Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Population ageing and sustainable fiscal policy in Czechia

The substantial ageing impact projected by the Eurostat motivates this research for the case of the Czech Republic. The study assists policymakers by analysing fiscal-policy measures to stabilize ageing impact on the income and the well-being; and motivates fiscal authorities to utilize an extended version of the Czech Ministry of Finance model for the demographic agenda. The examined fiscal measures consist of postponing retirement, increasing pensions, and reducing social-security payments. The simulation outcome reveals reducing social-security payments as the only fiscal policy that would maintain both labour income and well-being unaltered in the presence of ageing. The study continues by proposing a policy mix to mitigate the subsequent government deficit. The policy mix consists of increasing the VAT tax rate and decreasing pensions and other transfers. In conclusion, the reduction of the social security payments financed by the suggested policy mix would support individuals’ responsibility for their future income while motivating them towards higher productivity during their younger years.
The Relationship between Infant Prematurity and Parental Anxiety: A Systematic Review

Prematurity refers to the birth of a baby before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy. This can be related to considerable parental anxiety and mental status changes. Anxiety can manifest as worrying thoughts, feelings of tension, and altered vital signs. This review aims to analyze the relationship between premature birth and parental anxiety, focusing on the emotional status of both mothers and fathers. The review was performed using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis 2020 guidelines. A search was undertaken in PubMed, PubMed Central, MEDLINE, and ScienceDirect. Screening of articles was carried out to find relevant and appropriate articles. Articles were then quality-checked before inclusion. Our analysis showed that mothers of preterm infants had greater symptoms of anxiety, and comorbid anxiety and depression, than mothers of term infants. Mothers of preterm infants 5 years after discharge showed long-term consequences of stress and anxiety, including inappropriate responses and reduced praise for their children. Mothers of preterm multiples were more likely to experience stress and anxiety than mothers of preterm singletons. Fathers of preterm infants experienced higher levels of stress than fathers of term infants, but fathers of preterm infants experienced less stress than mothers of preterm infants. These findings suggest that routine mental health screening and intervention should be undertaken for both mothers and fathers of preterm infants.
Knowledge and Practice of Motorbike Riders on the Prevention of Road Traffic Accidents

Introduction: Road traffic accidents (RTAs) are considered one of the important public health problems worldwide. Amongst the various types of accidents, motorbike accidents have been increasing day by day. Objective: To assess the level of knowledge and practice of motorbike riders in the prevention of road traffic accidents. Place & period of study: The study had been performed in the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) and different motorbike workshops in Dhaka city from January 2018 to December 2018. Materials & Method: The cross-sectional study had been conducted among 193 motorbike riders to assess the level of knowledge and practice regarding the prevention of road traffic accidents. A purposive sampling technique was adopted and a semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire collected data through face-to-face interviews. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 34.56±7.69 (SD) years where half of the respondents (50.8%) were graduates and above. The majority of the respondents (65.3%) were service holders. The mean years of driving were 7.15±6.9 years (SD). The majority of the respondents (63.7%) had no RTA within one year and the rest (36.3%) had RTA within one year. Most of the respondents (82.4%) had average knowledge of traffic signs and signals and on the other hand, most of the respondents (82.4%) had poor practice in traffic signs and signals. A highly significant statistical difference was found between knowledge of signs and signals and practice on signs and signals (p<0.001). Conclusion: Prevention of road traffic accidents is crucial to creating awareness and taking proper measures toward road safety.
Changes in Soil Quality through Conservation Agriculture in North-Eastern Italy

Conservation Agriculture includes practices focused on the conservation and the restoration of main soil features, such as organic carbon content, structure, and biological diversity and activity. Our study was conducted in three farms in North-Eastern Italy in pairs of closely located fields to compare conservation agriculture (no tillage, cover cropping) with conventional agriculture. Differences in terms of soil enzymatic activity, such as FDA and β-glucosidase through spectrophotometric analyses, microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen contents, total organic carbon, and nitrogen contents with CNS Elemental Analyzer and soil arthropod community via the QBS-ar index were investigated. Enzymatic activities resulted to be readily and positively affected by conservation agriculture whereas total and microbial carbon, nitrogen contents, and microarthropod community seemed to be more dependent on the time factor. The responses to conservation agriculture differed between the three farms, pointing out that differences in soil features may drive the effectiveness of conservation management. N stock, maybe dependent on previous soil management, might be the key characteristic able to influence soil evolution in the studied conditions. The present results could be helpful to predict soil reaction to sustainable agriculture in short periods.
Rhizosphere soil bacterial communities and nitrogen cycling affected by deciduous and evergreen tree species

Abstract Deciduous and evergreen trees differ in their responses to drought and nitrogen (N) demand. Whether or not these functional types affect the role of the bacterial community in the N cycle during drought remains uncertain. Two deciduous tree species (Alnus cremastogyne, an N2‐fixing species, and Liquidambar formosana) and two evergreen trees (Cunninghamia lanceolata and Pinus massoniana) were used to assess factors in controlling rhizosphere soil bacterial community and N cycling functions. Photosynthetic rates and biomass production of plants, 16S rRNA sequencing and N‐cycling‐related genes of rhizosphere soil were measured. The relative abundance of the phyla Actinobacteria and Firmicutes was higher, and that of Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, and Gemmatimondaetes was lower in rhizosphere soil of deciduous trees than that of evergreen. Beta‐diversity of bacterial community also significantly differed between the two types of trees. Deciduous trees showed significantly higher net photosynthetic rates and biomass production than evergreen species both at well water condition and short‐term drought. Root biomass was the most important factor in driving soil bacterial community and N‐cycling functions than total biomass and aboveground biomass. Furthermore, 44 bacteria genera with a decreasing response and 46 taxa showed an increased response along the root biomass gradient. Regarding N‐cycle‐related functional genes, copy numbers of ammonia‐oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and autotrophic ammonia‐oxidizing archaea (AOA), N2 fixation gene (nifH), and denitrification genes (nirK, nirS) were significantly higher in the soil of deciduous trees than in that of the evergreen. Structural equation models explained 50.2%, 47.6%, 48.6%, 49.4%, and 37.3% of the variability in copy numbers of nifH, AOB, AOA, nirK, and nirS, respectively, and revealed that root biomass had significant positive effects on copy numbers of all N‐cycle functional genes. In conclusion, root biomass played key roles in affecting bacterial community structure and soil N cycling. Our findings have important implications for our understanding of plants control over bacterial community and N‐cycling function in artificial forest ecosystems.
Clinical Characteristics and Disease Burden of Severe Asthma According to Oral Corticosteroid Dependence: Real-World Assessment From the Korean Severe Asthma Registry (KoSAR)

Purpose Oral corticosteroids (OCS) are commonly used in patients with severe asthma, but they are associated with several adverse events. We estimated the prevalence of patients with OCS-dependent asthma in a large nationwide registry for severe asthma and delineated their clinical characteristics. Methods This cross-sectional study analyzed enrollment data of the patients recruited in the Korean Severe Asthma Registry (KoSAR) from 2010 to 2019. The clinical characteristics of patients were compared according to OCS dependency, which was defined as maintenance OCS treatment lasting at least 6 months during the 12 months prior to enrollment. Results Among the 562 patients with severe asthma, 121 (21.5%) patients were defined as having OCS-dependent asthma. Compared with the OCS-independent group, the OCS-dependent group was older at symptom onset and had a higher prevalence of anxiety, worse lung function, and used more medication than the control group. Despite the higher doses of daily ICS and 6-month cumulative OCS, the OCS-dependent group reported greater consumption of relievers and a higher prevalence of unscheduled emergency room visits and repeated OCS bursts. Although anti-interleukin-5 was more commonly prescribed for patients with OCS-dependent asthma, only a limited proportion of patients with severe asthma received biologics. Conclusions One-fifth of patients with severe asthma had OCS-dependency, which was associated with a greater disease burden compared to those with OCS-independent asthma. Active intervention including initiation of biologics and regular assessment of OCS-induced morbidities is warranted to reduce the use of OCS and its potential adverse effects.
Renin-Angiotensin System in Huntington′s Disease: Evidence from Animal Models and Human Patients

The Renin-Angiotensin System (RAS) is expressed in the central nervous system and has important functions that go beyond blood pressure regulation. Clinical and experimental studies have suggested that alterations in the brain RAS contribute to the development and progression of neurodegenerative diseases. However, there is limited information regarding the involvement of RAS components in Huntington’s disease (HD). Herein, we used the HD murine model, (BACHD), as well as samples from patients with HD to investigate the role of both the classical and alternative axes of RAS in HD pathophysiology. BACHD mice displayed worse motor performance in different behavioral tests alongside a decrease in the levels and activity of the components of the RAS alternative axis ACE2, Ang-(1-7), and Mas receptors in the striatum, prefrontal cortex, and hippocampus. BACHD mice also displayed a significant increase in mRNA expression of the AT1 receptor, a component of the RAS classical arm, in these key brain regions. Moreover, patients with manifest HD presented higher plasma levels of Ang-(1-7). No significant changes were found in the levels of ACE, ACE2, and Ang II. Our findings provided the first evidence that an imbalance in the RAS classical and counter-regulatory arms may play a role in HD pathophysiology.
Study and simulation of model fluids and of pigment colours during paper coating by curtain coater

Curtain coating is a contactless coating process which permits a contour coating of the paper and the key parameter of this process is a perfect stable curtain. This technology is expected to spread widely for graphic paper grades and boards in the next few years. Nevertheless, many experimental works revealed some differences between stability theory and results observed on the curtain. In this work, we performed CFD simulations both for Newtonian and Non-Newtonian fluids on the internal flow in a pilot curtain coater and on the flow down the inclined plane. The CFD study of the internal flow revealed the cause of vortex creation into the coater. To maintain vortex-free operation, the Reynolds number at the inlet must remain below a critical value whatever the fluid, which is equal to 20 with the studied geometry whatever the studied fluid. Moreover, a second cavity is useful since instabilities coming from the first cavity could be filtered for low shear-thinning fluids, which is the case of the WFC coating colours. These simulation results were validated thanks to flow visualization experiments with tracers and PIV using a transparent replica of the coater. Finally CFD simulations on the inclined plane were carried out and permitted to conclude that for the range of operating conditions used on the pilot curtain coater, some issues presented in literature should not exist industrially.
Contribution to the study of the 3D unsteady flow in a propeller turbine

This thesis focuses on Propeller turbine flows. Both experimental and numerical methods have been used during the research to study the flow taking place in this type of axial reaction turbine. The precision of the instrumentation and the uncertainty of the numerous acquisitions performed with velocity measurement tools such as Laser Doppler Velocimeter (LDV) and Particle Image Velocimeter (PIV) have been analyzed. Three main phenomena have been investigated experimentally with LDV and PIV throughout the study. The first one consists in the circumferential flow imbalance. The second one are rotor-stator interactions taking place in the gap between the guide vanes and the runner blades and finally, the third one embodies the draft tube inlet flow that includes blade wakes and the vortex rope. The characteristic frequencies found with the LDV measurements at this location are thoroughly investigated. In parallel with the experiments, numerical simulations were performed and compared with experimental data available. The comparison helped to improve simulations, assesses different boundary conditions and turbulence models. Uses of experimental database towards improvement of RANS, URANS and LES is discussed. In conclusion to this research, circumferential flow imbalances has been clearly identified with experimental and numerical means. The imbalance was shown to be dampened from an initial 10% at the stay vane to 5% at the interface. There is a maximum 12% peak-to-peak imbalance in the diverging draft tube inlet. The turbulence intensity at the intake has been estimated to be 8%. The experimental results showed that the rotor-stator interactions are weak because of the rapid dissipation of the guide vane wakes in the meridian channel. The partial discharge vortex rope and the recirculations in the draft tube are presented along with their global effects on hydraulic efficiency and flow configuration. Different vortex structures have been identified such as the guide vane overhang vortex, the blade tip vortex, the vortex rope and counter-rotating intake vortices. A database was created for further investigation of the flow in a propeller turbine.
DRL-Based Partial Offloading for Maximizing Sum Computation Rate of Wireless Powered Mobile Edge Computing Network

The advanced Internet of Things (IoT) enables more and more interactions between people and machines in the emerging applications, which rely on real-time communication and computing. However, the limited battery capacity and low computing capacity of IoT nodes can hardly support high-performance computing applications. The integration of wireless power transmission (WPT) and mobile edge computing (MEC) is a feasible and promising solution to address the energy shortage and computing capacity limitation of IoT nodes by harvesting radio frequency signal’s energy and offloading the nodes’ computation tasks to edge computing servers (ECSs). In this work, we focus on the wireless powered MEC network with an ECS and multiple edge devices (EDs), and study the joint optimization of WPT duration, transmission time allocation of each ED and partial offloading decision to maximize the sum computation rate. First, we formulate this as a non-convex problem which is hard to solve. Second, to conquer this problem, we decompose the original offloading problem into the sub-problem of optimizing the offloading time allocation among EDs and the proportion of harvested energy allocated for offloading at each ED under a given WPT duration and the top-problem of optimizing the WPT duration. Finally, we design an online DRL-based framework where one DNN together with its exploration strategy and training strategy is adopted to learn the near-optimal WPT duration and an efficient optimal algorithm is designed to solve the sub-problem. Numerical results show that the DRL-based offloading algorithm achieves the near-maximal sum computation rate while greatly reducing the processing time by at least three orders of magnitude compared with using the solver CVX for the sub-problem and the DNN for the top-problem.
Particle phase-state variability in the North Atlantic free troposphere during summertime is determined by atmospheric transport patterns and sources

Abstract. Free tropospheric aerosol particles have important but poorly constrained climate effects due to transformations of their physicochemical properties during long-range transport. In this study, we investigate the chemical composition and provide an overview of the phase states of individual particles that have undergone long-range transport over the North Atlantic Ocean in June and July 2014, 2015, and 2017 to the Observatory of Mount Pico (OMP) in the Azores. The OMP is an ideal site for studying long-range-transported free tropospheric particles because local emissions have a negligible influence and contributions from the boundary layer are rare. We used the FLEXible PARTicle Lagrangian particle dispersion model (FLEXPART) to determine the origins and transport trajectories of sampled air masses and found that most of them originated from North America and recirculated over the North Atlantic Ocean. The FLEXPART analysis showed that the sampled air masses were highly aged (average plume age >10 d). Size-resolved chemical compositions of individual particles were probed using computer-controlled scanning electron microscopy with an energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer (CCSEM-EDX) and scanning transmission X-ray microscopy with near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (STXM-NEXAFS). CCSEM-EDX results showed that the most abundant particle types were carbonaceous (∼ 29.9 % to 82.0 %), sea salt (∼ 0.3 % to 31.6 %), and sea salt with sulfate (∼ 2.4 % to 31.5 %). We used a tilted stage interfaced within an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) to determine the phase states of individual submicron particles. We found that most particles (∼ 47 % to 99 %) were in the liquid state at the time of collection due to inorganic inclusions. Moreover, we also observed substantial fractions of solid and semisolid particles (∼ 0 % to 30 % and ∼ 1 % to 42 %, respectively) during different transport patterns and events, reflecting the particles' phase-state variability for different atmospheric transport events and sources. Combining phase state measurements with FLEXPART CO tracer analysis, we found that wildfire-influenced plumes can result in particles with a wide range of viscosities after long-range transport in the free troposphere. We also used temperature and RH values extracted from the Global Forecast System (GFS) along the FLEXPART-simulated path to predict the phase state of the particles during transport and found that neglecting internal mixing with inorganics would lead to an overestimation of the viscosity of free tropospheric particles. Our findings warrant future investigation aiming at the quantitative assessment of the influence of internal mixing on the phase states of the individual particles. This study also provides insights into the chemical composition and phase state of free tropospheric particles, which can help models to reduce uncertainties about the effects of ambient aerosol particles on climate.
Experiences of Newly Diagnosed Oral Cancer Patients during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study from Pakistan

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the scaling back or postponement of non-emergency hospital services, including care of cancer patients. The present qualitative study explored the experiences of newly diagnosed oral cancer patients during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan. Patients who attended the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, Khyber College of Dentistry in July 2020 were selected using a maximum variation purposive sampling method. Seventeen semi-structured interviews were conducted in Pashto, the local language of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. All interviews were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim, and translated into English. Thematic content analysis yielded eight major themes: pain and generalised physical weakness, shock at diagnosis, psychological distress of the COVID-19 pandemic, faith and religion, double hit loss of employment, social isolation, social support from caregivers, and lack of support from health care professionals. In conclusion, the COVID-19 pandemic has a clear impact on the life experiences of newly diagnosed oral cancer patients. Distress due to delay in accessing health care and lack of support from health care providers are a matter of great concern. Appropriate interventions should be introduced to ensure psychological and social support strategies are in place for patients during interruptions of health care services.
Wind tunnel testing of a generic regional turboprop aircraft modular model and development of improved design guidelines

This article presents results of a wide experimental aerodynamic test campaign, regarding the longitudinal and lateral-directional stability, performed in the low-speed wind-tunnel of the University of Naples “Federico II”, on a generic modular model of a modern regional turboprop aircraft. The modular model has been designed to arrange more than 200 possible different configurations with the modification of the aircraft main geometrical characteristics, such as wing-fuselage relative position, vertical tail size, and horizontal tail position. All tests, both longitudinal and lateral-directional, were addressed to the derivation of improved semiempirical formulations or surrogate models for the estimation of aerodynamic characteristics and derivatives for the regional turboprop aircraft category (similar to the ATR and Bombardier Q-Series) in preliminary design phase. Longitudinal tests were addressed to the measurement of aircraft lift, downwash, and horizontal tailplane contribution to longitudinal stability. Directional tests were instead focused on the correct estimation of vertical tail and fuselage contributions to directional stability for different vertical tail planforms, horizontal tail arrangements, and fuselage after-body shapes. The combined effects of wing and horizontal tail positions on aircraft lateral stability have also been investigated. All the obtained results are likely to be extremely useful for a future application in the preliminary design phase, since the derived charts may give indications for accurate sizing and position of both horizontal and vertical stabilizers.