Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Oxidative Treatments of Pesticides in Rainwater Runoff by HOCl, O3, and O3/H2O2: Effects of pH, Humic Acids and Inorganic Matters

This study systematically investigated the oxidative treatment of five selected pesticides, alachlor (ALA), carbendazim (CAR), diuron (DIU), pyrimethanil (PYR), and tebuconazole (TEB), by comparing their relative reactivities as a function of three different oxidative treatment processes (i.e., chlorine (HOCl), ozone (O3), and ozone/hydrogen peroxide (O3/H2O2)) under various oxidant dosages, reaction times, and pH conditions. For oxidative treatment, pesticide standards were spiked into rainwater. The removal efficiency of the selected pesticides varied considerably depending on the oxidative treatment processes. HOCl, O3, and O3/H2O2 treatments were highly effective at eliminating CAR (>80%) and PYR (>99%), while they were not significantly effective in removing TEB (<20%). In the case of DIU, HOCl (81%) was shown to be more effective than O3 (24%) and O3/H2O2 (49%). The removal efficiency of ALA was in the order of O3/H2O2 (49%) > O3 (20%) > HOCl (8.5%). The effect of increasing the solution pH from 5.0 to 9.0 on pesticide degradation varied between the oxidative treatment processes. Additionally, NH4+, NO2−, and humic acid in rainwater significantly inhibited pesticide degradation.
What forms of socialization lead women to stop cycling during adolescence?

Cycling in public spaces is both a mobility and a physical activity underpinned by considerable issues, but women practice significantly less, particularly during adolescence. A few studies have sought to study this phenomenon but mainly on the basis of social psychology theories. Based on 84 semi-structured biographical interviews conducted in France, this article aims to discuss their findings using gender, mobility and socialization sociology. We first show how a ‘feminine’ socialization to risk taking, body aesthetics, sport, street and mechanics is an obstacle to cycling during adolescence, especially in the working-class environment and all the more so in spatial contexts with strong norms of male appropriation of public space. We then show how the fact of having cyclists in one's social environment and a sporting inclination plays an important role in limiting the risk of abandonment. By highlighting processes of reinforcement of gendered bodily and spatial inclinations, our results shed light on the links between the socio-construction of inequalities in accessing public space and of inequalities in accessing physical activities. Furthermore, they encourage the study of bicycle socialisation in an intersectional way and suggest the interest of studying the links between urban, ecological, health, sport and mobility socialisations.
Analysis of the products of a negative corona discharge in a N2–CH4 mixture with added CO2 used as a laboratory mimic of a prebiotic atmosphere

A negative corona discharge operating at atmospheric pressure has been used to initiate chemical reactions in a gaseous mixture of nitrogen, methane, and carbon dioxide. Such a mixture simulates the composition of the early Earth's atmosphere. This work extends our previous experimental studies of the chemistry of prebiotic atmospheres generated in an atmospheric‐pressure glow discharge. The present work is devoted to the study of the role of CO2 in prebiotic atmospheric chemistry. The gas mixture was composed of nitrogen with 2–4% methane and 1% CO2. The corona discharge was characterized by electrical measurements and optical emission spectroscopy. The reaction products from the discharge were further analysed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The composition of solid products deposited on the electrode tip was obtained by energy dispersive X‐ray (EDX) analysis. The specific input energy was altered during the experiments, and the concentration of all products was found to increase with its increase. It is further shown that while the addition of the CO2 admixture leads to the generation of CO and H2O, no other compounds containing oxygen were detected. The energy yields of products were calculated, and good agreement was found with the values obtained in previous experiments.
An Approximate Transfer Function Model for a Double-Pipe Counter-Flow Heat Exchanger

The transfer functions G(s) for different types of heat exchangers obtained from their partial differential equations usually contain some irrational components which reflect quite well their spatio-temporal dynamic properties. However, such a relatively complex mathematical representation is often not suitable for various practical applications, and some kind of approximation of the original model would be more preferable. In this paper we discuss approximate rational transfer functions G^(s) for a typical thick-walled double-pipe heat exchanger operating in the counter-flow mode. Using the semi-analytical method of lines, we transform the original partial differential equations into a set of ordinary differential equations representing N spatial sections of the exchanger, where each nth section can be described by a simple rational transfer function matrix Gn(s), n=1,2,…,N. Their proper interconnection results in the overall approximation model expressed by a rational transfer function matrix G^(s) of high order. As compared to the previously analyzed approximation model for the double-pipe parallel-flow heat exchanger which took the form of a simple, cascade interconnection of the sections, here we obtain a different connection structure which requires the use of the so-called linear fractional transformation with the Redheffer star product. Based on the resulting rational transfer function matrix G^(s), the frequency and the steady-state responses of the approximate model are compared here with those obtained from the original irrational transfer function model G(s). The presented results show: (a) the advantage of the counter-flow regime over the parallel-flow one; (b) better approximation quality for the transfer function channels with dominating heat conduction effects, as compared to the channels characterized by the transport delay associated with the heat convection.
Terrorist campaigns and the growth of the Muslim population: a reply

Abstract A recently published paper in this journal (Choi, 2021) establishes a statistical link between, on the one hand, Islamist terrorist campaigns – including terrorist attacks and online propaganda – and, on the other the growth of the Muslim population. The author explains this result by stating that successful campaigns lead some individuals to convert to Islam. In this commentary, we intend to reply to this article by focusing on the impact of terrorist attacks on religious conversion. We first show that Choi's results suffer from theoretical flaws – a failure to comprehensively unpack the link between violence and conversion – and methodological shortcomings – a focus on all terrorist groups over a period where Islamist attacks were rare. This leads us to replicate Choi's analysis by distinguishing Islamist and non-Islamist terror attacks on a more adequate timeframe. By doing so, we no longer find empirical support for the relationship between terror attacks and the growth of the Muslim population. However, our analyses suggest that such a hypothesis may hold but only in contexts where the level and intensity of political violence are high.
Becoming a blockchain user: understanding consumers’ benefits realisation to use blockchain-based applications

ABSTRACT Data breaches and cyber incidents are on the rise, and companies continually research new technologies to defend against attacks and protect customer data. The blockchain is a data store designed to promote data privacy, as well as transaction integrity. Enterprises in several industries, especially banking, have investigated the implementation of blockchain-based databases to replace centralised databases as one mechanism for protecting customers’ data by separating transactional data from personally identifiable information. Despite the blockchain’s privacy protections, consumers remain largely unaware of these benefits. Building on the Health Belief Model (HBM), we include privacy concerns and inertia as critical factors that influence consumers’ perceptions of blockchain-based databases’ benefits. Using a sample of 304 respondents, we test a theoretical model incorporating these factors. Our study results indicate threat severity, threat susceptibility, awareness, and inertia significantly influence the perceived benefits of blockchain, which has a significant positive influence on consumers’ intention to switch to blockchain-based applications. Although consumers’ comfort with the status quo of traditional banking mechanisms is a significant barrier to the realisation of blockchain banking applications benefits, additional awareness of consumer privacy protections can persuade customers to use the blockchain-based applications, especially if they exhibit heightened privacy concerns.
Nitrate removal during Fe(III) bio-reduction in microbial-mediated iron redox cycling systems

Fe(III) bio-reduction provides a prospect of applying the iron redox cycle to nitrate remediation in the aquatic environment. The objective of this study was to realize multiple nitrate removals in the system containing Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 (S. oneidensis MR-1) and ferrihydrite or magnetite. The results showed that with three periods of 30 mg·L−1 NO3−-N addition, all nitrate reduction was completed within 170 h. In the first period (0–30 h) of nitrate addition, the main contribution of nitrate removal was due to the biological reduction process by S. oneidensis MR-1, accompanied by the reduction of Fe(III). During the second (45–90 h) and third periods (100–170 h) of nitrate addition, oxidation of biogenic Fe(II) coupled with the reduction of nitrate took place. This redox reaction resulted in the production of gaseous nitrogen of 47.33% and 16.8% for ferrihydrite/S. oneidensis MR-1 and magnetite/S. oneidensis MR-1 systems, respectively. In addition, nitrite, as an intermediate product, accumulated and negatively affected nitrate removal after the third addition of nitrate. By comparing the patterns of X-ray diffraction of the iron minerals before and after the bio-reduction, it was found that ferrihydrite was transformed into magnetite, while magnetite kept its original crystal form.
Synthesis of miniaturized wideband four‐way filtering power divider consisting of unequal‐width three‐coupled‐lines

A miniaturized wideband four‐way filtering power divider (FPD) is presented in this article. It is composed of unequal‐width three‐coupled‐lines (TCLs), stepped‐impedance open‐circuited stubs, and isolation resistors. By using two groups of the unequal‐width TCLs and the stepped‐impedance open‐circuited stubs, size reduced four‐way FPD with wideband filtering responses and out‐of‐band rejection is realized. Besides, good output ports matching and isolation are obtained by inserting two types of air‐bridge resistors. In the theoretical analysis section, the impedance matrix of the unequal‐width TCL is introduced, for the first time, and rigorous closed‐form design equations for the proposed FPD are also derived. Moreover, the methodology for computer‐aided design is given based on the design equations. For demonstration, a prototype operating at 1.5 GHz is designed, fabricated, and measured. The measured results validate the 80% bandwidth with more than 17 dB out‐of‐band rejection, more than 14 dB isolation and more than 15 dB return loss at all output ports. Compare with the reported four‐way FPD with similar bandwidth, a size reduction of 74% is obtained.
Event Scale Relationships of DOC and TDN Fluxes in Throughfall and Stemflow Diverge From Stream Exports in a Forested Catchment

Aquatic fluxes of carbon and nutrients link terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Within forests, storm events drive both the delivery of carbon and nitrogen to the forest floor and the export of these solutes from the land via streams. To increase understanding of the relationships between hydrologic event character and the relative fluxes of carbon and nitrogen in throughfall, stemflow and streams, we measured dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) concentrations in each flow path for 23 events in a forested watershed in Vermont, USA. DOC and TDN concentrations increased with streamflow, indicating their export was limited by water transport of catchment stores. DOC and TDN concentrations in throughfall and stemflow decreased exponentially with increasing precipitation, suggesting that precipitation removed a portion of available sources from tree surfaces during the events. DOC and TDN fluxes were estimated for 76 events across a 2‐year period. For most events, throughfall and stemflow fluxes greatly exceeded stream fluxes, but the imbalance narrowed for larger storms (>30 mm). The largest 10 stream events exported 40% of all stream event DOC whereas those same 10 events contributed 14% of all throughfall export. Approximately 2–5 times more DOC and TDN was exported from trees during rain events than left the catchment via streams annually. The diverging influence of event size on tree versus stream fluxes has important implications for forested ecosystems as hydrological events increase in intensity and frequency due to climate change.
Isocratic Reverse-Phase HPLC Method for Determination of Aspirin, Paracetamol, and Naproxen

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which block the activity of cyclooxygenase (COX) isoenzymes and inhibit the synthesis of prostaglandin, have been used for pain relief. We have developed a method to separate a mixture of three NSAIDs, such as aspirin, paracetamol, and naproxen, using reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). An isocratic mobile phase consisting of acidic water and acetonitrile was selected to run at a low flow rate, such as 0.8 mL/min. The mixture of three NSAIDs was injected at a low volume into a C18 column that was 150 mm in length and characterized using a UV detector at 230 nm. We identified three peaks in the chromatogram indicating the three compounds. The elution time of the peaks was less than 10 minutes. To identify multiple peaks on the isocratic flow using a short column, further studies are required regarding the proposed method to generate microfluidic devices for nanoLC.
Wind quality designation concept and application

Generally, wind energy production is based on the average wind speed without any classification. This article proposes a classification system on the basis of wind speed durations greater than a given threshold value. For this purpose, the wind quality designation (WQD) concept is defined based on the wind potential duration, amount, and intensity on a threshold level. Its classifications are depicted on five risk percentage classes as “excellent,” “very good,” “good,” “fair,” and “weak. Apart from the classification, the change of WQD with wind speed threshold provides qualitative and quantitative wind speed energy production assessment. The specific objective of the article is to present theoretical WQD explanations on the basis of the most frequently employed two‐parameter Weibull probability distribution function (PDF). The application is provided for Adiyaman City, Kahta meteorology station wind speed records from the Southeastern province of Turkey. It is noticed that there is no “Weak” category at this station and the most effective quality class is “Excellent” from 14 m/s to almost 27 m/s wind speeds. The average wind speed corresponds to about 62% WQD. Finally, the wind speed potential durations PDF abides by the logarithmic‐normal PDF, whereas amount and intensity accord with the Weibull PDFs.
The current state of measuring return on investment in user experience design

Incorporating user experience (UX) design into system development processes can give an organisation competitive advantage over its rivals. Embedding UX design into system development processes requires investment in skilled professionals, who in turn follow a methodical process to make UX design an integral part of the organisation. Despite the value that can be added by UX design, demonstrating the return on investment (ROI) in UX remains a perennial challenge because of the difficulty associated with explicitly linking UX design with good ROI, to the exclusion of other system development processes. In this paper, we report on the current state of measuring ROI in UX design in a selection of South African organisations. We interviewed 33 UX professionals from four organisations to get insight into how ROI in UX design is measured in their respective organisations. The results showed that some participants were aware of the metrics that could be used to measure ROI in UX design. However, none of the four organisations were specifically calculating ROI in UX. Rather, ROI was being calculated on entire project.
Impacts on Indoor Thermal Comfort and Heating Energy Use in Hellenic Dwellings from Occupant Behavioral Reactions

In an effort to reduce the operational cost of their dwellings, occupants may even have to sacrifice their indoor thermal comfort conditions. Following the economic recession in Greece over recent years, homeowners have been forced to adapt their practices by shortening heating hours, lowering the indoor thermostat settings, isolating spaces that are not heated or even turning off their central heating system and using alternative local heating systems. This paper presents the results from over 100 occupant surveys using questionnaires and walk-through energy audits in Hellenic households that documented how occupants operated the heating systems in their dwellings and the resulting indoor thermal comfort conditions and actual energy use. The results indicate that the perceived winter thermal comfort conditions were satisfactory in only half of the dwellings, since the actual operating space heating periods averaged only 5 h (compared with the assumed 18 h in standard conditions), while less than half heated their entire dwellings and only a fifth maintained an indoor setpoint temperature of 20 °C, corresponding to standard comfort conditions. Mainstream energy conservation measures include system maintenance, switching to more efficient systems, reducing heat losses and installing controls. This information is then used to derive empirical adaptation factors for bridging the gap between the calculated and actual energy use, making more realistic estimates of the expected energy savings following building renovations, setting prudent targets for energy efficiency and developing effective plans toward a decarbonized building stock.
Direct production of lignin nanoparticles (LNPs) from wood using p-toluenesulfonic acid in an aqueous system at 80°C: characterization of LNP morphology, size, and surface charge

Abstract Lignin nanoparticles (LNPs) from renewable lignocelluloses can be a valuable building block for a variety of applications and could contribute to the economic development in rural agricultural communities. Current technologies for producing LNPs are not cost effective and use toxic solvents. In this study, LNPs were produced by fractionating poplar wood at ≤80°C with a recyclable hydrotrope p-toluenesulfonic acid (p-TsOH) in an aqueous system. The dissolved lignin was separated as LNPs simply by diluting the spent liquor (SL) to the minimal hydrotrope concentration (HCmin) of 11.5%. The p-TsOH, a solid acid, can be easily recycled by re-concentrating the diluted SL after lignin separation. The LNP size, morphology, and surface charge were controlled by the dilution ratio, speed, pH, and ionic strength of the LNP sol. The LNPs were analyzed by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and found to be fairly stable in terms of mean particle size and surface charge over a period of 2 weeks. Fractionation conditions also affected LNP properties.
Organizational structures and efficiency of Moroccan professional football clubs

Regardless of their structure and form (public/private), organizations are often faced with structural choices. These choices can be the result of their history, their activity, the people involved or the strategies pursued. At each stage, managers have to make structural choices that allow them to be in the best possible configuration to be effective. Therefore, these sports organizations must have a structure that allows them to ensure the best possible coordination between departments. The objective of this paper is to identify structural models and examine the relationship between structure and efficiency in Moroccan soccer clubs. The three organizational design parameters: formalization, centralization, and specialization were examined to determine the structural patterns of Moroccan soccer clubs. The study was carried out with a sample of 15 Moroccan sports clubs. A total of 72 staff members responded to an online survey. The results found show the presence of two structural models: the divisional structure and the functional structure. The MANCOVA procedures showed differences between clubs in terms of sports performance. There is a significant difference between clubs with a functional structure and those with a divisional structure in sports performance, with clubs with a divisional structure generally performing significantly better than those with a functional design because football clubs choose to orient their structure according to the basic criteria of specialization, centralization and formalization.
Do Diaspora Remittances Guarantee Food Security in Nigeria?

The burgeoning remittances into Nigeria and their effect on the economy have received renewed attention in recent times. Literature has suggested the existence of a relationship between remittances and food security. The extent to which this is true for Nigeria is uncertain. Using Vector Error Correction Model (VECM), this study examined the link between remittances and food security using secondary data for the period 1980 to 2018. Findings revealed a robust long and short-run relationship between remittances and food security. In the short-run, a positive and significant relationship was found between remittances and food security in the current period such that a 1 per cent increase in remittances was associated with a 5.08 per cent improvement in food security. In the long-run, a cointegrated relationship was observed as the error correction term depicting this relationship was well-behaved, properly signed and significant indicating that any previous period deviation in long-run equilibrium is corrected in the current period at an adjustment speed of 28.8 per cent. In addition, the Granger test suggests a unidirectional causality running from remittances to food security such that past values of remittances determined food security during the period investigated. Consequent to the findings, the study recommended with a caveat, the design and proper implementation of a diaspora and remittances policy to cater for the welfare of Nigerians in the diaspora to improve remittance receipts and by implication, food security. However, since remittances alone cannot guarantee food security in Nigeria, this study further recommends a holistic and multidimensional approach to address the food security challenge and close the food deficit gap.