Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Applying waste treatment scenarios in Toluca region (Mexico).

Governments in emerging countries need to analyse waste treatment alternatives, other than landfills, in order to decrease environmental pollution and socio-economic impacts. This study is assessing several alternative scenarios of waste treatment in Toluca municipality (Mexico) such as sanitary landfill, combustion of landfill gas, waste incineration (WtE), mechanical-biological treatment (MBT) and combination of anaerobic digestion (AD) and sanitary landfill under the condition of source waste separation. The objective of the research is the identification of the most feasible waste treatment scenario for developing countries which have the high percentage of organics on waste stream. The assessment is implemented from several perspectives: greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, economic feasibility and consideration of informal recycling sector. The emissions generated at the baseline scenario are high due to the great percentage of organics in the municipal solid waste (MSW). The WTE and MBT facilities generate the lowest emissions but have a high gate fee. The scenario involving AD and sanitary landfill has the lowest gate fee while its emissions are significantly reduced compared to the baseline. The author believes that widespread adoption of AD systems, together with the source separation scheme, can be the starting point in the implementation of sustainable waste management in transition countries, such as Mexico.
The Use of Technological Bricks in Agile: Conclusions Based on Analysis of the Literature and on Empirical Research

Objective: The main objective of the study was to assess the level of Agile implementation in organisations in Poland and to determine the most commonly used Agile methods. The intention of this paper is to present the results of empirical research on technological tools supporting agile organisations in Poland and consider which digital competencies may favour their use. Research Design & Methods: This paper presents a review of the literature and the results of empirical research on the use of information technology in enterprises which follow Agile practices and approaches. Empirical research is based on an interview questionnaire, which contained questions about the level of Agile implementation in the organisation, Agile implementation and support areas, support factors, barriers to implementation, and implementation results. Findings: The paper presents the main IT tools used in agile enterprises and the results of research conducted in this field. The study shows that in 2019 companies mainly used the Agile approach for the creation of innovative services and (or) products. Research also indicates that, when it comes to Agile Good Practices, respondents most often use Scrum and Kanban. Practices such as DevOps, TDD, or SAFe were much less frequently used by the companies surveyed. Implications / Recommendations: The results of the research provide valuable information on three issues: implementation of the Agile approach in Polish enterprises, assessment of the use of technological bricks in Polish enterprises, and an analysis of good practices in Polish enterprises. The research also indicates directions for further research. Among others, it is recommended to repeat the research on the level of agility of the organisation in Poland, primarily to check whether the level of implementation has changed and whether the implementation has taken place in other key areas of the company. Contribution: Literature review and economic practice indicate that there is increasing popularity of the use of information technologies, not only in agile organisations but in general, requiring employees and managers to improve their digital competencies. This paper addresses the need to evaluate the current state of Agile implementation in the organisation and examines the use of technological bricks in Agile in both theoretical and empirical ways.
Coastal Upwelling Off Southwest Nova Scotia Simulated With a High-Resolution Baroclinic Ocean Model

A high-resolution baroclinic coastal ocean model is applied to study seasonal circulation and upwelling off South West Nova Scotia (SWNS) based on 1 year simulations for 2010. The model reasonably reproduces tidal currents, seasonal hydrography, and circulation from multiyear observations, in consistence with the observed strong seasonal variations of these properties in the study area. The main physical processes affecting circulation are analyzed using numerical experiments, with focus on the effect of tidal and density induced currents on topographic upwelling. It is conﬁrmed that the shoreward near-bottom currents and associated upwelling are tidally induced and persistent throughout the year. It is revealed that these currents have seasonal variability, with cross-isobath component being strong in summer throughout a large area, but weaker and conﬁned to deeper regions in winter. The seasonal variability of Scotian Current is the dominant forcing affecting the variability of onshore bottom currents. Lagrangian particle tracking identiﬁes two major pathways of source waters arriving at the SWNS upwelling region. A large proportion of particles come from the east with the Scotian Current, mostly from the surface layer; and a small portion of water parcels come from a mean depth exceeding 100 m from the Gulf of Maine and Northeast Channel. al., 2016). This also suggests the weaker contribution of internal tides (ITs) to the total tidal currents. Note that the use of daily-averaged baroclinic velocity from GoMSS at the lateral open boundaries prevents the remotely generated ITs propagating into the model domain. The Full run should include locally generated ITs, but their contribution to the total tidal currents is small according to the weak vertical variation of tidal ellipses. the eastern part of the domain to reach the upwelling region. Therefore, the Scotian Current variation plays an important role in modulating the tidally induced upwelling in the region.
Assessment of phenotypic and genotypic diversity in rice for salinity tolerance at reproductive stage

Soil salinity has turned out to be an important global concern, which affects tenable rice production in many agricultural countries like Bangladesh. A cross was made between Binadhan-7 with FL-478 for developing salt tolerant advance lines to assess phenotypic and genotypic diversity in rice for salinity tolerance. Twenty advance rice lines (Binadhan-7/FL-478) along with check varieties were screened for salinity tolerance at reproductive stage using sea site saline water having electrical conductivity (EC) 10 dS m-1. Among the twenty rice lines, seven lines were tolerant, three were moderately tolerant, six were susceptible, four were highly susceptible on the basis of phenotypic evaluation. Seven simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers linked with salt tolerance quantitative trait loci were used for investigation of salt tolerant rice lines. The result revealed that an average number of 6.286 alleles per locus were detected, with polymorphism information content (PIC) values ranging from 0.672 (RM490) to 0.838 (RM562). The highest gene diversity value (0.812) was found in RM562 and the lowest (0.684) was in RM490. A dendrogram constructed from the genetic distance of the genotypes produced four distinct clusters of twenty rice genotypes. Considering both phenotypic and genotypic observation, seven genotypes viz., Binadhan-10, FL-478, SL-51, SL-56, SL-77, EFSD-59 and IZSD-45 were identified as salt-tolerant; on the other hand, EFSD-21, SL-28, SL-32, SL-10, BRRI dhan28, and Binadhan-7 were identified as salt-susceptible. The identified salt-tolerant rice genotypes could be used in the improvement of rice breeding programs. Bangladesh J. Nuclear Agric, 37(2): 1-18, 2023
It is raining bugs: summer dispersal of aquatic bugs (Hemiptera, Heteroptera: Nepomorpha) in Srebarna Nature Reserve (Bulgaria)

The Srebarna Nature Reserve is a wetland with great conservation value. The dispersal of aquatic bugs in it has not been studied earlier. Acquiring more data about the aquatic bug’s species composition and dispersal activity is a prerequisite for future studies on phenology or faunistic studies of the group in the wetland. In the present paper, aquatic bugs attracted to UV light near the Srebarna Nature Reserve were quantified. A total of 4589 individuals of aquatic bugs (Heteroptera, Nepomorpha) were collected during 11 nights of light trapping. Dispersing aquatic bugs were almost exclusively Corixidae (4587 specimens, 13 species in five genera), except for two Notonectidae species. Eleven species, collected during the study have not been registered previously in the Srebarna Nature Reserve. The activity peak of dispersal was registered during the first hour after sunset. Females prevailed in the four most abundant species. The changes in the dispersal activity of the most common species – Sigara striata (Linnaeus, 1758), were explained (to a great extent) by changes in air temperature, atmospheric pressure and wind speed.
Ionospheric clutter models for high frequency surface wave radar

High frequency surface wave radar (HFSWR), operating at frequencies between 3 and 30 MHz, has long been employed as an important ocean remote sensing device. These high frequency (HF) radars can provide accurate and real-time information for sea state monitoring and hard-target detection, which is greatly beneficial for planning and executing oceanographic projects, search and rescue events, and other commercial marine activities. Ideally, in HFSWR operation, the radio waves may be coupled with ocean waves and propagate along the curvature of the ocean surface with ranges well beyond 200 km. However, during transmission, a portion of the radar radiation may travel upwards to the ionosphere from the transmitting antenna. This may be partially reflected back to the receiving antennas directly (vertical propagation) or via the ocean surface (mixed-path propagation). This ionospheric clutter may significantly impact the performance of HFSWR. Furthermore, the high intensity and random behaviour of the ionospheric spectral contamination of radar echoes make the suppression of this kind of clutter challenging. In this thesis, comprehensive theoretical models of the ionospheric clutter are investigated. The physical influences of the ionospheric electron density on HF radar Doppler spectra are taken into account in the ionospheric reflection coefficient. Next, based on previous modeling involving the scattering of HF electromagnetic radiation from the ocean surface and a first-order mixed-path propagation theory, the second-order received electric field for mixed-path propagation is derived for a monostatic radar configuration. This is done by considering the reflection from the ionosphere and scattering on the ocean surface with second-order sea waves. Then, the field integrals are taken to the time domain, with the source field being that of a vertically polarized pulsed dipole antenna. Subsequently, the second-order received power model is developed by assuming that the ocean surface and the ionosphere may be modeled as stochastic processes. The ionospheric clutter model including a pulsed radar source is further investigated for the case of vertical propagation for a monostatic configuration and mixed-path propagation for a bistatic configuration. Next, a theoreticalmixed-path propagationmodel is developed by involving a frequencymodulated continuous waveform (FMCW) radar source. In order to investigate the power spectrum of the resulting ionospheric clutter and its relative intensity to that of the first-order ocean clutter, the normalized ionospheric clutter power is simulated. Numerical simulation results are provided to indicate the performance of the ionospheric clutter under a variety of radar operating parameters, ionospheric conditions and sea states.
Direct and indirect effects of father-child attachment on academic burnout in college students

The study aims to investigate the multiple mediating roles of core self-evaluation and sense of school belonging in the relationship between father-child attachment and academic burnout in college students. A sample of 418 college students completed the father-child attachment scale, the scale of sense of school belonging, core self-evaluation scale, and academic burnout scale. After controlling for variables such as mother–child attachment, gender, age, and grade, the results showed: (1) father-child attachment was significantly and negatively correlated with academic burnout, and positively correlated with core self-evaluation and sense of school belonging; both core self-evaluation and sense of school belonging were significantly and negatively correlated with academic burnout. (2) The multiple mediating model of father-child attachment influencing academic burnout in college students was established. Both core self-evaluation and sense of school belonging played a partial mediating role between father-child attachment and academic burnout. The direct effect of father-child attachment on academic burnout accounts for 33.3% of the total effect. The indirect effects of core self-evaluation and sense of school belonging between father-child attachment and academic burnout account for 50.0 and 16.7% of the total effect, respectively. These findings identify the internal mechanisms through which father-child attachment affects academic burnout in college students from personal traits and interpersonal perspectives.
The Threshold Effect of Environmental Regulation, FDI Agglomeration, and Water Utilization Efficiency under “Double Control Actions”—An Empirical Test Based on Yangtze River Economic Belt

In this study, the SE-SBM model considering undesirable outputs was used to measure the water utilization efficiency of the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2006 to 2016, and the panel threshold model was used to estimate the impact of environmental regulation and foreign direct investment (FDI) agglomeration on water utilization efficiency. The results show that the water utilization efficiency presents a “U”-shaped trend as a whole, declines incrementally along the eastern, central, and western regions of the economic belt, and that the water utilization efficiency of the economic belt first converges and then diverges. In the estimation of the double threshold panel model, when the per capita GDP is lower than 2.635 or greater than 12.058 thousand dollars, the environmental regulation shows a significant positive effect. Otherwise, the environmental regulation barely shows a significant negative effect. FDI has not had a great impact on water resources utilization efficiency, and neither the “pollution aura” nor “pollution shelter” are significant. When the per capita GDP is lower than 2.184 or greater than 12.058 thousand dollars, FDI can significantly improve the water utilization efficiency through environmental regulation. Besides, the positive effects of technological innovation and foreign trade dependence are significant, and so are the negative effects of industrialization. Differentiated environmental regulation policies should be formulated; industrial upgrade should be promoted; innovation of water-saving and emission reduction should be strengthened in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.
The Evaluation of a Long-Term Experiment on the Relationships between Weather, Nitrogen Fertilization, Preceding Crop, and Winter Wheat Grain Yield on Cambisol

In this paper, a sequence (1979–2022) of a long-term trial established in Lukavec in 1956 (Czech Republic) focusing on the effect of weather, various nitrogen (N) fertilization methods (control, PK, N1PK, N2PK, and N3PK) and preceding crops (cereals, legumes, and oil plants) on winter wheat grain yield is presented. The weather significantly changed at the site of the long-term trial. While the trend in the mean temperature significantly increased, precipitation did not change significantly over the long term. Four relationships between weather and grain yield were evaluated to be significant: (a) the mean temperature in February (r = −0.4) and the precipitation in (b) February (r = −0.4), (c) March (r = −0.4), and (d) May (r = 0.5). The yield trends for all the fertilizer treatments increased, including the unfertilized control. The N3PK treatment provided the highest mean grain yields, while the unfertilized control had the lowest yields. Comparing the preceding crops, the highest yields were harvested when the wheat followed the legumes. On the other hand, the cereals were evaluated as the least suitable preceding crop in terms of grain yield. According to the linear-plateau model, the optimal nitrogen (N) dose for modern wheat varieties, following legumes and under the trial’s soil climate conditions, was 131 kg ha−1 N, corresponding to a mean grain yield of 8.2 t ha−1.
Effect of 17α-methyl testosterone on sex reversal and growth performance of Nile tilapia,Oreochromis niloticus

The present study aimed at developing all-male Nile tilapia using17α-methyl testosterone(17α-MT) along with its growth and feed utilization performances. Three days old Niletilapia fry were stocked in plastic jars with 5 L capacity installed in four fiber glass tanks. The fry were fed with 0, 30, 60, and 100 mg MT/kg diets for 30 days. Later, the fry were shifted to hapas installed in a pond and then, reared for four months separately. The fish were fed with the control diet. The results showed that the highest male population(93.6%) was observed in the fish treated with a 60 mg MT/kg diet, while the lowest(82.6%) was observed in the fish treated with a 30 mg MT/kg diet. The results also showed that the fish fed with a 60 mg MT/kg diet had significantly higher mean body weight (24.1±1.40 g), specific growth rate (2.5±0.10%), feed conversion ratio (1.3±0.10), and protein efficiency ratio (0.63±0.11) than the untreated fish treated (control) group. In conclusion, a 60 mg MT/kg diet can be considered as an optimal and economically viable dose for Nile tilapia sex reversal along with its optimum growth and feed utilization performances.
HIGH-RESOLUTION COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY IN DIAGNOSING AND MONITORING VARIOUS INTERSTITIAL LUNG DISEASES

Objective: Interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) are difficult to diagnose and require accurate imaging methods. The purpose of this work is to investigate ILD patterns and their relationships to pulmonary function using high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT). The aim is to augment our comprehension of ILDs, thereby facilitating customized approaches to diagnosis and treatment Methods: We recruited 50 ILD patients with radiological and clinical issues for a single-center trial. Spirometric data, symptoms, and demographics were recorded on comprehensive patient proformas. An expert radiologist used a Siemens-Somatom 6-slice CT scanner to analyze the HRCT. Pulmonary function indices were obtained using spirometry, which was carried out using a Medisoft Spiro Air spirometer. Results: In fifty cases with ILD, common features on HRCT were uneven pleural borders, ground glass opacities, and septal/subpleural lines. The complex interaction between radiological symptoms and respiratory health was highlighted by the substantial correlations seen between HRCT severities; extent scores, and reduced pulmonary function. Conclusion: The study reinforces the necessity for individualized diagnostic and treatment methods in the ILD respiratory landscape by providing detailed insights into their disease patterns and relationships.
Spatiotemporal variation of biochemical composition of organic matter and number of bacteria in core sediments of selected beaches of the southern Baltic Sea

Sandy sediments coming from three beaches of the southern Baltic Sea were collected and analyzed. Investigated beaches were divided according to strength of anthropogenic impact and degree of sheltering. The first beach was situated in Ustka on the eastern side of the mouth of the Slupia River, second in Czolpino and the last one in Puck. Core sediment samples were collected seasonally, depending on the influence of the sea water on the examined sediments. At each station, surface sediments (0-5 cm) were collected as well as sediments at the depth of 10-15 cm. The general content of organic matter, proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, organic carbon and total bacterial number were determined. The results of the conducted tests reveal, that anthropopressure, degree of sheltering, the depth where the collected sediments were taken and the direct influence of the sea water on the sediments have impact on the chemical composition of organic matter and bacterial number in beach sediments.
A 25,000-YEAR LAKE LEVEL HISTORY OF LAKE JUNÍN, PERU FROM STRATIGRAPHIC AND OXYGEN ISOTOPE STUDIES

The 2015 NSF-ICDP Junin drilling project recovered multiple long sediment cores (~100 m depth) from Lake Junin, Peru (~300 km2; 4085 m.a.s.l.; 11.0°S, 76.1°W; zmax~12 m). These cores span multiple glacial-interglacial cycles and are anticipated to provide the longest independently-dated record of hydroclimate, glacier variability, and paleomagnetic variation for the tropical Andes. To aid in accurate interpretation of the drill core stratigraphy, we investigated spatial variations in sediment composition by collecting 9 cores (1-9 m length) from Lake Junin across a paleoglacier proximal-distal (NE-SW) transect. Each core extends into glacigenic sediments, indicating recovery of the complete postglacial sequence (past ~22.5 ka). Most cores exhibit a four-component stratigraphy: a lower unit of gray glacial flour and minerogenic material sourced from glacial outwash fans to the NE, a lower-middle unit of organic-rich sediments with abundant grass, an upper-middle unit of transitional organic to carbonate sediments, and an upper unit of non-glacial sediments composed primarily of beige marl. We interpret these facies changes to reflect major changes in depositional environment and hydrologic conditions. Spatial variations in the age, thickness, and transition character among these units reflect the complex stratigraphy of a lake with such shallow water depth and high sensitivity to regional changes in hydrologic balance. Additionally, we identified at least four erosional unconformities in the shallow-water cores to the NE, indicating substantial changes in lake level. These unconformities were radiocarbon dated to provide “benchmarks” constraining past lake level. We combined our reconstructed lake level history based on sedimentary changes in composite core C-15/D-15 with the benchmarks of past lake level from erosional unconformities identified and dated from the transect cores to create a comprehensive model for lake level over the past 25,000 years called Junin Lake Level Index (LLI). We compare our interpretation of past lake level with local, regional, and interhemispheric records of past hydroclimatic variability. The trends observed in LLI over the past 25,000 years are largely dependent on the mean annual latitudinal location of the Intertropical Convergence Zone and its impact on the strength of the South American Summer Monsoon.