Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Multimodal Pore Channels on Cargo Release from Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) with multimodal pore channels were fully characterized by TEM, nitrogen adsorption-desorption, and DLS analyses. MSNs with average diameter of 200 nm with dual pore channel zones with pore diameters of 1. 3ź2. 6 and 4 nm were tested for their use in drug delivery application. Important role of the multimodal pore systems present on MSNs on the quantitative release of model drug ibuprofen was investigated. The results obtained revealed that the release profile for ibuprofen clearly shows distinct zones which can be attributed to the respective porous channel zones present on the particles. The fluctuations in the concentration of ibuprofen during the prolonged release from MSNs were caused by the multimodal pore channel systems.
Assessment of the mutagenicity of some pharmaceutical effluents.

Problem statement: The pharmaceutical industry is a major contributor to industrial wastes globally. Effluents from this industry are usually discharged into the environment and when not properly handled and disposed, they affect both human health and the environment. Approach: This study evaluated the mutagenic potentials of effluents from six pharmaceutical companies in the Lagos province of Nigeria using modified Ames test and Allium cepa (Linn) assay. Allium cepa model was used to determine the mean root length, mitotic index and chromosomal aberrations effects of these plants on Onion bulbs using 5, 10 and 15% concentration of the pharmaceutical effluents. The modified Ames test which is a modification of the standard Ames test was done using E. coli (0157:H7) that has the phenotypic characteristics of glucose and lactose fermentation, motile, urease negative, indole positive and citrate negative. Result: From the results, two of the effluents showed mutagenicity with modified Ames test and all the six effluents showed mitodepressive and toxic effects to the Allium cepa root. Conclusion/Recommendations: It may then be recommended that pharmaceutical companies should devise means of containing, treating and managing their effluents.
Genetic variation in wood basic density and pilodyn penetration and their relationships with growth, stems straightness and branch size for Eucalyptus urophylla S. T. Blake in Northern Vietnam

Genetic parameters for wood basic density and pilodyn penetration and their relationship with diameter, height, stem straightness and branch size were estimated in two thinned openpollinated progeny trials of Eucalyptus urophylla in northern Vietnam at the age of eight and nine years. The number of families was 127 in one trial and 144 in the other trial, all families were from nine natural provenances and 120 of them were common to both sites. At the time of assessment, each family was represented by from four to eight trees in each trial. Wood basic density, estimated from 5 mm increment cores taken at breast height, averaged 510 kg t across the two trials. Estimated narrow sense individual tree heritability ( 2 ĥ ) for wood basic density was 0.60, and that for pilodyn penetration was 0.42. The estimated coefficient of additive genetic variation ( A CV ) for wood basic density was 6.3%. There were no significant differences between provenances for these two traits. The estimated genetic correlation between pilodyn penetration and wood density was -0.86, indicating that pilodyn could be used reliably as an indirect measurement of wood basic density. The estimated genetic correlations among wood basic density and diameter at breast height, height, stem straightness and branch size at each site were weak. Strong estimated genetic correlation between inner wood density and total core density indicated that reliable selection for wood density could be carried out at age three years. Estimated genetic correlations between sites for both wood basic density and pilodyn penetration were strong, indicating little genotype-by-environment interaction for these traits.
Injuries sustained by young males in construction during day and night work

The increased participation of young workers in the construction industry is matched by a growing realization of the vulnerability of these workers in terms of occupational injury and disease. The impact of organizational issues on injury rates for young workers is examined. This is an under-researched area where physical and psychological development influences have traditionally dominated. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on labour force participation and work hours and data from the Queensland Injury Surveillance Unit on patients presenting at hospital emergency departments were used to examine incidence and severity of injuries sustained by young workers in construction on different shifts. Analyses indicated a different pattern of injury for young workers and workers outside this age category. Young workers were consistently more likely to be injured than all other workers, and this injury rate ratio increased significantly on night shift, suggesting that injury prevention strategies should consider the temporal pattern of work for young workers in construction.
Dose-responses of Stem Cel ls from Human Exfol iated Teeth

different light sources, only limited data have been reported concerning the effects of light-emitting diodes (LED) on stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHEDs). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of different energy densities of infrared LED on the cell viability, number of cells and mineralized tissue production by SHEDs. SHEDs were obtained from near-exfoliation primary teeth (n=3), seeded in plain DMEM (104 cells/cm2), and irradiated by a LED prototype (LEDTable 850 nm, 40 mW/cm2) delivering 0 (control), 2, 4, 8, 15 or 30 J/cm2 (n=9). Cell viability (MTT assay), cell proliferation (trypan blue assay), and mineralized nodule (MN) formation (alizarin red stain) were assessed 12 and 72 h post-irradiation. Data were subjected to Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests (α=0.05). Cells irradiated with 2 or 4 J/cm2 exhibited higher metabolism at 72 h, and all energy densities provided increase in cell proliferation after 12 h. Regarding MN formation, the best results were observed at 72 h after SHED irradiation with 8 and 15 J/cm2. It was concluded that the cell viability, cell number and MN formation by pulp cells are enhanced after exposure to infrared LED irradiation. Overall, the greatest SHED biostimulation was obtained with 4 and 8 J/cm2. Dose-responses of Stem Cel ls from Human Exfol iated Teeth t o I n f r a r e d LED I r r ad i a t i on
FBS models: an attempt at reconciliation towards a common representation

FBS is one of the most followed and studied design theories, as evidenced by the numerous investigations and rework on the subject. It is often used to provide a better understanding on existing design methods and tools in order to make them more accurate or efficient. Nevertheless the resulting methods are often loose or too heterogeneous to be easily applied; what is lacking is a scheme of collection that supports design process from the beginning to the end, while considering all possible facets. This paper contains an attempt at reconciling many previous works on FBS, through a homogeneous and unique representation: all the elements (function, behaviour, structure, affordances, signals) have been reformulated according to the designer s and user s perspective, in terms of perception and interpretation; in this way they could be bound together in a common ontological reformulation of a more extensive scheme. In this article, we propose a bond between the various elements, using a logical-mathematical form.
Foreign Bank Ownership and Household Credit

Theoretical and empirical work on banking emphasizes the role of banks in overcoming information asymmetries and agency problems between borrowers and lenders. This paper investigates the importance of bank ownership in determining the sorts of customers that a bank serves, and consequently, the sorts of information problems a bank lender chooses to address. Using survey data for over 16,500 households from 19 emerging economies in Central and Eastern Europe in 2010 this paper is the first to document that information asymmetries in the retail credit market lead foreign banks to cherry-pick financially transparent clients in similar ways as documented previously for enterprise credit. First, a higher market share of foreign banks in a country is associated with a larger gap in credit use between households with and without formal employment. Second, among mortgage borrowers, clients of foreign banks are more likely to be formally employed, are more likely to have personal assets, and are richer than clients of domestic banks. Third, consistent with these results, retail lending techniques of foreign banks rely more on financial information and collateral than those of domestic banks.
Experimental Implementation of Spatial Control on a Piezoelectric-Laminate Beam

This paper is aimed to develop a feedback controller that suppresses vibration of flexible structures. The controller is designed to minimize the spatial norm of the closed-loop system. This technique guarantees average reduction of vibration throughout the entire structure. A feedthrough term is incorporated into the truncated flexible-structure model to compensate for the neglected dynamics in the finite-dimensional model. Adding the feedthrough term reduces the uncertainty associated with the truncated model, which is instrumental in ensuring the robustness of the closed-loop system. The controller is applied to a simply-supported piezoelectric-laminate beam and is validated experimentally to show the effectiveness of the proposed controller in suppressing structural vibration. It is shown that the spatial control has an advantage over the pointwise control in minimizing the vibration of the entire structure. This spatial control methodology can also be applied to more general structural vibration suppression problems.
Drivers of learning management system use in a South African open and distance learning institution

The study on which this article reports examined the determinants of usage of an online learning management system (LMS) by fourth level business students at a South African open and distance learning university using an extension of the widely used technology acceptance model (TAM) as a theoretical basis. A survey was conducted among students at their annual summer school, with 213 usable questionnaires being returned. The findings suggest that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use as core aspects of the TAM and TAM2 models are confirmed, and study relevance (job relevance in the TAM2 model) and facilitating conditions as extensions are confirmed also. However, other elements of the TAM2 model and extensions were not confirmed by the research, while the relationships between these constructs, behavioural intention and LMS use were significant but not particularly strong. Thus, despite the ostensible robustness of the underlying structure and dimensionality of the TAM core constructs, its usefulness as a model to explain usage in this context and in a setting where acceptance and usage patterns have been established over prolonged periods of time is limited. The findings do, however, suggest certain initiatives to assist in increasing the perceived usefulness of the LMS.
A Survey on Synchronous and Asynchronous Counters using Reversible Logic Gates

In this paper, the introduction of basics reversible logic gates are used for reversible operation and also can be used for synchronous and asynchronous counter. When we say reversible computing, we mean performing computation in such a way that any previous state of the computation can always be reconstructed given a description of the current state. In recent years, reversible logic has many applications in quantum computing, low power CMOS optical computing and nanotechnology. The classical set of gates such as AND, OR, and EXOR are not reversible. Hence we have done a survey on concept of reversible sequential circuit design which includes synchronous and asynchronous counters.
Study Of Physico-Chemical Characteristics Of Water And Soil In Relations To Fish Production In Motia Lake Reservoir

Study of Physico-Chem- ical Characteristics of Water and Soil in Relations to Fish Production in Motia Lake Reservoir. J Atmos Earth Sci 2: 006. Abstract Present studies were carried out for physico-chemical parameters of water and soil of Motia Lake Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. The aim of the study was to establish the safety of water and fishes from the Lake. Different physico-chemical parameters such as pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Total Alkalinity (TA), Total Hardness (TH), Chloride (Cl), Nitrates (NO 3 ), Phosphate (PO 4 ), Turbidity and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) of lake water were investigated during pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon period. The soil parameters such as pH, EC, phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium and organic matter were also studied in different sessions. The value of pH, EC, DO, TH, TA, Ca, Mg, Cl, NO 3 , PO 4 were recorded higher during pre-monsoon period in lake water. In soil sample, pH, EC, nitrogen was found higher in post-monsoon during study period. The results on physico-chemical parameters of water and soil clearly indicate highly productive nature of the Motia Lake. The water quality parameters showed maximum values during pre-mon-soon compared to rainy and winter seasons. It was inferred from the results of water quality and soil analysis that Motia lake was produc- tive in nature.
EFFECT OF ARTIFICIAL ROUGHNESS ON HEAT TRANSFER AND FRICTION FACTOR CHARACTERISTICS IN RECTANGULAR DUCT OF A DOUBLE PASS SOLAR AIR HEATER

An experimental study has been carried out to see the effect of transverse ribs attached to the absorber plate of a Double pass solar air heater on the Heat transfer and Friction factor characteristics in a rectangular Duct. The aspect ratio of the Duct (W/H) is 10. The range of Reynolds number varies from 4900 to 12000. The relative roughness pitch (p/e) is between 5-20 and fixed relative roughness height (e/Dh) 0.044 and fixed angle of attack ( �) 90°. It has been observed that maximum heat transfer and friction factor occur at relative roughness pitch (p/e) of 10 and enhancement in the heat transfer is 1.6times of the smooth plate.
STATIN THERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH DIABETES AND HEPATITIS C

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of statin therapy (atorvastatin) on serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and chronic hepatitis C (CHC). A number of 77 patients with T2DM and CHC were selected, treated with atorvastatin, 20 mg, for 6 months, who underwent anthropometric measurements and biochemical tests (including fasting serum glucose, lipid profile, liver profile, cytokines profile) at baseline, after 1 month (clinical and biochemical profile for safety) and after 6 months of treatment. The patients’ average age was 52.53±9.7 years. Plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (-32.4 mg/dL), triglycerides (-29.7 mg/dL), total cholesterol (-32.8 mg/dL) decreased (p<0.05), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (+3.04 mg/dL) increased (p<0.05), after 6 months. Atorvastatin treatment was associated with decreases of AST, ALT, and also leptin and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels (all p<0.05) but we did not find any effect on plasma tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) (p=0.119). Atorvastatin was an effective and well tolerated treatment for lowering total cholesterol, LDL-C, triglycerides in patients with CHC. Among patients with CHC there was no significant elevation of liver enzymes during statin treatment, and we even noticed an improvement of hepatic profile. Rezumat Obiectivul acestui studiu a fost de a evalua influența tratamentului cu statine (atorvastatină) asupra aspartataminotransferazei (AST) și alaninaminotransferazei (ALT) la pacienții cu diabet zaharat tip 2 (DZT2) și hepatită cronică C (CHC). Au fost selectați 77 de pacienți cu diabet zaharat tip 2 și CHC, tratați cu atorvastatină, 20 mg, timp de șase luni, la care am analizat parametrii antropometrici și testele biochimice (glicemia a jeun, profilul lipidic, profilul hepatic, profilul citokinelor) la momentul inițial, la 1 lună (evaluare clinică și biochimică pentru evaluarea siguranței) și la 6 luni.
How Exposure to GSM & TETRA Base-station Radiation can Adversely Affect Humans

It is perfectly true that the levels of microwave radiation in publicly accessible locations near GSM and TETRA Base-stations comply, by many factors of 1000, with the current safety guidelines set by the International Commission for Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). These limits are, however, purely thermally based i.e. they simply limit the intensity of the radiation to ensure that the amount of tissue heating by absorption of microwave radiation is not in excess of what the body can cope with. If heating were the only effect of the radiation, existing guidelines would afford the public adequate protection against the emissions of Base-stations; unfortunately, however, this is not the case. For microwaves are waves, and, as such, have properties other than solely intensity. In particular, the pulsed microwave radiation used in the GSM and TETRA systems of telecommunication has a number of rather well defined frequencies that facilitate its discernment by the alive human organism, and via which the organism can, in turn, be affected in a purely non-thermal way. This is so because the alive human organism (and only the alive one) itself supports a variety of oscillatory electrical biological/ biochemical activities, each characterised by a specific frequency, some of which happen to be close to those found in the GSM / TETRA signals; this coincidence makes these bioactivities potentially vulnerable to interference. It comes about because these oscillatory electrical activities play a role akin to the tuned circuits in a radio, making the living organism an electromagnetic instrument of great and exquisite sensitivity that is able to ‘recognise’ and discern the presence of the radiation ‘informationally’ by decoding (demodulating) its various frequency characteristics, including those of any amplitude modulations. Since these activities are involved in biocommunication and in the control and regulation of bio-processes essential to well-being, it is reasonable to anticipate that it is the functionality of the alive organism that is impaired by exposure to radiation of sub-thermal intensity containing bioactive frequencies; this contrasts strongly with the situation at thermal levels where actual material damage to DNA, cells and tissue can occur. It is to be stressed, however, that unlike heating, non-thermal (informational) influences are possible only when the organism is alive: the Dead have no electrical brain activity with which an external electromagnetic field can interfere!
Role of inhibitors and biodegradable material in mitigation of nitrogen losses from fertilized lands

Loss of N, occurring mainly through NH3 volatilization, biological denitrification, and NO3 leaching, has both economic and environmental implications. Therefore, the economic benefits of reduced environmental pollution and future damage to our environment as a result of the use of urease inhibitors are of higher significance to the production of gains over the long-term. The literature review discussed the role, effectiveness and mechanism of urease inhibitors as well as coating of urea to reduce ammonia volatilization loss from urea fertilizer. Coating with urease inhibitors can improve the bioavailability of N, resulting in increased dry matter yield and N uptake. Such increases result from delayed urea hydrolysis by urease inhibitors and coating materials. The value of inhibitors in mitigating N loss would depend on their rate of biodegradation and persistence in soils. Previous studies has proven that micronutrients could be competent urease inhibitors, but the information about their effects on soil, nutrient uptake of plants and dry matter yield is poorly documented. Some nutrients such as Cu and Zn as urease inhibitors and natural biodegradable material such as agar, gelatin and palm stearin were found effective in reduction of nitrogen losses from nitrogen fertilizer especially from urea fertilizer. The article deals with the importance of use of above mentioned materials and micronutrient.
A semi‐global reference model for electrical conductivity in the mid‐mantle beneath the north Pacific region

One‐dimensional electrical conductivity structure in the mid‐mantle of the one‐fourth of the Earth beneath the north Pacific Ocean was obtained by a semi‐global electromagnetic induction study. Electromagnetic response functions estimated from electric field variations measured by submarine cables and geomagnetic field variations obtained by magnetic observatories and long‐term observations sites were inverted into radially symmetric conductivity distribution by taking the distribution of land and ocean at the surface into account. As a most preferred model, a smooth conductivity‐depth profile was obtained with two abrupt increases that possibly correspond to the seismic discontinuities at 410 and 660 km.
Effect of Integrating Inorganic Fertilizer with either Micronema , Compost , or Oxamyl on Suppressing Plant Parasitic Nematode Meloidogyne incognita Infecting Tomato Plants under Field Conditions

Integrated regimens conducted during two successive seasons in KafrHakim rejoin Giza governorate. The aim was to assess the protective value of different combinations; either the commercial bioproduct Micronema containing the two rizobacteria Bacillus spp. , and Pseudomonas fluorescence, compost as organic amendment or chemical nematicide Oxamyl (vaydate 24%) along with NPK as inorganic soil fertilizer in controlling root knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita and their effects on the tomato yield production. The recorded data showed that all tested products significantly reduced the final nematode population and improved yield production. The effects varied among treatments in the following descending pattern. First, Oxamyl along with NPK treatment overwhelmed other treatments in decreasing nematode final population and improving yield production. Secondly, the application of the inorganic fertilizer NPK alone. Thirdly, compost along with NPK treatment. The bionematicide Micronema along with NPK treatment showed the lowest percentage reduction in the nematode development parameters and the lowest percentage increase in tomato growth. In spite of our findings that Oxamyl along with NPK overwhelmed all the treatments in controlling nematode and increasing tomato growth, the authors recommend integrated application of inorganic and organic fertilizers such as NPK and compost to maintain root knot nematode infecting tomato plant at low threshold level, and to keep more safe environment.
Success of English Foreign Language Education

This project studies how age of onset and the choice between Native English Speaking Teachers (NESTs) and Non-Native English Speaking Teachers (NNESTs) influence the success of early English education. English is commonly taught as a foreign language not only in China but in most Asian countries. The wide popularity and large population of English learners makes it important to discover what factors may affect the effectiveness of EFL education. Some findings have been gained. There are different advantages in EFL learning for students of different ages and different advantages that NESTs and NNESTs provide to language learners. Young learners have advantages in learning listening comprehension and pronunciation whereas older learners have advantages in learning grammar and vocabulary. NESTs and NNESTs have been compared in seven aspects and the comparison results show that NNESTs are not inferior to NESTs as English teachers. SUCCESS OF EFL EDUCATION 1