Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Continuous Retardation Spectrum for Solidification Theory of Concrete Creep

The basic creep of concrete is the time-dependent strain caused by a sustained stress in absence of moisture movements. It is the strain observed on sealed specimens. Similar to other properties of concrete, it is dependent on the age of concrete, as a consequence of long-time chemical reactions associated with the hydration of cement. This paper formulates the solidification theory with a continuous retardation spectrum, and shows how this spectrum can be readily and unambiguously identified from arbitrary measured creep curves and how it then can be easily converted to a discrete spectrum for numerical purposes. The identification of the continuous spectrum is based on Tschoegl's work on viscoelasticity of polymers. Attention is limited to basic creep.
Carefully : An Empirical Study of Feature Selection Metrics for Text Classification

Good feature selection is essential for text classification to make it tractable for machine learning, and to improve classification performance. This study benchmarks the performance of twelve feature selection metrics across 229 text classification problems drawn from Reuters, OHSUMED, TREC, etc. using Support Vector Machines. The results are analyzed for various objectives. For best accuracy, Fmeasure or recall, the findings reveal an outstanding new feature selection metric, Bi-Normal Separation (BNS). For precision alone, however, Information Gain (IG) was superior. A new evaluation methodology is offered that focuses on the needs of the data mining practitioner who seeks to choose one or two metrics to try that are mostly likely to have the best performance for the single dataset at hand. This analysis determined, for example, that IG and Chi-Squared have correlated failures for precision, and that IG paired with BNS is a better choice.
Familial Mediterranean fever mutation frequencies and carrier rates among a mixed Arabic population.

OBJECTIVE Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) is an autoinflammatory periodic disorder characterized by febrile and painful attacks due to inflammation involving the serosal membranes. The gene implicated in this disorder, MEFV, has been cloned and mutations in its coding regions have been identified. We aimed at identifying the frequency of MEFV mutations and carrier frequency in a mixed Arabic population. METHODS We identified 29 probands from 29 unrelated sibships segregating the disorder and representing the affected individual cohort. We screened 200 anonymous deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) samples, representing a healthy adult cohort, for the mutations found to be common in the affected individual cohort. We also, screened anonymous DNA samples from 4 Arabic countries, namely, Egypt (231), Syria (225), Iraq (176) and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (107) thus enlarging our healthy adult cohort. The study was carried out between 1999 and 2002 at Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid and the University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan. RESULTS Out of the 58 alleles of the 29 probands, only 31 mutations were identified and M694V and V726A are the most common. The mutation E148Q was the most common among the healthy adult cohort, but was not present in affected individuals. The collective mutant allele frequency "q" was 0.101. The expected carrier rate was 18.1% (one in 5.5) while the observed carrier rate was 18.4% (one in 5.4). CONCLUSION E148Q has reduced penetrance and thus, a proportion of the individuals genetically affected with FMF remain asymptomatic. M694I and M680I are more prevalent in the affected individuals cohort, which points to their higher penetrance. The overall carrier rate is one in 5, but the selective heterozygote advantage could not be demonstrated in this study due to the relatively small sample size.
The Body Mass Index, Airflow Obstruction, Dyspnea and Exercise Capacity (BODE) Index in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease for Saudi Population

Study objective: The objective of this study is to determine whether the BODE (body mass index, airflow obstruction, dyspnea and exercise capacity) index correlates with frequency of exacerbation and smoking (pack/year) in patients with COPD Saudi Arabia. Methods: Forty COPD patients were recruited from King Fahad University Hospital and two sets of outcome were measured: the BODE index parameters and the correlation between BODE index with the frequency of exacerbation events as well as the number of packs of cigarettes that a patient consumes in a year. All the statistical analyses were carried out using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software, version 21.0. Results: There was a positive correlation found between the BODE index and exacerbation events (r=0.389, n=23, p<0.05). However, for smoking frequency, the result of the correlation analysis showed that its correlation with the BODE index was not statistically significant (r=0.021, n=23, p=0.461). Those involved in the study were 23 participants after the application of the inclusion and exclusion criteria, all are male with a mean age of 67.70 years. The results show that while a correlation was observed for exacerbation, the correlation with smoking frequency was not significant. The analysis also identified age as a factor that has significant correlation with the BODE index which is may be due to the lack of control and uniformity in the age range of the participants. Conclusion: This study results suggest that the BODE index could potentially be used in Saudi patients with COPD to assess disease progression. However, variable controls be emphasized and better gender representation be achieved in future study.
Mental health service use by the elderly in nursing homes.

OBJECTIVES Because current Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act regulations influence the disposition of US nursing home residents who have mental illness, National Nursing Home Survey (1985) data are analyzed for predictors of mental health service use. METHODS Elderly residents' rates of mental health service use are presented. Logistic regression yielded odds ratios for treatment by both mental health specialists and general practitioners for client and service system variables. RESULTS Among the two thirds of elderly residents with a mental disorder (including dementia), only 4.5% receive any mental health treatment in a 1-month period. The ratio of specialist to general practitioner care is approximately 1:1. Patients seen by a specialist are likely to be younger (aged 65 to 74); live in the Northeast; and have a diagnosis of schizophrenia (13:1), dementia (3:1), or other mental disorders (5:1). Prior residence in a psychiatric hospital predicts care by both health professional types. Rural location, nonproprietary ownership of the nursing home, and aggressive behavior point to general physician care. CONCLUSIONS Our findings indicate significant neglect of the mental health needs of older nursing home residents and underscore the importance of monitoring the regulations for screening and treatment of mental disorders under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act.
New stability criterion for discrete-time systems with interval time-varying state delay

This paper is concerned with the stability analysis of discrete-time systems with time-varying state delay. By defining a new Lyapunov functional and by making use of novel techniques to achieve delay dependence, a new criterion is obtained for the asymptotic stability of these systems. The proposed criterion is less conservative as well as needs fewer decision variables than some pervious ones, which is established theoretically. Two examples are given to illustrate the advantages of our method.
The Galveston Technique of Pelvic Fixation with L-Rod Instrumentation of the Spine

From April 1978 to October 1982, the authors performed 44 pelvic fixations as part of L-rod Instrumentation of a spinal deformity. Thirty scoliosis and revision scoliosis cases with a minimum of 1 year follow-up were analyzed for changes of the instrumentation with respect to the pelvis, angular changes at the lumbosacral junction, radiolucency about the portions of the rods providing pelvic fixation, and success of lumbosacral fusion. The technique for fixation was different among three groups of patients. A pelvic fixation technique in which the pelvic segments of the rods were longer than 6 cm, completely intraosseous through their iliac course, and within 1.5 cm of the sciatic notch, yielded the best results.
Place and provision of palliative care for children with progressive cancer: a study by the Paediatric Oncology Nurses' Forum/United Kingdom Children's Cancer Study Group Palliative Care Working Group.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to describe and show effectiveness of the outreach team model of palliative care (PC) in allowing home death for children with incurable cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS Over 7 months, 185 children from 22 United Kingdom oncology centers were recruited to a prospective questionnaire survey. RESULTS One hundred sixty-four children from 22 centers died (median age, 8.7 years; 88 boys, 76 girls). One hundred twenty-six families completed two or more questionnaires. One hundred twenty (77%) of 155 with complete data died at home. Preference for home death was recorded in 90 (68%) of 164 and 132 (80%) 164 at study entry and last month of life, respectively. Death occurred in preferred place for 84 (80%) of 105 with recorded preference at entry. Forty-one (25%) of 164 and 68 (41.5%) of 164 needed no outpatient or inpatient hospital visits, respectively. A named individual provided on-call PC advice by phone or home visit in 22 (100%) and 18 (82%) of 22 oncology centers, respectively. As PC progressed, involvement of oncologist and social worker appeared less, whereas pediatric oncology outreach nurse specialists (POONSs) remained prominent. CONCLUSION Preference for home death expressed by families in our study is similar to others, but the proportion of children actually able to die there is higher. Home death is facilitated by this model. Key components are POONSs, pediatric palliative and/or oncology specialist, and general practitioner. Professional roles change during PC and after death. An ongoing role for the oncology team in bereavement support is highlighted.
meso-5,10,15,20-Tetrakis(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)porphyrin propionic acid monosolvate

In the title compound, C48H38N4O8·C3H6O2, the porphyrin molecule is centrosymmetric. The propionic acid solvent molecule is disordered over two sets of sites with equal occupancy factors. The porphyrin central core is almost planar, with an r.m.s. deviation of the fitted atoms of 0.045 Å. The substituent benzene rings make dihedral angles of 70.37 (4) and 66.95 (4)° with respect to the porphyrin core plane. The crystal structure is stabilized by an interesting network of hydrogen bonds. Porphyrin molecules are connected by O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds creating ribbons running along the [101] direction. Weak C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds connect separate molecular ribbons in the [110] direction, creating (-111) layers. Intramolecular N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds also occur. The propionic acid molecules are connected by pairs of —H⋯O hydrogen bonds, creating dimers.
Efficient Web Services Message Exchange by SOAP Bundling Framework

Web services use an interoperable and loosely coupled data exchange architecture. Web services processing can cause significant runtime overhead, especially when the number of fine-grained transactions becomes large. Although some best-practice guidelines recommend coarse-grained messages to improve the performance of web services, coarse-grained services may interfere with the componentization of the services. Service granularity should be designed for reusability and modularity. In this paper, we propose a SOAP message bundling framework. This framework enables bundling multiple messages into one message. With this framework, application developers do not have to consider the service granularity. Instead, the framework bundles some fine-grained messages into a single coarse-grained message. To support this framework, we provide for service providers (1) a WSDL conversion tool and (2) a skeleton wrapper generator. These tools let service providers receive bundled messages without modifying existing service implementations. We also provide (3) a stub wrapper generator that allows service requesters to use bundled services easily. The existing message exchanges are not influenced by this framework. We evaluated the performance gain in experiments using the Google SOAP API. The results showed that our approach improves the performance of web services.
Anaerobic transformation of a technical brominated diphenyl ether mixture by super‐reduced vitamin B12 and dicyanocobinamide

The anaerobic transformation of the technical octabromo diphenyl ether mixture, DE‐79, was investigated by incubation with two super‐reduced corrinoids, dicyanocobinamide and cyanocobalamin (vitamin B12). The transformation produced 33 brominated diphenyl ethers (BDEs), 23 of which could be assigned to known structures. Within 1 d, the hepta‐ to nona‐BDEs in DE‐79 were almost quantitatively transformed with dicyanocobinamide to lower‐brominated homologs. Along with the decrease of high‐brominated congeners, concentrations of some tetra‐ to hexabromo congeners initially increased, followed by a decreasing or constant concentration during longer incubations. Super‐reduced cyanocobalamin also was able to transform BDE congeners of DE‐79. Whereas the transformation rates of hepta‐ to nona‐BDEs of DE‐79 by both corrinoids were comparable, tri‐ to hexa‐BDEs were susceptible to further transformation by super‐reduced cyanocobalamin. Incubation of DE‐79 with either corrinoid produced significant amounts of BDE 49. Because this congener is found in small quantities in both penta‐ and octabromo technical BDE mixtures, it may be a suitable indicator for reductive debromination of higher‐brominated BDEs. Isolated BDE 196 was incubated as well with super‐reduced dicyanocobalamine. After 1 d, 13 BDEs could be detected, with BDE 153, BDE 100, and BDE 99 dominating. After 7 d, only tetra‐BDEs or lower‐brominated BDEs were detectable. It could be shown that reductive debromination by super‐reduced corrinoids is a possible source for lower‐brominated BDEs (i.e., BDE 47, BDE 99, BDE 153, and BDE 154). The patterns observed with our bench‐scale study design demonstrate that anaerobic transformation in the presence of reducing agents can help to explain the occurrence of environmentally relevant BDE congeners (e.g., BDE 47, BDE 99, and BDE 153).
Matrilin-2 Is a Widely Distributed Extracellular Matrix Protein and a Potential Biomarker in the Early Stage of Osteoarthritis in Articular Cartilage

In this study, we first generated and characterized a polyclonal antibody against unique domain of matrlin-2 and then used this specific antibody to assess the expression pattern of matrilin-2 by immunohistochemistry. We found that marilin-2 is widely distributed in the connective tissues of many mouse tissues including heart, colon, penis, esophagus, lung, kidney, tracheal cartilage, developmental bone, and adult bone. The expression level of matrilin-2 was remarkably increased in the tissues of osteoarthritis developmental articular cartilage, compared to normal healthy tissues. Furthermore, we determined matrilin-2 expression in specific epithelial cells in stomach and ductal epithelial cells of salivary gland. In other tissues, the positive signals were mainly located around cardiac muscle cells and Purkinje fibers in the heart; corpus spongiosum in the penis; submucosa in the colon and esophagus; extracellular matrix of cartilage in the tracheal cartilage; and, glomerulus, the basement membrane of distal convoluted tubule and renal matrix in kidney. These observations indicated that the distribution pattern of matrilin-2 is heterogeneous in each tissue. Matrilin-2 may play an important role in the communication of matrix to matrix and matrix to cells and will be used as a potential biomarker in the early stage of osteoarthritis of articular cartilage.
Comparing normal saline versus diluted heparin to lock non-valved totally implantable venous access devices in cancer patients: a randomised, non-inferiority, open trial.

BACKGROUND Heparin has been used for years as a locking solution in totally implantable venous access devices. Normal saline (NS) might be a safe alternative for heparin. However, evidence of non-inferiority of NS versus heparin is lacking. PATIENTS AND METHODS We randomly allocated 802 cancer patients with a newly inserted port either to heparin lock (300 U/3 ml) or to NS lock groups in a 1:1 assignment ratio. The primary outcome was the number of functional complications, which was defined as 'easy injection, impossible aspiration' at port access. Secondary outcomes included all functional problems and catheter-related bacteraemia. We hypothesised that NS locks do not cause more functional problems and catheter-related bacteraemia than heparin locks. Non-inferiority is established if the upper limit of the confidence interval (CI) for the relative risk of NS versus heparin is <1.4. RESULTS Three hundred and eighty-two patients from the NS group and 383 from the heparin lock group were included in the analysis. The incidence rate of our primary outcome (easy injection, impossible aspiration) was 3.70% (95% CI 2.91%-4.69%) and 3.92% (95% CI 3.09%-4.96%) of accesses in the NS and heparin groups, respectively. The relative risk was 0.94% (95% CI 0.67%-1.32%). Catheter-related bloodstream infection was 0.03 per 1000 catheter days in the NS group and 0.10 per 1000 catheter days in the heparin group. CONCLUSION NS is a safe and effective locking solution in implantable ports if combined with a strict protocol for device insertion and maintenance.
The boundaries of language and thought in deductive inference

Is human thought fully embedded in language, or do some forms of thought operate independently? To directly address this issue, we focus on inference-making, a central feature of human cognition. In a 3T fMRI study we compare logical inferences relying on sentential connectives (e.g., not, or, if … then) to linguistic inferences based on syntactic transformation of sentences involving ditransitive verbs (e.g., give, say, take). When contrasted with matched grammaticality judgments, logic inference alone recruited “core” regions of deduction [Brodmann area (BA) 10p and 8m], whereas linguistic inference alone recruited perisylvian regions of linguistic competence, among others (BA 21, 22, 37, 39, 44, and 45 and caudate). In addition, the two inferences commonly recruited a set of general “support” areas in frontoparietal cortex (BA 6, 7, 8, 40, and 47). The results indicate that logical inference is not embedded in natural language and confirm the relative modularity of linguistic processes.
Vegetation-zonation patterns across a temperate mountain cloud forest ecotone are not explained by variation in hydraulic functioning or water relations.

Many studies have demonstrated linkages between the occurrence of fog and ecophysiological functioning in cloud forests, but few have investigated hydraulic functioning as a determining factor that explains sharp changes in vegetation. The objective of this study was to compare the plant water status during cloud-immersed and non-immersed conditions and hydraulic vulnerability in branches and roots of species across a temperate, mountain fog ecotone. Because cloud forests are often dark, cool and very moist, we expected cloud forest species to have less drought-tolerant characteristics (i.e., lower Pe and P50-the pressures required to induce a 12 and 50% loss in hydraulic conductivity, respectively) relative to non-cloud forest species in adjacent (lower elevation) forests. Additionally, due to the ability of cloud forest species to absorb cloud-fog water, we predicted greater improvements in hydraulic functioning during fog in cloud forest species relative to non-cloud forest species. Across the cloud forest ecotone, most species measured were very resistant to losses in conductivity with branch P50 values from -4.5 to -6.0 MPa, hydraulic safety margins (Ψmin - P50) >1.5 MPa and low calculated hydraulic conductivity losses. Roots had greater vulnerabilities, with P50 values ranging from -1.4 to -2.5 MPa, leading to greater predicted losses in conductivity (∼20%). Calculated values suggested strong losses of midday leaf hydraulic conductance in three of the four species, supporting the hydraulic segmentation hypothesis. In both cloud forest and hardwood species, Ψs were greater on foggy days than sunny days, demonstrating the importance of fog periods to plant water balance across fog regimes. Thus, frequent fog did not result in systemic changes in hydraulic functioning or vulnerability to embolism across our temperate cloud forest ecotone. Finally, roots functioned with lower hydraulic conductivity than branches, suggesting that they may serve as more sensitive indicators of hydraulic functioning in these mesic, foggy ecosystems.
Imiquimod 3.75% cream (Zyclara) for the treatment of actinic keratoses

Introduction: Actinic keratosis is a premalignant disease with a high incidence and is a strong predictor for the development of squamous cell carcinoma. Various treatment options have been established over recent years, including topical treatment with imiquimod, 5-fluorouracil, diclofenac or photodynamic therapy, cryotherapy and surgical procedures. Areas covered: This review covers basic and clinical experiences with imiquimod 3.75% for topical treatment of actinic keratosis of the face and balding scalp and its comparators with special focus on imiquimod 5%. It also covers pharmacology of imiquimod 3.5% and its contribution to the current treatment options of actinic keratoses. Expert opinion: Imiquimod 3.75% is an interesting, safe and well-tolerated treatment option for actinic keratoses of the face or balding scalp especially in respect of compliance, as it is indicated for daily use for a shorter time period (2 times, 2-week cycles) and approved for use on larger areas compared with imiquimod 5%. Data from current trials indicate lower efficacy compared with imiquimod 5% cream when applied three times a week for 16 weeks or for two 4-week cycles with a 4-week no-treatment interval, but indicate similar efficacy when compared with a twice-weekly schedule for 16 weeks. An additive effect was observed when combining cryosurgery followed by imiquimod 3.75%.
The Perils of Taylor Rules

Since John Taylor's (1993) seminal paper, a large literature has argued that active interest rate feedback rules, that is, rules that respond to increases in inflation with a more than one-for-one increase in the nominal interest rate, are stabilizing. In this paper, we argue that once the zero bound on nominal interest rates is taken into account, active interest-rate feedback rules can easily lead to unexpected consequences. Specifically, in the context of a sticky-price model, we show that even if the steady state at which monetary policy is active is locally the unique equilibrium, typically there exists an infinite number of equilibrium trajectories originating arbitrarily close to that steady state that converge either to another steady state at which monetary policy is passive or to a stable limit cycle around the active steady state. We conclude that the use of local techniques for monetary policy evaluation might lead to spurious policy recommendations.