Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Biosorption of Nickel(II) ions from aqueous solutions by using Chicken eggshells as low-cost biosorbent

Abstract: The aim of this present study was to evaluate the feasibility of using chicken eggshells as low-cost biosorbent for nickel(II) ions adsorption from aqueous solutions. In order to clarify the adsorption process, batch experiments were performed to study the effect of operating parameters such as biosorbent dose (1-10 g/L), initial concentration of nickel ions (10-50 mg/L), contact time (5-120 min) and temperature (20-50 °C). To describe the adsorption equilibrium, the experimental data were analyzed by the Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherm models. The Freundlich model showed better representation of data (R 2 > 0.999). The maximum adsorption capacity of chicken eggshells for nickel ions was approximately 2.3 mg g -1 at 20 °C. The results of the present study suggest that chicken eggshells can be used beneficially as low-cost biosorbent for nickel(II) ions adsorption from aqueous solution.
Augmented Reality as a Tool in the Teaching-Learning Process of Natural Sciences in a Primary Institution

Recent challenges for strategic educational planning in Ecuador request implement Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in different levels of educational institutions. However, there´s a notable lack of successful implementations of ICTs on national educational institutions, which causes several problems in student's learning cycle such as loss of attention, motivation and innovation. These problems are further aggravated at the level of primary education institutions. Nevertheless, this paper demonstrates the feasibility of implementing digital tools with augmented reality (AR) for teaching and learning of Natural Sciences (NC) in the Cesar Mosquera Primary School located at the northern zone of Ecuador. To this end, we began by identifying digital strategies that facilitate the teaching of NC as an element of feedback and development of spatial imagination. Next, a diagnosis was made of the weaknesses of both teachers and students in the teaching of NC at primary school level. A mixed research method was applied, using quantitative techniques such as survey analysis and using qualitative techniques such as direct observations, to make a content analysis applied to teacher planning. Then, cutting-edge technologies such as augmented reality deployed on easily accessible devices such as Smartphones or Tablets were implemented using Curiscope-Virtuali-Tee software and web 3.0 virtual classroom tools that were applied during the COVID-19 pandemic. Once implemented, the proposed AR system was compared with classic teaching methods. Finally, the feasibility of applying AR in the mentioned institution was demonstrated due to all students approved the final test of acquired knowledge in each class taken.
Clinical outcome in coronavirus disease patients treated with tocilizumab at a dedicated COVID hospital: A retrospective observational study

Background: The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (coronavirus disease [COVID-19]) is a global pandemic since December 2019. Cytokine release syndrome is a promising etiology for the severe manifestations of COVID-19. Along with viral invasion of cellular immunity, cytokine storm plays an important role in disease progression. For tackling the immune response, immunomodulators play an important role. Various studies have reported that there has been a decrease in IL-6 level, C-reactive protein (CRP) level, and lower risk of death with the use of tocilizumab in patients with severe COVID-19 disease. Aims and Objectives: Our study aimed to investigate the association between tocilizumab exposure and outcome among COVID-19 patients in a dedicated COVID hospital. The objectives of the study were to assess the clinical outcome in COVID-19 in terms of death and discharge as well as to compare the total leukocyte count, CRP, lactate dehydrogenase, creatine kinase MB, and D-Dimer before and after the administration of tocilizumab. Materials and Methods: After obtaining ethics committee approval, we included 41 patients who received injection tocilizumab. After going through all the records, we entered the data in the Microsoft Excel sheet and assessed the data with the use of statistical analysis of Microsoft Excel. Results: Out of 41 patients, 19 patients were discharged and 22 patients did not survive. The laboratory investigations showed significant improvement after the administration of tocilizumab. Conclusion: Tocilizumab use has shown improvement in the laboratory investigations, but the clinical outcome did not show significant results.
Characteristics and Antibiotic Resistance of Haemophilus influenzae in Children with Lower Respiratory Tract Infection in Chengdu, China

Background: Haemophilus influenzae is an opportunistic pathogen of the human respiratory tract. Haemophilus influenzae can cause not only respiratory tract infection in children but also otitis media, epiglottitis and sinusitis. With the widespread use of antibiotics, the positive rate of β-lactamase in H. influenzae is increasing, and the rate of antimicrobial resistance is also increasing, which increases the difficulty of clinical treatment. Objectives: To study the infection characteristics of patients and the antibiotic resistance of H. influenzae in lower respiratory tract samples of children in Chengdu, so as to provide a reference for its clinical diagnosis and the rational use of antibiotics. Methods: Sputum samples of 15891 children aged 0-14 years with lower respiratory tract infection were collected. Haemophilus influenzae was cultured and identified, its drug susceptibility tested, and the results determined according to the guidelines of CLSI 2020. Results: A total of 15891 clinical isolate strains in sputum were detected for drug sensitivity from December 2018 to January 2020, of which 5488 were H. influenzae, accounting for 34.54% (5488/15891). The sex of children infected with H. influenzae was not skewed (P > 0.05). The detection rate of H. influenzae was the highest in children aged 7 - 11 months, and the lowest was in the age group ≤ 28 d. The detection rate was the highest in spring and the lowest in autumn. The positive rate of β-lactamase was 92.0%, the resistance rate to ampicillin was 92.0%, the sensitivity to amoxicillin/clavulanate was 70.2%, and the sensitivity to cefotaxime, ofloxacin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, and rifampicin was more than 90.0%. Conclusions: Children aged 7 months to 14 years were generally susceptible to H. influenzae in spring, and the positive rate of β-lactamase was high. Doctors should refer to the infection characteristics and drug resistance of H. influenzae and choose antibiotics correctly to better control the infection.
Antimicrobial Activity of Biologically Synthesized Gold Nanoparticles from Wild Mushroom Cantharellus Species

78 DOI: 10.37398/JSR.2021. 650310 Abstract: To combat the increasing cases of drug resistance is one of the biggest challenges for the scientists all over the world. Thus, development of novel antimicrobial agent has become the need of the hour. Nanotechnology is emerging as the new technology in the field of medical science to overcome such problems. In the present study, the Gold Nanoparticles were synthesized by mycelial extracts of a wild edible mushroom Cantharellus sp. These Nanoparticles were tested for their antibacterial and antifungal properties on a wide range of microorganisms. The nanoparticles showed significant anti bacterial and antifungal property in our study.
Preschool Teachers’ training, beliefs and practices concerning mathematics in pre-schools in the UK: implication for education and practice

The preschool learning environment is vital for young children’s learning and development. This study reports, for the first time in the UK, an online survey of 83 preschool practitioners’ perceptions, classroom practices, and beliefs towards mathematics. Surveyed preschool practitioners rated life skills and literacy as more important than mathematics. They reported implementing activities focused on literacy in their daily classroom routine significantly more frequently than mathematics. Mathematics activities were typically formal, despite the belief that children learn mathematics best through play. Finally, preschool practitioners’ confidence and beliefs towards mathematics were associated with overall frequency of and perceived importance of mathematics in the early years, respectively. This highlights the need to enrich preschool practitioners’ awareness, knowledge, and confidence surrounding early mathematics to improve provision and raise attainment. This has important implications for addressing potential challenges as part of current proposed changes to the framework guiding early years practice in the UK.
Parents’ Knowledge toward Pediatric Immunization and its Relation with their Compliance at Primary Health Care Centers in Karbala City

Parents are their children’s primary health decision makers, their knowledge towards immunization ingeneral have a significant effect on the immunization status of their children. A descriptive (cross-sectionalstudy) was conducted to assess parents’ knowledge toward immunization and its relation with pediatricimmunization compliance at primary health care centers in Karbala city, IraqA non-probability (convenience) sample of 292 parents selected from (5) primary health care centers.These centers distributed throughout (2) primary health care sectors selected randomly as (20%) from eachsectors. The results of the present study indicated that the majority of studied parents had moderate levelof knowledge, which was a significant associated with their age of fathers, level of education of fatherand mothers, occupational status of mothers, family type, , more than sixty present of studied parentshave children partially immunized. In addition, the present study revealed that parents’ knowledge nothad a significant influence on child’s immunization status. So, this study recommendedit is necessary toraise parents awareness of the importance of immunization by implementing educational programs and bytraditional and social media with emphasis on time, side effects, contraindication, and disease preventableby immunization and promote periodically assessment for immunization coverage.
Output-Feedback Control for Path Following of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles via Singular Perturbation Technique

Autonomous underwater vehicles are needed in many applications such as underwater monitoring and surveillance, marine biology, rescue and search, undersea oil detection. In reality, the unknown external disturbances, and model uncertainties make the motion control of autonomous underwater vehicles a challenging task. With these issues, this paper presents an output-feedback singular perturbation control scheme for the path following of autonomous underwater vehicles, in term of the time scale decomposition method. As illustration, an extended state observer is first devised based on the singular perturbation theory. Then the stabilizing controller is developed by using the time scale decomposition method, in order to obtain a simple, easy-to-implement control law. And the stability analysis of stabilizing control system is conducted by constructing a composite Lyapunov function, which allows to provide mathematical bounds on the design parameters. Finally, simulation results are presented to prove the efficacy of the proposed controller for path following of autonomous underwater vehicles subject to internal and external disturbances.
Co-filters in Γ-semigroups ordered under co-order

As a generalization of a semigroup, Sen, in 1981, introduced the concept of Γ -semigroups. In our paper (D. A. Romano, Γ -semigroups with apartness. Bull. Allahabad Math. Soc., 34 (2019), no. 1, 71-83), we introduced and analyzed the concept of Γ-semigroups with apartness in the Bishop’s constructive framework. In this paper, as a continuation of the previous one, we introduce and analyze the concept of Γ -semigroups ordered under co-order. In addition, we introduce and analyze the concept of co-filters in such Γ -semigroups.
Evaluation of IGF-2 Gene Expression in Urine and its Potential Use as Biomarker for Bladder Cancer

Bladder disease is the tenth most normal malignant growth around the world. The analysis and follow-up of patients require exorbitant obtrusive strategies and because of these costs, bladder disease keeps on being one of the costly malignancies. Early determination is pivotal in bladder disease for what it's worth in different tumors; in this way, non-intrusive biomarkers for early conclusion are vital. The point of the investigation was to analyze urinary insulin-like development factor 2 (IGF-2) levels in persistent pee tests and decide the capability of IGF-2 as a marker for the presence of urothelial carcinoma of the bladder (UCB). Techniques: 50 patients with bladder disease and 20 solid controls. Quantitative constant converse tran¬scription polymerase chain response (qRT-PCR) was led to quantify the IGF-2 articulation levels in pee of patients with bladder malignant growth and sound con¬trols. Results: patients with UCB have essentially raised degrees of urinary IGF-2.
Culture medium for Haemophilus influenzae type b

The present invention protein nitrogen source ratio animal origin and comprises at least one plant peptone, and for Haemophilus influenzae type b, wherein a heme source comprises protoporphyrin IX of it relates to a culture medium. This medium, in particular, for the production of polyribosyl phosphate (PRP), and used for the preparation of a vaccine against Haemophilus influenzae type b meningitis.
Disruption of childhood vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia

The aim of this study was to assess the magnitude of childhood vaccination disruption and to determine the predictors of delaying childhood vaccinations during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic among Indonesian parents. We conducted a nationwide, online, cross-sectional study. A set of questionnaires assessed the disruption of childhood vaccinations and possible explanatory variables, including demographic characteristics, current underlying disease, exposure to and confidence in COVID-19 information, perceived risk, attitude and practice on vaccination, and COVID-19 prevention practice. A multivariable linear regression was used to characterize the relationship between explanatory variables and delayed childhood vaccination. We included 1137 respondents for analysis, of which 52.6% were males and 58.4% participants aged between 31 and 50-years old. Disruption of childhood vaccination service in local health facilities was reported in 42.2% (480/1137) of respondents and 13.3% (193/1137) of respondents explained that their children could not be vaccinated because a healthcare facility temporary stopped the vaccination service. Of all respondents, 312 (27.4%) delayed vaccinating their children for a compulsory vaccination shot. Factors associated with higher odds of delaying compulsory vaccinations for children were employment and chronic disease status, flu vaccination status in the past year, and prior COVID-19 infection. In conclusion, there was a significant disruption of childhood vaccination practices in Indonesia during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is not only due to healthcare closures but also due to parents’ practice - delaying the compulsory childhood vaccination for their children. We urge the government to strengthen strategies to ensure childhood vaccination services are available to all children in the country during a pandemic.
Pattern of human dhole interaction in buffer area of Jigme Khesar Strict Nature Reserve

Human-wildlife conflict is a serious problem for conservation efforts worldwide. This is also true for Bhutan, where carnivores depredate livestock of farmers, affecting farmer’s livelihood, however, there is sparse documentation on the extent of human dhole interaction in Bhutan’s some of the important areas of conservation interest. Therefore this research was aimed to evaluate the extent of human dhole interaction, income lost due to depredation, and the perception of the farmers towards dhole conservation. Data were collected from 160 households within two strata of the rural and semi-urban areas in western Bhutan through semi-structured questionnaires and focused group discussions. Livestock depredation involved seven predators, which caused the loss of 5% of the total average annual income of the farmers; which were significantly different between the predators involved. Dhole killed significantly more livestock than other predators and maximum kills were made in the rural area than semi-urban area. 60% of the incomes lost due to wild predators were caused by dhole with major impact in rural areas. The majority of the respondents from rural areas exhibited a negative attitude towards dhole conservation. They suggested livestock depredation compensation schemes and other livelihood alternatives minimize the impact of conflict, whereas the majority of the respondents from semi-urban suggested electric fencing around their village as measures to reduce human-wildlife conflict. Livestock compensation and insurance schemes, integrated conservation development programs, educational outreach programs with other livelihood alternatives such as ecotourism are recommended as intervention strategies to minimize human dhole conflict and create harmonic co-existence.
Relationship between Perceived Quality of Home Environment and Self-Concept of Students at Undergraduate Level

The objective of the study was to identify the relationship of different dimensions of perceived quality of home environment and self-concept of undergraduate university students. Correlational research was selected as the research design. The population of the study was university students of the education department of public and private universities of Lahore. The total population was 1760. A proportionate stratified random sampling technique was used to select the sample. The strata were formed on the basis of the nature of the universities. The total number of students selected as the sample was 528. The instrument consisted of three parts; the first part consisted of demographic information (gender, nature of institution). The second part consisted of the Home Environment Inventory, designed by Misra (1983) to measure the quality of the home environment and the third part consisted of the Self-Concept Scale by Rastogi (1979) to measure self-concept. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the relationship between the variables. The results indicated a significant relationship between the home environment and the self-concept of university students.
Use of ecological risk assessment to guide remediation at the Teck Pinchi Lake Mercury Mine

The Pinchi Mine roasted cinnabar ore to recover metallic mercury, operating from 1940 to 1944 (historic) and from 1968 to 1975 (modern). After 1975, it was placed under long-term care and maintenance until remediation began in 2002. Waste materials from both operations remain on site, within the lake (historic operation), a Tailings Facility (modern) and other discrete locations. From 2004 – 2009 a terrestrial ecological risk assessment (ERA) was undertaken relying on literature, field investigations, habitat surveys, spatially explicit food chain modeling, and development of toxicity reference values for methylmercury and other metals. Ecological risks were evaluated for 40 wildlife species. Only those species feeding primarily on insects or on small mammals indicated potential risks, mainly from arsenic, inorganic mercury, and methyl mercury from the Mill Site and Tailings Facility. A post-closure risk reduction analysis indicated that remediation of these areas would reduce risks to wildlife to levels acceptable by risk managers. Other areas, with elevated inorganic mercury in soils were deemed to pose negligible to moderate risk and were not targeted for remediation, based on a weighed evaluation of potential risks to wildlife from contamination versus disturbance to naturally recovering habitat.
The Diversity Analysis and Functional Prediction of Endophytic Fungi Community of Gymnadenia Conopsea from Different Altitudes in Tibet

Gymnadenia conopsea has high economic value, and can be used as a medicinal and ornamental plant. Due to its low natural reproduction rate and overexploitation, the extinction of this plant is gradually accelerating. Understanding the composition and diversity of endophytic fungi is of great significance in promoting its propagation and the utilization of beneficial fungal strains. In this study, the diversity of fungal communities from roots, stems, leaves, fruits, and soils at four different elevations was studied with Illumina MiSeq sequencing. A total of 3,707,871 sequences were detected from all samples, and the number of clustering OTUs was 14,800. The OTUs were assigned to 4 phyla, 17 classes, 41 orders, 73 families, and 99 genera. The predominant fungal groups included Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, accounting for 33.71%-86.38% and 6.98%-58.30% of the total species, respectively. According to the alpha diversity index analysis, the diversity and richness of endophytic fungal communities in plant tissues at low altitudes were higher than those at high altitudes, while the diversity and richness of soil fungi were the opposite. In addition, principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) not only showed that the fungal community structure was correlated with altitude but also indicated tissue specificity of the community structure. Our study explored the composition of the endophytic fungal community among different tissues from different altitudes and included functional analysis, which might provide new ideas for saving the endangered species G. conopsea.
Removal of Pathogens in Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems: A Review of Design Considerations and Influencing Factors

Conventional onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTSs) could potentially contribute to the transmission of infectious diseases caused by waterborne pathogenic microorganisms and become an important human health concern, especially in the areas where OWTSs are used as the major wastewater treatment units. Although previous studies suggested the OWTSs could reduce chemical pollutants as well as effectively reducing microbial contaminants from onsite wastewater, the microbiological quality of effluents and the factors potentially affecting the removal are still understudied. Therefore, the design and optimization of pathogen removal performance necessitate a better mechanistic understanding of the hydrological, geochemical, and biological processes controlling the water quality in OWTSs. To fill the knowledge gaps, the sources of pathogens and common pathogenic indicators, along with their major removal mechanisms in OWTSs were discussed. This review evaluated the effectiveness of pathogen removal in state-of-art OWTSs and investigated the contributing factors for efficient pathogen removal (e.g., system configurations, filter materials, environmental and operational conditions), with the aim to guide the future design for optimized treatment performance.