Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Incorporating touch-based tablets into classroom

The advancement of communication technology and the emergence of technology-rich tools continuously transforms the way in which we live, work and learn (Voogt, Erstad, Dede, & Mishra, 2013). This rapid development of technology imposed new challenges to educators because of “fundamental changes in both what has to be learned and how this learning is to happen” (Voogt et al., 2013, p. 403), and increased attention to learning in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) domains. President Obama identified STEM learning as a key for innovation and global leadership in the 21st century and established initiatives for STEM learning (White House Press Release, 2010). Individual subjects in STEM domains are not new and have been taught in schools (Sanders, 2009). However, they were not taught as interconnected practices as they are in the real world. Therefore, the growing attention to STEM learning focuses on the interconnected nature of each domain in STEM. The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Common Core State Standards (CCSS) address the interdependence of individual practice (Bybee, 2014). However, despite the growing demands for STEM education, studies indicate a shortage of student interest and an undersupply of a trained workforce (Hossain & Robinson, 2012; Voogt et al., 2013). The National Science Board (2010) has emphasized the significance of early exposure to STEM concepts in childhood education, but appropriate curriculum is still lacking pedagogically and developmentally.
Conjugation to gold nanoparticles enhances polyethylenimine's transfer of plasmid DNA into mammalian cells

Branched polyethylenimine (PEI) chains with an average molecular mass of 2 kDa (PEI2) have been covalently attached to gold nanoparticles (GNPs), and the potency of the resulting PEI2–GNPs conjugates as vectors for the delivery of plasmid DNA into monkey kidney (COS-7) cells in the presence of serum in vitro has been systematically investigated. The transfection efficiencies vary as a function of the PEI/gold molar ratio in the conjugates, with the best one (PEI2–GNPII) being 12 times more potent than the unmodified polycation. This potency can be further doubled by adding amphiphilic N-dodecyl–PEI2 during complex formation with DNA. The resulting ternary complexes are at least 1 order of magnitude more efficient than the 25-kDa PEI, one of the premier polycationic gene-delivery vectors. Importantly, although unmodified PEI2 transfects just 4% of the cells, PEI2–GNPII transfects 25%, and the PEI2–GNPII/dodecyl–PEI2 ternary complex transfects 50% of the cells. The intracellular trafficking of the DNA complexes of these vectors, monitored by transmission electron microscopy, has detected the complexes in the nucleus <1 h after transfection.
Effect of hydrogen passivation on optical properties of a-Si/SiNX multilayered films with Si-QDs and without Si-QDs

The objective is to develop better understanding of the optical behavior of a-Si/SiNX multilayer with silicon quantum dots (Si-QDs) which can be used as light absorber material for Si-QD based solar cells. In this work, reflectance of a-Si, SiNX/a-Si, a-Si/SiNX and SiNX/a-Si/SiNX structured films with Si-QDs and without Si-QDs were examined. Hydrogen passivation (H-passivation) of a film with Si-QDs or without Si-QDs showed negligible effect on the optical property of the film. The films with Si-QDs before and after H-passivation showed low reflectance of light in the wavelength range of 200-600 nm compared to the films without Si-QDs. The enhancement in the absorption of light in the films is attributed to the Si-QDs and the quantum confinement effect (QCE).
IN SILICO PREDICTION OF DELETERIOUS AND NON-DELETERIOUS nsSNPs IN CFTR GENE VARIANTS

Objective: The major objective of the study was to carry out comparative bioinformatics analyses to identify different nsSNPs that were predicted to be deleterious or damaging to the structure and functions of CFTR protein causing cystic fibrosis. Methods: The CFTR gene variants (nsSNPs) and their related protein sequences from Homo sapiens were subjected to computational analyses using the following bioinformatics tools (a) SIFT: a sequence-homology based prediction tool that can be used to distinguish between the intolerant from tolerant SNP changes. (b) PolyPhen2: a structure and sequence-based physical and comparison tool to study the impact of amino acid substitution on the structure and function of human proteins and (c) I-Mutant2: to predict the protein stability changes arising due to single point mutations. Results: SIFT, PolyPhen2, and I-Mutant2 analyses indicated that 21 out of 108 nsSNPs were identified to be common that were strongly predicted to be deleterious and damaging for CTFR protein in cystic fibrosis conditions. Most of the substitutions in the CFTR protein contained the amino acids valine followed by cysteine and proline respectively. Homology modeling carried out to determine if any of these nsSNPs had a role in changing the conformation of CFTR protein drastically. Homology modeling of selected nsSNP variants indicated that these substitutions,however did not change the overall CFTR protein structure but predicted to cause severe damaging changes to the phenotypes of CFTR protein. Results indicated that multiple bioinformatics tools are needed to predictthe effect of substitutions and these prediction tools need to be analyzed more into detail and common determination factors are required to predict a nsSNP to be deleterious or damaging to the overall functioning of the CFTR protein. Conclusion: Multiple bioinformatics tools are in fact the need of the hour to establish if a strong relationship between nsSNPs that could alter the protein stability and cause a deleterious or damaging phenotypic change to the individual with cystic fibrosis involving the CFTR protein.
Enhanced Information Access to Social Streams Through Word Clouds with Entity Grouping

Intuitive and effective access to large volumes of information is increasingly important. As social media explodes as a useful source of information, so are methods required to access these large volumes of usergenerated content. Word clouds are an effective information access tool. However, those generated over social media data often depict redundant and mis-ranked entries. This limits the users’ ability to browse and explore datasets. This paper proposes a method for improving word cloud generation over social streams. Named entity expressions in tweets are detected, disambiguated and aggregated into entity clusters. A word cloud is generated from terms that represent the most relevant entity clusters. We find that word clouds with grouped named entities attain significantly broader coverage and significantly decreased content duplication. Further, access to relevant entries in the collection is improved. An extrinsic crowdsourced user evaluation of generated word clouds was performed. Word clouds with grouped named entities are rated as significantly more relevant and more diverse with respect to the baseline. In addition, we found that word clouds with higher levels of Mean Average Precision (MAP) are more likely to be rated by users as being relevant to the concepts reflected. Critically, this supports MAP as a tool for predicting word cloud quality without requiring a human in the loop.
Synaptic and intrinsic control of membrane excitability of neostriatal neurons. I. An in vivo analysis.

1. The relationship between membrane properties of neostriatal neurons and spontaneous and evoked synaptic potentials was studied with the use of intracellular recordings from anesthetized rats. Most of these neurons showed regular or irregular spontaneous depolarizing potentials that only in a few cases triggered action potentials at resting level. 2. The stimulation of the ipsilateral substantia nigra or of the sensorimotor cortex produced a relatively fast depolarizing post-synaptic potential (EPSP). In some cells this potential was followed by an inhibitory period that appeared as an hyperpolarization when the cell was depolarized from the resting level (inhibitory postsynaptic potential, IPSP). A late and long-lasting depolarization (LD) followed the EPSP or the EPSP-IPSP sequence. 3. Repetitive discharge with little adaptation was observed during direct depolarization. Most of the neurons tested for current-voltage (I-V) relationship showed nonlinearity of the input resistance in the hyperpolarizing direction. Spontaneous and evoked EPSPs were decreased in their amplitude and duration when the membrane potential was held at levels more hyperpolarized than -85 mV because of the strong rectification at these levels of hyperpolarization. 4. Local microiontophoretic application of bicuculline (BIC) or systemic administration of BIC and pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) produced a reduction of the IPSPs. The reduction of the inhibitory transmission caused a strong increase of the LD. The current-evoked firing pattern was not greatly altered. 5. The intracellular application of cesium increased the amplitude and the duration of the spontaneous depolarizations that triggered bursts of action potentials under this condition. Spikes were broadened and the rectification in the hyperpolarization direction was reduced. 6. Iontophoretically applied cadmium strongly depressed the amplitude of the spontaneous and evoked postsynaptic potentials. During cadmium application, nigral stimulation produced constant latency, all-or-none spikes in the absence of any synaptic potential. 7. Repetitive stimulation of the ipsilateral substantia nigra by electrical shocks (5 Hz, 25 s) produced a progressive and reversible decrease of the spontaneous depolarizing potentials (SDPs) and a decrease of the firing rate. In the same cells, when the train of stimulation was delivered in the ipsilateral cortex, a membrane depolarization coupled with an increase of the firing rate was observed. 8. We conclude that although synaptic circuits mediate a phasic inhibition in neostriatum, the low level of spontaneous firing of most neostriatal neurons is mainly because of the effects that membrane properties exert on the spontaneous and the evoked synaptic depolarizations in the striatum. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Antioxidative effects of curcumin and its analogues against the free‐radical‐induced peroxidation of linoleic acid in micelles

Curcumin (1,7‐bis(4‐hydroxy‐3‐methoxyphenyl)‐1,6‐heptadiene‐3,5‐dione, 1) is a yellow ingredient isolated from turmeric (curcumin longa). Many health benefits have been claimed for curcumin, and these have generally been ascribed to its radical‐trapping antioxidant properties. In order to find more active antioxidants with 1 as the lead compound, we synthesized curcumin analogues, i.e., 1,7‐bis(3,4‐dihydroxyphenyl)‐1,6‐heptadiene‐3,5‐dione (2), 1‐(3,4‐dihydroxyphenyl)‐7‐(4‐hydroxy‐3‐methoxyphenyl)‐1,6‐heptadiene‐3,5‐dione (3), 1‐(4‐hydroxy‐3‐methoxyphenyl)‐7‐(4‐hydroxyphenyl)‐1,6‐heptadiene‐3,5‐dione (4), 1,7‐bis (4‐hydroxyphenyl)‐1,6‐heptadiene‐3,5‐dione (5), 1,7‐bis(3,4‐dimethoxyphenyl)‐1,6‐heptadiene‐3,5‐dione (6), 1,7‐bis(4‐methoxyphenyl)‐1,6‐heptadiene‐3,5‐dione (7), and 1,7‐diphenyl‐1,6‐heptadiene‐3,5‐dione (8). Antioxidative effects of curcumin and these analogues against the peroxidation of linoleic acid were studied in sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) micelles. The peroxidation was initiated thermally by a water‐soluble initiator 2,2′‐azobis(2‐amidinopropane hydrochloride) (AAPH), and reaction kinetics were monitored by the formation of linoleic acid hydroperoxides. Kinetic analysis of the antioxidation process demonstrates that these compounds, except 6, 7 and 8, are effective antioxidants in micelles by H‐atom abstraction from the phenolic groups. Compounds 2 and 3, which bear ortho‐diphenoxyl functionality, possess significantly higher antioxidant activity than curcumin and other analogues, and the 4‐hydroxy‐3‐methoxyphenyl group also plays an important role in the antioxidative activity. In addition, the synergistic antioxidant effect of these compounds with α‐tocopherol (vitamin E) in micelles was also studied by following the formation of linoleic acid hydroperoxides and the consumption of α‐tocopherol. It was found that these compounds could not synergistically interact with α‐tocopherol in micelles. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Comfortable Driver’s Car Seat Dimensions Based on Malaysian Anthropometrics Data

Every car drivers have their own preferred driving position and posture that may differ from each other. The criteria of comfort in driving may be perceived differently by drivers with different physical built or gender. A safe and comfortable driver’s seat plays a very important role in car design and fabrication (1). “Today, car drivers are more concerned with their driving safety and comfort, thus they perceived that comfort must have the same level of importance as with functional and aesthetic design of automobile” (2). Therefore, ergonomics is a very important factor that needs to be incorporated in the design of driver’s car seat to satisfy drivers’ requirements to ensure drivers’ safety and comfort (37). Ergonomically designed driver’s car seat is important because it could enhance drivers’ safety and Abstract Background: Driving posture discomfort can contribute to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), injuries, lumbar pain and fatigue. The three main objectives of this study were to identify the level of awareness for correct and safe driving posture, health implication to their body parts and to propose a suitable car seat fit dimensions appropriate for Malaysian drivers’ population. Methods: The two methodologies used for the study conducted in 2014 were direct manual measurement of 62 anthropometric data involving 1312 subjects and using a survey questionnaire involving 136 subjects to perform subjective evaluation on driving posture discomfort based on 5 points Likert scale. Results: Results showed 77% of the subjects that took part in the survey agreed that driving posture may influence their discomfort during driving. In short the car drivers were aware on the importance of correct and safe driving posture. However, they are still lacking in terms of knowledge and exposure to practice the correct posture. In addition, survey respondents believed the body parts that experienced discomfort are the neck (50%), followed by the upper back (47.06%), lower back (45.59%), left buttock (39.71%), right buttock (38.97%), right shoulder (33.82%) and then the right foot ankle (23.53%). Conclusion: Drivers’ awareness level and attitude toward correct and safe driving posture correlates positively to their physical health and comfort. Based on the Malaysian anthropometric data, this study has proposed a set of comfortable dimensions for driver’s seat: backrest width (480 mm) and height (646 mm); cushion width (503 mm) and length (381 mm).
The Classification Performance in Parametric and Nonparametric Discriminant Analysis for a Class- Unbalanced Data of Diabetes Risk Groups

The problems arising from unbalanced data sets generally appear in real world applications. Due to unequal class distribution, many researchers have found that the performance of existing classifiers tends to be biased towards the majority class. The k-nearest neighbors’ nonparametric discriminant analysis is a method that was proposed for classifying unbalanced classes with good performance. In this study, the methods of discriminant analysis are of interest in investigating misclassification error rates for classimbalanced data of three diabetes risk groups. The purpose of this study was to compare the classification performance between parametric discriminant analysis and nonparametric discriminant analysis in a three-class classification of class-imbalanced data of diabetes risk groups. Data from a project maintaining healthy conditions for 599 employees of a government hospital in Bangkok were obtained for the classification problem. The employees were divided into three diabetes risk groups: non-risk (90%), risk (5%), and diabetic (5%). The original data including the variables of diabetes risk group, age, gender, blood glucose, and BMI were analyzed and bootstrapped for 50 and 100 samples, 599 observations per sample, for additional estimation of the misclassification error rate. Each data set was explored for the departure of multivariate normality and the equality of covariance matrices of the three risk groups. Both the original data and the bootstrap samples showed nonnormality and unequal covariance matrices. The parametric linear discriminant function, quadratic discriminant function, and the nonparametric k-nearest neighbors’ discriminant function were performed over 50 and 100 bootstrap samples and applied to the original data. Searching the optimal classification rule, the choices of prior probabilities were set up for both equal proportions (0.33: 0.33: 0.33) and unequal proportions of (0.90:0.05:0.05), (0.80: 0.10: 0.10) and (0.70, 0.15, 0.15). The results from 50 and 100 bootstrap samples indicated that the k-nearest neighbors approach when k=3 or k=4 and the defined prior probabilities of non-risk: risk: diabetic as 0.90: 0.05:0.05 or 0.80:0.10:0.10 gave the smallest error rate of misclassification. The k-nearest neighbors approach would be suggested for classifying a three-class-imbalanced data of diabetes risk groups. Keywords—Bootstrap, diabetes risk groups, error rate, k-nearest neighbors.
A comparison between epidural anaesthesia with and without corticosteroid in the treatment of sciatica.

SUMMARY: Comparison of the results of treatment with epiduralinjection of procaine alone with that of procaine plus Depo-Medrone in patients with unilateral sciatica showed no definite difference between the two groups. Of 48 patients, there was improvement in about 70 %, whichever solution was used. However, it is of interest that in patients with a long history of severe sciatica the injection of procaine plus Depo-Medrone appeared to give better results. This finding should be noted, and a further comparative trial in this group is worth undertaking. LUMBAR disc lesions with nerve-root compression are common, and epidural injections have been used therapeutically, with alleged benefit, for many years (Cathelin, 1901; Viner, 1928; Evans, 1930). During the last ten years, epidural injections of local anaesthetic (Coomes, 1961; Cyriax, 1969), corticosteroid (Barry and Kendall, 1962; Harley, 1967), or saline (Davidson, 1961), separately or in combination (Goebert, 1960; Brown, 1960; Goldie, 1968), have attracted some interest. Previous papers have produced claims for the effectiveness of these preparations. In particular, there has been a suggestion that injection of corticosteroid is of special benefit. The object of this paper is to compare the results, in patients with sciatica, of epidural injection of procaine alone with those of injection of procaine plus Depo-Medrone, and to show, from a practical point of view, if it is worth while adding a corticosteroid to the local anaesthetic solution. To my knowledge, no previous comparison has been recorded. MATERIAL Forty-eight consecutive patients were treated with epidural local anaesthesia during the past six months; 36 were males and 12 females. The ages ranged from 19 to 71 years, with a mean of 40 · 6 years. Patients were selected with moderate or severe unilateral sciatica, thought to be caused by an intervertebral disc lesion, with or without neurological signs, before or after other conservative treatments
Conception de l'interaction homme-machine et partage d'autorité: application aux systèmes de drones

This paper presents a systematic method for designing the Human-Computer Interaction for a variety of contexts. Elaborated for future Unhabited Air Systems (UAS), this method is based on the "authority sharing" concept (tasks allocation dynamically between the user and the computer system). Most of UAS consider only two modes for controlling and commanding the air vehicles: "full manual" or "full automatic". Several modes in-between can be defined. These modes, called "operative modes", are implemented in the system and activated depending on the evolutions of the context (e.g. breakdown management, dynamic re-planning or an increasing workload). Our method is the result of a classic task analysis for the HCI design and an analysis of the user/automaton capabilities ensuing from the automation domain. This paper details this method applied to a real use-case based on a feedback from past experience on the trajectory management in UAS.
High order S-MRTD time-domain modeling of fading characteristics of wireless channels

In this paper, high order time-domain S-MRTD (scaling function-based multiresolution time-domain) schemes were applied to characterize fading effects in an indoor wireless channel. The fading characteristics were observed to vary largely with the values of electrical properties of the construction materials. Such detailed considerations are not taken into account by statistical models. On the other hand, S-MRTD was observed to be effectively functional at coarser grids, compared to the traditional FDTD, resulting in significant reduction of memory and CPU-time. Such a deterministic approach provides a more accurate system characterization, compared to the measurement-based AF models. Finally, the proposed technique can characterize a channel at a resolution of centimeters, practically impossible for a measurement campaign
Robust visual tracking via L0 regularized local low-rank feature learning

Abstract. Visual tracking is a fundamental task and has many applications in computer vision. We incorporate local dictionary and L0 regularized low-rank features into the particle filter framework to address this problem. Specifically, by developing an efficient L0 regularized sparse coding model to incrementally learn low-rank features for the tracking target and incorporating a local dictionary into low-rank features to build the observation model, we establish a robust online object tracking system. As a nontrivial byproduct, we also develop numerical algorithms to efficiently solve the resulting nonconvex optimization problems. Compared with conventional methods, which often directly use corrupted observations to form the dictionary, our low-rank feature-based dictionary successfully removes occlusions and exactly represents the intrinsic structure of the object. Furthermore, in contrast to the traditional holistic methods, the local strategy contains abundant partial and spatial information, thus enhancing the discrimination of our observation model. More importantly, the L0 norm-based hard sparse coding can successfully reduce the redundant information while preserving the intrinsic low-rank features of the target object, leading to a better appearance subspace updating scheme. Experimental results on challenging sequences show that our method consistently outperforms several state-of-the-art methods.