Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PITKÄNEN KATI LEARNING COMPUTATIONAL THINKING AND 21ST CENTURY SKILLS IN THE CONTEXT OF FAB LAB Bachelor's Thesis in Education FACULTY OF EDUCATION Degree Programme in Education

The increasingly automated world has made humans more and more passive consumers. Students are great at using technologies but are not able to design and create artifacts by using technologies. At the same time, programming and computational thinking skills are seen ever more important in society and working life. The new National Core Curriculum for Basic Education in Finland focuses on future skills. It emphasizes pupils’ participation and responsibility of their schoolwork. It aims to regenerate work methods and learning environments used in basic education by using technologies and seeking new inspiring learning environments outside the classroom. The curriculum involves opportunities for pupils to develop their information and communication technology skills in all subjects, where also programming has been integrated as part of the objectives. It aims to respond to the requirements of study, working life, and active citizenship by focusing on to develop students’ transversal competences for commanding and combining different knowledge and skills. The aim of this study is to investigate in theory, how can computational thinking and twenty-first century skills be learnt in the context of maker culture. The study is conducted by a literature review on the maker culture approach in education to see, if there is a possibility to learn these skills in maker activities in the context of Fab Lab Oulu, Finland, which has potential to be new student-centered and technology-enhanced learning environment for schools in Oulu area. The study forms an understanding of growing maker culture phenomenon in education to realize its potential when considering to integrate making into formal education. It indicates differences between two similar but slightly different concepts, maker culture and maker movement, to notice that at first there was a maker culture philosophy, which has been later started to foster by a social movement called maker movement. Then, the study explores the historical and theoretical base of learning by doing and making to understand the roots and nature of maker culture. The study investigates what can maker culture give for education and how can digital fabrication learning activities in the context of Fab Lab Oulu foster and inspire learning computational thinking and 21st century skills. It presents how making cannot only bring about interest in science, technology, engineering and math subjects but also make students understand and connect their knowledge to the world around them. In Fab Lab, they can involve theory to practice, and experience project-based and collaborative learning, for solving meaningful challenges. To boot, they can find how are they able to design and build tangible artifacts and make their ideas become true and thus, be active producers.
Essays On Russian Economic Geography: Measuring Spatial Inefficiency

Compared with other transition countries Russia faces the burden of extreme cold. This is not, however, strictly a function of geography. Soviet location policy directly affected the average (population weighted) temperature of the Russian economy. Soviet policy moved industry and population from the western part of the country to the east, effectively making Russia even colder than it was in the pre-Soviet era. Movements to the east have the significant impact on aggregate temperature because the isotherms on the Eurasian continent resemble lines of longitude, not latitude. Thus, the Russian economy entering transition faces not only the usual burden of an inhospitable Russian climate, but also suffers from the extra disadvantage due to the legacy of Soviet location policy. In this thesis I estimate the cost to Russian economy of the inefficient spatial allocation of its productive resources. Spatial inefficiency can result not only in added production and distribution costs — when regional comparative advantages are not exploited and unnecessary transportation and communication expenditures are incurred — but also the wrong allocation of labor brings inefficiency in consumption: there are extra costs associated with people living in unsuitable places. In the Russian context, “unsuitable” usually means “too far” and “too cold. ” I focus on the “cost of cold,” or precisely, the cost of production being wrongly located in places with a climate too cold. The first essay is a counterfactual exercise. To obtain a benchmark of spatial efficiency, I construct an allocation of industry and population that would result in Russia in the absence of Soviet location policy. To design such an allocation, I impose Canadian behavior on Russian initial conditions. I estimate a spatial dynamic model on Canadian regional panel data in a multinomial logit framework. I then project the estimated relationship onto Russia. The result is a hypothetical allocation of population and industry, specific to Russia’s endowment and initial conditions, but free of any disadvantages stemming from Russian historical circumstances. This procedure, however, ignores the effect of WWII — a major exogenous shock to Russian economy with no precedent in Canada. We should expect that war would have an impact on industry allocation irrespective of economic or political system. To account for the possible effects of WWII I conduct a separate simulation exercise, taking into account the fact that the war was fought primarily in the west. The results of this exercise show that the eastern part of Russia is still significantly overdeveloped — in other words, WWII explains only a small part of the misallocation.
Performance and Reading Time of Automated Breast US with or without Computer-aided Detection.

Background Computer-aided detection (CAD) systems may be used to help radiologists interpret automated breast (AB) US images. However, the optimal use of CAD with AB US has, to the knowledge of the authors, not been determined. Purpose To compare the performance and reading time of different readers by using AB US CAD system to detect breast cancer in different reading modes. Materials and Methods In this retrospective study, 1485 AB US images (282 with malignant lesions, 695 with benign lesions, and 508 healthy) in 1452 women (mean age, 43.7 years; age range, 19-82 years) including 529 (36.4%) women who were asymptomatic were collected between 2016 and 2017. A CAD system was used to interpret the images. Three novice readers with 1-3 years of US experience and three experienced readers with 5-10 years of US experience were assigned to read AB US images without CAD, at a second reading (after the reader completed a full unaided interpretation), and at concurrent reading (use of CAD at the start of the assessment). Diagnostic performances and reading times were compared by using analysis of variance. Results For all readers, the mean area under the receiver operating characteristic curve improved from 0.88 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.85, 0.91) at without-CAD mode to 0.91 (95% CI: 0.89, 0.92; P < .001) at the second-reading mode and 0.90 (95% CI: 0.89, 0.92; P = .002) at the concurrent-reading mode. The mean sensitivity of novice readers in women who were asymptomatic improved from 67% (95% CI: 63%, 74%) at without-CAD mode to 88% (95% CI: 84%, 89%) at both the second-reading mode and the concurrent-reading mode (P = .003). Compared with the without-CAD and second-reading modes, the mean reading time per volume of concurrent reading was 16 seconds (95% CI: 11, 22; P < .001) and 27 seconds (95% CI: 21, 32; P < .001) shorter, respectively. Conclusion Computer-aided detection (CAD) was helpful for novice readers to improve cancer detection at automated breast US in women who were asymptomatic. CAD was more efficient when used concurrently for all readers. © RSNA, 2019 Online supplemental material is available for this article. See also the editorial by Slanetz in this issue.
Influences on the behaviour of black and minority ethnic (BME) communities towards debt and bankruptcy

This article sets out to examine the attitudes towards debt, bankruptcy and the bankruptcy process of black and minority ethnic (BME) entrepreneurs and individuals who are experiencing bankruptcy; and to assess the extent to which their attitudes towards debt and bankruptcy have been inﬂuenced by various external factors, including their cultural and religious practices. The paper uses a qualitative methodology that involves in-depth, semi-structured interviews and direct observation, where possible. The ﬁndings suggest that in many ethnic minority communities, there are strong cultural and religious imperatives to settle debts, and this can lead to a strong desire to resist at all costs the bankruptcy process. The main ﬁnding of this study is that there is a high level of ignorance and a lack of understanding of the actions that can be taken when they ﬁnd themselves in ﬁnancial difﬁculties. The main implication of this study is that education, which fosters ﬁnancial literacy and pre-bankruptcy counselling, can empower consumers and enhance responsible ﬁnancial decision making. There is very little research work in this area, and the paper is based on qualitative research that captures for the ﬁrst time why the attitudes and behaviour of BME groups towards debt and bankruptcy differ from those of the white population.
HABITAT USE AND BURROW DENSITIES OF BURROW-NESTING SEABIRDS ON SOUTH EAST ISLAND, CHATHAM ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND

Forest of several types covered 45.14% of South East Island, Chatham Islands (218 ha). All petrel burrows in 200 10 m2-quadrats in modified and unmodified forest were counted during breeding seasons in 1989 and 1990. From the total of 2675 burrows (1.338 burrows m-Z of forest), we estimated a breeding seabird population of more than 1.3 million pairs. The main species were White-faced Storm Petrels (Pelagodm marina) (840,000 pairs), Broadbilled Prions (Pachyptila vinata) (330,000 pairs), and Southern Diving Petrels (Pehanoides urinafrix) (127,000 pairs). Smaller numbers of Sooty Shearwaters (Puffinus griseus), Grey-backed Storm Petrels (Oceanires nereis) and Chatham Petrels (Pterodm axillark) also bred in the forests. Comparisons are made with population estimates for other New Zealand islands, parts of the Galp3gos Islands, Baccalieu Island (Newfoundland), and the Juan Fernandez group. Conservation issues for South East Island are discussed.
Number of Segments Within Musculoskeletal Foot Models Influences Ankle Kinematics and Strains of Ligaments and Muscles

Multi‐segment foot models (MFMs) are becoming a common tool in musculoskeletal research on the ankle‐foot complex. The purpose of this study was to compare ankle joint kinematics as well as ligament and muscle strains that result from MFM with a different number of segments during vertical hopping. Ten participants were recruited and performed double‐limb vertical hops. Marker positions and ground reaction forces were collected. Two‐segment (2MFM), three‐segment (3MFM), and five‐segment MFM (5MFM) were used to calculate ankle kinematics and the strains of the anterior talofibular and calcaneofibular ligaments and of the soleus and gastrocnemius muscles. Ranges of motion and peak strains were analyzed with Kruskal–Wallis and post hoc tests, whereas the time‐series of the ankle kinematics and ligament and muscle strains were analyzed with statistical parametric mapping. There were significant main effects for MFM in the talocrural joint range of motion and peak strains of ligaments and muscles. In addition, there were significant main effects for MFM in time‐series data of the talocrural joint angle as well as for ligament and muscle strains. In all cases, the post hoc analyses showed that the 2MFM consistently overestimated the range of motion and tissue strains compared to the 3MFM and 5MFM, while 3MFM and 5MFM did not differ from each other in the most variables. This study showed that the number of segments in MFM significantly affects the biomechanical estimates of joint kinematics and tissue strains during hopping. Clinical significance: MFM that combine all foot structures beyond the talus into one segment likely overestimate ankle joint biomechanics. © 2019 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 37:2231–2240, 2019
Effect of Cyclic Stretch on Tissue Maturation in Myoblast-Laden Hydrogel Fibers

Engineering of the skeletal muscles has attracted attention for the restoration of damaged muscles from myopathy, injury, and extraction of malignant tumors. Reconstructing a three-dimensional muscle using living cells could be a promising approach. However, the regenerated tissue exhibits a weak construction force due to the insufficient tissue maturation. The purpose of this study is to establish the reconstruction system for the skeletal muscle. We used a cell-laden core-shell hydrogel microfiber as a three-dimensional culture to control the cellular orientation. Moreover, to mature the muscle tissue in the microfiber, we also developed a custom-made culture device for imposing cyclic stretch stimulation using a motorized stage and the fiber-grab system. As a result, the directions of the myotubes were oriented and the mature myotubes could be formed by cyclic stretch stimulation.
Environmental Modeling Based on Ultrasonic Ranging

In order to deal with the conflict of the robot high-performance implementing the task in an uncertain environment, environmental modeling method based on ultrasonic ranging was adopted. By the complex environmental modeling mean of combining the methods of grid and geometry, relying the measurement data of the adjacent multi-ultrasonic and the correlation among the data, the environmental modeling was established effectively. The modeling characteristics analysis showed that: the robot can easily make obstacle avoidance, path planning and decision-making in the grid-based modeling. The accuracy of the modeling is high, and it can detect and update the complex regional expediently. The environmental modeling based on ultrasonic ranging can effectively solve the problem of mobile robot implementing the tasks efficiently in the actual complex environment.
Influence of weight status at 2 years on memory performance at 4–5 years of age

Abstract Background: Memory performance is a cognitive function that is affected by environmental, genetic and socioeconomic factors, as well as by weight status. Aim: To evaluate the association of weight status at 2 years of age with the memory performance of children at 4–5 years of age. Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional study that used baseline data (2012) and data from two follow-up periods (2014 and 2016) of the PREDI Cohort Study. Participants were mother–child pairs 4–5 years after delivery who were seen between July 2016 and August 2017. The children’s memory performance was evaluated individually using a validated Brazilian instrument. Results: Of the 203 children included in the study, 117 (57.6%), 52 (25.6%) and 34 (16.8%) had low, moderate and high memory performance, respectively. After adjusting for potential confounders, children with a BMI > 85th percentile had 3.33-times higher odds of exhibiting lower memory performance at 4–5 years of age than those with a BMI ≤ 85th percentile. In addition to the children’s BMI at 2 years of age, mother’s education was another independent determinant of children’s memory performance. There was a progressive increase in the odds of children having lower memory performance at 4–5 years of age as the mother’s education decreased. Conclusion: Primary prevention of overweight and management of cognitive functions may be important strategies to improve the cognitive development of children in the future.
An Alternative Way to Prepare Biocompatible Nanotags with Increased Reproducibility of Results

An Alternative Way to Prepare Biocompatible Nanotags with Increased Reproducibility of Results Aggregation of nanoparticles (NP) occurs mostly during and after their biofunctionalization. Aggregations can lead to disfunction of the biomolecule which binds to NP like antibodies or enzymes. In many cases, disfunctions and the lack of reproducibility of the results are two major challenges during the use of nanotechnology. We demonstrate that the aggregation of nanoparticles can be controlled by choosing the optimal amount of crosslinker and furthermore the function of biomolecules can be protected by avoiding centrifugation steps. These investigations may provide a valuable guide in many other medical applications of nanostructures.
Markov Decision Process

Markov decision processes have become an indispensable tool in applications as diverse as equipment maintenance, manufacturing systems, inventory control, queuing networks and investment analysis. Typically we have a controlled Markov chain on a suitable state space in which transitional probabilities depend on the policy (or decision maker) which comes from a set of possible actions. The main problem of interest would be to find an optimal policy that minimizes the associated cost. Linear Programming has been widely used to find the optimal Markov decision policy. It requires solutions of large systems of simultaneous linear equations. By the fact that the complexity in linear programming increases much faster with the increase in the number of states which is often called curse of dimensionality, the linear programming method can handle only small models. This thesis presents a new method to lessen the curse of dimensionality. By assuming certain monotonicity property for the transition probability, it is shown that a fuzzy membership function can be used to reduce the number of states. The use of membership functions help to reduce the number of the states. However all the states remain intact through the use of the membership value. That is, those states eliminated can be recovered through interpolation with the aid of membership functions. This new proposed method is shown to be effective in coping with the curse of dimensionality.
Subsaturation of the N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate receptor glycine site allows the regulation of bursting activity in juvenile rat nigral dopamine neurons

The activation of N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate receptors (NMDARs) in substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) dopamine (DA) cells is central to generate the bursting activity, a phasic signal linked to DA‐related behaviours via the change in postsynaptic DA release. NMDARs are recruited during excitatory synaptic transmission by glutamate release, but the glycine site level of occupancy of these receptors during basal action potential‐dependent activity is not known for SNc DA neurons. We explored NMDAR‐dependent signals during exogenous applications of co‐agonists in midbrain slices from juvenile rats. We found that both glycine and D‐serine strengthened the NMDAR‐dependent component of excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) in a concentration‐dependent manner. EPSCs were also increased by endogenous glycine via the blockade of the glycine transport. The glycine site of NMDARs contributing to synaptic transmission is therefore subsaturated. The behaviourally relevant burst firing was more sensitive to exogenous D‐serine and endogenous glycine than to exogenous glycine. The mechanisms regulating the availability of the co‐agonists exert consequently a critical influence on the excitability of DA neurons via NMDARs. The modulation of the phasic firing in DA neurons by ambient NMDAR co‐agonists may be important for nigral information processing and downstream motor‐related behaviour.
Higher-Order Spectral Clustering under Superimposed Stochastic Block Model

Higher-order motif structures and multi-vertex interactions are becoming increasingly important in studies that aim to improve our understanding of functionalities and evolution patterns of networks. To elucidate the role of higher-order structures in community detection problems over complex networks, we introduce the notion of a Superimposed Stochastic Block Model (SupSBM). The model is based on a random graph framework in which certain higher-order structures or subgraphs are generated through an independent hyperedge generation process, and are then replaced with graphs that are superimposed with directed or undirected edges generated by an inhomogeneous random graph model. Consequently, the model introduces controlled dependencies between edges which allow for capturing more realistic network phenomena, namely strong local clustering in a sparse network, short average path length, and community structure. We proceed to rigorously analyze the performance of a number of recently proposed higher-order spectral clustering methods on the SupSBM. In particular, we prove non-asymptotic upper bounds on the misclustering error of spectral community detection for a SupSBM setting in which triangles or 3-uniform hyperedges are superimposed with undirected edges. As part of our analysis, we also derive new bounds on the misclustering error of higher-order spectral clustering methods for the standard SBM and the 3-uniform hypergraph SBM. Furthermore, for a non-uniform hypergraph SBM model in which one directly observes both edges and 3-uniform hyperedges, we obtain a criterion that describes when to perform spectral clustering based on edges and when on hyperedges, based on a function of hyperedge density and observation quality.
A Study on Soccer Prediction using Goals and Shots on Target

In this thesis I have developed a model for result prediction in soccer. The model is based on chances created being modeled as a Poisson process while goals scored is seen as a result of first creating chances and then converting them, here modeled as a Bernoulli trial. Compared to existing models, this one takes advantage of a number of data that previously have not been considered. As each team is described by four parameters, teams are able to be distinguished further allowing for better prediction of chances created and goals scored for each team in a given matchup. Six different models are developed gradually with the goal of improving the model fit to data and its predictive ability. In the final model the parameters can change over time so as to explain how a team can go through periods of good or bad form. Parameters are assumed to be correlated to each other reflecting how a good offensive team also often has a good defense. Red cards are included to explain why certain surprising results took place. And lastly, the model uses shots on target to predict goals, as this is shown to have a stronger connection than between shots and goals. A betting strategy is implemented where the size of the bet decreases with increasing odds, while only placing bets when the expected return is above a certain value. The model struggles with consistency, but is still able to make a small profit over a run of five seasons, so it should be an excellent candidate for further development.
Intelligent Control of Heat Exchangers

This work deals with the design and application of a neuro-fuzzy controller for a heat exchanger. To deal with the problem of parameter adjustment, efficient neuro-fuzzy scheme known as the ANFIS (Adaptive Network-based Fuzzy Inference System) can be used. The ANFIS is a cross between an artificial neural network and a fuzzy inference system (FIS) and represents Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy model as generalized feedforward neural network, and trains it with plant I/O data, thereby adjusting the parameters of the antecedent membership functions as well as those of the functional consequents. The neuro-fuzzy control of the heat exchanger is compared with classical PID control. The simulation results confirm that fuzzy is one of the possibilities for successful control of heat exchangers. The advantage of this approach is that it is not a linear-model-based strategy. Comparison of the simulation results obtained using fuzzy and those obtained using classical PID control demonstrates the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed approach because of the smaller consumption of the heating medium.