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Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) represent a recent stage in open education. In more and more institutions they are moving from an early entrepreneurial stage into the reality. The rapidly rising participation levels, high visibility and a growing community worldwide prompt a number of important questions. The MOOC Quality Project, an initiative of the European Foundation for Quality in E-Learn

Background: This paper discusses whether baseline demographic, socio-economic, health variables, length of follow-up and method of contacting the participants predict non-response to the invitation for a second assessment of lifestyle factors and body weight in the European multi-center EPIC-PANACEA study. Methods: Over 500.000 participants from several centers in ten European countries recruited

Background: Engineering microorganisms to improve metabolite flux requires detailed knowledge of the concentrations and flux rates of metabolites and metabolic intermediates in vivo. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer sensors represent a promising technology for measuring metabolite levels and corresponding rate changes in live cells. These sensors have been applied successfully in mammalian a

We propose a distributed optimization algorithm for mixed L_1/L_2-norm optimization based on accelerated gradient methods using dual decomposition. The algorithm achieves convergence rate O(1/k^2), where k is the iteration number, which significantly improves the convergence rates of existing duality-based distributed optimization algorithms that achieve O(1/k). The performance of the developed al

Objectives: Increasing knowledge is required for a better comprehension of the etiology of thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA). The aim of this study was to highlight the modulations in vascular cell phenotypes, including myofibroblasts (MFs), in human TAA specimens compared to healthy aortas. Methods: histology, RT-PCR and immunohistochemical analysis of a panel of molecules, including EDA Fibronectin

Low temperature calorimetry (LTC) can be used to study the mesa-porosity of cement based materials. The influence of frost damage on the mesa-porosity determination by LTC was explored on a model material MCM-41 and two cement pastes by conducting repeated cycles of freezing and melting measurements. The results indicate that the pressure generated during freezing and melting measurements has litt

This article argues that institutional interactions that cut across the domains of trade and environment are embedded in overarching norms that shape their evolution and impact. In making this argument, it analyzes three cases of such interactions within the climate change and biosafety regime complexes: those relating to trade-related climate policies and measures, forest carbon sinks, and trade

Om författaren Axel Wallengren (Falstaff, fakir) och dennes relation till kläder och mode, såväl privat som i sitt författarskap.

In this paper, we describe the results from an experimental campaign, focused on vertical upward flame spread over a charring material. First, for validation purposes of simulation tools, we report on cone calorimeter results for square (9.8 cm x 9.8 cm), 1.65 cm thick, medium density fibre samples, mounted horizontally. Temperature is shown at the surface and at different depths. The mass of the

Most of the Swedish subfossil finds of terrestrial mammals have been recovered from Scania. The contributing factors may be that the locally more abundant Late Weichselian sediment basins have been exposed through the extensive practice of peat cutting during the 19th century, and that the public awareness of the significance of the bones and antlers found, prior to the birth of the modern archaeo

Efforts are currently directed towards improving the quality of sensitive tissues of fruits and vegetables after freezing and thawing. One of the methods under investigation is the combination of vacuum impregnation (VI) with cryoprotectants and pulsed electric field (PEF), applied to the plant tissue prior exposure to freezing. The influence of these processes on the freezing temperature and ice

Background. NT-proBNP may be useful for ruling out heart failure in primary health care. In this study we examined the analytical quality of NT-proBNP in primary health care on the Cobas h 232 point-of-care instrument compared with measurements performed in a hospital laboratory. Materials and methods. Blood samples requested for NT-proBNP were collected in primary health care (n = 95) and in a ho

We performed implantation experiments; applying both the chemically active oxygen ions and inactive ions of neon noble gas, to thin epitaxial films of (Ga,Mn)As ferromagnetic semiconductor. Inspection of their magnetic properties by means of a superconducting quantum interference device magnetometer revealed that the implantation with a low dose of either O or Ne ions completely suppressed ferroma

The most expensive component in a conventional solar photovoltaic (PV) system is the solar module cell. The module cost could be reduced if low-cost reflector materials are used to concentrate solar energy flux across a small module area. Three reflector materials were studied for fill-factor improvements in low concentrating system. These were anodized aluminium, rolled aluminium foil and miro re

The goal of this paper is to determine whether the photoplethysmography (PPG) can replace the ECG-based detection of heart rate turbulence. Using the PPG, classification of ventricular premature beats (VPBs) is accomplished with a linear classifier. The two conventional parameters turbulence onset and slope are studied together with a recently introduced parameter characterizing turbulence shape.