Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Chapter 2 Serious Games : A New Paradigm for Education ?

The pervasiveness of gaming, the widespread use of the internet and the need to create more engaging educational practices have led to the emergence of serious games as a new form for education and training. While many have begun to see the potential of serious games to supplement and augment traditional formal education and informal non-curriculum training, the authors consider the potential of serious games to offer a paradigm shift in how education and training are delivered in the twenty-first century. The implications of this transition to a new paradigm of game-based learning will be broadly to adopt metaphors of games, or the ‘gamification’ of learning. The shift will include the adoption of: distributed tutoring models using avatar-driven scaffolded approaches, models of assessment and accreditation towards peerand personalised modelling of the learner and provide an emphasis upon social interactive learning based upon dialogue and social interactions rather than tutor-based and individual study. This will increase opportunities for synchronous feedback and feedback loops, and mean the integration of multimodal interfaces including brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) and haptics. Research work being undertaken by the authors and Research team at the Serious Games Institute (SGI) in the UK is bringing together different lines of research in educational research, computer science and neuropsychology to evaluate how this new paradigm might look and feel testing the principles outlined in this chapter in a model of ancient Rome populated by virtual agents and being evaluated with school children aged 11–14 years old. To illustrate the conceptual basis of this shift, this chapter will explore the context for the new paradigm of learning in relation to the key critical concepts that centre around gamification, immersion and social interactivity, in this chapter we analyse these base critical concepts firstly in relation to the notion of ‘gamification’
Analysis and Design Optimization for Cascade Electromagnetic Transmitter Operating in High Frequency

In the popular electromagnetic exploration technique, a bipolar artificial pulse current is emitted from an electromagnetic transmitter into the ground to generate a transient secondary electromagnetic field in the surface strata, and the geological structure in obtained by analysing the distribution of the secondary magnetic field. This paper presents a cascaded electromagnetic transmitter to overcome the drawbacks of the existing transmitters. First, the structure and composition of the earth load are analysed when the transmitter is working in the low frequency or high frequency mode, and the relationship between the earth load and the emission frequency is provided directly. Then, based on the small-signal model of phase-shifted full-bridge converter, the influencing factors on the stability of the source converter are analysed and summarized in details when the transmitter worked in the whole frequency range. Moreover, we have derived the possible solutions to ensure the steady-state and dynamic features of the source converter output in the whole frequency range. Two methods are developed through detailed analysis: increase the gain of the voltage-loop transfer function, and increase the output filter inductance of the source converter. Finally, the research findings have been verified by a prototype through an experimental simulation.
SlingDrone: Mixed Reality System for Pointing and Interaction Using a Single Drone

We propose SlingDrone, a novel Mixed Reality interaction paradigm that utilizes a micro-quadrotor as both pointing controller and interactive robot with a slingshot motion type. The drone attempts to hover at a given position while the human pulls it in desired direction using a hand grip and a leash. Based on the displacement, a virtual trajectory is defined. To allow for intuitive and simple control, we use virtual reality (VR) technology to trace the path of the drone based on the displacement input. The user receives force feedback propagated through the leash. Force feedback from SlingDrone coupled with visualized trajectory in VR creates an intuitive and user friendly pointing device. When the drone is released, it follows the trajectory that was shown in VR. Onboard payload (e.g. magnetic gripper) can perform various scenarios for real interaction with the surroundings, e.g. manipulation or sensing. Unlike HTC Vive controller, SlingDrone does not require handheld devices, thus it can be used as a standalone pointing technology in VR.
XPipe: Efficient Pipeline Model Parallelism for Multi-GPU DNN Training

We propose XPipe, an efficient asynchronous pipeline model parallelism approach for multi-GPU DNN training. XPipe is designed to make use of multiple GPUs to concurrently and continuously train different parts of a DNN model. To improve GPU utilization and achieve high throughput, it splits a mini-batch into a set of micro-batches and allows the overlapping of the pipelines of multiple micro-batches, including those belonging to different mini-batches. Most importantly, the novel weight prediction strategy adopted by XPipe enables it to effectively address the weight inconsistency and staleness issues incurred by the asynchronous pipeline parallelism. As a result, XPipe incorporates the advantages of both synchronous and asynchronous pipeline model parallelism approaches. Concretely, it can achieve very comparable (even slightly better) model accuracy as its synchronous counterpart, while obtaining higher throughput than it. Experimental results show that XPipe outperforms other state-of-the-art synchronous and asynchronous model parallelism approaches.
MSDF: A Deep Reinforcement Learning Framework for Service Function Chain Migration

Under dynamic traffic, service function chain (SFC) migration is considered as an effective way to improve resource utilization. However, the lack of future network information leads to non-optimal solutions, which motivates us to study reinforcement learning based SFC migration from a long-term perspective. In this paper, we formulate the SFC migration problem as a minimization problem with the objective of total network operation cost under constraints of users’ quality of service. We firstly design a deep Q-network based algorithm to solve single SFC migration problem, which can adjust migration strategy online without knowing future information. Further, a novel multi-agent cooperative framework, called MSDF, is proposed to address the challenge of considering multiple SFC migration on the basis of single SFC migration. MSDF reduces the complexity thus accelerates the convergence speed, especially in large scale networks. Experimental results demonstrate that MSDF outperforms typical heuristic algorithms under various scenarios.
Artist and style exposure bias in collaborative filtering based music recommendations

Algorithms have an increasing influence on the music that we consume and understanding their behavior is fundamental to make sure they give a fair exposure to all artists across different styles. In this on-going work we contribute to this research direction analyzing the impact of collaborative filtering recommendations from the perspective of artist and music style exposure given by the system. We first analyze the distribution of the recommendations considering the exposure of different styles or genres and compare it to the users' listening behavior. This comparison suggests that the system is reinforcing the popularity of the items. Then, we simulate the effect of the system in the long term with a feedback loop. From this simulation we can see how the system gives less opportunity to the majority of artists, concentrating the users on fewer items. The results of our analysis demonstrate the need for a better evaluation methodology for current music recommendation algorithms, not only limited to user-focused relevance metrics.
Extending CAN over the air : an interconnection study through IEEE 802 . 11

The flexibility of wireless connectivity is appealing in the context of industrial networks. This paper discusses the use of a wireless protocol to interconnect remotely located fieldbuses. The focus of this paper is to analyze the feasibility and design issues related to this type of hybrid network architecture. Therefore, we concentrate on deriving appropriate bridging strategies for a network topology composed of remotely located CAN buses interconnected through a wireless local area network following the IEEE802.11g protocol. Using this very simple and costeffective architecture, we show in this study that by intelligently leveraging the features of CAN and IEEE802.11g in the interconnection policies employed, the missed deadlines can be limited for the CAN frames carried by the wireless network.
Reconsideration in Using Citric Acid as Vase Solution Preservative for Cut Rose Flowers

The major cause of vase life reduction in cut flowers is water relation interruption which is mostly due to vase solution microbial proliferation and consequently vascular occlusion resulting in solution uptake reduction. In order to reduce vase solution microbial count, most preservatives incorporate acidifying agents mostly citric acid. Beside microbial proliferation control, biocides could affect cut flower's quality and physiology in various aspects. In order to study the biocidal effect of citric acid, 'Cherry Brandy' roses were treated in a completely randomized design with: citric acid (300, 600 and 900 mg/L, respectively) or sterilized distilled water (control). Effects of citric acid application as vase solution biocide and its impact on vase life, water relation, vase solution microbial kind and population beside different physiological parameters such as chlorophyll degradation, chlorophyll fluorescence and membrane permeability were investigated during this study. Results indicated that citric acid increased vase life (although insignificantly) and amazingly its' application resulted in better fresh appearance during last days of vase life. Although microbial control was not desirable, but it was achieved to some extent by citric acid application. Citric acid resulted in higher fresh weight increment. But fresh weight was lost more rapidly compared to control. This was while citric acid treated flowers had lower solution up take at most stages of vase life. Five different micro-organisms were observed in citric acid vase solutions which were: 2 strains of Fusarium solani and three isolates of Bacillus, Coccus and Streptomyces sp. Ion leakage trend showed a steady increase during vase life and was significantly increased by citric acid application during the last days of vase life as membrane permeability and vase life decrease. Citric acid significantly increased leaf chlorophyll content of treated flowers while it resulted in chlorophyll fluorescence reduction during vase life.
Spitzer Space Telescope observations of bilobate comet 8P/Tuttle

Context. Comet 8P/Tuttle is a nearly isotropic comet whose physical properties are poorly known and might be different from those of ecliptic comets owing to their different origin. Two independent observations have shown that 8P/Tuttle has a bilobate nucleus. Aims. Our goal is to determine the physical properties of the nucleus (size, shape, thermal inertia, and albedo) and coma (water and dust) of 8P/Tuttle. Methods. We observed the inner coma of 8P/Tuttle with the infrared spectrograph and the infrared camera of the Spitzer Space Telescope. We obtained one spectrum (5–40 μm) on 2 November 2007 and a set of 19 images at 24 μm on 22–23 June 2008 sampling the rotational period of the nucleus. The data were interpreted using thermal models for the nucleus and the dust coma, and we considered two possible shape models of the nucleus derived from Hubble Space Telescope visible and Arecibo radar observations. Results. We favor a model for the nucleus shape that is composed of two contact spheres with respective radii of 2.7 ± 0.1 km and 1.1 ± 0.1 km and a pole orientation with RA = 285 ± 12° and Dec = +20 ± 5°. The thermal inertia of the nucleus lies in the range 0–100 J K−1 m−2 s−1∕2 and the R-band geometric albedo is 0.042 ± 0.008. The water production rate amounts to 1.1 ± 0.2 × 1028 molecules s−1 at 1.6 AU from the Sun pre-perihelion, which corresponds to an active fraction of ≈9%. At the same distance, the ɛfρ quantity amounts to 310 ± 34 cm, and it reaches 325 ± 36 cm at 2.2 AU post-perihelion. The dust grain temperature is estimated to be 258 ± 10 K, which is 37 K higher than the thermal equilibrium temperature at 1.6 AU. This indicates that the dust grains that contribute to the thermal infrared flux have a typical size of ≈10 μm. The dust spectrum exhibits broad emission around 10 μm (1.5σ confidence level) and 18 μm (5σ confidence level) that we attribute to amorphous pyroxene.
Small Angle and Non-Monotonic Behavior of the Thermal Conductivity in Twisted Bilayer Graphene

Nothing is known about the thermal conductivity in twisted bilayer graphene (TBG) at small twist angles, and how it approaches its aligned value as the twist angle approaches 0 degrees. To provide insight into these questions, we perform large scale non-equilibrium molecular dynamics calculations on commensurate TBG structures with angles down to 1.87 degrees. The results show a smooth, non-monotonic behavior of the thermal conductivity with respect to the commensurate lattice constant. As the commensurate lattice constant increases, the thermal conductivity initially decreases by 50%, and then it returns to 90% of its aligned value as the angle is reduced to 1.89 degrees. These same qualitative trends are followed by the trends in the shear elastic constant, the wrinkling intensity, and the out-of-plane ZA2 phonon frequency. The picture that emerges of the physical mechanism governing the thermal conductivity is that misorientation reduces the shear elastic constant; the reduced shear elastic constant enables greater wrinkling; and the greater wrinkling reduces the thermal conductivity. The small-angle behavior of the thermal conductivity raises the question of how do response functions approach their aligned values as the twist angle approaches 0 degrees. Is the approach gradual, discontinuous, or a combination of the two?
Calibration of computer models with heteroscedastic measurement errors

Computer models are commonly used to represent a wide range of real systems, but they often involve some unknown parameters. Estimating the parameters by collecting physical data becomes essential in many scientific fields, ranging from engineering to biology. However, most of the existing methods are developed under a homoscedastic error assumption. Motivated by an experiment of plant relative growth rates where replicates are available, we propose a new calibration method for the physical data with heteroscedastic measurement errors. Numerical examples demonstrate that the proposed method not only yields accurate parameter estimation, but it also provides accurate predictions for physical data when the measurement errors are heteroscedastic. We compare this new method to the standard approach used to interpret growth data and give additional examples of how this approach can be used to produce more statistically robust conclusions from computer models of biology and biochemistry in general. We additionally outline how the approach can be used to determine optimal sampling locations.
Experimental Study of Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles (CeNP) Against Malathion Induced Lung Oxidative Toxic Stress in Rats

Regardless of toxicity of nanoparticles, cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeNPs) are emerging as a multi-functional agent for biomedical purposes. On the other hand, Organophosphorus pesticides, like malathion, are inevitably found in the environment. The common involving pathway CeNPs and malathion share is oxidative stress. Therefore, we conducted this study to find the possible neutralizing or synergistic effects of CeNPs on oxidative stress responses in malathion-induced toxicity by intraperitoneal (IP) injection. In this experimental study, 40 Wistar male rats with the weight range of 200-250 g were randomly selected and divided into eight groups. Group1 (control, normal saline), group2 (100 mg/kg/day malathion /IP), group3 (15 mg/kg/day CeNPs/IP), group4 (30 mg/kg/day CeNPs /IP), group5 (60 mg/kg/day CeNPs /IP), group6 (100 mg/kg/day malathion+15 mg/kg/day CeNPs /IP), group7 (100 mg/kg/day malathion+30 mg/kg/day CeNPs /IP) and group8 (100mg/kg/day malathion+60 mg/kg/day CeNPs /IP). After 4 weeks of treatment, the levels of lipid peroxidation (LPO), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), total thiol molecules (TTM) and activity of catalase (CAT) in lung tissue were measured. All data were analyzed by SPSS V16 and One way ANOVA with Tukey post hoc test. The results demonstrated that CeNPs caused significant increases in LPO and TAC, in a dose-dependent-manner. For TTM level, none of the groups presented any significant change compared to control. Significantly decreased levels of CAT, also, were seen in all treatment groups. Surprisingly, all animals of group 8 died. Worth of noting, groups receiving combined CeNPs and malathion showed severe responses for these parameters. These results discovered that CeNPs induces oxidative stress parameters and ROS production, especially combined with malathion in lung tissue. Groups receiving both CeNPs and malathion displayed synergistic toxic properties. LPO, TAC and CAT seem to be better parameters for measuring CeNPs-induced responses. Further investigations are required to shed light on clear mechanisms involved. Conflicts of Interest: Declared None Funding: None
Purifying Interaction Effects with the Functional ANOVA: An Efficient Algorithm for Recovering Identifiable Additive Models

Models which estimate main effects of individual variables alongside interaction effects have an identifiability challenge: effects can be freely moved between main effects and interaction effects without changing the model prediction. This is a critical problem for interpretability because it permits "contradictory" models to represent the same function. To solve this problem, we propose pure interaction effects: variance in the outcome which cannot be represented by any smaller subset of features. This definition has an equivalence with the Functional ANOVA decomposition. To compute this decomposition, we present a fast, exact algorithm that transforms any piecewise-constant function (such as a tree-based model) into a purified, canonical representation. We apply this algorithm to Generalized Additive Models with interactions trained on several datasets and show large disparity, including contradictions, between the effects before and after purification. These results underscore the need to specify data distributions and ensure identifiability before interpreting model parameters.
Intestinal carbohydrase activity and sodium-glucose transporter expression in layers fed diets containing wheat and rice brans supplemented with phytase

The effect of diets containing wheat and rice brans with or without phytase supplementation on performance, intestinal carbohydrase activities and mRNA expression of sodium-glucose transporter-1 (SGLT-1) in layers was studied. A total of 96 23-wk-old Hy-line W-36 were allocated in a completely randomized experimental design at random with 6 treatments and 4 replicate cages of 4 birds each. A control diet was used in this experiment and then it was formulated to contain 10% wheat bran and 15% rice bran. Then phytase (2 g kg -1 ; 1000 FTU kg -1 ) was added to each diet. Feed intake, egg mass, feed conversion ratio, shell weight, shell thickness and Haugh units were not influenced by brans or phytase supplementation (p > 0.05). But egg production decreased in rice bran treatments (p < 0.05). In the jejunum, adding of phytase to control and diet containing wheat bran increased the concentration of sucrase (p ≤ 0.01). Also, addition of phytase to control diet increased (p ≤ 0.001) the mRNA expression of SGLT-1 in the duodenum. It was concluded that feeding layers with diets containing 10% wheat bran were practically feasible without compromising production performance, egg shell quality, and endogenous carbohydrase activity.
Depressive symptoms among adults in Germany

Depressive symptoms imply a loss of quality of life, leading to increased morbidity and mortality as well as increased costs to the healthcare system. Information on the prevalence and distribution of depressive symptoms in the population is essential in light of planning prevention and care. GEDA 2014/2015-EHIS surveyed current depressive symptoms among adults in Germany through the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8). The surveyed prevalence of 10.1% indicates the widespread occurrence of depressive symptoms, regardless of an actual clinical diagnosis of depression. Prevalence for women (11.6%) is higher than for men (8.6%). Further differences exist concerning age and education as well as regional differences. The results are discussed in the light of the data available so far.
Thermal analysis of space debris for infrared-based active debris removal

In space, visual-based relative navigation systems suffer from dynamic illumination conditions of the target (eclipse conditions, solar glare, etc.) where most of these issues are addressed by advanced mission planning techniques. However, such planning would not be always feasible or even if it is, it would not be straightforward for active debris removal missions. On the other hand, using an infrared-based system would overcome this problem, if a guideline to predict infrared signature of space debris based on the target thermal profile could be provided for algorithm design and testing. Spacecraft thermal design is unique to every platform. This means every active debris removal target will have a different infrared signature, which changes over time not just only due to orbital dynamics but also due to its thermal surface coatings. In order to provide a space debris infrared signature guideline for most of the possible active debris removal targets, we introduce an innovative grouping system for thermal surface coatings based on their behaviour in space environment. Through the use of this grouping system, we propose a space debris infrared signature estimation method, which was extensively verified by our simulations and experiments. During our verifications, we have also discovered very important problem so-called ‘signature ambiguity’ that is unique to infrared-based active debris removal systems, which we have also discussed in our work.
X-ray study of the double source plane gravitational lens system Eye of Horus observed with XMM–Newton

A double source plane (DSP) system is a precious probe for the density profile of distant galaxies and cosmological parameters. However, these measurements could be affected by the surrounding environment of the lens galaxy. Thus, it is important to evaluate the cluster-scale mass for detailed mass modelling. We observed the Eye of Horus, a DSP system discovered by the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Survey (HSC–SSP), with XMM–Newton. We detected two X-ray extended emissions, originating from two clusters, one centred at the Eye of Horus, and the other located ∼100 arcsec north-east to the Eye of Horus. We determined the dynamical mass assuming hydrostatic equilibrium, and evaluated their contributions to the lens mass interior of the Einstein radius. The contribution of the former cluster is $1.1^{+1.2}_{-0.5}\times 10^{12}\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$, which is $21\! -\! 76{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ of the total mass within the Einstein radius. The discrepancy is likely due to the complex gravitational structure along the line of sight. On the other hand, the contribution of the latter cluster is only $\sim 2{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ on the Eye of Horus. Therefore, the influence associated with this cluster can be ignored.