Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improving Access to Hands-on STEM Education using a Mobile Laboratory

Schools often have limited resources to devote to science education, which can impact student interest in and preparedness for careers in STEM. Seattle Children’s Research Institute created the Science Adventure Lab, a mo¬bile laboratory program, to support and enrich science education at low-resource schools and stimulate interest in science and pursuing a career in STEM. The mobile laboratory provides students with the unique opportunity to fully immerse themselves in authentic, hands-on science learning with scientists. This limits the burden on school resources and reduces disruptions to daily schedules since students do not leave their schools. These positive science experiences at an early age allow students to learn important science concepts and have the potential to significantly impact students’ interest in pursuing STEM careers. In this report we describe our mobile laboratory, operating model, and curriculum, as well as the positive impacts, strengths, and challenges of the approach as a resource for other groups who may wish to use a similar strategy for STEM education outreach.
Research in progress: Assessing individual student learning within team-based engineering curricula

The assessment of individual students' learning in team-based courses can be problematic for academic staff and students alike. Qualitative approaches used in this setting may also be seen as lacking validity by those who consider only quantitative assessment approaches to be viable. This five-institution research project is designed to gather data from academic staff and students about their experiences with assessment in team-based settings with the goal of deriving assessment practices that are fair to students and yield data that can guide program development and accreditation processes. This paper reports on the research design, efforts to date, and future directions.
Metabolic and Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Early Mouse Embryos Following Maternal Dietary Protein Intervention1

Abstract Dietary supply of nutrients, both periconception and during pregnancy, influence the growth and development of the fetus and offspring and their health into adult life. Despite the importance of research efforts surrounding the developmental origins of health and disease hypothesis, the biological mechanisms involved remain elusive. Mitochondria are of major importance in the oocyte and early embryo, particularly as a source of ATP generation, and perturbations in their function have been related to reduced embryo quality. The present study examined embryo development following periconception exposure of females to a high-protein diet (HPD) or a low-protein diet (LPD) relative to a medium-protein diet (MPD; control), and we hypothesized that perturbed mitochondrial metabolism in the mouse embryo may be responsible for the impaired embryo and fetal development reported by others. Although the rate of development to the blastocyst stage did not differ between diets, both the HPD and LPD reduced the number of inner cell mass cells in the blastocyst-stage embryo. Furthermore, mitochondrial membrane potential was reduced and mitochondrial calcium levels increased in the 2-cell embryo. Embryos from HPD females had elevated levels of reactive oxygen species and ADP concentrations, indicative of metabolic stress and, potentially, the uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation, whereas embryos from LPD females had reduced mitochondrial clustering around the nucleus, suggestive of an overall quietening of metabolism. Thus, although periconception dietary supply of different levels of protein is permissive of development, mitochondrial metabolism is altered in the early embryo, and the nature of the perturbation differs between HPD and LPD exposure.
Construction of a nontoxic fusion peptide for immunization against Escherichia coli strains that produce heat-labile and heat-stable enterotoxins

The 5' terminus of the gene that codes for the heat-stable enterotoxin of Escherichia coli (ST) was genetically fused to the 3' terminus of the gene that codes for the binding subunit of the heat-labile enterotoxin of E. coli (LT-B). The ST-encoding gene used for these studies was constructed synthetically with appropriate restriction sites to permit in-frame, downstream insertion of the oligomer. For this construction, maximum expression of ST antigenicity was obtained when a seven-amino-acid, proline-containing linker was included between the LT-B and ST moieties. The LT-B-ST fusion peptide was purified by affinity chromatography and consisted of a single polypeptide chain with an apparent molecular weight of 18,000 when examined by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. There was no evidence of multimer formation and no change in the mobility of the fusion peptide when it was boiled in SDS or in SDS with dithiothreitol. The LT-B-ST fusion peptide was nontoxic, and immunologic determinants of both LT and ST were recognized by antibodies to the native toxins. More importantly, the LT-B-ST fusion peptide was immunogenic. Animals immunized with crude or purified preparations containing the hybrid molecule produced antibodies that were able to recognize native toxin in vitro. Significantly, these antibodies were able to neutralize the biological activity of native ST.
Laparoscopic hepatectomy for extrahepatic growing tumor. Surgical strategy based on extrahepatic growing index.

BACKGROUND This article describes the operative procedures, varying difficulties, and required instrumentation for performing laparoscopic hepatectomy (LH) on the basis of a lesion's extrahepatic growing (EG) index, as calculated by computed tomography (CT). METHODS Laparoscopic partial hepatectomy cases were divided into the following two groups: an EG tumor group (n = 11) and an intrahepatic tumor group (n = 8). The surgical procedures, operative results, and laparoscopic instrumentation for these two groups were compared based on the EG index (/cm2; maximum diameter of tumor pedicle/maximum vertical diameter of tumor/area of the tumor). RESULTS The mean operative time was significantly shorter and the mean blood loss was significantly less in the EG tumor group than in the intrahepatic tumor group. In addition, in the EG tumor group, there were significant differences in mean operative time and mean blood loss related to the values associated with the EG index (p <0.05, P <0.01). The selection of laparoscopic instruments was based on the EG index, as follows: (a) lesions with an EG index >5/cm2 underwent resection in combination with a microwave tissue coagulator and an ultrasonic surgical aspirator (13 cases, including intrahepatic tumor cases); (b) lesions with an EG index of 5-15/cm2 underwent resection in combination with a microwave tissue coagulator and laparosonic coagulating shears (four cases); (c) lesions with an EG index <%15/cm2 underwent resection with a laparoscopic linear stapler (two cases). CONCLUSION Our preliminary experience leads us to believe that it is useful to calculate the EG index by CT scan before formulating the technical strategy for a subsequent LH procedure.
Combining unobtrusive electrocardiography and ballistography for more accurate monitoring of sleep

We propose an unobtrusive bed integrated system for monitoring physiological parameters during sleep. Our system uses textile electrodes attached on the bed sheet for measuring multiple channels of electrocardiogram from which one at a time is selected for RR-interval detection and force sensors located under a bed post for detecting breathing and movements. The movement information is also used to assist in heart rate detection. We tested the system with six subjects in one hour recordings and achieved an average of 94 % detection coverage and 99 percentile absolute error of 2.86 ms for the RR-interval signal. Mean absolute error of the detected respiration cycle lengths was 0.24 seconds.
Experience deploying a 5G C-RAN virtualized experimental setup using OpenAirInterface

The 5th generation of Mobile Networks is planned to be launched in 2020 or before. Although many progress have already been done, many challenges are still facing this technology. The OpenAirInterface Software Alliance (OSA) is a non-profit consortium that insures open source software/hardware development for the core network and both access network and user equipment of 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) cellular networks and more particularly 5G cellular stack. The goal of this paper is to describe our experience virtualizing the components of the OpenAirInterface (OAI) software in order to facilitate the fast deployment of an emulated 5G network. In particular, we are interested in the concept of the mobile Cloud which allows to offload part of the UE processing directly on Cloud Radio Access Network (C-RAN). We will present here our advances, results and difficulties.
Senior Management’s Influence on New Product Development Projects and Firm Performance in Small and Medium-Sized Food Companies

This paper analyses direct and indirect effects of senior management behavior on the success of new product development projects and firm performance. To examine these behaviors, a PLS-structural equation model is applied to survey data collected from R&D-managers of small and medium-sized food and drink companies in Germany. Results found that project planning and process performance are able to mediate about 50% of the total impact of senior management support on project performance, with project planning being the more important mediator. Effects on firm performance are also largely mediated through its antecedents in the proposed model.
Rapid dual reflector shaping using Ant Colony Optimization, fast iterated PO and asymptotic MFIE

The objective of this work is to obtain a method to perform the optimization of the a limited set of lineal mechanical actuators that produce the antenna surface deformation. This deformation is used to obtain a reconfigurable compact shaped dual reflector to be placed on the top of a train to access to a satellite communication service. The reconfigurability of this antenna is used to point to the satellite in the elevation plane. To get this objective, we propose a direct method to shape dual reflectors using a Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) with accelerated high-frecuency pattern calculation in each iteration. The efficiency of the method is based on a realistic surface description from the actuators positions and an accurate radiation calculations based on MFIE.
Endothelial dysfunction in obstructive sleep apnea measured by peripheral arterial tone response in the finger to reactive hyperemia.

STUDY OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to investigate endothelial functioning in sleep apnea patients using a novel plethysmographic device that monitors peripheral arterial tone response in the finger to reactive hyperemia induced by forearm ischemia. PARTICIPANTS Forty-six sleep apnea patients, 74.0% men, mean age 46.8 +/- 9.3 years, and 17 control subjects without sleep apnea, 64.7% men, mean age 47.1 +/- 6.7 years. SETTING Eight-bed Technion Sleep Medicine Center in Haifa, Israel. DESIGN Endothelial functioning assessed by the reactive hyperemia peripheral arterial tone index was measured twice, before sleep and after waking from sleep monitored by polysomnography in the laboratory. The reactive hyperemia peripheral arterial tone index was calculated as the average amplitude of the peripheral arterial tone signal after the cuff deflation divided by the average amplitude before the cuff inflation. RESULTS Morning index of endothelial functioning was significantly lower in patients with moderate to severe sleep apnea (apnea-hypopnea index > or = 30) than in patients with mild sleep apnea (30 < apnea-hypopnea index < or = 10) and in the control group without sleep apnea (apnea-hypopnea index < 10). The morning index was significantly inversely correlated with apnea-hypopnea index. Patients with a history of hypertension or cardiovascular disease had significantly lower morning and evening indexes of endothelial functioning than patients without such a history. Multivariate analysis revealed that apnea-hypopnea index and sleep efficiency were significant predictors of the morning index. CONCLUSION Measurements of the response of the peripheral arterial tone in the finger to reactive hyperemia can be used as a substitute for the brachial artery ultrasound technique to measure endothelial functioning in patients with sleep apnea.
PERSEPSI MAHASISWA AKUNTANSI TERHADAP PEMILIHAN KARIER (STUDI KASUS PADA MAHASISWA S1 AKUNTANSI REGULER PERGURUAN TINGGI NEGERI DAN SWASTA DI KOTA PURWOKERTO)

This research aims to determine the factors that influence accounting student perception for career selection and determine the dominant factors that influence accounting student perception for career selection. The research is a quantitative research by using survey method in collecting data. The questionnaire distributed to 90 respondents who are undergraduate accounting student of public and private universities in Purwokerto. The data analysis technique is exploratory factor analysis. The results of analysis data shows that there are three factors formed that influence accounting student perception for career selection namely consideration factor of labor market, work environment, and professional educator. The dominant factor that influence accounting student perception for career selection is consideration factor of labor market. Keyword s : Career selection, e xploratory factor analysis, consideration factor of labor market, factor of work environment, factor of professional educator.
Bacteriocin Protein BacL1 of Enterococcus faecalis Is a Peptidoglycan d-Isoglutamyl-l-lysine Endopeptidase*

Background: Enterococcal bacteriocin BacL1 shows bactericidal activity in the co-presence of BacA. Results: Recombinant BacL1 alone acts as a d-isoglutamyl-l-lysine endopeptidase against E. faecalis peptidoglycan independently of BacA. Conclusion: BacL1 is a peptidoglycan hydrolase and potentially lyses viable bacterial cells in the presence of BacA. Significance: This study of bacterial fratricide mediated by bacteriocin provides new insight into the ecological physiology of bacteria. Enterococcus faecalis strains are commensal bacteria in humans and other animals, and they are also the causative agent of opportunistic infectious diseases. Bacteriocin 41 (Bac41) is produced by certain E. faecalis clinical isolates, and it is active against other E. faecalis strains. Our genetic analyses demonstrated that the extracellular products of the bacL1 and bacA genes, which are encoded in the Bac41 operon, coordinately express the bacteriocin activity against E. faecalis. In this study, we investigated the molecular functions of the BacL1 and BacA proteins. Immunoblotting and N-terminal amino acid sequence analysis revealed that BacL1 and BacA are secreted without any processing. The coincidental treatment with the recombinant BacL1 and BacA showed complete bacteriocin activity against E. faecalis, but neither BacL1 nor BacA protein alone showed the bacteriocin activity. Interestingly, BacL1 alone demonstrated substantial degrading activity against the cell wall fraction of E. faecalis in the absence of BacA. Furthermore, MALDI-TOF MS analysis revealed that BacL1 has a peptidoglycan d-isoglutamyl-l-lysine endopeptidase activity via a NlpC/P60 homology domain. These results collectively suggest that BacL1 serves as a peptidoglycan hydrolase and, when BacA is present, results in the lysis of viable E. faecalis cells.
A DSP-Based Resolver-To-Digital Converter for High-Performance Electrical Drive Applications

This paper presents a low cost, simple, and highly accurate resolver-to-digital converter (RDC) for electrical drive applications based on an integrated software approach, thus allowing a significant reduction of hardware components count with significant improvements in terms of reliability, reduction of fault rate, and susceptibility to electromagnetic interference (EMI). Particular attention has been addressed to cost which is 25% off over conventional RDC. Simulations and experimental tests confirm the high quality of the proposed system.
Comparative analysis of three-level PWM inverters for aircraft AC power systems

The paper presents a review of two and three-level voltage inverter schemes as a part of alternating current electric energy generation system of constant frequency for aircraft. In addition, comparative analysis of output voltage spectrums of two and three-level inverters is presented. In this paper the results of modeling some schemes of two and three-level voltage inverters in the environment of PSIM are given.
Towards the use of Place/Transition net tools for analysis of IOPT models

This papers proposes a translation from IOPT nets, a class of non-autonomous Petri nets, to Place/Transition nets. The translation removes most of the non-autonomous extensions in IOPT net models using a set of behaviorally equivalent submodels. The resulting model is complemented by additional models, which specify the non-autonomous parts, namely signals and events. All models are composed together using net addition, a composition operator. The translation allows the application of analysis and verification Place/Transition tools to IOPT net models. The translation preserves the initial model structure allowing a mapping between the generated model and the initial one, and brings to evidence the level of compactness made possible by IOPT nets.
One-to-all regularized logistic regression-based classification for WiFi indoor localization

Wi-Fi based indoor localization is gaining popularity because of the wide adoption of WiFi technologies in existing infrastructure. In order to increase the accuracy of Wi-Fi localization, we develop a novel localization method using One-to-all Regularized Logistic Regression-based Classification (ORLRC). This method is based on logistic regression. The proposed ORLRC is compared with the k-means clustering approach and achieves a location estimation accuracy of 95.8% comparing to an accuracy of 80% by the k-means clustering approach.
Using Hexoskin Wearable Technology to Obtain Body Metrics During Trail Hiking

Use of wearable technology to obtain various body metrics appears to be a trending phenomenon. However there is very little literature supporting the notion that these apparatuses can be used for research purposes in the field. The purpose of this study was to utilize Hexoskin wearable technology shirts (HxS) to obtain data in a pilot study using a trail hiking situation. Ten individuals (male, n = 4, female n = 6) volunteered to participate. On the first day, volunteers completed two approximately flat trail hikes at a self-preferred pace with a 15-minute rest between trials. On the second day, participants completed a strenuous uphill hike (17.6% grade) with a 15-minute rest at the summit and then completed the downhill portion. Body metrics provided by the HxS were average heart rate (HR), maximal HR (MHR), total energy expenditure (EE), average respiratory rate (RR), maximal respiratory rate (MRR), total steps (SC), and cadence (CA). Other measurements obtained were systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP), and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE). Data were analyzed using both one-way repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) with significance accepted at p≤0.05 and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) for each variable. Both were determined using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software (SPSS). No significant differences for trail type were noted for MHR (p=0.38), RR (p=0.45) or MRR (p=0.31). The uphill trail elicited significantly elevated HR (up=154±24 bpm, easy=118±11 bpm, down=129±19 bpm; p=0.04) and EE (up=251±78 kcal, easy=124±38 kcal, down=171±52 kcal; p=0.02). Significant ICC were observed for DBP (r = 0.80, p = 0.02), RR (r = 0.98, p = 0.01), SC (r = 0.97, p = 0.01) and RPE (r = 0.94, p = 0.01). Non-significant correlation were noted for uphill RR vs CA (r=0.51, p=0.16) or RPE vs SBP (r=0.03, p=0.94), HR (r=0.60, p=0.12), and MHR (r=0.70, p=0.051). We utilized HxS to provide physiological data in an applied setting. It should be noted that HR did not register in 5 out of 10 subjects on the easy trail, and 8 of 10 participants during the uphill hike. Additionally, estimated EE appears to be linked to HR intensity. Future investigations taken in an outdoor environment should take these findings into consideration.
Reputational Risk Management in Central Banks

This paper discusses reputational risk in the context of central banking and explains why it matters to central banks. It begins with a general discussion of reputational risk within the broader framework of risk management. It then outlines how central banks define, measure, monitor and manage reputational risk, citing examples from central banks around the world, including the Bank of Canada. Finally, it presents a model for integrating reputational risk into policy analysis and operational planning—an “embedded communications” approach that ensures such considerations are brought into the core of central bank decision making.
Limited functional and metabolic improvements in hypertrophic and healthy rat heart overexpressing the skeletal muscle isoform of SERCA1 by adenoviral gene transfer in vivo.

Adenoviral gene transfer of sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA)2a to the hypertrophic heart in vivo has been consistently reported to lead to enhanced myocardial contractility. It is unknown if the faster skeletal muscle isoform, SERCA1, expressed in the whole heart in early failure, leads to similar improvements and whether metabolic requirements are maintained during an adrenergic challenge. In this study, Ad.cmv. SERCA1 was delivered in vivo to aortic banded and sham-operated Sprague-Dawley rat hearts. The total SERCA content increased 34%. At 48-72 h posttransfer, echocardiograms were acquired, hearts were excised and retrograded perfused, and hemodynamics were measured parallel to NMR measures of the phosphocreatine (PCr)-to-ATP ratio (PCr/ATP) and energy substrate selection at basal and high workloads (isoproterenol). In the Langendorff mode, the rate-pressure product was enhanced 27% with SERCA1 in hypertrophic hearts and 10% in shams. The adrenergic response to isoproterenol was significantly potentiated in both groups with SERCA1. 31P NMR analysis of PCr/ATP revealed that the ratio remained low in the hypertrophic group with SERCA1 overexpression and was not further compromised with adrenergic challenge. 13C NMR analysis revealed fat and carbohydrate oxidation were unaffected at basal with SERCA1 expression; however, there was a shift from fats to carbohydrates at higher workloads with SERCA1 in both groups. Transport of NADH-reducing equivalents into the mitochondria via the alpha-ketoglutamate-malate transporter was not affected by either SERCA1 overexpression or adrenergic challenge in both groups. Echocardiograms revealed an important distinction between in vivo versus ex vivo data. In contrast to previous SERCA2a studies, the echocardiogram data revealed that SERCA1 expression compromised function (fractional shortening) in the hypertrophic group. Shams were unaffected. While our ex vivo findings support much of the earlier cardiomyocyte and transgenic data, the in vivo data challenge previous reports of improved cardiac function in heart failure models after SERCA intervention.