Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Removal of Cadmium from Industrial Wastewater using Electrocoagulation Process

Cadmium is one of the heavy metal found in the wastewater of many industries. The electrocoagulation offers many advantages for the removal of cadmium over other methods. So the removal of cadmium from wastewater by using electrocoagulation was studied to investigate the effect of operating parameters on the removal efficiency. The studied parameters were the initial pH, initial concentration, and applied voltage. The study experiments were conducted in a batch reactor with with two pairs of aluminum electrodes with dimension and 2mm in thick with 1.5 cm space between them. The optimum removal was obtained at pH =7, initial concentration = 50 mg/L, and applied voltage = 20 V and it was 90%.
Expanding the type IIB DNA topoisomerase family: identification of new topoisomerase and topoisomerase-like proteins in mobile genetic elements

Abstract The control of DNA topology by DNA topoisomerases is essential for virtually all DNA transactions in the cell. These enzymes, present in every organism, exist as several non-homologous families. We previously identified a small group of atypical type IIB topoisomerases, called Topo VIII, mainly encoded by plasmids. Here, taking advantage of the rapid expansion of sequence databases, we identified new putative Topo VIII homologs. Our analyses confirm the exclusivity of the corresponding genes to mobile genetic elements (MGE) and extend their distribution to nine different bacterial phyla and one archaeal superphylum. Notably, we discovered another subfamily of topoisomerases, dubbed ‘Mini-A’, including distant homologs of type IIB topoisomerases and encoded by extrachromosomal and integrated bacterial and archaeal viruses. Interestingly, a short, functionally uncharacterized motif at the C-terminal extremity of type IIB topoisomerases appears sufficient to discriminate between Mini-A, Topo VI and Topo VIII subfamilies. This motif could be a key element for understanding the differences between the three subfamilies. Collectively, this work leads to an updated model for the origin and evolution of the type IIB topoisomerase family and raises questions regarding the role of topoisomerases during replication of MGE in bacteria and archaea.
Racial Microaggression, Overt Discrimination, and Distress: (In)Direct Associations With Psychological Adjustment

Scholars in diverse disciplines have examined the associations between psychological adjustment and microaggression, and overt discrimination. It remains unclear whether the roles of microaggression in adjustment outcomes can be differentiated from the roles of overt discrimination and neuroticism. I examined the extent to which racial microaggression explained unique variances of negative affect, alcohol consumption, and drinking problems while controlling for overt discrimination and neuroticism among African American, Asian American, and Latinx American college students (N = 713). Intervening roles of psychological distress linking microaggression and overt discrimination to adjustment outcomes were also tested. Among African Americans, microaggression and overt discrimination did not consistently predict psychological adjustment. Among Asian and Latinx Americans, microaggression and overt discrimination predicted negative affect via psychological distress. Microaggression also explained the variances of alcohol use outcomes among Asian Americans. Findings are discussed in the context of an acute racism reactions model and underscore the importance of considering overt discrimination and microaggression simultaneously as determinants of psychological adjustment.
STIMULATORY EFFECT OF VASOACTIVE INTESTINAL PEPTIDE (VIP) ON THE GROWTH AND STEROIDOGENIC CAPACITY OF RAT ADRENAL ZONA GLOMERULOSA

The effects of a prolonged treatment with vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) on the morphology and hormone secretion of the rat adrenal gland were investigated. VIP administration caused a significant hypertrophy of the Zona glomerulosa and its parenchymal cells, coupled with a notable rise in the blood level of aldosterone. Zona fasciculata morphology and the blood concentration of corticosterone were not affected. Plasma potassium concentration, the level of circulating ACTH and plasma renin activity did not display any significant variation in VIP-treated animals. The possibility is discussed that VIP may be specifically and directly involved in the control of the growth and steroidogenic capacity of rat adrenal zona
Research Article High diversity of cultivated lima beans (Phaseolus lunatus) in Brazil consisting of one Andean and two Mesoamerican groups with strong introgression between the gene pools

The lima bean ( Phaseolus lunatus ) has been cultivated in Brazil since pre-colonization times and remains an important source of food and income for small farmers. Nevertheless, the species has not been extensively studied in this country. We assessed the genetic diversity of 183 lima bean landraces collected from different regions of Brazil, maintained by Embrapa, the Brazilian Government Agricultural Research Corporation. Twelve microsatellite markers were used, and seven morphological descriptors were applied. The genetic parameters suggested high diversity of the Brazilian collection of lima beans, with a mean gene diversity of 0.68 and number of alleles varying from 5 to 15 among sites. Based on a Bayesian model using molecular data, three sub-populations were identified in the sample: one predominantly from the Andean gene pool of the species (large seeds, mean 100-seed weight of 80g), and two predominantly from the Mesoamerican pool (both groups with a mean 100-seed weight of 34g). Another large group was composed of the three sub-populations identified included accessions collected from far-apart sites in different geographic regions of Brazil. There was considerable introgression between the Andean and the Mesoamerican gene pools of cultivated P. lunatus . in the markers for the
Changes in undergraduate students’ conceptual knowledge of translation during the first years of translation/interpreting- and foreign language-related education

ABSTRACT Research in domains such as cognitive psychology and pedagogy has long postulated and demonstrated the importance of learners’ subjective concepts/theories and their restructuring in the process of conceptual change. These theories tend to be deeply entrenched and are related to various learner characteristics, such as epistemological beliefs, self-efficacy beliefs, or emotions, and are contextually situated. This paper presents the results of a study investigating the initial conceptual knowledge of translation of undergraduate students and the changes it underwent during the course of the first two years of translation/interpreting- and foreign language-related training. The students’ concepts were examined at three stages of their studies using an adapted version of the PACTE questionnaire regarding implicit knowledge about the principles of translation, which revealed a dynamic vs. static approach towards translation. The responses given by 25 students who participated in all three tests have been analysed on a group and individual level with respect to changes in the dynamicness of the students’ concepts. Observations are made concerning the process of conceptual change, also with reference to particular aspects of translation investigated by the questionnaire, and some pedagogical implications regarding how conceptual change can be promoted more effectively are offered.
Perioperative management of patients with pituitary tumours

Abstract Management of pituitary tumours can be very challenging for the anaesthesiologist. These patients require a thorough pre-operative assessment in view of underlying endocrine disturbances, which could cause anatomic and physiological disturbances. This needs to be optimized prior to surgery and the anaesthetic technique planned accordingly. The main intraoperative problems that could be encountered by the anaesthesiologist are airway problems, haemodynamic disturbances and potential for bleeding during surgery. The postoperative concerns are related to the endocrine system and fluid and water balance and this needs to be monitored closely and managed appropriately. The advent of minimally invasive surgery along with neuroimaging has considerably decreased perioperative morbidity and mortality following pituitary surgery. A team approach and close coordination between the endocrinologist, neurosurgeon and anaesthesiologist is imperative for a favourable outcome in patients undergoing pituitary surgery.
Tracing the Decisions That Shaped the Development of MyChart, an Electronic Patient Portal in Alberta, Canada: Historical Research Study

Background Understanding how health organizations decide on information technology (IT) investments is imperative to ensure successful implementation and adoption. There is a high rate of failure and a tendency to downplay the complexity of implementation progression. Alberta Health Services introduced a patient portal called MyChart. Although MyChart allows patients to view appointments and selected laboratory results and to communicate with their providers, its uptake varies. Objective The study aimed to examine the institutional decision-making processes that shaped the development and implementation of MyChart. Methods A historical study was conducted based on the 7-step framework, where one engages in a rigorous archival critical analysis (including internal and external criticism) of documents and analysis of interviews. We reviewed and analyzed 423 primary and secondary sources and interviewed 10 key decision makers. Results Supportive leadership, project management, focused scope, appropriate technology and vendor selection, and quick decision making were some of the facilitators that allowed for the growth of proof of concept. The planning and implementation stages did not depend much on the technology itself but on the various actors who influenced the implementation by exerting power. The main barriers were lack of awareness about the technology, proper training, buy-in from diverse system leaders, and centralized government decision making. Conclusions Organizational priorities and decision-making tactics influence IT investments, implementation, adoption, and outcomes. Future research could focus on improving the applicability of needs assessments and funding decisions to health care scenarios.
Nevertheless, She Persisted: A Comparison of Male and Female Experiences in Community College STEM Programs

ABSTRACT Community colleges are a vital source of students in the STEM career pipeline. Yet, research indicates that rather than diversifying the STEM workforce, community colleges may be perpetuating gender imbalances. This qualitative phenomenological study was designed to examine differences in male and female experiences in two male-dominated community college STEM programs: (1) an engineering transfer program to a four-year college, and (2) a computer-systems engineering technology terminal certificate program. Findings indicate social and institutional contexts in the community colleges created gendered pathways in STEM programs that limited female interest and persistence while supporting men. In particular, women encountered social and institutional barriers, including the expectation of academic exceptionalism and gender stereotypes, which negatively influenced female self-efficacy and career-related choices. Additionally, these barriers required women to negotiate their female identity within male-dominated cultures, which imbued relationships, academic support, and learning experiences. While the women in this study successfully persisted, it is unlikely that community college STEM programs will increase female representation in the STEM career pathway without addressing these social and institutional barriers STEM disciplines.
Vertical segregation of apartment building dwellers during late state socialism in Bucharest, Romania

ABSTRACT This article examines patterns of within-building vertical segregation in Bucharest, Romania under late socialism using micro-data (individual/household level information) from the 1992 Romanian national census. The data allows examination of separation of households according to the floor on which a household is located and according to the residential sector/district of Bucharest. Findings suggest that common social and demographic factors are related to the location of households in both horizontal and vertical dimensions of urban space. We also find that a freely functioning real estate market is not necessary to produce vertical segregation. Consequently, since vertical segregation existed in early and modern capitalist cities – and bearing in mind that the phenomenon existed under socialism too – we conclude that, like horizontal socio-spatial separation, vertical segregation is an intrinsic characteristic of modern cities and a feature of urban space that did not diminish when pre-industrial cities disappeared.
Critiquing Israeli Society Through Mirroring in Asaf Hanuka’s “The Realist”

Abstract Seven of Israeli cartoonist Asaf Hanuka’s comic strips from his weekly series The Realist make use montage-like elements by juxtaposing distorted mirror images of scenes. While published over the course of Hanuka’s almost 10-year run and addressing radically different topics, the structure and nature of the seven strips is remarkably similar. Each includes the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas to offer a commentary on a different aspect of the Israeli society. These topics include the historical mistreatment of Jewish immigrants to the country, the country’s policies toward foreign workers, and the economic challenges faced by the middle-class Israelis. While Hanuka’s technique provides an opportunity for considering different attitudes toward the topic, these strips consistently take a stance that places blame on Israelis themselves for either their attitudes or their electoral decisions. The comics serve, therefore, as political commentary which through the juxtaposition of images, encourages societal change.
Passive Tap‐scan damage detection method for beam structures

Efficient damage detection technologies are highly demanded in the maintenance of bridge structures. For this purpose, the authors have developed the active Tap‐scan damage detection method, which can extract bridge damage from the acceleration of a passing vehicle mounted with a shaker. Although this method can be efficiently implemented in a noisy environment with normal traffic, the damage detection accuracy could be deteriorated by the fluctuation of vehicle velocity, and the portability of the vehicle is impeded by the cumbersome shaker system. To solve these problems, this paper proposes a passive Tap‐scan damage detection method, which uses an automatic driving vehicle with specially designed tire treads to scan the bridge. Instead of using the shaker, the tapping force is passively generated by coordinating the vehicle velocity with the periodic pattern of the tire tread. The theoretical basis of this method is firstly established on the analysis of the interaction between a simply supported beam and a passing vehicle with tapping contact forces, as well as the analytical solution of the deflection of a damaged beam subjected to a unit point force. Then, in‐house experimental damage detection results of a simply supported aluminium box beam are reported to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Examining the Reasons Agricultural Education Teaching Graduates Choose to Enter, Leave, or Stay in the Teaching Profession.

With half of all school-based agricultural education teachers leaving the profession within their first six years, the need is greater than ever for post-secondary graduates to enter and stay in the profession. This study explored potential influencers on graduates’ career decisions, focusing on identifying potential reasons they chose to not enter, leave, or stay in the profession. The target population was Montana State University Agricultural Education Teaching graduates who completed their degree program between May 2005 and May 2016 (N = 58). Respondents’ post-graduation career paths fell into five pre-determined groups, which were then narrowed into three broader groups: never entered, leavers, and currently teaching. Similar to previous research, competitive salaries outside education, being recruited for another position, and an inadequate work-life balance emerged as the largest factors in respondents’ decisions to not enter the profession. Somewhat contradictory, adequate work-life balance; stable contracts with a competitive salary; and positive student, school, and community connections emerged as top reasons to remain in the profession. Since the most common reasons for not entering/leaving the profession revolved around careers outside of education, primarily the salaries of those positions, it is recommended that stakeholders explore alternative methods of providing supplemental funding for these salaried positions.
Oblique projection: An interference mitigation for MIMO multihop full‐duplex relay

Full‐duplex (FD) assisted multiple‐input–multiple‐output relaying increases the spectral efficiency through efficient spectrum utilization. The major concerns for the FD assisted relay system are the cancellation of inter‐relay interference (IRI) and relay self‐interference (RSI). Previous works were idealized only on the basis of either RSI or IRI; hence, all other realistic models to overcome the RSI or IRI were unappreciated. This paper aims to reduce the interference‐to‐signal ratio. We propose the joint relay's receive beamforming based on oblique projection to mitigate the RSI and IRI in multihop environments. Applying first orthogonal projectors to the relay's received signal, the relay's received signals are divided into interference subspace and signal subspace. Then, the desired signal is recovered from signal subspace by using oblique projection that cancels out the RSI and IRI. The geometric interpretation of oblique projection is analyzed to understand its properties. The major merit of this method is that it can be adopted even when the RSI and IRI channels are unknown. In comparison to the existing interference cancellation methods, the signal‐to‐interference ratio of our proposed method does not deteriorate even when the transmit power is high. Additionally, we demonstrate that the oblique projection output is equivalent to an orthogonal projection using geometrical interpretation, simulation, and theoretical derivation.
When Do False Accusations Lead to False Confessions? Preliminary Evidence for a Potentially Overlooked Alternative Explanation

ABSTRACT In the present study, we have taken a novel approach in confession research to investigate and compare situational as well as individual risk factors among false confessors and true deniers among imprisoned offenders who all had been falsely accused by the police. Furthermore, we report first data on self-reported false confession rates among German prison inmates. A semi-structured interview was conducted in four northern German prisons focusing on the interrogation situations in which the participants were falsely accused of a crime they had not committed. Of all respondents, 32% reported to have made a false confession, which is consistent with prior findings in the field. In line with the literature, prison inmates indicated fear of negative consequences and beliefs that the truth will come out as frequent reasons for false confessions. Notably, also strategic/instrumental purposes of their false confessions aimed at minimizing legal or personal repercussions due to the false accusations were revealed – although to a lesser degree. Implications from this preliminary alternative explanation based on strategic considerations for false confessions will be discussed in light of the common theoretical framework that focuses on psychological distress and deficits of false confessors.
Cost and Return Analysis of System of Rice Intensification (SRI): Evidence from Major Rice Producing Areas in Malaysia

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the staple food and being the most important ingredient of the food basket for most nations in Asia. The declining productivity of rice and its availability of per capita is therefore a policy concern. Nevertheless, the production of rice in Malaysia is primarily implemented by adopting the conventional technique. This technique has increased the production cost of rice and became a constraint to achieving the production potential for the farmer. Thus, the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) was introduced in the rice cultivation as a relevant innovation which to offset the high cost of the conventional technique. Besides, such technique also decreases the production cost, reduces yield gap and increases profits of the farmers with less agronomical inputs. SRI also minimizes water use by scientific water management. As a result, such water minimization increases the productivity of rice farms in Malaysia which subsequently has an enormous potential for resource conservation and sustainability. Therefore, this paper attempts to determine the profitability and the factors affecting SRI adoption among rice farmers. The result revealed that the yield can be increased by changing the management of plants, soil, water and nutrients. The multiple linear regression analysis indicated that age, educational level, field size, role of information and environment condition had a positive impact and significantly influenced SRI adoption. Considering the substantial advantages, the suitable strategy for upscaling the SRI adoption is required to accomplish sustainable agriculture and food security.
Auditing Appendectomy in Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi, Nigeria.

Appendicitis is the leading cause of surgical admission in most hospitals in Nigeria and the removed appendix, a frequent surgical specimen in most routine histopathological laboratories in Nigeria. The aim of this study is to audit the appendectomy procedures in Benue State University Teaching Hospital. Sixty-two appendices removed for acute appendix in Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi, Nigeria middle belt, over an 8-year period were analyzed. Twenty-eight (45%) were found to be normal, while 29 (46%) showed histopathological evidence of acute inflammation. There were 5 (9%) cases of unusual pathologies which include a case each of metastatic adenocarcinoma and chronic granulomatous inflammation (2% each) and 3 (5%) cases of schistosomiasis. The Negative Appendectomy Rate (NAR) was 27% in females compared with 18% in males. Adult (>16 years) represented 29% of the NAR. The overall NAR was 45%. The NAR in this study is considerable higher when compared with existing literature. In a poor resource center like Benue State University Teaching Hospital, due diligence in taking detailed history coupled with good clinical examination cannot be over emphasized. The use of a combination of Total Leukocyte Count (TCC) and C-Reactive Protein (CPR) in every patient may help in reducing NAR, though it’s definitely going to be impossible to eradicate it.