Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of chronic toxicity of sodium chloride or potassium chloride to a unionid mussel (Lampsilis siliquoidea) in water exposures using standard and refined toxicity testing methods

Freshwater mussels are generally underrepresented in toxicity databases used to derive water quality criteria, especially for long‐term exposures. Multiple tests were conducted to determine the chronic toxicity of sodium chloride (NaCl) or potassium chloride (KCl) to a unionid mussel (fatmucket, Lampsilis siliquoidea). Initially, a 4‐wk NaCl test and a 4‐wk KCl test were conducted starting with 2‐mo‐old mussels in water exposures with and without a thin layer of sand substrate. A feeding study was conducted later to refine test conditions for longer‐term 12‐wk exposures, and 3 chronic NaCl tests were then conducted following the refined method to assess the influence of test duration (4–12 wk) and age of organisms (starting age ∼1 wk to 2 mo) on mussel sensitivity. Biomass (total dry wt of surviving mussels in a replicate) was generally a more sensitive endpoint compared to survival and growth (length and dry wt). In the 4‐wk NaCl or KCl test started with 2‐mo‐old juveniles, a 20% effect concentration (EC20) based on biomass (264 mg Cl/L from the NaCl test or 8.7 mg K/L from the KCl test) in the exposure with sand was 2‐fold lower than the EC20 in the exposure without sand. The longer‐term 12‐wk NaCl tests started with the 1‐wk‐old and 2‐mo‐old juveniles were successfully completed under refined test conditions based on the feeding study, and younger juveniles were more sensitive to NaCl than older juveniles. The NaCl toxicity did not substantially change with extended exposure periods from 4 to 12 wk, although the 4‐wk EC20s for biomass were slightly greater (up to 37%) than the 12‐wk EC20s in the 2 longer‐term exposures. Including the toxicity data from the present study into existing databases would rank fatmucket the most sensitive species to KCl and the second most sensitive species to NaCl for all freshwater organisms. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:3050–3062. Published 2018 Wiley Periodicals Inc. on behalf of SETAC. This article is a US government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America.
Lack of awareness towards smoking-related health risks, symptoms related to COPD, and attitudinal factors concerning smoking: an Internet-based survey conducted in a random sample of the Danish general population

ABSTRACT Background: Although chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality globally, several studies have shown little awareness of COPD in the general population. The awareness of COPD in the Scandinavian countries is, however, sparsely investigated. Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the awareness in the general Danish population of smoking-related health risks and symptoms related to COPD and attitudinal factors concerning smoking. Design: Adults aged 18 years or older were randomly selected to reflect the background population. An Internet-based questionnaire was conducted in January–February 2015. Results: A total of 1002 answered the questionnaire (515 males; 487 females). In total, 17.7% were current smokers (men: 15.5%–women: 19.9%). More smokers and ex-smokers knew the symptoms of COPD compared to never-smokers (p < 0.001). Ex-smokers had undergone more pulmonary function tests than smokers and never-smokers (p < 0.001) and significantly more men than women who had undergone pulmonary function test. Ex-smokers were more likely to rate cancer as the most feared disease (p = 0.026) than the smokers. Of the smokers, 28% did not regard COPD as a deadly disease and significantly more smokers than ex-/never-smokers believed that smoking cessation should not be mandatory before treatment of COPD and asthma (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Overall, smokers, ex-, and never-smokers had little knowledge of COPD regarding aetiology, symptoms, and severity thus emphasizing the necessity of early detection of COPD and more focus on spirometry in general practice, especially amongst smokers. There is a great discrepancy between the attitude of smokers and ex-/never-smokers towards mandatory smoking cessation before receiving treatment of smoking-related diseases. Funding: GlaxoSmithKline Pharma A/S Brøndby, financially supported the collecting of data by Voxmeter A/S. The authors had full access to the raw data and did not receive any financially support.
Analysis of Temporal Masking Effects on Master- and Slave-Type Flip-Flop SEUs and Related Applications

Analysis of temporal masking effects of single-event upsets (SEUs) on master–slave flip-flops (FFs) is provided, considering the difference of SEU cross sections between master and slave latches. An improved model of temporal masking effects of SEUs in master–slave FFs is proposed and demonstrated through alpha-particle single-event effect (SEE) experiments. Based on the improved model, an effective and accurate methodology to quantitatively evaluate single-event transient and SEU-induced error cross sections of FF chains is proposed. Implications of SEE hardening for sequential circuits are discussed.
Affordable care encourages healthy living: Theory and evidence from China's new cooperative medical scheme

In developing a theory of medical insurance and health behavior with bequest motive, we discover that whether ex ante moral hazard or the opposite occurs hinges upon the differential effects of health behavior on morbidity and mortality. Providing insurance can encourage healthy living by making longevity more affordable. We test the theory utilizing a unique experiment of China introducing the new cooperative medical scheme, unique in its long-term credibility necessary for our proposed channel. This scheme reduced cigarette use by around 9%. Further empirical analysis failed to falsify our theory or the alternative mechanism of health insurance reducing stress and thus the demand for cigarettes and hard liquor. Both newly proposed mechanisms alleviate concerns over ex ante moral hazard caused by providing affordable care for the poor.
Applicability Investigation of SAW Devices in the 3 to 5 GHz range

This paper investigates applicability of new type SAW devices comprising a thin piezoelectric crystal plate and an acoustic energy confinement portion to the 3 to 5 GHz range unexplored for SAW industries. First, it is demonstrated that excellent performances even in the 3.5 GHz range are achievable by using a KrF stepper/scanner that has commonly used in SAW mass production lines when I.H. P. SAW (Incredible High-perfor-mance SAW), one of the new type SAW devices, is used. Next, the same interdigital transducer periodicity of the 3.5 GHz I.H. P.SAW is applied to an LLSAW devices, another new type SAW device, and it is revealed that good performance is still achievable even in the 5 GHz range.
High school seniors' social network and other ICT use preferences and concerns

The study develops an in-depth picture of teens' thoughts and opinions related to social networks and ICT's, particularly preferences towards, and concerns related to, their use. Using a series of six semi-structured focus group interviews, data were gathered from 45 high school seniors attending a highly technological public high school. Focus group questions included 1) preferred methods for communicating with friends and family; 2) reasons for engaging or not engaging in online social networking; 3) how ICT's for social networking and other communication purposes were selected; and 4) decisions related to accepting online "friends. " Findings contradicted earlier "digital natives" literature, which suggests that teens are avid users of technology for technology's sake. Instead, the teens viewed ICTs and social networks from a more pragmatic view, using them as tools for quick and easy communication and for relationship building and maintenance. General findings indicated that 1) communication media were selected based on the closeness of the relationship with the message receiver(s) and the number of intended receivers; 2) social networks, such as Facebook, were used for less frequent contact with wider range of friends and relatives; 3) teens used ICTs differently for communication with adults than with peers; and 4) teens preferred to use email for interactions with teachers. An eight-category typology of four ICT capability preferences (Simplicity of interface design/Ease of use, Speed of use, Constant contact/Ubiquitous communication, and Multitasking) and four ICT use concerns (Information privacy, Information security, Communication overload; and Reduced face-to-face communication and interaction) is proposed.
Fluoride in fish flesh, fish bone and regular diet in south-coastal area of Karnataka state of India

Background: The objective of the study was to estimate the fluoride content in regular food items available, including fish, in a coastal area of the South Karnataka state of India. Materials and Methods: Fish and food samples were collected from a local market, i.e., Deralakatte, Mangalore of Karnataka State, India. Commonly consumed different species of fish (eight types are included in the study) and popular food items (twelve types) were collected through a random sampling strategy and then processed for the study. The flesh and bones of fish were separated from individual fish. Samples of flesh, bones, and food (nonfish, vegetarian food consumed by a proportion of Karnataka population) were homogenized separately, dried, and the pH of the processed samples was adjusted to neutrality (pH 7.0). Fluoride anion was determined using a fluoride ion selective electrode (ISE, Nico2000 Ltd., UK). Although the ingredients of the different fish and food items explored differed, the same processing technique and analytical laboratory bench-work procedure were performed for each sample, i.e., as per published research elsewhere. This ensured the accurate estimation of fluoride for each food item. Results: Concentrations of fluoride in foods (Nonfish, vegetarian food) was estimated to ranging from 0.85 to 7.09 ppm and that in fish samples ranged from 1.45 to 2.30 ppm. The highest concentration was estimated 3.16 ppm in Rohu fish flesh, and 7 ppm in rava dosa (a vegetarian food). Conclusion: In conclusion, the Rohu (Labeo rohita) fish species were found to contain higher concentrations of bone fluoride. Fluoride determined in fish flesh was also high in concentration 2.28 ppm. Among the regular food items, rava dosa (a thin and crispy crepe made from rava and rice flour) preparation has a higher level of fluoride. These values would provide valid information regarding the future development of recommended dietary allowance strategy for a population.
Strength and Clarity of Vaccine Recommendations Influence Providers’ Practice

* Abbreviation: MenB — : meningococcal serogroup B In 2015, 2 meningococcal serogroup B (MenB) vaccines were licensed by the US Food and Drug Administration for persons ≥10 years through 25 years of age through an accelerated approval process.1 The Advisory Committee on Immunizations Practices recommended MenB vaccines for adolescents and young adults not at increased risk for meningococcal B disease using a new recommendation designation, Category B, defined as a recommendation for individual clinical decision-making.2,3 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics acknowledged issues that remained because of the accelerated approval.2,4 Duration of immunity, effectiveness of a newly structured meningococcal vaccine (ie, outer membrane protein antigens rather than conjugated polysaccharide antigens), long-term adverse effects, and the proportion of meningococcal B strains that would be covered by the 2 vaccines had yet to be established.3,4 In this month’s issue of Pediatrics ,5 results from a survey of pediatricians and family physicians were used to provide insight as to how providers might discuss and recommend MenB vaccines. The survey was used to query providers … Address correspondence to Michael T. Brady, MD, Infectious Diseases, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, 700 Children’s Dr, J5421, Columbus, OH 43205. E-mail: michael.brady{at}nationwidechildrens.org
Looking Beyond Distress: A Call for Spanning the Continuum of Mental Health Care

Background Despite mental health’s definition as a state of well-being, mental health research and practice has often narrowly focused on pathology and distress. The identification, treatment, and rehabilitation of mental illness are the primary activities pertaining to the role of mental health professionals, but only focusing on these primary activities carries the risk of neglecting other legitimate responsibilities related to prevention of illness and promotion of wellness. Therefore, it becomes important to highlight the potential utility of separately examining levels of distress, alongside levels of well-being in community samples. The goal of this study was to determine the extent to which low levels of distress or a lack of significant distress co-occurs with high levels of well-being in a sample of urban Indian adults. Methods Standardized measures of psychological distress, along with measures of emotional, psychological, and social well-being, were used in a sample of 300 adults aged 20 to 60 years. The participation of community-dwelling adults who could respond to the questionnaires in English or Hindi (the most widely spoken and official language in India) was solicited through posting announcements on various platforms in a metropolitan city in Southern India. The participants had the option to respond to the questionnaires via a paper-pencil version or through an online Google survey. Psychological distress was assessed using the Kessler Psychological Distress scale (K-10) on which a score over 19 indicated significant distress. We used the 25th and 75th percentile points on the respective distributions of scores to determine high, low, and moderate ranges on the three measures of well-being. Results Both men and women were well represented in the sample (47% and 53%, respectively). Approximately 41% were young adults, nearly 30% were in the 36 to 45-year age group, and 30% were in the 46 to 60-year age group. Approximately 48% of the overall sample (N = 143) exhibited an absence of significant distress. Patterns of well-being were examined in this group of low-distress participants. Only 13% of low-distress participants exhibited high emotional well-being (i.e., had a high positivity ratio) and high psychosocial functioning (i.e., had high psychological and social well-being). As many as 37.8% exhibited low well-being on at least one of the three measures of well-being, despite being low on distress. In other words, low well-being scores were fairly common in conjunction with non-significant levels of distress. Conclusion Reliance on low distress for operationalization of mental health may mask lower levels of emotional well-being and psychosocial functioning in a given population. The findings underscore the need to span the entire continuum of mental health care by routinely including preventive and promotive aspects in research and practice.
Guarder: A Tunable Secure Allocator

Due to the on-going threats posed by heap vulnerabilities, we design a novel secure allocator -- GUARDER--to defeat these vulnerabilities. GUARDER is different from existing secure allocators in the following aspects. Existing allocators either have low/zero randomization entropy, or cannot provide stable security guarantees, where their entropies vary by object size classes, execution phases, inputs, or applications. GUARDER ensures the desired randomization entropy, and provides an unprecedented level of security guarantee by combining all security features of existing allocators, with overhead that is comparable to performance-oriented allocators. Compared to the default Linux allocator, GUARDER'S performance overhead is less than 3% on average. This overhead is similar to the previous state-of-the-art, Free-Guard, but comes with a much stronger security guarantee. GUARDER also provides an additional feature that allows users to customize security based on their performance budget, without changing code or even recompiling. The combination of high security and low overhead makes GUARDER a practical solution for the deployed environment.
Evaluation of the Suitability of NEON SIMD Microprocessor Extensions Under Proton Irradiation

This paper analyzes the suitability of single-instruction multiple data (SIMD) extensions of current microprocessors under radiation environments. SIMD extensions are intended for software acceleration, focusing mostly in applications that require high computational effort, which are common in many fields such as computer vision. SIMD extensions use a dedicated coprocessor that makes possible packing several instructions in one single extended instruction. Applications that require high performance could benefit from the use of SIMD coprocessors, but their reliability needs to be studied. In this paper, NEON, the SIMD coprocessor of ARM microprocessors, has been selected as a case study to explore the behavior of SIMD extensions under radiation. Radiation experiments of ARM CORTEX-A9 microprocessors have been accomplished with the objective of determining how the use of this kind of coprocessor can affect the system reliability.
Effects of Sourdough on FODMAPs in Bread and Potential Outcomes on Irritable Bowel Syndrome Patients and Healthy Subjects

Background: Fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols (FODMAPs) are an heterogeneous group of compounds that can be poorly digested and may have a range of effects on gastrointestinal processes. FODMAPs are found in a wide variety of foods, including bread. FODMAPs’ intake is associated with the onset of symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). On the other hand, some FODMAPs contribute to the healthy maintenance of intestinal microbiota. Volume increase of bread dough commonly relies on the use of two biological leavening agents, sourdough and baker’s yeast and, in some cases, a combination of both. Scope and Approach: The main objective of this review is to discuss the association between FODMAPs and IBS, beneficial effects of FODMAPs on healthy subjects and potential impact of biological leavening agents on FODMAPs content of bread. Key Findings and Conclusion: Given that yeasts and lactic acid bacteria, the dominant microorganisms in sourdough, may degrade FODMAPs, it would be possible to modulate the FODMAPs concentration in bread, thus positively affecting consumers’ health.
Sero-prevalence of foot and mouth disease in cattle in Borena Zone, Oromia regional state, Ethiopia

Objective To determine the sero-prevalnce of FMD and indicate patterns of animal movement in Borena zone, Ethiopia. Introduction The Foot and mouth disease (FMD) virus is a highly contagious and economically devastating trans boundery disease of cloven-hooved domestic and wild animals 1 . Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out between April and November 2015 to investigate the sero-prevalence of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in cattle using serology and questionnaire servey in Borena zone. Results A total of 363 sera samples were collected from nine peasant associations found in three different districts. An overall seroprevalence of 42.7% (95%: CI= 37.7-47.84) was found during the study. There was statistically significant difference among the districts (χ2 = 10.43, p=0.005) and the highest prevalence was found in Dire district which accounted for 52.8% (95%: CI, 44.0-61.4). Soda peasant association of Dire district and Surupa peasant association of Yabello district accounted for highest sero-prevalence 65.5% (95%: CI, 49.4-78.5) and 65.0% (95%: CI= 40.4-78.5), respectively. Statistical significant difference in footand-mouth disease seroprevalence (χ2 =31.1, p=0.000) was found among the peasant associations. Similarly, there was significance difference (χ2 =17.4, p=0.000) in the prevalence of foot-and-mouth disease between age groups. Though the seroprevalence foot-and-mouth disease was higher in females than in males, there was no significant difference (χ2=1.63, p=0.202) between sex. The different risk factors analyzed during this study indicated that, peasant associations (PAs), district and age were seen to be significantly associated (p 3years). Moreover, an extrinsic factor like dry season enforces pastoralist to travel a longer distance to look for grazing lands and water sources that creates suitable conditions for foot-and-mouth disease transmission between infected and susceptible animals. Conclusions FMD is an important transboundery animal disease that affects the livelihood of farmers and economy of the country. In pastoral areas like Borena where livestock movement is common during dry season, the disease is devastating and spreading from one area to the other. Therefore, an extensive regular serological survey, virus isolation, and characterizations of FMD virus need to be conducted for a possible development of poly-valent vaccines that contains commonly circulating serotypes of FMD virus in Ethiopia. References 1. Gelagay Ayelet, Mana Mahapatra, Esayas Gelaye, Berhe G. Egziabher, Tesfaye Rufeal, Mesfin Sahle, Nigel P. Ferris, Jemma Wadsworth, Geoffrey H. Hutchings, and Nick J. Knowles. Genetic Characterization of Foot-and-Mouth Disease Viruses, Ethiopia, 1981–2007. Emerg Infect Dis. 15(9): 1409–1417.2009
Radioluminescence and Optically Stimulated Luminescence Responses of a Cerium-Doped Sol-Gel Silica Glass Under X-Ray Beam Irradiation

Ce-doped sol-gel silica glasses were prepared for real-time X-ray dose or dose rate monitoring using radioluminescence (RL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL). A small piece of this glass scintillator was connected to two optical fibers, allowing a remote measurement of the ionizing radiation dose through RL and OSL signals. By using this Ce-doped material, we particularly demonstrated that the RL signal shows a linear behavior at least up to dose rates of 1.2 Gy/s. Furthermore, the linear dose response of the OSL signal can be extended up to 500 Gy, independently of the used dose rate.
Forgetting of Passwords: Ecological Theory and Data

It is well known that text-based passwords are hard to remember and that users prefer simple (and non-secure) passwords. However, despite extensive research on the topic, no principled account exists for explaining when a password will be forgotten. This paper contributes new data and a set of analyses building on the ecological theory of memory and forgetting. We propose that human memory naturally adapts according to an estimate of how often a password will be needed, such that often used, important passwords are less likely to be forgotten. We derive models for login duration and odds of recall as a function of rate of use and number of uses thus far. The models achieved a root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 1.8 seconds for login duration and 0.09 for recall odds for data collected in a month-long field experiment where frequency of password use was controlled. The theory and data shed new light on password management, account usage, password security and memorability.