Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Wireless-Powered Over-the-Air Computation in Intelligent Reflecting Surface-Aided IoT Networks

Fast wireless data aggregation and efficient battery recharging are two critical design challenges of Internet-of-Things (IoT) networks. Over-the-air computation (AirComp) and energy beamforming (EB) turn out to be two promising techniques that can address these two challenges, necessitating the design of wireless-powered AirComp. However, due to severe channel propagation, the energy harvested by IoT devices may not be sufficient to support AirComp. In this article, we propose to leverage the intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) that is capable of dynamically reconfiguring the propagation environment to drastically enhance the efficiency of both downlink EB and uplink AirComp in IoT networks. Due to the coupled problems of downlink EB and uplink AirComp, we further propose the joint design of energy and aggregation beamformers at the access point, downlink/uplink phase-shift matrices at the IRS, and transmit power at the IoT devices, to minimize the mean-squared error (MSE), which quantifies the AirComp distortion. However, the formulated problem is a highly intractable nonconvex quadratic programming problem. To solve this problem, we first obtain the closed-form expressions of the energy beamformer and the device transmit power, and then develop an alternating optimization framework based on difference-of-convex programming to design the aggregation beamformers and IRS phase-shift matrices. Simulation results demonstrate the performance gains of the proposed algorithm over the baseline methods and show that deploying an IRS can significantly reduce the MSE of AirComp.
Hepatoprotective Potentials of Ethanolic Extract of Solanum melongena Linn Fruit on Monosodium Glutamate- Intoxicated Rats' and Liver Section Histology

This study evaluated the hepatoprotective potentials of ethanolic extract of Solanum melongena Linn fruit on monosodium glutamate-intoxicated rats and liver section histology using standard protocols. Twenty four Wistar rats that weighed 105.00 ± 7.00 g were divided into 6 groups of 4 each. The six groups were thus fed: Group 1 (control, feed and distilled water only), Group 2 (8000 mg/kg body weight MSG), Group 3 (300 mg/kg body weight the sample extract), Group 4 (8000 Original Research Article Mbah et al.; IBRR, 9(1): 1-9, 2019; Article no.IBRR. 45935 2 mg/kg body weight MSG+ 100 mg/kg body weight the sample extract), Group 5 (8000 mg/kg body weight MSG+ 300 mg/kg body weight the sample extract) and Group 6 (8000 mg/kg body weight MSG+ 500 mg/kg body weight the sample extract) daily for 14 days. The MSG only fed group showed a significant (P=0.05) increase in the activities of serum alanine aminotransferases (ALT), aspartate aminotransferases (AST), alkaline phosphatases (ALP) and total bilirubin compared to the control group. MSG and ethanolic extract of Solanum melongena Linn fruit co-treated groups at different concentration were significantly (P=.05) reduced to become comparable to the control group. The concentration of serum albumin and total protein were significantly (P=.05) reduced for group 2 compared to group 1. The co-administration of MSG and ethanolic extract of Solanum melongena Linn fruit resulted to a significant (P =0.05) increase notably at 500 mg/kg body weight sample extract and the same was observed for the histology. This suggests the improved synthetic function of the liver. MSG at a high concentration (8000 mg/kg body weight) adversely affected the rats liver biofunction and the hepatoprotective potentials of ethanol extract of Solanum melongena Linn fruit was notably at 500 mg/kg of body weight in rats. However, further studies in this direction are warranted.
Reputation-Based Coalition Formation for Secure Self-Organized and Scalable Sharding in IoT Blockchains With Mobile-Edge Computing

We propose a fully distributed system architecture and a scalable self-organized sharding scheme for the Internet-of-Things (IoT) blockchains that can guarantee system security without reducing its throughput. In the system, the IoT devices are supported by the set of blockchain peers that gather, process, verify, and store the blocks of IoT transaction records. To support communications among peers, the system is realized in the mobile-edge computing (MEC) network. We design a new consensus mechanism in which each peer votes on the outputs of each block task in its shard. The peer’s voting power is computed from its reputation, i.e., trustworthiness in the system. By adopting a reputation-based coalitional game model, we formulate a novel self-organized shard formation algorithm in which each peer acts as a rational player aiming to maximize both its payoff and the coalitional reputation. We prove that the algorithm converges to the reputation-based stable shard structure, i.e., a structure that maximizes the payoff and coalitional reputation of each peer without negatively affecting other peers. The algorithm shows a superior performance in terms of system security and throughput when compared to state-of-the-art sharding schemes and reputation-based blockchains.
Big Data With Column Oriented NOSQL Database To Overcome The Drawbacks Of Relational Databases

---------------------------------------------------------------------- ABSTRACT ----------------------------------------------------------- Due to the Era of Big Data with the large amount of distributed databases in the web and the rapid growth in the smart systems a rapid growth happening in database models and the relational database fails to dealing with such a big amount of data and have many limitations the need to new technologies comes up, which makes DBMS developers move towards column oriented NOSQL database. The main goal of this paper is to provide a survey on NOSQL Model especiallya column oriented NOSQL database, providing the user with the benefit of using NOSQL database, Instead of using the (row database) relational to overcome the drawbacks of the relational database Model.
Preparation of nitrile derivative and study its effect as a possible novel drug for diabetes

The aim of the research is to synthesis one of the captopril derivatives by converting the carboxyl group to the nitrile group, and characterized by (FTIR, 1H-NMR, 13CNMR, Mass spectroscopy and CHNS). This process convert captopril structure design to a compound similar to the modern diabetes drugs (vildagliptin), with continuation of its effectiveness as an antihypertensive drug. After preparation of the modified drug, the effectiveness confirmed by some related enzymes, hormones, and some histological pictures of experiment animals (rabbits). The effects of the derivative on rabbits were studied. Sixty rabbits with weights (1500-1800)g, were divided into six groups (10 rabbits for each group). The first group, G1 consisting of 10 rabbits, is a healthy control group that has not been given any substance. The second group, G2 alloxan group (infected group). The third group gets the alloxan and vildagliptin. The fourth group gets the alloxan and the modified drug compared to vildagliptin dose. The fifth group gets the alloxan and the modified drug compared to captopril dose. The sixth group gets the alloxan and the captopril. After two weeks, the samples were withdrawn after 2 hours from the last dose, the serum was separated and the biochemical and enzymatic variables were studied including (glucose, insulin hormone, glucagon hormone, dipeptidyl peptidase-4, angiotensin converting enzyme, prostaglandin I2, alkaline phosphatase, aspartate amino transferase, alanine amino transferase.
Association between Jordanian Ostomates’ Knowledge about Intestinal Ostomy Care and their Ostomy Health-Related Problems

Introduction: Patients with intestinal ostomy (IO) have several health-related problems and complications. This research is conducted to determine the correlation between the subjects’ knowledge about IO care and the frequency of health-related problems and complications. Method: A cross-sectional design and convenience sampling method were used to investigate 174 patients with IO (ostomates). Results: Almost all of the subjects had at least one IO health-related problem. About half of the subjects had more than three IO health-related problems. The subjects’ had low (poor) knowledge about IO care and management (mean±SD = 52.2±16.4, out of 100). The results showed negative correlation between ostomates’ knowledge about IO care and their frequency of IO health-related problems and complications (r = -0.54, p = 0.03). Conclusion: Continuing health eduaction and training programs are recommended to all patients with IO to imorove their knowledge about IO care and to prevent the negative health events and complications which are related to IO.
Contributing Factors of Secondary Students’ Attitude towards Mathematics Contributing Factors of Attitudes towards Mathematics

The research investigated the effect of socioeconomic status, gender, perceived parental influences, teacher affective support, classroom instruction and previous achievement on students’ attitude towards mathematics. The comparison of these effects was also done between urban and rural school students. This research employed a cross-sectional quantitative design based on a structural equation modelling approach. The sample consisted of 808 students from ten secondary schools in Sabah, three of which were urban and seven were rural schools. Findings showed positive relationships exist between perceived parental influences (r = .231), teacher affective support (r = .242), classroom instruction (r = .439), and previous achievement (r = .284) with students’ attitude towards mathematics. The multigroup analysis for urban and rural students showed similar results as the whole student group. However, for urban students, classroom instruction (r = 0.352) and previous achievement (r = -0.363) had the greatest impact on attitude towards mathematics. For rural students, the highest impact on attitude towards mathematics was from classroom instruction (r = 0.452) and teacher affective support (r = 0.246). The least impact for both groups was perceived parental influence. This study implied that factors affected students’ attitude towards mathematics in rural and urban secondary students are different.
The Transient Receptor Potential Protein Homologue TRP6 Is the Essential Component of Vascular α1-Adrenoceptor–Activated Ca2+-Permeable Cation Channel

Abstract—The Drosophila transient receptor potential protein (TRP) and its mammalian homologues are thought to be Ca2+-permeable cation channels activated by G protein (Gq/11)–coupled receptors and are regarded as an interesting molecular model for the Ca2+ entry mechanisms associated with stimulated phosphoinositide turnover and store depletion. However, there is little unequivocal evidence linking mammalian TRPs with particular native functions. In this study, we have found that heterologous expression of murine TRP6 in HEK293 cells reproduces almost exactly the essential biophysical and pharmacological properties of α1-adrenoceptor–activated nonselective cation channels (α1-AR–NSCC) previously identified in rabbit portal vein smooth muscle. Such properties include activation by diacylglycerol; S-shaped current-voltage relationship; high divalent cation permeability; unitary conductance of 25 to 30 pS and augmentation by flufenamate and Ca2+; and blockade by Cd2+, La3+, Gd3+, SK&F96365, and amiloride. R.
THE EFFECT OF PHOSPHORUS AND ZINC ON YIELD AND ON SOME AGRONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF COTTON (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

This study was conducted to determine the effect of Phosphorus (P) i.e. (P0= Control, P40= 40, P80= 80, and P120= 120 kg ha) and Zinc (Zn) i.e. (Zn0= Control, Zn05= 5, Zn10= 10, and Zn15= 15 kg ha) on yield and on some agronomic characteristics of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) Adiyaman, Turkey. The field experiments were arranged in a randomized complete block with a split plot design with three replications in years of 2011 and 2012. P and Zn treatments were applied in main and sub-plots, respectively. Cotton cultivar of Stoneville-453 was used in the experiment. Based on the results, phosphorus and zinc applications increased the seed cotton yield. The highest plant height was obtained from the interaction of P80 x Zn5 and the highest number of bolls was taken from the interaction of P80 x Zn10. In terms of the number of monopodial branches, statistically significant differences were found in both years, but this significance was not stable over the years. It was concluded that the combined treatments of phosphorus and zinc did not have a significant effect on the boll weight, boll seed cotton weight and ginning outturn. The effect of fertilizers on the number of sympodial branches and 100 seed weight were significant in the first year but not significant in the second year.
Addressing COVID-19 impacts on agriculture, food security, and livelihoods in India

India has taken early action to limit the spread of COVID-19, ordering a 21-day nationwide lockdown for its population of 1.3 billion people starting March 25. Subsequently the lockdown was renewed three more times before May 31. The unlocking of India began June 1, except in containment zones. The novel coronavirus has spread widely in India and the number of reported infections is 217,000, with relatively few deaths, at 6,075, as of June 4. However, as COVID-19 cases are increasing fast, there is great concern about the diseaseâ€™s potential spread and impact. India has to be ready for a possible surge. The government views the pattern of the spread of COVID-19 as similar to the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, meaning the spread is unlikely to be uniform. It is concentrated in a few big cities and states and its spread is less in rural areas and smaller towns and cities.
Reduced inbreeding depression in separate generations of onions

Mitigating reductions in vigor in onion seed production has been a great challenge to breeding programs. Therefore, we compared the effects of inbreeding depression among populations obtained from self-fertilization and crossbreeding with two and three plants. We evaluated eleven populations and three breeding methods (two and three-plant crossbreeding, and self-fertilization of one plant) and measured the characteristics related to seed yield (plant appearance, stem vigor, number of umbels, flowering uniformity, fruit setting, and resistance to Alternaria) from 2014 to 2015. Thirteen RAPD molecular markers were used to determine the genetic divergence among populations derived from different breeding methods. We found that inbreeding depression affects plant vigor in early generations that have greater heterozygosity. Three-plant crossbreeding results in greater seed yield in populations with low levels of inbreeding. The populations obtained from self-fertilization and twoand threeplant crossbreeding were genetically similar, demonstrating the efficiency of obtaining inbred lines without genetic divergence.
Assessing the Biostimulant Effects of a Novel Plant-Based Formulation on Tomato Crop

The aim of this research was to evaluate the biostimulant effects of an eco-product (EP) containing essential oils of rosemary and eucalyptus on tomato crop. Experiments were conducted to evaluate EP effects on plant growth and physiological parameters (e.g., chlorophyll content), total phenols and antioxidant activity, enzyme activities (e.g., catalase), plant macronutrient content and fresh tomato fruit quality. The application of an EP once (EP-1x) increased tomato plant height by 19%, stomatal conductance, and chlorophyll content compared to the control (sprayed with water). EP triplicate (EP-3x) application significantly increased yield (0.79 kg plant−1) compared to the control (0.58 kg plant−1). However, application of EP-3x was associated with a higher percentage of fruit cracking in comparison to the control. Total phenols and antioxidant activity were affected from both the use of EP and application frequency. EP application decreased by 27.3% the leaf damage index in comparison to the control. Nutrient content in leaves (N, Mg) was significantly decreased in the case of EP-3x treatment. Fruit firmness was decreased by 19.9% in the case of EP-1x application. Fruit marketability and tomato-like aroma, fresh weight and soluble solids did not differ among the treatments. Further research is required to examine the potential use of essential oils as biostimulants.
Effect of Brij98 on Durability of Silver Polymer Electrolyte Membranes for Facilitated Olefin Transport

Silver polymer electrolytes are very promising membrane materials for the separation of olefin/paraffin mixtures. Olefin molecules are known to be transported through reversible complex formation with silver ions entrapped in polymer matrix. However, they have poor long-term stability, which is very important for the industrial application; the selectivity through the membrane decreases gradually with time mostly due to the reduction of silver ions (Ag + ) into silver nanoparticles (Ag 0 ). In this study, the stability of silver polymer electrolyte was investigated for poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) and AgBF4 system containing a surfactant, i.e. C18H35(OCH2CH2)20OH (Brij98) as a stabilizer. The reduction behavior of silver ions to silver nanoparticles in PVP was also investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and UV-visible spectroscopy. It was found that the growth of silver nanoparticles was slower and selectivity of polymer electrolyte for propylene in propylene/propane was maintained longer time when Brij98 was added as a stabilizer.
Tax Knowledge Diffusion in U.S. Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: TCJA (2017)

The landmark Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), enacted by Congress and the president on December 22, 2017, makes the most sweeping changes to the tax law in the United States (U.S.) since 1986. Many changes to the business tax laws, under TCJA (2017), are applicable to all business entities ranging from C corporations (public or private), S corporations, partnerships, to sole proprietorships. To encourage capital investments, TCJA (2017) offers some new incentives such as the additional first year depreciation deduction of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) section 168(k). It is important to research the tax behavior of private business owners, because in 2015 small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) employed 47.5% of the private workforce in the U.S. Many SMEs report their business operating income from partnerships or S corporations or sole proprietorships under their individual income tax returns. According to the Data Book for 2018 published by the IRS (IRS, 2019a), income taxes accounted for 56.90%, employment taxes accounted for 32.70%, and corporation accounted for 7.60% of the total $3.5 trillion of federal taxes collected by the IRS in 2018. Unfortunately, there is a gap in the literature due to the lack of studies regarding the tax behavior of SMEs. Researchers face difficulties in researching the tax practices of SMEs due to the lack of publicly available tax data and information regarding SMEs. In contrast, financial data and tax data of public companies is readily available. As a result, prior literature contains numerous studies using the innovation-diffusion theory to explain the tax practices of public corporations. Using the innovation-diffusion theory, this paper investigates whether owners of SMEs aware of the changes in the tax law of TCJA (2017) that affects their tax liabilities. Assuming owners of SMEs would like to minimize the present value of their taxes, this paper investigates whether owners of SMEs will modify their business operating, investing, and financing activities in response to the changes in the tax law of TCJA (2017). Following prior studies such as Apostal and Pop (2019), this paper uses interviews to conduct a qualitative study. By analyzing the interview comments of 125 private business owners, results suggest that (1) knowledge about the new tax law has been diffused among the owners of the SMEs and (2) owners of SMEs adopted the new tax law by actively managing their obligations to pay tax under the TCJA (2017). This paper contributes to the literature by filling in the gaps in the research on the diffusion of tax knowledge and most importantly the tax behavior of SMEs in the U.S.
Exploring the Potential of Feature Selection Methods in the Classification of Urban Trees Using Field Spectroscopy Data

Mapping of vegetation at the species level using hyperspectral satellite data can be effective and accurate because of its high spectral and spatial resolutions that can detect detailed information of a target object. Its wide application, however, not only is restricted by its high cost and large data storage requirements, but its processing is also complicated by challenges of what is known as the Hughes effect. The Hughes effect is where classification accuracy decreases once the number of features or wavelengths passes a certain limit. This study aimed to explore the potential of feature selection methods in the classification of urban trees using field hyperspectral data. We identified the best feature selection method of key wavelengths that respond to the target urban tree species for effective and accurate classification. The study compared the effectiveness of Principal Component Analysis Discriminant Analysis (PCA-DA), Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) and Guided Regularized Random Forest (GRRF) in feature selection of the key wavelengths for classification of urban trees. The classification performance of Random Forest (RF) and Support Vector Machines (SVM) algorithms were also compared to determine the importance of the key wavelengths selected for the detection of the target urban trees. The feature selection methods managed to reduce the high dimensionality of the hyperspectral data. Both the PCA-DA and PLS-DA selected 10 wavelengths and the GRRF algorithm selected 13 wavelengths from the entire dataset (n = 1523). Most of the key wavelengths were from the short-wave infrared region (1300-2500 nm). SVM outperformed RF in classifying the key wavelengths selected by the feature selection methods. The SVM classifier produced overall accuracy values of 95.3%, 93.3% and 86% using the GRRF, PLS-DA and PCA-DA techniques, respectively, whereas those for the RF classifier were 88.7%, 72% and 56.8%, respectively.
ASSESSING KNOWLEDGE OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY BENEFITS IN DIABETIC PATIENTS

Authors’ contribution Wkład autorów: A. Study design/planning zaplanowanie badań B. Data collection/entry zebranie danych C. Data analysis/statistics dane – analiza i statystyki D. Data interpretation interpretacja danych E. Preparation of manuscript przygotowanie artykułu F. Literature analysis/search wyszukiwanie i analiza literatury G. Funds collection zebranie funduszy Summary Background. The aim of this work was to examine the awareness of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) on the importance of physical activity (PA) in the prevention and treatment of their disease. Material and methods. The survey was completed by 178 respondents (47.3% women, 52.7% men), of whom 69.1% were dependent on exogenous insulin. Data was collected in April 2019 via a questionnaire given to patients at the Department of Diabetology and Internal Medicine at the Louis Pasteur University Hospital in Košice, Slovakia. Results. More than half of the respondents admitted having insufficient information about their health condition, and a similar proportion felt lack of knowledge regarding exercise for their illness. As many as 69.1% of the patients reported inadequate help by their health care providers with regard to the do’s and dont’s of their disease, and 41.9% of respondents reported having no knowledgeable health care provider with whom to share their concerns. Conclusions. Based on the results obtained, it is concluded that a substantial number of DM patients do not have adequate information about their health condition and how to improve it. On the other hand, nearly two-thirds of participants recognize that regular physical activity (PA) is an option to achieve positive changes.