Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reliable Computation of Contact Force in FRP Composite Laminates under Transverse Impact

A simple and computationally efficient adaptive finite element analysis strategy has been adopted for accurate and reliable evaluation of contact force under transverse impact. Contact of a spherical and cylindrical impactor on FRP composite laminates are considered. Adaptive mesh refinement enables the finite element mesh to be obtained iteratively and automatically for the solution to have the desired level of accuracy. The refined meshes influence the calculated contact force and contact period appreciably. Influences of impactor velocity, mass of impactor, mass of the plate on discretization error as well as on contact force history have also been studied and are found to be sensitive.
Diet Quality and the Income Gradient: A Nonparametric Analysis

Utilizing NHANES data, our study seeks to further understand the relationship between income and diet quality by examining how the correlation between these two variables changes nonparametrically across the income spectrum using local polynomial regressions. Employing similar methods, we also attempt to explain the association between income and substitution between “healthy” and “unhealthy” food categories, and how this relationship changes with increasing levels of income. Preliminary results suggest that diet quality improvements associated with small income increases are much stronger and more positive for those at the low and high ends of the income distribution than for those at medium income levels. Analysis of the substitution between “unhealthy” and “healthy” food categories suggests that the relatively large improvements in diet quality among low-income individuals are likely due to substitution away from low-quality food categories as income increases, while the positive association observed at high income levels are the result of increases in consumption of high-quality foods. Index words: NHANES, poverty, nonparametrics, local polynomial regression Diet Quality and the Income Gradient: A Nonparametric Analysis
Prediction of Heart Diseases using Artificial Intelligence

: Most nations face high and expanding rates of heart diseases or cardiovascular disease. There are number of factors which increase risk of heart diseases, like family history of heart disease, smoking, cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, lack of physical exercise etc. Heart disease is a major health problem in today’s time. A major challenge facing healthcare organization is the provision of quality services at affordable costs. Thus, there arises a need to develop a decision support system for detecting heart disease of a patient. That is, to achieve a correct and cost effective computer-based treatment and support system that can be used to make good decision. Many hospitals use hospital information systems to manage their healthcare or patient data. These systems produce huge amounts of data in the form of images, text, charts and numbers. Sadly, this data is rarely used to support the medical decision making. There is a bulk of hidden information in this data that is not yet explored which give rise to an important query of how to make useful information out of the data. So there is necessity of creating a system which will help practitioners predict the heart disease before it occurs. By providing efficient predictions, it can help to reduce costs of treatment. A hybrid system of Back-Propagation algorithm for neural network and genetic algorithm is proposed. The characteristics of Back-Propagation algorithm are that it is adaptive and tolerant towards the noisy data or other outliers present in the medical data. Back propagation networks do not need the linear relationship between the data and the target output. But it has a disadvantage of getting stuck in the local minima and thus the data is first optimized using genetic algorithm and the concepts of crossover and mutation are applied and that is then again fed into the neural network for better results. In the case of heart diseases time is precious, proper diagnosis at the right time saves life of many patients. The system can be considered assisting the doctor to come to decision making.
Applicability of Extreme Value Theory to the Execution Time Prediction of Programs on SoCs

This paper describes in detail the estimation algorithm of upper bound prediction of the time acquisition task. We use the specific hardware from ARM Cortex-A series and empirical approach of time values retrieval from the timer counter. The robust Measurement-Based Probabilistic Timing Analysis (MBPTA) method based on the Extreme Value Theory (EVT) has been used for experimental verification of the algorithm. The MBPTA method allows deriving a reliable and safe worst-case execution time (WCET) estimation based on the limited number of measurements on the target platform. However, it requires an appropriate complete set of statistical tests for verifying EVT applicability. In ongoing work, we intend to outline challenges behind EVT assumptions and parameter tuning for timing analysis, and provide more coherent approach for safe probabilistic WCET estimations in order to increase the confidence that timing constraints will be met.
Determination of Antioxidant Activity of Juice and Peel Extract of Three Variety of Pomegranate and Clinical Study

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) fruit is widely consumed as fresh fruit and juice. In this experimental and laboratory study, antioxidant properties of pomegranate juice and peel extrac of three variety were evaluate. their antioxidant properties by different method were measured. Results are expressed as meanÂ±SD. The statistical examination of the data was performed using the SPSS version 11.5 program. Mean values of antioxidant activity in different cultivars were compared by using analysis of the variance (ANOVA) test. When significant (p<0.05) difference was detected, The results showed that pomegranate juice of malas vareity had markedly higher antioxidant capacity than the other.In the present study, the FRAP value of juice of three cultivars of pomegranate was determined in an attempt to make a systematic comparison among their antioxidant activities. Further studies on the effective antioxidants contained in these pomegranate juice and the mechanisms by which they protect against disease development are highly recommended. The results showed that The contents of total phenolics, flavonoids were higher in peel extract of wild soar variety than in malas pomegranate extract . The large amount of phenolics contained in peel extract may cause its strong antioxidant ability. We concluded That shomal soar pomegranate peel extract appeared to have more potential as than malas variety extracts.Moreover, we studied effect of two wariety pj on plasma cholesterol and LDL of hypercholesrolemia patiens. The finding showed those patients ' total cholesterol and LDL.C in three groups, after consumption showed a significant decrease at p<0.01 the levels of blood total cholesterol and LDL c.
Voltage and Frequency Control in Smart Distribution Systems in Presence of DER using Flywheel Energy Storage System

The prerequisite for stable system frequency is to have instantaneous balance of demand and generation of active power. Inevitable energy oscillations due to presence of renewable energies in a smart grid, cause network frequency variations in power system. In this paper, we suggest a novel converter and control scheme for flywheel energy storage systems for the provision of energy balancing and grid frequency regulation in a smart grid consist of wind generators, PVs and typical thermal units. This scheme improves the system frequency response to disturbances. The validity of the proposed method is evaluated by computer simulation analyses using MATLAB Simulink. (4 pages)
Influence of Smoking on Gingival Crevicular Fluid Interleukin 1β and Interleukin-8 in Patients with Severe Chronic Periodontitis among a Rural Population in India

Background and Objective: Smoking is widely prevalent among rural Indian populations. Smoking is considered a significant risk factor for periodontal diseases. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of smoking on the inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL) IL-1β and IL-8 in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) and compare these between smokers and nonsmokers with periodontitis in diseased and healthy sites. Materials and Methods: A total of thirty patients with severe chronic periodontitis (15 smokers and 15 nonsmokers) participated in this study. Clinical parameters assessed were gingival index, bleeding on probing, probing depth (PD), and clinical attachment level. One diseased and one healthy site from each of the periodontitis patients were selected for GCF collection and assigned to the following four groups: healthy sites in smoker (SH), diseased sites in smoker (SD), healthy sites in nonsmoker (NH), and diseased sites in nonsmoker (ND) and were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test (Quantikine®). Results: Intragroup comparisons revealed statistically significant levels of IL-1β in ND sites compared to NH sites (P < 0.005) and SD sites showed statistically significantly higher levels of IL-1β compared to SH sites (P < 0.0001). However, there was no significant difference in IL-8 levels between NH and ND sites as well as between SH and SD sites. Intergroup comparisons revealed that SH sites exhibited significantly lower amounts of IL-8 (P < 0.01) compared to NH sites and SD sites showed significantly lower levels of IL-8 compared to ND sites (P < 0.001). However, the comparison of NH and SH sites as well as ND and SD sites showed no significant difference in the levels of IL-1β. Conclusions: Cytokine levels were significantly elevated in periodontitis patients. Smokers exhibited a decrease in IL-8 and increase in IL-1β levels. Hence, this reflects the influence of smoking on immunosuppression and its role in the pathogenesis of periodontal disease.
Motivation of Voluntary Activity and Personal World Assumptions of the Youth

The paper presents results of research of volunteer activity motivation for young people in interrelation with world assumptions of a person. As a hypothesis of the study, it was suggested that the motivation for volunteer activity in the adolescence period is grounded on certain world assumptions and personal values. The study used the following methods: the World assumptions scale (R.Janoff-Bulman); and the Purpose-in-Life Test (J.Crumbaugh & L.Maholic). A semantic differential has been developed to study the motivation of volunteer activity. With the help of factor analysis, two leading motivations of volunteer activity were revealed: motives of personal growth and idealistic motives. The study was a comparative analysis of the studied indicators in a group of volunteers and in a group of young people not engaged in volunteer activity. It was determined that the motivation of volunteers in teens is based more on external factors (positive attitude of others, social significance, social contacts) and is not determined by deep world assumptions of the individual. The value of the "I" depends more on the idealistic beliefs and the personal orientation toward their support than on the meaningfulness and fruitfulness of one's own life.
Ecological aspects of lepidopteran caterpillar parasitoids from Caryocar brasiliense Camb. (Caryocaraceae) in a cerrado sensu stricto of Central Brazil

This study quantified parasitoid occurrence on five lepidopteran caterpillars species that use Caryocar brasiliense as host plant, trying to verify if there was a direct relationship between host abundance and the proportion of parasitism; if leaf shelters served as cues or protection from parasitoids; if host size influenced the proportion of parasitism, and if attacks by Diptera were more frequent than by Hymenoptera. Searches for external folivorous caterpillars were carried out in an area of cerrado sensu stricto, from July/2003 to June/2004. Caterpillars were more parasitized when occurred on mature leaves. Nola sp. (Noctuiidae) had the highest proportion of parasitism and a negative correlation between their body size and parasitoid attack. Caterpillars that constructed shelters suffered lower parasitism than those exposed. Hymenopteran parasitoids were more abundant than Dipteran parasitoids attacking caterpillars on C. brasiliense leaves. In general, parasitoid species richness and the proportion of parasitism in lepidopteran caterpillar on C. brasiliense showed associations with host population density, their life strategy, diet and leaf nutritional quality.
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells: An Innovative Patient-Specific Neurodegenerative Disease Modeling

Recent Progress in pluripotent stem cell biology has nourished the hope to use for brain repair stem cell based therapy. Cell reprogramming diseases models seems particularly hopeful in the field of human neurological disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, for which animal models could be not enough inclusive for describing all aspects of disease pathology. In addition, to improve specific subtype neural differentiation developments aimed at reprogramming technology have been made. Brain repair issue, recognized the induced pluripotent stem cells as the most significant space of intervention because of the high rate expansion, as a cell source in transplantation and cellular therapy. It possess attractive features, including the capacity for large-scale expansion as a cell source for neural transplantation, procedures and potential for differentiation into a range of potentially therapeutic cell types relevant for specific neurological conditions. While collecting iPSC we obtain a unique and well characterized source to clarify disease mechanisms. Such a procedure represents a human stem cell platform for discovering potential drugs as well as new opportunities for mechanistic studies. In this review, we introduce iPSCbased disease modeling to be applied in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Fabrication of Photomagnetic Carbon Surfaces via Redox Assembly

3-Aminophenylboronic acid (APBA) and the complex Ru(bpy)2(phendione)2+ (bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine, phendione = 1,10-phenanthroline-5,6-dione) were found to be useful building blocks for preparing photomagnetic carbon surfaces. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) showed that when APBA was diazotized in acidic sodium nitrite solutions and cathodically reduced with highly ordered pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) electrodes, nanoscale films formed on the electrodes. The resulting HOPG had strong affinities for phendione and Ru(bpy)2(phendione)2+ as the electrodes were biased in the presence of them, respectively, with voltages more negative than the cathodic peak potentials for phendione/phendiol and Ru(bpy)2(phendione)2+/Ru(bpy)2(phendiol)2+ (phendiol = 1,10-phenanthroline-5,6-diol). However, if APBA was excluded, the affinities did not exist. Boronate ester formation featured prominently in these intermolecular interactions. The average increments in the HOPG surface roughness contributed by APBA and Ru(bpy)2(phendione)2+ were roughly 1 : 2, suggesting that the reaction stoichiometry between APBA and Ru(bpy)2(phendione)2+ be 1 : 1. Ru(bpy)2(phendione)2+ could also be grafted to carbon nanotubes (CNTs) under conditions similar to those for the HOPG using ascorbate as sacrificial donor. The resulting CNTs and HOPG exhibited photomagnetism when exposed to the 473 nm light. The ruthenium complex was shown to be a room-temperature photomagnetism precursor, and APBA was shown to be an effective molecular bridge for the complex and carbon substrates.
Current Imbalances and Main Adjustment Mechanisms in the European Monetary Union

The adoption of the euro as a common currency in 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union was achieved in a process that did not strictly observe the recommendations of the economic theory of an optimal monetary area. The elimination of exchange rates before the establishment of European Monetary Union represented the renunciation of an automatic macroeconomic stabilization mechanism and generated major commercial and financial imbalances between the countries in the Eurozone. The emergence of the financial crisis in 2008 combined with the lack of mobility of the labor at European level and the lack of fiscal reforms in the less competitive countries led to the current situation of the unsustainable public debts. The measures envisaged with the purpose to address this crisis are different in terms of level of assistance the competitive countries have to give to the others, the duration and value of wealth transfers that should be made between the states and the limit from which they will affect the fundamental stability and prosperity policy objectives of the European project.
Market Based, Segregated Exchanges with Default Risk

This paper studies a competitive general equilibrium model with default and endogenous collateralized contracts. The possibility of trade in spot markets creates externalities, as spot prices and the bindingness of collateral constraints interact. If agents are allowed to contract ex ante on market fundamentals determining the state-contingent spot prices, over and above contracting on true underlying states of the world, then competitive equilibria are equivalent with Pareto optima. It is possible to have multiple market fundamentals, that is, with segregation into distinct competitive securities exchanges in which endogenous entry fees accrue to borrowers who are otherwise collateral constrained.
Scheduling Spots on Television

The scheduling of advertisements, or spots, is an essential operational process of the television business that must be conducted daily. An efficient distribution of viewers among advertisers allows the television network to satisfy contracts as planned and also increase ad-sales revenue. Spot scheduling is a very hard multi-period scheduling problem. Schedules have to be created such that advertiser’s campaign goals are met and ad-sales revenue is maximized. Each campaign has a specific target group of viewers and a unique set of constraints that have to be met. In addition, the number of viewers is uncertain. In this paper, we describe a practical approach that combines mathematical programming and time series methods to create daily schedules that are ready for broadcasting. This approach generates high quality schedules, according to standard business metrics and in comparison with the mathematical optimal bound. Our methods are used by leading networks and they produce substantial increases in revenue.
A Simple Website Optimization Framework for Web developers in Kurdistan Region of Iraq

In this paper we investigate the current state of developed websites in terms of speed (page load time) in Kurdistan Region of Iraq and propose a simple optimisation framework to reduce webpage load time. Recently the Kurdistan region of Iraq (KRI) has seen progress in many areas of life, due to this progress there are many companies that compete to deliver services. One way these companies try to get their messages across to consumers, not surprisingly, is through the internet which is realised by creating dedicated websites for their companies. There are a number of companies that claim to have the ability to develop professional websites in Kurdistan region but the current level of customer satisfaction indicates otherwise.For the purpose of data collection we investigate a number of current websites developed by local companies for their load time speed using a number of available tools. As a result we propose a simple optimisation framework for developers in these companies that can aid in reducing webpage load time. The results show that the framework is simple and effective and can benefit developers elsewhere. This paper contributes toward improving website developments in KRI in terms of load time speed.
Risk Factors For Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Canada and Provincial Variations

Aim: To estimate factors associated with having ever had a Sexually Transmitted Disease (STDs) in Canada and explore provincial variation. Methods: The 2009-2010 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) was used to examine demographic and behavioral factors associated with having ever had an STD. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted. Also, probit models were employed to estimate the probability of having ever had an STD in Canada. Results: People living in the Territories had the highest probability of having ever been diagnosed with an STD (OR = 2.11, 95% CI (1.76, 2.52)) and residents from Maritime Provinces were least likely to have been diagnosed with an STD (OR = .64, 95 % CI (.55, .74)). Women were more likely to have ever had an STD with an odds ratio of 2.06 (95% CI (1.90, 2.24)). In our study, income, marriage, and education were found to be protective factors. Behavioral factors such as smoking and binge drinking had significant harmful effects on sexual health. Daily smokers were 1.56 times (95% CI (1.43, 1.71)) more likely to have been diagnosed with an STD compared with non-smokers. Similarly, individuals with binge drinking frequency of more than once per week had 2.57 (95% CI (2.15, 3.07)) higher odds of having ever had an STD. Conclusion: Both demographic and behavioral factors influence the likelihood of having ever been diagnosed with an STD in Canada. Women, people with lower income, lower education, or unmarried are more likely to have ever had an STD. Smoking and binge drinking are significantly associated with an increase in the likelihood of ever having an STD in Canada. Appropriate policy interventions could address some of these factors leading to reductions in STD incidence and prevalence in Canada.
Lower tropospheric ozone at northern midlatitudes: Changing seasonal cycle

At northern midlatitudes the abundance of tropospheric O3 has increased by a factor of approximately 2 since the 1950s. The cause of this increase is generally attributed to increasing anthropogenic precursor emissions, but present chemical and transport models cannot quantitatively reproduce its magnitude. Here we show another manifestation of changes in O3 abundance—a shift of the seasonal cycle at northern midlatitudes so that the observed peak concentrations now appear earlier in the year than in previous decades. The rate of this shift has been 3 to 6 days per decade since the 1970s. We examine possible reasons to explain this shift and suggest it is due to changes in atmospheric transport patterns combined with spatial and temporal changes in emissions. Detailed modeling is necessary to test these hypotheses; this investigation will provide useful guidance for improving global chemistry‐climate models and stringent tests of the model results.
Framing ICT implementation in a context of educational change: A structural equation modelling analysis

Despite the common belief that information and communication technology (ICT) has the potential to support certain fundamental changes in learning, few have examined ICT implementation conceptually within a wider context of educational change. Methodologically, we are by and large limited to building simple models that accommodate only a single dependence relationship among variables. Framing ICT implementation as a process of interactions among pedagogical and organisational factors in bringing about changes in student learning, this article used data collected from 1076 teachers in 130 schools to construct a structural equation model (SEM), from which we are able to examine multiple interrelated dependence relationships in a single model. Results indicated that from teacher perspectives, the collegial capacity of ICT implementation strategies played a central and mediating role in effecting changes in student learning, of moving away from a teacher-centred approach to one that is more student-centred. Specifically, ICT brought about these changes in the context of establishing collegiality in fostering pedagogical innovations in schools. Implications for both researchers and practitioners are discussed.