Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Topology Optimization of Flexible Multibody Systems Using Equivalent Static Loads and Displacement Fields

Topology optimization techniques are applied in most cases for static applications. However, recently topology optimization procedures for structures under dynamic loads have been the focus of several studies. In this work, a topology optimization scheme for flexible multibody systems using equivalent static loads and displacement fields is investigated. The optimization problem is formulated using a homogenization method, more precisely, the solid isotropic material with penalization (SIMP) approach. The objective function in the optimization problem is the compliance and the method of moving asymptotes is used as optimizer. The objective function and the sensitivities are computed directly from the displacement field computed in the dynamic simulation. The examples of a 2‐arm manipulator and a slider‐crank mechanism are presented and the results are discussed to verify the improved dynamical behavior through this optimization method. (© 2014 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Dermatological Emergency Cases in Geriatric Patients: A 3-year Multicenter Study of Three National Referral Hospitals in Indonesia

BACKGROUND: Dermatological emergency is a condition requiring immediate identification and treatment to reduce mortality and morbidity. There are several dermatoses resulting in emergency room (ER) visits frequently demonstrated by the geriatric population. However, there is a lack of data about elderly with dermatological presentation seen at the ER in Indonesia. AIM: This retrospective study aims to identify the prevalence of dermatological emergency cases in the elderly at three national referral hospitals in Indonesia within 3 years. METHODS: The sample was geriatric patients who came and/or were consulted by the ER to dermatology and venereology (DV) department. The data (e.g., age, sex, history taking, physical findings, and diagnoses) were collected from medical record from each hospital and presented as a descriptive data. RESULTS: This study showed that there were only 37% of all geriatric emergency dermatological consultations from 2017 to 2020. CONCLUSION: This study concluded that there were more than half non-emergent cases of 3-year period consultation. This condition may raise the need of better training about true emergency and standardized curricula of emergency dermatological presentations in geriatric patients.
Statistical characterization of the meteor trail distribution at the South Pole as seen by a VHF interferometric meteor radar

A VHF meteor radar system was installed at the geographical South Pole in 2001. The purpose of this system is to measure the horizontal wind field in the mesosphere–lower thermosphere (MLT) region and to understand the large‐scale dynamics of the Antarctic polar region. The radar operated for a few months in 2001 and with minor interruptions since that time. In this paper we will describe the meteor radar system, the data detection and collection process, and the postprocessing software that was developed to extract information from the meteor echoes collected with the interferometer that is part of the radar system. Finally, the main features of the meteor distribution will be presented and discussed. Our results show that the meteor activity peaks during the Antarctic summer. Furthermore, it occurs mostly in a small region around the ecliptic plane roughly ∼20° wide in terms of elevation angle spread.
Exploratory action research: experiences of Nepalese EFL teachers

The number of reports and publications about exploratory action research (EAR) has been increasing in recent years; however, there is still a dearth of studies that examine its effectiveness for improving teaching and learning. This study explores Nepalese EFL teachers’ perceptions of EAR, the ways they explored their classroom issues, and how they acted to improve their classroom practices through involvement in an online EAR training course for a year. The data collected from interviews and the teachers’ written reports show that these teachers found EAR to be an effective approach to explore their classroom puzzles or problems and develop informed, context-sensitive strategies to solve these. The findings of this study are relevant for teachers, teacher educators, and education policymakers in providing insights into the value of EAR for bringing about changes in teaching and learning situations.
Hotspot screening of early maturing rice genotypes and genetic variability studies under sodicity

An experiment was conducted with 39 rice genotypes to screen for salt tolerance and evaluate potential variation among the genotypes under sodic conditions. All the 39 rice genotypes along with two check varieties (TRY2 & TRY5) were screened in vitro for salt tolerance by imposing 100 mM NaHCO 3 at the seedling stage under hydroponics and a salt injury score was given based on morphological symptoms. Observations on 12 biometrical traits were recorded under field sodic conditions and subjected to variability analysis. The ANOVA revealed that there was a significant difference for the 11 traits among the genotypes except for flag leaf breadth. Among the genotypes, the highest single plant yield was recorded by RG 50 (36.83 g). A correlation study revealed that, single plant yield exhibited significant and positive genotypic and phenotypic relation with panicle harvest index, the number of grains per panicle and panicle length. Path analysis showed that the traits viz., panicle harvest index, plant height and panicle length had a very high and positive direct effect on single plant yield. The traits viz., flag leaf breadth, SPAD meter reading and number of productive tillers per plant had a high and positive direct effect on single plant yield. In vitro studies revealed that the genotype RG113 was found to be highly tolerant to salt stress and it also showed a significantly higher yield (35.42 g) under field sodicity. The genotypes RG22, RG150, RG162 and RG188 which showed tolerance under in vitro screening and the moderately tolerant genotypes RG26, RG50, RG95, RG107, RG123 and RG176 were exhibiting significant yield under field sodicity conditions. Therefore, in order to breed for high yielding salt-tolerant rice varieties, the identified genotypes could be exploited as donor genotypes.
Building the Culture of Public Health as a Positive Reflection from the COVID-19 Crisis

Abstract The goal of this study was to look at the impact of different components of COVID-19 on the development of a public health culture during the COVID-19 pandemic. Culture is largely acknowledged to have the greatest and most profound influence on many aspects of human and group behavior. Culture is the process of integration that distinguishes members of one group or category of people through others; in other words, culture is the operating system of the communities, cultural nuances among societies cause people to demonstrate different behavioral patterns in the face of events. However, the cultural differences of each community make it impossible to apply these metrics universally. Observing the impact of countries’ cultural traits in the fight against outbreaks is one area where social scientists have not put much attention. As a result, this study demonstrates how cultural shifts affect their fight against outbreaks and public health challenges. The human response to COVID-19 is likely to be influenced by country culture and how (and when) overcome will be determined by it. Cultural ideas and assumptions should be assessed as part of public health interventions. These interventions should indeed be addressed at the societal level to stimulate awareness and participation while also guaranteeing culturally relevant events. Healthcare practitioners should emphasize public health exertions on culturally relevant forms of instruction, prevention, behavior and follow-up for successful pandemic management, effective screening, and diagnosis in infected individuals. Public health professionals must recognize the significance of this and learn to use communication messaging and guidelines, which must be culturally acceptable and context-dependent rather than merely grounded on medical methodologies, as was the case in many countries with COVID-19 management.
A comparison of different methods for the first-in-pediatric dose selection

Background and Aim: To conduct a pediatric clinical trial, it is important to optimize pediatric dose as accurately as possible. This is mainly because due to ethical reasons, children cannot be given several doses to evaluate pharmacokinetics, safety, and efficacy of a drug. Methods: In this study, several simple methods to project a first-in-pediatric dose to initiate a clinical trial were evaluated. These methods were as follows:(1) Weight-based pediatric dose prediction (allometric scaling), (2) Salisbury rule (weight-based method), and (3) pediatric dose prediction based on predicted clearance. These methods were compared with the dose given to children in clinical practice. The methods were also compared with whole-body physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model (n = 11). A ±30% prediction error (predicted vs. observed) was considered acceptable. Results: There were 27 drugs with 113 observations (different age groups from preterm neonates to adolescents). At least, ≤30% prediction error in pediatric dose projection was noted for more than 70% observations. The predictive performance of all the proposed methods was comparable with the whole-body PBPK. Conclusions: The proposed methods are simple and accurate and can be developed on a spreadsheet in a very short period of time. Relevance for Patients: The study provides an estimate of first-in-pediatric dose by simple methods to initiate pediatric clinical trials. Especially, Salisbury rule is based on body weight and is very simple and works fairly well in children >30 kg body weight and can be even used in clinical settings.
Into the unknown: Empirical UBI trials as social Europe’s risk insurance

In this article, we conduct a case study of EU-level debates on universal basic income (UBI) trials, as part of which we examine core contributions in the Conference on the Future of Europe, the election manifestos produced by European party groups, as well as European Parliament debates since 2009. The results indicate that parties and politicians are far more hesitant than citizens to demand UBI, while also relying proportionally more on proposing trials rather than policies. Interpreting the results, we develop a conceptual framework designed to better understand how political decisionmakers at the EU level can deal with the uncertainties involved in European social policymaking. We argue that these actors face legal, political, and suitability risks when proposing policies that would integrate the EU’s social dimension. Unlike in national settings, the potential to pursue various strategies of risk reduction is limited at the EU level. However, we argue that empirical trials of social policies are particularly well-suited to insuring politicians at the EU level against risks. This insurance function is based not only on the scope of empirical trials to reduce uncertainties about policy outcomes, but also on the fact that they are inherently non-binding. By simply proposing empirical trials, actors can influence agendas, benefit from public demands, or reduce public pressure without having to take on the risks associated with implementing a fully-fledged policy proposal. We conclude that empirical trials can be understood as buffers against risks that might be used strategically by politicians, and which have the potential to break stalemates in the future development of a “Social Europe”.
Addressing ethnic prejudice in youth: Developmental trajectories and associations with educational identity

Studying how attitudes develop in the transition from late adolescence to emerging adulthood offers unique insights into future generations’ perceptions of society and of others. However, findings on ethnic prejudice during this life period are mixed. The current research aims to examine the development of affective and cognitive ethnic prejudice, adopting a person-centered approach. Furthermore, it examines the associations between educational identity processes and prejudice. A sample of 297 Italian adolescents (Mage = 17.48, SDage = 0.79, 37.8% males) participated in a five-wave longitudinal study. At the mean level, cognitive prejudice decreased slightly over time, while affective prejudice remained stable. Additionally, rank-order stability coefficients were high (r ≥ .526). Moreover, for each dimension of prejudice (i.e., cognitive and affective) taken separately, three groups of participants were identified based on their high, moderate, or low scores, respectively. Finally, higher levels of educational identity in-depth exploration at baseline significantly increased the chances of adolescents falling into the low rather than the moderate group for both cognitive and affective prejudice. Conversely, it significantly reduced the chances of being in the high compared to the moderate group for affective prejudice. This study highlights the importance of considering multiple components of prejudice and their reciprocal associations with identity processes to identify at-risk segments of the adolescent and emerging adult populations.
Comparative Analysis of Co-Cultured Amniotic Cell-Conditioned Media with Cell-Free Amniotic Fluid Reveals Differential Effects on Epithelial–Mesenchymal Transition and Myofibroblast Activation

Myofibroblast activation is a cellular response elicited by a variety of physiological or pathological insults whereby cells initiate a coordinated response intended to eradicate the insult and then revert back to a basal state. However, an underlying theme in various disease states is persistent myofibroblast activation that fails to resolve. Based on multiple observations, we hypothesized that the secreted factors harvested from co-culturing amniotic stem cells might mimic the anti-inflammatory state that cell-free amniotic fluid (AF) elicits. We optimized an amnion epithelial and amniotic fluid cell co-culture system, and tested this hypothesis in the context of myofibroblast activation. However, we discovered that co-cultured amniotic cell conditioned media (coACCM) and AF have opposing effects on myofibroblast activation: coACCM activates the epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and stimulates gene expression patterns associated with myofibroblast activation, while AF does the opposite. Intriguingly, extracellular vesicles (EVs) purified from AF are necessary and sufficient to activate EMT and inflammatory gene expression patterns, while the EV-depleted AF potently represses these responses. In summary, these data indicate that coACCM stimulates myofibroblast activation, while AF represses it. We interpret these findings to suggest that coACCM, AF, and fractionated AF represent unique biologics that elicit different cellular responses that are correlated with a wide variety of pathological states, and therefore could have broad utility in the clinic and the lab.
The Impact of Body Posture on Heart Rate Strain during Tree Felling

Tree felling is recognized as one of the most difficult and physically demanding work phases in motor–manual wood harvesting, during which maintaining good posture can avert unnecessary loadings to the spine and the consequent musculoskeletal disorders to forestry professionals. This study aimed to (a) quantify the impact of posture selection by means of heart rate measurements and (b) analyze its interactions with the anthropometric and personal information of study subjects. Thirteen forest workers were asked to fell thirty trees in each of the four most common body postures during motor–manual forest operations: (i) stooping, (ii) flexed stooping, (iii) squatting, and (iv) half kneeling. Posture had a significant impact on the amount of heart strain measured as mean heart rate during work (HRwork), heart rate increase over resting heart rate (ΔHR), and relative heart rate index (HRR). The most popular position among the forest workers was flexed stooping, which also caused the most damage, compared with the least physiologically damaging position, half kneeling: HRwork by 12.40 bpm, ΔHR by 10.24 bpm, and HRR by 11.51. On the contrary, overweight and older subjects experienced lower heart rate strain, a finding that has to be further investigated.
Extending the Information Partition Function: Modeling Interaction Effects in Highly Multivariate, Discrete Data

EXTENDING THE INFORMATION PARTITION FUNCTION: MODELING INTERACTION EFFECTS IN HIGHLY MULTIVARIATE, DISCRETE DATA Paul C. Cannon Department of Statistics Master of Science Because of the huge amounts of data made available by the technology boom in the late twentieth century, new methods are required to turn data into usable information. Much of this data is categorical in nature, which makes estimation difficult in highly multivariate settings. In this thesis we review various multivariate statistical methods, discuss various statistical methods of natural language processing (NLP), and discuss a general class of models described by Erosheva (2002) called generalized mixed membership models. We then propose extensions of the information partition function (IPF) derived by Engler (2002), Oliphant (2003), and Tolley (2006) that will allow modeling of discrete, highly multivariate data in linear models. We report results of the modified IPF model on the World Health Organization’s Survey on Global Aging (SAGE).
Violence against Women by Addicted Husbands in Iraq

Objective: Despite that women are becoming active participants and protagonists of the development social, economic, and political process, they still suffer from the distress of violence, and this problem still spread worldwide. Domestic violence against women is studied in the general population, but the violence against women with addicted spouses was little highlighted especially in Iraq, and this study aimed to reveal the rate of violence and to clarify the different types of violence against wives of addicted husbands. Methods: This comparative study was carried in Ibn Rushud psychiatric training hospital in Baghdad, Iraq This study has been done during the time extended from10th April to 20thof December 2020, and conducted on 400 married women,200 of them were women with addicted husbands, and200were women with no addicted husband. The inclusion criteria were married women living with her husband, and those women who voluntarily gave consent were included. Divorced widows and pregnant women are excluded. The questionnaire used was valid and reliable and appropriate to our society's culture furthermore it was used in a similar study done in the neighboring country. Data analysis was performed using SPSS. Descriptive statistics and chi-square, Mann-Whitney U, and Kruskal–Wallis tests, odds ratio (OR), and Kendall's correlation coefficient were used to analyze the data. The overall mean score of violence was 70.47 ± 14.32 for the women with addicted husbands and 42.01 ± 7.50 for women with non-addicted spouses (P < 0.001). The mean score of psychological violence was 40.03 ± 5.03 in women with addicted spouses and 23.40 ± 4.26 in those with non-addicted husbands (P < 0.001). Furthermore, the mean score of physical violence was 23.71 ± 6.24 in women with addicted spouses and 15.50 ±3.76 in those with non-addicted husbands (P < 0.001). Moreover, the mean scores of sexual violence were 3.21 ± 2.11 and 2.92 ± 0.25 in women with and without addicted spouses, respectively (P < 0.001). Finally, the mean scores of financial violence were 2.10±0.94and 1.10 ± 0.23 for women with and without an addicted husband, respectively (P<0.001). Result: The finding confirms the conclusion of other studies and reveals that the overall rate of violence was significantly higher among women with addicted spouses and especially if the spouse abused more than one type of substance.
DIGITAL MARKETING TOOLS AND SALES PERFORMANCE OF SHOPRITE, SHOPPING MALL AKURE, ONDO STATE NIGERIA

This research assessed the effect of digital marketing tools on sales performance at ShopRite Shopping Mall Akure, Ondo State. The study adopted a quantitative research methodology while employing a questionnaire to collect data and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics of T-test and Chi-square. The result showed that email and social media marketing are the most used digital marketing tools adopted by ShopRite Mall, Akure Ondo State. The result also showed that the mall prefers digital marketing to traditional marketing due to easy measurement of results, high accessibility, cheaper use, comprehensive coverage, and high customer engagement. Also, the result from the T-test analysis revealed that digital marketing is significantly high with (T – 39.912) in customer base creation of larger market share, (T – 38.171), a daily increase of sales (T – 23.441), reduction in advertisement cost and increase in profitability (T – 31.926), and increment in online presence & increase in sales (T – 43.719). The Chi-Square analysis showed that digital marketing tools of email marketing (P = O.040) and social media marketing (P = 0.012) have a significant effect on sales performance. The main challenges for digital market adoption include high competition and a high basis for fraud. The study concludes that digital marketing significantly affects sales performance and recommends stable internet service for optimal performance.
Risk preferences and refugee migration ∗ DRAFT

This paper uses an experimental setup to study refugees’ risk preferences. We measure utility convexity, loss aversion and probability distortion of of asylum seekers. Estimations on our sample show that for explaining refugee choices, a cumulative prospect theory framework provides a better fit than expected utility. Refugees’ risk parameter values show significantly lower levels of distortion than those in comparable studies. Moreover, we find that trauma influences all parameters of risk. Further, we propose two theoretical models based respectively on expected utility and cumulative prospect theories which are then calibrated with the data from the experiment and simulated. The theoretical and simulation results show that the choice of type of model significantly influences refugee migration predictions. Results suggest high sensitivity of migration decisions to risk preferences as well as self-selection of refugees. Traumatized persons are more likely to renounce migration to the West than others.
Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins in Psoriasis—A Review

Psoriasis is one of the most common skin diseases in dermatological practice. It affects about 1–3% of the general population and is associated with different comorbidities, especially metabolic syndrome. Fatty-acid-binding proteins (FABPs) are a family of cytosolic proteins which are an important link in lipid metabolism and transport; moreover, they have different tissue specificity and properties. So far, ten FABPs have been discovered and seven have been investigated in psoriasis. In this review, we discuss the nature of all FABPs and their role in psoriasis. FABPs have different organ and tissue expression, and hence various functions, and may be markers of different disorders. Considering the concentration of a few of them tends to be elevated in psoriasis, it confirms the current perception of psoriasis as a multiorgan disorder associated with plenty of comorbidities. Some FABPs may be also further investigated as biomarkers of psoriasis organ complications. FABP-1 and FABP-5 may become potential markers of metabolic complications and inflammation in psoriasis. FABP-7 could perhaps be further investigated as an indicator of the neurodegenerative processes in psoriatic patients.