Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ASSESSMENT OF DESIGN REQUIREMENTS AGAINST PROGRESSIVE COLLAPSE IN UFC 4-023-03: NUMERICAL SIMULATION

Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC 4-023-03): Design of Buildings to Resist Progressive Collapse published by the Department of Defense is one of the few design provisions that have been used around the US which provide design requirements on the basis of conventional design philosophy to the designers and the owners of the buildings against progressive collapse. These requirements are evaluated using numerical models which have been shown to be able to reasonably capture the behaviors of the buildings under column loss scenarios. A large number of case studies are conducted using validated three-dimensional macro-based models for four prototype buildings with different size, different height, different seismic detailing and different structural layouts. The simulation results show that the tie force method (TFM) is effective in protecting steel framed buildings against progressive collapse and can significantly reduce overall deformations of the structures after sudden loss of a column. However, the method for calculating the dynamic increase factor (DIF) proposed in the document is deemed problematic and thus a new energy-based approach is proposed to assess the peak dynamic displacement (PDD). The proposed method is shown to be accurate and reasonably conservative.
Factors that prompted families to file medical malpractice claims following perinatal injuries.

OBJECTIVE To identify self-reported reasons that prompt families to file malpractice claims following perinatal injuries. DESIGN Families were interviewed by telephone using a questionnaire that contained structured and open-ended questions. PARTICIPANTS Mothers of infants who had experienced permanent injuries or deaths and had closed malpractice claims in Florida between 1986 and August 1989 were interviewed. Questionnaires were completed by 127 (35%) of a total of 368 such families. OUTCOME MEASURES Reasons prompting families to file and families' descriptions of medical events, advice from acquaintances, and the quality of physician-family communication. RESULTS Families volunteered numerous reasons for filing: advised by knowledgeable acquaintances (33% of respondents), recognized cover-up (24%), needed money (24%), recognized that their child would have no future (23%), needed information (20%), and decided to seek revenge or protect others from harm (19%). Over one third of all families indicated that they were told by medical personnel prior to filing that the care provided had caused their children's injuries. Families expressed dissatisfaction with physician-patient communication. Families believed that physicians would not listen (13% of sample), would not talk openly (32%), attempted to mislead them (48%), or did not warn about long-term neurodevelopmental problems (70%). CONCLUSION Families give many reasons for filing a claim. Obtaining money may not be the only goal for some families who file suit.
Effects of particle fragmentation on performance of the abrasive waterjet

Considerable research has been devoted towards studying how the various abrasive waterjet process parameters affect one another and their influence on the final cutting results. From an applicational standpoint the user is most interested in how much area the abrasive waterjet is capable of separating per unit of time. This is typically referred to as cutting performance. While several approaches have evaluated the effect of kinetic energy from the speed of particles, in this paper the focus is laid on the effect of mass of the particle that is interacting with the material. With gaining more insights in the workings of the particle-material interaction it will be possible to gain a thorough understanding of the involved processes which can lead to significant improvements of the cutting process. Optimizing the efficiency of the abrasive waterjet process will further increase the number of viable applications of this innovative process.
Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects : Weight Management Programming View project Clinical Trail : NCT 00888706 View project

Saunders, M.J., N.D. Luden, and J.E. Herrick. Consumption of an oral carbohydrate-protein gel improves cycling endurance and prevents postexercise muscle damage. J. Strength Cond. Res. 21(3):678–684. 2007. —Investigators have reported improved endurance performance and attenuated postexercise muscle damage with carbohydrate-protein beverages (CHO P) versus carbohydrate-only beverages (CHO). However, these benefits have been demonstrated only when CHO P was administered in beverage-form, and exclusively in male subjects. Thus, the purposes of this study were to determine if an oral CHO P gel improved endurance performance and post-exercise muscle damage compared to a CHO gel, and determine if responses were similar between genders. Thirteen cyclists (8 men, 5 women; V̇O2peak 57.9 7.0 ml·kg 1·min 1) completed two timed cycle-trials to volitional exhaustion at 75% of V̇O2peak. At 15-minute intervals throughout these rides, subjects received CHO or CHO P gels, which were matched for carbohydrate content (CHO 0.15 g CHO·kg BW 1; CHO P 0.15 g CHO 0.038 g protein·kg BW 1). Trials were performed using a randomly counterbalanced, double-blind design. Subjects rode 13% longer (p 0.05) when utilizing the CHO P gel (116.6 28.5 minutes) versus the CHO gel (102.8 25.0 minutes). In addition, men (101.8 24.6; 114.8 26.2) and women (104.4 28.6; 119.6 34.9) responded similarly to the CHO and CHO P trials, with no significant treatment-by-gender effect. Postexercise creatine kinease (CK) was not significantly different between treatments. However, CK increased significantly following exercise in the CHO trial (183 116; 267 214 U·L 1), but not the CHO P trial (180 133; 222 141 U·L 1). Therefore, to prolong endurance performance and prevent increases in muscle damage, it is recommended that male and female cyclists consume CHO P gels rather than CHO gels during and immediately following exercise.
Determinant of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure in Nigeria

This study focused on determinants of corporate social responsibility disclosure in Nigeria. Data was collected from the annual report and account of quoted banks in Nigeria stock exchange market. The result was presented in a tabular form of which the panel regression model was used to analysis the data collected. The result showed that firm size and return on asset was positively related to corporate social responsibility disclosure while leverage was found to exhibit a negative relationship with corporate social responsibility. It was therefore recommended that further research is need to explore the debt/equity hypothesis in other context or different time periods, that inconsistency of previous results is a common feature of CSR research.
Faculty Perception for Technology Integration in Nigeria University System: Implication for faculty quality curriculum design

Many Nigerian faculties are failing to effectively incorporate technology into their classroom instruction. Researchers have reported a general failure in this regard; however, minimal study is available on the role of faculty perception of self-efficacy in incorporating technology into pedagogy. This sequential, mixed-method study sought to discover whether a significant correlation exists between faculty perception of self-efficacy and technology adoption among Teacher Education faculty in Nigerian universities. The conceptual framework for the research is grounded in Bandura„s theory of self-efficacy. A sample of faculty members completed a 59-item Likert- type survey designed to measure self-efficacy as it relates to technology competence and integration within the classroom. Quantitative data were analyzed using a Pearson product-moment correlation to identify relationships between self-efficacy and technology adoption. In the qualitative phase of the study, 10 participants were interviewed. Constant comparison was performed to analyze the transcribed interview data. The findings indicated a positive correlation between teacher self-efficacy and the integration of technology. The results provide valuable information needed to address the concerns and fears of Teacher Education faculty as they integrate technology into their classroom instruction. Implications for social change include providing educators and administrators with the needed data to develop the skills required to teach technology to their students. Acquiring technical skills will prepare students to become more competitive in a technology based society and for further educational endeavors.
Lattice Thermal Conductivity of m GeTe • n Sb 2 Te 3 Phase-Change Materials : A First-Principles Study

As the most promising materials for phase-change data storage, the pseudobinary mGeTe•nSb2Te3 (GST) chalcogenides have been widely investigated. Nevertheless, an in-depth understanding of the thermal-transport property of GST is still lacking, which is important to achieve overall good performance of the memory devices. Herein, by using first-principles calculations and Boltzmann transport theory, we have systematically studied the lattice thermal conductivity along the out of plane direction of both stable hexagonal and meta-stable rock-salt-like phases of GST, and good agreement with available experiments has been observed. It is revealed that with the increase of the n/m ratio, the lattice thermal conductivity of hexagonal GST increases due to the large contribution from the weak Te-Te bonding, while an inverse trend is observed in meta-stable GST, which is due to the increased number of vacancies that results in the decrease of the lattice thermal conductivity. The size effect on thermal conductivity is also discussed. Our results provide useful information to manipulate the thermal property of GST phase-change materials.
Stochastic Difference of Convex Algorithm and its Application to Training Deep Boltzmann Machines

Difference of convex functions (DC) programming is an important approach to nonconvex optimization problems because these structures can be encountered in several fields. Effective optimization methods, called DC algorithms, have been developed in deterministic optimization literature. In machine learning, a lot of important learning problems such as the Boltzmann machines (BMs) can be formulated as DC programming. However, there is no DC-like algorithm guaranteed by convergence rate analysis for stochastic problems that are more suitable settings for machine learning tasks. In this paper, we propose a stochastic variant of DC algorithm and give computational complexities to converge to a stationary point under several situations. Moreover, we show our method includes expectation-maximization (EM) and Monte Carlo EM (MCEM) algorithm as special cases on training BMs. In other words, we extend EM/MCEM algorithm to more effective methods from DC viewpoint with theoretical convergence guarantees. Experimental results indicate that our method performs well for training binary restricted Boltzmann machines and deep Boltzmann machines without pre-training.
Low Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate and Chronic Kidney Failure following Liver Transplant: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Background Patients undergoing orthotropic liver transplant (LTx) often present with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Identification of patients who will progress to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) might allow not only the implementation of kidney protective measures but also simultaneous kidney transplant. Study Design Retrospective cohort study in adults who underwent LTx at a single center. ESRD, death, and composite of ESRD or death were studied outcomes. Results 331 patients, who underwent LTx, were followed up for 2.6 ± 1.4 years; 31 (10%) developed ESRD, 6 (2%) underwent kidney transplant after LTx and 25 (8%) remained on chronic hemodialysis. Patients with pre-operative eGFR lesser than 60 ml/min per 1.73 m2 had a 4-fold increased risk of developing ESRD after adjustment for sex, diabetes mellitus, APACHE II score, use of nephrotoxic drugs, and severe liver graft failure (HR = 3.95, 95% CI 1.73, 9.01; p = 0.001). Other independent risk factors for ESRD were pre-operative diabetes mellitus and post-operative severe liver graft dysfunction. Conclusion These findings emphasize low eGFR prior to LTx as a predictor for ESRD or death. The consideration for kidney after liver transplant as a treatment modality should be taken into account for those who develop chronic kidney failure after LTx.
Learning how older adults undertake computer tasks

This paper describes a study that was conducted to learn more about how older adults use the tools in a GUI to undertake tasks in Windows applications. The objective was to gain insight into what people did and what they found most difficult. File and folder manipulation, and some aspects of formatting presented difficulties, and these were thought to be related to a lack of understanding of the task model, the correct interpretation of the visual cues presented by the interface, and the recall and translation of the task model into a suitable sequence of actions.
Impacts of outsourcing in educational hospitals in Iran: A study on Isfahan University of Medical Sciences-2010

Purpose: Outsourcing in healthcare is a cost-effective strategy that can lead to increase services quality. The aim of this study was to determine the types of services that have been outsourced in educational hospitals in Isfahan and to investigate managers’ view about the impact of Outsourcing. Design/Methodology/Approach: A descriptive-survey study carried out in 2010. Our samples consisted of 100 educational hospital and treatment deputy senior managers of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences and 53 usable questionnaires were received. Survey instrument main points were the extent to which educational hospital outsource services and the impact of Outsourcing. Reliability and validity of the questionnaire have been verified. Data are analyzed with SPSS18 software. Findings: The results for medical-diagnostics services showed physiotherapy, radiology, and ultrasound that have the highest rate (33%) of being outsourced. Between logistic and administrative activities, housekeeping, and facility engineering maintenance services are the highest rate of outsourced (100%) and green space, CSR, laundry, and medical records are the lowest rate of outsourced (16%). In managers’ view, in relation to advantages of outsourcing, pay more attention to internal and external customers in private sector (57.2%) was the highest. In relation to disadvantages of outsourcing, costs increase for the patients (45.6%) was the highest. In relation to barriers of outsourcing, forgetting the goal of outsourcing (efficiency) (60.6%) was the highest. Conclusion: Finally, managers’ views about outsourcing in health services organizations were rather acceptable, but in their views, there are barriers in implementation of outsourcing and they are focused on removing the barriers before outsourcing. Fundamental infrastructure developments as making competing market, promoting of cultures, education, modifying the management attitude and approach, and establishing incentive policies are emphasized for successful implementation of outsourcing.
Local vs . Regional Spectral Ground-Motion Predictive Equation for Algeria

This paper deals with the development of the Algerian attenuation law based on local and regional database. Since the installation of the Algerian accelerographs network (335 stations), several earthquakes were recorded thus forming a very useful database including more than 1000 records (3<Ms<6.9 and 7< Dhyp <160 Km). One of the most important applications was to derive an attenuation relationship for Algeria. The considered spectral attenuation model accounts for geometrical spreading, anelastic attenuation, and geological site conditions. The regression method, introduced by joyner and Boore (1981), is a two-step inversion [Fukushima and Tanaka, 1990; Fukushima and Tanaka, 1992]. The attenuation model describes the evolution of spectral acceleration according to magnitude, hypocentrale distance, and category of the site. Spectral attenuation laws were derived from 1317 horizontal components homogeneously processed including Algerian strong motion records (48%), European records (42%) and American records (12%). Two models are studied, the first one considers Algerian data only, called local model, and the second one consider the whole data called regional model. The obtained results show that the PGA standard deviation decreases from 0.331 (local data) to 0.314 (regional data), and the local model overestimates the predicted acceleration for larger magnitude. The residual values between observed and predicted spectral accelerations are studied and do not exhibit any bias. The proposed regional model is in good agreement with classical published GMPE’s.
Aberrant expression of interleukin-10 and activation-induced cytidine deaminase in B cells from patients with Behçet's disease

Despite extensive studies, the pathogenesis of Behçet's disease (BD) remains unclear. In particular, the roles of B cells in patients with BD have not been elucidated. Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) is a critical enzyme for immunoglobulin (Ig) heavy chain class switching and somatic hypermutation in B cells and the abnormal expression of AID in various immune conditions has previously been studied. B10 cells, an interleukin (IL)-10-secreting subset of regulatory B cells, function to downregulate inflammation and autoimmunity. Thus, in the present study, the relevance of B cells in patients with BD was investigated. The plasma levels of IL-10 and IgA and the proportions of cluster of differentiation (CD)43+ B cells, excluding naïve B cells, were measured in 16 patients with BD and 16 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs). Additionally, the mRNA levels of IL-10 and AID were assessed in B cells from fresh peripheral blood samples of the BD patients and HCs. The plasma level of IL-10 in patients with BD did not differ significantly from that in HCs. Similarly, there was no significant difference in the plasma level of IgA, although a slight increase was observed in patients with BD compared with that in HCs. There were no differences in CD43+CD19+ B cell numbers between patients with BD and HCs. However, IL-10 mRNA levels were significantly reduced (P<0.05), while AID mRNA levels were significantly increased (P<0.01) in the B cells of patients with BD compared with those in HCs. These results provide insight into the role of B cells in patients with BD.
Effect of endotracheal suctioning on cerebral oxygenation in traumatic brain-injured patients.

OBJECTIVE In patients with severe head injuries, brain damage occurs not only from the primary trauma but also secondarily from a reduction in cerebral oxygenation as a result of brain swelling, ischemia, and elevated intracranial pressure (ICP). However, routine interventions designed to maintain oxygenation, such as endotracheal suctioning (ETS), also may negatively affect the cerebrovascular status by increasing the ICP. The purpose of this study was to determine whether ETS influences cerebral oxygenation in patients with traumatic brain injury. DESIGN Descriptive, prospective, with repeated assessments within each patient. SETTING Ten-bed trauma intensive care unit in a university Level I trauma center. SUBJECTS Nineteen patients who were 16 yrs or older, had acute head injury, a Glasgow Coma Scale score < or =8; external ventricular drain and arterial pressure devices in place, and were intubated and mechanically ventilated. INTERVENTIONS ETS protocol consisting of administration of four ventilator-delivered breaths at 135% of the patients' actual tidal volume, 100% F(IO)2, before and after suctioning with a standardized catheter at a 16-L flow rate. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS This study examined cerebrovascular responses as measured by the traditional measures of ICP and cerebral perfusion pressure, as well as middle cerebral artery velocity and jugular venous oxygen tension that occurred during ETS in head-injured adults. The results of this study show that both ICP and cerebral perfusion pressure are increased during ETS. In the majority of patients (84%), the ICP returned to baseline values within 2 mins. CONCLUSIONS The increase in jugular venous oxygen tension associated with increases in middle cerebral artery velocity and mean arterial pressure suggests that cerebral oxygen delivery was maintained during ETS. Cerebral changes associated with ETS using the described protocol are consistent with the preservation of cerebral oxygenation.
A novel HfOx nanocrystal nonvolatile memory formed by HfSiO4 crystallization

We have investigated a novel technique to form the HfO2 nanocrystals in Hf-silicate film. The Hf-silicate films are deposited by co-sputtering the hafnium and silicon targets in Ar/O2 ambience. From the material analysis, we have found that the HfO2 nanocrystals with a size of 7.8 nm and a dot density of 9.2×10 cm are formed by Hf-silicate crystallization when it is annealed in O2 ambience at 900 °C. In addition, the surface roughness is dramatically increased when the nanocrystals are formed. When the Hf-silicate is crystallized, HfOx and SiOx (x<2) phases are separated, and the polycrystalline HfO2 are obtained. Therefore, we believe that the formation of nanocrystals is induced by the phase separation of Hf-silicate. The electrical characteristics of HfO2 nanocrystal memory are also investigated by measuring C–V and I–V curves. The wide memory window and low leakage current of the sample with