The Influence of Autonomic Dysfunction Associated with Aging and Type 2 Diabetes on Daily Life Activities

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) and ageing have well documented effects on every organ in the body. In T2D the autonomic nervous system is impaired due to damage to neurons, sensory receptors, synapses and the blood vessels. This paper will concentrate on how autonomic impairment alters normal daily activities. Impairments include the response of the blood vessels to heat, sweating, heat transfer, whole body heating, orthostatic intolerance, balance, and gait. Because diabetes is more prevalent in older individuals, the effects of ageing will be examined. Beginning with endothelial dysfunction, blood vessels have impairment in their ability to vasodilate. With this and synaptic damage, the autonomic nervous system cannot compensate for effectors such as pressure on and heating of the skin. This and reduced ability of the heart to respond to stress, reduces autonomic orthostatic compensation. Diminished sweating causes the skin and core temperature to be high during whole body heating. Impaired orthostatic tolerance, impaired vision and vestibular sensing, causes poor balance and impaired gait. Overall, people with T2D must be made aware and counseled relative to the potential consequence of these impairments

Performance of Recycled Aggregate Concrete Containing Micronised Biomass Silica

This paper presents a study on Micronised Biomass Silica (MBS) that was produced from the controlled burning of waste Rice Husk. The MBS was used as pozzolan material to enhance the performance of Recycled Aggregate Concrete (RAC). Various percentages by mass of Micronised Biomass Silica were applied in the normal and recycled aggregate concrete cube samples. Compressive strength and water permeability tested on the samples at the age of 7, 14, 28 and 90 days showed that concrete containing MBS has attained higher compressive strength. Furthermore, the test on MBS also showed its ability to enhance the concrete water permeability. Lengthen to this; the study established a good correlation between the MBS content with compressive strength and water permeability coefficient

An FPGA-based quantum computing emulation framework based on serial-parallel architecture

Hardware emulation of quantum systems can mimic more efficiently the parallel behaviour of quantum computations, thus allowing higher processing speed-up than software simulations. In this paper, an efficient hardware emulation method that employs a serial- parallel hardware architecture targeted for field programmable gate array (FPGA) is proposed. Quantum Fourier transform and Grover’s search are chosen as case studies in this work since they are the core of many useful quantum algorithms. Experimental work shows that, with the proposed emulation architecture, a linear reduction in resource utilization is attained against the pipeline implementations proposed in prior works. The proposed work contributes to the formulation of a proof-of-concept baseline FPGA emulation framework with optimization on datapath designs that can be extended to emulate practical large-scale quantum circuits

Persim - Simulator for Human Activities in Pervasive Spaces

Activity recognition research relies heavily on test data to verify the modeling technique and the performance of the activity recognition algorithm. But data from real deployments are expensive and time consuming to obtain. And even if cost is not an issue, regulatory limitations on the use of human subjects prohibit the collection of extensive datasets that can test all scenarios, under all circumstances. A powerful and verifiable simulation tool is needed to accelerate research on human activity recognition. We present Persim, an event driven simulator of human activities in pervasive spaces. Persim is capable of capturing elements of space, sensors, behaviors (activities), and their inter-relationships. We focus on presenting the five main use cases for Persim addressing dataset synthesis, reuse and extension of existing datasets, sharing of data and simulation projects, as well as data validation. © 2011 IEEE

Real-Tme Boron Nitride Erosion Measurements of the HiVHAc Thruster via Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy

Cavity ring-down spectroscopy was used to make real-time erosion measurements from the NASA High Voltage Hall Accelerator thruster. The optical sensor uses 250 nm light to measure absorption of atomic boron in the plume of an operating Hall thruster. Theerosion rate of the High Voltage Hall Accelerator thruster was measured for discharge voltages ranging from 330 to 600 V and discharge powers ranging from 1 to 3 kW. Boron densities as high as 6.5 x 10(exp 15) per cubic meter were found within the channel. Using a very simple boronvelocity model, approximate volumetric erosion rates between 5.0 x 10(exp -12) and 8.2 x 10(exp -12) cubic meter per second were found

HNRNPA2B1 Is a Mediator of m6A-Dependent Nuclear RNA Processing Events

SummaryN6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most abundant internal modification of messenger RNA. While the presence of m6A on transcripts can impact nuclear RNA fates, a reader of this mark that mediates processing of nuclear transcripts has not been identified. We find that the RNA-binding protein HNRNPA2B1 binds m6A-bearing RNAs in vivo and in vitro and its biochemical footprint matches the m6A consensus motif. HNRNPA2B1 directly binds a set of nuclear transcripts and elicits similar alternative splicing effects as the m6A writer METTL3. Moreover, HNRNPA2B1 binds to m6A marks in a subset of primary miRNA transcripts, interacts with the microRNA Microprocessor complex protein DGCR8, and promotes primary miRNA processing. Also, HNRNPA2B1 loss and METTL3 depletion cause similar processing defects for these pri-miRNA precursors. We propose HNRNPA2B1 to be a nuclear reader of the m6A mark and to mediate, in part, this mark’s effects on primary microRNA processing and alternative splicing.PaperCli

Binary Effect of Fly Ash and Waste Glass on Compressive Strength and Heat of Hydration for Concrete

The most crucial building material in the modern construction industry is concrete. Concrete made of components like cement and aggregates. Cement was a significant contributor to the carbon dioxide emissions that altered the world's climate and had other detrimental effects on the environment. Concrete is used so frequently in the construction industry that it is crucial to conduct research on this topic since it will affect how long a structure lasts. In an effort to decrease the detrimental effects on the environment and enhance the qualities of concrete, alternative materials, such as fly ash (FA) and waste glass (WG), have been utilised to replace some of the fine aggregate and ordinary Portland cement (OPC), respectively. Compressive strength testing and hydration heat assessment were used in this study. Fly ash and waste glass were substituted for normal concrete in amounts ranging from 5 to 25% by weight of the cement and fine aggregate, respectively. For the compressive strength test, 36 concrete cubes with dimensions of 100 mm x 100 mm x 100 mm were created. They were evaluated after 7 and 28 days. Six (6) new concrete samples of 150 mm in diameter and 300 mm in height were prepared in order to access the heat of hydration of concrete. According to the study, the concrete with 5% replacement of FA and WG had the highest compressive strength at both 7 and 28 days, according to the results, out of all the tested mixes. In addition, 13 hours after casting, the control concrete mix design recorded the 37°C peak temperature, which was the highest of all the concrete mixes

Developing an Asthma Self-management Intervention Through a Web-Based Design Workshop for People With Limited Health Literacy:User-Centered Design Approach

BACKGROUND: Technology, including mobile apps, has the potential to support self-management of long-term conditions and can be tailored to enhance adoption. We developed an app to support asthma self-management among people with limited health literacy in a web-based workshop (to ensure physical distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic). OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to develop and test a prototype asthma self-management mobile app tailored to the needs of people with limited health literacy through a web-based workshop. METHODS: We recruited participants from a primary care center in Malaysia. We adapted a design sprint methodology to a web-based workshop in five stages over 1 week. Patients with asthma and limited health literacy provided insights into real-life self-management issues in stage 1, which informed mobile app development in stages 2-4. We recruited additional patients to test the prototype in stage 5 using a qualitative research design. Participants gave feedback through a concurrent thinking-aloud process moderated by a researcher. Each interview lasted approximately 1 hour. Screen recordings of app browsing activities were performed. Interviews were audio-recorded and analyzed using a thematic approach to identify utility and usability issues. RESULTS: The stakeholder discussion identified four themes: individual, family, friends, and society and system levels. Five patients tested the prototype. Participants described 4 ways in which the app influenced or supported self-management (utility): offering information, providing access to an asthma action plan, motivating control of asthma through support for medication adherence, and supporting behavior change through a reward system. Specific usability issues addressed navigation, comprehension, and layout. CONCLUSIONS: This study proved that it was possible to adapt the design sprint workshop to a web-based format with the added advantage that it allowed the development and the testing process to be done efficiently through various programs. The resultant app incorporated advice from stakeholders, including sources for information about asthma, medication and appointment reminders, accessible asthma action plans, and sources for social support. The app is now ready to move to feasibility testing

Health literacy levels and its determinants among people with asthma in Malaysian primary healthcare settings:a cross-sectional study

Abstract Background Limited health literacy among people with asthma is associated with poor adherence to self-management activities, thus poor clinical outcomes. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of health literacy level and its determinants among people with asthma in the Malaysian primary healthcare settings. Method A cross-sectional study was conducted among participants aged > 18 years with asthma who attended five primary health clinics in Malaysia. Systematic random sampling was employed with a final sample of 550 participants. The questionnaires included the validated Malay version of Health Literacy Scale (HLS) and asthma control questionnaire (ACQ). Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 25. Multiple logistic regression was performed to determine the determinants for limited health literacy. Results The participants mean age of the participants was 48 (SD15.4) years. Most of the participants were women (64%) and of Malay ethnicity (51.1%). Nearly half had a secondary level of education, n = 112, (45.8%). Mean duration of asthma diagnosis is 20.6 (SD 15.9) years. More than half (62.5%) had a family history of asthma. About half (50.9%) had uncontrolled asthma, with 87.3% self-rated themselves as having controlled asthma. About a third (29.1%) received education on of asthma action plan, but only 7.1% of these owned a written version an asthma action plan. Limited health literacy accounts for 60.5% of the participants. The significant determinants for limited health literacy included lower educational attainment (p < 0.001), family history of asthma (p = 0.034), < 20 years duration of asthma diagnosis (p = 0.031) and not receiving asthma action plan education (p < 0.001). Conclusion In this study population, more than half of the people living with asthma were found to have limited health literacy, which was associated with not having received self-management education supported by an asthma action plan. Future interventions should include strategies that ensure they meet the needs of people with limited health literacy

Effects of a newly developed palm-based processing aid and curing systems on the physical properties of nitrile rubber composites

Researches on developing renewable and eco-friendly processing aid are still on-going in the effort of replacing conventional petroleum-based processing aid. In this study, the effects of a palm-based processing aid (Bio) and curing systems on the physical properties of nitrile rubber (NBR) composites were evaluated. Curing systems studied were conventional (CV), semi-efficient (SEV) and efficient (EV) curing systems. It was found that regardless of the curing systems, the addition of Bio reduced the delta torque, cure rate index, glass transition temperature and loss tangent of the NBR composites. Reduction of delta torque by Bio resulted in lower tensile modulus (M100) and higher elongation at break (EB) of composites. Hardness, swelling index and compression set were also higher with the incorporation of Bio. The effects of curing system were also prominent in which using CV cure system leads to higher M100 and hardness and lower EB and compression sets. Excellent aging properties are crucial as it predicts the properties of the composite during service. After accelerated aging, results revealed that the effects of curing systems were significant on the retention of M100 and compression set of NBR composites where the SEV cured composites showed the highest retention of M100 and the lower compression set values. NBR composite with Bio, using a semi-efficient curing system was found to have the best aging properties compared to other composites