Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Radon levels in dwellings and workplaces: a comparison with data from some European countries

Background: According to 2013 European Basic Safety Standards (EU BSS), legal and administrative consequences of having an area declared as radon priority area (RPA) concern workplaces (WP) and public buildings, as well as dwellings (DW). However, RPAs in many cases are defined as higher levels of indoor radon in DW. The reason is that most data are available for DW. So far, indoor radon data for WP (except for schools) and public buildings are scarce. Objective: The objective of this study was to compare indoor radon levels in DW and WP in a given area and to evaluate whether they have different distributions and different average levels. Design: Austria, Finland, Germany, and Italy provided indoor radon data on DW and WP. Data related to WP were aggregated in the same grid, as already done for data on DW, to update the European Indoor Radon Map. Based on 10 km × 10 km grid cells, the same statistics are computed for both datasets. Thus, two structurally equal datasets for each country were generated to be statistically compared. Results and conclusions: Generally, there are numerous indoor radon data on DW than data on WP. Statistical analysis suggests that in all the countries, indoor radon levels – in terms of arithmetic mean (AM) of the natural logarithm-transformed data – in WP and DW are statistically different (P < 0.05), as well as from those referring to schools. The difference in distributions is neither attributable to the effect of geology nor to the effect of different sample sizes. The correlation between aggregated data is positive in the sense that if the mean (over grid cells) radon concentration increases in DW, it increases in WP as well. Compared with DW, in all countries indoor radon levels in WP seem to be statistically different, but the results are not enough to draw final conclusions: on-purpose designed surveys could be a useful tool to better understand this phenomenon.
Factors Th at Assist Low-Income Students of Color in Pursuing Higher Education

Currently, there is an achievement gap in education between students of color and their white counterparts. While the larger picture of inequality is readily available, it does not explain why students of color graduate at lower rates. This purpose of the qualitative research study sought to understand the experiences and perceptions of low-income youth who are of color, on their transition into college. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with four youth of color who were currently enrolled in college and identified coming from a low-income background. The five major themes that emerged from the interviews were: 1) the youth’s motivation to pursue higher education, 2) preparation for continuing, 3) support the youth received, 4) demographics of the youths’ high school, and 5) the youth’s perceptions of why other students did not pursue higher education. Implications for the field of social work, such as changing legislation of NCLB to better serve youth of color from low-income backgrounds, are discussed. Future recommendations of including social aspects into college access programs are also discussed. PURSUIT OF HIGHER EDUCATION 3 Acknowledgments This research would not have been completed without the constant support and understanding provided to me this last year. To my fantastic research chair Jessica Toft; thank you for your patience, constant encouragement, numerous editing sessions, and keeping me on a timely track. To my wonderful committee members Kayci Rush and Molly Roark; thank you for volunteering your time and support that guided me through this process. Thank you to my parents for always pushing me to keep going and for accepting late night phone calls of panic; to my sister who knows how to make me laugh with our weird inside jokes (you-hoo! ); to my brother for just being able to listen; to my grandparents, Missy, Dan, Jack, Connor, and Emma for ‘La Familia’ nights; to my family for their support throughout my education; to my friends who kept me (somewhat) sane and grounded. Thank you to my roommates, who never knew what type of mood I would be in when they came home, but offered a glass of wine and Disney movie. And lastly, thank you to my research cohort, who never judged when I started crying in class and offered only words of encouragement and affirmation. This research would not be possible without the help and support from all of the wonderful people in my life. PURSUIT OF HIGHER EDUCATION 4
Modulation frequency improves imaging hemoglobin fluctuation in frequency domain high-density diffuse optical tomography

We investigated the effects of modulation frequency on image quality with FD-HD-DOT through simulations with a realistic noise model of functional activations in human head models, arising from 11 source modulation frequencies between CW and 1,000 MHz. Functional reconstructions were simulated in five fMRI-based head models covered by 158 light sources and 166 detectors and a realistic noise model was considered. We quantitatively evaluated image quality by assessing the localization error (LE), success rate, full width at half maximum (FWHM), and full volume at half maximum (FVHM) of recoveries. The results show that the optimized frequencies are about 300~500 MHz for image quality and 300 MHz for reliable field of view when accounting for realistic noise.
Calculation of Stress and Sag of the Energy-Saving Capacity-Expanded Conductors

The energy-saving capacity-expanded conductors are produced by stranding super-high strength galvanized steel wires and SZ soft aluminium formed wires in a special process.These conductors have a maximum operating temperature of 150(°C) and transmission capacity two times that of the traditional ACSR with similar size.In this paper,a method for calculation of stress and sag of these conductors is given.The calculation of a practical case showed that the variation in stress and sag due to temperature change of these conductors was small when they are operating at a temperature above the flex point.
Risk of Voltage Collapse Using Multi-Layer Feed-Forward Neural Network and Generalized Regression Neural Network

The computation of security risk index in identifying the system’s condition is one of the major concerns in power system analysis. Traditional method of this assessment is highly time consuming and infeasible for direct on-line implementation. Thus, this paper presents the application of Multi-Layer Feed Forward Network (MLFFN) to perform the prediction of voltage collapse risk index due to the line outage occurrence. The proposed ANN model consider load at the load buses as well as weather condition at the transmission lines as the input. In realizing the effectiveness of the proposed method, the results are compared with Generalized Regression Neural Network (GRNN) method. The results revealed that the MLFFN method shows a significant improvement over GRNN performance in terms of least error produced.
Measurements of Higgs couplings to fermions and bosons at the LHC

With the full Run 2 pp collision dataset collected at 13 TeV, very detailed measurements of Higgs boson properties can be performed using its decays into bosons and fermions. At the same time, the search for Higgs-boson pair production can profit from the large integrated luminosity to provide more and more stringent limits. This document presents measurements of Higgs boson properties using decays into bosons and fermions and their combination, including production mode cross sections and simplified template cross sections, as well as their interpretations. Searches for non-resonant Higgs-boson pair production, as well as their combination, are also discussed.
Angular-spectrum algorithm for holographic 3D display based on 2D-to-3D approach

One of the challenges that has been faced by holographic 3D display is the lack of 3D contents. To deal with the shortage of 3D contents, a 2D-to-3D algorithm is presented for the holographic 3D display. The 2D images are firstly classified into 3 categories by the features. The depth maps for different categories are obtained by different calculation models accordingly. The computer-generated holograms (CGHs) are calculated by the layer-based angular-spectrum approach. These CGHs can be reconstructed with obvious 3D depth cues in simulations and experiments.
Realizing a robust, reconfigurable active quenching design for multiple architectures of single-photon avalanche detectors

Most active quench circuits used for single-photon avalanche detectors are designed either with discrete components which lack the flexibility of dynamically changing the control parameters, or with custom ASICs which require a long development time and high cost. As an alternative, we present a reconfigurable and robust hybrid design implemented using a System-on-Chip (SoC), which integrates both an FPGA and a microcontroller. We take advantage of the FPGA’s speed and configuration capabilities to vary the quench and reset parameters dynamically over a large range, thus allowing our circuit to operate with a wide variety of APDs without having to re-design the system. The microcontroller enables the remote adjustment of control parameters and re-calibration of APDs in the field. The ruggedized design uses components with space heritage, thus making it suitable for space-based applications in the fields of telecommunications and quantum key distribution (QKD). We characterize our circuit with a commercial APD cooled to -20°C, and obtain a deadtime of 35ns while maintaining the after-pulsing probability at close to 3%. We also demonstrate versatility of the circuit by directly testing custom fabricated chip-scale APDs, which paves the way for automated wafer-scale testing and characterization.
PZT MEMS-VCSEL for precise and high-speed wavelength tuning

Precise wavelength control of light sources is necessary for applications such as 3D sensing, OCT, and spectroscopy. Tunable MEMS-VCSELs are attractive candidates because of high-speed modulation and low manufacturing cost. However, there are problems such as non-linearity of swept-wavelength and decrease in activation range over MHz-speed for conventional electrothermally and electrostatic-driven MEMS-VCSELs, which leads to performance degradation. In this paper, high linearity of wavelength sweep has been demonstrated by using MEMS actuators which consists of piezoelectric PZT layers and meander structures. The 940 nm MEMS-VCSEL consists of MEMS and bottom-emitting half-VCSEL. As for MEMS, two kinds of actuator are employed, a large meander structure and a small membrane structure. The meander structures are utilized to move dielectric DBR mirrors deposited on MEMS linearly with an applied voltage, and perpendicularly to the chip surface. Half-VCSEL has n-DBR, active layers inserted in spacer layers and several pairs of p-DBR that is located between an air gap and spacer layers on n-GaAs substrate. MEMS and Half-VCSEL are integrated by thermal bonding via bonding layers. The Coefficient of determination between an applied voltage and swept wavelength is over 0.99 with the large MEMS actuator. Also, modulation frequency over 1.3 MHz with 2.98nm wavelength sweep is obtained with the small actuator. These actuators overcome the trade-off between high-speed wavelength modulation and precise adjustment of wavelength compared to conventional MEMS-VCSEL. There are remaining challenges for further improvement. Modifying the stiffness of actuators and reduction in mass enables faster resonance frequency more than a ten MHz order.
DICOM file for total body photography: a work item proposal

Total-body photography (TBP) has gained increasing attention for facilitating early melanoma detection. TBP has advantages of monitoring temporal changes in lesions, screening a large number of lesions efficiently, and providing anatomical locations for dermatoscopic images. Since various digital imaging systems for TBP have been proposed, there is a need for a unified format for the storage of the data from TBP. Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) is the international standard for medical imaging. Thanks to a considerable effort to develop dermatology-specific extensions to the DICOM standard, there is a recent supplement to the DICOM standard for individual dermoscopic images. This supplement, however, does not cover the requirements for TBP, which may include multiple wide field-of-view images. Moreover, TBP may be obtained using various methods i.e. the images can be acquired with either consumer-grade cameras, smartphones, or an automatic scanning machine. This paper provides an overview of the specific requirements and an outline of a “Work Item” leading to a Total Body Photography Information Object Definition (IOD). The “Work Item” is inclusively designed for accommodating current variants of TBP data to be compatible with the DICOM standard for dermoscopy and applicable to future systems and other potential use of TBP. We verified the feasibility of the proposed TBP DICOM in an imaging-rich full-body scanning system.
Machine learning assisted control of integrated optical phased arrays

We propose a Machine Learning (ML) based approach to calculate the control signals to apply to an integrated Optical Phased Array (OPA) to get the desired far field profile, which is of particular interest for single-pixel imaging applications. We validated this approach considering a 1D OPA with 8 thermally controlled input waveguides and an 8x1 combiner. We generated 7500 random combinations of the 8 control signals, performing BPM simulations in Synopsys RSoft to calculate far field intensity maps later used to train in MATLAB the ML algorithm. The trained network can then generate the control signals required to obtain any desired far field pattern.
Damage of Concrete under Combined Actions

First it is pointed out that the combination of different loads may cause more serious damage to concrete structures as compared to the sum of damage induced by individual loads. There exists a large number of individual loads, which may act simultaneously or consecutively. The influence of thermal gradients on frost damage is verified experimentally. Then it is shown that frost damage accelerates the rate of carbonation significantly. Prior frost damage also increases the rate of chloride penetration into the concrete cover. Finally it is shown that prior carbonation also increases the rate of penetration of chloride into concrete. Most serious load combinations with respect to durability and service life have still to be identified.
Development of a single crystal fiber probe for Raman distributed temperature sensing above 1000°C

Optical fiber-based sensing is uniquely qualified for a wide range of harsh environment applications due to the ability of optical fiber to withstand high temperature or chemically corrosive conditions. While off-the-shelf silica fiber is stable up to 800-900°C under a wide range of conditions, single crystal fiber offers a pathway to operation above 1000°C. Current single crystal fiber growth techniques are limited to producing multimode fiber, which limits interrogation approaches to primarily time-domain techniques. Raman-based distributed temperature sensing is one time-domain technique which has demonstrated significant utility for distributed temperature sensing in conjunction with multimode, single crystal fiber. A distributed temperature sensor based on Raman scattering and consisting of a single crystal probe spliced to an arbitrarily long silica lead is considered for operational environments up to 1400°C. The impact of temperature and wavelength-dependent optical loss on the measured temperature is investigated, particularly at temperatures above 1000°C. Strategies for improved performance at extreme temperatures are also discussed.
“She’ll Be Right, Mate”: A Mixed Methods Analysis of Skin Cancer Prevention Practices among Australian Farmers—An At-Risk Group

This study examined Australian farmers’ engagement with skin cancer prevention behaviours and explored what made it hard for them to be ‘SunSmart’ (barriers), and what could be done to make prevention easier (facilitators). In total, 498 farmers (83.1% male, 22–89 years, 50.8% grain, sheep, or cattle farmers) participated. The least frequently performed SunSmart behaviours (reported as never practiced during summer) were using SPF 30+ sunscreen (16.6%), wearing protective sunglasses (10.5%), and wearing protective clothing (8.6%). Greater engagement (i.e., higher scores on scale from Never to Always) with SunSmart behaviours was explained by gender (female), educational attainment (trade or technical college certificate vs. high school), personal skin cancer history, and skin sun sensitivity. Barriers reported by farmers related to personal preferences (e.g., short-sleeved rather than long-sleeved clothing), comfort, and perceived impracticality of sun protection. Farmers’ solutions included making protective clothing and sunscreen more appropriate for farm work (e.g., by making clothing more breathable). A personal health scare was the most reported motivation for skin cancer prevention. Findings highlight the need for increased access to sun-protective clothing and sunscreen that is suitable for wearing when working on farms, complemented by culturally appropriate health education messaging, to encourage more farmers to perform SunSmart behaviours.
Social class and prosocial behavior in early adolescence: The moderating roles of family and school factors

ABSTRACT The association between prosocial behavior and adolescents’ social class—defined as one’s parents’ position in society assessed in terms of education, income, and occupation status—is far from conclusive and the moderators of the link have not been fully researched. Using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (NICHD SECCYD) (N = 1,058), this study investigated the association between social class and 5th graders’ prosocial behavior, as well as the moderating roles of maternal sensitivity, positive family emotional expressiveness, teacher-student relationship, and peer support. The current research found that social class was positively associated with adolescents’ prosocial behavior, and the positive association between social class and prosocial behavior was less pronounced for adolescents with higher levels of maternal sensitivity, positive family emotional expressiveness, teacher-student relationship, and peer support than those with lower levels of maternal sensitivity, positive family emotional expressiveness, teacher-student relationship, and peer support. The present findings yield evidence on the negative influence of low social class on adolescents’ prosocial behavior, but this effect would be buffered by supportive and healthy relationships in family and school contexts.
Scholarship@Western Scholarship@Western

Compared to urban environments, interactions with natural environments have been associated with several health benefits including psychological restoration and improved emotional well-being. However, classifying environments dichotomously as either natural or urban may emphasize between-category differences and minimize potentially important within-category variation (e.g., forests versus fields of crops; neighborhoods versus city centers). Therefore, the current experiment assessed how viewing brief videos of different environments, ranging along a continuum from stereotypically natural to stereotypically urban, influenced subjective ratings of mood, restoration, and well-being. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four video conditions, which depicted a simulated walk through a pine forest, a farmed field, a tree-lined urban neighborhood, or a bustling city center essentially devoid of greenery. Immediately before and after the videos, participants rated their current emotional states. Participants additionally rated the perceived restorativeness of the video. The results supported the idea that the virtual walks differentially influenced affect and perceived restoration, even when belonging to the same nominal category of natural or urban. The pine forest walk significantly improved happiness relative to both urban walks, whereas the farmed field walk did not. The bustling city center walk decreased feelings of calmness compared to all other walks, including the tree-lined neighborhood walk. The walks also differed on two perceived restorativeness measures ( daydreaming and being away ) in a graded fashion; however, the farmed field walk was found to be less fascinating than all other walks, including both urban walks. Taken together, these results suggest that categorizing environments as “natural versus urban” may gloss over meaningful within-category variability regarding the restorative potential of different physical environments.
Dioscin Alleviates Cardiac Dysfunction in Acute Myocardial Infarction via Rescuing Mitochondrial Malfunction

Myocardial infarction is one of the most severe heart diseases, leading to sudden death. Currently, angiography and stenting are widely performed in clinics, yet more effective treatment is still needed. Herein, we presented that dioscin, a natural product, showed protective effect on infarcted hearts via mitochondrial maintenance. Upon dioscin treatment, cardiac dysfunction was alleviated, and remodeling is prevented. Mechanistically, disocin maintains mitochondria function through the maintenance of Kreb's cycle, and suppresion of ROS accumulation. In this way, by targeting mitochondrial dysfunction, dioscin is a potential drug for infarcted hearts.
Inflammatory Monocytes Infiltrate the Spiral Ligament and Migrate to the Basilar Membrane After Noise Exposure

Objectives Noise exposure leads to an increase in the macrophage population. This increment is thought to be caused by the transformation of infiltrated monocytes into macrophages rather than by proliferation of the cochlear resident macrophages. However, studies on infiltrated monocytes in the cochlea are scarce. Thus, we aimed to investigate the infiltration of monocytes and their transformation into macrophages after noise exposure. Methods In wild-type and CX3CR1+/GFP C57/B6 mice, inflammatory monocytes were identified by immunofluorescence of mouse cochlear cells. The findings were confirmed and quantitated by flow cytometry. Results One day after noise exposure, monocytes were identified in the spiral ligament. Flow cytometric analysis confirmed that the monocyte population peaked on post-noise exposure day 1 and decreased thereafter. On day 3 after noise exposure, amoeboid-type macrophages increased in the crista basilaris, and on day 5, they spread to the basilar membrane. Conclusion Infiltrated monocytes were successfully observed 1 day after noise exposure, preceding the increase in the macrophage population. This finding supports the proposal that infiltrated monocytes transform into macrophages.