Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Peer-to-peer Teaching in Higher Education: A Critical Literature Review

The aim of my critical literature review is to identify studies where students are engaged as partners in teaching in higher education and to analyze how tutors and tutees benefit from peer teaching. Thirty studies were included for review. Thirteen countries are represented and two thirds of the studies conducted in the United States of America or the United Kingdom. There is a significant representation of studies from natural- and physical science. The dominating pedagogical belief and theory is social constructivism. The most frequent study design is the use of quasi-experimental pre- and post-testing. University teachers do not comprise the view of peer teaching necessarily resulting in greater academic achievement gains or deep learning. University teachers identify and esteem other pedagogical benefits such as improving students’: critical thinking, learning autonomy, motivation, collaborative and communicative skills. The main finding of this review is the clarification that the training of generic skills benefits from peer teaching.
A systematic review of the pharmacokinetics of antiepileptic drugs in neonates with refractory seizures.

BACKGROUND Neonatal seizures are associated with neurological sequelae and an increased risk of epilepsy later in life. Phenobarbital and phenytoin remain the antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) most commonly used to treat neonatal seizures, despite their suboptimal effectiveness and safety. As a result, other AEDs, such as levetiracetam and topiramate, are often used in neonates with refractory seizures, despite limited data and off-label use. OBJECTIVES To systematically review published pharmacokinetic data for second-line AEDs used in neonates with seizures and to provide dosing recommendations for these agents in the neonatal population. METHODS A literature search was conducted in PubMed (1949-May 2012), Medline (1950-May 2012), and Embase (1980-May 2012). Each study was ranked according to the quality of evidence it provided, based on the classification system developed by the US Preventive Services Task Force. Information extracted from each study included study design, number of subjects, gestational and postnatal age, AED dosage regimen, pharmacokinetic parameters, pharmacokinetic model, AED serum concentrations, and sampling times. RESULTS Nineteen relevant pharmacokinetic studies involving a total of 8 different drugs were identified. No prospective, randomized, controlled studies (level I evidence) or nonrandomized controlled studies (level II-I evidence) were identified; 2 studies were prospective, nonrandomized, uncontrolled (cohort) studies (level II-2 evidence), 11 studies obtained evidence from multiple time series (level II-3 evidence), and 6 studies were case reports or descriptive studies (level III evidence). CONCLUSIONS There are limited pharmacokinetic data for the use of carbamazepine, levetiracetam, lidocaine, paraldehyde, topiramate, valproic acid, and vigabatrin for neonates with seizures refractory to treatment with first-line antiepileptic agents. Further research is needed to elucidate target AED serum concentrations (if any) required to optimize effectiveness and minimize dose-related adverse effects in neonates.
Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptorα Agonists Differentially Regulate Inhibitor of DNA Binding Expression in Rodents and Human Cells

Inhibitor of DNA binding (Id2) is a helix-loop-helix (HLH) transcription factor that participates in cell differentiation and proliferation. Id2 has been linked to the development of cardiovascular diseases since thiazolidinediones, antidiabetic agents and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) gamma agonists, have been reported to diminish Id2 expression in human cells. We hypothesized that PPARα activators may also alter Id2 expression. Fenofibrate diminished hepatic Id2 expression in both late pregnant and unmated rats. In 24 hour fasted rats, Id2 expression was decreased under conditions known to activate PPARα. In order to determine whether the fibrate effects were mediated by PPARα, wild-type mice and PPARα-null mice were treated with Wy-14,643 (WY). WY reduced Id2 expression in wild-type mice without an effect in PPARα-null mice. In contrast, fenofibrate induced Id2 expression after 24 hours of treatment in human hepatocarcinoma cells (HepG2). MK-886, a PPARα antagonist, did not block fenofibrate-induced activation of Id2 expression, suggesting a PPARα-independent effect was involved. These findings confirm that Id2 is a gene responsive to PPARα agonists. Like other genes (apolipoprotein A-I, apolipoprotein A-V), the opposite directional transcriptional effect in rodents and a human cell line further emphasizes that PPARα agonists have different effects in rodents and humans.
An electromigration and thermal model of power wires for a priori high-level reliability prediction

In this paper, a simple power-distribution electrothermal model including the interconnect self-heating is used together with a statistical model of average and rms currents of functional blocks and a high-level model of fanout distribution and interconnect wirelength. Following the 2001 SIA roadmap projections, we are able to predict a priori that the minimum width that satisfies the electromigration constraints does not scale like the minimum metal pitch in future technology nodes. As a consequence, the percentage of chip area covered by power lines is expected to increase at the expense of wiring resources unless proper countermeasures are taken. Some possible solutions are proposed in the paper.
Thurstonian Boltzmann Machines: Learning from Multiple Inequalities

We introduce Thurstonian Boltzmann Machines (TBM), a unified architecture that can naturally incorporate a wide range of data inputs at the same time. Our motivation rests in the Thurstonian view that many discrete data types can be considered as being generated from a subset of underlying latent continuous variables, and in the observation that each realisation of a discrete type imposes certain inequalities on those variables. Thus learning and inference in TBM reduce to making sense of a set of inequalities. Our proposed TBM naturally supports the following types: Gaussian, intervals, censored, binary, categorical, muticategorical, ordinal, (in)-complete rank with and without ties. We demonstrate the versatility and capacity of the proposed model on three applications of very different natures; namely handwritten digit recognition, collaborative filtering and complex social survey analysis.
Journal of Graph Algorithms and Applications Realization of Posets

We prove a very general representation theorem for posets and, as a corollary, deduce that any abstract simplicial complex has a geometric realization in the Euclidean space of dimension dim P (∆) − 1, where dim P (∆) is the Dushnik-Miller dimension of the face order of ∆.
Mapping the World of an Ancient Greek Historian: The HESTIA Project

HESTIA (the Herodotus Encoded SpaceText-Imaging Archive) is an interdisciplinary project, sponsored by the AHRC and involving the collaboration of academics from Classics, Geography and Archaeological Computing, that aims to enrich contemporary discussions of space by developing an innovative methodology to the study of an ancient narrative, Herodotus’ Histories. Using the latest ICT, it investigates the ways in which space is represented in the Histories, and develops visual tools to capture the ‘deep’ topological structures of the text, extending beyond the usual two-dimensional Cartesian maps of the ancient world. In addition to exploring the network culture that Herodotus represents, one of its stated outcomes is to introduce Herodotus’ world to new audiences via the internet. This paper will set out in more detail that methodology, paying particular attention to the decisions that we have made and the problems that we have encountered, in the hope that our project can contribute not only to offering a more complex picture of space in Herodotus but also to establishing a basis for future digital projects across the humanities which deal with large text-based corpora.
ANOTHER PROOF FOR MODIFIED GRAM-SCHMIDT WITH REORTHOGONALIZATION

In this note, we consider the modified Gram-Schmidt algorithm with reorthogonalization applied on a numerical nonsingular matrix, we explain why the resulting set of vectors is orthogonal up to the machine precision level. To establish this result, we show that a certain L-criterion is necessarily verified after the second reorthogonalization step, then we prove that this L-criterion implies the desired level of orthogonality. If the L-criterion is verified after the first orthogonalization step, then there is no need to reorthogonalize. From this simple observation, we deduce that the L-criterion is an interesting selective reorthogonalization criterion for modified Gram-Schmidt algorithm. AMS Subject Classification : 65F25, 65G50, 15A23.
Clinical effectiveness of a skills training intervention for caregivers in improving patient and caregiver health following in-patient treatment for severe anorexia nervosa: pragmatic randomised controlled trial

Background Families express a need for information to support people with severe anorexia nervosa. Aims To examine the impact of the addition of a skills training intervention for caregivers (Experienced Caregivers Helping Others, ECHO) to standard care. Method Patients over the age of 12 (mean age 26 years, duration 72 months illness) with a primary diagnosis of anorexia nervosa and their caregivers were recruited from 15 in-patient services in the UK. Families were randomised to ECHO (a book, DVDs and five coaching sessions per caregiver) or treatment as usual. Patient (n=178) and caregiver (n=268) outcomes were measured at discharge and 6 and 12 months after discharge. Results Patients with caregivers in the ECHO group had reduced eating disorder psychopathology (EDE-Q) and improved quality of life (WHO-Quol; both effects small) and reduced in-patient bed days (7–12 months post-discharge). Caregivers in the ECHO group had reduced burden (Eating Disorder Symptom Impact Scale, EDSIS), expressed emotion (Family Questionnaire, FQ) and time spent caregiving at 6 months but these effects were diminished at 12 months. Conclusions Small but sustained improvements in symptoms and bed use are seen in the intervention group. Moreover, caregivers were less burdened and spent less time providing care. Caregivers had most benefit at 6 months suggesting that booster sessions, perhaps jointly with the patients, may be needed to maintain the effect. Sharing skills and information with caregivers may be an effective way to improve outcomes. This randomised controlled trial (RCT) was registered with Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN06149665. Declaration of interest J.T. is a co-author of the book used in the ECHO intervention and receives royalties. Copyright and usage © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2015. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Non-Commercial, No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) licence.
Cytokines Levels in Children Affected by Atopic and Nonatopic Eczema

Patients with atopic eczema present higher serum levels of total IgE and different pattern of cytokines, com- pared to nonatopic eczematous patients. This study aimed to evaluate serum levels of IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-10, IFN� , TNF� in eczematous children in relation to atopic and nonatopic form. We enrolled 45 eczematous children and 12 controls. To- tal IgE and specific IgE against principal food and inhalant allergens were evaluated by UniCap1000 and levels of cytoki- nes by Cytometric Bead Array System. The geometric means of levels of IL-4 were higher in eczematous patients than controls (P=0.036). Serum levels of IL-10 and IFNwere higher in nonatopic eczematous children than in atopic eczema- tous patients and controls (P= 0.004, P= 0.003). Our data confirm that cytokines may play an important role in the patho- genesis of eczema: nonatopic eczema seems to be characterized by increased levels of IL-10 and IFNcompared to atopic form.
Ieee Transactions on Communications, Accepted for Publication 1 Flow Based Performance Guarantee Scheduling in Buffered Crossbar Switches

—Buffered crossbar switches are a special type of crossbar switches with a small buffer at each crosspoint of the crossbar. Existing research results indicate that they can provide port based performance guarantees with speedup of two, but require significant hardware complexity to provide flow based performance guarantees. In this paper, we present scheduling algorithms for buffered crossbar switches to achieve flow based performance guarantees with speedup of two and one buffer per crosspoint. When there is no crosspoint blocking, only simple and distributed input scheduling and output scheduling are needed. Otherwise, a special urgent matching procedure is necessary to guarantee on-time delivery of crosspoint blocked cells. For urgent matching, we present both sequential and parallel matching algorithms. The parallel version significantly reduces the average number of iterations for convergence, which is verified by simulation. With the proposed algorithms, buffered crossbar switches can provide flow based performance guarantees by emulating push-in-first-out output-queued switches, and we use the counting method to prove the perfect emulation. Finally, we discuss an alternative backup-buffer implementation design to the bypass path, and compare our scheme with existing solutions.
Decentralized and Hierarchical Discovery of Software Applications in the iShare Internet Sharing System

We present the design and evaluation of a fully decentralized software application discovery scheme – iDiscover, which is used in the iShare Internet-sharing system being built at Purdue University. The scheme employs a structured peer-to-peer (P2P) overlay routing mechanism and a hierarchical name space. The structured P2P routing mechanism is self-organizing and scalable. The hierarchical nam e space provides an effective way to describe software applications with their semantics. Measurements using a set of real software applications show that our resource discover y mechanism is efficient and scalable.
Topological two-form gravity in four dimensions.

A kind of topological field theory is proposed as a candidate to describe the global structure of two-form Einstein gravity with or without a cosmological constant. Indeed, in the former case, we show that a quantum state in the candidate gives an exact solution of the Wheeler-DeWitt equation. The Becchi-Rouet-Stora-Tyutin quantization based on the Batalin-Fradkin-Vilkovisky formalism is carried out for this topological version of two-form Einstein gravity
Flu Caster: A Pervasive Web Application for High Resolution Situation Assessment and Forecasting of Flu Outbreaks

Recent advances in social media and other platforms have facilitated collection of near real-time surveillance data on flu outbreaks. This data can not only be used for assessing the current extent of flu epidemics in different regions, but also to project the propagation of the disease in the near future. We have developed FluCaster, a pervasive and scalable web application for situation assessment and forecasting of Influenza-like Illness (ILI), commonly referred to as the flu. FluCaster can be used for assessing the prevalence of ILI at highly resolved spatio-temporal levels. Importantly, FluCaster can also provide the user with short and long term forecasts, in the presence of interventions applied on specific sub-populations. FluCaster is comprised of three basic components: (i) a web-enabled user-interface, (ii) a middleware that coordinates interactions between the UI components and the back end models and data store, and (iii) a back end that is comprised of high resolution epidemic simulations, combined with optimization routines for forecasting and situation assessment. The back end also stores and operates on many types of data, including the GIS data consisting of maps and geographic locations, the synthetic population data corresponding to population demographics, and synthetic contact network data for the different regions under consideration. The underlying mathematical models that we have implemented involve highly resolved information on different regional demographics to compute the forecasting output, and form the basis of the forecasting pipeline. We have described the mathematical formulation of the forecasting models in our previous work. Here we describe the overall systems architecture of FluCaster that supports scalability and accessibility for forecasting of flu outbreaks.
A New Application of Lipid Nanoemulsions as Coating Agent, Providing Zero-Order Hydrophilic Drug Release from Tablets

The objective of the present investigation was to evaluate potential of nanoemulsions as a coating material for the tablets. The nanoemulsion of size less than 100 nm was prepared using a simple and low-energy spontaneous emulsification method. Conventional tablets containing theophylline as a model hydrophilic drug were prepared. The theophylline tablets were coated with the nanoemulsion using a fluid bed coater. The effect of different levels of the nanoemulsion coating on the theophylline release was evaluated. The theophylline tablets containing different levels of the nanoemulsion coating could be successfully prepared. Interestingly, the coating of tablet with the nanoemulsion resulted in zero-order release of theophylline from the tablets. The noncoated theophylline tablets release the entire drug in less than 2 minutes, whereas nanoemulsion coating delayed the release of theophylline from tablets. This investigation establishes the proof of concept for the potential of nanoemulsions as a coating material for tablets.
In Situ Cell Manipulation through Enzymatic Hydrogel Photopatterning

The physicochemical properties of hydrogels can be manipulated in both space and time through the controlled application of a light beam. However, methods for hydrogel photopatterning either fail to maintain the bioactivity of fragile proteins and are thus limited to short peptides, or have been used in hydrogels that often do not support three-dimensional (3D) cell growth. Here, we show that the 3D invasion of primary human mesenchymal stem cells can be spatiotemporally controlled by micropatterning the hydrogel with desired extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins and growth factors. A peptide substrate of activated transglutaminase factor XIII (FXIIIa)—a key ECM crosslinking enzyme—is rendered photosensitive by masking its active site with a photolabile cage group. Covalent incorporation of the caged FXIIIa substrate into poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels and subsequent laser-scanning lithography affords highly localized biomolecule tethering. This approach for the 3D manipulation of cells within gels should open up avenues for the study and manipulation of cell signalling. S ynthetic hydrogels have been engineered as powerful scaffolds to mimic a cell's native microenvironment to rationally control cellular behaviour in tissue engineering 1,2. The application of such artificial ECMs (aECMs), and in particular their fabrication with well-defined physicochemical bulk properties, has also enabled researchers to gain insights into the biology of crosstalk between cells and microenvironmental components (for example, refs 3–5). However, the control over bulk gel properties is often not sufficient to elicit a desired morphogenetic response and to ultimately form a functional tissue de novo. In the absence of tightly orchestrated and localized morphogenetic cellular stimuli within aECMs, multicellular processes necessary for tissue formation cannot easily be induced 6. In contrast to their engineered counterparts, natural ECMs are not homogeneous entities but rather spatially patterned milieus with a cell-type specific composition and structure that can rapidly change over time in response to the physiological demands of a tissue. For example, tissue or organ formation starts with a spatiotemporally coordinated cell polarization, and during tissue regeneration the ECM is rapidly remodelled in a highly localized and heterogeneous manner. Therefore, biomimicry strategies in tissue engineering could benefit from precise control over aECM properties in space and in time. To this end, important progress has been made over the past few years in the design of synthetic hydrogels with biochemical and biophysical properties that can be modulated by a light beam at the micrometre scale and at a desired time during an experiment 7. Two complementary …
THE GALAXY LUMINOSITY FUNCTIONS DOWN TO MR = −10 IN THE COMA CLUSTER

We derived the luminosity function (LF) of dwarf galaxies in the Coma Cluster down to MR = −10 at three fields located at the center, intermediate, and outskirt of the cluster. The LF (−19 < MR < −10) shows no significant differences among the three fields. It shows a clear dip at MR ∼ −13 and is composed of two distinct components of different slopes; the bright component with −19 < MR < −13 has a flatter slope than the faint component with −13 < MR < −10 which has a steep slope. The bright component (−19 < MR < −13) consists mostly of red extended galaxies including few blue galaxies whose colors are typical of late-type galaxies. On the other hand, the faint component (−13 < MR < −10) consists largely of point-spread-function-like compact galaxies. We found that both these compact galaxies and some extended galaxies are present in the center while only compact galaxies are seen in the outskirt. In the faint component, the fraction of blue galaxies is larger in the outskirt than in the center. We suggest that the dwarf galaxies in the Coma Cluster, which make up the two components in the LF, are heterogeneous with some different origins.
Understanding back-to-front pinching for eyes-free mobile touch input

Using a smartphone touchscreen to control apps mirrored to a distant display is hard, since the user cannot see where she is touching while looking at the distant screen. Tactile landmarks at the back of the phone can mitigate this problem, especially in landscape mode [3]: By moving a finger across these landmarks, the user can haptically estimate the finger position in proportion to the touchscreen. Upon pinching the thumb resting above the touchscreen towards that finger at the back, the finger position is transferred to the front and registered as a touch. However, despite proprioception, this technique leads to a shift between back and front position, denoted as pinch error. We investigated this error using different target locations, device thicknesses, and tilt angles to derive target sizes that can be acquired at a 96% success rate.