Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Recent study on the effect of blast loading on composite structures

The paper discusses recent study on the blast loading on composite structures for building, land, air and marine vehicle structures. A blast loading, and explosion phenomenon was discussed. Both numerical analysis using explicit finite element analysis and experimental study were carried out. In the numerical analysis, a LS-DYNA was used extensively, while in the experimental analysis, a TNT solid explosive was used. Composite structures were manufactured using prepreg carbon/epoxy laminates in an autoclave machine. Comparison between these two analyses was done. The study is important in understanding the blast phenomenon and its effect on composite structures, to be able to design safer composite structures.
Environmental exposures and family history of asthma

Abstract Background: Asthma pathogenesis is a complex interaction of genetic, ethnic, environmental and social/life style risk factors. Aim: The goal of this study was to identify associations, if any, in children with asthma, between environmental risk factors (exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke (STS), pet ownership, race and a family history of asthma. Methods: After IRB approval, from June 2011 to December 2014, 823 children with asthma were enrolled in this prospective cross sectional study. At the initial visit, families completed a questionnaire with information on family history of asthma, having a pet at home and exposure to STS by parents at home. Chi square analyses were calculated, with alpha level of significance ≤0.05. Results: History of asthma in parents, siblings or grandparents was reported by 575 (69.8%) patients including father (n = 154, 17.8%) and mother (n = 235, 26.5%). Children with family history of asthma (n = 575) were significantly more likely to have a pet at home and exposure to STS (n = 347, 60.3% and n = 198, 34.4%, respectively) compared to families without a history of asthma (n = 124, 50%, p = 0.006 and n = 44, 17.7%, p < 0.001, respectively). Similarly, asthmatic children with exposure to STS (n = 241) were significantly more likely to have a pet at home and a family history of asthma (n = 153, 63.5% and n = 197, 81.7%, respectively) compared to children with no STS exposure (n = 315, 55.5%, p = 0.034 and n = 371, 65.3%, p < 0.001 respectively). Conclusions: Significantly more asthmatic children with immediate relatives with a history of asthma have a pet at home and experience STS exposure compared to children without relatives with a history of asthma, suggesting association between life style choices/environmental exposures and family history of asthma.
On study habits on an introductory course on programming

Computer aided assessment systems enable the collection of exact time and date information on students’ activity on a course. These activity patterns reflect students’ study habits and these study habits further predict students’ likelihood to pass or fail a course. By identifying such patterns, those who design the courses can enforce positive study habits and to prevent or minimize habits that lead to poor student performance. Hypothetically, by identifying and adjusting the short-term patterns, the teachers might be able to do the same during the course. This publication examines students’ short-term study habits on an introductory level programming course and presents multiple statistically significant connections between students’ assignment submission patterns and their respective final grades. Students who receive the highest grade start and finish their work early, do not work on weekends, and do not work at night, whereas those who fail the course do not show similar behavior but exhibit significant enrichment among those who work large amounts during the night. Course’s mandatory tutorial sessions that act both as assignment release events and as collaborative assignment solving sessions strongly increase assignment submission counts regardless of the students’ final grades and ensure an early start to solving the assignments, possibly preventing those who would otherwise fail the course from starting their work near deadlines.
Impact of Drought and HIV on Child Nutrition in Eastern and Southern Africa

Background Intermittent food insecurity due to drought and the effects of HIV/AIDS affect child nutritional status in sub-Saharan Africa. In Southern Africa in 2001–3 drought and HIV were previously shown to interact to cause substantial deterioration in child nutrition. With additional data available from Southern and Eastern Africa, the size of the effects of drought and HIV on child underweight up to 2006 were estimated. Objective To determine short- and long-term trends in child malnutrition in Eastern and Southern Africa and how these are affected by drought and HIV. Methods A secondary epidemiologic analysis was conducted of area-level data derived from national surveys, generally from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s. Data from countries in the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda) and Southern Africa (Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) were compiled from available survey results. Secondary data were obtained on weight-for-age for preschool children, HIV prevalence data were derived from antenatal clinic surveillance, and food security data were obtained from United Nations sources (Food and Agriculture Organization, International Labour Office, and others). Results Overall trends in child nutrition are improving as national averages; the improvement is slowed but not stopped by the effects of intermittent droughts. In Southern Africa, the prevalence rates of underweight showed signs of recovery from the 2001–03 crisis. As expected, food production and price indicators were related (although weakly) to changes in malnutrition prevalence; the association was strongest between changes in food production and price indicators and changes in malnutrition prevalence in the following year. Areas of higher HIV prevalence had better nutrition (in both country groups), but this counterintuitive association is removed after controlling for socioeconomic status. In low-HIV areas in Eastern Africa, nutrition deteriorates during drought, with prevalence rates of underweight 5 to 12 percentage points higher than in nondrought periods; less difference was seen in high-HIV areas, in contrast to Southern Africa, where drought and HIV together interact to produce higher prevalence rates of underweight. Conclusions Despite severe intermittent droughts and the HIV/AIDS epidemic (now declining but still with very high prevalence rates), underlying trends in child underweight are improving when drought is absent: resilience may be better than feared. Preventing effects of drought and HIV could release potential for improvement and, when supported by national nutrition programs, help to accelerate the rates of improvement, now generally averaging around 0.3 percentage points per year, to those needed to meet Millennium Development Goals (0.4 to 0.9 percentage points per year).
Influence of Fault-Tolerance Techniques on Power-Analysis Resistance of Cryptographic Design

As the security is becoming more and more important these days, we still should not forget about reliability. When designing a cryptographic device for some mission-critical or another reliability demanding system, we need to make the device not only attack-resistant, but also fault-tolerant. There are many common fault-tolerant digital design techniques, however, it is questionable, how these techniques affect the attack-resistance. Do they make the device more vulnerable e.g. to side-channel attacks? In our work we focused on finding the answer to this question. We experimentally evaluated the influence of information redundancy, space redundancy and time redundancy techniques on resistance against power analysis attack. In this paper we present our observations.
UX Design Guideline for Health Mobile Application to Improve Accessibility for the Visually Impaired

A Health Mobile Application (App) has enabled users to access personal health record at any time and place. As an App provides health service to users, it is crucial for an App to be accessible to every user. However, it is often an App does not provide proper visual aid for users who are visually impaired. We restrict the range of visually impaired to retinitis pigmentosa (RP) patients in this paper. RP is a rare type of progressive retinal disease which is hard to cure. Unfortunately, there are no established guidelines to assist RP patients in using their degrading sense of vision. In this paper, we review MWAG(Mobile Web Accessibility Guidelines) specified by W3C and analyze the UX designs of 140 popular health apps chosen based on the number of download counts in app stores and we propose a set of standard-compliant UX design guidelines to assist the visually impaired(RP) in accessing visual data.
The effect of tobacco control policies on smoking prevalence and smoking-attributable deaths. Findings from the Netherlands SimSmoke Tobacco Control Policy Simulation Model.

AIM To develop a simulation model projecting the effect of tobacco control policies in the Netherlands on smoking prevalence and smoking-attributable deaths. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS Netherlands SimSmoke-an adapted version of the SimSmoke simulation model of tobacco control policy-uses population, smoking rates and tobacco control policy data for the Netherlands to predict the effect of seven types of policies: taxes, smoke-free legislation, mass media, advertising bans, health warnings, cessation treatment and youth access policies. MEASUREMENTS Outcome measures were smoking prevalence and smoking-attributable deaths. FINDINGS With a comprehensive set of policies, as recommended by MPOWER, smoking prevalence can be decreased by as much as 21% in the first year, increasing to a 35% reduction in the next 20 years and almost 40% by 30 years. By 2040, 7706 deaths can be averted in that year alone with the stronger set of policies. Without effective tobacco control policies, almost a million lives will be lost to tobacco-related diseases between 2011 and 2040. Of those, 145,000 can be saved with a comprehensive tobacco control package. CONCLUSIONS Smoking prevalence and smoking-attributable deaths in the Netherlands can be reduced substantially through tax increases, smoke-free legislation, high-intensity media campaigns, stronger advertising bans and health warnings, comprehensive cessation treatment and youth access laws. The implementation of these FCTC/MPOWER recommended policies could be expected to show similar or even larger relative reductions in smoking prevalence in other countries which currently have weak policies.
Telmisartan but Not Candesartan Affects Adiponectin Expression In Vivo and In Vitro

To examine the effects of telmisartan on peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor γ activation, we compared the effects of telmisartan with those of candesartan on adipocytokines and glucose and lipid metabolism in vivo and in vitro. In vivo, 56 patients with both type 2 diabetes and hypertension were enrolled and randomized to receive either telmisartan (40 mg) or candesartan (8 mg) for 3 months. Serum adiponectin, HbA1c levels, lipid profiles and blood pressure were recorded at the beginning and 3 months later. In vitro, differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes were treated with telmisartan, candesartan, pioglitazone or vehicle for 24 h, and then adiponectin mRNA and protein levels were measured. The results showed that most of the metabolic parameters, including the lipid profiles, did not change significantly during the study in either group. However, the changes in serum adiponectin and plasma glucose over 3 months were significantly greater in the telmisartan group than in the candesartan group. In vitro, although the protein level of adiponectin was not significantly elevated, the mRNA expression of adiponectin was elevated 1.5-fold by telmisartan in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Our findings suggest that telmisartan may have beneficial effects in type 2 diabetes beyond its antihypertensive effect.
Anti-cocaine vaccines: antibody protection against relapse

The past decade has seen the development of several vaccines against illicitdrugs. These include vaccines for producing antibodies against cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and nicotine. The present focus is on anti-cocaine vaccines, as more research has been conducted with these vaccines than other vaccines targeted against a drug of abuse. Attention needs to be given to the structure of the hapten being conjugated, the characteristics of the carrier protein for conjugation with the hapten and the immunisation regimen for antibody production. These issues have an impact on the level of and variability in the anti-cocaine antibodies actively induced and, consequently, on the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of the vaccine. These issues also have an impact on the preclinical and clinical success of the vaccine in protecting against drug use and relapse. If an anti-cocaine vaccine is to be clinically useful, it must induce a sufficient level of antibody in the blood to prevent easy surmountability of protection by continued cocaine use and should be compatible with other treatment medications that may be simultaneously administered.
Discovery of new HER2/EGFR dual kinase inhibitors based on the anilinoquinazoline scaffold as potential anti-cancer agents

Abstract Herein, we designed and synthesized certain anilinoquinazoline derivatives bearing bulky arylpyridinyl, arylpropenoyl and arylpyrazolyl moieties at the 4′ position of the anilinoquinazoline, as potential dual HER2/EGFR kinase inhibitors. A detailed molecular modeling study was performed by docking the synthesized compounds in the active site of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). The synthesized compounds were further tested for their inhibitory activity on EGFR and HER2 tyrosine kinases. The aryl 2-imino-1,2-dihydropyridine derivatives 5d and 5e displayed the most potent inhibitory activity on EGFR with IC50 equal to 2.09 and 1.94 μM, respectively, and with IC50 equal to 3.98 and 1.04 μM on HER2, respectively. Furthermore, the anti-proliferative activity of these most active compounds on MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines, known to overexpress EGFR, showed an IC50 range of 2.4 and 2.5 μM, respectively.
Accuracy of Carotid Strain Estimates From Ultrasonic Wall Tracking: A Study Based on Multiphysics Simulations and In Vivo Data

We used a multiphysics model to assess the accuracy of carotid strain estimates derived from a 1-D ultrasonic wall tracking algorithm. The presented tool integrates fluid-structure interaction (FSI) simulations with an ultrasound simulator (Field II), which allows comparison of the ultrasound (US) images with a ground truth. Field II represents tissue as random points on which US waves reflect and whose position can be updated based on the flow field and vessel wall deformation from FSI. We simulated the RF-signal of a patient-specific carotid bifurcation, including the blood pool as well as the vessel wall and surrounding tissue. Distension estimates were obtained from a wall tracking algorithm using tracking points at various depths within the wall, and further processed to assess radial and circumferential strain. The simulated data demonstrated that circumferential strain can be estimated with reasonable accuracy (especially for the common carotid artery and at the lumen-intima and media-adventitia interface), but the technique does not allow to reliably assess intra-arterial radial strain. These findings were supported by in vivo data of 10 healthy adults, showing similar circumferential and radial strain profiles throughout the arterial wall. We concluded that these deviations are present due to the complex 3-D vessel wall deformation, the presence of specular reflections and, to a lesser extent, the spatially varying beam profile, with the error depending on the phase in the cardiac cycle and the scanning location.
Psychobiologic Reactivity to Stress and Childhood Respiratory Illnesses: Results of Two Prospective Studies

Psychological stress is thought to undermine host resistance to infection through neuroendocrine-mediated changes in immune competence. Associations between stress and infection have been modest in magnitude, however, suggesting individual variability in stress response. We therefore studied environmental stressors, psychobiologic reactivity to stress, and respiratory illness incidence in two studies of 236 preschool children. In Study 1, 137 3- to 5-year-old children from four childcare centers underwent a laboratory-based assessment of cardiovascular reactivity (changes in heart rate and mean arterial pressure) during a series of developmentally challenging tasks. Environmental stress was evaluated with two measures of stressors in the childcare setting. The incidence of respiratory illnesses was ascertained over 6 months using weekly respiratory tract examinations by a nurse. In Study 2, 99 5-year-old children were assessed for immune reactivity (changes in CD4+, CD8+, and CD19+ cell numbers, lymphocyte mitogenesis, and antibody response to pneumococcal vaccine) during the normative stressor of entering school. Blood for immune measures was sampled 1 week before and after kindergarten entry. Environmental stress was indexed with parent reports of family stressors, and a 12-week respiratory illness incidence was measured with biweekly, parent-completed symptom checklists. The two studies produced remarkably similar findings. Although environmental stress was not independently associated with respiratory illnesses in either study, the incidence of illness was related to an interaction between childcare stress and mean arterial pressure reactivity (beta =.35, p <.05) in Study 1 and to an interaction between stressful life events and CD19+ reactivity (beta =.51, p <.05) in Study 2. In both studies, reactive children sustained higher illness rates under high-stress conditions, but lower rates in low-stress conditions, compared with less reactive peers. Stress was associated with increased rates of illnesses, but only among psychobiologically reactive children. Less reactive children experienced no escalation in illness incidence under stressful conditions, suggesting that only a subset of individuals may be susceptible to the health-altering effects of stressors and adversity.
Microbial Community Structure and Functions in Ethanol-Fed Sulfate Removal Bioreactors for Treatment of Mine Water

Sulfate-rich mine water must be treated before it is released into natural water bodies. We tested ethanol as substrate in bioreactors designed for biological sulfate removal from mine water containing up to 9 g L−1 sulfate, using granular sludge from an industrial waste water treatment plant as inoculum. The pH, redox potential, and sulfate and sulfide concentrations were measured twice a week over a maximum of 171 days. The microbial communities in the bioreactors were characterized by qPCR and high throughput amplicon sequencing. The pH in the bioreactors fluctuated between 5.0 and 7.7 with the highest amount of up to 50% sulfate removed measured around pH 6. Dissimilatory sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) constituted only between 1% and 15% of the bacterial communities. Predicted bacterial metagenomes indicated a high prevalence of assimilatory sulfate reduction proceeding to formation of l-cystein and acetate, assimilatory and dissimilatory nitrate reduction, denitrification, and oxidation of ethanol to acetaldehyde with further conversion to ethanolamine, but not to acetate. Despite efforts to maintain optimal conditions for biological sulfate reduction in the bioreactors, only a small part of the microorganisms were SRB. The microbial communities were highly diverse, containing bacteria, archaea, and fungi, all of which affected the overall microbial processes in the bioreactors. While it is important to monitor specific physicochemical parameters in bioreactors, molecular assessment of the microbial communities may serve as a tool to identify biological factors affecting bioreactor functions and to optimize physicochemical attributes for ideal bioreactor performance.
Age‐associated loss of Sirt1‐mediated enhancement of glucose‐stimulated insulin secretion in beta cell‐specific Sirt1‐overexpressing (BESTO) mice

The Sir2 (silent information regulator 2) family of NAD‐dependent deacetylases regulates aging and longevity across a wide variety of organisms, including yeast, worms, and flies. In mammals, the Sir2 ortholog Sirt1 promotes fat mobilization, fatty acid oxidation, glucose production, and insulin secretion in response to nutrient availability. We previously reported that an increased dosage of Sirt1 in pancreatic β cells enhances glucose‐stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) and improves glucose tolerance in beta cell‐specific Sirt1‐overexpressing (BESTO) transgenic mice at 3 and 8 months of age. Here, we report that as this same cohort of BESTO mice reaches 18–24 months of age, the GSIS regulated by Sirt1 through repression of Ucp2 is blunted. Increased body weight and hyperlipidemia alone, which are observed in aged males and also induced by a Western‐style high‐fat diet, are not enough to abolish the positive effects of Sirt1 on β cell function. Interestingly, plasma levels of nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN), an important metabolite for the maintenance of normal NAD biosynthesis and GSIS in β cells, are significantly reduced in aged BESTO mice. Furthermore, NMN administration restores enhanced GSIS and improved glucose tolerance in the aged BESTO females, suggesting that Sirt1 activity decreases with advanced age due to a decline in systemic NAD biosynthesis. These findings provide insight into the age‐dependent regulation of Sirt1 activity and suggest that enhancement of systemic NAD biosynthesis and Sirt1 activity in tissues such as β cells may be an effective therapeutic intervention for age‐associated metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes.
Reversible Cardiomyopathies

Cardiomyopathy represents a diverse and heterogenous group of disorders affecting the myocardium and ultimately resulting in cardiac dysfunction. The prevalence of heart failure is high (5 million symptomatic patients in the United States) and increasing. Cardiomyopathy is the leading cause of hospitalization in patients older than 65 years of age, resulting in enormous healthcare expenditure and lost productivity. Ischemic cardiomyopathy accounts for about half of these patients, but in several large clinical trials the prevalence of potentially reversible nonischemic cardiomyopathy is also significant, ranging from 20% to 50%. There is epidemiological evidence that the prognosis of these reversible nonischemic cardiomyopathies is better than ischemic or other nonreversible cardiomyopathies. Early and precise diagnosis of the etiology of heart failure is important for determining prognosis and effective treatments.