Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Preparation and properties of poly (lactic acid)/magnetic Fe3O4 composites and nonwovens

To develop degradable and magnetic PLA-based melt-blown (MB) nonwoven materials for air filtration applications, poly (lactic acid) (PLA)/magnetic Fe3O4 (PLA/Fe3O4) MB nonwovens were obtained by melt blowing using the PLA/Fe3O4 composites with different components prepared by melt-mixing as the masterbatch. The crystallization and melting behavior of the composites were examined with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Although the results showed that the Fe3O4 particles obviously hindered the cold crystallization process of PLA and the relative crystallinity degree of the composites decreased due to the addition of Fe3O4; there was no overall change in the crystal structure of PLA according to the wide-angle X-ray diffraction (XRD). Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and dynamic rheological measurements demonstrated that the introduction of Fe3O4 reduced the thermal stability of PLA. The effect of Fe3O4 particles on the morphology of the PLA/Fe3O4 composites and MB nonwovens was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It revealed that the Fe3O4 particles were dispersed in a PLA mixture with the “sea-island” structure, and the addition of Fe3O4 particles also made the fiber surface rough and the nonwoven web turned fluffy to some extent. The magnetic properties and filtration performance of the MB nonwovens were also investigated in detail.
Academic Performance Prediction of Undergraduate Students using Decision Tree Algorithm

Data mining is a technique for extracting meaningful information or patterns from large amounts of data. These techniques are frequently utilised for analysis and prediction in practically all fields around the world. It's employed in a variety of fields, including education, business, health care, fraud detection, financial banking, and manufacturing engineering. This study explores the Decision Tree data mining methodology for predicting undergraduate students' academic performance.
Environmental Emissions from Chemical Etching Synthesis of Silicon Nanotube for Lithium Ion Battery Applications

Silicon nanotubes (SiNTs) have been researched as a promising anode material to replace graphite in next-generation lithium ion batteries. Chemical etching synthesis of SiNTs is a simple, controllable and scalable process for SiNT fabrication, but the environmental emissions are of grave concern. In this paper, the process emissions from chemical etching synthesis of SiNTs as anode for lithium ion batteries is studied through experimental techniques, considering the categories of aqueous wastes, gaseous emissions, aqueous nano-particle emissions, and gaseous aerosol emissions. The synthesized SiNTs are measured at 10 μm length and 1–2.2 μm diameter, and can maintain a specific capacity of over 800 mAh/g after 100 cycles in battery testing. In aqueous waste, the chemical compositions of all elements participating in the chemical etching are experimentally determined, with AgNO3 and Co(NO3)2 identified as the major pollutants. The only gaseous emission generated from the chemical etching synthesis process is H2, with 0.0088 ± 0.0002 mol H2 generated to produce 1.0 mg SiNTs. The aqueous nanoparticle sizes are found to be between 250 nm and 1540 nm. A large number of aerosol nanoparticle emissions of up to 2.96 × 107 particles/cm3 are detected through in situ experimental measurement.
Digital Signal Processing

Smart wearable devices have become more and more popular in our daily life due to their unique power of “wearing-while-using. ” However, requirements of light weight and compact size lead to limited on-device resources in most wearable products, which hamper the development of wearable technology. Edge computing provides an opportunity for wearable devices to access more resources without violating the constraints on weight and size. In this article, we ﬁrst investigate the drawbacks of wearable devices and explore the potential of addressing such drawbacks by edge computing. Then we conduct a comprehensive survey on existing works from four aspects, i.e., computation scheduling, information perception, energy-saving, and security. Finally, we point out several future research directions worth our attention. We believe that wearable devices enhanced with edge computing technologies would bring more beneﬁts and convenience to our life shortly.
Relationships among Environmental Literacy, Locus of Control, and Future Orientation of STEM Students in the Philippines

This study reports on the status and correlations among environmental literacy (EL), locus of control (LOC), and future orientation (FO) of STEM students (N = 512). The EL results showed a low rate of students’ Environmental Knowledge but high Environmental Skills. The LOC results revealed that students believed that they could best create environmental impacts through recycling yet least by advocating on the environment. They were also more inclined to considering distant outcomes or consequences of their actions rather than focusing on their immediate needs. The STEM students’ academic background, convenience, and personal benefit among others might have contributed to correlation results of EL, LOC, and FO reported in this study. It is suggested that ample opportunities be given to students to improve their EL. This may include going beyond environmental theories and engaging students in authentic experiences to provide them with active roles in learning environmental topics. Moreover, these topics should not only be consistently integrated among the fields of sciences but also in other subjects making them interdisciplinary, meaningful, and relatable.
Comparative Evaluation of Urea and Effective Microbes Treated Finger Millet Straw on Feed Intake, Milk Yield and Composition of Lactating Crossbred Dairy Cows at BARC

The experiment was conducted at Bako agricultural research center to evaluate the effect of EM2 and urea treated finger millet straw supplemented with concentrate mix on feed intake, milk yield and composition of crossbred dairy cows. Four cows of same milk yield, body weight, stage of lactation, but differing parities were arranged in 4x4 Latin square design. The animals were provided with natural grass hay (T1), untreated finger millet straw (T2), EM2 treated finger millet straw (T3) and urea treated finger millet straw (T4) diet ad libitum and all treatments were supplemented with concentrate mix. Results of chemical analysis of the treated finger millet straw showed that the treated straw had good nutritive value. The daily dry matter (DM) and crude protein (CP) intakes were significantly (P<0.001) different among the treatments with the highest intake observed for cows fed EM2 and urea treated finger millet straw (T3 and T4). Milk yields varied significantly among the dietary treatments with the lower mean milk yield recorded for cows in T1 and T2 as compared to those in T3 and T4. This study indicated that EM2 and urea treated finger millet straw diet increased the net return. Feeding EM2 and urea treated finger millet straw with concentrate mix was found to be an effective approach to maximize the utilization of locally available feed resources for relatively high animal productivity during the dry season for small scale dairy keepers in rural areas. Therefore, the result demonstrated that EM2 and urea treated finger millet straw had better feeding value as compared to untreated finger millet straw and natural grass hay for lactating crossbred dairy cows.
Novelty Au Nanoparticles with Different Nano Sizes as an Acidity Sensor

The amazing wide range, applications of gold nanoparticles corresponding to excellent optical and electronic properties enhance utilization of Au NP as PH sensor. Gold nanoparticles were synthesized in simple and rapid Turkevich method to accomplish optical sensing technologies covalent or non-covalent, bonds formation causes, aggregation of the nanoparticles in the target substance. Au nanoparticles characterization was studied using XRD, UV-spectroscopy and SEM. XRD indicate polycrystalline. Nanoparticles with two different sizes according to reducing agent amount to obtain 20 30 nm. Optical energy gap was calculated for both particle size to find it (2.13) eV for 30nm particle size and (2.33) eV for 20nm.Scanning Electron Microscope showed spherical shape particles. PH test were performed to investigate efficiency of Au Np’s for PH sensor and that is found to be excellent results for both sizes with more efficiency for 30 nm due to its rough surface. Which is a fantastic tool and measurement device to test the pH of soil, food, and other puncture-worthy applications.
Seasonal variations of male reproductive parameters of Tomodon dorsatus from Southeastern Brazil

ABSTRACT: The morphology of the male reproductive tract of Tomodon dorsatus was described in the austral seasons of the year considering macroscopic and microscopic variables. For this purpose, 56 specimens from the herpetological collection of the “Instituto Butantan” were used. Fragments of the testes, kidneys and ductus deferens were collected and submitted to histological routine. The peak of the testicular volume was observed in the summer and the epithelium of the seminiferous tubules had higher height in the summer (p=0.001). The testes were active throughout the year, however, the spermiogenesis peaked in the summer. There were spermatozoa in the lumen of the ductus deferens in all seasons of the year. Renal length was higher in autumn (p=0.027), and renal width did not show a significant increase (p=0.237). The diameter and epithelial height of the sexual segment of the kidney (SSK) showed hypertrophy in winter and spring, coinciding with the mating period. Based on findings of this study, we can suggest that, at the population level, the reproductive cycle of T. dorsatus can be considered seasonal semi-synchronous, due to the peak of spermiogenic activity in the hot season, and discontinuous at the individual level.
The effects of site preparation equal those of seeding at a dryland restoration site: 6 years of plant community development

Dryland ecosystems generally require active restoration to recover from severe land degradation caused by resource and energy extraction operations. While seeding remains one of the most used forms of active restoration, land managers in dryland systems have generally had difficulty re‐establishing desirable plant communities, due in part to alterations in supporting ecosystem processes and the episodic nature of resource availability. In this study, we examined the impacts of site preparation, seeding, and livestock grazing on developing plant communities after the construction of a buried natural gas pipeline corridor in the southwestern United States. We monitored plant species cover and composition beginning with the second season of growth through the sixth. Analysis of each individual year show that conclusions from the initial year of data collection did not well represent the findings in the following years. The site preparation and topsoil treatment had an ongoing positive effect on richness and cover compared to the nearby baseline conditions, while seeding only further increased cover and richness in the first year of monitoring (second season of growth). However, without seeding, the plant communities were driven by ruderal, annual species, whereas the seeded plant communities were driven by desirable seeded perennial grasses and forbs. Grazing and trampling effects were not significant overall, and the effects of livestock may have been confounded with effects of small mammals due to the exclosure configuration. We suggest that the site preparation, topsoil treatment, and configuration linearity of the disturbance corridor allowed for high levels of natural recruitment.
Critical Role of Al Pair Sites in Methane Oxidation to Methanol on Cu-Exchanged Mordenite Zeolites

Cu-exchanged aluminosilicate zeolites have been intensively studied for the selective oxidation of methane to methanol via a chemical looping manner, while the nature of active Cu-oxo species for these catalysts is still under debate. This study inquired into the effects of Al distribution on methane oxidation over Cu-exchanged aluminosilicate zeolites, which provided an effective way to discern the activity difference between mononuclear and polynuclear Cu-oxo species. Specifically, conventional Na+/Co2+ ion-exchange methods were applied to quantify isolated Al and Al pair (i.e., Al−OH−(Si−O)1–3−Al−OH) sites for three mordenite (MOR) zeolites, and a correlation was established between the reactivity of the resultant Cu-MOR catalysts and the portions of the accessible framework Al sites. These results indicated that the Cu-oxo clusters derived from the Al pair sites were more reactive than the CuOH species grafted at the isolated Al sites, which is consistent with in situ ultraviolet-visible spectroscopic characterization and density functional theory calculations. Further theoretical analysis of the first C–H bond cleavage in methane on these Cu-oxo species unveiled that stabilization of the formed methyl group was the predominant factor in determining the reactivity of methane oxidation.
Smart Grid Modernization: Opportunities and Challenges

Recently, there have been significant technological approaches for the bulk power grid. The customer demand is associated with conventional grid coupled large central generating stations through a high voltage transmission to a distribution system. Urban transmission systems are consistently progressing to meet the increasing needs for power and to replace old-pattern generation with native renewable generation and power provisions from outward green energy resources. Power grid is undergoing remarkable modernization towards advanced consistency, greater efficiency, and less cost by the incorporation of renewable energy and developed control technology. Quick developing nature of grid, consumer needs, and industrial invention situates substation modernization at the leading of grid transformation. Smart grid is essential to accomplish all the fastest technological reformations occurring in generation, transmission and distribution (T&D) of electric power, with growing application of sensors, computers and communications. In this study the recent trend and application of electric power grid is briefly enunciated.
Preparation and Properties of Antheraea pernyi/Bombyx mori Silk Fibroin Blending Scaffold

Lots of research has indicated that materials contain Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) sequence can promote cell attachment and proliferation on them. Although Antheraea pernyi silk fibroin is a natural structural protein which contains RGD sequence, there are few studies on this kind of protein materials, for the regeneration of Antheraea pernyi silk fibroin from silk fibers is complicated and it is hard to be processed. In this paper, we present a water-insoluble Antheraea pernyi/Bombyx mori silk fibroin blending scaffold. The regenerated Antheraea pernyi silk fibroin (RASF) solution was prepared by dissolving degummed silk fibers at 100 °C and dialyzing at 4 °C. The regenerated Bombyx mori silk fibroin (RBSF) solution was prepared by dissolving degummed silk fibers at 60 °C and dialyzing at 20 °C. Regenerated silk fibroin solution was concentrated to 6 wt% solution in 10 wt% PEG solution. Based on RASF and RBSF solution, RBSF porous scaffold and RASF/RBSF blending scaffolds with different ratios were prepared through treating 1-butanol/SF solution under freezing at -20 °C. The volume ratio of 1-butanol to solution was 1∶2. RASF porous scaffold was not hard enough to hold itself, therefore the maximum content of RASF in blending scaffold was 70 wt%. With increasing of RASF content, pore sizes of scaffolds decreased from 250 μm to 150 μm and compressive strengths decreased from 280 kPa to 108 kPa, while the thermal stabilities increased. FTIR results demonstrated that the molecular conformation of silk fibroin was proven to be β-sheet, β-turn and α-helix. The biocompatibilities of scaffolds were demonstrated with in vitro cell culture. The results showed that L929 fibroblast and MC3t3-E1 osteoblast adhered, proliferated and migrated well into the scaffolds. The speed of cell proliferation accelerated with the increase of RASF content. Obviously, these regenerated silk fibroin scaffolds with good bio-compatibility could be used in tissue engineering field further.
Warp Drive with Positive Energy

Space and time traveling is one of the humanity’s most fascinating and challenging topics. The speed limitation makes space traveling highly difficult. Therefore, discovering the warp drive mechanism intrigued humanity to travel in space and time. Miguel Alcubierre proposed a model for warp drive. However, the energy density driven from the Alcubierre warp drive model turns to be negative everywhere. Erik Lentz proposed a shifting vector field in which we shall show that shifting vector field with appropriate spaceship geometry may provide positive energy density for warp drive. Further, we suggest looking at the spaceship geometry as a mother wavelet function with shifting, scaling, and rotation operations that may provide additional positive energy density. This sort of design requires a flexible fuselage that can be stretched and rotated.
Literacy Affects Brain Structure – What Can We Learn for Language Assessment in Low Literates?

ABSTRACT Testing language abilities is common in the context of migration. It has been observed that approximately 6.2 million adults in Germany are low literate and that approximately 47% of this group does not have German as their L1. Similar findings have been reported for other modern Western societies with compulsory schooling and a well-developed educational system. However, in most testing situations no exemptions are granted for low literate learners and the same tests are used irrespective of the level of reading proficiency. In this review we focus on brain imaging research showing that reading-related neural networks in the brain differ between (L1) low literate adults and adults with normal reading abilities. We argue that these differences in functional brain anatomy influence cognition in general and should form the basis for changes in the practice of granting exemptions in language testing involving low literate adults. Possible consequences for language assessment for different purposes are discussed. Furthermore, the reported influence of literacy on functional brain organization should be considered for decisions in the context of granting exemptions for low literates in language assessment. Keywords: review; low literates; fMRI; resting state; brain structure; language assessment.
A Systematic Approach to Identify the Breast Cancer Grades in Histopathological Images Using Deep Neural Networks

The main intent of the research is to develop an automated application that can determine the Nottingham Histologic Score of a given input histopathological image obtained from breast cancer or healthy tissues with DenseNet based architecture. In this study, we were able to obtain more than 94% accuracy rates for each trained model including 2-predict, 3-predict, and 4-predict networks.
SURFACE FREE ENERGY AND FLEXURAL PROPERTIES OF WOLLASTONITE FILLED POLYPROPYLENE COMPOSITES

Gunumuzde, araclarda gorsellik onemli bir faktordur. Bu nedenle, plastik parcalarda boya uygulamasi yaygin olarak kullanilmaktadir. Boyanin polimer yuzeyine yapismasi icin yuzey enerjisi onemli bir etkendir. Termoplastik polimerler arasinda, yuzey enerjileri daha yuksek oldugundan dolayi genellikle polikarbonat ve akrilonitril butadien stiren polimerleri yaygin olarak kullanilmaktadirlar. Dusuk yuzey enerjili malzemelerde ise flamaj, plazma, korona, mekanik daglama ve kimyasal daglama yontemleri kullanilarak yuzey enerjileri arttirilmaktadir. Bu calismanin amaci vollastonit (CaSiO3) katki malzemesi kullanilarak, polipropilen (PP) polimeri ile uretilen parcalara uygulanan on islemlerin ortadan kaldirilmasini saglayabilmektir. Bu amacla, agirlikca %40 katki iceren ve farkli boyut ve kaplamalardan olusan CaSiO3 katkili PP kompozitler ekstruzyon yontemi ile uretilmistir. Daha sonra, sicak presleme cihazi kullanilarak granullerden plakalar elde edilmistir. Plaka halinde uretilen kompozitlerin egilme ozellikleri ve yuzey serbest enerjisi olcumleri yapilmistir. Sonuclara bakildiginda, kucuk partikul boyutlu ve aminosilan kapli vollastonit katkili PP kompozitin toplam yuzey serbest enerjisinin %23 degerinde bir artisiyla, yuzey enerjisini arttirici bir ozelligi oldugu gorulmustur. Egilme mukavemetleri yuzey serbest enerjisi sonuclariyla ortusmektedir ve ayni katki icin %1.2 oraninda bir artis elde edilmistir.
Factors Affecting Job Satisfaction of Public Librarians: A Qualitative Exploration in the Kandy District, Sri Lanka

Employees are one of the main assets in any organization. Public libraries are prominent social entities which provide information and services to local communities to enhance their knowledge and learning. In order to provide quality and commendable services to the public, employees serving in public libraries should be satisfied with their job. Therefore, the assessment of employee satisfaction with their job is essential for organizational development. The main purpose of this study was to examine whether Public Librarians working in the Kandy District of Sri Lanka were satisfied with their job in terms of five facets: job role, work supervision, promotion, salary and co-worker relationships. Further, this study explored problems militating against the Public Librarians’ job satisfaction. A convenient sample of 27 librarians from public libraries in the Kandy District of Sri Lanka was selected for the study. Five focus group discussions using a semi structured interview guide were conducted. Interviews were analyzed using the thematic approach and content analysis. According to the findings, majority of the Public Librarians expressed satisfaction towards their job role and co-worker relationships where as most of them articulated negative opinions with regard to the facets of salary, promotion and work supervision. Based on the results, recommendations were exposed with a view to enhancing the level of job satisfaction among Public Librarians which will in turn contribute to the success of the public library sector in Sri Lanka.
Ozone: An Alternative Fumigant in Controlling the Stored Product Insects and Pests: A Status Report

ABSTRACT Effective management of agricultural commodities is of paramount importance for post-harvest storage. With its foremost oxidant property, ozone stands up as an emerging fumigant for controlling insects and pests. In that vein, the key focus of this study is to find the effectiveness of ozone as an alternative fumigant in grain storage, fruits, vegetable, and spices whereby 100% mortality was achieved in most insect species. An inquisitive investigation on the insect inactivation mechanism, effects on mortality, challenges in bulk storage, and quality changes are discussed. A brief comparison of ozone with other chemical fumigants and techniques confirmed its profound usage as a greener alternative fumigant.