Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
FRPM 2017, 3 – 6 July, Manchester, UK

FRP strengthening systems are mainly used to retrofit existing and deficient structural members. The performance of such strengthened structures at elevated temperatures is a critical issue that threatens the safety of the structure. Published research includes experimental testing of reinforced concrete beams strengthened using FRP and subjected to fire tests. However, there is a need for numerical tools that simulate the performance of these FRP-strengthened elements in case of fire. This research work presents numerical modeling and nonlinear analysis conducted to assess the performance of reinforced concrete beams strengthened with externally bonded carbon FRP sheets when subjected to standard fire conditions. Finite element model using the general purpose software ANSYS 12.1 is developed and validated with experimental results published in the literature by other researchers.
Developing the advanced practice nursing role in Slovakia: Perception, education, and practice

ABSTRACT Background: Advanced practice nursing (APN) is a modern and effective nursing role that has a positive impact on health care systems around the world. Guiding principles are advanced education, expanded scope of practice, and policies supportive of the role. Purpose: The aim of this study was to find out the perception of APNs of their own practice in the context of the current legislative conditions in Slovakia and to identify related factors. Methods: A quantitative exploratory design was selected. From 5,067 APN, 584 were conveniently selected. The adapted and modified SCAPE study questionnaire was used for data collection. Data were processed using SPSS 25. Results: There were differences between newly introduced competencies for the APN role in Slovakia and the general concept of the role that could influence practice. The level of APNs' perception of their own practice is low. Years of practice was significantly and positively related to the perception. The results in each region were significantly different. Community nurses/outpatient nurses assessed their practice at a significantly higher level. The educational curriculum lacks the subject of APN. Competencies, remuneration, and satisfaction with the status are insufficient. Implications for practice: To understand, implement, and practice the concept of APN, it is essential to change policies related to competencies, education, remuneration, and status. Creation of an educational model that includes the subject area of advanced practice nursing in the postgraduate curriculum is essential. Education and practice conditions for advanced practice nurses should be uniform in all regions of the country.
The role of sexual orientation, age, living arrangements and self-rated health in planning for end-of-life care for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual (LGB) older people in the United Kingdom

This article reports on findings from the quantitative phase of a two-year research project designed to explore end-of-life care experiences and needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. We draw on a subset of the sample (N = 180/237) to analyse the relationship between advance care planning, sexual orientation, living arrangements and self-rated health. The results contribute to a growing body of evidence on how sexual minorities approach and make decisions on advance care planning. A greater understanding of such patterns could help inform the way healthcare professionals engage in conversations about end-of-life care planning with older LGB people.
Sleight of Hand: Identifying Concealed Information by Monitoring Mouse-Cursor Movements

Organizational members who conceal information about adverse behaviors present a substantial risk to that organization. Yet the task of identifying who is concealing information is extremely difficult, expensive, error-prone, and time-consuming. We propose a unique methodology for identifying concealed information: measuring people’s mouse-cursor movements in online screening questionnaires. We theoretically explain how mouse-cursor movements captured during a screening questionnaire differ between people concealing information and truth tellers. We empirically evaluate our hypotheses using an experiment during which people conceal information about a questionable act. While people completed the screening questionnaire, we simultaneously collected mouse-cursor movements and electrodermal activity—the primary sensor used for polygraph examinations—as an additional validation of our methodology. We found that mouse-cursor movements can significantly differentiate between people concealing information and people telling the truth. Mouse-cursor movements can also differentiate between people concealing information and truth tellers on a broader set of comparisons relative to electrodermal activity. Both mouse-cursor movements and electrodermal activity have the potential to identify concealed information, yet mouse-cursor movements yielded significantly fewer false positives. Our results demonstrate that analyzing mouse-cursor movements has promise for identifying concealed information. This methodology can be automated and deployed online for mass screening of individuals in a natural setting without the need for human facilitators. Our approach further demonstrates that mouse-cursor movements can provide insight into the cognitive state of computer users.
The Impact of Natural Selection on the Genome: Emerging Patterns in Drosophila and Arabidopsis

Species in the Drosophila and Arabidopsis species groups share the feature of having relatively small, streamlined genomes. In Drosophila, evidence for pervasive negative and positive selection is overturning long-held views about the functional significance of noncoding DNA, the frequency of positive selection, and the extent to which coding and noncoding polymorphism and divergence between species is neutral. However, despite sharing some similarities with Drosophila, Arabidopsis shows quite distinct patterns of selective constraint and positive selection. Two conspicuous differences between these species groups are their effective population sizes and population structure, which may explain lower levels of selective constraint in coding and noncoding DNA of Arabidopsis, more evidence for balancing selection and less evidence for canonical signature of positive selection than in Drosophila species. As more comparative genomic data accumulate in the Arabidopsis group, the combination of polymorphism and .
Biomechanics, functional patterns, and disparity in Late Devonian arthrodires

Abstract Studies of ecological structure and diversity over time in extinct groups have always been challenged by the inability to observe the behavior of fossil taxa directly. The only available evidence for function, behavior, and interactions between taxa is the morphological characteristics of the preserved fossils. Recent studies on modern groups have shown that morphological analyses may give misleading results in terms of ecological pattern and diversity. An alternative approach is to focus on functionally relevant aspects of morphology through a paleobiomechanical paradigm. The purpose of this research is to examine variation in the lower jaw morphology in Late Devonian arthrodire placoderms and develop biomechanical metrics that can be used to quantify functional diversity among this fossil group. Nine functionally relevant morphological characters were collected for 94 isolated arthrodire inferognathals from the Gogo Formation in Western Australia and the Cleveland Shale in Ohio. These data were used to address aspects of functional morphology, biomechanical disparity, and ecological structure in arthrodire placoderms from the Late Devonian. Results were compared with results from previous morphometric work on the same set of jaws. Statistical tests show a significant difference in functional characters between the two faunas. The differences may be related to phylogenetic differences between faunas, as the two major clades of arthrodire taxa included in this study are almost completely segregated between faunas. Average pairwise disparity analyses of the mechanical characters indicate that there is no significant difference in overall functional diversity between the Cleveland Shale and Gogo Reef arthrodire faunas. This result is at odds with previous results that show overall morphological disparity to be much higher in the Cleveland Shale. Clustering patterns within a multivariate function-space show tightly constrained functional groups of taxa independent of phylogenetic or shape-based morphological similarity. These functional groups illustrate a level of ecological diversity in Late Devonian arthrodires that is comparable to that in certain modern faunas. Further statistical analysis of the morphological and functional disparity of these Late Devonian taxa shows a disjoint between the two measures. Model I regression analysis of and Spearman rank-correlation analysis of average pairwise morphological and functional disparity measures indicate no significant relationship between morphological and functional disparity among the jaws used in this study. Although function is obviously derived from morphology, these results show that morphological shape analysis is not necessarily a good proxy for eco-functional diversity.
CSCLRec: Personalized Recommendation of Forum Posts to Support Socio-collaborative Learning

Discussion forums are used to support socio-collaborative learning processes among students in online courses. However, complex forum structures and lengthy discourse require that students spend their limited time searching and filtering through posts to find those that are relevant to them rather than spending that time engaged in other meaningful learning activities (i.e., discussion). Moreover, existing adaptive systems do not accommodate individual learner needs in these contexts. In this work, we propose a multi-relational graph-based recommendation approach that mines student interaction logs to address the above problems within discussion-based socio-collaborative online courses. To account for the social aspects of learning, our approach incorporates learner modeling, social network analysis, and natural language processing techniques; it offers tailored recommendations of forum posts for learners with different types of interaction behaviors. In our experiments with small online courses, our approach outperformed competitor approaches in terms of recommendation precision while meeting expectations with respect to diversity and novelty. The results illustrate the proposed algorithm’s effectiveness in predicting student preferences, suggesting its potential to increase student participation in discussion-related learning activities.
The Ebb and Flow of Student Engagement: Measuring motivation through temporal pattern of self-regulation

Effective teachers recognize the importance of transitioning students into learning activities for the day and accounting for the natural drift of student attention while creating lesson plans. In this work, we analyze temporal patterns of gaming behaviors during work on an intelligent tutoring system with a broader goal of detecting temporal trends in students’ motivation. Findings demonstrate that observing gaming the system behaviors in the near beginning or end of a working session correspond with predictions made by self-regulation theories of ego-depletion and task-switching. Furthermore, analyses provide initial evidence these gaming behaviors are indicative of partial cognitive engagement and session-level influences on student motivation. These findings provide evidence for how temporal fluctuations in students motivations might be inferred through self-regulated behaviors like gaming the system, and how such information could inform better more intelligent tutoring systems that are responsive to cognitive and motivational dynamics during student work.
A simple yet accurate model for battery State of Charge prediction

A comprehensive model for the prediction of the state of charge (SoC) of a battery, based upon a model for the prediction of the SoC of a hot water vessel was introduced in [1]. In this work the proposed model is improved and verified using various measurements on lead-acid batteries, as well as predictions using the KiBaM model. The resulting model is simple yet accurate, and can be used in model predictive control of energy usage in grid simulations.
Possible Role of BCG-Induced Trained Immunity to Reduce the Prevalence and Severity of COVID-19 in High-Risk Population

In the last few months COVID-19 has been spreading unchecked to most of the countries of the world. While the impact has varied from one nation to the other and the differences attributed to various factors, universal BCG vaccination is thought to be protective by some. BCG is thought to protect by the new concept of trained immunity over and above the enhanced innate and adaptive immune response. In the current scenario, the most effective way to curb the spread of the virus is a vaccine and it may take at least 12–18 months to develop. In the meantime, other measures like hand hygiene, mask use, social distancing, and lockdown are being implemented to prevent the spread of the virus. We present here a short review on the protective role
Characterization of poly-hydroxybutyrate/luffa fibers composite material

Luffa fibers were evaluated as a reinforcement material in poly-hydroxy-butyrate matrix composites. The treatments consisted of varying the incorporation percentage of mercerized and non-mercerized luffa fibers in a poly-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) matrix (5%, 10%, and 20% w/v). Composites made with PHB and reinforced with luffa fibers (treated and non-treated) were mechanically evaluated (tensile strength, Young’s modulus, and percentage of elongation at break), the surface morphology was described by using scanning electronic microscopy, and the degradability behavior of composites was obtained. According to the results, mechanical properties decreased when the percentage of fibers increased and no significant effects were observed when compared with mercerized fiber composites. Degradability tests demonstrated that the weight loss increased with increased fiber content in composites, independent of the applied pretreatments. Microscopy images exhibited that mercerization improved the fiber incorporation into the polymeric matrix, diminishing the “pull out” effect; the above-mentioned result was supported by using the Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy technique, observing the reduction of lignin and hemicellulose peaks in mercerized fibers. Based on the composite mechanical performance and degradability behavior, it was concluded that this material could be used in the packaging sector as biodegradable secondary packaging material.
Effects of Dietary Gossypol on Testicular Histology and Ultrasonograms of Yankasa Rams

This study evaluated the effect of dietary gossypol from whole cottonseed (WCS) and cottonseed cake (CSC) on testicular morphology of Yankasa rams. Fifteen (15) Yankasa rams weighing an average of 20 2 Kg were randomly distributed into three groups (A, B and C) of five rams each and were fed diets containing 48 % WCS, 48 % CSC and control diet (gossypol-free), respectively for 14 weeks. An ultrasonographic examination of the testes of each ram was done every month for 3 months. At the end of the feeding period, the rams were castrated and histopathogical examination of the testicular tissues (n = 6). Histopathological changes observed in the testes of the rams in the experimental group were depletion of spermatogenic cell layers and arrest of spermatogenesis at the spermatocyte and spermatids levels and an exfoliation of the spermatogonia. There was vacuolation of the germ layers in the seminiferous tubules. These changes were more severe in group B (CSC) than A (WCS) and were indicative of testicular degeneration. Ultrasonograms of the testis of rams from experimental groups showed loss of homogeneity and an increased hyperechoic appearance which were also indicative of testicular degeneration. It was concluded that gossypol from whole cottonseed and cottonseed cake has detrimental effects on testicular histology and the effect on testicular histology was more severe in rams that were fed cottonseed cake.
CONODONT COLOUR ALTERATION INDICES (CAI) IN THE CENTRAL WESTERN CARPATHIANS AND THE NORTHERN CALCAREOUS ALPS — A COMPARISON

Conodont Colour Alteration (CAI) investigations in the Central Western Carpathians (= CWC) and in the Northern Calcareous Alps (= NCA) shows a lot of similarities in both regions. We can distinguish two tectonic units with a sharp CAI boundary: northern units  low alteration with CAI 1.02.0; southern units  strong alteration with CAI 5.56.0, partly CAI 7.0. By comparision of the CAI indices and the tectonic style we interpret the strong alteration in the Central Western Carpathian as transported like in the Northern Calcareous Alps.
Openness to international trade and investment and income inequality: evidence from a panel of Latin American and East Asian countries

Since mid-1980s and essentially during the 1990s, a large number of middle-income countries in Latin America and East Asia undertook structural reforms in the areas of external trade and foreign direct investment (FDI). As a result, the debate about the effects of globalization on inequality in developing economies has aroused considerable interest and attention over the past 15-20 years. The main purpose of this article is to investigate the distributive implications of trade and FDI liberalization in a panel of Latin American and East Asian countries. Econometric results drawn from a random-effects model reveal that globalization variables have a statistically significant impact on income distribution. Whereas openness to foreign trade is associated with decreasing income inequality, inflows of FDI are positively related with income inequality. JEL classification: F15; F21; O15; O53; O54
Exact and E(cid:30)cient Determination of Geometric Predicates

: - Typical geometric predicates, including orientation and in-sphere tests, reduce to a sign determination of multivariate polynomials. We propose an exact and e(cid:30)cient method that determines the sign of a multivariate polynomial expression with rational coe(cid:30)cients, including matrix determinants. Exactness is achieved by using modular computation. Although this usually requires some multiprecision computation, our techniques enable us to carry out sign determination by using only single precision. In this, and to exploit modern day hardware, we exclusively rely on (cid:29)oating point arithmetic. We show how our method can be used to generate robust and e(cid:30)-cient implementations of geometric algorithms including convex hull, Voronoi diagram computations and solid modeling. This method is easy to implement and compares favorably with known methods from a practical complexity point of view. These claims are substantiated by experimental results and comparisons to other existing approaches.
What Time is It? Student Modeling Needs to Know

Modeling student learning processes is highly complex since it is inﬂuenced by many factors such as motivation and learning habits. The high volume of features and tools provided by computer-based learning environments confounds the task of tracking student knowledge even further. Deep Learning models such as Long-Short Term Memory (LSTMs) and classic Markovian models such as Bayesian Knowledge Tracing (BKT) have been successfully applied for student modeling. However, much of this prior work is designed to handle sequences of events with discrete timesteps , rather than considering the continuous aspect of time. Given that time elapsed between successive elements in a student’s trajectory can vary from seconds to days, we applied a Time-aware LSTM (T-LSTM) to model the dynamics of student knowledge state in continuous time . We investigate the effectiveness of T-LSTM on two domains with very diﬀerent characteristics. One involves an open-ended programming environment where students can self-pace their progress and T-LSTM is compared against LSTM, Recent Temporal Pattern Mining, and the classic Logistic Regression (LR) on the early prediction of student success; the other involves a classic tutor-driven intelligent tutoring system where the tutor scaﬀolds the student learning step by step and T-LSTM is compared with LSTM, LR, and BKT on the early prediction of student learning gains. Our results show that T-LSTM signiﬁcantly outperforms the other methods on the self-paced, open-ended programming environment; while on the tutor-driven ITS, it ties with LSTM and outperforms both LR and BKT. In other words, while time-irregularity exists in both datasets, T-LSTM works signiﬁcantly better than other student models when the pace is driven by students. On the other hand, when such irregularity results from the tutor, T-LSTM was not superior to other models but its performance was not hurt either.
Effects of insulin-like growth factor 1 in preventing acute coronary syndromes: the PRIME Study

Objective: Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) has been associated with cardiovascular risk factors and atherosclerosis. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the prognostic value of IGF-1 concentrations with respect to occurrence of well-defined coronary syndromes. Methods: The PRIME study is a prospective cohort having included 10,600 subjects from Northern Ireland and France. Detailed information on cardiovascular risk factors, socioeconomic and behavioural variables were collected and a cardiologic examination was performed. At 5-year follow-up, 317 incident cases of coronary events were recorded according to strict protocols. They were matched to 634 ageand centre-paired controls from the same cohort, free of coronary disease. Baseline IGF-1 concentrations were measured, together with variables of lipid and glucose metabolism and markers of vascular and systemic inflammation. Results: Baseline IGF-1 concentration was lower in subjects developing an acute coronary syndrome than in unaffected controls. IGF-1 levels correlated negatively with age, waist circumference, tobacco consumption and markers of inflammation. Subjects in the highest quartile of IGF-1 distribution had a 55% reduction in the relative risk of developing myocardial infarction and a 45% decrease for all-combined acute coronary syndromes. A similar trend, although non-significant, was noted for angina pectoris. Multiple adjustments on classical risk factors and inflammation markers did not affect IGF-1 results. Elevated levels of both IGF-1 and apo A-I conferred a significantly greater risk reduction than either one alone. However, interaction between the two markers was not significant. Conclusion: Like HDL markers, high levels of IGF-1 confer protection against coronary artery disease.