Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Land Use and Slope Position on Infiltration Characteristics on Sandstone-Derived Soils of Southern Nigeria

A study of some soil properties that influence infiltration under different land use types and slope positions in sandstone-derived soils was carried out in Akwa Ibom State, Southern Nigeria. Soil samples were collected in triplicate for laboratory analyses and infiltration tests were conducted using the double ring infiltrometer method. Analysis of variance, correlation and regression analyses were used to assess the data Oil Palm Plantation and Fallow Land increased the organic matter content of the soil, reduced bulk density, increased the soil porosity and aggregate stability over Continuously Cultivated Land. Downslope soil movement caused the upper slopes to lose their clay and organic matter to the middle and lower slope soils. Initial infiltration rate, final infiltration rate, cumulative infiltration, sorptivity and transmissivity varied highly across the studied locations but were not significantly (P ≤ 0.05) affected by land use, slope position and their interactions. Apparently higher infiltration rates were observed in all slope positions under Oil Palm Plantation and Fallow Land as a result of their apparently higher clay contents, total porosity, mean weight diameter, saturated hydraulic conductivity and organic matter contents over those of Continuously Cultivated Land. Heavier organic matter input will help to modify the upper slope soils for increased infiltration rates. Plantation agriculture should be adopted and continuous cultivation discouraged to increase water infiltration on sloppy terrains of the study area. Contribution/Originality: This study is one of very few studies which have investigated the combined effect of land use and slope position on infiltration characteristics and has demonstrated that infiltration tend to increase towards the lower slope position of vegetated lands compared to upper slopes rendered bare by continuous cultivation.
Factors affecting the adoption of personal safety apps among millennials in Johannesburg, South Africa

Background: Numerous studies around the world have examined how young people use digital technology however, few studies have addressed how mobile applications have been adopted in developing economies, such as South Africa, by millennials. Given that issues of personal safety are paramount in South Africa, which grapples with high levels of crime, it is necessary to explore factors that could affect the adoption of mobile safety applications. Theoretically, the study relies on the Generational Cohort Theory and the Technology Acceptance Model. Objectives: This study identifies the factors affecting the adoption and use of mobile safety applications by the young generation in South Africa. Method: A quantitative study by using a multiscale questionnaire was conducted among 203 tertiary students in Johannesburg, South Africa. Purposive, heterogeneous sampling was used in the study. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to identify latent factors within the data. Results: Results reveal that the majority of the respondents are not aware of any safety apps, but that they would use personal safety apps that are free, meet their daily needs and are recommended by peers. The key factors influencing the adoption of safety apps by college students in Johannesburg are credibility of the app, perceived utility of the app and safety experience. Conclusion: Despite a high penetration of the South African Market by smart devices, the propensity of millennials to use technology in everyday life and high concern for personal safety, only 15% of respondents have adopted personal safety apps.
Regional Probabilistic Tsunami Hazard Analysis for the Mexican Subduction Zone From Stochastic Slip Models

The Mexican subduction zone is prone to large earthquakes that impact populated coastal and inland cities due to strong shaking and can generate potentially disastrous tsunamis. Even though the population and infrastructure on the Mexican Pacific coast may experience tsunamis, only sparse instrumentation and scarce tsunami observations exist for both, historical and instrumental, records. This study presents a probabilistic tsunami hazard analysis that can provide information for managing and assessing risks in the region. We use ensembles of numerical tsunami simulations to estimate the probability of exceedance of the maximum tsunami amplitudes, considering the contribution of near sources and slip heterogeneities, for return periods of 100, 500, and 1,000 years. According to 7,946 simulated scenarios, the amplitudes can reach up to 9.5 m along the shoreline. Moreover, tsunami hazard maps, curves, and disaggregation analyses reveal critical hazard points along the coasts of the states of Jalisco, Colima, Michoacán, Guerrero, and Oaxaca.
Determination of the sensitivity range of biuret test for undergraduate biochemistry experiments

Quantitation of the total protein content in a sample is a critical step in protein analysis. Molecular UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy is very efficient in quantitative analysis such as protein quantitation and has extensive applications in chemical and clinical laboratories worldwide. Among the various techniques for protein assay, biuret test is of particular interest in this study. This study sought to verify the sensitivity of biuret assay to protein samples with concentrations ranging from 0.0100 to 5.00 mg/mL. Albumin chicken egg was used as the protein sample. The assay was assessed to determine the range of concentration in which it will show linearity. The biuret test exhibited linearity in a wide range of concentrations (0.1000 ± 0.0004 to 5.00 ± 0.02 mg/mL). The starting protein concentration range established for the calibration curve of this assay is lower than the found literature value (1 mg/sample). The study provides a more workable range of biuret test.
The Annual Cycle of Energy Input, Modal Excitation and Physical Plus Biogenic Turbulent Dissipation in a Temperate Lake

A year of measurements by Doppler Current Profilers, a chain of temperature sensors and a suite of meteorological instruments has been analyzed to elucidate the seasonal cycle of the dynamical response of a temperate lake (Windermere) to surface forcing. The efficiency of energy input to the lake (Eff) was determined by comparing the rate of working by the surface wind‐stress RWy with the downward flux of momentum in the atmosphere. Eff was found to increase from values of ∼0.3% in winter mixed conditions, up to ∼1.2% during summer stratification, when internal seiches were present. Water column kinetic energy was similarly enhanced during stratification. Spectral analysis of the axial velocity showed that the first vertical mode was dominant during most of the stratified period with a less prominent second mode appearing in the early part of the summer. The observed periods and vertical structure of these modes generally accorded with estimates from internal wave theory based on density profiles. During stratification, pycnocline dissipation exhibited high variability linked to the surface forcing with an average, depth‐integrated, pycnocline dissipation rate of 2.5 × 10−5 W m−2 corresponding to ∼3%–4% of RWy. Over the same period, the dissipation rate in the bottom boundary layer (BBL) exhibited a marked diurnal variation unrelated to physical forcing. Acoustic backscatter indicated the presence of vertically migrating organisms with peak aggregation in the BBL around midday coinciding with maximum dissipation. During stratification, biogenic dissipation contributed an average of ∼36% of the total BBL dissipation rate of ∼5.7 × 10−5 W m−2.
Thermally Accelerated Aging of Insulation Paper for Transformers with Different Insulating Liquids

The article presents issues related to the aging behavior of oil-paper insulations in transformers using different oil- and ester-based insulating fluids. Despite numerous conducted studies on the subject of oil-paper aging, the use of new insulating fluids is creating open questions. In addition, new liquids such as synthetic and natural esters, as well as oil of the newest generation, are being used. Furthermore, there is still little research on the formation of aging markers with this form of the dielectric. For this reason, in this contribution, oil-paper insulations with mineral oil-based insulating fluids, natural and synthetic esters, as well as oil from natural gas, are aged thermally accelerated at 130 °C over a duration of 15 weeks, by considering two cases of free-breathing and hermetically sealed transformers. Therefore, various aging markers are investigated to allow a condition assessment. The results show that differences exist between the fluids and design of the transformer, as in the aging rate of the paper and the formation of aging markers in the insulating liquid such as acids. These findings can be used to improve asset management strategies by a more precise determination of the aging state depending on the transformer type as well as the type of insulating fluid.
On the Comparison of Flow Physics between Minimal and Extended Flow Units in Turbulent Channels

Direct numerical simulations were performed to study the effects of the domain size of a minimal flow unit (MFU) and its inherent periodic boundary conditions on flow physics of a turbulent channel flow in a range of 200≤Reτ≤1000. This was accomplished by comparing turbulent statistics with those computed in sub-domains (SD) of extended domain simulations. The dimensions of the MFU and SD were matched, and SD dynamics were set to minimize artificial periodicities. Streamwise and spanwise dimensions of healthy MFUs were found to increase linearly with Reynolds number. It was also found that both MFU and SD statistics and dynamics were healthy and in good agreement. This suggests that healthy MFU dynamics represent extended-domain dynamics well up to Reτ=1000, indicating a nearly negligible effect of periodic conditions on MFUs. However, there was a small deviation within the buffer layer for the MFU at Reτ=200, which manifested in an increased mean velocity and a tail in the Q2 quadrant of the u′-v′ plane. Thus, it should be noted that when considering an MFU domain size, stricter criteria may need to be put in place to ensure healthy turbulent dynamics.
Estimation of Montmorillonite Swelling Pressure: A Molecular Dynamics Approach

The swelling pressure of montmorillonite is an important factor in designing the bentonite buffer for geo-disposal of nuclear waste. A method to predict the swelling pressure of montmorillonite based on molecular dynamic simulations has been presented. A model structure of a Na-montmorillonite clay was put into contact with pure water, sodium chloride, and calcium chloride solutions. By imitating the experimental determination of the swelling pressure of bentonite clay, a spring sensor was designed to probe the swelling pressure. The modeled swelling pressure and its sensitivity to the dry density of clay were found to be in agreement with experimental data. The model provides an atomic level computational approach for the prediction of swelling pressure of bentonite clay in the context of geo-disposal of nuclear waste.
Quantification of Saponins from Twenty-Two Cephalaria Species

Saponins in the Cephalaria species have a broad spectrum of biological properties and application potentials. This research aimed to develop a novel method to tentatively identify and quantify triterpenes and saponins in 22 Cephalaria species by LC-HR/MS method. In this study, we provided a broad screening of important biologically active triterpenes and saponins with high separation ability, high sensitivity and high selectivity. This is the first report to prove that Cephalaria species can be a good source of tormentic acid which has many biological activities in literature. The main triterpene compound, tormentic acid was presented at the level between 74.02 mg/kg and 75702.0 mg/kg in n-butanol extract of Cephalaria species. The source of some biologically active saponins such as davisianoside B, aristatoside C, elmalienoside A, balansoide B and scoposide B were also determined with this study, for the first time. Therefore, due to the different activities and usages of the identified compounds, these findings may find application in a number of industries such as nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, medical and cosmetic industries.
Empowering Kibera during political change: A case study through a Freirean lens

Empowerment is an often used concept and the work of Paulo Freire has helped to define the application and outcomes of approaches. The researchers visited Kibera in Nairobi, Kenya, during periods of political activity which had previously resulted in violence. Community members identified strategies employed in an attempt to curtail heightened risk. These factors were analysed to evaluate whether empowerment, as espoused by Freire, was still relevant in community development work. Empowerment strategies were multi-faceted and highlighted that they had created new issues for the community to address, suggesting strategy and outcomes need to be strong considerations in future work.
Knowledge, attitude and practices of contraception among the married women of reproductive age group in urban slums of Lucknow

Background: Despite the availability of a wide range of contraceptive and mass media campaigns and information, education, and communication programs, population control remains a distant dream to achieve. The low use of spacing methods is reflected by early childbearing and short birth intervals. The present study was undertaken to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of different contraceptive methods among married women in the reproductive age group.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 230 married women in the reproductive age group (18-49 years) attending the outpatient department (OPD) of urban health training centre and came mainly from the neighboring slum locality.Results: We have included a total of 230 participants in the study analysis. Almost all (98.6%) of the study participants had knowledge about at least one method of contraception. If we see the use of contraceptive methods, 163 (70.8%) women ever used any of the contraceptive methods. Less than half (40.9%) had knowledge that contraceptive methods reduce the economic burden on the family. A negative attitude towards the practice of contraception was found among 11.7 percent of women in the study. When asking about present (last 1 year) practice of contraception, 29.1% not practiced any method of contraception, 25.6% used oral contraceptive pills (OCPs), and 27.8% used condoms.Conclusions: The study reveals good knowledge and favorable attitude of rural couples towards contraception. Contraceptive knowledge and practice were influenced by exposure to family planning messages. Women's education and counselling of couples can play an important role in adopting family planning methods.
Antifungal and Antioxidant Potential of Methanolic Extracts from Acorus calamus L., Chlorella vulgaris Beijerinck, Lemna minuta Kunth and Scenedesmus dimorphus (Turpin) Kützing

Plant extracts are an important alternative to antibiotics, which are ever more restricted because of their developing microbial resistance and some adverse effects that have been observed following frequent application. The aim of the present study was to determine the antifungal and antioxidant activity of the methanolic extracts of Acorus calamus, Chlorella vulgaris, Lemna minuta and Scenedesmus dimorphus. The antifungal activity of the extracts against strains of Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus parasiticus, Aspergillus ochraceus, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus carbonarius, Fusarium graminearum, Fusarium oxysporum, Penicillium chrysogenum and Alternaria alternata was evaluated via the agar well diffusion method. The antioxidant activity of the extracts was measured through the determination of three parameters—total phenolic content, total flavonoid content and radical scavenging potential (determined through UV/Vis analysis). A. calamus extracts had the highest antimicrobial activity against eight fungal strains, followed by the C. vulgaris, L. minuta and S. dimorphus extracts, which were inhibitory against two to three strains. Among the extracts from the species studied, the extract from S. dimorphus showed the highest antioxidant potential, as determined via the DPPH (1,1’-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazil-radical) method. This correlated to its high total phenolic and flavonoid content. From A. calamus and L. minuta, methanolic extracts were obtained that exhibited similar values of the aforementioned parameters, followed by C. vulgaris extracts, which showed the lowest antioxidant activity. Based on the Pearson correlation coefficients, the impacts of the total phenolic content and the total flavonoid content on radical scavenging capacity are similar, and flavonoids were a significant part of the total phenolic compounds extracted from the plant materials studied.
A real-time crack detection algorithm for pavement based on CNN with multiple feature layers

Conventional algorithms are not sensitive to small objects like pavement cracks. We developed a pavement crack detection method based on a convolutional neural network (CNN) with multiple feature layers. The model extracts multi-scale features to increase the accuracy of pavement crack recognition. After hyperparameters tuning, the model accuracy reached 98.217%, and the detection rate reached 96.6 frame per second (FPS). These results showed that the model could be feasibly used for real-time crack detection. Using multiple aspect ratio anchor boxes and multi-scale feature maps, the accuracy can be improved by 1.809% and 5.016%, respectively. Compared with the traditional detection algorithm, our model was optimal in terms of F1 score and Precision-recall curve, and it was less affected by shadows and road markings and detected the crack boundaries more accurately. An on-site crack detection experiment was carried out to quantify the effectiveness of the model in crack detection.
Bullying in physical education of children and youth with visual impairments: A systematic review

Bullying is prevalent in youth but occurs at a higher rate of incidence in children with visual impairments in comparison to children without disabilities. The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of literature from the past 20 years on bullying research in physical education of youth with visual impairments. This review examined studies on bullying in physical education for school-age children with visual impairments. Articles that did not include children with visual impairments or blindness, physical education, or any type of intentional bullying were eliminated. After a thorough screening of the articles obtained in the search, 14 were selected and analyzed thematically. Results revealed that of the 114 participants in these studies, 86% experienced social–relational bullying, 64% experienced verbal bullying, and 21% experienced physical bullying. Children with visual impairments were bullied in physical education class by their teachers (50%), paraeducators (7%), and their peers (93%). The bullying occurred in class (93%), in the locker room (21%), and at various locations outside of class. Generalization of these findings to all children with visual impairments is limited due to a lack of quantitative studies found with our search criteria. However, the findings indicate a need to educate teachers and paraeducators about proper modifications to class structure and assessment practices, as well as variations to sports and physical activity, to reduce bullying. In addition, teaching self-advocacy to children with visual impairments may minimize bullying and help with peer acceptance and support in the classroom.
A Practical Method for Determination of Vitamin C in Plasma by High-performance Liquid Chromatography with an Electrochemical Detector.

電気化学検出器 (ECD) を装着したHPLCによるアスコルビン酸 (AsA) 定量において, 血漿試料の前処理にEDTA-メタノールを用いる既法と, MPAを用いる方法を比較検討した。 EDTA-メタノール処理した血漿試料中のAsAは, 40℃保存においても不安定であったが, MPA処理した血漿試料中のAsAはきわめて安定であった。 そこでMPA処理した血漿試料の分析方法に関する若干の検討を行った。 その結果, 至適なHPLCの条件は, 移動相の組成が, 0. 5mM塩化ドデシルトリメチルアンモニウムと0. 2mM EDTAを含有した0. 2M KH2PO4-H3PO4 (pH3.0), カラムがC18 (4.6×100mm), 流速が1. 0mL/mL, ECDの加電圧が+350mV (Ag/AgCl) であった。 この条件では, DTTを用いてDAsAを還元処理した試料中のAsAも迅速に測定することができた。
Exploring the psychological well-being of postgraduate accounting students at a South African university

The challenges associated with higher education studies can impact significantly on the psychological well-being of students and can influence their academic success, even leading to anxiety, stress and depression. Factors influencing academic success in postgraduate accounting students have been well researched, but a dearth of literature exists on their psychological well-being. This knowledge gap necessitated an investigation into the psychological well-being of postgraduate accounting students at a South African university. In this descriptive study, a self-compiled demographic questionnaire, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, and the Zung Self-rating Anxiety and Depression Scales were used for data collection. A total of 115 postgraduate accounting students participated in this study. Students reported a high level of support from family and friends, but their vigour and absorption regarding their full-time studies were merely average. Self-reported anxiety and depression scores indicated mild to moderate anxiety (28.7%), marked to severe anxiety (7.4%), mild to moderate depression (42.4%) and severe depression (17.2%) amongst participants. Study-related issues led to 10% of participants receiving psychological and/or psychiatric treatment and 5% using psychiatric medication. This study creates awareness of and proposes practical measures to enhance the psychological well-being of postgraduate accounting students to ultimately support academic success.
Quality of Life and Mid-Term Survival in Patients Receiving Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation After Cardiac Surgery

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. There is a lack of data regarding mid-term outcomes of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for refractory postcardiotomy cardiogenic shock (PCS). In this context, this research aimed to assess the mid-term survival and quality of life of PCS patients who receive ECMO by comparing them with cardiac surgery patients who do not receive ECMO. A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of patients who had undergone ECMO treatment after cardiac surgery from January 2013 to June 2017 in a tertiary hospital (n = 102); non-ECMO patients who had undergone cardiac surgery and were discharged successfully were selected as the control group (n = 102). Survival and mid-term quality of life were assessed and compared through the Short-Form 36 (SF-36). Both groups were followed up by telephone, and SF-36 scores were obtained from the surviving patients. The data were available for 89 patients (87.3%) and 88 patients (86.3%) in the ECMO group and the control group, respectively. After discharge, the control group outperformed the ECMO group in survival (93.1% vs. 82.4%; p = 0.013). No significant differences in complications, all-cause mortality, first readmission for any cause, or work condition between the ECMO group and the control group were observed. The SF-36 scores in general health (GH) and vitality (VT) were significantly lower among the ECMO survivors (p < 0.05). The results of this study indicate that ECMO can provide acceptable mid-term survival with good quality of life for patients with refractory cardiogenic shock.