Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inhibition of corrosion of copper in acids by norfloxacin

Purpose This paper aims to evaluate the inhibition efficiency of norfloxacin on the corrosion of copper in 1.0 M nitric acid and 0.5 M sulfuric acid solutions. Design/methodology/approach Evaluation was carried out by electrochemical techniques such as electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and potentiodynamic polarization studies. Scanning electron microscopy was used, and it finally confirmed the existence of the adsorbed film. Findings The electrochemical measurements showed that norfloxacin has good inhibition efficiency on the corrosion of copper in 1.0 M nitric acid and 0.5 M sulfuric acid solutions. The inhibition action of norfloxacin in both of the corrosive media was observed to be of mixed type but with more of cathodic nature. The temperature dependence of the corrosion rate was studied in the temperature range from 35 to 55°C and the activation energy (Ea) was calculated. The adsorption of norfloxacin molecules on copper surface obeyed Langmuir adsorption isotherm. Studies on the potential of zero charge have been carried out to establish the mechanism of adsorption of the inhibitor onto the metal surface. The thermodynamic parameters such as the adsorption equilibrium constant (Kads) and the free energy of adsorption (ΔGads) were calculated. The value of free energy of adsorption very close to −40 kJmol−1 indicates that the adsorption is through electrostatic coulombic attraction and chemisorption. The decrease in value of Ea with the addition of inhibitor also shows the chemisorption of the inhibitor on the metal surface. Originality/value This paper indicates that norfloxacin can act as a good inhibitor for the corrosion of copper in both the acid media.
Joint Computation Offloading and Trajectory Planning for UAV-Assisted Edge Computing

With excellent flexibility, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can act as airborne computing servers to assist smart terminals (STs) with their computationally-intense and delay-sensitive tasks. This paper presents a new UAV-assisted edge computing framework, which jointly optimizes the trajectory and CPU frequency of a fixed-wing UAV, and the offloading schedule to minimize the energy consumption of the UAV. The key idea is that we reveal the condition for the convexity of the optimization, when the UAV flies a linear trajectory. Under the condition, alternating optimization- and successive convex approximation (SCA)-based algorithms are developed to efficiently achieve the globally optimal linear trajectory, CPU configuration, and offloading schedule. Another important aspect is that we prove the SCA-based algorithm can achieve a local optimum satisfying the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) conditions, when the revealed condition is unmet or the UAV flies horizontally in two dimensions. By analyzing the KKT conditions, we also unveil the underlying patterns for the optimal CPU frequency and offloading schedule. Extensive simulations validate the patterns and corroborate the merits of our schemes.
Sex determination of Kelp Gull Larus dominicanus vetula using head and bill measurements

Kelp Gulls Larus dominicanus are not sexually dimorphic by plumage or visual characteristics and it is therefore difficult to distinguish males from females in the field. This paper assesses the sexual size dimorphism in this species and provides reliable methods for predicting sex of measured individuals. Discriminant function analysis of three commonly measured morphometric characters of adult birds indicated that the combination of head length and bill depth were the most accurate variables to use in a discriminant function model, predicting the sex with 97% accuracy.
Leprosy in the post elimination era: a retrospective descriptive study from district Kathua, Jammu and Kashmir

One of the global major public health problems is leprosy which is now eliminated from maximum number of endemic countries (less than 1 case per 10,000 population) by the World Health Organization. India achieved its target of leprosy elimination in December 2005. The current prevalence rate in the areas of Southeast Asian region is 0.63 per 10,000 and in India it is 0.68 per 10,000 population. In the year 2012-2013, the newly diagnosed cases of leprosy from India were 13,387 (81.9%) and strikingly, 10% of these leprosy cases comprised of children<15 years of age.
An ethical decision-making framework with serious gaming: a smart water case study on flooding

Sensors and control technologies are being deployed at unprecedented levels in both urban and rural water environments. Because sensor networks and control allow for higher-resolution monitoring and decision making in both time and space, greater discretization of control will allow for an unprecedented precision of impacts, both positive and negative. Likewise, humans will continue to cede direct decision-making powers to decision-support technologies, e.g. data algorithms. Systems will have ever-greater potential to effect human lives, and yet, humans will be distanced from decisions. Combined these trends challenge water resources management decision-support tools to incorporate the concepts of ethical and normative expectations. Toward this aim, we propose the Water Ethics Web Engine (WE)2, an integrated and generalized web framework to incorporate voting-based ethical and normative preferences into water resources decision support. We demonstrate this framework with a ‘proof-of-concept’ use case where decision models are learned and deployed to respond to flooding scenarios. Findings indicate that the framework can capture group ‘wisdom’ within learned models to use in decision making. The methodology and ‘proof-of-concept’ system presented here are a step toward building a framework to engage people with algorithmic decision making in cases where ethical preferences are considered. We share our framework and its cyber components openly with the research community.
Cell Phones, Student Rights, and School Safety: Finding the Right Balance

Despite the potential instructional benefits of integrating devices such as cell phones into schools and classrooms, research reveals that their improper use can negatively impact student behaviour, learning, and well-being. This paper reviews the literature and litigation on cell phone use in schools due to controversies over cheating, cyberbullying, sexting, and searches of student cell phones. Recent studies suggested that the presence of cell phones and related technologies in classrooms could detract from students’ academic performances while contributing to higher rates of academic dishonesty and cyberbullying. The growing prevalence of cyberbullying is especially concerning because it can have severely negative, even tragic, effects on student mental health and safety. However, given the relatively discreet nature of cell phone use, regulations about their use can be difficult to enforce. After reviewing literature and litigation on the potential risks associated with inappropriate cell phone use in schools, this paper offers suggestions for educators to consider when devising or revising policies balancing students’ individual rights with their safety and well-being before ending with a brief conclusion.
Prediction of Compressive Strengths for Rice Husks Ash incorporated concrete, Using Neural Network and Reviews

Modelling of concrete that incorporates agricultural wastes such as rice husk ash (RHA) could potentially enhance utilization of green concrete and application of sustainable construction materials. This paper evaluations compressive strength prediction for rice husk ash (RHA) cementitious material incorporated concrete using artificial neural networks (ANNs) one of the various prediction methods. The research is based on various previous experimental studies.Literature reviews of 72 datasets for RHA incorporated concrete from 15 previous researches, were used and subjected to ANNs models, having learning rate of 0.06 with tanh activation functions. Four(4) input variables were considered, namely:- superplasticizer or water reducers variation from control (%), water to binder ratio, percentage of RHA and control compressive strengths. Output variable was compressive strength of RHA cementitious material incorporated concrete. The ANN with 15 neurons in the hidden layer was selected and indicated overall values of 5.10MPa, 0.99, 3.81MPa and 9.73% for the root mean square error (RMSE), absolute factor of variance (R2), mean absolute error (MAE) and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) respectively and for individual training, validation/checking and testing datasets, the RMSE, R2, MAE and MAPE ranging between 3.98MPa-6.56MPa, 0.98-0.99, 3.44MPa-4.94MPa and 9.19%-12.41% respectively. Generally, both predicted and original dataset, indicated higher and lower strength values for 5-10% and 15-30% RHA incorporated cementitious material concrete respectively compared to the control strengths.Considering that the study utilized data from different sources and with a wide range of concrete strengths the selected ANN showed relatively good performance. The study provides an indicator that machine learning techniques could accurately predict green concrete strength. Based on model performance the percentage RHA cementitious materials in concrete and the other 3 input variable had a significant impact on concrete strengths. Future research should be conducted to predict green concrete focused on particular concrete class.
Reduction of the environmental footprint of thermo‐alkali pretreatment by reusing black liquor during anaerobic digestion of lignocellulosic biomasses

In this study, the effect of thermo‐alkaline pretreatment and recycling of the liquid fraction (black liquor) for successive pretreatment steps on chemical composition and methane yields from horse manure was investigated. At first, horse manure was subjected to alkaline pretreatment at 70 °C for 1 h (8.6 g NaOH/100 g total solids). Pretreated biomass was then separated into solid and liquid fractions (black liquor). In the subsequent stages, black liquor was mixed with 20% (v/v) of fresh NaOH and was reused to pretreat subsequent batches of horse manure (cycles 1–4). Chemical analyses showed that thermo‐alkaline pretreatment was effective in the delignification and solubilization of organic matter and thereby increased the holocellulose (cellulose and hemicelluloses) content in the solid fraction of horse manure. On comparison with untreated horse manure methane yields (225 ± 1 L CH4 kg−1 VSadded), thermo‐alkaline pretreatment improved the methane yields of horse manure by 39% (313 ± 16 L CH4 kg−1 VSadded). However, the effectiveness of black liquor recycling on methane production decreased (from 39 to 12%) with an increase in the number of recycling steps (from 1 to 4). Nevertheless, recycling of black liquor reduced the consumption of NaOH (40%) and water use (60%). Thus, thermo‐alkaline pretreatment with liquor recycling was found to be an effective pretreatment with an economic gain of 2.4 to 10.4 compared to pretreatment without recycling. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Use of an Efficient Proxy Solution for the Hillslope‐Storage Boussinesq Problem in Upscaling of Subsurface Stormflow

The hillslope‐storage Boussinesq (hsB) equation is a modification of the one‐dimensional Boussinesq representation of saturated subsurface flow that accommodates the impact of converging and diverging flows resulting from a hillslope with nonconstant width. Here, a surrogate model, the hsB Proxy, is developed which closely emulates the results of high‐quality numerical solutions of the hsB to reproduce the drainage response of a wide range of wedge‐shaped hillslopes in response to a recharge time series at a fraction of the computational cost of a numerical solution and with minimal loss of fidelity. The efficacy of the Proxy in emulating the hsB response of a single hillslope and the aggregate response of a network of hillslopes is demonstrated. The Proxy applies to wedge‐shaped hillslopes with homogenous hydraulic conductivity under uniform recharge, with the expectation that these hillslopes may inform future investigations into the upscaling behavior that results in the known power‐law relationship between subsurface storage and outflow in a basin. The utility of the hsB as a tool for evaluating upscaling problems is demonstrated in two applications. First, the Proxy response is compared to the known basin‐scale recession behavior in the Panola Mountain Research Watershed, under both transient and steady‐state conditions. Second, the Proxy is applied to derive the single best effective hillslope in a basin. The Proxy is expected to be a useful tool for rapid simulation of subsurface flow from hillslopes for use in hydrological models and land surface schemes.
Supplementary material to "The nano-scanning electrical mobility spectrometer (nSEMS) and its
application to size distribution measurements of 1.5–25 nm particles"

Abstract. Particle size measurement in the low nanometer regime is of great importance to the study of cloud condensation nuclei formation and to better understand aerosol-cloud interaction. Here we present the design, modeling, and experimental characterization of the nano-scanning electrical mobility spectrometer (nSEMS), a recently developed instrument that probes particle physical properties in the 1.5–25 nm range. The nSEMS consists of a charge conditioner, a novel differential mobility analyzer, and a two-stage condensation particle counter (CPC). The charge conditioner employs a soft x-ray bipolar ion source in a compact housing designed to optimize both nanoparticle charging and transmission efficiency. The mobility analyzer, a radial opposed migration ion and aerosol classifier (ROMIAC), can classify nanometer-sized particles with minimal degradation of its resolution or diffusional losses. The ROMIAC operates on a dual high-voltage supply with fast polarity-switching capability to minimize sensitivity to variations in the chemical nature of the ions used to charge the aerosol. Particles transmitted through the charge conditioner and mobility analyzer are measured using a two-stage CPC. They are first activated in a fast-mixing diethylene glycol (DEG) stage before being counted by a second detection stage, an ADI MAGICTM water-based CPC. The transfer function of the integrated instrument is derived from both finite-element modeling and experimental characterization. The nSEMS performance has been evaluated during measurement of transient nucleation and growth events in the CLOUD atmospheric chamber at CERN. We show that the nSEMS can provide high time and size resolution measurement of nanoparticles, and can capture the critical aerosol dynamics of newly formed atmospheric particles.
Water Hyacinths (Eichhornia crassipes) – Application for Secondary Wastewater Treatment and Biomass Production

Clean water is one of the most significant challenges for our society. Efficient reuse of effluent water after treatment can becomes an effective solution to the shortage of water resources. The focus of this study is to investigate the use of Eichhornia crassipes plants for post treatment of clarified municipal residential sewage under natural conditions using a small pilot Laboratory Water Hyacinth Clarifier system. Twelve Eichhornia crassipes plants are used to investigate total phosphorus and ammonia nitrogen removal during a 20-day study period under various retention rates. The biomass gain of the Eichhornia crassipes plants was 2.4-fold from the initial weight of 1556.5 g to 3676.7 g. Total phosphorous reduction of 10.64%, 11.83%, 20.93%, 41.66%, 67.12%, and 40.13% for the 1.5, 9.0, 12.0, 24.0, 48.0 h, and 120.0-hour retention times respectively. Ammonia nitrogen removal was between 35.71%, 33.33% for the 1.50 and 9.0-hour retention time and 42.85% for the 12.0 and 24.0-hour retention time. A reduction of 71.43% resulted for the 48.0-hour retention time and an 85.71% reduction for the 120.0-hour retention time. Overall retention time of 24.0 h, 48.0 h and 120 h tend to give best removal rates for both total phosphorus and ammonia nitrogen removal. Factors Original Research Article Dölle et al.; JABB, 24(1): 52-61, 2021; Article no.JABB. 66324 53 such as climate, contaminant concentration, retention rate, and weather conditions play an important role for the application of Eichhornia crassipes in a tertiary treatment sequence of MRS.
The Microstructure of Attentional Control in the Dorsal Attention Network

Abstract The top–down control of attention involves command signals arising chiefly in the dorsal attention network (DAN) in frontal and parietal cortex and propagating to sensory cortex to enable the selective processing of incoming stimuli based on their behavioral relevance. Consistent with this view, the DAN is active during preparatory (anticipatory) attention for relevant events and objects, which, in vision, may be defined by different stimulus attributes including their spatial location, color, motion, or form. How this network is organized to support different forms of preparatory attention to different stimulus attributes remains unclear. We propose that, within the DAN, there exist functional microstructures (patterns of activity) specific for controlling attention based on the specific information to be attended. To test this, we contrasted preparatory attention to stimulus location (spatial attention) and to stimulus color (feature attention), and used multivoxel pattern analysis to characterize the corresponding patterns of activity within the DAN. We observed different multivoxel patterns of BOLD activation within the DAN for the control of spatial attention (attending left vs. right) and feature attention (attending red vs. green). These patterns of activity for spatial and feature attentional control showed limited overlap with each other within the DAN. Our findings thus support a model in which the DAN has different functional microstructures for distinctive forms of top–down control of visual attention.
Outcomes and complications of patients undergoing Salter’s innominate osteotomies for hip dysplasia: a systematic review of comparative studies

Abstract The purpose of this systematic review is to assess outcomes and complications of patients undergoing Salter’s innominate osteotomies (SIOs) for the correction of hip dysplasia along with patient and technical factors that can be optimized to improve outcomes after SIO. MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched from data inception to 9 October 2018. Data were presented descriptively. Twenty-seven studies were identified including 1818 hips (87.1%) treated with SIO (mean age of 2.1 ± 2.5 years and mean follow-up of 3.5 ± 5.0 years). Patients undergoing SIO had a post-operative center-edge angle (CEA) of 31.3° ± 5.3° and an acetabular index (AI) angle of 16.1° ± 5.2°. Patients undergoing SIO with pre-operative traction had significantly lower (P = 0.049) post-operative McKay criteria scores compared to patients without pre-operative traction. Patients undergoing SIO between the ages of 1.5–2 years had significantly better (P < 0.05) post-operative McKay criteria scores compared to patients aged 4–6 years. The complication rate was 9.4% with avascular necrosis (2.5%) being most common. This review found that SIO for developmental dysplasia of the hip produces generally good post-operative clinical outcomes. The CEA and AI can be corrected to normal range after SIO. Patients may have superior outcomes if they have SIO at a younger age, were not treated with pre-operative traction and did not have untreated contralateral hip dysplasia. Outcomes appear to be similar between one-stage bilateral SIO and a two-stage procedure in the setting of bilateral hip dysplasia; however, more multicentered studies are needed to confirm these results.
Planting System Effects on Intercropping of Gardenpea and Sorghum

The field experiment was conducted at Agronomy Research Field, Joydebpur and RARS, Burirhat, Rangpur, BARI during Rabi season of 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 to find out suitable combination of sorghum and gardenpea intercropping for higher productivity and monetary advantage. Treatments included in the experiment were: T1 = Sorghum normal row (SNR) + 1 row gardenpea (GP), T2 = SNR + 2 rows GP, T3 = Sorghum paired row (SPR) + 2 rows GP, T4 = SPR + 3 rows GP, T5 = SPR + 4 rows GP, T6 = Sole sorghum (60 cm ´ 10 cm) and T7 = Sole GP (30 cm ´ 10 cm). Light availability on gardenpea decreased with the increase of shade produced by sorghum canopy over the time up to 60 DAS. The lowest light availability on gardenpea was observed in T2 treatment and the highest was observed in sole gardenpea (T7) followed by T3 treatment in both the years. The maximum grain yield of sorghum was observed in T6 and it was decreased (6-10% in 2018-2019 and 1-12% in 2019-2020) at Joydebpur and (5-11% in 2018-2019 and 6-14% in 2019-2020) at Burirhat. The highest sorghum equivalent yield (SEY) of 10.93 t ha-1 in 2018-2019 and 12.02 t ha-1 in 2019-2020 at Joydebpur and 12.06 t ha-1 in 2018-2019 and 11.77 t ha-1 in 2019-2020 at Burirhat and also the highest land equivalent ratio (LER) of 1.77 in 2018-2019 and 1.93 in 2019-2020 at Joydebpur and 1.79 in 2018-2019 and 1.81 in 2019-2020 at Burirhatwere observed in T5 treatment. The highest gross margin of Tk.146600 ha-1 in 2018-2019 and Tk.168400 ha-1 in 2019-2020 at Joydebpur and Tk. 169200 ha-1 in 2018-2019 and Tk.163400 ha-1 in 2019-2020 at Burirhat and also the benefit cost ratio (BCR) of 3.04 in 2018-2019 and 3.34 in 2019-2020 at Joydebpur and 3.35 in 2018-2019 and 3.27 in 2019-2020 at Burirhat were also found in the same treatment. The results revealed that sorghum paired row + 4 rows gardenpea might be agronomically feasible and economically profitable for sorghum + gardenpea intercropping system at Joydebpur and Burirhat region. Bangladesh Agron. J. 2020, 23(2): 59-68
Awareness about hepatitis-B, among the nurses of Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital (SMHS), Srinagar – a tertiary care hospital: a cross sectional study

Hepatitis B is an acute systemic infection of liver, caused by hepatitis B virus and transmitted usually by parenteral route. The incubation period varies from 4 weeks to 6 months. It’s an acute self-limiting infection which may be either subclinical or symptomatic. In some cases it fails to resolve on its own and thus the affected individual becomes a persistent carrier of the virus. This persistent infection may cause active hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatitis B virus is transmitted through blood or body fluids, which include wound exudates, semen, vaginal secretions and saliva. Among the body fluids blood and serum contain the highest concentration of the virus; saliva contains the lowest. Through parenteral route it can spread by needle sticks, sharing or reusing non sterile needles or syringes, transfusion of blood and blood products, hemodialysis and tattooing. HBV carrier mothers can transfer the infection to their babies which appears to be an important factor for the high prevalence of HBV infection in some regions including china and South-East Asia. The majority of children who are born to HBeAG positive become chronically infected. The sexually promiscuous, particularly male homosexuals are at a very high risk of infection with infection with hepatitis B. ABSTRACT