Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Permeable Pavements as a Means to Save Water in Buildings: State of the Art

Permeable pavements have been the subject of numerous studies in recent decades. The possibility of dissipating stormwater more smoothly and generating numerous benefits to the environment and users makes the use of permeable pavements an excellent possibility of integration into sustainable and resilient water management systems in cities. In Brazil, numerous studies on the quantity and quality of infiltrated water, permeability of the coating, clogging, environmental burden, feasibility, among other characteristics, have been researched. Within this theme, the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) has contributed with ten papers in the research of permeable pavements in the last six years, which address various topics about the effectiveness and applicability of permeable pavements. This paper reviews the studies conducted at UFSC on permeable pavements and discusses the different results within the main issues found. In general, the selected documents addressed seven themes in the studies: potential for potable water savings, clogging, quantity and quality of the water infiltrated into the pavement, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and its variants, and hydraulic and structural design details. More specifically, many selected papers assess the potential use of stormwater harvested through permeable pavements in non-potable uses of buildings. The possibility of aligning the benefits of green infrastructure with the rational use of water expands the advantages of the system and can help prevent future water scarcity, as well as reduce the environmental impacts of paving.
Study of Adsorption Characteristics a Low-Cost Sawdust for the Removal of Direct Blue 85 Dye from Aqueous Solutions

The performance sawdust as a low cost adsorbent to remove Direct Blue 85 (DB85) dye from aqueous solutions has been evaluated. The characteristic of sawdust analyzed by FTIR and XRD. The removal percentage of this dye was studied at different experimental conditions such as contact time, adsorbent dosage, particle size, temperature, and pH. The optimum removal percentage value was found at pH 2.Temperature also has a positive impact on adsorption, where the adsorption of this dye on the sawdust increased as the temperature increased. High values of correlation coefficient signified that the adsorption of (DB85) dye on the surface of sawdust obey Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms.
Comparison of Subjective and Objective Success of Septoplasty in Patients with Nasal Septum Deviation: A Before and After Study

Objective: Aim of the study is to evaluate the subjective outcomes and objective outcomes postoperatively and investigate correlations between these measurements. Material and Methods: This prospective before and after surgical study was conducted with patients admitted with symptomatic nasal septum deviation (NSD) and who underwent Cottle’s septoplasty. Morphometric diameters of the nasal cavity were measured using a multi-detector computed tomography. Preoperative and postoperative one-month Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation Scale (NOSE) score, acoustic rhinometry (AR), and anterior active rhinomanometry (AAR) measurements were used to evaluate the success of surgery. The correlations between these measurements were also evaluated. Results: The study population consisted of 30 patients, including 19 males and 11 females, with a median age of 27.5 years. There was a statistically significant difference between pre and postoperative NOSE scores, with a mean difference of 53.17 points (p
Bone marrow donation in Poland: 2021 update, and the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on haematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation is a treatment modality that saves the health and lives of a growing number of patients around the world. In the majority of cases, the procedure is conducted to treat haematologic neoplasms, although it can also be used as a therapy for some non-haematooncological diseases. The progress that has been taking place in the field of haematopoietic stem cell transplantation involves the need for recruiting more and more potential unrelated bone marrow donors for allotransplantation. In Poland, the number of people registering as potential bone marrow donors has been continuously growing and in order to maintain this trend, it is necessary, above all, to consistently spread the noble idea of bone marrow donation and to raise Poles’ awareness and knowledge about haematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Unfortunately, the situation caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 pandemic limited the opportunities to act in public space and, as a consequence, it has become more difficult to achieve the objectives associated with recruiting new potential donors. The article provides a presentation of ethical and practical aspects associated with bone marrow donations as well as an overview of the legal situation concerning bone marrow donating and transplantation in Poland. The purpose of the paper is to also present some of the changes in transplantation procedures that have emerged as a consequence of the current epidemiological situation. The authors would like to emphasize the importance and the rightfulness of taking action that enables further development of transplantology.
HYPOGLYCAEMIC EFFECTS OF JAVANESE GINSENG (Talinum paniculatum (Jacq.) Gaertn.) ROOT INFUSION ON ALLOXAN-INDUCED DIABETIC RATS

To examine whether Javanese ginseng root has an antihyperglycaemic effect, twenty-one male Rattus norvegicus rats were randomly divided into four groups: negative control (n= 3), positive control (n= 4), treatment (n= 7), and placebo (n= 7). Alloxan was injected intraperitoneally at a single dose of 80 mg/kg BW to rats to induce hyperglycaemia. Infusion of Javanese ginseng root or distilled water was given at a dose of 2% w/v solution with a volume of 1.8 mL/200 g BW per day for 14 days through an enteral feeding tube to either the treatment or placebo group, respectively. Blood glucose levels were measured using the colorimetric method. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to examine differences in the mean of delta blood glucose (post intervention minus post alloxan blood glucose levels) among groups, followed by Tukey’s post hoc analysis. A P value 0.05 was considered statistically significant. There was a significant difference (P= 0.0001) in delta blood glucose among groups. Post hoc analysis revealed that delta blood glucose in the treatment group (-102.99±2.26 mg/dL) was significantly (P= 0.0001) greater than in the placebo (2.45±0.29 mg/dL), positive control (3.05±0.70 mg/dL) and negative control (1.60±0.17 mg/dL) grou p. In conclusion, Javanese ginseng root has potential as a hypoglycemic agent in alloxan-induced diabetic animal models
The Role of Storytelling Methods Using Hand Puppets in Early Children’s Language Development

Using hand puppets in a storytelling activity (which can resemble human or animal forms) as a learning medium has many beneficial. This study aims to determine the role of the hand puppet storytelling method in early childhood language development. This research uses a library research type, Systematic Literature Review (SLR), namely the study of various scientific studies relevant to research to obtain inferences in the form of new findings that can later be replicated. The data source used is secondary data, which has been previously published in the form of books, journals, and previous studies. The data collection technique in this research is documentation. The data analysis technique uses content analysis, a research technique for making inferences that can be replicated. The results showed that storytelling using hand puppet media played a role in developing children’s language. The role of the storytelling method using hand puppet media in early childhood language development, namely (1) encouraging children to be more skilled at speaking; (2) make children more interested and more active in listening; (3) increasing children’s self-confidence; (4) improve children’s listening skills; (5) developing receptive language skills of children; (6) developing children’s early literacy; (7) enabling children to retell stories that they’ve been heard; (8) add word recognition and vocabulary to children’s language; and (9) developing children’s oral language skills. This research has implications for learning, especially for teachers to use various media and appropriate learning methods according to the child’s learning type. Children become interested and more enthusiastic in participating in the learning process.
Analytical Approach to the Literature of Cupping Therapy

PURPOSE: This study aims to reveal the prevalence, therapeutic efficacy and undesirable side effects of cupping therapy all over the world from past to present. METHODS: This meta-analysis is based on the data obtained by scanning the keyword “cupping therapy” from the Pub-Med system, which is an international database. The date range has been set as 1950-2019. Local databases were not included. Cupping therapy studies combined with other complementary therapies such as acupuncture, moxa and hirudotherapy are also included in the meta-analysis. RESULTS: A total of 381 scientific studies were found on cupping therapy. Of these studies 127 wererandomized controlled trials (RCSs). Cupping treatment has been found effective in studies of painful conditions such as herpes zoster pain, fibromyalgia, back pain, neck pain, headache and acute injury pain. In addition, the effectiveness of cupping therapy was found to be high in studies related to bone / muscular system diseases such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, gout, carpal tunnel syndrome, cervical spondylosis. In addition, cupping treatment is also promising in studies on skin diseases, neurological diseases, respiratory system diseases and cardiovascular system diseases. CONCLUSION: Recently, there has been an increase in the number of RCSs related to cupping therapy. The vast majority of this increase has been made in European and American countries rather than in Far Eastern countries. Studies on cupping therapy, which have been and will be carried out in the future, will provide evidence-based indication of whether cupping therapy is effective. and it will allow more patients to benefit from this treatment, which has a very low rate of side effects and complications.
Light duty automotive drum brake squeal analysis using the finite-element method

The method presented in this work intends to analyze drum brake design parameters of a light duty automotive drum brake system. The main objective of this work is to correlate brake materials and unstability parameters to identify which condition will effectively reduce squeal propensity. The methodology involves (a) the finite-element method of the brake components, namely, drum, shoes, and frictional linings, (b) static calculations to get a pre-stress state around which (c) is computed the complex eigenvalues of the system. Hence, positive real parts indicate dynamic instabilities which are explored by varying parameters, namely, the modulus of elasticity of the materials and the friction coefficient at the contact of the shoes with the drum. According to calculations, it was observed that there exist a given range of values for Young’s modulus and friction coefficient that are favorable to reduce drum brake squeal occurrence. In addition, the method proposed delivered results that match with brake squeal literature.
Sustainable Synthesis of Cr7C3, Cr2AlC, and Their Derived Porous Carbons in Molten Salts

Carbide-derived materials including porous carbon and MXenes have received tremendous interest in recent years. Herein, we report a sustainable route direct from low-cost metal oxides/carbon (MOs/C) powders to metal carbides (MCs) and then to porous carbide-derived carbons (CDCs). With the assistance of a solid oxide membrane (SOM), Cr7C3 and Cr2AlC have been first synthesized from Cr2O3/C and Cr2O3/Al2O3/C powder mixtures, respectively. The synthesis pathway typically comprises electrochemical compounding, electrochemical reduction, and in situ carbonization processes. The Cr7C3 and Cr2AlC with similar homogeneous nodular structure have been further in situ electrochemically converted into porous CDC materials. The as-prepared CDCs with amorphous and graphitic structures are hierarchical meso-/macroporous carbon materials. Besides, the CDCs as an anode for lithium ion batteries were evaluated for their electrochemical performance. The results show that the discharge capacity of Cr2AlC-CDC can stay at 248.
Examining characteristics, knowledge, attitude and practice of pharmacovigilance by health care professionals in Sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review of the literature

The pharmacovigilance practices aim to improve the safety and care of patient in relation to the utilization of medications, as well as other medical and paramedical interventions. Due to emergence of outbreaks of infections, the sub-Saharan African countries have been widely utilizing the trial drugs, which have been increasing the events of Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) in the region. This systematic literature review aims to examine the characteristics, knowledge, attitude and pharmacovigilance practices performed by health care professionals in sub-Saharan Africa. This systematic review included N=7 studies, published between 2010 and 2020, and dealing with characteristics, knowledge, attitude and pharmacovigilance practices performed by health care professionals of sub-Saharan African region were extracted from CINAHL, Science Direct, and PubMed. Seven journal articles were selected through PRISMA research tool to identify the key factors which included inadequate training, under-reporting, knowledge assessment, practice, and good attitude. All selected studies were published in sub-Saharan Africa for this systematic review. The healthcare professionals working in the region of sub-Sahara Africa lack expertise in pharmacovigilance practices, due to lack of awareness, unavailability of support, and several other factors. Pharmacovigilance practices can be improved by arranging education, training, and role-play sessions for them. Key words: Pharmacovigilance, adverse drug reactions, knowledge, attitude, practice, sub-Saharan Africa, KAP.
Silver Nanoparticles Impregnated Zeolites Derived from Coal Fly Ash: Effect of the Silver Loading on Adsorption of Mercury (II)

Removal of mercury (II) from aqueous phase is of utmost importance, as it is highly toxic and hazardous to the environment and human health. A promising method for the removal of mercury (II) ions from aqueous solutions is by using adsorbents derived from coal fly ash (CFA), such as synthetic zeolites. In this work we present the hydrothermal production of synthetic zeolites from CFA followed by a modification for impregnation of silver nanoparticles, in solid concentrations from 0.15 to 4.71 wt. %. All produced zeolites and parent materials are characterized by XRD, XRF, BET and PSA to obtain morphological and microstructural data. Moreover, mercury (II) ions removal from aqueous solutions with initial concentration of 10 ppm is studied. According to results, zeolites and Ag-nanocomposites demonstrate much higher removal than parent CFA (up to 98%). In addition to this, we could observe a distinct adsorption behavior depending on the loading of Ag NPs in nanocomposites. A possible removal mechanism for both zeolites and Ag-nanocomposites is discussed.
Elucidation of Histone Modifications and Nucleosomal Structure Using Novel Mass Spectrometry Approaches

The fundamental repeating unit of chromatin is the nucleosome, composed of 147 base pairs of DNA wrapped around a histone protein octamer containing two copies of H2A, H2B, H3, and H4. Histone proteins are involved in many critical nuclear processes including transcription and maintenance of chromatin structure. Histone function is mediated by a dynamic and extensive array of post-translational modifications (PTMs). Mass spectrometry (MS) has emerged as a leading tool to study these complex histone PTM profiles. Generally, MS experiments utilize data dependent acquisition (DDA) methods on high-resolution MS instruments because they can more readily distinguish PTMs with small mass differences. I demonstrate here that low-resolution instruments are capable of this analysis with data dependent acquisition (DDA) and data independent acquisition (DIA) methods, thereby expanding the repertoire of instruments that can be used. However, DIA methods improve quantification of isobaric peptides compared to DIA and also allows for re-mining of data post-experiment. This dissertation also highlights work I have done to develop MS methods to identify and quantify ADP-ribosylation PTMs, which are critical for DNA damage repair pathways. We identified 30 ADP-ribosylation marks on histones, 20 of which are novel. We quantified 10 of these sites throughout a DNA damage and found that all of these sites increase in abundance over time, indicating that it is unlikely that specific sites are required for repair, but rather that ADP-ribosylation of the nucleosome surface in general is needed. Histone function is also mediated through its structure and dynamic properties. Hydrogen-deuterium exchange (HDX) coupled to MS is a powerful technique to monitor these properties in solution. However, traditional HDX-MS studies on histone proteins were unable to monitor histone N-terminal tail domains, where a majority of PTM sites are located. Here, we demonstrate that by incorporating electron transfer dissociation (ETD) MS/MS methodology with middle-down and top-down MS, we are able to measure deuterium content of tail domains with near site-specific resolution for the first time. We find that all tails undergo decreased structural rigidity upon incorporation into the nucleosome, lending the first detailed experimentally-obtained insight into histone tail structure in solution. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics First Advisor Benjamin A. Garcia This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn. edu/edissertations/2732 Second Advisor David Speicher
Learning Evolution by Collaboration

Collaboration can be an effective means of learning, but is it effective in domains where collaborators rely on conceptually distinct forms of reasoning? We explored this question in the domain of evolution, where many students construe evolution as the uniform transformation of all members of a population rather than the selective survival and reproduction of a subset. College undergraduates (n = 174) completed an assessment of their evolutionary reasoning by themselves (pretest) and with a partner (dyad test); some (n = 44) also completed an assessment several months later (posttest). Higher-scoring partners pulled up lower-scoring partners to achieve a dyad score equivalent to the higher-scoring partner’s pretest score. Lower-scoring partners retained a score boost when working alone at posttest. These findings indicate that students who hold different views of evolution are able to collaborate effectively, and such collaboration yields long-term learning gains for partners with lower levels of understanding.
Work–life-imbalance during the COVID-19 pandemic: exploring social support and health outcomes in the United States

ABSTRACT This study explored work–life imbalance and social support during the Spring 2020 COVID-19 shelter-in-place restrictions in the U.S. and their impact on perceived stress and depression. In addition, the study explored relationships among perceived social support from others, support-seeking behaviors, and the role of weak-tie support network preference and demographic variables in terms of perceived stress and depression. The findings indicate that when controlling for social support, work–life imbalance was a significant predictor of both perceived stress and depression during the shelter-in-place restrictions. Moreover, higher work–life imbalance was a significant predictor of higher weak-tie support preference, while lower perceived social support predicted higher weak-tie support network preference. In addition, the findings indicated significant differences in weak-tie support preference based on living arrangements as well as differences between gender and racial/ethnic groups in terms of perceived stress and depression. The implications of the study findings for theory and practice are discussed along with key limitations and directions for future research.
Technology Acceptance of Financial Technology (Fintech) for Payment Services Among Employed Fresh Graduates

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0), which is complementary to the technological revolution, has given birth to Financial Technology (Fintech). Numerous advantages are offered by Fintech, yet the adoption rate is still low. This is especially from the employed fresh graduates’ perspectives that are regarded as the computer literate and IT savvy’s group. This research aims to examine the factors that affect the technology acceptance of Fintech payment services. The research attempts to measure the relationships between performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating condition and consumers’ trust with the adoption of Fintech. Based upon the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), the quantitative method was employed via online survey of 179 respondents. The result showed that consumers’ trust had the highest impact on the adoption of Fintech payment services, followed by performance expectancy and effort expectancy. In contrast, facilitating conditions and social influence showed an insignificant relationship with the adoption of Fintech payment services. This finding would enhance the awareness for people to become more open towards the acceptance of Fintech for their daily transactions. Fintech companies are expected to develop into more secure services and design better products in becoming a cashless society. Keywords: UTAUT, consumers’ trust, financial technology, Fintech, Fintech payment services adoption, employed fresh graduates
Acute Abdominal Disorders in Dairy Cattle: What Can Clinicians Do under Field Conditions?

Acute abdomen (AA) is the term used to define a pathological condition that affects the abdominal cavity and frequently manifests itself with acute clinical symptoms capable of compromising a cow’s life. Therefore, it should be considered as an emergency that should be evaluated as quickly as possible to adopt the appropriate therapeutic measure (medical or surgical). In an AA situation, the clinician must consider the appropriate diagnostic approach as well as the therapeutic choice. Given the emergency, the veterinarian’s experience will be decisive for the appropriate resolution. In this article, we briefly review the causes that may lead to this condition, as well as the different diagnostic tests available in field conditions to establish the correct diagnosis and treatment.