Maternal diabetes mellitus negatively affects embryonic development and increases the risk for congenital malformations. Besides direct teratogenicity, diabetic intrauterine milieu can predispose an individual to chronic diseases later in life, including cardiovascular diseases, obesity, and diabetes mellitus, in a process termed fetal programing. Molecular mechanisms of embryonic and fetal responses to maternal diabetes are still not fully elucidated. Using mouse model, we show that maternal diabetes induces gene expression changes in the hearts of developing embryos. The most significant changes in the expression of 11 selected genes were detected at the developmental stage associated with completion of cardiac septation, myocardial mass expansion, and increased insulin production in the embryonic pancreas. These affected genes encode products involved in the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, a crucial process in heart development. Using immunohistochemistry, we detected increased hypoxia in the diabetes-exposed hearts at the critical stage of cardiac development. Correspondingly to increased hypoxia, the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF1α) and vascular endothelial growth factor A was increased in the heart of diabetes-exposed embryos. Based on our results indicating the...

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In model predictive control an optimization problem is solved in every time step, which in real-time applications has to be solved within a limited time frame. When applied on embedded hardware in fast changing systems it is important to use efficient solvers and crucial to guarantee that the optimization problem can be solved within the time frame. In this thesis a path following controller which follows a motion plan given by a motion planner is implemented to steer a truck and trailer system. To solve the optimization problems which in this thesis are quadratic programs the three different solvers DAQP, qpOASES and OSQP are employed. The computational time of the active-set solvers DAQP, qpOASES and the operator splitting solver OSQP are compared, where the controller using DAQP was found the fastest and therefore most suited to use in this application of real-time model predictive control.  A certification framework for the active-set method is used to give complexity guarantees on the controller using DAQP. The exact worst-case number of iterations when the truck and trailer system is following a straight path is presented. Furthermore, initial experiments show that given enough computational time/power the exact iteration complexity can be determined for every possible quadratic program that can appear in the controller.

Project designing in the building construction industry has developed a lot during recent years and the result is that not only 2D documents are made, but also 3D models are created to facilitate the project. A problem most players are facing daily is when conditions and information in a project change and design engineers must make necessary changes to their models. These changes can be time-consuming, and the designers may need to do these changes more than once during the project. Could a parametric 3D model make these changes faster than a CAD model when conditions and information on a project change? One of the developers that frequently needs to make changes to its models is WSP geotechnical department. The desire is to find a new working method that increases the efficiency of project design of tunnels. The aim of this thesis was to try parametric modeling as a working method and to see if this method could be used to create ground tunnels. A script has been made in Grasshopper, a visual programming plug-in that generates a parametric model of a tunnel. The parametric model was then compared with an existing CAD model created by the WSP geotechnical department in an earlier project. Pros and cons have been presented and conclusions have been made about if parametric modelling could be more efficient than current working methods. The results of this thesis indicate that parametric modelling is an efficient working method and that it could be used as a working method for future ground tunnel projects. / Projekteringen i byggbranschen har utvecklats mycket de senaste åren och resultatet har blivit att förutom 2D-handlingar, projekteras även 3D-modeller för att underlätta projekteringsarbetet.Ett vardagligt problem som de flesta aktörer står inför är när fler förutsättningar och information i projekt ändras och projektörer tvingas göra ändringar i sina modeller. Dessa ändringar kan vara tidskrävande och behöva göras fler än en gång under projektet. Kan en tredimensionell modell som modellerats parametriskt göra ändringar snabbare när förutsättningar i ett projekt ändras än en CAD modell?En av dessa aktörer som ständigt behöver göra ändringar i sina modeller i efterhand är WSP:s bergteknikavdelning. Önskvärt vore att hitta en ny arbetsmetod som kan effektivisera projekteringen av bergtunnlar.Detta examensarbete syftar till att undersöka om parametrisk modellering kan användas som arbetsmetod för projektering av bergtunnlar. Ett script har skapats i Grasshopper, ett visuellt programmeringstillägg som genererar en parametrisk modell av en tunnel. Den parametriskt skapade modellen har sedan jämförts med en befintlig CAD-modell som skapats av WSP:s bergtekniksavdelning i ett tidigare projekt.Fördelar och nackdelar har lyfts fram och slutsatser har dragits om huruvida parametrisk modellering kan vara mer effektiv än nuvarande arbetsmetoder.Resultaten av detta examensarbete pekar mot att parametrisk modellering är en effektiv arbetsmetod och skulle kunna användas för framtida tunnelprojekt.

The Confucius Institute has recently become more prevalent in political discussions and news headlines. Questions regarding its operations, influence from the Chinese government, and programing are common topics in news reports about the institution. The rise of China in the global economy has caused demand for language and culture education and the Confucius Institute has attempted to fill this demand. The purpose of this nonexperimental quantitative study was to investigate the perceptions of K-12 school and higher education employees that work closely with a Confucius Institute program in the state of Tennessee by exploring issues that have been presented in current research and reports, and to identify alignment and misalignment of these perceptions between higher education and K-12 settings in Tennessee. The study surveyed 42 higher education personnel and 58 K-12 personnel from Tennessee educational institutions that work with Confucius Institute programing. The survey consisted of 18 items that centered around 10 research questions. Quantitative data for six of the research questions were analyzed using a one sample t-test. A 5 point Likert-type scale was used to measure responses with a 3 point neutrality rating. Two research questions data were analyzed utilizing an independent samples t-test and two research questions were ranking questions that were coded in a point system to understand current perceptions. The results indicated that personnel interacting with Confucius Institute programing in the state of Tennessee generally found it to be positive regarding adhering to academic freedom principles, local control principles, media perception, and meeting the needs of the local institution or school. Higher education personnel listed political environment, alignment with institutional or school needs, educational benefit to students, and national media coverage as challenges facing the Confucius Institute. K-12 participants listed Chinese teacher turnover, Chinese teacher training, and alignment with institutional or school needs as challenges. Higher education personnel listed educational benefit to students, programing quality, Chinese teacher training, and resources as benefits connected to Confucius Institute programing. K-12 participants listed educational benefit to students, alignment with institutional or school needs, curriculum, and programing quality as benefits.

Autonomous driving is the concept of a vehicle that operates in traffic without instructions from a driver. A major challenge for such a system is to provide a comprehensive, accurate and compact scene model based on information from sensors. For such a model to be comprehensive it must provide 3D position and semantics on relevant surroundings to enable a safe traffic behavior. Such a model creates a foundation for autonomous driving to make substantiated driving decisions. The model must be compact to enable efficient processing, allowing driving decisions to be made in real time. In this thesis rectangular objects (The Stixelworld) are used to represent the surroundings of a vehicle and provide a scene model. LIDAR and semantic segmentation are fused in the computation of these rectangles. This method indicates that a dense and compact scene model can be provided also from sparse LIDAR data by use of semantic segmentation. / Fullt självkörande fordon behöver inte förare. Ett sådant fordon behöver en precis, detaljerad och kompakt modell av omgivningen baserad på sensordata. Med detaljerad avses att modellen innefattar all information nödvändig för ett trafiksäkert beteende. Med kompakt avses att en snabb bearbetning kan göras av modellen så att fordonet i realtid kan fatta beslut och manövrera i trafiken. I denna uppsats tillämpas en metod där man med rektangulära objekt skapar en modell av omgivningen. Dessa beräknas från LIDAR och semantisk segmentering. Arbetet indikerar att med hjälp av semantisk segmentering kan en tät, detaljerad och kompakt modell göras även från glesa LIDAR-data.

Teste de software desempenha um papel fundamental no processo de produção de um produto de software de qualidade. Com o passar dos anos, diversas técnicas e critérios de teste de software foram desenvolvidos a fim de estabelecer meios e métricas para guiar a criação de casos de teste efetivos, capazes de evidenciar defeitos no produto avaliado. Dentre os principais critérios para teste de software está o Teste de Mutação, que foi amplamente difundido e é tido como uma das abordagens mais eficazes para guiar a criação de conjuntos de casos de teste capazes de revelar defeitos em software. Entretanto, à medida que esse critério possui uma grande efetividade para revelar defeitos, ele peca pelo baixo poder de escalabilidade, o que acaba comprometendo diretamente a sua capacidade de aplicação. Neste sentido, diversos estudos foram desenvolvidos nesta área dedicando-se a aprimorar o seu desempenho e torná-lo uma alternativa viável para aplicação durante a fase de teste de software. Este trabalho apresenta indícios de que a utilização de estruturas complexas de processamento pode apoiar a aplicação do Teste de Mutação. Para tal, foi concebida uma arquitetura que possibilite a aplicação do Teste de Mutação em paralelo. Após a implementação da arquitetura foram avaliados cinco algoritmos de balanceamento de carga responsáveis por controlar a distribuição e execução do Teste de Mutação. Durante a avaliação experimental da arquitetura e dos algoritmos, observou-se que nos piores cenários avaliados foi possível atingir um ganho de desempenho acima de 70% em relação à aplicação sequencial convencional do Teste de Mutação enquanto nos melhores cenários o ganho de desempenho foi acima 95%, contudo, necessitando utilizar-se de uma infraestrutura mais robusta para a execução da arquitetura. / Software testing plays a fundamental role in the development process of quality software systems. Over the years, many software testing techniques and criteria were developed to provide means and metrics to guide the development of effective test cases, able to find defects on the product being assessed. Among major criteria for software testing is the mutation testing, which was broadly broadcast and is likely one of the most effective approaches for creating sets of test cases able to uncover software bugs. However, although mutating testing has a great effectiveness to uncover defects in a product, it suffers from low scalability, which directly compromises its applicability. In this sense, many studies were developed in this area aiming at improving the performance of that criterion and make it a viable alternative for its application throughout the software testing process. This work presents evidence that the use of complex structures of processing can support mutation testing application. For this, it was established an architecture that enables mutation testing to be performed in parallel. After implementing the architecture, five load balance algorithms to controlling the distribution and execution of mutation testing were analyzed. During the experimental evaluation of the architecture and algorithms, it was observed that in the worst evaluated scenarios it was possible to reach a gain in performance of up to 70% in comparison to the conventional application (sequential). In the best scenarios the gain was over 95% in exchange of using a more robust infrastructure for the execution of the architecture.

La qualité des lipides des préparations pour nourrissons est primordiale, notamment en termes d’acides gras polyinsaturés (AGPI) comme l’acide arachidonique (ARA) et docosahexaénoïque (DHA). Ces derniers pourraient favoriser le développement neurosensoriel de l’enfant. Nous avons ainsi évalué 4 standards commerciaux contenant des lipides végétaux ou laitiers et supplémentés ou non en ARA/DHA, sur le développement neurosensoriel au travers d’un modèle d’allaitement artificiel « pups in the cups ». En TEP-cs, nous observons que la supplémentation en ARA/DHA permet de normaliser le fonctionnement cérébral.L’exploration des lipides tissulaires indique des différences en DHA particulièrement bas avec l’allaitement en lipides végétaux purs. Nous proposons un algorithme de prédiction du DHA cérébrale et oculaire via les profils en acides gras érythrocytaires. Dans ces tissus un tiers des espèces à DHA sont affectées et corrélées à l’activité cérébrale. Les neuromédiateurs issus de l’AL, ARA, DHA par la voie LOX sont impactés ainsi que la distribution spatiale en DHA en IMS. Les autres données omiques soulignaient l’impact des interactions fond lipidique x ajout DHA/ARA (transcriptomique) ou fond lipidique (métabolomique) sur la régulation du métabolisme cérébral impactant le métabolisme neuronal et le métabolisme cérébral du microbiote probablement via l’axe de signalisation intestin-cerveau. Nous identifions alors un métagénome sensible à l’ajout DHA/ARA corrélé à la fonction cérébrale. Enfin, des modifications épigénétiques (méthylation du génome et miARN) touchant le groupe FC suggèrent potentiellement un impact à long terme. / The quality of lipids in infant formula is essential, especially in terms of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) such as arachidonic acid (ARA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). These could promote the neurosensory development of the child. We thus evaluated 4 commercial standards containing plant or dairy lipids and supplemented or not with ARA / DHA, on the neurosensory development through an artificially feeding model "pups in the cups". In PET-cs, we observe that the supplementation in ARA / DHA makes it possible to normalize the cerebral functioning. The exploration of tissue lipids indicates differences in DHA which are particularly low with pure plant lipids intake. We propose an algorithm for predicting cerebral and ocular DHA via erythrocyte fatty acids profiles. In these tissues one-third of the DHA species are affected and correlated with brain activity. The neuromediators resulting from AL, ARA, DHA by the LOX pathway are impacted as well as the spatial distribution of DHA in IMS imaging. Other omics data underlined the impact of lipid background x combination DHA / ARA (transcriptomics) or lipid background (metabolomics) on the regulation of cerebral metabolism impacting neuronal metabolism and brain metabolism of the microbiota probably through the signalling of gut-brain axis. We then identify a metagenome sensitive to the addition of DHA / ARA correlated to brain function. Finally, epigenetic modifications (methylation of the genome and miRNA) affecting the FC group potentially suggest a long-term impact.

Teste de software desempenha um papel fundamental no processo de produção de um produto de software de qualidade. Com o passar dos anos, diversas técnicas e critérios de teste de software foram desenvolvidos a fim de estabelecer meios e métricas para guiar a criação de casos de teste efetivos, capazes de evidenciar defeitos no produto avaliado. Dentre os principais critérios para teste de software está o Teste de Mutação, que foi amplamente difundido e é tido como uma das abordagens mais eficazes para guiar a criação de conjuntos de casos de teste capazes de revelar defeitos em software. Entretanto, à medida que esse critério possui uma grande efetividade para revelar defeitos, ele peca pelo baixo poder de escalabilidade, o que acaba comprometendo diretamente a sua capacidade de aplicação. Neste sentido, diversos estudos foram desenvolvidos nesta área dedicando-se a aprimorar o seu desempenho e torná-lo uma alternativa viável para aplicação durante a fase de teste de software. Este trabalho apresenta indícios de que a utilização de estruturas complexas de processamento pode apoiar a aplicação do Teste de Mutação. Para tal, foi concebida uma arquitetura que possibilite a aplicação do Teste de Mutação em paralelo. Após a implementação da arquitetura foram avaliados cinco algoritmos de balanceamento de carga responsáveis por controlar a distribuição e execução do Teste de Mutação. Durante a avaliação experimental da arquitetura e dos algoritmos, observou-se que nos piores cenários avaliados foi possível atingir um ganho de desempenho acima de 70% em relação à aplicação sequencial convencional do Teste de Mutação enquanto nos melhores cenários o ganho de desempenho foi acima 95%, contudo, necessitando utilizar-se de uma infraestrutura mais robusta para a execução da arquitetura. / Software testing plays a fundamental role in the development process of quality software systems. Over the years, many software testing techniques and criteria were developed to provide means and metrics to guide the development of effective test cases, able to find defects on the product being assessed. Among major criteria for software testing is the mutation testing, which was broadly broadcast and is likely one of the most effective approaches for creating sets of test cases able to uncover software bugs. However, although mutating testing has a great effectiveness to uncover defects in a product, it suffers from low scalability, which directly compromises its applicability. In this sense, many studies were developed in this area aiming at improving the performance of that criterion and make it a viable alternative for its application throughout the software testing process. This work presents evidence that the use of complex structures of processing can support mutation testing application. For this, it was established an architecture that enables mutation testing to be performed in parallel. After implementing the architecture, five load balance algorithms to controlling the distribution and execution of mutation testing were analyzed. During the experimental evaluation of the architecture and algorithms, it was observed that in the worst evaluated scenarios it was possible to reach a gain in performance of up to 70% in comparison to the conventional application (sequential). In the best scenarios the gain was over 95% in exchange of using a more robust infrastructure for the execution of the architecture.

Esta pesquisa apresenta uma proposta de reconstrução de matriz OD a partir de dados de velocidade da corrente de tráfego disponíveis na web. Para tal, foram estabelecidos três objetivos específicos, os quais incluem: obtenção e avaliação dos dados de velocidade de tráfego; construção de um modelo computacional e aplicação desse em uma rede real. A avaliação dos dados foi realizada por meio da comparação dos valores de velocidade média da corrente de tráfego obtidos da web com os valores aferidos por sensores do tipo laço indutivo. Os resultados indicam que, apesar das velocidades extraídas da web apresentarem maior variância e valores mais baixos, a maior parcela dos dados obteve diferença similar ou inferior a 11%. Na construção da rotina computacional foi utilizado o Método das Médias Sucessivas (MEMS) e na sua avaliação foram realizados testes comparativos cujas referências foram os resultados alcançados pelo autor do método utilizado. A rotina desenvolvida apresentou melhor resultado com relação ao número total de viagens da matriz reconstruída, além de exigir menor número de iterações. Por outro lado, com relação às viagens atribuídas a cada par OD seu desempenho foi inferior. Para avaliar a aderência a realidade o método proposto foi aplicado a uma rede real composta por trechos específicos das rodovias Presidente Dutra, Pedro I, Ayrton Senna e Governador Carvalho Pinto. Devido ao fato da entrada principal do MEMS ser o volume de veículos, foi necessário estimar o mesmo a partir da velocidade fornecida pela API. A matriz reconstruída apresentou forte dependência da capacidade atribuída às vias, evidenciando a necessidade de definir de forma mais cuidadosa esse parâmetro. Embora, ainda seja necessário aprimorar o método proposto e a rotina computacional elaborada, bem como, aprofundar os estudos da fonte de dados utilizada, o experimento de caráter exploratório mostra a possibilidade de reconstruir uma matriz OD a partir de dados disponíveis na web. / This research presents a proposal for the reconstruction of OD matrix from traffic stream velocity data available on the web. To this end, three specific objectives have been established, which include: obtaining and evaluating traffic speed data; construction of a computational model and application of this in a real network. The data were evaluated by the comparison of the mean values of the traffic current, obtained from the web, with those measured by loop sensors. The results indicate that, although the velocities extracted from the web presented higher variance and lower values, the greater part of the data obtained a difference similar to or lower than 11%. In the construction of the computational routine was used the Method of Successive Averages (MEMS) and in its evaluation were performed comparative tests whose references were the results achieved by the author of the used method. The developed routine presented better results in relation to the total number of trips of the reconstructed OD matrix, besides requiring a smaller number of iterations. On the other hand, in relation to the trips attributed to each OD pair the performance was lower. To evaluate the adherence to reality, the proposed method was applied to a real network composed of specific sections of the Presidente Dutra, Pedro I, Ayrton Senna and Governador Carvalho Pinto highways. Due to the fact that the main input of the MEMS is the vehicles flow, was necessary to estimate it from the speed provided by the API. The reconstructed matrix presented a strong dependence on the capacity attributed to the roads, evidencing the need to define this parameter more carefully. Although it is still necessary to improve the proposed method and the elaborated computational routine, as well as to deepen the studies of the used data source, the exploratory experiment shows the possibility of reconstructing an OD matrix from data available on the web.