polymorphisms in CYP17, in combination with metabolic risk factors (individually or clustered), alter salivary concentrations of free biologically active 17β-estradiol and progesterone among healthy premenopausal Norwegian women. DESIGN Eight single nucleotide polymorphisms in CYP17 were genotyped in 203 healthy premenopausal women aged 25-35 yr in the Norwegian EBBA-I Study, conducted in 2000-2002. Daily salivary concentrations of 17β-estradiol and progesterone were measured throughout one menstrual cycle. A clustered metabolic score was calculated, including waist circumference, mean arterial pressure, insulin resistance, fasting triglycerides, and total cholesterol/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio. The study hypothesis was tested in multivariable linear regression and generalized estimating equation models. RESULTS Women in the upper tertile of clustered metabolic score with the CYP17 rs2486758 minor allele had daily salivary 17β-estradiol concentrations that were 53% higher than other study women throughout the menstrual cycle (P < 0.001). Similarly, women in the upper tertile of total cholesterol/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio, fasting triglycerides, and insulin resistance had 44, 32, and 24% higher daily salivary 17β-estradiol concentrations, respectively (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSION The CYP17 rs2486758 minor allele may predispose to higher 17β-estradiol levels, particularly in premenopausal women with a high clustered metabolic score. Thus, modification of metabolic risk factors may have significant implications for the prevention of breast cancer in women with the minor allele of CYP17 rs2486758.
Association of Serum Creatinine With Abnormal Hemodynamics and Mortality in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

Background— Renal dysfunction predicts mortality in patients with cardiovascular disease. How renal dysfunction relates to hemodynamics and mortality in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) remains unclear. Methods and Results— We performed a cohort study of 500 patients with World Health Organization group I PAH from 1982 to 2006 with data on demographics, comorbidities, medications, functional class, laboratory tests, exercise testing results, and hemodynamics. Serum creatinine (SCr) was determined on entry into the study (initial PAH clinic visit). Vital status was determined from hospital records and the Social Security Death Index. We used a Cox proportional hazards analysis to determine whether SCr was an independent predictor of mortality. Mean age on entry into the study was 48±14 years, and 79% of subjects were female. Mean SCr was 1.05±0.35 mg/dL. Elevated SCr was associated with higher right atrial pressure and lower cardiac index. During a median follow-up of 3.5 years, 279 deaths (55.8% of the cohort) occurred. Compared with patients with SCr <1.0 mg/dL, those with SCr 1.0 to 1.4 mg/dL and SCr >1.4 mg/dL had an increased hazard ratio of death (unadjusted hazard ratio 1.65, 95% confidence interval 1.26 to 2.17, P<0.0001 for SCr 1.0 to 1.4 mg/dL; unadjusted hazard ratio 2.54, 95% confidence interval 1.73 to 3.71, P<0.0001 for SCr >1.4 mg/dL). On multivariable analysis, we found a significant interaction between SCr and right atrial pressures (interaction P<0.0001); increased SCr best predicted death in patients with right atrial pressure <10 mm Hg. Conclusions— Renal dysfunction is associated with a worse hemodynamic profile and is an independent predictor of mortality in PAH. Measurement of SCr is practical and offers a simple way to noninvasively predict outcome.
A GSA based improved MPPT system for PV generation

The exponential growth of human population worldwide has emphasized the rapidly increased need of electricity. To meet this socio economic demand the research interest has been reinforced in renewable or non-conventional energy resources. One of the popular renewable sources is photovoltaic cell or solar cell. Corresponding to maximum power output there is an optimum operating point in Power-Voltage characteristic curve of photovoltaic cell. This nonlinear characteristic changes with respect to solar insolation, temperature and solar cell property. To cut down the cost of solar electricity online tracking of MPP (Maximum Power Point) is an essential part of successful solar system. A variety of techniques have been developed by the global researchers. In this paper an Evolutionary algorithm, Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA) is examined in MATLAB environment to get the Maximum Power Point of photovoltaic array. The result is compared with another EA algorithm, Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO).
Ultra-fast DC-charge infrastructures for EV-mobility and future smart grids

Nowadays Power Electronics (PE) is entering more and more in technology which traditionally belongs to different engineering disciplines. E-mobility is one of these. Power Electronics in fact imposes itself as an emerging technology to enhance sustainable mobility, addressing all the engineering aspects starting from energy distribution for charging purposes until energy transformation on board of the traction related vehicles. This paper in particular focuses on newly developed PE infrastructure technologies enabling fast battery charging processes. Depending on the battery and vehicle type, a recharge sufficient for a travel range of more than 100km in less than 10 min is readily achievable. As battery technologies continuously advance, recharging will become available with the speed and simplicity of a today's fuel stop. Two PE converter architectures for recharging infrastructure applications will be presented and discussed based on both low-frequency (LF) and high-frequency (HF) isolation requirements. Technical evaluation of the two different technologies will be addressed and presented, including a pro- and contra analysis. The impact on the grid is studied by means of simulation with the assumption of a dc fast charging station placed in a rural area in Sweden.
Selecting the Most Favourable Edge Detection Technique for Liquid Level Inspection in Bottles

In this paper few edge detection techniques viz. Optimal & Template Based are compared to inspect the over and under fill liquid level of bottle in machine vision system. The text represents the steps and approaches for the inspection of over and under filled level in the bottle which would not only be helpful for quality inspection but in precised time too using different edge detection techniques. The results of Shen-Castan’s ISEF optimal edge detection algorithm were found to be much better than the traditional edge detection methods like Roberts, Prewitt, Sobel, Marr- Hilderth LoG algorithm and Canny algorithm.
Algal antifouling and fouling-release properties of metal surfaces coated with a polymer inspired by marine mussels

Abstract The marine antifouling and fouling-release performance of titanium surfaces coated with a bio-inspired polymer was investigated. The polymer consisted of methoxy-terminated poly(ethylene glycol) (mPEG) conjugated to the adhesive amino acid l-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) and was chosen based on its successful resistance to protein and mammalian cell fouling. Biofouling assays for the settlement and release of the diatom Navicula perminuta and settlement, growth and release of zoospores and sporelings (young plants) of the green alga Ulva linza were carried out. Results were compared to glass, a poly(dimethylsiloxane) elastomer (Silastic T2) and uncoated Ti. The mPEG-DOPA3 modified Ti surfaces exhibited a substantial decrease in attachment of both cells of N. perminuta and zoospores of U. linza as well as the highest detachment of attached cells under flow compared to control surfaces. The superior performance of this polymer over a standard silicone fouling-release coating in diatom assays and approximately equivalent performance in zoospore assays suggests that this bio-inspired polymer may be effective in marine antifouling and fouling-release applications.
Oral delivery of dsRNA by microbes: Beyond pest control

ABSTRACT RNA interference (RNAi) by oral delivery of dsRNA in insects has great potential as a tool for integrated pest management (IPM), especially with respect to addressing the need to reduce off-target effect and slow down resistance development to chemical insecticides. Employing the natural association existing between insect and yeast, we developed a novel method to enable the knock down of vital genes in the pest insect Drosophila suzukii through oral delivery of species-specific dsRNA using genetically modified Saccharomyces cerevisae. D. suzukii that were fed with our “yeast biopesticide” showed a significant decrease in fitness. In this perspective article, we postulate that this approach could be adapted to a large number of species, given the great diversity of symbiotic interactions involving microorganisms and host species. Furthermore, we speculate that beyond its application as biopesticide, dsRNA delivery by genetically modified microbes can also serve to facilitate reverse genetic applications, specifically in non-model organisms.
Dietary Phylloquinone and Menaquinones Intakes and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE To investigate whether dietary phylloquinone and menaquinones intakes are related to risk of type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We used data from a prospective cohort study in 38,094 Dutch men and women, aged 20–70 years. Dietary phylloquinone and menaquinones intakes were assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Diabetes case patients were ascertained mainly via self-report and verified against medical records. RESULTS During 10.3 years of follow-up, 918 incident cases of diabetes were documented. In a multivariate model adjusting for diabetes risk factors and dietary factors, phylloquinone intake tended to be associated (P = 0.08) with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes with a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.81 (95% CI 0.66–0.99) for the highest versus the lowest quartile. For menaquinones intake, a linear, inverse association (P = 0.038) with risk of type 2 diabetes was observed with an HR of 0.93 (0.87–1.00) for each 10-μg increment in the multivariate model. CONCLUSIONS This study shows that both phylloquinone and menaquinones intakes may be associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.
Faint young Sun problem more severe due to ice‐albedo feedback and higher rotation rate of the early Earth

During the Archean (3.8–2.5 billion years ago), the Sun was up to 25% less luminous than today, yet there is strong evidence that the Earth's ocean surface was not completely frozen. The most obvious solutions to this ‘faint young Sun problem’ demand high concentrations of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. Here we present the first comprehensive 3‐dimensional simulations of the Archean climate that include processes as the sea‐ice albedo feedback and the higher rotation rate of the Earth. These effects lead to CO2 partial pressures required to prevent the Earth from freezing that are significantly higher than previously thought. For the early Archean, we find a critical CO2partial pressure of 0.4 bar in contrast to 0.06 bar estimated in previous studies with 1‐dimensional radiative‐convective models. Our results suggest that currently favored greenhouse solutions could be in conflict with constraints emerging for the middle and late Archean.
The functional neuroanatomy of blood-injection-injury phobia: a comparison with spider phobics and healthy controls

Background Most neuroimaging studies of specific phobia have investigated the animal subtype. The blood-injection-injury (BII) subtype is characterized by a unique biphasic psychophysiological response, which could suggest a distinct neural substrate, but direct comparisons between phobia types are lacking. Method This study compared the neural responses during the presentation of phobia-specific stimuli in 12 BII phobics, 14 spider (SP) phobics and 14 healthy controls using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Results Subjective ratings showed that the experimental paradigm produced the desired symptom-specific effects. As in many previous studies, when viewing spider-related stimuli, SP phobics showed increased activation in dorsal anterior cingulate and anterior insula, compared to BII phobics and healthy controls. However, when viewing images of blood-injection-injuries, participants with BII phobia mainly showed increased activation in the thalamus and visual/attention areas (occipito-temporo-parietal cortex), compared with the other two groups. The degree of provoked anxiety and disgust by phobia-relevant images was strongly associated with activation in several common regions across the two phobia groups (thalamus, cerebellum, occipito-temporal regions) but only correlated with activation in the dorsal anterior cingulate gyrus and the anterior insula in the SP phobics. Conclusions These results suggest partially distinct neurobiological substrates of animal and BII phobias and support their current classification as two distinct subtypes in the DSM-IV-TR. Further research is needed to better understand the precise neurobiological mechanisms in BII phobia and particularly the fainting response.
A General Framework for Heterogeneous Associative Logic Programming

Associative computation is characterized by search by content and data parallel computation. Search by content paradigm is natural to scalable high performance heterogeneous computing since use of tagged data makes data independent of implicit addressing mechanisms. In this paper, we present an algebra for associative logic programming, an associative resolution scheme, and a generic framework of associative abstract instruction set. The model is based on integration of data alignment and use of two types of bags: data element bags and filter bags of boolean values to select and restrict computation on data elements. Use of filter bags integrated with data alignment reduces the computation and data transfer overhead; use of tagged data reduces overhead of preparing data before data transmission. The abstract instruction set has been illustrated by an example. Performance results for a simulation in a homogeneous address space are presented.
Applying and testing design for intuitive interaction

Various tools have been developed to assist designers in making interfaces easier to use although none yet offer a complete solution. Through previous work we have established that intuitive interaction is based on past experience. From this we have developed theory around intuitive interaction, a continuum and a conceptual tool for intuitive use. We then trialled our tool. Firstly, one designer used the tool to design a camera. Secondly, seven groups of postgraduate students re-designed various products using our tool. We then chose one of these - a microwave – and prototyped the new and original microwave interfaces on a touchscreen. We tested them on three different age groups. We found that the new design was more intuitive and rated by participants as more familiar. Therefore, design interventions based on our intuitive interaction theory can work. Work is ongoing to develop the tool further.
Typed Intermediate Languages

Programs written in a typed language are guaranteed to satisfy the safety properties of the type system without runtime checks. A type system for an intermediate language allows static veriﬁcation of safety properties independent of source languages, and opens up opportunities for advanced compiler optimizations. This paper surveys three major intermediate languages: Java bytecode, typed assembly language and proof-carrying code. Java bytecode requires minimal type annotation but sophisticated veriﬁcation algorithms. Typed assembly language permits low-level constructs such as registers and instruction blocks, yet still enforces control-ﬂow safety and memory safety. Proof-carrying code provides a general framework for any safety properties deﬁnable in a meta-logical framework. We motivate the use of typed intermediate languages, illustrate the type systems of the three languages mentioned above with examples, and compare their tradeoﬀs of expressiveness versus complexity. Additionally, we assess the impact of the three languages and identify research directions for future work.
Analysis of recursive state machines

Recursive state machines (RSMs) enhance the power of ordinary state machines by allowing vertices to correspond either to ordinary states or to potentially recursive invocations of other state machines. RSMs can model the control flow in sequential imperative programs containing recursive procedure calls. They can be viewed as a visual notation extending Statecharts-like hierarchical state machines, where concurrency is disallowed but recursion is allowed. They are also related to various models of pushdown systems studied in the verification and program analysis communities.After introducing RSMs and comparing their expressiveness with other models, we focus on whether verification can be efficiently performed for RSMs. Our first goal is to examine the verification of linear time properties of RSMs. We begin this study by dealing with two key components for algorithmic analysis and model checking, namely, reachability (Is a target state reachable from initial states? ) and cycle detection (Is there a reachable cycle containing an accepting state? ). We show that both these problems can be solved in time O(nθ2) and space O(nθ), where n is the size of the recursive machine and θ is the maximum, over all component state machines, of the minimum of the number of entries and the number of exits of each component. From this, we easily derive algorithms for linear time temporal logic model checking with the same complexity in the model. We then turn to properties in the branching time logic CTL*, and again demonstrate a bound linear in the size of the state machine, but only for the case of RSMs with a single exit node.
Overlapping and segregating structural brain abnormalities in twins with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

CONTEXT The nosologic dichotomy between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (BD) as formulated by Kraepelin is currently being questioned, stimulated by the finding that schizophrenia and BD partly share a common genetic origin. Although both disorders are characterized by changes in brain structure, family studies suggest more segregating than overlapping neuroanatomical abnormalities in both disorders. OBJECTIVES To investigate whether patients with schizophrenia and patients with BD display overlapping abnormalities in brain volumes and cortical thickness and whether these are caused by shared genetic or environmental influences. DESIGN Magnetic resonance imaging findings of monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs discordant for schizophrenia, twin pairs concordant and discordant for BD, and healthy twin pairs were compared using structural equation modeling. SETTING The Netherlands Twin Register and University Medical Center Utrecht. PARTICIPANTS A total of 310 individuals from 158 (152 complete and 6 incomplete) twin pairs were included: 26 pairs discordant for schizophrenia (13 MZ and 13 DZ), 49 pairs with BD (9 MZ and 4 DZ concordant; 14 MZ and 22 DZ discordant), and 83 healthy twin pairs (44 MZ and 39 DZ). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Estimates of additive genetic and unique environmental associations between schizophrenia and BD with overlapping and nonoverlapping volumes and cortical thickness. RESULTS Higher genetic liabilities for schizophrenia and BD were associated with smaller white matter volume, thinner right (and left) parahippocampus, thinner right orbitofrontal cortex, and thicker temporoparietal and left superior motor cortices; higher environmental liabilities were associated with thinner right medial occipital cortex. Genetic liability for schizophrenia was associated with thicker right parietal cortex; for BD, with larger intracranial volume. CONCLUSIONS Brain structures reflect overlapping and segregating genetic liabilities for schizophrenia and BD. The overlapping smaller white matter volume and common areas of thinner cortex suggest that both disorders share genetic (neurodevelopmental) roots.
Exploring Boolean and non-Boolean computing with spin torque devices

In this paper we discuss the potential of emerging spin-torque devices for computing applications. Recent proposals for spin-based computing schemes may be differentiated as `all-spin' vs. hybrid, programmable vs. fixed, and, Boolean vs. non-Boolean. Allspin logic-styles may offer high area-density due to small form-factor of nano-magnetic devices. However, circuit and system-level design techniques need to be explored that leaverage the specific spin-device characterisitcs to achieve energy-efficiency, performance and reliability comparable to those of CMOS. The non-volatility of nano-magnets can be exploited in the design of energy and area-efficient programmable logic. In such logic-styles, spin-devices may play the dual-role of computing as well as memory-elements that provide field-programmability. Spin-based threshold logic design is presented as an example. Emerging spintronic phenomena may lead to ultra-low-voltage, current-mode, spin-torque switches that can offer attractive computing capabilities, beyond digital switches. Such devices may be suitable for non-Boolean data-processing applications which involve analog processing. Integration of such spin-torque devices with charge-based devices like CMOS and resistive memory can lead to highly energy-efficient information processing hardware for applicatons like pattern-matching, neuromorphic-computing, image-processing and data-conversion. Towards the end, we discuss the possibility of applying emerging spin-torque switches in the design of energy-efficient global interconnects, for future chip multiprocessors.
ncreased methane emissions from an invasive wetland plant under elevated arbon dioxide levels

Wetlands function as important climate regulators by providing conditions for the large-scale production and release of methane from vegetation. Several studies have suggested an apparent link between two global warming gases that result in higher emissions of methane from rice paddies and wetlands subjected to elevated levels of atmospheric CO2. We show that an increase in the relative abundance of methane-