Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Determination of Critical Seed Loading Ratio for the Production of Crystals of Uni-Modal Size Distribution in Batch Cooling Crystallization of Potassium Alum

Batch cooling crystallization of potassium alum in aqueous solution was conducted over a wide range of seed loading with various average seed sizes under the natural cooling condition. A solution of a low saturation temperature was used. In this dilute solution the supersaturation during crystallization did not become high so that agglomeration of the original seeds was avoided even for small seeds. The critical seed loading ratio Cs*, the critical value of the ratio of seed mass to the theoretical crystal yield, above which loading seed crystals were grown with no secondary nucleation, was determined. It was correlated as a second order equation of mean mass size Ls [μm], as Cs* = 2.17 × 10–6Ls2. The value of Cs* was confirmed, by comparing with previous data published by the present authors, not to change significantly with crystallizer volume, stirrer speed, the saturation temperature of the solution (i.e., the solution concentration) and the cooling mode. This correlation is shown to be conveniently used to determine the seed amount satisfying an optimal seeding condition of Cs ≥ Cs* for a given seed size. The mean mass size of product crystals and the volume of a crystallizer required for a desired production is easily determined for this optimal seed loading condition by the aid of a simple mass balance.
Measuring the pollutant transport capacity of dissolved organic matter in complex matrixes

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) facilitated transport in contaminated groundwater was investigated through the measurement of the binding capacity of landfill leachate DOM (Vejen, Denmark) towards two model pollutants (pyrene and phenanthrene). Three different methods for measuring binding capacity were used and evaluated, head-space solid-phase micro-extraction (HS-SPME), enhanced solubility (ES) and fluorescence quenching (FQ). It was concluded that for samples with complex matrixes it was possible to measure the net effect of the DOM binding capacity and the salting out effect of the matrix. It was further concluded that DOM facilitated transport should be taken into account for non-ionic PAHs with lg K OW above 5, at DOM concentrations above 250 mg C/L. The total DOM concentration was found to be more important for the potential of facilitated transport than differences in the DOM binding capacity.
Structure and dynamics of hydrogenated GaAs(110) and InP(110) surfaces

We have investigated the structural and vibrational properties of hydrogen-covered GaAs(110) and InP(110) surfaces in the framework of the density-functional theory. The plane-wave pseudopotential method combined with the slab supercell description for the surfaces has been employed to determine the relaxation geometries of H:GaAs(110) and H:InP(110) for the half- and one-monolayer coverages. Our results are in good agreement with all available experimental data. For both surfaces and for all coverages we have determined the surface vibrations by means of an ab initio linear-response formalism. The calculated bond-stretching frequencies compare very well with the results from high-resolution electron-energy-loss spectroscopy. The half-monolayer coverages on InP(110) exhibit vibrational states which are related to the mechanism which leads to the structural decomposition of the surface experimentally observed at high hydrogen exposures.
Efeito da colonização inicial no desenvolvimento e estruturação de comunidades marinhas incrustantes do sublitoral raso

Sessile communities generally show a great influence of founder on subsequent successional stages. In open systems, any colonizer can potentially found a community, as in a lottery guided by stochasticity. If the founder organism has an advantage window during the early colonization, its influence in the community can be maximized, representing a priority effect. These effects can inhibit or facilitate the occurrence of new organisms, affecting community structure e also ecosystems processes. In recent decades, anthropogenic action is leading to biodiversity loss in several systems, mainly in coastal areas, altering colonization scenarios with substantial impacts on community stability, resistance and resilience, even against the introduction of non-indigenous species. Using an experimental approach in which the characteristics of early colonizers were manipulated, I tested how the founders’ identity, taxonomic diversity and functional diversity affect the structure of subtidal sessile communities in a subtropical area. Overall, the three manipulations had shown that the founder identity is the most important component of colonization, affecting either richness or community structure along succession. When the founders were a persistent group in the community, monopolizing space and being resistant to predation, community diversity in later successional stages was low. Surprisingly, both initial taxonomic and functional diversity did not affect the occurrence of non-indigenous species and only taxonomic diversity had a little impact in the structure of the whole sessile community. Predators affected community structure, leading to a decrease of total and non-indigenous species, specially reducing the abundance of ascidians. However, predation effects were modulated by the taxonomic group of early colonizers, being evident only when founders were bryozoans. In conclusion, the founder identity matters, affecting community diversity and structure, and also modulating the effects of other processes as predation.
Analysis of Biofilm Formation on the Surface of Organic Mung Bean Seeds, Sprouts and in the Germination Environment

This study aimed to analyse the impact of sanitation methods on the formation of bacterial biofilms after disinfection and during the germination process of mung bean on seeds and in the germination environment. Moreover, the influence of Lactobacillus plantarum 299v on the growth of the tested pathogenic bacteria was evaluated. Three strains of Salmonella and E. coli were used for the study. The colony forming units (CFU), the crystal violet (CV), the LIVE/DEAD and the gram fluorescent staining, the light and the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) methods were used. The tested microorganisms survive in a small number. During germination after disinfection D2 (20 min H2O at 60 °C, then 15 min in a disinfecting mixture consisting of H2O, H2O2 and CH₃COOH), the biofilms grew most after day 2, but with the DP2 method (D2 + L. plantarum 299v during germination) after the fourth day. Depending on the method used, the second or fourth day could be a time for the introduction of an additional growth-limiting factor. Moreover, despite the use of seed disinfection, their germination environment could be favourable for the development of bacteria and, consequently, the formation of biofilms. The appropriate combination of seed disinfection methods and growth inhibition methods at the germination stage will lead to the complete elimination of the development of unwanted microflora and their biofilms.
Biochars improve aggregate stability, water retention, and pore-space properties of clayey soil

The influence of biochar amendments on the physical quality of a clayey soil (Vertisol) was evaluated by aggregate-size distribution and stability, water retention, and pore-space structure of biochar-amended soils. Clayey soil was treated with three kinds of biochars (straw biochar, woodchips biochar, and wastewater-sludge biochar) at the rate of 0, 20, 40, and 60 g biochar (kg soil)–1 and incubated for 180 d in glasshouse. The application of straw biochar (SB) and wastewater-sludge biochar (WSB) significantly enhanced the formation of 5–2 and 0.25–0.5 mm macroaggregates in the clayey soil relative to the control treatment, while the 75 μm) and mesopore (30–75 μm) ranges, which may be the result of the reorganization of pore-size distribution and aggregation processes induced by the addition of biochar. Results indicated that biochar had the potential to improve the physical quality and pore-space status of clayey soil. It is suggested that biochar may be considered as a soil amendment for improving poor physical characteristics of clayey soil.
Intracellular and Tissue Levels of Vitamin B12 in Hepatocytes Are Modulated by CD320 Receptor and TCN2 Transporter

The liver mass constitutes hepatocytes expressing receptors for vitamin B12 (B12)-bound transporters in circulation. However, intrahepatic and circulating B12 interrelationship levels remain unclear. We assessed the intracellular B12 levels at various circulating B12 concentrations in human HepG2 cell-line and liver tissue levels of B12 in the C57BL/6 mouse model. In HepG2 cells treated with a range of B12 concentrations, the intracellular and circulatory B12 levels, transcript and protein levels of B12 receptor (CD320) and transporter (TCN2) were determined using immunoassays, qRT-PCR and Western blot, respectively. Similar assessments were done in plasma and liver tissue of C57BL/6 mice, previously fed a diet of either a high or low B12 (30.82 µg B12/kg and 7.49 µg B12/kg, respectively) for 8–10 weeks. The physiological B12 status (0.15–1 nM) resulted in increased levels of intracellular B12 in HepG2 cells compared to supraphysiological levels of B12 (>1 nM). Gene and protein expression of CD320 and TCN2 were also higher at physiological levels of B12. Progressively increasing extracellular B12 to supraphysiological levels led to relative decreased levels of intracellular B12, lower expression of gene and protein levels of CD320 and TCN2. Similar results were observed in liver tissue from mice fed on a low B12 diet verses high B12 diet. These findings suggest that unlike supraphysiological B12, physiological levels of B12 in the extracellular media or circulation accelerates active transport of B12, and expression of CD320 and TCN2, resulting in higher relative uptake of B12 in hepatocytes.
K48-Linked Ubiquitination Contributes to Nicotine-Augmented Bone Marrow-Derived Dendritic-Cell-Mediated Adaptive Immunity

K48-linked ubiquitination determining antigen degradation and the endosomal recruitments of p97 and Sec61 plays vital roles in dendritic cell (DC) cross-presentation. Our previous studies revealed that nicotine treatment increases bone marrow-derived dendritic cell (BM-DC) cross-presentation and promotes BM-DC-based cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) priming. But the effect of nicotine on K48-linked ubiquitination and the mechanism of nicotine-increased BM-DC cross-presentation are still uncertain. In this study, we first demonstrated that ex vivo nicotine administration obviously increased K48-linked ubiquitination in BM-DC. Then, we found that K48-linked ubiquitination was essential for nicotine-augmented cross-presentation, BM-DC-based CTL priming, and thereby the superior cytolytic capacity of DC-activated CTL. Importantly, K48-linked ubiquitination was verified to be necessary for nicotine-augmented endosomal recruitments of p97 and Sec61. Importantly, mannose receptor (MR), which is an important antigenic receptor for cross-presentation, was exactly catalyzed with K48-linked ubiquitination by the treatment with nicotine. Thus, these data suggested that K48-linked ubiquitination contributes to the superior adaptive immunity of nicotine-administrated BM-DC. Regulating K48-linked ubiquitination might have therapeutic potential for DC-mediated immune therapy.
Quantifying Step Count and Oxygen Consumption with Portable Technology during the 2-Min Walk Test in People with Lower Limb Amputation

Step counts and oxygen consumption have yet to be reported during the 2-min walk test (2MWT) test in persons with lower-limb amputations (LLA). The purpose of this study was to determine step counts and oxygen consumption during the 2MWT in LLA. Thirty-five men and women walked for two minutes as quickly as possible while wearing activity monitors (ActiGraph Link on the wrist (LW) and ankle (LA), Garmin vivofit®3 on the wrist (VW) and ankle (VA), and a modus StepWatch on the ankle (SA), and a portable oxygen analyzer. The StepWatch on the ankle (SA) and the vivofit3 on the wrist (VW) had the least error and best accuracy of the activity monitors studied. While there were no significant differences in distance walked, oxygen consumption (VO2) or heart rate (HR) between sexes or level of amputation (p > 0.05), females took significantly more steps than males (p = 0.034), and those with unilateral transfemoral amputations took significantly fewer steps than those with unilateral transtibial amputations (p = 0.023). The VW and SA provided the most accurate step counts among the activity monitors and were not significantly different than hand counts. Oxygen consumption for all participants during the 2MWT was 8.9 ± 2.9 mL/kg/min, which is lower than moderate-intensity activity. While some may argue that steady-state activity has not yet been reached in the 2MWT, it may also be possible participants are not walking as fast as they can, thereby misclassifying their performance to a lower standard.
Social Media Marketing in Sports: The Rise of Fan Engagement through Instagram

Background:The rapid growth of social media has profoundly impacted on how sports is being consumed by fans worldwide and the emergence of social media platforms such as Instagram which has become an increasingly popular tool used by sports organization for sharing visual content has increased fan engagement among sports fans. However, research on sports fan engagement through social media is still minimal. The purpose of this research is to determine how Instagram has risen to become one of the most popular tools used by sports organization as a medium of engaging fans worldwide. Methods:A comparative analysis of the total number of comments and likes/reactions from videos posted by Liverpool Football Club on their official YouTube, Facebook and Instagram channel for the month of January was conducted in order to gain more insight into which of the above-mentioned social media platforms fans interact and engage more with their team.Conclusion:The findings offered significant insight into how Instagram has more engagement as compared to Facebook and YouTube.
Interactions of Nanorod Particles in the Strong Coupling Regime

The plasmon coupling in a nanorod dimer obeys the exponential size dependence according to the universal plasmon ruler equation. However, it was shown recently that such a model does not hold at short nanorod distances (Nano Lett. 2009, 9, 1651). Here we study nanorod coupling in various cases, including a nanorod dimer with asymmetrical lengths and a symmetrical dimer with varying gap width. The asymmetrical nanorod dimer causes two plasmon modes: one is the attractive lower energy mode and the other the repulsive high-energy mode. Using a simple coupled LC-resonator model, the position of dimer resonance has been determined analytically. Moreover, we found that the plasmon coupling of a symmetrical cylindrical (or rectangular) nanorod dimer is governed uniquely by the gap width scaled for the (effective) rod radius rather than for the rod length. A new plasmon ruler equation without using the fitting parameters has been proposed which agrees well with the finite-difference time-domain calculations. The .
Information Density in Multi-Layer Resistive Memories

Resistive memories store information in a crossbar arrangement of two-terminal devices that can be programmed to patterns of high or low resistance. While extremely compact, this technology suffers from the “sneak-path” problem: certain information patterns cannot be recovered, as multiple low resistances in parallel make a high resistance indistinguishable from a low resistance. In this paper, a multi-layer device is considered, and the number of bits it can store is derived exactly and asymptotic bounds are developed. The information density of a series of isolated arrays with extreme aspect ratios is derived in the single- and multi-layer cases with and without peripheral selection circuitry. This density is shown to be non-zero in the limit, unlike that of the arrays with moderate aspect ratios previously considered. A simple encoding scheme that achieves capacity asymptotically is presented.
Coupled-cluster calculations of the electronic excitation spectrum of free base porphin in a polarized basis

Similarity transformed equation-of-motion coupled-cluster calculations on the excited states of free base porphin are reported. These are the first calculations to use polarization functions for all of the excited states, and the polarization functions are found to be very important for accurately describing the optically allowed states. These calculations strongly support the traditional interpretation of the electronic spectrum of free base porphin.
Synthesis of highly ordered nanoporous carbon molecular sieves from silylated MCM-48 using divinylbenzene as precursor

Calcined pure silica MCM-48 is modified by silylating its mesopores with trimethylsilyl chloride; such pore modification along with polymerization and carbonization of divinylbenzene as a carbon precursor is found to be a very efficient way of fabricating highly ordered carbon molecular sieves with three-dimensionally interconnected uniform pore arrays, greatly improving structural integrity and thermal stability.
Bacteriophages to Control Multi-Drug Resistant Enterococcus faecalis Infection of Dental Root Canals

Phage therapy is an alternative treatment to antibiotics that can overcome multi-drug resistant bacteria. In this study, we aimed to isolate and characterize lytic bacteriophages targeted against Enterococcus faecalis isolated from root canal infections obtained from clinics at the Faculty of Dentistry, Ismalia, Egypt. Bacteriophage, vB_ZEFP, was isolated from concentrated wastewater collected from hospital sewage. Morphological and genomic analysis revealed that the phage belongs to the Podoviridae family with a linear double-stranded DNA genome, consisting of 18,454, with a G + C content of 32.8%. Host range analysis revealed the phage could infect 10 of 13 E. faecalis isolates exhibiting a range of antibiotic resistances recovered from infected root canals with efficiency of plating values above 0.5. One-step growth curves of this phage showed that it has a burst size of 110 PFU per infected cell, with a latent period of 10 min. The lytic activity of this phage against E. faecalis biofilms showed that the phage was able to control the growth of E. faecalis in vitro. Phage vB_ZEFP could also prevent ex-vivo E. faecalis root canal infection. These results suggest that phage vB_ZEFP has potential for application in phage therapy and specifically in the prevention of infection after root canal treatment.
Towards Achieving Quality Education in Kenya: Safeguarding Sustainable Free Day Secondary Education

The Free Day Secondary Education (FDSE) was envisioned to make education in secondary schools more inexpensive and to enhance the success of students academically. These were to be attained via the reduction of user fees, textbooks provision, and other learning resources. However, stakeholders in this education sector are confronted with several problems. Many parents claim that FDSE is free, and this is probably going to influence their gathering of the other costs of education. It is against this background that the research sought to determine the effect of maximizing FDSE on the education quality in Kenya. The FDSE funds adequacy is vital in determining human capital quality available in Government free day secondary schools. Insufficiency of funds from the Free Day Secondary Education program conceded human capital quality. It is because the Free Day Secondary Education program failed to offer employment of human capital to manage the resultant enrolment increase and to provide capacity building of the present human capital to handle the changes evolving with the launch of the Free Day Secondary Education program. The rise of workload for the support staff and teachers also lessened the quality of personalized teaching they are supposed to provide to learners. However, due to the delay of FDSE funds' disbursement, the acquisition, motivation, and human capital sustenance were negatively impacted as the funds were not reliable. It implies that FDSE funds sufficiency significantly influences the human capital sufficiency available in Government free day secondary schools. Hence, free day secondary education impacts the human capital adequacy to a great extent in government day secondary schools. The Government should increase funds for FDSE allocated to government day secondary schools as the study revealed that they were not adequate to enhance full students' participation in government day secondary schools. This study recommends that there is need to put in place appropriate measures to ensure that the required facilities are put in place to support the entire FDSE program. Keywords: Free Day Secondary Education, Quality, Safeguarding, Sustainable, Kenya DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-33-09 Publication date: November 30 th 2020
Dependence of the Morphology of Nanostructured Titanium Oxide on Fluoride Ion Content

The influence of fluoride ions in oxalic acid electrolyte on the formation of titanium oxide nanotubes was investigated. When titanium is anodized in the absence of fluoride ions, porous titanium oxide arises for oxalic acid concentrations above 0.3 M or for applied voltages above 160 V. However, if 0.1 M fluoride ion is added to oxalic acid, nanotubes are observed at 20 V. By varying the concentration of NH 4 F to 0.15 M, flowerlike bursts, small pits, or nanorod structures are obtained. X-ray photoelectron spectra were used to show that chemical dissolution increases as the concentration of fluoride ions increases.
Process Innovation Promoters, Firm Performance and Moderating Role of Service Quality Practices in SACCOs in Kenya

The purpose of the study was to explore the relationship that exist between process innovation promoters and the performance of SACCOs in Kenya and the moderating effect of service quality practices. The primary data was collected from the Chief Executive Officers of the deposit taking SACCOs where a semi-structured questionnaire was administered. Data were analysed by employing Statistical Software for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 22 and structural equation modelling using AMOS version 25. The hypotheses in this study were tested using structural equation modelling and hierarchical moderated multiple regression (MMR). Overall, the study found out that, Process innovation promoters have positive influence on performance of SACCOs in Kenya. The study also found out that, service quality practices (R change) is 0.115 implying that the moderating effect of service quality practices gained 11.5% variance in the SACCOs, above and beyond the variance by process innovation promoters and performance.The study recommends that, SACCO management together with their partners should deliberately nurture a customer relationship management culture that will enable them realize positive performance that has been influenced by service quality practices and again SACCOs need to invest in an effective innovation process that will enable more employees graduate as process innovation promoters who will purposely focus on how service quality practices can be part of the firm culture and hence improving on their performance.