Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Relative efficiency of biochar particles of different sizes for immobilising heavy metals and improving soil properties

ABSTRACT Biochar has received significant attention for its potential in bioremediation of polluted soils. However, the impact of biochar particle size is yet to be investigated. We evaluated the role of various particle sizes (<3, 3–6 and 6–9 mm) of commercially available hardwood Acacia arabica biochar applied at the rate of 10 g kg−1 soil in the immobilisation of heavy metals 12 months after application. Heavy metals cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni) and lead (Pb) were spiked in designated pots from their respective sources CdSO4, Ni(NO3)2 and PbNO3 according to their permissible limits (0.2–2, 8.1 and 10–15 mg kg−1, respectively). Biochar particles of sizes <3, 3–6 and 6–9 mm significantly mitigated contamination of Cd by 35%, 10% and 9%; Pb by 61%, 60% and 35%; and Ni by 64%, 45% and 3.2%. Relative to the control, application of biochar particles of sizes <3, 3–6 and 6–9 mm significantly increased soil porosity by 10.3%, 4.2% and 3%; saturation percentage by 100%, 42% and 27%; pH by 0.53%, 2.6% and 4%; and organic matter by 33.6%, 19.7% and 16.8%. Soil bulk density decreased by 12%, 5% and 2.3%; and electrical conductivity by 19%, 20% and 24%. The contamination factor for Cd was >1 (in the moderate contamination category), whereas Pb and Ni had contamination factors <1 (in the low contamination category), under biochar application. The heavy metal spiking effect was also significant and ranked as Pb > Cd > Ni for soil pH, electrical conductivity and porosity; Cd > Ni > Pb for organic matter; and Ni > Cd > Pb for bulk density and saturation percentage. Smallest sized biochar (<3 mm) maximally stabilised heavy metals in the soil and improved soil physicochemical properties. Therefore, heavy metal polluted soils should be treated with fine (<3 mm) biochar for maximum immobilisation for heavy metals and improvement in soil physicochemical properties.
Compulsory Reading Materials in the Language Politeness Text-based School Literacy Movement

The objective of this present research is aimed at understanding the forms of language politeness that may used as the reading materials in the School Literacy Movement (henceforth, SLM) and planning the implementation of the language politeness-based reading materials application as an effort to grow Junior High School Students’s characters. It is a descriptive qualitative research. The techniques of the data collections adopted were literature reviews, in-depth interviews, and recording. In the data validity, data, researchers, and methodology triangulation techniques were employed. The data analysis technique in the form of texts were analyzed using the interactive model. The research results showed that the forms of the language politeness that should be used as the reading materials in the activities of the SLM implementation may be chosen from Leech’s language politeness which has been adapted to the politeness existing in Indonesia. The implementation of the language politeness-based reading materials application intended to grow Junior High School Students’s characters is obligatory. The implementation was done through stages according to the SLM program, starting from habituating reading activities for 15 minutes before the class began. At Junior High School level, the students were introduced to materials the teachers had chosen. Then the length of the reading activities was gradually improved. The students should understand the reading materials of the politeness in a certain period of time, then the materials were practiced in the form of simulation.
Optimal readjustment of contract variables and the financial outcome of PPP projects in the operation period

Abstract Contract readjustment and renegotiation are inevitable in PPP projects. Tolls, concession length, and government subsidies are the three main variables that provide a set of Pareto payoffs for the private sector and the government during the operation period. This study provides a bargaining approach based on game theory to fairly determine the payoff parties and optimally readjust the contract variables. Unlike previous studies, this model provides a unique optimal solution in all three negotiation areas including Pareto-compensation bargaining, Pareto-improving bargaining, and Pareto-sharing bargaining. The results indicate that the initial forecast range of private profit and expected payoff parties based on the actual performance have significant impacts on the final output. Contrary to popular belief, receiving a higher guarantee from the government in the contract can lead to a reduction in the private's share during the operation period, if excess profits are made. Similarly, reducing the profit cap in the contract can benefit the private sector in the case of a profit shortfall. This model can support strategic renegotiations and provide a fair and optimal structure to readjust contract variables which will facilitate and expedite the decision-making process.
Experimental Investigations on Mechanical Properties of Consolidated Samples for Collapse Columns under Seepage-Stress Coupling Effects

Triaxial seepage tests were conducted on the consolidated collapse column specimens to investigate their mechanical properties under seepage-stress coupling effects using a triaxial multifield coupled mechanical test system for rocks. The effects of initial consolidation pressures and specimen components on mechanical properties and seepage characteristics of consolidated collapse column specimens were analyzed. Test results showed the following: (1) The stress–strain curves of consolidated collapse column specimens could be classified in three stages, namely, compaction stage, linear deformation stage, and creep-like deformation stage, while the permeability during loading showed an obvious four-stage evolution of gradual decrease, stable development, rapid increase, and slow decrease. (2) Under same sample components, the permeability characteristics of consolidated collapse column specimens showed an obvious initial consolidation pressure effect. The initial consolidation pressure changed the distribution of pores and fractures in the specimens, leading to a decreased peak permeability as the initial consolidation pressure increased. (3) At the initial stage of loading, the permeability of consolidated specimens was mainly affected by the initial consolidation pressure, and the corresponding permeability decreased with the increase of the consolidation pressure. When the consolidated specimens were gradually compacted, the main factor influencing the permeability changed to the specimen components. The peak permeability of consolidated specimens comprising grey mudstone and conglomerate was the largest, while the fuchsia mudstone would reduce the specimen permeability, and the peak permeability decreased with the fuchsia mudstone components.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Human Therapeutic Nanoparticle Development

Nanomedicine plays an essential role in developing new therapies through novel drug delivery systems, diagnostic and imaging systems, vaccine development, antibacterial tools, and high-throughput screening. One of the most promising drug delivery systems are nanoparticles, which can be designed with various compositions, sizes, shapes, and surface modifications. These nanosystems have improved therapeutic profiles, increased bioavailability, and reduced the toxicity of the product they carry. However, the clinical translation of nanomedicines requires a thorough understanding of their properties to avoid problems with the most questioned aspect of nanosystems: safety. The particular physicochemical properties of nano-drugs lead to the need for additional safety, quality, and efficacy testing. Consequently, challenges arise during the physicochemical characterization, the production process, in vitro characterization, in vivo characterization, and the clinical stages of development of these biopharmaceuticals. The lack of a specific regulatory framework for nanoformulations has caused significant gaps in the requirements needed to be successful during their approval, especially with tests that demonstrate their safety and efficacy. Researchers face many difficulties in establishing evidence to extrapolate results from one level of development to another, for example, from an in vitro demonstration phase to an in vivo demonstration phase. Additional guidance is required to cover the particularities of this type of product, as some challenges in the regulatory framework do not allow for an accurate assessment of NPs with sufficient evidence of clinical success. This work aims to identify current regulatory issues during the implementation of nanoparticle assays and describe the major challenges that researchers have faced when exposing a new formulation. We further reflect on the current regulatory standards required for the approval of these biopharmaceuticals and the requirements demanded by the regulatory agencies. Our work will provide helpful information to improve the success of nanomedicines by compiling the challenges described in the literature that support the development of this novel encapsulation system. We propose a step-by-step approach through the different stages of the development of nanoformulations, from their design to the clinical stage, exemplifying the different challenges and the measures taken by the regulatory agencies to respond to these challenges.
Gamma Oscillations in the Temporal Pole Reflect the Contribution of Approach and Avoidance Motivational Systems to the Processing of Fear and Anger Words

Prior reports suggest that affective effects in visual word processing cannot be fully explained by a dimensional perspective of emotions based on valence and arousal. In the current study, we focused on the contribution of approach and avoidance motivational systems that are related to different action components to the processing of emotional words. To this aim, we compared frontal alpha asymmetries and brain oscillations elicited by anger words associated with approach (fighting) motivational tendencies, and fear words that may trigger either avoidance (escaping), approach (fighting) or no (freezing) action tendencies. The participants’ task was to make decisions about approaching or distancing from the concepts represented by words. The results of cluster-based and beamforming analyses revealed increased gamma power band synchronization for fear words relative to anger words between 725 and 750 ms, with an estimated neural origin in the temporal pole. These findings were interpreted to reflect a conflict between different action tendencies underlying the representation of fear words in semantic and emotional memories, when trying to achieve task requirements. These results are in line with the predictions made by the fear-hinders-action hypothesis. Additionally, current data highlights the contribution of motivational features to the representation and processing of emotional words.
How do the overall token frequency and the positional specific token frequency of logographeme affect the writing performance across primary grades in Hong Kong

The present study aimed at investigating how the overall token frequency (OTF) and positional specific token frequency (PSTF) of logographeme affected the writing performance across grades. A total of 13 students in grade 2, 15 students in grade 4, and 17 students in grade 6 from an ordinary primary school in Hong Kong participated in the delayed copying task of pseudo-characters of left-right configuration constructed by four logographemes. Four categories of stimuli (HH, HL, LH and LL) were constructed according to the OTF and PSTF of logographemes. Results showed that main effect of OTF was found across the three grades and the effect of PSTF was significant only between the HH (high OTF and high PSTF) and LL (low OTF and low PSTF) categories in grade 2. Meanwhile, there was a trend of decreasing effect of OTF across grades. The results appear to support that logographeme was the basic processing unit in writing Chinese characters and its role decreased across grades.
Professional Development Workshops

Creating a 5-Semester Plan Creating an academic, personal and professional development plan is a big step toward achieving your goals. You’ll know what’s needed for your academic major, as well as knowing when and how to incorporate skill-building as you work toward internships, research, and study abroad experiences. A 5-semester plan provides the basic framework for the first half of your undergraduate career, assuring that you will be on track and prepared to take advantage of all the opportunities available to you. Friday, 9/9 1:55-2:45pm Thursday, 9/15 10:40-11:30am Thursday, 9/15 3:00-3:50pm Wednesday, 10/5 10:40-11:30am Wednesday, 10/5 1:55-2:45pm
Relationship-based moral judgments: A qualitative study

ABSTRACT The goal of the present study was to explain the pattern of familiar and unfamiliar relationships influencing moral judgments. In this qualitative study, relationship-based moral judgments were examined according to the constructivist theory. The studied sample included 27 individuals, including 14 women and 13 men (both young and old), living in Tehran. A purposeful sampling method was used. In order to collect data, participants were faced with moral dilemmas using semi-structured interviews. The results showed that emotional intimacy, lack of tolerance for loss of loved ones and avoiding future regrets, group loyalty and common goals, and real or symbolic threats and a negative relationship were factors involved in relationship-based moral judgments. These factors, alone or together with cognitive biases, lead to unfair moral judgments, and after recognizing moral concerns related to ignoring the principle of equality, people tend to use Moral Disengagement mechanisms to reduce self-blame.
Health policy and COVID-19: path dependency and trajectory

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has tested the mettle of governments across the globe and has thrown entrenched fault lines within health systems into sharper relief. In response to the outbreak of the pandemic, governments introduced a range of measures to meet the growth in demand and bridge gaps in health systems. The objective of this paper is to understand the nature and extent of the changes in health systems triggered by the COVID-19 crisis. The paper examines changes in the role of governments in (1) sector coordination, (2) service provision, (3) financing, (4) payment, and (5) regulations. It outlines broad trends and reforms underway prior to the pandemic and highlights likely trajectories in these aspects in the future. The paper argues that while the pandemic has accelerated changes already underway before the crisis, it has made little headway in clearing the path for other or deeper health policy reforms. The reform window that COVID-19 opened has not been wide enough to overcome the entrenched path dependency and structural interests that characterize the sector.
Identifying the factors that contribute to the effectiveness of the Productivity Measurement and Enhancement System (ProMES)

Identifying the Factors that Contribute to the Effectiveness of the Productivity Measurement and Enhancement System (ProMES). (August 2003) José Hernán David, B.S., Louisiana State University; M.S., Texas A&M University Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Robert D. Pritchard The Productivity Measurement and Enhancement System (ProMES) is a human resource intervention that provides feedback to members of an organizational unit via a measurement system constructed by the unit personnel. The unit constructs the system by defining their objectives, identifying productivity indicators for each objective, and developing utility curves or contingencies for each indicator, specifying the overall and relative value to the organization of different performance levels on each indicator. Over the years, it has produced very positive results upon implementation. However, there has been great variability in the effectiveness of ProMES. This study attempted to identify the factors that contributed to this variability. Three major factors were proposed to influence the success of the intervention: feedback quality, the degree to which units prioritized their actions on the feedback, and the organizational social context. Additionally, the individual effects of the components of the organizational social context factor were analyzed; these components included the degree of employee participation in the intervention, unit attitudes towards productivity improvement, organizational support for the intervention, and organizational stability. Three productivity indices were used as
The Influence of Participant Subject Factors on Collaboration Effects in the Protection of China’s ICH: The Mediating Role of Relationship Quality

Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is a keystone of sustainable development which, in recent years, has received growing attention from scholars and governments. Previous studies on ICH collaborative protection have focused on ICH connotations and practice, but relatively few studies have focused on the interrelationships among the influencing factors of the collaboration effect. This study introduces a new variable, relationship quality, in an effort to describe the collaborative relationship among participants. The collaborative relationship consists of three dimensions: trust, communication, and fairness. Regarding relationship quality as an intermediary variable, we construct a research framework embracing participant subject factors (collaboration attitude and collaboration ability) and collaboration effects in a case study on collaborative protection of ICH in Regong Thangka, China. A structural equation model, for which data were collected via a questionnaire, is used to assess the strength of the relationships among variables. A total of 416 questionnaires were distributed, and 365 valid completed questionnaires were returned. The findings indicate that relationship quality has a significant influence on collaboration effects in the collaborative protection of ICH. Within the study’s context, collaboration attitude has a significantly positive impact on relationship quality, and it indirectly influences collaboration effects via relationship quality. Collaboration ability has a significantly positive impact on relationship quality and collaboration effects, and it could also impact collaboration effects indirectly via relationship quality. This paper is the first to introduce the concept of relationship quality into the ICH collaborative protection research field, and its findings may have valuable theoretical and practical implications.
Bilateral Trade in West Africa: Does Digitalization Matter?

ABSTRACT This article investigates the effect of digitalization on bilateral trade in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). We estimate the augmented gravity model to capture the effect of digitalization on bilateral trade using the POLS, GLS, and PPML estimators over 2000 to 2018. We find a significant positive effect of digitalization on bilateral trade for the ECOWAS region. The policy implication of this article is that bilateral trade in the region depends on digitalization. Therefore, economic agents’ efforts in the ECOWAS region should aim at policies that promote digitalization to enhance bilateral trade.
Thermoelectricity and electronic correlation enhancement in FeS by light Se doping

Yu Liu, Aifeng Wang, V. N. Ivanovski, Qianheng Du, V. Koteski, and C. Petrovic Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA Department of Nuclear and Plasma physics, Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11790, USA (Dated: March 1, 2022)
VOCs and Odor Episodes near the German–Czech Border: Social Participation, Chemical Analyses and Health Risk Assessment

People living on both sides of the German–Czech border are subject to episodes of odor air pollution. A joint German–Czech air sampling and risk assessment project was established to identify the substances responsible and their sources. Twenty-four volunteer study participants, 14 from the NW Czech Republic and 10 from Germany (Saxony) reported odors and collected canister samples during sampling periods in winter 2017 and 2018 and autumn 2018. Canister samples and passive samplers were analyzed for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and passive samplers were analyzed for VOCs and carbonyls. OAVs (Odor Activity Values) and back trajectories were calculated with the aim of identifying the odor sources. Calculated OAVs were in excellent agreement with perceived smells close to an oil processing plant. Odorants identified in fifty canister samples during odor episodes and carbonyl measurements close to the edible oil processing plant were used for health evaluation. Odors reported by participants in Saxony frequently differed from those reported by participants in the Czech Republic. This suggests that certain sources of odor lying on either side of the border only affect that side and not the other with similar considerations regarding health effects. VOCs, including carbonyls, were also sampled at two relatively remote locations during winters of 2017 and 2018; two main sources of odorous compounds were identified at these sites. Analysis of samples taken at sampling sites shows that VOC air pollution and, to a lesser extent carbonyl pollution, originate from both industrial and local sources. Even though levels of sampled substances were not associated with acute effects at any site, long-term exposures to selected compounds could be cause for concern for carcinogenicity at some sites. Odors in Seiffen were associated with carcinogenic compounds in can samples. Although not necessarily representative of long-term exposures to the compounds studied, results such as these suggest that further study is needed to better quantify long-term exposure to potentially harmful compounds, and to either confirm or deny the existence of substantive health risk.
Mathematical Modeling of Thyroid Homeostasis: Implications for the Allan-Herndon-Dudley Syndrome

Objective A mathematical model of the pituitary-thyroid feedback loop is extended to deepen the understanding of the Allan-Herndon-Dudley syndrome (AHDS). Background The AHDS is characterized by unusual thyroid hormone concentrations and a mutation in the SLC16A2 gene encoding for the monocarboxylate transporter 8 (MCT8). This mutation leads to a loss of thyroid hormone transport activity. One hypothesis to explain the unusual hormone concentrations of AHDS patients is that due to the loss of thyroid hormone transport activity, thyroxine (T4) is partially retained in thyroid cells. Methods This hypothesis is investigated by extending a mathematical model of the pituitary-thyroid feedback loop to include a model of the net effects of membrane transporters such that the thyroid hormone transport activity can be considered. Two modeling approaches of the membrane transporters are employed: on the one hand a nonlinear approach based on the Michaelis-Menten kinetics and on the other hand its linear approximation. The unknown parameters are identified through a constrained parameter optimization. Results In dynamic simulations, damaged membrane transporters result in a retention of T4 in thyroid cells and ultimately in the unusual hormone concentrations of AHDS patients. The two different modeling approaches lead to similar results. Conclusion The results support the hypothesis that a partial retention of T4 in thyroid cells represents one mechanism responsible for the unusual hormone concentrations of AHDS patients. Moreover, our results suggest that the retention of T4 in thyroid cells could be the main reason for the unusual hormone concentrations of AHDS patients.