Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Trace Element Concentrations in the Expressed Prostatic Secretion of Normal and Hyperplastic Prostate

Objectives: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is an internationally important health problem of the man, particularly in developed countries. The aim of this exploratory study was to evaluate whether significant changes in the levels of Zn and some other trace elements of prostatic fluid exist in the hyperplastic prostate. Methods: Prostatic fluid levels of Br, Fe, Rb, Sr, and Zn were prospectively evaluated in 52 patients with BPH and 38 healthy male inhabitants. Measurements were performed using 109Cd radionuclide-induced energy dispersive X-ray fluorescent microanalysis. Prostatic fluid samples were divided into two portions. One was used for morphological study while the other was intended for trace element analysis. Results: Mean values ± standard error of means (M±SΕΜ) for concentration (mg/L) of trace element in the expressed prostatic fluid (EPF) of normal prostate were: Br ±2.86±0.59, Fe 8.30±1.42, Rb 1.16±0.10, Sr 1.27±0.17, and Zn 598±34. It was observed that in the EPF of hyperplastic prostate content of Rb significantly increased whereas content of Zn somewhat decreased in a comparison with those in the EPF of normal prostate. Conclusions: There are significant changes in trace element contents and their relationships in the fluid of hyperplastic prostate. The alterations in levels of Zn and Rb in the EPF of hyperplastic prostate might demonstrate an involvement of these trace elements in etiology and pathogenesis of BPH. It was supposed that the changes of Zn and Rb levels in the EPF samples can be used as BPH markers.
Time and Scale Aspects in Life Cycle Assessment of Emerging Technologies: Case Study on Alternative Transport Fuels

Life cycle assessments (LCAs, including well-to-wheel studies) that are to support decisions that strive to change large technical systems need to consider time- and scale-related factors that are given little attention in standard LCA procedures. We suggest that it is important to look beyond the current situation and study many possible future states, what we call stylised states, to explore general technology differences. We choose to address three issues in this report. Our case study deals with alternative fuels for transportation, and relates to a recent well-to-wheel study performed by CONCAWE, EUCAR and JRC. The methodological results, though, could be of equal importance when studying other major technologies. First, shifting time frame gives room for technical development that should affect not only the choice of performance data, but perhaps also the functional unit and the selection of technologies under study. Second, background systems such as heat and power production change over time, and we exemplify by using three different systems, mainly based on coal, natural gas and short rotation forestry, respectively. Increased production volumes may for some technologies also change the background system, which is of particular importance for technologies that are used in their own production processes. We show that for biofuels changes in background systems have consequences not only for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and agricultural land use for each fuel chain, but also for the ranking order of e.g. wheat ethanol and RME, in terms of GHG emissions. We use what we call a net output approach, which implies that a fraction of the produced biofuel is used for its own production. Accordingly, the functional unit used in this study is 1 MJ fuel available for other purposes than producing fuel. Finally, different types of feedstock are available in different quantities and different by-product markets vary in size. Allocation of environmental impact between product and by-products is here made through system expansion, and we study some possible markets for by-products. To give an example of by-product effects, current key markets for ethanol by-products in EU-15 correspond to an ethanol production that covers about 2 % of demand, and for RME about 3 %, that is, well below the 5.75 % EU biofuel target for 2010. Therefore, the GHG emissions and agricultural land use allocated to the fuels differ between a low and a high market penetration. Combining the results, we show that time and scale are important factors for the ranking of wheat ethanol, RME and wood methanol in terms of GHG emissions and agricultural land use, as the results are dependent on assumptions regarding background system and by-product markets. We indicate that agricultural land use results can be weighted in GHG terms in several ways, e.g. by using short rotation forestry or solar panels as a reference, an approach that would require further research.
Prediction of Live Birth Rate After ICSI/IVF Cycles in Patients with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Using a Clinical Prediction Model and Nomogram

Background: Achievement of a live birth is the marker of success in in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI) treatments. For patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) who are undergoing these treatments, some predictive models and nomograms have been published. However, further development of these models is required for their useful application in clinical settings.Method: To establish and validate a clinical prediction model and nomogram to predict a live birth rate in women with PCOS undergoing IVF/ICSI. Records on 1193 patients underwent their first IVF/ICSI cycles for PCOS infertility from January 2014 to December 2019.The nomogram was built by a training cohort of 835 patients and tested on a validation cohort of 358 patients. Results: Female age, duration of infertility, total gonadotropin dose, the day of embryo transfer, no. of transferred embryos and the serum testosterone (T) level in PCOS groups were significantly associated with live birth rate. The predictive model was built by female age, duration of infertility, total gonadotropin dose, the day of embryo transfer, no. of transferred embryos, no. of retrieved oocytes, the serum T level, the serum progesterone (P) level, type of fecundation and endometrial thickness on embryo transfer day. The area under the curve (AUC) of the PCOS-specific predictive model in the training cohort was 0.72(95% CI, 0.68-0.76) and the AUC for the validation cohort was 0.63 (95% CI, 0.56-0.69). Conclusions: Our clinical prediction model and nomogram graphically demonstrated the risk factors that were associated with IVF/ICSI live birth rates in patients with PCOS. These findings offer improved clinical guidance for clinicians and patients.
The Design of an Auditory Alarm Concept for a Paper Mill Control Room

Auditory alarms are common in industrial control rooms. Sound has certain advantages over other alarm modes. Salient auditory stimuli effectively capture and guide attention, regardless of the operators’ visual focus. Sound can also convey detailed information. However, auditory alarms are often carelessly implemented, utilising sounds that are too loud, too numerous, and too confusing. The aim of this work was to develop a concept to enhance the auditory alarms in a control room. Before the concept was developed, a study involving 21 operators evaluated the state of the alarm sounds. The results indicated a poor design and confirmed certain well-known issues with alarm sounds. The concept included new alarm sounds, spatial presentation of the sounds, and alarm repetition intervals. The sounds are based on a new design principle in which each alarm sound composes two parts. One conveys urgency information, and the other contains information associated with the section in question. The design process involved 24 control-room operators and 13 design iterations, which were used to refine the concept. An evaluation involving 20 operators was conducted to examine the appropriateness of the concept. The results demonstrate that the developed concept increases operator effectiveness and acceptance as well as the overall sound environment.
Comparative Analysis of Medium Voltage AC and DC Network Infrastructure Models

An increasing amount of consumer devices and end-use applications of electricity at the low voltage level that require a direct current (DC) power source have continued to advance in modern day society. At the same time the existing alternating current (AC) infrastructure that has served so well over the past century is beginning to show its age and vulnerability, leading to increased outages and reduced reliability. Also, the amount of high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission system installations continue to increase around the world because of their proven superiority to high voltage alternating current (HVAC) in certain scenarios. However, with the widespread development and maturation in recent years of low voltage DC devices and systems, as well as large scale HVDC systems, no DC-based infrastructure or delivery system exists to efficiently connect the two together. Such an infrastructure would be developed through a medium voltage DC (MVDC) architecture. In order to properly analyze the benefits of a MVDC infrastructure for power distribution networks, a comparison between MVDC and MVAC architectures is necessary to identify advantages and disadvantages of both approaches. Investigating an architecture that would supply DC power to loads that is not much different in function to the existing AC grid system used today may bring with it increased efficiencies, therefore leading to economic operational and reliability benefits. To the author's knowledge, this thesis provides the first system scale comparative analysis of this nature comparing MVAC and MVDC. The preliminary design for such a system to supply DC power was created in this thesis using the PSCAD software package. The system analyzed utilizes a medium voltage DC bus rated at 20kV with a set of interconnected loads and generation. The DC system, while complicated with its wide array of power electronic converters, grants the ability to control power flow into the system from the different generation sources and to the loads. While the infrastructure design created is an initial step for a larger system, it lays the foundation for the future development of a DC distribution system for real world applications.
Stochastic Simulation of Multiple-Station Ground Motions and Its Applications

Approaches to simulate single- and multiple-component multiple-station ground motion records with target spatial coherency and spatial correlation structures are developed for scenario events in this study. To develop the approaches, spatial correlation of the Fourier amplitude spectrum for a random orientation and for two orthogonal directions is assessed, and empirical equations are suggested. Moreover, spatial coherency of ground motions for two orthogonal horizontal directions is estimated using actual records from seven seismic events. Empirical coherency function is suggested for the components of records in two orthogonal horizontal directions at single and multiple recording stations. It was also found that the coherency for the records along the major and minor principal axes at a recording station is similar to that for two randomly oriented orthogonal directions. Based on the proposed approaches in this thesis, spatial correlated and coherent ground motions can be simulated for randomly oriented uni-directional excitations at considered sites for a scenario event. For the simulation, it is considered that the reference Fourier amplitude spectrum for scenario events can be defined by using the stochastic point-source method or the stochastic finite-fault method. It is shown that the estimated spatial correlation and coherency from the simulated records match well the target spatial correlation and coherency. Furthermore, the application of the simulated records for seismic risk assessment of a group of buildings is presented. The results indicate that the spatial correlation of Fourier amplitude spectrum must be considered in estimating the distribution of the aggregated seismic loss of spatially distributed group of buildings. Spatial correlated and coherent ground motions are simulated for two orthogonal horizontal directions at considered sites for a scenario event. Again, it is shown that the estimated spatial correlation and coherency from the simulated records adequately match the target spatial correlation and coherency.
Effect of Blade Coating on a Centrifugal Pump Operation under Sediment-Laden Water Flow

Applying a high strength coating on a blade’s surface could significantly prolong the service life of a centrifugal pump under sediment-laden water flow because of its protection. To explore the effect of blade coating, the characteristics of energy, vibration and pressure fluctuation of a centrifugal pump (the specific speed (ns) is 81.46) with different polyurethane coating thickness coefficients were experimentally studied under sediment-laden water flow. Keeping the blade outlet angle, blade inlet angle and blade shape unchanged, the head H and efficiency η under both sediment-laden flow and clear water flow decrease significantly as the coating thickness coefficient increases. The axis rotating frequency and blade passing frequency are the main excitation frequencies of the pump vibration velocity amplitude and outlet pressure fluctuation. The vibration velocity amplitude and outlet pressure fluctuation at the frequency of 1 BPF are the largest. At the frequency of 1 axis rotating frequency, they are the second in all cases. The peak values of both vibration velocity amplitude and outlet pressure fluctuation are proportional to the coating thickness coefficient. An analysis was performed for several increasing coating thicknesses, corresponding to coating coefficients from K0 to K3. When the coating thickness coefficients are K0, K1, and K2, the peak value of vibration velocity amplitude under sediment-laden flow is larger than that under clear water flow, but the very small difference between them undercoating thickness coefficient K3. The peak values of pressure fluctuations under different flow rates decrease first and then increase with the increasing coating thickness coefficient, and lowest points are all located at the coating thickness coefficient K1.
THE FUTURE OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION II. TEACHING METHODS THAT WORK

Deficiencies in engineering education have been exhaustively enumerated in recent years. Engineering schools and professors have been told by countless panels and blue-ribbon commissions and, in the United States, by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology that we must strengthen our coverage of fundamentals; teach more about “real-world” engineering design and operations, including quality management; cover more material in frontier areas of engineering; offer more and better instruction in both oral and written communication skills and teamwork skills; provide training in critical and creative thinking skills and problem-solving methods; produce graduates who are conversant with engineering ethics and the connections between technology and society; and reduce the number of hours in the engineering curriculum so that the average student can complete it in four years.
Associations of heavy metal levels with environmental and behavioral factors in children with autism spectrum disorder

Background The etiologies of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are yet unclear. Previous studies suggested that ASD is associated with environmental heavy metals. Thus, the present study analyzed the levels of 41 heavy metals and the associated environmental factors in children with ASD. Methods The 25 children diagnosed with ASD were included in the case group (ASD group), while the 18 age- and gender-matched healthy children who came for routine care were included in the typical development group (TD group). The levels of heavy metal in the blood were measured in both groups. The questionnaire survey collected the demographic information, socioeconomic information, and risk factors of potential heavy metal sources for the analysis of risk factors. Results A total of 25 children were included in the ASD group and 18 in the TD group. The blood manganese (Mn) level was significantly higher in the ASD group than the TD group . The father’s educational level was significantly higher in the ASD group than the TD group. The living status was mainly scattered for the ASD children and daycare for the TD group. The frequency of book-reading, washing hand with sanitizer/soap, and the folic acid intake by the mother before pregnancy was significantly lower in the ASD group than the TD group, while the percentage of birth disorder history was significantly higher in the ASD group than the TD group. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that the folic acid intake by the mother before pregnancy and father’s education level beyond junior college were protective factors for ASD. Also, the frequencies of washing hands with sanitizer every time, sometimes, and hardly acted as protective factors for ASD. Conclusion Blood Mn level was significantly higher in ASD than TD, suggesting that environmental Mn exposure could be a risk factor of ASD in children. Folic acid intake by the mother before pregnancy and father’s education levels are protective factors for ASD. Concentrated heavy metal in the blood in prenatal or early life exposures which suggested ASD is needed in the future study.
The Self-Management Workshop: Helping People Take Control of Their Lives and Their Work--A Trainer's Guide

Part 1 Basic assumptions, models, and self-management assessments: the basics of self-management competencies and training assessing self-management skills. Part 2 The pyramid of control: sort out your values organize your values into life dimensions write a vision statement prioritize your life dimensions set goals prioritize goals and performance ranges write and action plan (objectives and activities) evaluate progress and take corrective action. Part 3 Putting together the self-management puzzle - self-management exercises: self-awareness self-confidence self-esteem/self-respect drive repect for others. Part 4 Self-managed teams: values of self-managed teams turning values into action roles and role management.
RELIABILITY THEORY AS APPLIED TO ESTIMATION IN CONVERGING VERSUS NON-CONVERGING FLOW FIELDS

RELIABILITY THEORY AS APPLIED TO ESTIMATION IN CONVERGING VERSUS NON-CONVERGING FLOW FIELDS S. SILLIMAN, D. SCHMUCKER, E. SACK & B. SPENCER Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 4 6556 USA ABSTRACT Reliability theory and Monte Carlo simulation are utilized to investigate the influence of hydraulic heterogeneity on the distribution of hydraulic head in converging and non-converging flow fields. Sensitivities determined for the non-converging flow field did not show consistent dependence on conductivity in any specific region of the medium. Sensitivity in the converging flow fields was' consistently concentrated near the center of the radial coordinate system. Analysis of the limit state surface for a non-converging flow field led to the identification of non-linearities near the design point. These non-linearities may limit the application of reliability theory in one-dimensional and/or converging flow fields. Projected extensions of this work include analysis of transmissivity estimates from pump tests and analysis of chemical tracer tests. INTRODUCTION Investigations of variability in groundwater flow and transport have typically focused on heterogeneity in the hydraulic conductivity (Silliman & Wright, 1988; Dagan, 1986; Wheatcraft ftt sX., 1988). These investigations have provided important insight into the effective hydraulic conductivity (Dagan, 1981), deviations from classical transport theories (Matheron & DeMarsily, 1979) and sensitivity to aquifer parameters (Sitar e_L a_l., 1987) . In most of these investigations, concern has been focused on flow through random conductivity fields in which the regionally averaged flow is nonconverging and parallel to a principal direction in the Cartesian coordinate system. While such analysis is critical to the evaluation of regional flow and transport, it may not be entirely appropriate for consideration of converging flow through heterogeneous fields. Such fields are important, for example, in analysis of classic field test procedures (e.g. single or cross hole pump tests and converging flow tracer tests) and in the prediction of fluid flow and chemical transport in the vicinity of a well field. In the present paper, Monte Carlo simulation and the first order reliability method (FORM) are utilized to
The relationship of childbirth experience with maternal functioning and mental health of Iranian women: A cross-sectional study

Background: Childbirth experience is a major outcome of labor, which is always associated with some potential psychological advantages or damages. Given the significant impact of childbirth on maternal role and on physical and mental health of mothers, this study aimed to investigate the relationship of childbirth experience with postpartum maternal functioning and mental health of women.Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 483 mothers with vaginal childbirth, 4-16 weeks after delivery in health centers of Tabriz-Iran, 2018. The cluster random sampling method was used. The socio-demographic characteristics questionnaire, Questionnaire for Assessing the Childbirth Experience (QACE), Mental Health Inventory (MHI), and Barkin Index of Maternal Functioning (BIMF) were completed through interviews and the obtained data were analyzed using independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation test, and the General Linear Model (GLM). Results: The mean score of childbirth experience was 1.6 (0.4) within the score range of 1-4. The mean score of mental health was 79.1 (15.0) out of 18-108 and maternal functioning was 97.4 (13.0) out of 0-120. Based on the correlation coefficients, there were significant correlations between the total score of mental health and maternal functioning and all its subdomains with childbirth experience (P<0.001), also based on GLM results, maternal functioning was significantly correlated with childbirth experience (P<0.001), receiving help for infant care (P<0.001) and the adequacy of family income (P=0.006). Mental health was significantly correlated with childbirth experience (P<0.001), complete life-satisfaction (P<0.001), and receiving help for infant care (P=0.025). Conclusion: The results showed significant relationships between childbirth experience with maternal functioning, mental health and all their subdomains. Considering these relationships, it seems that supportive care services offered by health care providers can improve mothers’ birth experiences and consequently lead to improved postpartum maternal functioning and mental health.
Vibrations in structures

This book concentrates on vibrations caused by human motion or machine operation. Man-induced vibrations occur mostly in pedestrian structures, office buildings, gymnasia and sports halls, dancing and concert halls, stadia, etc. Machine-induced vibrations occur during the operation of small machinery and tools. The book is intended to serve the practicing structural engineer and not primarily the dynamic specialist. Its aims include: -to show where dynamic problems occur and where caution is advisable; -to further the understanding of the phenomena encountered as well as of the underlying principles; -to impart the basic knowledge for assessing the dynamic behavior of the structures or structural elements; -to describe suitable measures, both preventive in the design stage and remedial in the case of rehabilitation.