Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Promoting walking to school: results of a quasi-experimental trial

Study objective: To assess the impact of a combined intervention on children’s travel behaviour, stage of behavioural change and motivations for and barriers to actively commuting to school. Design: A quasi-experimental trial involving pre- and post-intervention mapping of routes to school by active and inactive mode of travel and surveys of “stage of behaviour change” and motivations for and barriers to actively commuting to school. Intervention: The intervention school participated in a school-based active travel project for one school term. Active travel was integrated into the curriculum and participants used interactive travel-planning resources at home. The control school participated in before and after measurements but did not receive the intervention. Setting: Two primary schools in Scotland with similar socioeconomic and demographic profiles. Participants: Two classes of primary 5 children and their families and teachers. Main results: Post intervention, the mean distance travelled to school by walking by intervention children increased significantly from baseline, from 198 to 772 m (389% increase). In the control group mean distance walked increased from 242 to 285 m (17% increase). The difference between the schools was significant (t (38) = −4.679, p<0.001 (95% confidence interval −315 to −795 m)). Post intervention, the mean distance travelled to school by car by intervention children reduced significantly from baseline, from 2018 to 933 m (57.5% reduction). The mean distance travelled to school by car by control children increased from baseline, from 933 to 947 m (1.5% increase). The difference in the change between schools was significant (t (32) = 4.282, p<0.001 (95% confidence interval 445 to 1255 m)). Conclusions: Intervention was effective in achieving an increase in the mean distance travelled by active mode and a reduction in the mean distance travelled by inactive mode on school journey.
Detection of structural changes based on Mie-scattering analyses of mouse fibroblast L929 cells before and after necrosis

The aim of the presented work is to investigate the angle-resolved scattering characteristics of biological nano- and micro-scaled cell structures. The scattering results of cellular structures were compared to measurements of ideal spherical nano- and micro-particles. A monolayer of mouse fibroblasts L929 cells was cultivated in a Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) in a standard 24 well cell culture plate. The system allows an in situ measurement directly in the standard cell culture plate and a contaminant-free investigation of the viability of the cell cultures. Of particular interest was whether changes in the tumor characteristics occur in apoptosis or other cell-harming effects. Because of the size ratios between wavelength and the scattering particles, all observations were investigated using Mie scattering theory. A setup for reliable measurements was developed and the scattered angle dependent intensity obtained was compared with simulated scattering characteristics. A homemade supercontinuum (SC) light source was filtered by an optical bandpass filter with a central wavelength of 500 nm. The scattered portion of the pulsed SC light behind the sample was recorded in a time-resolved manner at defined angles. A specimen holder adapted to standard cell culture plates allows detection of scattered radiation at angles between ±80° without angle-dependent Fresnel reflection losses and a Snell’s law bending of the propagation direction. Finally, the system was tested to detect structural changes of mouse fibroblast L929 cells before and after poisoning the cells with the cell detergent Triton X100 and the data clearly shows changes in the scattering characteristics when the cells were destroyed.
Transforming GCC into a research-friendly environment: plugins for optimization tuning and reordering, function cloning and program instrumentation

Computer scientists are always eager to have a powerful, robust and stable compiler infrastructure. However, until recently, researchers had to either use available and often unstable research compilers, create new ones from scratch, try to hack open-source non-research compilers or use source to source tools. It often requires duplication of a large amount of functionality available in current production compilers while making questionable the practicality of the obtained research results. The Interactive Compilation Interface (ICI) has been introduced to avoid such time-consuming replication and transform popular, production compilers such as GCC into research toolsets by providing an ability to access, modify and extend GCC's internal functionality through a compiler-dependent hook and clear compiler-independent API with external portable plugins without interrupting the natural evolution of a compiler. In this paper, we describe our recent extensions to GCC and ICI with the preliminary experimental data to support selection and reordering of optimization passes with a dependency grammar, control of individual transformations and their parameters, generic function cloning and program instrumentation. We are synchronizing these developments implemented during Google Summer of Code'09 program with the mainline GCC 4.5 and its native low-level plugin system. These extensions are intended to enable and popularize the use of GCC for realistic research on empirical iterative feedback-directed compilation, statistical collective optimization, run-time adaptation and development of intelligent self-tuning computing systems among other important topics. Such research infrastructure should help researchers prototype and validate their ideas quickly in realistic, production environments while keeping portability of their research plugins across different releases of a compiler. Moreover, it should also allow to move successful ideas back to GCC much faster thus helping to improve, modularize and clean it up. Furthermore, we are porting GCC with ICI extensions for performance/power auto-tuning for data centers and cloud computing systems with heterogeneous architectures or for continuous whole system optimization.
Effect of Neighbourhood Size on Negative Weights in Punctual Kriging based Image Restoration

based image restoration for different neighbourhood sizes. The formulation of the technique under consideration is based on punctual kriging and fuzzy concepts for image restoration in spatial domain. Three different neighbourhood windows are considered to estimate the semivariance at different lags for studying its effect in reduction of negative weights resulted in punctual kriging, consequently restoration of degraded images. Our results show that effect of neighbourhood size higher than 5x5 on reduction in negative weights is insignificant. In addition, image quality measures, such as structure similarity indices, peak signal to noise ratios and the new variogram based quality measures; show that 3x3 window size gives better performance as compared with larger window sizes. structure similarity index, Negative weights in punctual kriging.
A Flexible Selective Harmonic Mitigation Technique to Meet Grid Codes in Three-Level PWM Converters

Due to the development of new grid codes, power converters' output signal harmonic control is currently becoming extremely important in medium- and high-power applications. By taking this new scenario into account, a new method to generate switching three-level pulsewidth-modulation (PWM) patterns to meet specific grid codes is presented. The proposed method, which is named selective harmonic mitigation PWM , generates switching three-level PWM patterns with high quality from the point of view of harmonic content, avoiding the elimination of some specific harmonics and studying all harmonics and the total harmonic distortion as a global problem by using a general-purpose random-search heuristic algorithm. This fact leads to a drastic reduction or even avoidance of the bulky and costly grid connection tuned filters of power systems. Any harmonic shaping can be considered due to the flexibility of the method. Power devices switching constraints are considered to obtain directly applicable results. As a practical example, limits from one actual grid code have been used to get the experimental results by means of a 150-kVA three-level diode-clamped converter test bench. Comparisons between the proposed technique, optimized PWM and Selective Harmonic Elimination methods have been carried out. The results obtained with this new method greatly improve previous ones.
The semantic approach to program slicing

Program slicing is a source-to-source transformation that has applications in construction, analysis, testing and debugging of programs. A program slice contains the portion of a program that captures some subset of the program behavior. Algorithms are available for constructing slices for a particular execution of a program (dynamic slices) as well as to approximate a subset of the behavior over all possible executions of a program (static slices). As the behavior of a program is determined by the semantics of the language, it is reasonable to expect a semantic justification for the practice of program slicing, Program slices have been used in several applications but there is no single notion of a slice that is useful for all applications. This paper identifies and categorizes different notions of a program slice available in the literature as well as several new notions. The various notions are formalized in a denotational framework. Extending the work by Cartwright and Felleisen [2] on the semantics of program dependence, a semantic justification is provided for the process of program slicing using program dependence graphs.
PainterlyVisualization : Using Abstract Painting Techniques to Visualize Social Data

In this paper we describe a program that uses Abstract painting techniques to paint a picture with data. This painting allows the many dimensions of social data to be represented in a compact form by mapping particular data onto the variable dimensions of a brush stroke. By using the concept of a brush stroke, many more dimensions are available for representing data than are available using traditional visualization techniques. This type of representation is well suited to data about people and social interaction. Such data is often inexact, and PainterlyVisualization can portray such data in a user discernable way.
Innovative patterning method for modifying few-layer MoS2 device geometries

When mechanically exfoliated two-dimensional (2D) materials are used for device applications, their properties strongly depend on the geometry and number of layers present in the flake. In general, these properties cannot be modified once a device has been fabricated out of an exfoliated flake. In this work we present a novel nano-patterning method for 2D material based devices, Pulsed eBeam Gas Assisted Patterning (PEBGAP), that allows us to fine tune their geometry once the device fabrication steps have been completed.
Biphasic parameter identification of equine articular cartilage from creep indentation data using an optimized 3D FE-based method

Abstract Mechanical parameters of hard and soft tissues are explicit markers for quantitative tissue characterization. In this study, we present a biphasic 3D-FE-based method to determine the biomechanical properties of equine articular cartilage from creep indentation tests (F = 0.1 N, t = 1000 s). The FE-model computation was optimized by exploiting the axial symmetry and mesh resolution. Parameter identification was executed with the Levenberg-Marquardt-algorithm. Additionally, sensitivity analyses of the calculated biomechanical parameters were performed. Results show that the Young’s modulus has the largest influence and the Poisson’s ratio of ν ≤ 0.1 is rather insensitive. The R² of the fit results varies between 0.882 and 0.974. The determined values for the Young’s modulus were 0.806 ± 0.093 MPa, the Poisson’s ratio 0.03 ± 0.06 and the permeability 0.012 ± 0.002 mm4/Ns. Future work will deal with mathematical extensions of the biphasic 3D-FE-model.
King's College

Scholarly journals (also described as “academic” or often as “peer reviewed”) contain various types of articles. A research article reports on an original experiment or study designed to investigate certain questions or problems. The study or experiment is carefully conducted, data is collected and analyzed, and the results are reported in a journal devoted to the discipline in which the research was conducted.
Memory power optimisation on low-bit multi-access cross memory address mapping schema

Since memory accounts for an increasing fraction of computer energy, manufacturers have developed memory devices with different power/work modes and lots of creditable power mode control algorithms have been proposed. By analysing these policies on different memory address mapping schemas (schema is used to translate a physical address to a memory cell), we find they are less effective on low-bit multi-access cross memory (LMCM) schema which is a fine-grained interleaving schema to improve parallelism to meet high-bandwidth. For gaining more power efficiency, we introduce a comprehensive solution named as MSPA. It adopts a memory address segmentation module (MASM) to split memory into many regions configured as different schemas. With the help of an OS power-aware memory allocator (PAMA), MSPA can allocate one application’s memory from its preferred region to balance power and performance. Finally, by integrating some outstanding works, experimental results demonstrate that it can further improve power efficiency from 3% to 17%.
Accurately Measuring Recombination between Closely Related HIV-1 Genomes

Retroviral recombination is thought to play an important role in the generation of immune escape and multiple drug resistance by shuffling pre-existing mutations in the viral population. Current estimates of HIV-1 recombination rates are derived from measurements within reporter gene sequences or genetically divergent HIV sequences. These measurements do not mimic the recombination occurring in vivo, between closely related genomes. Additionally, the methods used to measure recombination make a variety of assumptions about the underlying process, and often fail to account adequately for issues such as co-infection of cells or the possibility of multiple template switches between recombination sites. We have developed a HIV-1 marker system by making a small number of codon modifications in gag which allow recombination to be measured over various lengths between closely related viral genomes. We have developed statistical tools to measure recombination rates that can compensate for the possibility of multiple template switches. Our results show that when multiple template switches are ignored the error is substantial, particularly when recombination rates are high, or the genomic distance is large. We demonstrate that this system is applicable to other studies to accurately measure the recombination rate and show that recombination does not occur randomly within the HIV genome.
Thyroglobulin detection by biosensor based on two independent Si NW FETs

In this work we present a label-free, highly sensitive biosensors based on a silicon nanowire field effect transistor (Si NW FET) for the detection of the cancer biomarker - thyroglobulin. The Si structures with 70-90 nm width and 3-5 μm long NW were fabricated on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates using e-beam lithography with a negative-tone resist and reactive-ion etching in a fluorine plasma. The metallic contact leads were carefully insulated by a sputtered silicon oxide layer to avoid a current leakage into analyte. The biomarker detection is based on a highly specific recognition of analytes by antibodies immobilized on the sensor surface. We used an original technique of antibodies covalent immobilization on small-sized gold nanoparticles (GNP) attached to the Si NW surface. The device was applied for the detection of ultra-low concentrations of thyroglobulin (Tg) in fetal bovine serum (FBS). Even the negligible change detection of the Tg level in the blood serum provides an early relapse and metastasis diagnostics of the differentiated thyroid cancer and evaluating the affectivity of the therapy. The limit of detection was estimated to be of ~6 pg/ml. Compared with the well-established commercial and experimental methods this is more sensitive.
A method for the production of highly pure metallic nano-powders and nano-powders produced tereby

The present invention discloses a novel method for the production of metallic nano-powder. This cost-effective, simple process is customized for a full-scale production of metallic nano-powders containing a first metal, and comprising the following of forming an alloy comprising said first metal and at least one soluble metal; applying first thermal treatment in the manner homogenized alloy is obtained; applying a cold work to the homogenized alloy so thin strips are obtained; applying a second thermal treatment to the alloy until a phase composition of predetermined characteristics is obtained; subjecting the said alloy to a leaching agent adapted to effectively leach out the least one soluble metal; filtering and washing the powder; washing the powder; drying the powder; coating the powder with chemicals; and then de-agglomerating the coated powder. The present invention also discloses a cost-effective and highly pure metallic powder produced by the method defined above.
Requirements for Jag1‐Rbpj mediated Notch signaling during early mouse lens development

Background: During vertebrate lens development, the lens placode in the embryonic ectoderm invaginates into a lens vesicle, which then separates from the surface epithelium, followed by two waves of fiber cell differentiation. In the mouse, multiple labs have shown that Jag1‐Notch signaling is critically required during the second wave of lens fiber cell formation. However, Notch signaling appears to play no obvious role during lens induction or morphogenesis, although multiple pathway genes are expressed at these earlier stages. Results: Here, we explored functions for Notch signaling specifically during early lens development, by using the early‐acting AP2α‐Cre driver to delete Jag1 or Rbpj. We found that Jag1 and Rbpj are not required during lens induction, but are necessary for proper lens vesicle separation from the surface ectoderm. Conclusions: We conclude that precise levels of Notch signaling are essential during lens vesicle morphogenesis. In addition, AP2α‐Cre‐mediated deletion of Rbpj resulted in embryos with cardiac outflow tract and liver deformities, and perinatal lethality. Developmental Dynamics 241:493–504, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A Framework for Analysing Service Ecosystem Capabilities to Innovate

Electronic services delivered over the Internet are gaining importance in the business world. This area has seen an increase in scientific interest over the past years under the labels “Internet of Services” and Web-service ecosystems. The paper develops a conceptual framework of actors and their roles in an open innovation system for a networked ecosystem of Web-services. The framework illustrates how open innovation can be implemented in a Web-service ecosystem to increase innovation performance. Simultaneously this research closes a conceptual gap in current reasoning about Web-service ecosystems that neglects innovation processes. The utility of the framework is demonstrated by two case studies of Web-service ecosystems in which the framework was used to identify gaps in the implementation of open innovation processes. Our research results identify specific functions to support innovation processes.
Modeling and exploring battery management strategies for use of LiCoO₂ lithium polymer cells in cold climates

Thesis Title: M ODELING AND EXPLORING BATTERY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR USE OF LiCoO2 LITHIUM POLYM ER CELLS IN COLD CLIMATES As the use o f batteries to power vehicles becomes more common, a robust battery management system becomes necessary to monitor and maintain the batteries. Cold weather places a further burden on this system especially in small electric vehicles such as snowmobiles where it is desirable to use every bit o f available energy from the battery cells. The problem with current battery management technology is that use o f batteries in cold temperatures is often not addressed. The objective o f this research was to develop an appropriate model o f a lithium polymer cell with a cathode comprised o f LiCoO 2 and develop an optimized charge/discharge method taking into account the effects o f extreme cold weather and cell state o f charge imbalance. A cell model was adapted and tuned that accurately captures the dynamics o f a lithium polymer cell when discharged at temperatures below freezing. The model results were verified against cells discharged in an environmental chamber, which allowed accurate control of ambient temperature. M ultiple scenarios were explored, looking at the effects o f ambient temperature, cell initial temperature, internal heating, battery pack insulation, and how rapidly the cells were discharged. The results o f the optimized battery management strategies showed improvements in the energy delivery capability o f lithium polymer battery packs for small vehicles operating in extreme cold environments. In addition, this research extended the LiCoO 2 model down to -20 °C using validated data, showed that perceived cell capacity loss at low temperatures is primarily due to increased internal resistance, demonstrated that measured cell terminal voltage can rise under load at low temperatures, and showed that increasing the capacity o f a battery pack has a better than linear gain in usable energy versus increased battery capacity. I.e., doubling battery pack capacity will more than double the useable range o f the vehicle.
Smart Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery Application: Development of Versatile Nanocarrier Platforms in Biotechnology and Nanomedicine

The study of nanostructured drug delivery systems allows the development of novel platforms for the efficient transport and controlled release of drug molecules in the harsh microenvironment of diseased tissues of living systems, thus offering a wide range of functional nanoplatforms for smart application in biotechnology and nanomedicine. This article highlights recent advances of smart nanocarriers composed of organic (including polymeric micelles and vesicles, liposomes, dendrimers, and hydrogels) and inorganic (including quantum dots, gold and mesoporous silica nanoparticles) materials. Despite the remarkable developments of recent synthetic methodologies, most of all nanocarriers’ action is associated with a number of unwanted side effects that diminish their efficient use in biotechnology and nanomedicine applications. This highlights some critical issues in the design and engineering of nanocarrier systems for biotechnology applications, arising from the complex environment and multiform interactions established within the specific biological media.
Quantitative computed tomography imaging in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a heterogeneous disease having small airway inflammation, emphysema, and pulmonary hypertension. It is now clear that spirometry alone cannot differentiate each component. Quantitative computed tomography (QCT) is increasingly used to quantify the amount of emphysema and small airway involvement in COPD. Inspiratory CT guides in assessing emphysema while expiratory CT identifies areas of air trapping which is a surrogate of small airway inflammation. By constructing a three-dimensional model of airways, we can also measure the airway wall thickness of segmental and subsegmental airways. The aim of this review is to present the current knowledge and methodologies in QCT of the lung that aid in identifying discrete COPD phenotypes.