Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Career Fulfilment on Employee Performance in Federal Civil Service Commission, Abuja-Nigeria

*Corresponding author‟s email: mohammed.nuhu12@yahoo.com ARTICLE DETAILS ABSTRACT History Revised format: Nov 2020 Available Online: Dec 2020 Purpose: The study on the effect of career fulfillment practices on employee performance is still scanty in the human resource management domain. The main objective of this paper is to investigate the effect of career fulfillment practices on the employee performance in the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), Abuja-Nigeria. Design/Methodology/Approach: The paper is a cross-sectional survey. Hence, researchers adopted the primary data approach of data collection. The population of the study is 400 (FCSC, 2021). Using Krijcie and Morgan (1970), the sample size is 196. The researchers increased the sample size by 50% based on Sal kind‟s (1997) suggestion. Thus, the final sample size of the study is 294 using the stratified random sampling technique. The study administered 294 copies of the questionnaires and was used for the analysis. The returned questionnaires were inputted, coded, and screened with the help of Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 22 software. Analysis was carried out using Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLSSEM). Findings: The findings showed that career fulfillment practices have a positive and significant effect on employee performance in FCSC, Abuja-Nigeria. Implications/Originality/Value: The paper recommended that FCSC, government, labor Unions and policymakers should promote career fulfillment practices that will improve employee performance in FCSC, Abuja.
Minimax-robust estimation problems for sequences with periodically stationary increments observed with noise

The problem of optimal estimation of linear functionals constructed from the unobserved values of a stochastic sequence with periodically stationary increments based on observations of the sequence with stationary noise is considered. For sequences with known spectral densities, we obtain formulas for calculating values of the mean square errors and the spectral characteristics of the optimal estimates of the functionals. Formulas that determine the least favorable spectral densities and the minimax-robust spectral characteristics of the optimal linear estimates of functionals are proposed in the case where spectral densities of the sequence are not exactly known while some sets of admissible spectral densities are specified.
Vitamin D as Radiosensitizer: A Review in Cell Line -

Introduction: Vitamin D has been shown to have anti-cancer properties such as antioxidants, anti-proliferative, and cell differentiation. The property of vitamin D as an anticancer agent triggers researchers to find out whether vitamin D is useful as a radiosensitizer. Multiple studies have been carried out on cell lines in various types of cancer, but the benefits of vitamin D as a radiosensitizer still controversial. This paperwork aims to investigate the utilization of Vitamin D3 (Calcitriol) as radiosensitizer in various cell line through literature review.Methods: A systematic search of available medical literature databases was performed on in-vitro studies with Vitamin D as a radiosensitizer in all types of cell lines. A total of 11 in-vitro studies were evaluated.Results: Nine studies in this review showed a significant effect of Vitamin D as a radiosensitizer agent by promoting cytotoxic autophagy, increasing apoptosis, inhibiting of cell survival and proliferation, promoting gene in ReIB inhibition, inducing senescene and necrosis. The two remaining studies showed no significant effect in the radiosensitizing mechanism of Vitamin D due to lack of evidence in-vitro settings.Conclusion: Vitamin D have anticancer property and can be used as a radiosensitizer by imploring various mechanism pathways in various cell lines. Further research especially in-vivo settings need to be evaluated.
Comprehensive Clinical Risk Management in a University Hospital: Implementation, Results and Outcome

BackgroundDespite the increasing awareness of the need to implement systematic methods to reduce treatment-related risks, there are only few studies on comprehensive clinical risk management (CRM) in hospitals. The aim of this study was to report on the implementation, results and outcome of a CRM system at a university hospital in Tyrol, Austria.MethodsCRM was rolled out in 35 departments of the hospital over a period of nine years and included the training of interdisciplinary risk management teams at each department, external and internal risk audits and the implementation of a critical incident reporting system (CIRS). The results of the risk audits were retrospectively reviewed and the risks identified were analyzed according to the type, severity and degree of implementation of risk management measures. Other key figures of CRM were obtained from the annual risk reports. The development of liability cases in the individual departments and in the entire hospital was used as an outcome measurement.ResultsOf the 1,104 risks identified during the risk audits, 620 (56.2%) were related to the organization of clinical care, 235 (21.3%) to documentation, 169 (15.3%) to patient treatment and 80 (7.2%) to patient information and consent. The highest proportion of serious risks was found in the category organization (22.7%), and the lowest in the category documentation (13.6%). The degree of implementation of prevention measures after 12 to 18 months was between 69.7% and 83.4% depending on the risk category. The CIRS identified between 241 and 370 critical incidents per year, for which in 79.5% to 83% preventive measures were implemented within twelve months.Compared with the years prior to the introduction of CRM, an average annual reduction of treatment-related harms by 52.9% (95% confidence interval, 44.2% to 61.6%) was observed at the end of the implementation phase. The mean number of harms per department and year dropped from 7.04 to 3.45 (p<0.001). ConclusionsThe results of this project demonstrate the effectiveness of systematic CRM in detecting treatment-related risks and in reducing harm to patients.
Graphene Helicoid: Distinct Properties Promote Application of Graphene Related Materials in Thermal Management

The extremely high thermal conductivity of graphene has received great attention both in experiments and calculations. Obviously, new features in thermal properties are of primary importance for application of graphene-based materials in thermal management in nanoscale. Here, we studied the thermal conductivity of graphene helicoid, a newly reported graphene-related nanostructure, using molecular dynamics simulation. Interestingly, in contrast to the converged cross-plane thermal conductivity in multilayer graphene, axial thermal conductivity of graphene helicoid keeps increasing with thickness with a power law scaling relationship, which is a consequence of the divergent in-plane thermal conductivity of two-dimensional graphene. Moreover, the large overlap between adjacent layers in graphene helicoid also promotes higher thermal conductivity than multilayer graphene. Furthermore, in the small strain regime (<10%), compressive strain can effectively increase the thermal conductivity of graphene helicoid, .
RECOVERY OF GERMANIUM BY PRECIPITATION FROM STRONGLY ALKALINE SOLUTION

The research material was a strongly alkaline solution containing germanium, lead, arsenic, zinc and trace amounts of other metals, obtained by leaching of industrial material. This study aimed to determine the behavior of the above metals in the precipitation process using various acidic agents: HCl, H2SO4, C2H2O4, C6H8O7. The tests were carried out in a wide pH range. The behavior and role of individual ions during the acidification of germanate solution is poorly understood, hence the study of this subject was undertaken. The resulting precipitates and solutions were examined by XRF, XRD and ICP techniques. The recovery yields of individual elements was determined. Attempts were also made to precipitate Ge from a synthetic solution in order to compare the results obtained for the solution of an industrial solution. This research shows that the presence of other ions interferes with the selective recovery of Ge from research solutions. Generally, it can be said that the method of recovery by acidification is effective at low concentrations of the solution's components.
Ways of Choosing

Architectural education must produce graduates which have demonstrated standards of knowledge, skill and competence for practice as an architect, who possess particular professional attributes and who are also aware of their civic responsibilities. As such, graduates are taught to question and direct design conditions from particular design paradigms and stances. In the context of two dichotomous design culture stances — Architectural Design Excellence (ADE) which prioritises aesthetic architectural ideals and space-making, and Sustainable Performance Excellence (SPE) which has technical prowess and the built environment response to social, environmental and economic sustainability as its focus — this paper studies the role of school design culture in Irish Schools of Architecture in providing the focus on what constitutes architectural design excellence, and what shapes the framework in which these ideas sit.
Synthesis of low-cost magnetite nano-architectures from Sri Lankan laterites

Magnetite nanomaterials are immensely valuable in the biomedical, water science, electronic and bioengineering fields because of their para-magnetic property and biocompatibility. Nevertheless, the cost of these materials is very high although it is regularly used in most applications in modern industries. To address the issue, the present study is focused to synthesize magnetite nano-spheres assembled nano-architectures. The low cost and locally available laterite was used as a source of iron. The extracted iron was purified and converted into magnetite by a sol-gel synthesis method. The synthesized iron nanoparticles were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopic (SEM) and Thermogravimetric (TG) techniques. The obtained results confirmed that 50 nm of spherical magnetite particles were formed. Also, the particles showed some picturesque self-assemblies when the pH of the precursor-solution of the sol-gel process and the rate of annealing are changed. TG analysis reveals that the annealing temperature is 500°C. X-ray diffraction pattern of the product is comparable with commercially available nano-magnetite as well as the same material produced using chemicals using the same method. These prepared nano-architectures have potential applications in drug delivery, electronic devices and medical imaging.
Is Care by Grandparents or Parents Better for Children's Non-Cognitive Skills? Evidence on Locus of Control from China

: This study investigates the effect of grandparental care on children’s locus of control (LOC), which is an important non-cognitive skill that affects children’s future development. We use data from the China Family Panel Studies, which is a nationally representative survey, and employ instrumental variables to address the endogeneity of family childcare choice. We find that children in the care of their grandparents have more external LOC than children in the care of their parents do; that is, they are more likely to attribute individual success to external factors, such as luck, fate, and family background. This finding is robust to different measures of grandparental care and different model specifications. We further examine the potential mechanisms underlying this effect. Grandparents have more external LOC than parents do, which can affect children’s LOC through intergenerational transmission of LOC. Their parenting attitudes and styles are also different from parents’ in that grandparents take less responsibility for children’s academic performance than parents do and are less strict with children. In addition, grandparental care induces adverse effects on children’s family environment.
3-bromopyruvate as a Promising Treatment for Hematological Cancer

Many biological differences exist between cancer cells and normal cells that can act as potential targets in targeted cancer therapy. Hematological cancers e.g. lymphoma, leukemia and myeloma exhibit drug-resistance that ultimately results in deteriorated patients' conditions and high mortality rates. Resistance of hematological malignancy to conventional chemotherapy is attributed in part to upregulation of glucose oxidation (glycolysis) genes evidenced by gaining a promising chemosensitization effect upon adding a glycolysis inhibitor to chemotherapeutics. The promising anticancer agent 3-bromopyruvate (3BP) is a structural analog of both pyruvate and lactate. 3BP was reported to antagonize the Warburg effect (malignant phenotype where cancer cells utilize cytoplasmic glucose oxidation to produce ATP and lactate even in the presence of oxygen without making benefit of the generous ATP provision from glucose oxidation via mitochondrial pathways). Warburg effect deprives cancer cells from the high energetic yield achieved through utilizing mitochondrial pathways. 3BP is a promising antiglycolytic agent that targets major glycolysis enzymes (hexokinase II and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase. In this article, 3BP promising anticancer effects in treating lymphoma, leukemia and myeloma are discussed in addition to the mode of inhibition of Warburg effect using 3BP. In conclusion, 3BP is a promising anticancer drug (that will be more powerful upon proper pharmaceutical formulations) for treating hematological malignancies. 3BP is advisable to be included in treatment protocols in hematological cancers as a chemosensitizer or as a sole anticancer agent.
Replicating the Disease framing problem during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic: A study of stress, worry, trust, and choice under risk

In the risky-choice framing effect, different wording of the same options leads to predictably different choices. In a large-scale survey conducted from March to May 2020 and including 88,181 participants from 47 countries, we investigated how stress, concerns, and trust moderated the effect in the Disease problem, a prominent framing problem highly evocative of the COVID-19 pandemic. As predicted by the appraisal-tendency framework, risk aversion and the framing effect in our study were larger than under typical circumstances. Furthermore, perceived stress and concerns over coronavirus were positively associated with the framing effect. Contrary to predictions, however, they were not related to risk aversion. Trust in the government’s efforts to handle the coronavirus was associated with neither risk aversion nor the framing effect. The proportion of risky choices and the framing effect varied substantially across nations. Additional exploratory analyses showed that the framing effect was unrelated to reported compliance with safety measures, suggesting, along with similar findings during the pandemic and beyond, that the effectiveness of framing manipulations in public messages might be limited. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed, along with directions for further investigations.
Contribution of fallow periods between rice crops to seasonal GHG emissions: effect of water and tillage management

ABSTRACT Irrigated rice cultivation is a major source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture. Methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) are emitted not only throughout the growing season but also in the fallow period between crops. A study was conducted for two transition periods between rice crops (dry to wet season transition and wet to dry season transition) in the Philippines to investigate the effect of water and tillage management on CH4 and N2O emissions as well as on soil nitrate and ammonium. Management treatments between rice crops included (1) continuous flooding (F), (2) soil drying (D), (3) soil drying with aerobic tillage (D + T), and (4) soil drying and wetting (D + W). The static closed chamber method was used to measure CH4 and N2O fluxes. Soil nitrate accumulated and N2O was emitted in treatments with soil drying. Nitrate disappeared while ammonium gradually increased after the soil was flooded during land preparation, indicating net nitrogen mineralization. N2O emissions were highest in both transition periods in D + W (437 and 645 µg N2O m−2 h−1). Methane emissions were significant in only the F treatment. The highest global warming potential (GWP) in the transition between rice crops occurred in F, with CH4 contributing almost 100% to the GWP. The GWP from other treatments was lower than F, with about 60–99% of the GWP attributed to N2O emissions in treatments with soil drying. The GWP in the transition between rice crops represented up to 26% of the total GWP from harvest to harvest. This study demonstrates that the transition period can be an important source of GHG emissions with relative importance of CH4 and N2O depending on the soil water regime. Therefore, the transition period should not be disregarded when estimating GHG emissions for rice cropping systems.
Gamut sensing in cognitive radio networks: A brief survey by using the concept of design thinking

With an unprecedented intensification in mobile customer and mobile multimedia services radio telecommunications in general the need for more bandwidth is escalating every day. To accommodate such a large amount of wireless technologies huge bandwidth is needed. This necessitated the need to address spectrum scarcity as the spectrum is a scarce resource. But it is evident from many gamut measurement studies that much of the gamut is used in an inefficient way and its fullest potential is not exploited. This gives rise to the technology of cognitive radio networks. Having said this let us try to brief the operation of intelligent radio networks (CRN). The overview of this paper presents a detailed account of the concept of gamut sensing which a crucial step in CRN is. We address the different performance metrics related to spectrum sensing and present a brief idea of some of the research activities that are related to spectrum sensing by different researchers.
Higher efficiency perovskite solar cells using additives of LiI, LiTFSI and BMImI in the PbI2 precursor

The efficiencies of perovskite solar cells have been significantly increased to 18%, 17.01% and 15.6% for the cells containing the additives BMImI, LiI and LiTFSI in the PbI2 precursor solutions, respectively, from 11.3% for the devices without any additives. Incorporation of these additives led to the formation of perovskites with larger grain size and higher crystallinity with reduced PbI2 residue as indicated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) results. Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (KPFM) and current sensing (CS)-AFM results were in good agreement with external quantum efficiency (EQE) measurements and proved the great enhancement in short circuit current density (Jsc) as a result of doping. Transient photovoltage measurement results exhibited longer charge carrier lifetimes for the additive incorporated perovskites than those without additives, thus improving the fill factor (FF) and open circuit voltage (Voc). In addition to the improved efficiency, the incorporation of these additives led to higher stability of the CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite solar cells. The new additive BMImI, LiI and LiTFSI incorporated CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite solar cells exhibited a reduced degradation with a 57%, 60%, and 91% decrease in performance respectively after exposure to air for 70 days compared to a 93% decrease for the pristine cell after only 24 days. The lithium salt additives can serve as desiccants to absorb moisture preventing perovskite degradation. Further, the BMImI additive can prevent the formation of free radicals in perovskites upon exposure to light and heat.
The role of state and trait anxiety in the processing of facial expressions of emotion

State anxiety appears to influence facial emotion processing (Attwood et al. 2017 R. Soc. Open Sci. 4, 160855). We aimed to (i) replicate these findings and (ii) investigate the role of trait anxiety, in an experiment with healthy UK participants (N = 48, 50% male, 50% high trait anxiety). High and low state anxiety were induced via inhalations of 7.5% carbon dioxide enriched air and medical air, respectively. High state anxiety reduced global emotion recognition accuracy (p = 0.01, ηp2=0.14), but it did not affect interpretation bias towards perceiving anger in ambiguous angry–happy facial morphs (p = 0.18, ηp2=0.04). We found no clear evidence of a relationship between trait anxiety and global emotion recognition accuracy (p = 0.60, ηp2=0.01) or interpretation bias towards perceiving anger (p = 0.83, ηp2=0.01). However, there was greater interpretation bias towards perceiving anger (i.e. away from happiness) during heightened state anxiety, among individuals with high trait anxiety (p = 0.03, dz = 0.33). State anxiety appears to impair emotion recognition accuracy, and among individuals with high trait anxiety, it appears to increase biases towards perceiving anger (away from happiness). Trait anxiety alone does not appear to be associated with facial emotion processing.
A Comparative Study of Aspirin Loaded Bovine Serum Albumin Nanoparticles Prepared by Desolvation Technique Using Various Desolvating Agents

Aspirin is mainly used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthtitis and ankylosing spondylitis (AS). The dose of aspirin required for the treatment is 3 g / day in divided doses. In order to avoid chances of missing the dose of drug, it is better to formulate sustained release dosage forms. In the present study, aspirin loaded bovine serum albumin (BSA) nanoparticles were prepared by desolvation technique using various desolvating agents such as acetone, ethanol and sodium sulphate. A comparative study was made among the three desolvating agents (acetone, ethanol and sodium sulphate) and two methods (continuous addition method and intermittent addition method) to decide the best desolvating agent and the better method for preparation of aspirin nanoparticles by desolvation method. Continuous and intermittent addition methods were followed for the addition of desolvating agent to the aqueous solution of bovine serum albumin. Bovine serum albumin nanoparticles prepared by intermittent addition of ethanol was showing better results with the mean particle diameter of 209 nm, entrapment efficiency of 50% and loading capacity of 23%. The drug release was slow, extending over a period of 24 h. The curve fitting data revealed that the release followed the first-order kinetics. Higuchis and Peppas plots stated that Fickian diffusion controlled the pattern in all formulations. From the results it can be concluded that the method of intermittent addition was the better method and ethanol was the best desolvating agent for the preparation of aspirin nanoparticles by desolvation technique.