Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Factors associated with uncontrolled hypertension in patients attending a medical clinic of a tertiary care hospital in Sri Lanka

Objectives: Uncontrolled hypertension is common. Objective of this study was to describe factors associated with uncontrolled hypertension in a group of patients on treatment for hypertension. Method: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in a medical clinic of a tertiary care hospital in Sri Lanka. Consecutive patients on treatment for hypertension had two readings of blood pressure (BP) 1-2 minutes apart and lower of the two was taken, as the current BP. All patients not achieving a systolic BP of Results: 260 patients were studied (women: 61.2%; mean age: 64.9±9.5years). Mean systolic and diastolic BP were 160.5±16.3mmHg and 91±11.1mmHg, respectively. Mean duration of treatment was 8.5±7.2years. Mean number of anti-hypertensive medications per patient was 2.1±0.8. 70.4% were non-adherent to medications. 13.5% were on concomitant medications known to increase BP. 89.2% had one or more non-medication related factor contributing to uncontrolled BP. 64.6% lacked adequate physical activity. 45% had BMI ≥25kg/m2. Self-reported salt consumption was high among 13.1%. 38.5% admitted adding salt to rice cooked at home. 31.5% had inadequate sleep duration. 43.8% reported snoring during sleep. 8.9% of menreported excess and/or binge consumption of alcohol. 6.9% had chronic kidney disease. Clinician inertia was identified as the cause in 4.6%. True resistant hypertension was observed only in 2.7%. Conclusion: In the study population, majority had correctable factors associated with uncontrolled hypertension. Non-adherence to medications was a major problem. Among the others the main contributing factors were inadequate physical activity, obesity, inadequate sleep and excess salt consumption. True resistant hypertension was seen only in a small proportion.
Molecular dynamics simulation of heterogeneous nucleation on nanotubes

Vapour-to-liquid nucleation of argon on silicon nanotubes is studied by means of classical molecular dynamics. The aim of this simulation study is primarily to address the question of whether condensation is faster on the inner surface or on the outer surface of the nanotube. A constant particle number, volume and temperature ensemble was used for the molecular dynamics simulation with the system having different supersaturation ratios, tube lengths, and pore sizes. For a larger pore, the growth rate of droplets was higher on the inner surface, whereas for a smaller pore, a crossover occurred depending on the supersaturation ratio. Pore plugging was strongly affected by the tube diameter, where initial clogging was critical in expediting the filling process inside the tube. Furthermore, in order to examine how the pore existence affects the surrounding vapour, lids on both ends of the tube were placed. In terms of growth, the open-ended tube was typically the slowest, whereas the fully filled cylinder generally gave rise to the highest growth rate.
Internet of Things architecture challenges: A systematic review

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a rapidly growing trend within many domains, such as automotive, avionics, automation, energy, and health. IoT architecture is the system of numerous elements, including sensors, protocols, actuators, cloud services, and layers. IoT architecture plays an important role to provide desired services. Nowadays, tens of IoT architectures are provided by the research community. Many challenges have been identified by the research community, including interoperability, security and privacy, reliability, energy constraints, scalability, and lack of common standards. However, to provide suitable IoT architecture, the importance and priority of requirements in different scenarios may vary, and requirement analysis should be regarded. To this end, this paper presents a systematic mapping survey to give a review of IoT architecture and provide a structured overview of research trends. Moreover, a technical taxonomy is presented for these challenges according to reviewed studies. This classification model can be used as a guideline for future works.
Baeyer–Villiger oxidations with a difference: molecular sieve redox catalysts for the low-temperature conversion of ketones to lactones

Redox molecular sieve catalysts MAlPO-36 (M = Mn or Co) convert cyclopentanone, cyclohexanone, 2-methylcyclohexanone and adamantan-2-one to their corresponding lactones with high efficiency (selectivities in excess of 90%, conversions in the range 50 to 85%), in the presence of O2 and PhCHO as sacrificial oxidant.
Réactivité de l'hypochlorite de tertiobutyle dans l'oxydation du benzothiophene

Dans la reaction avec le benzothiophene, l'hypochlorite de tertiobulyle se comporte a la fois comme reactif d'oxydation et reaetif de chloration. On obtient un melange de chloro-3 benzothiophene, de trois sulfoxydes isomeres du dichloro-2,3 dihydro-2,3 benzothiophene (trans-anti; trans-syn; cis-anti) et de sulfoxyde du chloro-2 benzothiophene. Avec un exces important d'hypochlorite, la reaction conduit au dichloro-2,3 benzothiophene etaux sulfoxydes du dichloro-2,3 benzothiophene, du trichloro-2,2,3 dihydro-2,3 benzothiophene et du dichloro-2,2 oxo-3 benzothiophene. L'oxydation s'arrěte toujours au stade du sulfoxyde. In reaction with benzothiophene, t-butyl hypochlorite acts as an oxidizing reagent and a chlorination reagent. A mixture of 3-ehlorobenzothiophene, three 2,3-dichloro-2,3-dihydrobenzothio-phene 1-oxide isomers (trans-anti: trans-syn; cis-anti) and 2-chlorobenzothiophene 1-oxide was obtained. With a large exces of t-butyl hypochlorite, the reaction leads to 2,3-dichlorobenzothio-phene, 2,3-dichlorobenzothiophene 1-oxide. 2,2,3-trichloro-2,3-(lihydrobenzothiophene 1-oxide and 2,3-dichloro-3-oxobenzothio-phene 1-oxide. In any case, oxidation stops at the level of the sulfoxide.
Optical Anisotropy of Chain Molecules. Theory of Depolarization of Scattered Light with Application to n‐Alkanes

Depolarization of light scattered by chain molecules is treated according to the valence‐optical scheme which rests on the assumption that the polarizability tensor α for the molecule may be formulated as the sum of contributions of individual bonds, or of constituent groups. The anisotropy of the polarizability is described by the tensor invariant γ2 (proportional to the sum of the squares of the elements of the traceless part of α), which determines the depolarization ratio. This invariant (γ2) is averaged over all configurations of the chain molecule treated in the rotational isomeric‐state approximation, interdependence of rotations about neighboring bonds being taken into account. Beyond the stated assumptions, the treatment is exact; it is applicable to chains of any length, and of any specified structure. Illustrative calculations for the n‐alkanes are presented and compared with experimental depolarization results for liquids of this homologous series and for their solutions in solvents of low opt.
The Relationship between Mass and Mobility for Atmospheric Particles: A New Technique for Measuring Particle Density

We describe a new technique for measuring the relationship between electrical mobility and mass. For spherical particles, the mass-mobility relationship can be used to determine particle density. For nonspherical particles, this relationship is affected by both the density and the dynamic shape factor; additional information would be required to determine either one. However, combinations of shape factors and densities that are consistent with measurements can be obtained. We show that the density of spherical particles of known composition can be measured to within ∼5% with this approach. We applied the technique to urban atmospheric aerosols of ∼0.1 and ∼0.3 w m in Atlanta, GA, during August 1999. The Atlanta data show that particles of a given mobility often have several distinct masses. Based on complementary measurements, we argue that the most abundant mass consists of spherical hygroscopic particles. The measured mass for these particles (assuming that they are spherical) fell into the range of 1.54 to 1.77 g cm -3 at 3-6% relative humidity, which agreed to within about 5% of values calculated based on the measured size-resolved composition. Particles that were more and less massive than these were also observed. The less massive particles had "effective densities" of 0.25-0.64 g cm -3 and the more massive particles had "effective densities" of 1.7-2.2 g cm -3 . We hypothesize that the less massive particles consist of chain agglomerate soot.
Metal oxide‐based gas sensors for the detection of exhaled breath markers

Abstract Exhaled breath test is a typical disease monitoring method for replacing blood and urine samples that may create discomfort for patients. To monitor exhaled breath markers, gas biomedical sensors have undergone rapid progress for non‐invasive and point‐of‐care diagnostic devices. Among gas sensors, metal oxide‐based biomedical gas sensors have received remarkable attention owing to their unique properties, such as high sensitivity, simple fabrication, miniaturization, portability and real‐time monitoring. Herein, we reviewed the recent advances in chemoresistive metal oxide‐based gas sensors with ZnO, SnO2 and In2O3 as sensing materials for monitoring a range of exhaled breath markers (i.e., NO, H2, H2S, acetone, isoprene and formaldehyde). We focused on the strategies that improve the sensitivity and selectivity of metal oxide‐based gas sensors. The challenges to fabricate a functional gas sensor with high sensing performance along with suggestions are outlined.
Hydrogen Is Promising for Medical Applications

Hydrogen (H2) is promising as an energy source for the next generation. Medical applications using H2 gas can be also considered as a clean and economical technology. Since the H2 gas based on electrolysis of water production has potential to expand the medical applications, the technology has been developed in order to safely dilute it and to supply it to the living body by inhalation, respectively. H2 is an inert molecule which can scavenge the highly active oxidants including hydroxyl radical (·OH) and peroxynitrite (ONOO−), and which can convert them into water. H2 is clean and causes no adverse effects in the body. The mechanism of H2 is different from that of traditional drugs because it works on the root of many diseases. Since H2 has extensive and various effects, it may be called a “wide spectrum molecule” on diseases. In this paper, we reviewed the current medical applications of H2 including its initiation and development, and we also proposed its prospective medical applications. Due to its marked efficacy and no adverse effects, H2 will be a next generation therapy candidate for medical applications.
Identifying Twitter users who repost unreliable news sources with linguistic information

Social media has become a popular source for online news consumption with millions of users worldwide. However, it has become a primary platform for spreading disinformation with severe societal implications. Automatically identifying social media users that are likely to propagate posts from handles of unreliable news sources sometime in the future is of utmost importance for early detection and prevention of disinformation diffusion in a network, and has yet to be explored. To that end, we present a novel task for predicting whether a user will repost content from Twitter handles of unreliable news sources by leveraging linguistic information from the user’s own posts. We develop a new dataset of approximately 6.2K Twitter users mapped into two categories: (1) those that have reposted content from unreliable news sources; and (2) those that repost content only from reliable sources. For our task, we evaluate a battery of supervised machine learning models as well as state-of-the-art neural models, achieving up to 79.7 macro F1. In addition, our linguistic feature analysis uncovers differences in language use and style between the two user categories.
The Effect of Streamflow, Ambient Groundwater, and Sediment Anisotropy on Hyporheic Zone Characteristics in Alternate Bars

The hyporheic exchange is the main driver for the biogeochemical transformations of nutrients within a river bed. The current study addresses the variations in hyporheic zone (HZ) characteristics in alternate bars due to different streamflow, ambient groundwater, and sediment anisotropy. Several simulations, using a sequentially coupled surface water‐groundwater model of a synthetic reach with fully developed alternate bars morphology, were performed. Two HZs exist within the streambed; a shallow zone that is more linked to surface water, and a deep one that is more influenced by the groundwater variations. Increasing streamflow, and therefore bar submergence, decreases the hyporheic flow. The residence times distribution is bimodal, which implies the existence of two HZs . This bimodality is enhanced by anisotropic sediment conditions, while it is much milder in isotropic ones. The shallow zone residence times increase when streamflow value rises, while the residence times in the deep HZ are less affected. The mean and median residence times decrease by increasing streamflow in partially submerged case, and they are larger in fully submerged case. The hyporheic flow, area, residence times, and extent decrease by increasing groundwater fluxes. The deep zone is the most affected by the groundwater fluxes. Hyporheic flow and extent values are significantly larger in isotropic conditions than in anisotropic ones. The change in residence times values is different between the deep and shallow zones. A predictive model is driven to predict the hyporheic flux, residence times, and hyporheic depths dependence on bar submergence, ambient groundwater, and sediment anisotropy.
Assessing the influence of electrostatic schemes on molecular dynamics simulations of secondary structure forming peptides

Electrostatic interactions play a fundamental role in determining the structure and dynamics of biomolecules in solution. However the accurate representation of electrostatics in classical mechanics based simulation approaches such as molecular dynamics (MD) is a challenging task. Given the growing importance that MD simulation methods are taking on in the study of protein folding, protein stability and dynamics, and in structure prediction and design projects, it is important to evaluate the influence that different electrostatic schemes have on the results of MD simulations. In this paper we performed long timescale simulations (500 ns) of two peptides, beta3 and RN24 forming different secondary structures, using for each peptide four different electrostatic schemes (namely PME, reaction field correction, and cut-off schemes with and without neutralizing counterions) for a total of eight 500 ns long MD runs. The structural and conformational features of each peptide under the different conditions were evaluated in terms of the time dependence of the flexibility, secondary structure evolution, hydrogen-bonding patterns, and several other structural parameters. The degree of sampling for each simulation as a function of the electrostatic scheme was also critically evaluated. Our results suggest that, while in the case of the short peptide RN24 the performances of the four methods are comparable, PME and RF schemes perform better in maintaining the structure close to the native one for the β-sheet peptide beta3, in which long range contacts are mostly responsible for the definition of the native structure.
Capillary Electrophoresis Measurements of the Free Solution Mobility for Several Model Polyelectrolyte Systems

The free solution electrophoretic mobilities of poly(styrenesulfonate), ss-DNA, and duplex DNA are measured by capillary electrophoresis across a range of ionic strengths and, for poly(styrenesulfonate) and ss-DNA, across a range of chain lengths. The data are then compared with mobilities reported in the literature and predicted by theory. For ionic strengths below 0.1 M, the capillary method is more accurate and rapid than previous techniques; it also provides a distribution of mobility values for polyelectrolyte mixtures. A maximum of the free solution mobility with respect to chain length is discovered in the oligomer range for both poly(styrenesulfonate) and ss-DNA; lowering ionic strength accentuates this unexplained phenomenon. In the large chain limit, where the mobility is independent of chain length, the ionic strength dependences of mobility for all three polymers are remarkably similar. These dependences can only be explained by models that incorporate nonlinear electrostatic effects into the .
Numerical solution of singularly perturbed 2D parabolic initial‐boundary‐value problems based on reproducing kernel theory: Error and stability analysis

The main aim of this article is to propose two computational approaches on the basis of the reproducing kernel Hilbert space method for solving singularly perturbed 2D parabolic initial‐boundary‐value problems. For each approach, the solution in reproducing kernel Hilbert space is constructed with series form, and the approximate solution um is given as an m‐term summation. Furthermore, convergence of the proposed approaches is presented which provides the theoretical basis of these approaches. Finally, some numerical experiments are considered to demonstrate the efficiency and applicability of proposed approaches.
Restoration perceptions and collaboration challenges under severe water scarcity: the Aculeo Lake process

A governmental watershed collaborative process in Aculeo, a semi‐endorheic 149 km2 sub‐basin in Chile, debated options for the water scarcity problems they were facing, including their lake desiccation. However, instead of joining forces, discussions around the possibility of recovering the lake generated further conflicts, revealing that it was not a goal shared by all. In this article, we explore the different perceptions and reasons that influenced preferences on restoring or rehabilitating the Aculeo Lake. By collecting, coding, and comparing before and during collaborative process perceptions, we analyzed the perceptions of the proposed Aculeo Lake rehabilitation that are shared among both those who oppose and those who support it. Results indicate that the underlying disagreement was primarily due to differences in shore property rights and lake access, which was also linked to different opinions about land uses in the territory. This research displays how both values and understandings of problems, along with history of a site, can impact stakeholders' restoration preferences and turn into a collaboration challenge.
A Whole Blood Thrombus Mimic: Constitutive Behavior Under Simple Shear

Deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism affect 300,000-600,000 patients each year in the US. The progression from deep vein thrombus to pulmonary embolism occurs when blood clots, as a whole or partially, break off from the deep veins and eventually occlude the pulmonary arteries. Venous thromboembolism is the cause of up to 100,000 deaths per year in the US alone. To date, we don’t fully understand this mechanical process among other reasons because in-vivo samples are difficult to obtain, highly heterogeneous, and their shapes are inappropriate for most mechanical tests. Toward overcoming these obstacles, we have set out to develop an in-vitro thrombus mimic and to test this mimic under large deformation simple shear. In addition to reporting on the mechanics of our mimics under simple shear, we explore the sensitivity of their mechanics to coagulation conditions and blood storage time, and compare three hyperelastic material models for their ability to fit our data. We found that thrombus mimics made from whole blood demonstrate strain-stiffening, a negative Poynting effect, and hysteresis when tested quasi-statically to 50% strain under simple shear. Additionally, we found that the stiffness of these mimics does not significantly vary with coagulation conditions or blood storage times. Of the three hyperelastic constitutive models that we tested, the Ogden model provided the best fits to both shear stress and normal stress. In conclusion, we developed a robust protocol to generate regularly-shaped, homogeneous thrombus mimics that lend themselves to simple shear testing under large deformation. Future studies will extend our model to include the effect of maturation and explore its fracture properties toward a better understanding of embolization.
Finite element modeling of the damping capacity and vibration behavior of cellular shape memory alloy

Abstract Owing to the dissipative phase transformation and the porosity characteristics, cellular shape memory alloy (SMA) shows high damping capacity and thereby superior performance in vibration control. This paper studies the damping capacity and vibration behavior of the cellular SMA by means of the unit-cell finite element method. A material model of dense SMA is employed to simulate the thermodynamic behavior of the cellular SMA. A loss factor ω is introduced to evaluate the damping capacity of cellular SMA in a successive loading-unloading cycle. The effects of the material properties (the stress difference between the forward and reverse transformations, the saturated value of the transformation strain), the ambient temperature and the pore morphology (the porosity and the axial ratio of spheroid pore) on the damping capacity are investigated. Besides, the cellular SMA with randomly distributed pores is also considered. Simulation results well demonstrate the high damping capacity of the cellular SMA due to the local dissipative martensite phase transformation. Finally, by comparison of the free vibration behavior between the cellular SMA beam and the elastic beam, the cellular SMA exhibits superior performance in vibration control.
Urban Water Pricing and Private Interests’ Lobbying in Small Rural Communities

It is difficult for small municipalities to ensure their urban water cycle complies with the principle of cost recovery established in the European Union (EU) Water Framework Directive. Unlike more populous municipalities, small municipalities face higher average production costs. However, at least in Spain, the price of water is, on average, lower in small municipalities. We question whether the low price of water in rural areas is due, at least in part, to people linked to agriculture, i.e., do farmers constitute a special interest group that hinders increases in the price of water? The main hypothesis was tested with data taken from Torre-Cardela, a municipality in southern Spain with close to 800 inhabitants. In the research a contingent valuation analysis was carried out to analyze respondents’ willingness to pay in the event of a hypothetical increase in the price of water to help cover the service costs. Contrary to expectations, the study yields no evidence that the agricultural population is more resistant to price rises than the rest of the citizens surveyed. In fact, results show that people involved in the agricultural sector would be willing to accept a hypothetical increase in water tariffs in between 15% and 25% over the current tariff, while for the rest of the population this same increase would be lower (in between 9% and 20%).