Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ameliorative effect of zinc and vermicompost on physiological and yield attributes in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under arsenic toxicity

The present study illustrates the phytotoxicity of arsenic (As) on wheat (HUW-234) seedlings and pre-application of zinc sulphate and vermicompost for mitigating toxic effects of As. Seedlings of HUW-234 genotype of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were raised in pot soil culture using eight treatment combinations viz., Control, Vermicompost @ 15 t.ha-1, ZnSO4.7H2O @ 20 ppm Zn, Vermicompost @ 15 t.ha-1+ ZnSO4.7H2O @ 20 ppm Zn, Na2HAsO4.7H2O @ 30 ppm As, Na2HAsO4.7H2O @ 30 ppm As + Vermicompost @ 15 t.ha-1, Na2HAsO4.7H2O @ 30 ppm As + ZnSO4.7H2O @ 20 ppm Zn and Na2HAsO4.7H2O @ 30 ppm As + Vermicompost @ 15 t.ha-1 + ZnSO4.7H2O @ 20 ppm Zn. Perusal of data indicated that arsenic @ 30 ppm treated pots showed decrease in plant height, leaf area and shoot dry matter as compared to pots with no arsenic treatment. Zinc @ 20 ppm and Vermicompost @ 15 t.ha-1 alone resulted in increase in plant height, leaf area and shoot dry matter. The highest plant height, leaf area and shoot dry matter in arsenic treated pots were found in treatment supplemented with Zinc @ 20 ppm and Vermicompost @ 15 t.ha-1, whereas, least of above parameters were recorded in pots without zinc and vermicompost supplementation.
Influence of cow-dung amendment on glyphosate mobility in soil

Abstract Sorption and desorption characteristics of glyphosate on native soil and soil amended with cow dung were investigated. Sorption was pH dependent and decreased with increasing pH. Glyphosate partition coefficient ranged from 275 to 16,200 L kg−1 in native soil, but for soil amended with cow dung it was significantly lower, viz 180–1530 L kg−1. Glyphosate partition coefficient showed strong negative correlation with cation exchange capacity and positive correlation with surface area. Phosphate in cow dung suppressed glyphosate sorption and enhanced desorption. This study revealed that cow-dung addition to soil could raise the mobility of glyphosate towards groundwater contamination due to the presence of phosphate.
Fatty Acid Profile and Production of Fatliquor from Canarium schweinfurthii Mesocarp Oil

Fatty acid profile of Canarium schweinfurthii mesocarp oil was determined by GC-MS. Sulphonated fatliquor was synthesized from the oil and characterized by FT-IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and DSC. The fatliquor was applied onto light leather in the processing of leather shoe upper and physical tests carried out on the fixed leather. The sulphonated C. schweinfurthii mesocarp oil had good characteristics as a leather fatliquor as shown by the physical and strength properties of the fatliquored leather. In addition, a significantly opened up structure of the leather treated with the prepared sulphonated oil was observed as indicated from the Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images. The features of the processed trial leathers were comparable with similar leather made with commercially available fatliquor.
Online information searching behaviours: examining the impact of task complexity, information searching experience, and cognitive style

ABSTRACT While the impact of behavioural and cognitive processes on online information searching behaviours have been studied in some depth, little is known about the impact of procedural and metacognitive processes on online information searching behaviours. In addition, although the literature contains studies examining online information searching behaviours based on experience, cognitive styles, and task complexity separately, there is only a limited number of studies that investigate how online information searching behaviours vary depending on individual characteristics by taking task complexity as a basis. The aim of this study is to explore whether university students’ information searching behaviours, task completion times, and task completion rates in simple and difficult tasks differ depending on information searching experience and cognitive style. The study was conducted with a sample of 20 university students. The results of this study indicated that in difficult search tasks, online information searching experience is influential on the exhibition of online information searching behaviours associated with the metacognitive domain. In simple and difficult tasks, experience and cognitive styles cause differentiation in online information searching behaviours. When task complexity is taken as a basis, the experience is more influential on task completion time and task completion rate compared to cognitive styles.
Toward Milder Personal Care Cleansing Products: Fast ex vivo Screening of Irritating Effects of Surfactants on Skin Using Raman Microscopy

Abstract We report a novel Raman technique that allows fast and reliable ex vivo assessment of the irritability of personal care cleansing products to the skin in terms of the molecular-level effects such as retention of water by corneocytes, change in the packing order and content of intercellular lipids, and the structure of keratin. We test this technique for the single surfactants (dodecyl glucoside, sodium dodecyl sulfate, sodium cocoyl glycinate, lauramidopropyl betaine) that are typically used in personal care, as well as on three types of commercial soap bars (“superfat”, “syndet”, and “combar”). We find that soaking of the skin for prolonged time in pure water can cause unfolding of keratin, which is commonly considered as a signature of “harshness” when dealing with the surfactant formulations. Moreover, molecular-level signatures of irritability of the test surfactants and soaps at brief (10 min) exposure times do not follow the trend expected from their critical micelle concentrations (CMC) and collagen swelling. In particular, dodecyl glucoside has positive impact on the barrier properties of the stratum corneum (SC) and apparent detergency properties (solubilizes lipids without affecting their packing order). We also find that two qualitatively different soap bars (“superfat” and “syndet”) are similarly mild under the conditions studied, while the “combar” soap has detergency properties. These results demonstrate that to improve methodology of predicting irritability of a surfactant-based formulation, we need to study more systematically the molecular-level responses of the SC to exposure.
PROXIMATE AND ANTI-NUTRIENT COMPOSITION OF AFZELIA AFRICANA AND CRESCENTIA CUJETE SEEDS

Afzelia africana and Crescentia cujete are underutilized seeds that have been suggested to have good nutritional content. Their utilization for food and other purposes can however be limited by the presence of some anti-nutritional, anti-physiological and toxic substances. Hence, proximate (moisture, protein, lipid, fibre, ash and NFE) and some anti-nutritional contents (alkaloids, phytate, tannins, saponins and flavonoids) of Afzelia africana and Crescentia cujete seeds were investigated. Collected seeds were milled and air dried before analyses. Milled seeds were analysed for proximate composition and anti-nutrients using standard procedures. All proximate contents varied significantly (P<0.05) except for lipid content. Results showed that A. africana seed had the highest ash (4.13%), protein (13.89%) and nitrogen free extract (59.20%) contents, while C. cujete had the highest moisture, lipid and fibre content. The proximate composition of both seeds varied significantly (P<0.05) except for lipid. Alkaloids, tannins, saponins and flavonoids contents were also considerably high for both seeds investigated. The contents of phytates, tannins and flavonoids varied significantly (P<0.05) between both seeds. Crescentia cujete had the highest phytate, tannin and saponin contents while A. africana had the highest alkaloid and flavonoid contents. Since Afzelia africana and Crescentia cujete seeds had relatively high percentage contents of carbohydrate (59.20 and 49.86, respectively) and lipids (16.10 and 17.00, respectively), the seeds could be said to have potentials to serve as good sources of energy for livestock and animal production. The high composition of phytochemicals in the two seeds studied also implies the seeds could be useful for medicinal purposes.
The Relationship between Self-efficacy prior to the Practicum of Adult Nursing for Chronic Illness and the Grades Received for the Practicum

This study investigated the relationship between self-efficacy immediately before adult nursing for chronic illness practicum and the grades received in the practicum. The subjects included 167 nursing students who completed the practicum between April 2012 and February 2013 at a university. Self-efficacy was measured with the General Self-efficacy Scale and the Self-efficacy Scale for nursing Students during clinical Training. The relationship between self-efficacy and the grades of the practicum was statistically analyzed after adjusting for assumed confounding variables. The data from 123 students without missing variables were analyzed. There were no significant relationships between self-efficacy scales and the grade point average of the previous term or the completion of a practicum in any other area. There were no significant associations between the self-efficacy scales and grades received in the practicum. Although the students had completed practicums in other areas, their experiences were not necessarily associated with their confidence in the next practicum.
Competitive Adsorption of Heavy Metal Ions
from Aqueous Solutions onto Activated Carbon
and Agricultural Waste Materials

Agricultural waste materials (peanut shell and sawdust) were used as replacements for activated carbon to remove heavy metal ions from aqueous solution. Batch adsorption experiments were conducted in single, and competitive systems. The adsorption efficiencies of different heavy metal ions were, in descending order: lead, copper, cadmium. Activated carbon showed best adsorption efficiency (lead: 14.01 mg/g; copper: 13.1 mg/g; cadmium: 5.5 mg/g), followed by peanut shell (lead: 9.5 mg/g; copper: 49.1 mg/g; cadmium: 5.07 mg/g), and sawdust (lead: 5.5 mg/g; copper: 5.3 mg/g; cadmium: 3.99 mg/g), which showed the worst efficiency. The amount of heavy metal ions adsorbed onto activated carbon, peanut shell and sawdust increased with the increase of adsorption time and then reached equilibrium values. As the initial concentration of heavy metal ions increased, the amount of heavy metal ions adsorbed increased while the removal ratios thereof decreased. The adsorption processes in both single and competitive systems followed a Langmuir isotherm model and pseudo second-order kinetic model. The intraparticular diffusion process can be divided into two stages for the adsorption process of heavy metal ions. There were antagonistic effects among three kinds of heavy metal ions in a competitive
Exploiting the switching dynamics of HfO2-based ReRAM devices for reliable analog memristive behavior

The utilization of bipolar-type memristive devices for the realization of synaptic connectivity in neural networks strongly depends on the ability of the devices for analog conductance modulation under application of electrical stimuli in the form of identical voltage pulses. Typically, filamentary valence change mechanism (VCM)-type devices show an abrupt SET and a gradual RESET switching behavior. Thus, it is challenging to achieve an analog conductance modulation during SET and RESET. Here, we show that analog as well as binary conductance modulation can be achieved in a Pt/HfO2/TiOx/Ti VCM cell by varying the operation conditions. By analyzing the switching dynamics over many orders of magnitude and comparing to a fully dynamic switching model, the origin of the two different switching modes is revealed. SET and RESET transition show a two-step switching process: a fast conductance change succeeds a slow conductance change. While the time for the fast conductance change, the transition time, turns out to be state-independent for a specific voltage, the time for the slow conductance change, the delay time, is highly state-dependent. Analog switching can be achieved if the pulse time is a fraction of the transition time. If the pulse time is larger than the transition time, the switching becomes probabilistic and binary. Considering the effect of the device state on the delay time in addition, a procedure is proposed to find the ideal operation conditions for analog switching.The utilization of bipolar-type memristive devices for the realization of synaptic connectivity in neural networks strongly depends on the ability of the devices for analog conductance modulation under application of electrical stimuli in the form of identical voltage pulses. Typically, filamentary valence change mechanism (VCM)-type devices show an abrupt SET and a gradual RESET switching behavior. Thus, it is challenging to achieve an analog conductance modulation during SET and RESET. Here, we show that analog as well as binary conductance modulation can be achieved in a Pt/HfO2/TiOx/Ti VCM cell by varying the operation conditions. By analyzing the switching dynamics over many orders of magnitude and comparing to a fully dynamic switching model, the origin of the two different switching modes is revealed. SET and RESET transition show a two-step switching process: a fast conductance change succeeds a slow conductance change. While the time for the fast conductance change, the transition time, turns out.
A Smartphone Attention Bias App for Individuals With Addictive Disorders: Feasibility and Acceptability Study

Background Conventional psychology therapies are unable to address automatic biases that result in individuals relapsing into their substance use disorder. Advances in experimental psychology have led to a better understanding of attention and approach biases and methods to modify these biases. Several studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of bias modification among clinical cohorts. The advances in mobile health technologies have allowed remote delivery of these interventions. To date, there is a lack of studies examining bias modification in a substance-using non-Western sample. Objective This study was designed to determine the feasibility of an attention bias modification intervention and an attention bias modification smartphone app for the reduction of attention biases among treatment-seeking individuals. The secondary aim is to determine the acceptability of the intervention. Methods A feasibility study was conducted among inpatients who were in their rehabilitation phase at the National Addictions Management Service. Participants were to complete a set of baseline questionnaires, and on each day that they are in the study, undertake an attention bias assessment and modification task while completing a visual analogue scale to assess their craving. Feasibility was determined by the acceptance rate of participation and participants’ adherence to the interventions. Acceptability was assessed by a perception questionnaire. Descriptive statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 22. A thematic analysis approach was used in the qualitative synthesis of users’ perceptions. Results Of the 40 participants invited to participate in the feasibility study, 10 declined, yielding an acceptance rate of 75%. Of the recruited participants, 6 participants were diagnosed with alcohol dependence; 17, with opioid dependence; 2, with cannabis dependence; and 5, with stimulant dependence. In addition, of the final 30 participants, 11 (37%) failed to complete all the planned interventions and 22 (73%) completed the perspective questionnaires; of these 22 participants, 100% rated the app as extremely and very easy, 77% rated it as extremely or very interactive, 54% rated it as extremely or very motivating, and 33% reported a change in their confidence levels. Conclusions Our results highlight the feasibility of recruiting participants to undertake attention bias modification interventions. Participants generally accept use of a mobile version of such an intervention. Nevertheless, our acceptability data indicate that there could be improvements in the existing app, and a participatory design approach might be helpful in its future conceptualization. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) RR2-10.2196/11822
A COMPARISON OF NARROW-PLATFORM (3.0-3.6mm) vs WIDER PLATFORM (3.7-6mm) DENTAL IMPLANTS

Retrospective research accessing the Electronic Health Record (EHR) of the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine [axiUm database and software, Exan Group, Las Vegas, Nevada]. The research compared the success (survival) of narrow-platform dental implants (3.0-3.6mm) vs. wider-platform dental implants (3.7-6mm) in the posterior maxilla and mandible (molars and premolars), and, using axiUm measuring tools, evaluated marginal bone loss in each tooth/implant investigated. Datapoints from standard oral radiographs (periapical x-rays) existing in the Electronic Health Record were measured and recorded. Analysis of the data from the Electronic Health Record shows that both narrow and wider-diameter implants will present statistically significant marginal bone loss post-placement and restoration, averaging 0.7mm initial bone loss for the narrow diameter implants and 0.5mm initial bone loss for the wider-diameter implants. These results, from analysis of this existing University of Pittsburgh Electronic Health Record data, may not reflect the success rate anticipated clinically, nor that expected from anecdotal experience.
‘Improving’ access to psychological therapies: It’s the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine)

In this paper I outline four concerns about the way in which the clinical psychology profession seems to be responding to the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies agenda: adopting the medical model in clinical psychology, suggesting that one psychotherapeutic model works for all, a narrow focus on helping one part of the population and agreeing that clinical psychologists can cure people (quickly).
Nitric Oxide Alleviates Iron Toxicity by Reducing Oxidative Damage and Growth Inhibition in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Seedlings

Nitric oxide (NO) is an important bioactive signaling molecule in plants which modulates a variety of physiological processes and responses to abiotic and biotic stresses. In this study, the effects of exogenous NO supplied as sodium nitroprusside (SNP) in wheat seedlings under ironinduced oxidative damage was investigated. An appropriate concentration of NO was determined by conducting a preliminary experiment. In solution culture, wheat seeds were grown in the control (100 μM Fe), and toxic Fe (400 μM Fe) levels and the toxic Fe supply was treated with various levels of (50, 100, 200 and 500 μM) sodium nitroprusside (SNP). The results indicated that 400 μM Fe significantly decreased percentage germination, tolerance index, root lengths as well as fresh and dry weight compared to control. Exogenous SNP attenuated the inhibition of wheat seed germination. The promoting effect was most pronounced at 100 μM SNP. The accumulated concentration of iron and active Fe was significantly decreased by SNP treated Fe toxic seedlings. Toxicity of Fe caused oxidative stress by elevating hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), malondialdehyde (MDA) and proline contents in roots of wheat seedlings. One hundred μM SNP counteracted Fe toxicity by reducing the H2O2, MDA and proline contents of toxic Fe exposed seedlings. Meanwhile, application of SNP markedly reduced the activities of superoxide dismutases (SOD), catalases (CAT), peroxidase (POD), ascorbate peroxidases (APX), non protein thiols (NPT) and of glutathione reductase (GR) and increased ascorbate (ASc) compared with Fe toxic treatment alone, thereby indicating the modulation of the antioxidative capacity in the root under Fe stress by NO. The results indicated that the exogenous application of SNP, improved the antioxidant enzymes activity of wheat seedlings against Fe induced oxidative stress.
Novel Inception-GAN for Whisper-to-Normal Speech Conversion

Recently, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN)-based Gener-ative Adversarial Networks (GANs) are used for Whisper-to-Normal Speech (i.e., WHSP2SPCH) conversion task. These CNN-based GANs are signiﬁcantly difﬁcult to train in terms of computational complexity. Goal of the generator in GAN is to map the features of the whispered speech to that of the normal speech efﬁciently. To improve the performance, we need to either tune the cost functions by changing hyperparam-eters associated with it or to make the generator more complex by adding more layers to the model. However, more complex architectures are prone to overﬁtting. Both solutions are time-consuming and computationally expensive. Hence, in this paper, we propose Inception-based GAN architecture (i.e., Inception-GAN). Our proposed architecture is quite stable and computationally less expensive while training. The proposed Inception-GAN outperforms existing CNN-based GAN architectures (CNN-GAN). Objective and subjective results are carried out using the proposed architectures on statistically meaningful whispered TIMIT (wTIMIT) corpus. For a speaker-speciﬁc evaluations, Inception-GAN shows 8.9% and 6.2% better perfomance objectively compared to the CNN-based GAN for male and female speaker, respectively.
Degradation and physical properties of sugar palm starch/sugar palm nanofibrillated cellulose bionanocomposite

: This paper aims to study the degradation rate of sugar palm nanofibrillated cellulose (SPNFCs) and sugar palm starch (SPS). SPNFCs were isolated from sugar palm fiber, while SPS is extracted from sugar palm trunk. The SPNFCs were reinforced with SPS biopolymer as biodegradable reinforcement materials of different diameter/length based on the number of passes of high pressurize homogeniza tion process (5, 10 and 15 passes represented by SPS/SPNFCs-5, SPS/SPNFCs-10, and SPS/SPNFCs-15). These SPNFCs were incorporated into SPS plasticized with glycerol and sorbitol via solution casting method. Soil burial experiment performed on SPS and SPS/SPNFCs bionanocomposites showed that SPS was degraded more rapidly by losing 85.76% of its mass in 9 days compared to 69.89% by SPS/SPNFCs-15 bionanocomposite. The high compatibility between SPNFCs nanofiber and SPS biopolymer matrices can be observed through field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM).
Effect of green synthesized molybdenum nanoparticles on nitrate accumulation and nitrate reductase activity in spinach

Abstract In the present study, the green synthesized Mo nanoparticles (NPs) were firstly prepared using vermicompost extracts and, then, two experiments were separately carried out in a completely randomized design. The first experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of ammonium nitrate (AN) on nitrate (NO3−) accumulation rates as well as some other vegetative traits in spinach in four treatments and three replicates and the second experiment was done to investigate the effects of elemental Mo and green synthesized Mo NPs on NO3− accumulation, nitrate reductase (NR) activity and some morphological parameters in seven treatments with three replicates. The results of the first experiment indicated that the greatest accumulation of NO3− in the aerial parts of the plants was observed in the 3 M AN treatment. That is why the same concentration was utilized in the second experiment to study the effects of elemental Mo and green synthesized Mo NPs on the NR activity, NO3− accumulation and the other traits. The results of the second experiment indicated that various concentrations of elemental Mo and green synthesized Mo NPs have significant effects on all measured traits including the fresh and dry weights of the plant, NO3− concentration, NR activity, chlorophyll a (Chl a) and chlorophyll b (Chl b) rates, total chlorophyll (Chl a + b) and the plant height. Moreover, it was found that the green synthesized Mo NPs, as compared to elemental Mo, have a greater effect on the increase of NR activity and, consequently, significant reduction of NO3− accumulation. AbbreviationsAN ammonium nitrateChl a chlorophyll aChl b chlorophyll bChl a + b the total chlorophyllsM MolarMo molybdenumNPs nanoparticlesNR nitrate reductaseN nitrogenNO3− nitrate