Optimal Design of Pitched Roof Rigid Frames with Non-Prismatic Members Using Quantum Evolutionary Algorithm

The weight and shape of the gable and multi-span frames (mono and two-span pitched roof) with tapered members, as a familiar group of the pitched roof frames, are highly dependent on the properties of the member cross-section. In this work a quantum inspired evolutionary algorithms, so-called Quantum evolutionary algorithm (QEA) [1], are utilized for optimal design of one gable frame and a multi-span frame in five alternatives with tapered members. In order to optimize the frames, the design is performed using the AISC specifications for stress, displacement and stability constraints. The design constraints and weight of the gable and multi-span frames are computed from the cross-section of members. These optimum weights are obtained using aforementioned optimization algorithm considering the cross-section of members and design constraints as optimization variables and constraints, respectively. A comparative study of the QEA and some recently developed methods from literature is also performed to illustrate the performance of the utilized optimization algorithm and its featuring. Furthermore, optimal design of a multi-span frame is compared with the solution of other methods including the same conditions and constraints. This study indicates the power of QEA in exploring and exploitation due the search space with using Q-gate and binary code for individual representation and updating. Binary code helps the QEA to find optimal solution even with minimum number of Q-bit individuals. High speed of this method is because of such a feature

Association of Limb-Girdle muscular dystrophy with multiple sclerosis: A case report

Background: The association of limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) with other neurological disorders is uncommon. Case presentation: We report a 25-year-old female with LGMD who suffered from slowly progressive proximal muscular weakness and atrophy since she was 12 years of age. The patient recently presented with acute loss of left side visual acuity. After evaluation, findings were suggestive of multiple sclerosis. Conclusions: This is the first report of LGMD in association with MS. The simultaneous occurrence of MS with myopathies may be incidental but there may be a genetic susceptibility for both diseases. This comorbidity may influence the treatment of MS

Mapping local patterns of childhood overweight and wasting in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2017

A double burden of malnutrition occurs when individuals, household members or communities experience both undernutrition and overweight. Here, we show geospatial estimates of overweight and wasting prevalence among children under 5 years of age in 105 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) from 2000 to 2017 and aggregate these to policy-relevant administrative units. Wasting decreased overall across LMICs between 2000 and 2017, from 8.4% (62.3 (55.1–70.8) million) to 6.4% (58.3 (47.6–70.7) million), but is predicted to remain above the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target of <5% in over half of LMICs by 2025. Prevalence of overweight increased from 5.2% (30 (22.8–38.5) million) in 2000 to 6.0% (55.5 (44.8–67.9) million) children aged under 5 years in 2017. Areas most affected by double burden of malnutrition were located in Indonesia, Thailand, southeastern China, Botswana, Cameroon and central Nigeria. Our estimates provide a new perspective to researchers, policy makers and public health agencies in their efforts to address this global childhood syndemic

Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: In an era of shifting global agendas and expanded emphasis on non-communicable diseases and injuries along with communicable diseases, sound evidence on trends by cause at the national level is essential. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) provides a systematic scientific assessment of published, publicly available, and contributed data on incidence, prevalence, and mortality for a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive list of diseases and injuries. Methods: GBD estimates incidence, prevalence, mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) due to 369 diseases and injuries, for two sexes, and for 204 countries and territories. Input data were extracted from censuses, household surveys, civil registration and vital statistics, disease registries, health service use, air pollution monitors, satellite imaging, disease notifications, and other sources. Cause-specific death rates and cause fractions were calculated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model and spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression. Cause-specific deaths were adjusted to match the total all-cause deaths calculated as part of the GBD population, fertility, and mortality estimates. Deaths were multiplied by standard life expectancy at each age to calculate YLLs. A Bayesian meta-regression modelling tool, DisMod-MR 2.1, was used to ensure consistency between incidence, prevalence, remission, excess mortality, and cause-specific mortality for most causes. Prevalence estimates were multiplied by disability weights for mutually exclusive sequelae of diseases and injuries to calculate YLDs. We considered results in the context of the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income per capita, years of schooling, and fertility rate in females younger than 25 years. Uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated for every metric using the 25th and 975th ordered 1000 draw values of the posterior distribution. Findings: Global health has steadily improved over the past 30 years as measured by age-standardised DALY rates. After taking into account population growth and ageing, the absolute number of DALYs has remained stable. Since 2010, the pace of decline in global age-standardised DALY rates has accelerated in age groups younger than 50 years compared with the 1990–2010 time period, with the greatest annualised rate of decline occurring in the 0–9-year age group. Six infectious diseases were among the top ten causes of DALYs in children younger than 10 years in 2019: lower respiratory infections (ranked second), diarrhoeal diseases (third), malaria (fifth), meningitis (sixth), whooping cough (ninth), and sexually transmitted infections (which, in this age group, is fully accounted for by congenital syphilis; ranked tenth). In adolescents aged 10–24 years, three injury causes were among the top causes of DALYs: road injuries (ranked first), self-harm (third), and interpersonal violence (fifth). Five of the causes that were in the top ten for ages 10–24 years were also in the top ten in the 25–49-year age group: road injuries (ranked first), HIV/AIDS (second), low back pain (fourth), headache disorders (fifth), and depressive disorders (sixth). In 2019, ischaemic heart disease and stroke were the top-ranked causes of DALYs in both the 50–74-year and 75-years-and-older age groups. Since 1990, there has been a marked shift towards a greater proportion of burden due to YLDs from non-communicable diseases and injuries. In 2019, there were 11 countries where non-communicable disease and injury YLDs constituted more than half of all disease burden. Decreases in age-standardised DALY rates have accelerated over the past decade in countries at the lower end of the SDI range, while improvements have started to stagnate or even reverse in countries with higher SDI. Interpretation: As disability becomes an increasingly large component of disease burden and a larger component of health expenditure, greater research and developm nt investment is needed to identify new, more effective intervention strategies. With a rapidly ageing global population, the demands on health services to deal with disabling outcomes, which increase with age, will require policy makers to anticipate these changes. The mix of universal and more geographically specific influences on health reinforces the need for regular reporting on population health in detail and by underlying cause to help decision makers to identify success stories of disease control to emulate, as well as opportunities to improve. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licens

Global age-sex-specific fertility, mortality, healthy life expectancy (HALE), and population estimates in 204 countries and territories, 1950-2019 : a comprehensive demographic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: Accurate and up-to-date assessment of demographic metrics is crucial for understanding a wide range of social, economic, and public health issues that affect populations worldwide. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 produced updated and comprehensive demographic assessments of the key indicators of fertility, mortality, migration, and population for 204 countries and territories and selected subnational locations from 1950 to 2019. Methods: 8078 country-years of vital registration and sample registration data, 938 surveys, 349 censuses, and 238 other sources were identified and used to estimate age-specific fertility. Spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression (ST-GPR) was used to generate age-specific fertility rates for 5-year age groups between ages 15 and 49 years. With extensions to age groups 10–14 and 50–54 years, the total fertility rate (TFR) was then aggregated using the estimated age-specific fertility between ages 10 and 54 years. 7417 sources were used for under-5 mortality estimation and 7355 for adult mortality. ST-GPR was used to synthesise data sources after correction for known biases. Adult mortality was measured as the probability of death between ages 15 and 60 years based on vital registration, sample registration, and sibling histories, and was also estimated using ST-GPR. HIV-free life tables were then estimated using estimates of under-5 and adult mortality rates using a relational model life table system created for GBD, which closely tracks observed age-specific mortality rates from complete vital registration when available. Independent estimates of HIV-specific mortality generated by an epidemiological analysis of HIV prevalence surveys and antenatal clinic serosurveillance and other sources were incorporated into the estimates in countries with large epidemics. Annual and single-year age estimates of net migration and population for each country and territory were generated using a Bayesian hierarchical cohort component model that analysed estimated age-specific fertility and mortality rates along with 1250 censuses and 747 population registry years. We classified location-years into seven categories on the basis of the natural rate of increase in population (calculated by subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate) and the net migration rate. We computed healthy life expectancy (HALE) using years lived with disability (YLDs) per capita, life tables, and standard demographic methods. Uncertainty was propagated throughout the demographic estimation process, including fertility, mortality, and population, with 1000 draw-level estimates produced for each metric. Findings: The global TFR decreased from 2·72 (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 2·66–2·79) in 2000 to 2·31 (2·17–2·46) in 2019. Global annual livebirths increased from 134·5 million (131·5–137·8) in 2000 to a peak of 139·6 million (133·0–146·9) in 2016. Global livebirths then declined to 135·3 million (127·2–144·1) in 2019. Of the 204 countries and territories included in this study, in 2019, 102 had a TFR lower than 2·1, which is considered a good approximation of replacement-level fertility. All countries in sub-Saharan Africa had TFRs above replacement level in 2019 and accounted for 27·1% (95% UI 26·4–27·8) of global livebirths. Global life expectancy at birth increased from 67·2 years (95% UI 66·8–67·6) in 2000 to 73·5 years (72·8–74·3) in 2019. The total number of deaths increased from 50·7 million (49·5–51·9) in 2000 to 56·5 million (53·7–59·2) in 2019. Under-5 deaths declined from 9·6 million (9·1–10·3) in 2000 to 5·0 million (4·3–6·0) in 2019. Global population increased by 25·7%, from 6·2 billion (6·0–6·3) in 2000 to 7·7 billion (7·5–8·0) in 2019. In 2019, 34 countries had negative natural rates of increase; in 17 of these, the population declined because immigration was not sufficient to counteract the negative rate of decline. Globally, HALE increased from 58·6 years (56·1–60·8) in 2000 to 63·5 years (60·8–66·1) in 2019. HALE increased in 202 of 204 countries and territories between 2000 and 2019

Global, regional, and national progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 for neonatal and child health: all-cause and cause-specific mortality findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 has targeted elimination of preventable child mortality, reduction of neonatal death to less than 12 per 1000 livebirths, and reduction of death of children younger than 5 years to less than 25 per 1000 livebirths, for each country by 2030. To understand current rates, recent trends, and potential trajectories of child mortality for the next decade, we present the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 findings for all-cause mortality and cause-specific mortality in children younger than 5 years of age, with multiple scenarios for child mortality in 2030 that include the consideration of potential effects of COVID-19, and a novel framework for quantifying optimal child survival. Methods We completed all-cause mortality and cause-specific mortality analyses from 204 countries and territories for detailed age groups separately, with aggregated mortality probabilities per 1000 livebirths computed for neonatal mortality rate (NMR) and under-5 mortality rate (USMR). Scenarios for 2030 represent different potential trajectories, notably including potential effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the potential impact of improvements preferentially targeting neonatal survival. Optimal child survival metrics were developed by age, sex, and cause of death across all GBD location-years. The first metric is a global optimum and is based on the lowest observed mortality, and the second is a survival potential frontier that is based on stochastic frontier analysis of observed mortality and Healthcare Access and Quality Index. Findings Global U5MR decreased from 71.2 deaths per 1000 livebirths (95% uncertainty interval WI] 68.3-74-0) in 2000 to 37.1 (33.2-41.7) in 2019 while global NMR correspondingly declined more slowly from 28.0 deaths per 1000 live births (26.8-29-5) in 2000 to 17.9 (16.3-19-8) in 2019. In 2019,136 (67%) of 204 countries had a USMR at or below the SDG 3.2 threshold and 133 (65%) had an NMR at or below the SDG 3.2 threshold, and the reference scenario suggests that by 2030,154 (75%) of all countries could meet the U5MR targets, and 139 (68%) could meet the NMR targets. Deaths of children younger than 5 years totalled 9.65 million (95% UI 9.05-10.30) in 2000 and 5.05 million (4.27-6.02) in 2019, with the neonatal fraction of these deaths increasing from 39% (3.76 million 95% UI 3.53-4.021) in 2000 to 48% (2.42 million; 2.06-2.86) in 2019. NMR and U5MR were generally higher in males than in females, although there was no statistically significant difference at the global level. Neonatal disorders remained the leading cause of death in children younger than 5 years in 2019, followed by lower respiratory infections, diarrhoeal diseases, congenital birth defects, and malaria. The global optimum analysis suggests NMR could be reduced to as low as 0.80 (95% UI 0.71-0.86) deaths per 1000 livebirths and U5MR to 1.44 (95% UI 1-27-1.58) deaths per 1000 livebirths, and in 2019, there were as many as 1.87 million (95% UI 1-35-2.58; 37% 95% UI 32-43]) of 5.05 million more deaths of children younger than 5 years than the survival potential frontier. Interpretation Global child mortality declined by almost half between 2000 and 2019, but progress remains slower in neonates and 65 (32%) of 204 countries, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia, are not on track to meet either SDG 3.2 target by 2030. Focused improvements in perinatal and newborn care, continued and expanded delivery of essential interventions such as vaccination and infection prevention, an enhanced focus on equity, continued focus on poverty reduction and education, and investment in strengthening health systems across the development spectrum have the potential to substantially improve USMR. Given the widespread effects of COVID-19, considerable effort will be required to maintain and accelerate progress. Copyright (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd

Numerical simulation of forced convection heat transfer of laminar cuo-water nanofluid flow through a horizontal 180 degree curve pipe / Hamed Khajeh Arzani

A fluid formed by suspending Nano-scaled metallic or non-metallic particles in base fluids is called a nanofluid. Laminar forced convection heat transfer of the CUO-water nanofluid in a pipe with a return bend is analysed by using a finite volume method. The effects of nanoparticles concentrations and Reynolds number are investigated on the flow and the convective heat transfer behaviour. The results show that the average Nusselt number increases with increasing Reynolds number, and the increment of specific heat in the nanofluid contributes to the heat transfer enhancement. The average Nusselt number in the return bend appears higher than that in the inlet and outlet pipes due to the secondary flows. However, the pressure drop in the pipe largely increases with the increment of nanoparticle volume concentration

Heat transfer enhancement by carbon nanostructure based nanofluids in an annular heat exchanger / Hamed Khajeh Arzani

Present thesis work introduces a new design of heat exchangers utilizing an annular profile which opens a new gateway for realizing optimization of higher energy transfer. To apprehend this goal, nanofluids have been studied for this application as it has got thermal conductivity higher than conventional liquids. In this study, a cooling loop apparatus was designed and built to evaluate the transition and turbulent heat transfer performance of water and ethylene glycol based nanofluids. Also numerical simulation was employed as an approximating procedure for prediction of the results in this study. Two-phase mixture model has been considered for simulation of the nanofluids flow in two and three dimensional annular heat exchanger. Graphene Nanoplatelets (GNP) were stably dispersed in aqueous media by covalent and non-covalent functionalization. At a constant concentration, the measurement has shown that the thermal conductivity of covalent nanofluid (GNP-COOH/water) is higher than the non-covalent nanofluid (GNP-SDBS/water), which is higher than distilled water. In the second phase of the study, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) has been covalently functionalized with Aspartic acid (Asp) to achieve a highly dispersed colloidal suspension of MWCNT. After investigation of stability of colloidal suspensions with Uv-vis spectroscopy, the prepared coolants have the promising properties such as high thermal conductivity as compared with water. Forced convection heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop were also investigated at three different heat fluxes and four weight concentrations. The observed high heat transfer rate, poor change in the pressure drop in the presence of different weight concentrations provided a suitable condition for this novel alternative coolant. In the third phase of study, the improvement of colloidal stability of Graphene Nanoplatelets (GNP) in aqueous media has been implemented by functionalization with tetrahydrofurfuryl polyethylene glycol in a quick electrophonic addition reaction method. To address this issue, surface functionalization of GNP was analyzed by Raman spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. In addition, the morphology of treated samples was investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The steady-state forced convective heat transfer experiments and the simulation results confirmed the promising cooling capabilities of the TGNP/water. The last phase is related to the thermophysical and heat transfer performance of covalently functionalized GNP-based water/ethylene glycol nanofluid in an annular channel. After experimentally measuring thermophysical properties of the prepared samples, a computational fluid dynamics study has been carried out to study the heat transfer and pressure drop of well-dispersed and stabilized nanofluids. Based on the results of this investigation, there is a significant enhancement on the heat transfer rate associated with the loading of well-dispersed GNP in basefluid

Holy Koran\\\'s Pattern in the Cultural Communication of Islam and Christianity

The Holy Koran, the last scared scripture sent by Allah, recommends, based on the verses frequency, seven methods to communicate with the Christians. The important point about these seven models that may be considered interesting is their sequence as they may be applied one after another in the following order: 1-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Affirmation of some of the Christianity foundations (the Holy Bible, Jesus Christ, Saint Mary and the&nbsp; Apostles) 2-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Invitation to unity 3-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Annunciation of blessing for the true Christians 4-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Warning and threats to the Christians 5-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Invitation to consider the truth by the Christians 6-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Explanation of the infidel Christians and their damnation&nbsp; 7-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Order to mubahala (debate and mutual cursing) and wage war against the Christians. These are the seven methods, based on Holy Koran, which are considered to be used in communicating with the Christians: &nbsp; 1-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;The background for an efficient dialog is firstly based by affirmation of some of the Christianity foundations such as the Holy Bible, Jesus Christ, Saint Mary and the Apostles. The existence of a constructive and unifying dialog can have a vital role to directly eliminate the world problems; but this needs some suitable backgrounds. One of these backgrounds is the dialog based on the common matters. Relying on lots of common positive issues such as beliefs, ideas, aspirations, pains and common feelings, the humankind can establish such a dialog. 2-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In the second phase, the Holy Koran, accepting some beliefs of the Christians, invites them to unite with Muslims based on the monotheism and rejection of idolatry and idolatrous in order to reach a common understanding in communicating with each other. 3-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; After a Christian receives confirmations about his/her religious ideals by Islam and is ready to unite with Muslims&nbsp; based on the Monotheism, there is an announcement of&nbsp; divine mercy and forgiveness, explained by Holy Koran. 4-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In this phase, if the Christians refuse to accept the truthfulness of Islam because of prejudice, jealousy or ignorance, the Holy Koran warns them to follow the realities of their religion and to be united with Islam based on the monotheism. 5-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; If the warning is not followed and accepted, the Holy Koran invites the Christian, based on the logic&nbsp; to consider their belief system and wants them to rethink with common sense about what they ignore or believe superstitiously and to follow the divine path. 6-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In this stage of communication, if the Christians continue to insist on their beliefs and ignorance, the Holy Koran warns them explicitly about the damnation, suffering and loss. 7-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; At the end, if the Christians do not abandon their beliefs and try to influence the Muslims by creating division and confusion, the Holy Koran orders to wage war against them. It then curses them and warns them about suffering in this very world. Looking to these seven steps of communicating, it can be concluded based on the Holy Koran teachings that the pattern of the inter-cultural communication between Muslims and Christians is the monotheism and staying away from polytheism. The more this pattern is reinforced and highlighted, the more this closeness and communication will be constructive and efficient. The Holy Koran presents seven practices and solutions. If the Holy Koran accepts and respects some of the foundations of Christianity (such as the Holy Bible, Jesus Christ, the Apostles and the chastity of Saint Mary) in these practices which are based on the monotheism and refusal of polytheism, it is because they are all centered around the monotheistic principles. Whenever there is a deviation from these principles, the Holy Koran warns and invites the people to consider their beliefs. It even orders explicitly to wage war to make the Christians return to the true path of divinity. Based on these methods to communicate with the Christians which are affirmation of some of the Christianity foundations (the Holy Bible, Jesus Christ, Saint Mary and the&nbsp; Apostles), invitation to unity, annunciation of blessing for the true Christians, warning and threats to the Christians, invitation to consider the truth by the Christians, explanation of the infidel Christians and their damnation and order to mubahala (debate and mutual cursing) and wage war against the Christians, we can conclude that the basic principle governing all these methods is the monotheism and worshiping Allah. We understand that the Holy Koran loves and respects the people of the Book and the true Christians. It considers greatly Jesus Christ and the chastity of his virgin Mother and glorifies their names because they all worshiped Allah. The pattern for the inter-cultural communications is considered in the Holy Koran (Ale-Imran): Say: &quot;O People of the Book! come to common terms as between us and you: That we worship none but Allah; that we associate no partners with him; that we erect not, from among ourselves, Lords and patrons other than Allah.[1] This verse is addressed to the all of the People of the Book and invites them: O People of the Book! Come to common terms as .... It invites that the people unite and agree on one word and act based on this one word. We can conclude that this verse means: Let's all grab this one word and try to expand it altogether. The invitation explained in this verse is to refuse to worship other than Allah and is not a mere belief. In brief, the messengers and prophets invite all the humankind to follow the way that their nature dictates them i.e. to follow the word of Allah and to judge based on the monotheism and in accordance with the Islamic criteria and for the Allah's sake. The criteria such as: 1- submitting to Allah, 2-expanding the justice and the equality of rights of life 3- the freedom in the will of competent and good deeds. This is not realized unless we can eliminate the roots of dispute such as subordination to non-right and domination of the powerful i.e. the weak accepting the cruelty of the more powerful. We all must accept that there is no Allah except Allah and no other rule except Allah's rule. The Holy prophet of Islam (PBUH) invites the People of the Book to believe his revelation and to unite around the word of Allah. This is not an invitation to the just theoretical monotheism but it is an applied monotheism that has social effects such as expansion of justice and rejection of idolatrous. In brief, if we consider the verses related to the Christians, we can conclude the ways the Koran offers in order to communicate with them. What has a vital importance in this communication is the monotheism and refusal of polytheism. The ways to attain this goal are the seven ones which we pointed out in the article&nbsp