Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Experimental Investigation of RC Beam-Column Assemblies under Column Removal Scenario

Progressive collapse denotes a failure of a major portion of a structure that has been initiated by failure of a relatively small part of the structure such as failure of any vertical load carrying element (typically columns). Failure of large part of any structure results in to substantial loss of human lives and natural resources. Therefore it is very important to prevent this type of progressive collapse which is also known as disproportionate collapse. Progressive collapse of a structure can be prevented by providing sufficient continuity and redundancy to redistribute additional forces through an alternate load path. In this study, experimental investigation on role of reinforcement detailing to progressive collapse resistance is carried out for 6-storey Reinforced Concrete structures under column removal scenario. Two 3/8 th scaled specimen, which is part of structure, is designed according to IS codes with non-ductile detailing and ductile detailing. Each specimen includes two span beams and three columns with removed middle column. Removed middle column represents column removal scenario, which in turn indicates progressive collapse situation. Response of specimen in terms of vertical deflection along the span of beam is measured. From the results, it is observed that progressive collapse resistance can be significantly increased by providing continuous bottom reinforcement instead of curtailed reinforcement, closely spaced stirrups near the beam column junction and proper anchorage of reinforcement at beam column junction.
The unsteady hydrodynamic characteristics of a partial submerged propeller via a RANS solver

The motivation of the present study is to contribute to the knowledge of partial submerged propellers (PSPs) in the search for a reliable performance prediction method with regard to the ventilation flow around PSPs using a hybrid grid-based Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) solver. To achieve accurate results and obtain the correct behaviour extraction of the ventilation zone, a fine mesh was generated around the propeller and the free surface. The hydrodynamic coefficients of the PSP, the ventilation pattern and other results were calculated for a range of advance coefficients. The predicted ventilated open-water performance of the PSPs as well as the ventilation shape are in good agreement with the experimental measurements and observations. Finally, discrepancies between the numerical results and the experimental data are quantitatively evaluated in terms of the relative percentage error for the PSP characteristics.
Diamorphine pharmacokinetics and conversion factor estimates for intranasal diamorphine in paediatric breakthrough pain:systematic review

Background Intranasal diamorphine is a potential treatment for breakthrough pain but few paediatric data are available to assist dose estimation. Aim To determine an intranasal diamorphine dose in children through an understanding of pharmacokinetics. Design A systematic review of the literature was undertaken to seek diamorphine pharmacokinetic parameters in neonates, children and adults. Parenteral and enteral diamorphine bioavailability were reviewed with respect to formation of the major metabolite, morphine. Clinical data quantifying equianalgesic effects of diamorphine and morphine were reviewed. Review sources PubMed (1960–2020); EMBASE (1980–2020); IPA (1973–2020) and original human research studies that reported diacetylmorphine and metabolite after any dose or route of administration. Results The systematic review identified 19 studies: 16 in adults and 1 in children and 2 neonatal reports. Details of study participants were extracted. Age ranged from premature neonates to 67 years and weight 1.4–88 kg. Intranasal diamorphine bioavailability was predicted as 50%. The equianalgesic intravenous conversion ratio of morphine:diamorphine was 2:1. There was heterogeneity between pharmacokinetic parameter estimates attributed to routes of administration, lack of size standardisation, methodology and pharmacokinetic analysis. Estimates of the pharmacokinetic parameters clearance and volume of distribution were reduced in neonates. There were insufficient paediatric data to characterise clearance or volume maturation of either diamorphine or its metabolites. Conclusions We estimate equianalgesic ratios of intravenous morphine:diamorphine 2:1, intravenous morphine:intranasal diamorphine 1:1 and oral morphine:intranasal diamorphine of 1:3. These ratios are based on adult literature, but are reasonable for deciding on an initial dose of 0.1 mg/kg in children 4–13 years.
Comparative study of different methods of evapotranspiration estimation in Kashmir Valley

Evapotranspiration constitutes the most significant component of the hydrologic budget apart from precipitation. It is an important climaticfactor and its accurate estimates are needed to determine the water requirement of crops for irrigation scheduling. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recommends the use the FAO-56 Penman Monteith method for estimating reference evapotranspiration (ET o ) (Allen et al., 1998). This method is the most widely used in the world and has been proven to accurately estimate Short Comminucation
Comparing polysomnography, actigraphy, and sleep diary in the home environment: The Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) Sleep Study

Abstract Study Objectives Polysomnography (PSG) is considered the “gold standard” for assessing sleep, but cost and burden limit its use. Although wrist actigraphy and self-report diaries are feasible alternatives to PSG, few studies have compared all three modalities concurrently across multiple nights in the home to assess their relative validity across multiple sleep outcomes. This study compared sleep duration and continuity measured by PSG, actigraphy, and sleep diaries and examined moderation by race/ethnicity. Methods Participants from the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) Sleep Study included 323 White (n = 147), African American (n = 120), and Chinese (n = 56) middle-aged community-dwelling women (mean age: 51 years, range: 48–57). PSG, wrist actigraphy (AW-64; Philips Respironics, McMurray, PA), and sleep diaries were collected concurrently in participants’ homes over three consecutive nights. Multivariable repeated-measures linear models compared time in bed (TIB), total sleep time (TST), sleep efficiency (SE), sleep latency (SL), and wake after sleep onset (WASO) across modalities. Results Actigraphy and PSG produced similar estimates of sleep duration and efficiency. Diaries yielded higher estimates of TIB, TST, and SE versus PSG and actigraphy, and lower estimates of SL and WASO versus PSG. Diary SL was shorter than PSG SL only among White women, and diary WASO was lower than PSG and actigraphy WASO among African American versus White women. Conclusions Given concordance with PSG, actigraphy may be preferred as an alternative to PSG for measuring sleep in the home. Future research should consider racial/ethnic differences in diary-reported sleep continuity.
FUNCTIONAL ROLE OF MOSS BIOCRUST IN DISTURBED SEMIARID SHRUBLANDS OF NORTH-EASTERN PATAGONIA, ARGENTINA

Biocrusts are key biotic components of arid and semi-arid ecosystems worldwide. In the semi-arid ecosystems of north-eastern Patagonia, the moss biocrust is present both beneath shrubs and in intershrub spaces. In this study we ran a series of field and greenhouse trials aimed at quantifying the moss biocrust cover at sites that differed in grazing and/or shrub mechanical (chaining) disturbance and evaluating its seed entrapping capacity, and its effect on the superficial water balance and grass seedling growth. Grazing or the combined effect of grazing and chaining impacted negatively on the moss biocrust cover. The presence of moss biocrust facilitated seed entrapment and increased the seed density of perennial grasses in the soil seed bank, improved the superficial water balance, and enhanced grass seedling growth. In conclusion, in the semi-arid shrublands in north-eastern Patagonia, the moss biocrust appeared vulnerable to grazing and shrub mechanical disturbance, and it showed functional roles that may facilitate seedling establishment for perennial grasses.
Learning Deep Optimal Embeddings with Sinkhorn Divergences

Deep Metric Learning algorithms aim to learn an efficient embedding space to preserve the similarity relationships among the input data. Whilst these algorithms have achieved significant performance gains across a wide plethora of tasks, they have also failed to consider and increase comprehensive similarity constraints; thus learning a sub-optimal metric in the embedding space. Moreover, up until now; there have been few studies with respect to their performance in the presence of noisy labels. Here, we address the concern of learning a discriminative deep embedding space by designing a novel, yet effective Deep Class-wise Discrepancy Loss (DCDL) function that segregates the underlying similarity distributions (thus introducing class-wise discrepancy) of the embedding points between each and every class. Our empirical results across three standard image classification datasets and two fine-grained image recognition datasets in the presence and absence of noise clearly demonstrate the need for incorporating such class-wise similarity relationships along with traditional algorithms while learning a discriminative embedding space.
Rapid motor adaptation to bounce perturbations in online Pong game is independent from the visual tilt of the bouncing surface

Motor adaptation describes the ability of the motor system to counteract repeated perturbations in order to reduce movement errors. Most research in the field investigated adaptation in response to perturbations affecting the moving hand. Fewer studies looked at the effect of a perturbation applied to the movement target, however they used simplistic visual stimuli. In this study, we examined motor adaptation to perturbations affecting the motion of dynamic targets. In addition, we asked whether external visual cues in the environment could facilitate this process. To do so, participants were asked to play an online version of the Pong game in which they intercepted a ball bouncing off a wall using a paddle. A perturbation was applied to alter the post-bounce trajectory of the ball and the wall orientation was manipulated to be consistent or not with the ball trajectory. The “trained tilt” group (n = 34) adapted to the consistent condition and the “trained horizontal” group (n = 36) adapted to the inconsistent condition. In case participants optimally integrate external visual cues, the “trained tilt” group is expected to exhibit faster and/or more complete adaptation than the “trained horizontal” group. We found that the perturbation reduced interception accuracy. Participants showed large interception errors when the perturbation was introduced, followed by rapid error decrease and aftereffects (errors in the opposite direction) once the perturbation was removed. Although both experimental groups showed these typical markers of motor adaptation, we did not find differences in interception success rates or errors between the “trained tilt” and “trained horizontal” groups. Our results demonstrate that participants quickly adapted to the dynamics of the pong ball. However, the visual tilt of the bouncing surface did not enhance their performance. The present study highlights the ability of the motor system to adapt to external perturbations applied to a moving target in a more dynamical environment and in online settings. These findings underline the prospects of further research on sensorimotor adaptation to unexpected changes in the environment using more naturalistic and complex real-world or virtual reality tasks as well as gamified paradigms.
Patient characteristics and management practices in chronic myeloid leukemia in Turkey: reflections from an expert meeting

ABSTRACT Introduction The therapeutic landscape of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) has evolved significantly since the introduction of imatinib. The European LeukemiaNet (ELN) recommendations serve as a guide for diagnosis, treatment, and monitorization of CML, but availability and accessibility of diagnostic tools and medications affect their applicability. Areas covered This article provides an overview of the current clinical management of CML in Turkey with reference to the key outputs of the online expert meeting held in November 2020. The applicability of the ELN 2020 recommendations for treating CML in clinical practice was also discussed. Expert opinion Imatinib is the only reimbursed and the most preferred first-line treatment in CML restricting the upfront use of second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), thereby limiting the applicability of treatment-free remission approach in Turkey. The ELN recommendations about using the EUTOS Long-Term Survival (ELTS) score for risk assessment and focusing on patient reported outcomes and quality of life can be enhanced with educational activities. The widespread availability of standardized technical infrastructure for diagnosing and monitoring CML will contribute to better disease management. Establishing a sustainable national database for CML is valuable for observing patient characteristics and disease outcomes as well as the impact of treatment patterns over time.
Oral narrative development of Mandarin Chinese dual language immersion learners

ABSTRACT This study explored the development of oral narrative retell proficiency among Mandarin Chinese-English dual language immersion (DLI) learners in Utah. The study compared the younger and the older DLI learners’ oral narrative retelling production in order to provide information regarding the Mandarin narrative developmental trend of the DLI learners. A total of ten first graders and ten fifth graders who spoke English as their native language from a Mandarin DLI program in Utah were involved in this study. Oral narratives were elicited via retelling a story. MANOVA tests were run to detect any significant differences at the macrostructure and microstructure levels of the participants’ narratives. The results showed significant differences in the older learners for many macrostructure and microstructure features; however, certain components in both macrostructure and microstructure features remain at similar levels. The results could be explained by children’s typical progress in oral narrative development (e.g. progressing from word level through sentence and story formation), the DLI curriculum, and the difference between the Chinese and English language features.
The effect of baby oil applied to pruritus areas on pruritus, fatigue and anxiety in cirrhosis patients with pruritus

The effect of baby oil applied to pruritus areas on pruritus, fatigue and anxiety in cirrhosis patients with pruritus. Abstract Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of baby oil on pruritus, anxiety and fatigue levels of patients with liver cirrhosis. Materials and Methods: This randomized controlled study was conducted with 60 patients hospitalized in the internal medicine clinic of a University hospital in the western part of Turkey. Patients in both groups; Patient Information Form, 5-D Itch Scale, Visual Analog Scale, Fatigue Severity Scale and Beck Anxiety Inventory were applied. In the intervention group, cooled baby oil was applied to the itching area 15 minutes at a time for a duration of 15 days. In the control group, no baby oil was applied. After 15 days’ period, the same questionnaires were re-applied to the both groups. 5-D Itch Scale, Visual Analog Scale, Fatigue Severity Scale and Beck Anxiety Inventory scores of the patients in the control and intervention groups were compared before and after the baby oil application. Results: Following the intervention, 5-D Itch Scale (19.016, p <0.001), Visual Analog Scale (20.544, p <0.001), Fatigue Severity Scale (6.292, p <0.001) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (4.705, p <0.001) scores were found to be significantly lower compared to the pretest assessment in the intervention group ( p <0.001). Conclusion: It was concluded that baby oil may be used as an effective nursing method in reducing pruritus, anxiety and fatigue in patients with liver cirrhosis.
Determination of Inducible Clindamycin Resistance Amongst Clinical Isolates of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Kaduna, Nigeria

For quite a long time, mainly due to fewer treatment options, Clindamycin have been regarded as an alternative drug to effectively manage all Staphylococcus aureus infections. Strains with inducible clindamycin resistance (iMLSB phenotype) raise concerns because therapeutic failure may occur during treatment. Clindamycin is mostly regarded in treating serious infections that cannot be treated by other antibiotics, as it may cause colitis or mild diarrhea. A double disc diffusion test (D-test) for detecting inducible resistance to clindamycin in erythromycin-resistant methicillin-resistant S. aureus was performed by placing a 15µg erythromycin disc in proximity to a 2µg clindamycin disc in adjacent positions. For erythromycin-resistant isolates, D-test can help to determine whether clindamycin could be used as a therapeutic option (reported as susceptible when the D-test is negative or reported as resistant when the D-test is positive). Twenty (20) out of the 30 (thirty) isolates collected were confirmed to be determined by D-test as per CLSI guidelines. Fifteen (15) isolates were D-test Negative, 5 were resistant to both Erythromycin and Clindamycin, and none was D-test positive. D-test should be included as a mandatory method in routine disc diffusion testing to detect inducible clindamycin resistance in staphylococci for the optimum treatment of patients.
Food Security and Safety: Africans Perspectives A Review

The challenges of hunger in Africa, caused by food insecurity can only be mitigated by enhanced food security and food safety measures. Food safety has a significant role in ensuring food security. A primary cause of food insecurity is the decline in global food productivity. It is also a problem of poverty which has impacted adversely on the socio-economic life of its citizens. Africa is endowed with land resource that if transformed towards agricultural productivity has the capacity to ensure food security and sustainability. Agriculture, of which 85-90 per cent is rain-fed in sub-Saharan Africa, accounts for 35 percent of the region’s gross national product (GNP), 40 percent of exports and 70 percent of employment. Africa needs to leverage on agricultural innovation so as to boost its regional food output. It is essential that production and provision of safe food be given the attention it deserves by addressing the numerous challenges facing it so as to stimulate economic growth and ensure food security and safety in the African continent.
Clinicopathological Features of Lupus Nephritis Patients in North-East India; A Single Center Retrospective Observational Study

Clinicopathological presentation of lupus nephritis (LN) patients varies with different race and ethinicity of the population. Only few studies describe clinicopathological spectrum of LN patients in the Indian population. The aim of this study was to determine the clinicopathological spectrum of LN in the North-East Indian population. This was a retrospective observational study that included patients with LN at a tertiary care center in North-East India from March 2007 to August 2018. Clinical and histopathological data at the time of presentation were collected from hospital records. Renal biopsies were examined by light microscopy and direct immunofluorescence techniques. A total of 340 patients of LN were included in this study. The mean age of presentation was 22.42 ± 4.3 years. The minimum age at presentation was 8 years and 18.8% belonged to the <18 year age group. The present study showed a male:female ratio of 1:8. The majority of patients were of class IV (71.9%). Arthralgia (47.1%) and anemia (60.3%) were the most common presenting symptom and sign, respectively. Immunoglobulin (Ig) G was the most abundant immunoglobulin (positive in 98.47%) and the least positive was IgA (positive in 41.18%). Complement (C) 3 and C1q were positive in all. Full house deposition was found in 59.3% of the biopsies. The rates of hypertension, microscopic hematuria, renal dysfunction, and nephrotic syndrome were 43.5, 59.12, 45.9, and 35.3%, respectively. Patients of LN in the North-East Indian population present at an earlier age with a more severe form of the disease (class IV) at the time of presentation.
Analysis of the Historical Settlements of the Giralda

ABSTRACT The preservation of the cultural heritage is a current challenge for modern societies. Thus, it is important to analyse the structural behaviour of historical buildings in order to detect and prevent future damage. This paper analyses the historical settlements of the Giralda tower of the Cathedral of Seville. Currently, it has a tilt which might have been caused by a differential settlement. With this aim, a detailed characterisation of the foundation and its geotechnical model has been carried out. An accurate 3D Finite Elements Model (FEM) has been used to analyse the settlements, taking into account the different construction phases, the loads, the time of execution and consolidation between phases. Finally, the 3D FEM results have been compared with other previous works and the in-situ measurements of the verticality of the tower. Therefore, the authors have found that the tilt to the south-east direction has been caused by the thicker, soft strata under this corner, which has caused differential settlement in this direction. Moreover, it should be highlighted that a good agreement between the settlements of the model and its real top displacements has been obtained.
Dynamics of Hydrogen in Silicon at Finite Temperatures from First Principles

Hydrogen defects in silicon still hold unsolved problems, whose disclosure is fundamental for future advances in Si technologies. Among the open issues is the mechanism for the condensation of atomic hydrogen into molecules in Si quenched from above T≈700 °C to room temperature. Based on first‐principles calculations, the thermodynamics of hydrogen monomers and dimers is investigated at finite temperatures within the harmonic approximation. Free energies of formation indicate that the population of H− cannot be neglected when compared to that of H+ at high temperatures. The results allow us to propose that molecular formation occurs during cooling processes, in the temperature window T≈700−500 K , above which the molecules collide with Si—Si bonds and dissociate, and below which the fraction of H− becomes negligible. The formation of H− and most notably of a fast‐diffusing neutral species can also provide an explanation for the apparent accelerated diffusivity of atomic hydrogen at elevated temperatures in comparison to the figures extrapolated from measurements carried out at cryogenic temperatures. Finally, it is shown that the observed diffusivity of molecules is better described upon the assumption that they are nearly free rotors, all along the migration path, including at the transition state.