Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Teaching Introductory Programming Concepts with Lego MindStorms in Greek High Schools: A Two-Year Experience

Even today, teaching the basic principles of programming still presents numerous difficulties for students, which in the last several decades have comprised the subject of extensive research (Mayer, 1989; Mendelsohn et al., 1990; Du Boulay, 1989; Du Boulay et al. 1989; Brusilovsky et al., 1994). On the one hand attempts have been made to investigate the factors that render the learning of programming principles difficult, and on the other, to examine the effectiveness of programming languages and integrated environments, as well as the actual methods applied to the teaching of programming. The difficulties, according to (Du Boulay, 1989; Du Boulay et al. 1989) fall into one of the following categories: 1. Orientation: what programming is; the types of problems that can be solved; the positive effects of learning programming. 2. Notional machine: difficulties in understanding the general properties of the “machine” which the student learns to control and its relation to the physical machine. 3. Rules of the programming language (notation): syntax and semantics as an extension of the properties and behaviour of the notional machine. 4. Learning the established structures. 5. Pragmatics: acquiring the ability to determine, develop, control and debug a program with the available tools. Many researchers agree with the view that one of the most significant factors which contributes or even gives rise to the above-mentioned difficulties is the use of the classic approach (Brusilovsky et al., 1997; Xinogalos, 2002) to the teaching of programming. By this we mean teaching based on: • The use of a general purpose language (such as Pascal, C, etc); • The use of a professional environment for this language; and • The proposed problems that require the processing of numbers and/or symbols. Much research has shown that the problems arising from general-purpose languages are due to the fact that they are complex and novices need to learn a lot in order to be able to
Metabolite profiles in the anterior cingulate cortex of depressed patients differentiate those taking N-acetyl-cysteine versus placebo

Background: Increased oxidative stress is thought to contribute to the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD), which is in part due to diminished levels of glutathione, the primary anti-oxidant of the brain. Oral administration of N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC) replenishes glutathione and has therefore been shown to reduce depressive symptoms. Proton magnetic spectroscopy (1H-MRS) that allows quantification of brain metabolites pertinent to both MDD and oxidative biology may provide some novel insights into the neurobiological effects of NAC, and in particular metabolite concentrations within the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) are likely to be important given the key role of this region in the regulation of affect. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether the metabolite profile of the ACC in MDD patients predicts treatment with adjunctive NAC versus placebo. Methods: This study was nested within a multicentre, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of MDD participants treated with adjunctive NAC. Participants (n = 76) from one site completed the spectroscopy component at the end of treatment (12 weeks). Spectra from a single-voxel in the ACC were acquired and absolute concentrations of glutamate (Glu), glutamate-glutamine (Glx), N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA) and myo-inositol (mI) were obtained. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to determine whether metabolite profiles could predict NAC versus placebo group membership. Results: When predicting group outcome (NAC or placebo), Glx, NAA and mI were a significant model, and had 75% accuracy, while controlling for depression severity and sex. However, the Glu, NAA and mI profile was only predictive at a trend level, with 68.3% accuracy. For both models, the log of the odds of a participant being in the NAC group was positively related to NAA, Glx and Glu levels and negatively related to mI levels. Conclusion: The finding of higher Glx and NAA levels being predictive of the NAC group provides preliminary support for the putative anti-oxidative role of NAC in MDD.
Natural occurrence of aflatoxins (B1 and M1) in feed, plasma and raw milk of lactating dairy cows in Beja, Tunisia, using ELISA

Beja is an agricultural area in northwest Tunisia. It contributes to national needs by offering cereals and milk to the market for human and animal consumption. A small number of studies on mycotoxin occurrence in feedstuffs and raw milk from lactating dairy cows in this region are available. Therefore, 226 samples were collected from farms and local markets during November 2008 until April 2010. Samples consisted of 112 raw cow milk, 56 blood from lactating cows and 58 feed destined for dairy cows. Plasma and feed were analysed for aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). Milk samples were analysed for aflatoxin M1 (AFM1). All samples were treated using a simultaneous methanolic-aqueous extraction, followed by immunoaffinity column clean-ups and were investigated by competitive enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA). Recoveries were 80%–95% and 81%–92% for AFB1 and AFM1, respectively, while the limit of detection (LOD) was 0.01 µg/kg or µg/l for both mycotoxins. Results revealed the presence of AFB1 in 84.4% of the feed samples (mean 18.7 ± 1.4 µg/kg), and 39.2% of the plasma-examined samples (median 7.1 ± 1.0 µg/l) were found to be contaminated at levels higher than the Tunisian and the European Union (EU) limit for dairy animals, which are 20 and 5 µg/kg in animal feed, respectively. AFM1 was detected in 60.7% of the cow raw milk samples examined (median 13.6 ± 1.4 µg/l). Contaminated levels were higher than the EU limit of 0.05 µg/l. It was concluded that more precaution should be taken on hygiene controls in order to prevent fungal contamination.
Real-Time Path Planning for Autonomous Vehicles

Thomas L.P. Allen Bachelor of Engineering & Science The University of Sydney November, 2006 Real-Time Path Planning for Autonomous Vehicles This thesis describes the design and implementation of an adaptive and extensible pathfinding system for autonomous vehicles. Different vehicles, missions, and environments have varying requirements, which motivates the need for an adaptable planning system. To support this, an abstract planning framework is presented, which offers the ability to plan over multiple layers of information, in any desired topology, using any discrete pathfinding algorithm. For use by autonomous vehicles, this framework is specifically implemented using the A* algorithm, and with optimisations and extensions, is shown to produce suitable paths. This framework is then extended into a replanner system, capable of planning through unknown environments whilst simultaneously avoiding obstacles and optimising its paths. This system is implemented for a particular vehicle, known as the Argo, and is shown to be an effective means of autonomous vehicle navigation.
Mining parallel fragments from comparable texts

This paper proposes a novel method for exploiting comparable documents to generate parallel data for machine translation. First, each source document is paired to each sentence of the corresponding target document; second, partial phrase alignments are computed within the paired texts; ﬁnally, fragment pairs across linked phrase-pairs are extracted. The algorithm has been tested on two recent challenging news translation tasks. Results show that mining for parallel fragments is more effective than mining for parallel sentences, and that comparable in-domain texts can be more valuable than parallel out-of-domain texts
Transient current testing of 0.25 /spl mu/m CMOS devices

Transient current testing (I/sub DDT/) has been often cited as an alternative and/or supplement to I/sub DDQ/ testing. The effectiveness of our I/sub DDT/ test method is compared with I/sub DDQ/ as well as with SA-based voltage testing for devices produced in 0.25 /spl mu/m technology. For these devices a large vector-to-vector spread in I/sub DDT/ is observed. This spread is investigated together with the die-to-die spread to determine a pass/fail criterion. The vector-to-vector spread is compensated by comparing the measured I/sub DDT/ values with those of a known good (golden) device. A hardware solution for an I/sub DDT/ monitor is presented which includes a correction for the golden device signature. Therefore real-time I/sub DDT/ testing on a digital tester without data-processing becomes feasible.
Maintenance of α1-antitrypsin activity by means of co-application of hypochlorous acid-scavengers in vitro and in the supernatant of polymorphonuclear leukocytes

Tissue destruction, pain and loss of function in chronically inflamed tissues can result from noxious agents released from myeloperoxidase (MPO) and its highly reactive product hypochlorous acid (HOCl) or proteases such as neutrophil elastase (NE). Currently there exists a high demand for medications that provide gentle treatments, free from side effects inherent in those prescribed today. One method to circumvent side effects is through the use of locally applied drug delivery. In contrast to systemic therapy, the main advantages of transport systems are the low dosages of drug with a time-controlled delivery. The aim of this study was to ascertain interactions of NE and its inhibitor α1-antitrypsin (AT), the influence of hypochlorous acid (HOCl), as well as its scavengers, in order to define an effective mixture of drugs acting in a synergistic way which can be applied by means of drug delivery systems. These investigations determine the effective amounts of AT/HOCl-scavengers that drug mixtures need for delivery under inflammatory conditions in order to prevent tissue damage. AT was shown to inhibit NE in a dose-dependent manner, whereas a physiological concentration of 1.14 µM AT caused a significant NE inhibition (78%, pH 7.5). The concomitant existence of MPO/HOCl inactivated AT in a dose-dependent manner as well. To regain AT efficacy, HOCl-scavengers, such as l-methionine, α-aminosalicylic acid and cefoperazone were additionally applied. Finally, AT was assembled as surface layer onto layer-by-layer biopolymer-coated microcarriers and carrier phagocytosis by polymorphonuclear leukocytes could be shown.
Nutritional content of supermarket ready meals and recipes by television chefs in the United Kingdom: cross sectional study

Objectives To compare the energy and macronutrient content of main meals created by television chefs with ready meals sold by supermarkets, and to compare both with nutritional guidelines published by the World Health Organization and UK Food Standards Agency. Design Cross sectional study. Setting Three supermarkets with the largest share of the grocery market in the United Kingdom, 2010. Samples 100 main meal recipes from five bestselling cookery books by UK television chefs and 100 own brand ready meals from the three leading UK supermarkets. Main outcome measures Number of meals for which the nutritional content complied with WHO recommendations, and the proportion of nutrients classified as red, amber, or green using the UK FSA’s “traffic light” system for labelling food. Results No recipe or ready meal fully complied with the WHO recommendations. The ready meals were more likely to comply with the recommended proportions of energy derived from carbohydrate (18% v 6%, P=0.01) and sugars (83% v 81%, P=0.05) and fibre density (56% v 14% P<0.01). The recipes were more likely to comply with the recommended sodium density (36% v 4%, P<0.01), although salt used for seasoning was not assessed. The distributions of traffic light colours under the FSA’s food labelling recommendations differed: the modal traffic light was red for the recipes (47%) and green for ready meals (42%). Overall, the recipes contained significantly more energy (2530 kJ v 2067 kJ), protein (37.5 g v 27.9 g), fat (27.1 g v 17.2 g), and saturated fat (9.2 g v 6.8 g; P<0.01 for all) and significantly less fibre (3.3 g v 6.5 g, P<0.01) per portion than the ready meals. Conclusions Neither recipes created by television chefs nor ready meals sold by three of the leading UK supermarkets complied with WHO recommendations. Recipes were less healthy than ready meals, containing significantly more energy, protein, fat, and saturated fat, and less fibre per portion than the ready meals.
Finding starting points for Markov chain Monte Carlo analysis of genetic data from large and complex pedigrees

Genetic data from founder populations are advantageous for studies of complex traits that are often plagued by the problem of genetic heterogeneity. However, the desire to analyze large and complex pedigrees that often arise from such populations, coupled with the need to handle many linked and highly polymorphic loci simultaneously, poses challenges to current standard approaches. A viable alternative to solving such problems is via Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) procedures, where a Markov chain, defined on the state space of a latent variable (e.g., genotypic configuration or inheritance vector), is constructed. However, finding starting points for the Markov chains is a difficult problem when the pedigree is not single‐locus peelable; methods proposed in the literature have not yielded completely satisfactory solutions. We propose a generalization of the heated Gibbs sampler with relaxed penetrances (HGRP) of Lin et al., ([1993] IMA J. Math. Appl. Med. Biol. 10:1–17) to search for starting points. HGRP guarantees that a starting point will be found if there is no error in the data, but the chain usually needs to be run for a long time if the pedigree is extremely large and complex. By introducing a forcing step, the current algorithm substantially reduces the state space, and hence effectively speeds up the process of finding a starting point. Our algorithm also has a built‐in preprocessing procedure for Mendelian error detection. The algorithm has been applied to both simulated and real data on two large and complex Hutterite pedigrees under many settings, and good results are obtained. The algorithm has been implemented in a user‐friendly package called START. Genet Epidemiol 25:14–24, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A hybrid ECC and redundancy technique for reducing refresh power of DRAMs

Dynamic random access memory (DRAM) is one key component in handheld devices. It typically consumes significant portion of the energy of the device even if the device is in standby mode due to the refresh requirement. This paper proposes a hybrid error-correcting code (ECC) and redundancy (HEAR) technique to reduce the refresh power of DRAMs in standby mode. The HEAR circuit consists of a Bose-Chaudhuri-Hocquenghem (BCH) module and an error-bit repair (EBR) module to raise the error correction capability and minimize the adverse effects caused by the ECC technique such that the refresh period can be effectively prolonged and considerable refresh power reduction can be achieved. Analysis results show that the proposed HEAR scheme can achieve 40~70% of energy saving for a 2Gb DDR3 DRAM in standby mode. The area cost of parity data and ECC circuit of HEAR scheme is only about 63 % and 53 % of that of the ECC-only, respectively.
Revenue Maximization for Cloud Computing Environment through Resource Sharing by SLA

Cloud computing is receiving a great demand among the budding and old enterprises depending on various Information Technology Services in the present IT Scenario. Cloud provides various services which mostly depend upon a good decision making process to handle various requests from service consumers. The Cloud users are mostly divided into two premium or priority and basic users. As far as priority users are concerned the resources are reserved well in advance and it shows a strong negotiation between the service providers and end users. If there is lack of resources the provider has to pay some reimbursement to the user as per the agreement called as Service Level Agreement (SLA), whereas the elementary user gets the service but has to make more than the premium user. In this case providers always attempt is made to reduce the repayment and maximize the revenue. Here the goal of our paper is to achieve the service pooling mechanism with an energy-aware allocation method in PAAS model to save the overall expenses. Experimental outcomes in the proposed research also demonstrate how the projected outline is able to handle cost, revenue, penalty and efficient server utilization for cloud services.
A Distributed Virtual Network Mapping Algorithm

Network visualization is a promising concept to diversify the future Internet architecture into separate virtual networks (VN) that can support simultaneously multiple network experiments, services and architectures over a shared substrate network. To take full advantage of this paradigm this paper addresses the challenge of assigning VNs to the underlying physical network in a distributed and efficient manner. A distributed algorithm responsible for load balancing and mapping virtual nodes and links to substrate nodes and links has been designed, implemented and evaluated. A VN mapping protocol is proposed to communicate and exchange messages between agent-based substrate nodes to achieve the mapping. Results of the implementation and a performance evaluation of the distributed VN mapping algorithm using a multi-agent approach are reported.
Retinoic Acid Signaling Organizes Endodermal Organ Specification along the Entire Antero-Posterior Axis

Background Endoderm organ primordia become specified between gastrulation and gut tube folding in Amniotes. Although the requirement for RA signaling for the development of a few individual endoderm organs has been established a systematic assessment of its activity along the entire antero-posterior axis has not been performed in this germ layer. Methodology/Principal Findings RA is synthesized from gastrulation to somitogenesis in the mesoderm that is close to the developing gut tube. In the branchial arch region specific levels of RA signaling control organ boundaries. The most anterior endoderm forming the thyroid gland is specified in the absence of RA signaling. Increasing RA in anterior branchial arches results in thyroid primordium repression and the induction of more posterior markers such as branchial arch Hox genes. Conversely reducing RA signaling shifts Hox genes posteriorly in endoderm. These results imply that RA acts as a caudalizing factor in a graded manner in pharyngeal endoderm. Posterior foregut and midgut organ primordia also require RA, but exposing endoderm to additional RA is not sufficient to expand these primordia anteriorly. We show that in chick, in contrast to non-Amniotes, RA signaling is not only necessary during gastrulation, but also throughout gut tube folding during somitogenesis. Our results show that the induction of CdxA, a midgut marker, and pancreas induction require direct RA signaling in endoderm. Moreover, communication between CdxA + cells is necessary to maintain CdxA expression, therefore synchronizing the cells of the midgut primordium. We further show that the RA pathway acts synergistically with FGF4 in endoderm patterning rather than mediating FGF4 activity. Conclusions/Significance Our work establishes that retinoic acid (RA) signaling coordinates the position of different endoderm organs along the antero-posterior axis in chick embryos and could serve as a basis for the differentiation of specific endodermal organs from ES cells.
Computer‐assisted image analysis of liver collagen: Relationship to Ishak scoring and hepatic venous pressure gradient

Histopathological scoring of disease stage uses descriptive categories without measuring the amount of fibrosis. Collagen, the major component of fibrous tissue, can be quantified by computer‐assisted digital image analysis (DIA) using histological sections. We determined relationships between DIA, Ishak stage, and hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) reflecting severity of fibrosis. One hundred fifteen patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) who had undergone transplantation had 250 consecutive transjugular liver biopsies combined with HVPG (median length, 22 mm; median total portal tracts, 12), evaluated using the Ishak system and stained with Sirus red for DIA. Liver collagen was expressed as collagen proportionate area (CPA). Median CPA was 6% (0.2‐45), correlating with Ishak stage (stage 6 range, 13%‐45%), and with HVPG (r = 0.62; P < 0.001). Median CPA was 4.1% when HVPG was less than 6 mm Hg and 13.8% when HVPG was 6 mm Hg or more (P < 0.0001) and 6% when HVPG was less than 10 mm Hg and 17.3% when HVPG was 10 mm Hg or higher (P < 0.0001). Only CPA, not Ishak stage/grade, was independently associated by logistic regression, with HVPG of 6 mm Hg or more [odds ratio, 1.206; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.094‐1.331; P < 0.001], or HVPG of 10 mm Hg or more (odds ratio, 1.105; 95% CI, 1.026‐1.191; P = 0.009). CPA increased by 50% (3.6%) compared with 20% in HVPG (1 mm Hg) in 38 patients with repeated biopsies. Conclusion: CPA assessed by DIA correlated with Ishak stage scores and HVPG measured contemporaneously. CPA was a better histological correlate with HVPG than Ishak stage, had a greater numerical change when HVPG was low, and resulted in further quantitation of fibrosis in cirrhosis. (HEPATOLOGY 2009.)
Polyiodide Hybrid Perovskites: A Strategy To Convert Intrinsic 2D Systems into 3D Photovoltaic Materials

Two new organic inorganic hybrid perovskite compounds, (Me3S)(2)Pb5I14*2I(2) (1) and (C8H11S)(2)Pb2I6*I-2 (2), have been synthesized and subsequently characterized in this study. The materials were .
Understanding and characterizing Olfactory responses [A manifold learning approach based on optical recordings]

The olfactory bulb (OB) is the first stage of olfactory information processing in the brain. On its way to the cortex, odor information is encoded in spatiotemporal maps of activated loci in the bulb, and these are known as input maps. Using optical recording techniques, experimental neuro-scientists can reveal the input maps by applying response-dependent fluorescent dyes to the OB of rodents and imaging the odorant-evoked responses. A hard signal analysis task then emerges (i.e., to handle the resulting sequence of spatial patterns). We suggest that the intricate spatiotemporal patterning of event-related dynamics can be described fully by using a manifold learning approach that merges both the spatial and temporal aspects of the response into a single visualization scheme.
A reduced cost strategy for enriching chicken meat with omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids using dietary flaxseed oil

ABSTRACT 1. This study aimed to determine the minimal duration required for feeding male broilers (Cobb 500) with a flaxseed oil diet while still retaining long chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 LCPUFA) accumulation in the meat at a desirable level. 2. Three groups of broilers (60 each) were fed on a 3% flaxseed oil (high α-linolenic acid (ALA)) diet for either 6, 4 or 2 weeks prior to slaughter. During the remaining time they were maintained on a 3% macadamia oil (low ALA) diet. A fourth group (control, n = 60) was fed on a commercial diet for 6 weeks. 3. No significant difference was observed in growth performance of broilers between groups. The amounts of total n-3 and n-3 LCPUFA in breast and thigh meat were not different between broilers fed the flaxseed oil diet for 4 and 6 weeks, but they were lower (P < 0.001) in those fed the flaxseed diet for only 2 weeks. 4. These results suggest comparable levels of n-3 LCPUFA in the meat can be achieved by only feeding the flaxseed oil diet in the last 3–4 weeks of the growth period; this would result in a ≥ 9.4% reduction in the use of flaxseed oil compared to 6 weeks of feeding; thereby reducing the cost of the enrichment process.