Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modifications of Poly(lactic Acid) with Blends and Plasticization for Tenacity and Toughness Improvement

This review focuses on the modification of the inherent brittleness of biodegradable poly(lactic acid) (PLA) to increase its toughness, as well as recent advances in this field. The most often utilized toughening methods are melt blending, plasticization, and rubber toughening. The process of selecting a toughening scheme is still difficult, although it directly affects the blend's mechanical properties. There has been a lot of development, but there is still a long way to go before we get easily processable, totally bio-based, 100% biodegradable PLA. The blends of PLA with other polymers, such as plasticizers or rubber, are often incompatible with one another, which causes the blend's individual components to behave in a manner consistent with phase separation. Polymer blending has been shown to be particularly effective in attaining high-impact strength. This review addresses the recent progress in improving the toughened PLA to gain properties necessary for the material's future engineering applications. As 3D and 4D printing becomes more accessible, PLA characteristics may be modified and treated utilizing more sophisticated production techniques.
Trace element accumulation in rice: Effects of soil arsenic, irrigation management, cultivar, phosphate application and iron oxide amendment

A concern is growing over the accumulation of trace contaminants in rice, a plant which has been estimated to supply 50% of the caloric intake to the world’s population. Contamination with arsenic (As) and other trace elements have been shown in many areas including the U.S. and rice intake poses a potential risk to human health. This research investigated the accumulation of selected trace elements including arsenic (As), selenium (Se), molybdenum (Mo) and cadmium (Cd) in as many as six rice cultivars and two control soils common to the south central U.S. A field study was completed to evaluate the impact of As content in soil, irrigation management and cultivar on total rice grain element accumulation. Results indicated soil amended with monosodium methanearsonate (MSMA) increased the accumulation of As and Se, but decreased Mo accumulation in rice under all irrigation treatments. Grain-Cd increased for most cultivars in MSMA-amended soil. In addition, intermittent flooding significantly decreased total grain-As, Se and Mo, but increased Cd. Greenhouse studies were also completed to evaluate the impact of phosphate application and iron oxide amendments on total grain concentrations of As, Se, Mo and Cd. Correlations between soil-As and grain elements were also studied. Results indicated that grain-As concentration is directly proportional to the soil-As concentration, but phosphate application has no substantial impact on grain element concentration. Iron oxide amendments significantly reduced grain-As accumulation in rice. Results also indicated increasing the soil-As concentration increased grain-As, increased grain-Se and Cd, and decreased grain-Mo
Systems of variational inequalities with hierarchical variational inequality constraints for Lipschitzian pseudocontractions

In this paper, we consider the problem of solving a general system of variational inequalities (GSVI) with a hierarchical variational inequality (HVI) constraint for countably many uniformly Lipschitzian pseudocontractive mappings and an accretive operator in a real Banach space. We propose an implicit composite extragradient-like method based on the Mann iteration method, the viscosity approximation method and the Korpelevich extragradient method. Convergence results for the proposed iteration method are also established under some suitable assumptions.
The relative quantum yields of O2(a?g) from the photolysis of ozone in the wavelength range 270nm =

The relative quantum yield of O 2 (a 1 Δ g ) produced by the photolysis of ozone has been measured over the wavelength range 270nm≤λ≤329nm. The O 2 (a 1 Δ g ) fragment was detected by [2+1] resonance enhanced multiple photon ionisation (REMPI). The quantum yield of O 2 (a 1 Δ g ) is compared to that recommended for O( 1 D) and is found to follow it closely except at the longer wavelengths where O 2 (a 1 Δ g ) is still produced with a yield of 10% or more
EFFECT OF A THERMAL CARE BUNDLE ON THE PREVENTION, DETECTION, AND TREATMENT OF PERIOPERATIVE INADVERTENT HYPOTHERMIA

This article has been accepted for publication and undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as doi: 10.1111/jocn.14171 This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. PROF. KAREN-LEIGH EDWARD (Orcid ID : 0000-0001-8697-4006) DR. NICHOLAS RALPH (Orcid ID : 0000-0002-7404-9996)
Electronic Tendering and Organizational Performance of Parastatals in Nakuru County

E-tendering plays a key role in ensuring that the best suppliers are selected for a continuous supply of better-quality products and services. The study focused on the role of e-tendering through online registration of suppliers, virtual screening, automatic evaluation and automated supplier selection criteria- through the use of an electronic Decision Support System (e-DSS). The study adopted the null hypothesis that e- tendering had no statistically significant influence on parastatals in Nakuru County. The study population included five (5) selected state-owned organisations in Nakuru municipality with a total population of 236 employees in selected departments where a sample size of 91 employees was drawn by application of Daniel’s (1999) sample size formula. Structured questionnaires were used as the main instrument to collect data, out of which 80 respondents gave their responses, an 87.9% response rate. The regression analysis showed a 4.6% change in organisational performance was described by e-tendering. The study confirmed there was a statistical significance (p=.000) between e-tendering and organisation performance, where e-tendering, as a supplier management tool, was able to account for a positive marginal significant increase (B=.133) in organisational performance. There was a moderate positive correlation between organisational performance and e-tendering at . 519. The study recommends that parastatals enhance system integration for compatibility and easy access and flow of information, leverage technology, and facilitate training and educating their suppliers on how to use the organisation’s systems and other ICT-related functions.
Numerical solution of boundary value problems in ordinary differential equations with time and space singularities

The aim of this work is to apply the existing software, the open domain MATLAB code bvpsuite [32], developed at the Institute for Analysis and Scientific Computing, Vienna University of Technology, to solve the nonlinear singular problems of the form u′′(t) + a t u′(t)− a t2 u(t) = f(t, u(t), u′(t)), u(0) = 0, u(T ) = 0, where a ∈ (−1, 0) or a ∈ (−∞,−1). The interest in solving the above problem was motivated by an international cooperation with I. Rachůnková and S. Staněk from the Palacký University, Olomouc, Czech Republic. The results of the numerical experiments provided in the present work, have been published in [44] and [43]. These results are discussed in full detail in Sections 2 and 3, respectively. The difficulty arising above is not only due to the singular point t = 0 in the differential operator on the left-hand side of the differential equation but also due to the fact that the inhomogeneity f(t, x, y) may become singular in the space variables x = 0 and/or y = 0. Since a 6= 0 the differential operator exhibits the singularity of the first kind at t = 0, and it is clear that for such problems important basic questions have to be answered before trying to solve such problems numerically. Such questions are the existence and uniqueness (or local uniqueness) of analytical solutions and the well-posedness of the problem, stability and convergence properties of a method used to solve the problem, and the performance of the controlling strategies usually implemented in the software, such as error estimate procedure and adaptation of the grid. Fortunately, there exists an extensive literature providing satisfactory answers to the above issues. Moreover, dependable software is available. The numerical method and its implementation will be discussed and it will be shown how the code bvpsuite can be used to simulate the above model. We point out that the models often are parameter dependent and therefore, a pathfollowing strategy to follow the solution in the solution-parameter space uc(t) needs to be utilized.
More Cycles of Intravenous Chemotherapy are Associated with Reduced Growth in Children with Retinoblastoma

Abstract: Background Chemotherapy can have a negative impact on the growth of children with different cancers. However, few studies have examined whether intravenous chemotherapy (IVC) affects the growth of children with retinoblastoma (RB). The present study evaluated the height differences (actual height compared to the agestandardized value) and survival of pediatric RB patients treated with IVC. Methods This was an observational cohort study. A total of 87 pediatric RB patients were included. The study population was stratified into two groups based on the number of chemotherapy cycles administered (≤ 4 versus > 4). The height at baseline (before IVC), height after IVC and overall survival were compared between the two groups. Results Before IVC, no height differences were observed between the two groups (P = 0.585). After IVC, all of the patients had a reduced height compared to the agestandardized height (P = 0.035). Patients who underwent more cycles of chemotherapy had a greater height difference compared to those who received fewer cycles (P = 0.008). For those who had reduced height, the difference was positively associated with the number of chemotherapy cycles (r = 0.279, P = 0.043). Among the patients who exhibited a greater height difference, those who underwent more than four cycles of chemotherapy had a decreased overall survival (P = 0.042). Conclusions Pediatric RB patients who underwent more cycles of chemotherapy were more likely to have a reduced height. Further studies are needed to determine the optimal treatment strategy to prevent the reduced growth while maintaining the benefits of chemotherapy.
Endoscopic Stricturotomy for Enteral Nutrition Access in Patients with Benign Gastrointestinal Strictures: a Review

Abstract: Benign gastrointestinal stricture significantly restricts enteral nutrition, which directly affects the quality of life of patients. Advances in endoscopic techniques have provided a minimally invasive means of reconstructing the enteral nutrition pathway in patients with gastrointestinal strictures. Endoscopic stricturotomy is a safe and effective way to open the nutritional pathway, especially for those with anatomic stricture length < 1 cm, and can be used either as the primary choice of treatment for patients with gastrointestinal stricture or as rescue therapy for refractory cases. Endoscopic stricturotomy can be executed with radial incision and cutting or circular incision and cutting. After the stricturotomy, other endoscopic treatments, such as endoscopic balloon dilation, stent implantation, and intra-lesional injection of steroids, can be used to prevent the development of re-stricture. This article reviews the clinical experiences with endoscopic stricturotomy for opening strictures along the enteral nutrition pathway in patients with gastrointestinal strictures.
Oral Contraceptives and Health Outcomes: an Umbrella Review of Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses in Women and Offspring

Abstract: Aim We herein provide an umbrella review of systematic reviews (SR) and meta-analyses (MAs) of studies of the association of oral contraceptives (OCs) with the risks of multiple health outcomes in women and their descendants. Methods Two investigators retrieved publications from four electronic databases, including PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews up to March 15, 2021. For each association, random/fixed-effects summary effect size and 95% CIs were estimated. Heterogeneity and publication bias were also assessed. The method quality and evidence level for each publication were respectively assessed utilizing the AMSTAR and GRADE checklists. Results A total of 68 articles with 82 unique outcomes were included based on the eligibility criteria. Numerous lines of evidence indicated that OCs had effects on nearly all cardiovascular disease-related outcomes, especially for cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (OR = 7.59, 95% CI: 3.82-15.09). Harmful associations were also found for vulvar vestibulitis (OR = 2.31, 95%CI: 1.03-5.16), preterm birth (OR = 1.17, 95% CI: 1.07-1.27), miscarriage (OR = 1.13, 95% CI: 1.02-1.72), ulcerative colitis (OR = 1.22, 95% CI: 1.06-1.41), Crohn’s disease (OR = 1.24, 95% CI: 1.09-1.40), alveolar osteitis (RR = 1.86, 95% CI: 1.66-2.08), dry socket (RR = 1.8, 95% CI: 1.33-2.43), and interstitial cystitis (OR = 2.1, 95% CI: 1.26-3.49). However, oral contraceptives did not increase the risk of cancer except breast and cervical cancer. Maternal exposure to OCs was linked to an increased risk for the development of respiratory atopic disorders such as asthma (OR = 1.1, 95% CI: 1.02-1.19) and rhinitis (OR = 1.34, 95% CI: 1.07-1.68). Conclusion In summary, although their use obviously reduces the risk of pregnancy- and parturition-related morbidity and mortality for women, OCs were frequently related to more harm than benefit in terms of other health outcomes. This was true for both women and their descendants in this umbrella review. More large-scale prospective studies analysing different doses, structures, and durations of treatment with estrogen and progestin are needed to confirm these effects.
D-MYCIELSKIAN GRAPH OF A GRAPH

The idea of constructing a triangle-free k -chromatic graphs, where k ≥ 3, was initiated in the middle of the twentieth century. Mycielski who gave a fascinating construction to obtain a triangle-free graph with large chromatic number known as the Mycielskian of a graph. In this paper, we discuss the construction of an interesting transformation graph which is also results in a triangle-free graph with same chromatic number as that of the Mycielskian of a graph. We call this graph as D-Mycielskian graph of a graph. Also, we discuss its basic properties such as connectedness, diameter, covering invariants, connectivity, traversability and domination number. Further, we obtain M-polynomial and Hosoya polynomial of this transformation graph and derive the expressions for some degree-based and distance-based graph indices of this graph.
Quantitative Finance

Arbitrage pricing theory underpins the historical growth and contemporary importance of financial derivative markets. The theory is developed systematically for equity, FX, commodity, fixed income, and credit markets. Discrete and continuous time dynamic models of asset prices are studied, developing the analytical insight of standard industry models, numerical schemes, and computational practice. These tools are used routinely by practitioners to value portfolios, hedge risk, determine regulatory capital requirements, and maintain and demonstrate regulatory compliance. The Quantitative Finance Graduate Certificate program at NJIT explores these concepts to prepares quantitative analysts to use these tools for investment management and for mandated regulatory compliance.
Adesão da equipe de enfermagem à higienização das mãos na unidade de terapia intensiva neonatal

Objetivo: Avaliar a adesão dos profissionais de enfermagem à higienização das mãos na unidade de terapia intensiva neonatal. Métodos: Pesquisa observacional não participante, transversal, com abordagem quantitativa, realizada em três Unidades de Terapia Intensiva Neonatal. Os dados foram coletados mediante o uso do Formulário de Observação e Cálculo do Manual de Referência Técnica para a Higiene das Mãos do Ministério da Saúde. Resultados: A pesquisa contou com 2.006 oportunidades de higienização, a partir das quais foi evidenciada uma adesão de 77,2%. Para os enfermeiros e técnicos de enfermagem foi predominante o uso do sabonete, 79%, e 73,3%, seguido do ato de não higienização das mãos, 14,3%, e 19,6%, respectivamente. Diante da adesão aos cinco momentos de higienização das mãos, observou-se índice expressivo na recomendação Antes de Tocar o Paciente, 95,2% pelos enfermeiros. Para os técnicos de enfermagem, evidenciou-se maior adesão na indicação Após Risco de Exposição a Fluídos Corporais, 84,6%. Para ambos os profissionais a menor adesão foi observada na indicação Após Tocar Superfícies Próximas ao Paciente. Conclusão: Diante dos resultados do estudo, verificou-se que a assistência ofertada pelos enfermeiros está classificada como segura, e a dos técnicos de enfermagem como limítrofe.
Factors Underlying Invasive Grass Fire Regimes in the Mojave Desert and its Consequences on Plant and Animal Communities

Factors Underlying Invasive Grass Fire Regimes in the Mojave Desert and its Consequences on Plant and Animal Communities Kevin J. Horn Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences, BYU Doctor of Philosophy Climate change and exotic plant invasions are significant anthropogenic threats to desert community structure and resilience . In the Mojave Desert, the invasive grass red brome (Bromus rubens L) is increasing fire frequency and extent in response to climatic factors. The resilience of this ecosystem will be affected by how plant and animal communities respond to fire. To better understand these dynamics, we studied the environmental factors underlying changes in invasive grass fire regimes in the Mojave Desert and its structural and functional effects on plant and animal communities. Following fire, reestablishment of native vegetation can be preempted by repeated burning associated with the abundant exotic grass red brome. Red brome density is correlated with various climate and landscape variables, but to establish causality, we experimentally assessed germination and growth of red brome. Red brome responded positively to fall precipitation, finer-textured soils, fertile-islands soils, and soils from burned landscapes. Red brome germination is maximized in wet fall periods when adequate water and optimal temperatures overlap . To evaluate landscape responses of preand post-fire plant communities and the potential for repeated burning we analyzed vegetation greenness (NDVI) data from 1985-2011 in response to temperature and precipitation. Landscape analysis indicated that the dominance of exotic grasses increases on post-fire landscapes. Following wet fall and winter seasons, high red brome productivity increases fire potential. Without mitigation, the establishment of an invasive-plant-driven fire regime is likely and may drive state transitions from arid shrublands to arid annual grasslands. Potential revegetation of post-fire landscapes will depend at least in part upon the physiological response of surviving vegetation to post-fire landscapes. Plant physiological responses to post-fire landscapes were generally neutral or positive, suggesting that revegetation of post-fire landscapes is not precluded by resource loss associated with fire and may even be enhanced by post-fire conditions. This will likely translate to increased reproductive potential of surviving plants. Alterations to small mammal populations will likely play a role in the reestablishment of vegetation (both native and exotics) as small mammals have strong top-down effects in arid ecosystems. Diversity and species richness responded negatively to burned landscapes as Merriam's kangaroo rat (Dipodomys merriami) increased in abundance while other species practically disappeared from burned landscapes. Merriam's kangaroo rat affects propagule sources through direct consumption, and seed dispersal. Increases in abundance and dominance of Merriam's kangaroo rat will likely alter plant recruitment.
On the performance of user equilibria in traffic networks

While Wardrop (1952) had introduced the concept of Nash equilibrium to describe user behavior in traffic networks, traffic engineers have proposed to utilize user equilibria in route-guidance systems to prescribe user behavior. Yet, Nash equilibria in general and user equilibria in particular are known to be inefficient and critics favored in principle the difficult-to-implement system optimum, which guarantees tha t the average travel t ime is minimal. Hence, the recent result tha t user equilibria are near optimal (Roughgarden and Tardos 2002) came as a welcome surprise, which helped to justify the use of user equilibria in retrospect. In this paper, we extend the work of Roughgarden and Tardos in two directions. First, we introduce and analyze user equilibria in capaci tated networks. In contrast to uncapaci tated networks (the framework of Roughgarden and Tardos' work), the set of user equilibria is no longer convex and an equilibrium can be arbitrari ly worse than the system optimum, even if arc latency functions are linear. Yet, we show tha t adding capacities does not change the worstpossible ratio between the best user equilibrium and the system opt imum, given a fixed but arbi t rary class of allowable latency functions. Second, it is well known tha t the system opt imum can assign some drivers to paths having a significantly higher latency compared to other paths between the same origin-destination pair. For tha t reason, system opt ima are often considered inadequate for purposes of traffic planning. We propose to compare user equilibria to a more restricted definition of a system optimum, which is fairer in a certain sense and which therefore promises improved general acceptance. We study the quality of user equilibria in this setting and analyze the resulting improvement of their performance.
Selective Exposure to Populist Communication: How Attitudinal Congruence Drives the Effects of Populist Attributions of Blame

It has been argued that populist communication only appeals to a specific group of citizens, who are higher in political distrust and perceived relative deprivation. At the same time, however, extant research has exclusively studied the effects of populist communication in forced exposure media environments. Responding to this discrepancy, we conducted two experiments ( N = 562 and N = 558) in which we manipulated the core idea of populist messages – attributing blame – in forced and selective exposure media environments. Our results demonstrate that citizens higher in relative deprivation are indeed most likely to select populist messages. Irrespective of selective exposure, citizens’ populist attitudes are only positively affected if the populist message is congruent with their prior feelings of relative deprivation. These results provide important insights for the polarizing potential of media populism in a fragmentized media environment.