Dasar – Dasar Program Perencanaan Dan Perancangan Arsitektur (DP3A) Redesain Terminal Kartasura

Tujuan dasar-dasar program perancangan dan Perancangan Arsitektur (DP3A) ini adalah untuk meningkatkan kualitas dan kuantitas pelayanan kepada masyarakat, untuk mendapatkan kemudahan dalam hal transportasi, khususnya angkutan bus, memberikan wadah untuk menarik para pengunjung dengan penambahan tata lansekap, dan merencanakan sirkulasi yang aman dan nyaman serta lancar sehingga tidak terjadi crossing antara kendaraan yang akan masuk dengan yang akan keluar serta di dalam terminal itu sendiri. Kondisi Terminal Kartasura saat ini bisa dikatakan jauh dari ideal sebagai terminal Tipe B. Hal ini dapat dilihat dari kurang maksimalnya pelayanan yang diberikan karena terjadi pergeseran-pergeseran fungsi. Permasalahan di dalam terminal Kartasura antara lain : 1) Bercampurnya arus sirkulasi orang (penumpang) dengan arus sirkulasi kendaraan, 2) Belum terdapat tempat penurunan penumpang, 3) Tempat penurunan dan jalur pemberangkatan menjadi satu tempat sehingga sirkulasi manusia bercampur aduk, 4) Fisik dan struktur bangunan yang mulai mengalami kerusakan dan tidak terurus untuk perawatannya, 5) Ruang terbuka terminal yang tidak terdapat pepohonan atau rumput yang dapat mengurangi polusi udara dan menyerap air. Untuk menganalisa perkembangan angkutan dan penduduk, maka di Kartasura dibutuhkan redesain terminal bus yang lebih representatif, sesuai dengan kaidah-kaidah arsitektural dengan mempertimbangkan struktur bangunan terminal, lansekap pada terminal dengan konsep bangunan melalui green architecture. Dalam mengantisipasi sirkulasi di dalam terminal Kartasura maka akan di ambil redesain terminal Kartasura dengan sistem parkir gergaji untuk jangka waktu pengoperasionalan selama ± 20 tahun ke depan. Terminal Kartasura maka perlu sebuah pola sirkulasi, sehingga dapat dapat disimpulkan bahwa pola sirkulasi pada terminal Kartasura yang akan diterapkan pada redesain dengan menggunakan sistem pembagian jalur arah yang berjalan atau searah agar dapat menghindari crossing antara arus armada dengan manusia, sedangkan dalam struktur bangunan, terminal Kartasura saat ini perlu terjadinya perbaikan, seperti pelataran yang kurang efisien, struktur bangunan yang perlu di perbaiki, sehingga perlu teori khusus struktur untuk merencanakan dalam meredesain terminal Kartasura dengan menggunakan struktur rangka ruang, karena bus dan pengunjung Terminal Kartasura nantinya membutuhkan akses yang luas, aman dan nyaman

Delivering mesenchymal stem cells in collagen microsphere carriers to rabbit degenerative disc - Reduced risk of osteophyte formation.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have the potential to treat early intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration. However, during intradiscal injection, the vast majority of cells leaked out even in the presence of hydrogel carrier. Recent evidence suggests that annulus puncture is associated with cell leakage and contributes to osteophyte formation, an undesirable side effect. This suggests the significance of developing appropriate carriers for intradiscal delivery of MSCs. We previously developed a collagen microencapsulation platform, which entraps MSCs in a solid microsphere consisting of collagen nanofiber meshwork. These solid yet porous microspheres support MSC attachment, survival, proliferation, migration, differentiation, and matrix remodeling. Here we hypothesize that intradiscal injection of MSCs in collagen microspheres will outperform that of MSCs in saline in terms of better functional outcomes and reduced side effects. Specifically, we induced disc degeneration in rabbits and then intradiscally injected autologous MSCs, either packaged within collagen microspheres or directly suspended in saline, into different disc levels. Functional outcomes including hydration index and disc height were monitored regularly until 6 months. Upon sacrifice, the involved discs were harvested for histological, biochemical, and biomechanical evaluations. MSCs in collagen microspheres showed advantage over MSCs in saline in better maintaining the dynamic mechanical behavior but similar performance in hydration and disc height maintenance and matrix composition. More importantly, upon examination of gross appearance, radiograph, and histology of IVD, delivering MSCs in collagen microspheres significantly reduced the risk of osteophyte formation as compared to that in saline. This work demonstrates the significance of using cell carriers during intradiscal injection of MSCs in treating disc degeneration.published_or_final_versio

Validation of nonlinear PCA

Linear principal component analysis (PCA) can be extended to a nonlinear PCA by using artificial neural networks. But the benefit of curved components requires a careful control of the model complexity. Moreover, standard techniques for model selection, including cross-validation and more generally the use of an independent test set, fail when applied to nonlinear PCA because of its inherent unsupervised characteristics. This paper presents a new approach for validating the complexity of nonlinear PCA models by using the error in missing data estimation as a criterion for model selection. It is motivated by the idea that only the model of optimal complexity is able to predict missing values with the highest accuracy. While standard test set validation usually favours over-fitted nonlinear PCA models, the proposed model validation approach correctly selects the optimal model complexity.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

Semantic distillation: a method for clustering objects by their contextual specificity

Techniques for data-mining, latent semantic analysis, contextual search of databases, etc. have long ago been developed by computer scientists working on information retrieval (IR). Experimental scientists, from all disciplines, having to analyse large collections of raw experimental data (astronomical, physical, biological, etc.) have developed powerful methods for their statistical analysis and for clustering, categorising, and classifying objects. Finally, physicists have developed a theory of quantum measurement, unifying the logical, algebraic, and probabilistic aspects of queries into a single formalism. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first to show that when formulated at an abstract level, problems from IR, from statistical data analysis, and from physical measurement theories are very similar and hence can profitably be cross-fertilised, and, secondly, to propose a novel method of fuzzy hierarchical clustering, termed \textit{semantic distillation} -- strongly inspired from the theory of quantum measurement --, we developed to analyse raw data coming from various types of experiments on DNA arrays. We illustrate the method by analysing DNA arrays experiments and clustering the genes of the array according to their specificity.Comment: Accepted for publication in Studies in Computational Intelligence, Springer-Verla

Self-rated health in middle-aged and elderly Chinese : distribution, determinants and associations with cardio-metabolic risk factors

Background: Self-rated health (SRH) has been demonstrated to be an accurate reflection of a person's health and a valid predictor of incident mortality and chronic morbidity. We aimed to evaluate the distribution and factors associated with SRH and its association with biomarkers of cardio-metabolic diseases among middle-aged and elderly Chinese. Methods: Survey of 1,458 men and 1,831 women aged 50 to 70 years, conducted in one urban and two rural areas of Beijing and Shanghai in 2005. SRH status was measured and categorized as good (very good and good) vs. not good (fair, poor and very poor). Determinants of SRH and associations with biomarkers of cardio-metabolic diseases were evaluated using logistic regression. Results: Thirty two percent of participants reported good SRH. Males and rural residents tended to report good SRH. After adjusting for potential confounders, residence, physical activity, employment status, sleep quality and presence of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and depression were the main determinants of SRH. Those free from cardiovascular disease (OR 3.68; 95%CI 2.39; 5.66), rural residents (OR 1.89; 95% CI 1.47; 2.43), non-depressed participants (OR 2.50; 95% CI 1.67; 3.73) and those with good sleep quality (OR 2.95; 95% CI 2.22; 3.91) had almost twice or over the chance of reporting good SRH compared to their counterparts. There were significant associations -and trend- between SRH and levels of inflammatory markers, insulin levels and insulin resistance. Conclusion: Only one third of middle-aged and elderly Chinese assessed their health status as good or very good. Although further longitudinal studies are required to confirm our findings, interventions targeting social inequalities, lifestyle patterns might not only contribute to prevent chronic morbidity but as well to improve populations' perceived health

ENSO feedbacks and their relationships with the mean state in a flux adjusted ensemble

The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is governed by a combination of amplifying and damping ocean–atmosphere feedbacks in the equatorial Pacific. Here we quantify these feedbacks in a flux adjusted HadCM3 perturbed physics ensemble under present day conditions and a future emissions scenario using the Bjerknes Stability Index (BJ index). Relationships between feedbacks and both the present day biases and responses under climate change of the mean equatorial Pacific climate are investigated. Despite minimised mean sea surface temperature biases through flux adjustment, the important dominant ENSO feedbacks still show biases with respect to observed feedbacks and inter-ensemble diversity. The dominant positive thermocline and zonal advective feedbacks are found to be weaker in ensemble members with stronger mean zonal advection. This is due to a weaker sensitivity of the thermocline slope and zonal surface ocean currents in the east Pacific to surface wind stress anomalies. A drier west Pacific is also found to be linked to weakened shortwave and latent heat flux damping, suggesting a link between ENSO characteristics and the hydrological cycle. In contrast to previous studies using the BJ index that find positive relationships between the index and ENSO amplitude, here they are weakly or negatively correlated, both for present day conditions and for projected differences. This is caused by strong thermodynamic damping which dominates over positive feedbacks, which alone approximate ENSO amplitude well. While the BJ index proves useful for individual linear feedback analysis, we urge caution in using the total linear BJ index alone to assess the reasons for ENSO amplitude biases and its future change in models

Whale, whale, everywhere: increasing abundance of western South Atlantic humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in their wintering grounds

The western South Atlantic (WSA) humpback whale population inhabits the coast of Brazil during the breeding and calving season in winter and spring. This population was depleted to near extinction by whaling in the mid-twentieth century. Despite recent signs of recovery, increasing coastal and offshore development pose potential threats to these animals. Therefore, continuous monitoring is needed to assess population status and support conservation strategies. The aim of this work was to present ship-based line-transect estimates of abundance for humpback whales in their WSA breeding ground and to investigate potential changes in population size. Two cruises surveyed the coast of Brazil during August-September in 2008 and 2012. The area surveyed in 2008 corresponded to the currently recognized population breeding area; effort in 2012 was limited due to unfavorable weather conditions. WSA humpback whale population size in 2008 was estimated at 16,410 (CV = 0.228, 95% CI = 10,563–25,495) animals. In order to compare abundance between 2008 and 2012, estimates for the area between Salvador and Cabo Frio, which were consistently covered in the two years, were computed at 15,332 (CV = 0.243, 95% CI = 9,595–24,500) and 19,429 (CV = 0.101, 95% CI = 15,958–23,654) whales, respectively. The difference in the two estimates represents an increase of 26.7% in whale numbers in a 4-year period. The estimated abundance for 2008 is considered the most robust for the WSA humpback whale population because the ship survey conducted in that year minimized bias from various sources. Results presented here indicate that in 2008, the WSA humpback whale population was at least around 60% of its estimated pre-modern whaling abundance and that it may recover to its pre-exploitation size sooner than previously estimated.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

The mu - e Conversion in Nuclei, mu --> e gamma, mu --> 3e Decays and TeV Scale See-Saw Scenarios of Neutrino Mass Generation

We perform a detailed analysis of lepton flavour violation (LFV) within minimal see-saw type extensions of the Standard Model (SM), which give a viable mechanism of neutrino mass generation and provide new particle content at the electroweak scale. We focus, mainly, on predictions and constraints set on each scenario from mu --> e gamma, mu --> 3e and mu - e conversion in the nuclei. In this class of models, the flavour structure of the Yukawa couplings between the additional scalar and fermion representations and the SM leptons is highly constrained by neutrino oscillation measurements. In particular, we show that in some regions of the parameters space of type I and type II see-saw models, the Dirac and Majorana phases of the neutrino mixing matrix, the ordering and hierarchy of the active neutrino mass spectrum as well as the value of the reactor mixing angle theta_{13} may considerably affect the size of the LFV observables. The interplay of the latter clearly allows to discriminate among the different low energy see-saw possibilities.Comment: Expressions for the factors |C_{me}|^2 and |C_{mu3e}|^2 in the mu-e conversion and mu-->3e decay rates, eqs. (36) and (49), respectively, corrected; results in subsections 2.2 and 2.3 quantitatively changed, qualitatively remain the same; figures 2, 3, 4 and 5 replace

Ethnicity and sexual risk in heterosexual people attending sexual health clinics in England: a cross-sectional, self-administered questionnaire study.

OBJECTIVES: In the UK, people of black ethnicity experience a disproportionate burden of HIV and STI. We aimed to assess the association of ethnicity with sexual behaviour and sexual health among women and heterosexual men attending genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics in England. METHODS: The Attitudes to and Understanding of Risk of Acquisition of HIV is a cross-sectional, self-administered questionnaire study of HIV negative people recruited from 20 GUM clinics in England, 2013-2014. Modified Poisson regression with robust SEs was used to calculate adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) for the association between ethnicity and various sexual risk behaviours, adjusted for age, study region, education and relationship status. RESULTS: Questionnaires were completed by 1146 individuals, 676 women and 470 heterosexual men. Ethnicity was recorded for 1131 (98.8%) participants: 550 (48.6%) black/mixed African, 168 (14.9%) black/mixed Caribbean, 308 (27.2%) white ethnic groups, 105 (9.3%) other ethnicity. Compared with women from white ethnic groups, black/mixed African women were less likely to report condomless sex with a non-regular partner (aPR (95% CI) 0.67 (0.51 to 0.88)), black/mixed African and black/mixed Caribbean women were less likely to report two or more new partners (0.42 (0.32 to 0.55) and 0.44 (0.29 to 0.65), respectively), and black/mixed Caribbean women were more likely to report an STI diagnosis (1.56 (1.00 to 2.42)). Compared with men from white ethnic groups, black/mixed Caribbean men were more likely to report an STI diagnosis (1.91 (1.20 to 3.04)), but did not report risk behaviours more frequently. Men and women of black/mixed Caribbean ethnicity remained more likely to report STI history after adjustment for sexual risk behaviours. DISCUSSION: Risk behaviours were reported less frequently by women of black ethnicity; however, history of STI was more prevalent among black/mixed Caribbean women. In black/mixed Caribbean men, higher STI history was not explained by ethnic variation in reported risk behaviours. The association between STI and black/mixed Caribbean ethnicity remained after adjustment for risk behaviours

On-demand semiconductor single-photon source with near-unity indistinguishability

Single photon sources based on semiconductor quantum dots offer distinct advantages for quantum information, including a scalable solid-state platform, ultrabrightness, and interconnectivity with matter qubits. A key prerequisite for their use in optical quantum computing and solid-state networks is a high level of efficiency and indistinguishability. Pulsed resonance fluorescence (RF) has been anticipated as the optimum condition for the deterministic generation of high-quality photons with vanishing effects of dephasing. Here, we generate pulsed RF single photons on demand from a single, microcavity-embedded quantum dot under s-shell excitation with 3-ps laser pulses. The pi-pulse excited RF photons have less than 0.3% background contributions and a vanishing two-photon emission probability. Non-postselective Hong-Ou-Mandel interference between two successively emitted photons is observed with a visibility of 0.97(2), comparable to trapped atoms and ions. Two single photons are further used to implement a high-fidelity quantum controlled-NOT gate.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figure