Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Unsaturated mine tailings disposal

Filtered tailings is the disposal technology that is most likely to yield an unsaturated state of the tailings. Such state has important benefits. A dam to contain the mine wastes is no longer needed, the risk of polluting seepage is minimized, and liquefaction of tailings is prevented. Filtering also allows most of the water mixed with the tailings to be recovered and reused in the process. The resulting material can be handled with traditional soil moving equipment to form a stack, for instance. While the idea is simple, the multiple phenomena involved in the tailings unsaturated disposal make up a complex process. The present work is based on a case study, the Casposo Mine filtered tailings disposal facility, located in the central Andes of Argentina. Throughout ten years of operation, a series of field and laboratory studies have been carried out to characterize the phenomena that intervene in the disposal of filtered tailings. Two stages were studied in detail: air drying upon tailings discharge and tailings compression under the weight of the subsequent lifts of the stack. Flocculant agents were found to have an outstanding influence in the tailings behaviour. Because of the multiple influencing factors, the process outcome (namely, the tailings water content and their void ratio) is highly variable. To deal with such variability, projects must include enough redundancy. In this regard, the case study’s incorporation of waste rock layers interspersed between tailings layers was a successful experience.
Genetic engineering and genome editing techniques in peanut plants

Research has long been associated with human life. In the effort to make a living, many experts who have contributed to the modernization of traditional research methods by conducting various research activities. In this process, professionals, from farmers to senior researchers, have done their part by developing plants that can tolerate or resist to disease. The growing population, climate change and plant disease are having a devastating effect on food security. In particular, it is essential to increase food production by producing high yielding crops of good quality, that may ensure food security. Recently, different gene- editing technologies have been developed. These techniques have been applied in many research fields and their development has provided economic benefits to farmers. Agrobacterium-mediated and biolistic methods are very important techniques for transforming genetic materials in plants. Genome- editing technologies are recent and highly applied in plant research to improve genes associated with yield, disease resistance and drought resistance. For example, Zinc-finger Nucleases (ZFNS), Transcription Activator-like Effector Nucleases (TALEN), and Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats system (CRISPR/ Cas9) methods are now widely applied by researchers and are playing a positive role in increasing production and productivity. Of the gene- editing technology, CRISPR/ Cas9 is widely applied in plant breeding programme as it is easy to use and cost-effective. In this review, we mainly focus on peanut plant, which is an important oil-bearing allotetraploid crop. Therefore, peanut gene editing-technology could increase the oleic acid content in edible peanut oil. Thus, genome editing and gene transformation technologies are extensively explored in this review.
Image sharpening on 3D intensity data in deep turbulence with scintillated illumination

Image sharpening is a proven method to reconstruct 2D and 3D images in the presence of distributed volume turbulence with coherent illumination. Non-uniform illumination due to scintillation arises when illuminating a distant object through distributed volume turbulence and thus changes the underlying intensity pattern that is to be reconstructed. This paper examines the performance trends that arise when performing 3D image sharpening on a distant object with scintillated illumination patterns. We find that range images are relatively robust to scintillation and show how the quality of reconstructed range images decreases with increasing turbulence strength and when scintillated illumination is introduced.
Frailty in the Context of Older People Living With HIV

Despite advances in knowledge about older people living with HIV infection (PLWH), frailty remains a challenge to HIV care. Numerous studies have documented its impact; however, the concept remains unclear. Concept exploration of frailty in the context of older PLWH was conducted to provide a comprehensive understanding of the concept based on the Walker and Avant method. After the literature review, a concept analysis and a definition of frailty among older PLWH emerged. Implications for further practice, education, public policy, and research are presented to use the concept consistently, develop interventions to prevent frailty, and improve health outcomes.
Evaluation of convective boundary layer height estimates using radars operating at different frequency bands

Abstract. Knowledge of atmospheric boundary layer state and evolution is important for understanding air pollution and low level cloud development, among other things. There are a number of instruments and methods that are currently used to estimate boundary layer height (BLH). However, no single instrument is capable of providing BLH measurements in all weather conditions. We proposed a method to derive a daytime convective BLH using radar observations and investigated the consistency of these retrievals between different radars. We utilized data from three vertically-pointing radars that are available at the measurement station in Southern Finland: the C-band (5 GHz), Ka-band (35 GHz) and W-band (94 GHz). The Ka- or W- band cloud radars are an integral part of cloud profiling stations of pan-European Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure (ACTRIS). Our method will be utilized at ACTRIS stations to serve as an additional estimate of the BLH during summer months. During this period, echoes from insects and Bragg scatter are often recorded by radars. To retrieve a BLH, we suggested a mechanism to separate small insects that follow air motion and independently flying insects that works for all analyzed frequency bands. At the lower frequency (the C-band) insect scattering was separated from Bragg scattering using a combination of radar reflectivity factor and linear depolarization ratio. Retrieved values of the BLH from all radars are in a good agreement when compared to the BLH obtained with the co-located lidar and reanalysis dataset. Our method showed some underestimation of the BLH after night-time heavy precipitation yet demonstrated a potential to serve as a reliable method to obtain a BLH during clear-sky days. Additionally, the entrainment zone was observed by the C-band radar above the CBL in a form of a Bragg scatter layer. Aircraft observations of vertical profiles of potential temperature and water vapor mixing ratio, collected in the vicinity of the radar, demonstrated some agreement with the Bragg scatter layer.
Behavioural intention to adopt blockchain technology in Bangladeshi banking companies

Banking is a business of trust and transparency. Unfortunately, recent financial scams in the banking industry of Bangladesh have thrown a big question in terms of reliability and transparency. On the other hand, the emergence of blockchain technology has created new hope in terms of ensuring transparency in the baking system. However, before implementing any new technology, it is essential to understand the stakeholders’ intention to adopt it. This study is an attempt to explain the factors driving the intention to adopt blockchain in the banking industry. Though, there much behavioural theory to explain technology adoption, extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is used in this research because of its proven record in explaining technology acceptance. The research is conducted with the bank employees as the respondents. A total of 300 questionnaires have been distributed while 215 useable questionnaires were found for the analysis of this study. Two internal factors, as seen in the original TAM called perceived usefulness and ease of use, are found significant in describing the intention to adopt blockchain. On the other hand, two additional external variables called social influence and trust are analyzed. Trust is found to be significant, while the social influene was not statistically significant in this regard. The four independent variables together explain 48% variation in the intention to adopt blockchain technology for the banking industry. The implication of this research is significant. If the banks intend to adopt and operate blockchain, this research will provide them with a good picture of what managerial actions are essential for its adoption.
Thermal and dielectric properties of ferroelectric lead germanate single crystals doped with chromium ions (Pb5Ge3O11:Cr3+)

ABSTRACT Single crystals of Pb5Ge3O11 (PGO), pure and doped with Cr3+ ions, were grown by means of Czochralski and Kyropoulos method, respectively. Structural, microstructural, thermodynamic and dielectric properties were investigated in terms of Cr3+-doping. The temperature dependences of molar heat capacity in the range 120–700 K at constant pressure (cp) for PGO and PGO:Cr3+ (0.2%) crystals were shown. Wide λ-shape anomalies correspond to the second-order phase transitions from ferroelectric to the paraelectric phase taking place at 453 K and 431 K for PGO and PGO:Cr3+ (0.2%), respectively. The temperature dependences of cp for investigated crystals were approximated by the Einstein function and near the Curie temperature the cp reaches the classical Dulong-Petit limited value ∼475 J·mol−1·K−1. Temperature dependences of dielectric permittivity measured along and perpendicular to the ferroelectric axis in the temperature range 300–550 K are investigated. These studies revealed anisotropic behavior of PGO and PGO:Cr3+ (0.2%) crystals.
Optimal site selection for wind energy: a case study

ABSTRACT Renewable energy sources (RES) have gained attraction in recent years. The optimal site selection problem is one of the most important problems in the area of RES. In this study, the optimum site selection problem for wind energy, which is one of the RES types, is discussed. Eighty-one provinces in Turkey are evaluated using the Pareto diagram and the provinces with high potential wind energy are obtained. Long-term electricity consumption estimates are performed for the 13 provinces using ARIMA and Time Series Analysis methods. Also, in the article, an integrated optimum site selection problem in GAMS 23.5 software is modeled by the predicted future energy demand. As a result of the study, the total 41 installation decisions are made for the strategic optimal site selection decision between 2021 and 2025 years. Minimizing the total cost proposed as an objective function of the developed mathematical programming model, the total cost is found as 52526500 currency unit. It is seen that the decision to install the power plant is mostly made for Balıkesir, Çanakkale and İzmir, and the number of plants for the provinces are 6, 6 and 5, respectively. The computational results show that the developed model produces effective solutions and minimizes the total cost by focusing on strategic optimal site decisions. According to the sensitivity analysis results, increasing the percentage of use in wind energy approximately 4–5% from 3.5% in total percentage will reduce the total cost by approximately 3.62%.
Improved double Fourier series on a sphere and its application to a semi-implicit semi-Lagrangian shallow water model

Abstract. The computational cost of a spectral model using spherical harmonics (SH) increases significantly at high resolution because the transform method with SH requires O(N3) operations, where N is the truncation wavenumber. One way to solve this problem is to use double Fourier series (DFS) instead of SH, which requires O(N2 log N) operations. This paper proposes a new DFS method that improves the numerical stability of the model compared with the conventional DFS methods by adopting the following two improvements: a new expansion method that employs the least-squares method (or the Galerkin method) to calculate the expansion coefficients in order to minimize the error caused by wavenumber truncation, and new basis functions that satisfy the continuity of both scalar and vector variables at the poles. In the semi-implicit semi-Lagrangian shallow water model using the new DFS method, the Williamson test cases 2 and 5 and the Galewsky test case give stable results without the appearance of high-wavenumber noise near the poles, even without using horizontal diffusion. The new DFS model is faster than the SH model, especially at high resolutions, and gives almost the same results.
Vascular Flora of Adobe Valley and Surrounding Hills, Mono County, California

Adobe Valley and the Adobe Hills lie east of the Sierra Nevada in Mono County, California, and are within the Great Basin Floristic Province. The flora of Adobe Valley and the surrounding hills is influenced by the Great Basin Desert to the east, the Sierra Nevada to the west and the northern Mojave Desert to the south. Adobe Valley is surrounded by the Adobe Hills, Benton Range and Glass Mountain region, creating a circular closed basin with many small tributaries feeding into it. This topography contributes to the creation of a rare wetland complex, including alkali meadows, marshes, and lakes at the base of the hills, which represent some of the more botanically interesting terrain in the region. Prior to this study, the wetland complex of Adobe Valley had not been systematically investigated with regard to its botanical diversity. The vegetation types associated with the wetland complex are listed as threatened by the California Natural Diversity Database and face a number of conservation concerns including water pumping, overgrazing, and possible wind energy development. A total of 1525 herbarium specimens were collected within the study area over 59 days in the field from 2016 to 2018. The vascular flora of the Adobe Valley and Hills includes 397 minimum-rank vascular plant taxa, representing 194 genera and 61 families. Six taxa are only known from historical collections, 21 taxa are non-native and 27 taxa have conservation status. The results of the inventory are presented here in an annotated checklist, along with descriptions of vegetation alliances.
Online Determination of Colloidal Properties of Tannin Solutions under Microwave Irradiation using a Modified Zetasizer

Abstract A rapid and exact method for the determination of the colloidal properties of tannin solutions following microwave irradiation was developed and validated using a modified zetasizer. The accuracy and feasibility online detection compared with the conventional method were characterized by the particle size and zeta potential of the tannin solutions treated with microwave irradiation using the optimized conditions, including the tannin concentration, microwave radiation time, and temperature. The results showed that the values determined by the online method presented a linear relationship at a tannin concentration of 4 g/L, microwave times of 30–90 min, and temperatures from 25 to 40 °C. These values were essentially unchanged using conventional detection. In addition, the online method is feasible for both hydrolyzable and condensed tannins. Ten parallel measurements had relatively small standard deviations, showing that the precision was within acceptable limits. Therefore, the online method is appropriate for the characterization of tannin colloidal properties treated with microwave radiation which may have practical applications.
In silico Study of Potential Non-oxime Reactivator for Sarin-inhibited Human Acetylcholinesterase

The search for new compounds other than oxime as potential reactivator that is effective upon organophosphate poisoning treatments is desired. The less efficacy of oxime treatment has been the core factor. Fourteen compounds have been screened via in silico approach for their potential as sarin-inhibited human acetylcholinesterase poisoning antidotes. The selection of the compounds to be synthesized based on this computational screening, reduces the time and cost needed. To perform the docking study of sarin-inhibited acetylcholinesterase and reactivator-sarin inhibited acetylcholinesterase complexations, a bioinformatics tool was used. Estimation of the nucleophilic attack distance and binding energy of fourteen potential compounds with sarin inhibited acetylcholinesterase complexes to determine their antidote capacities was carried out using Autodock. A commercially available antidote, 2-PAM was used for the comparison. The best docked-pose was further examined with molecular dynamics simulation. Apart from being lipophilic, a compound with a carboxylic acid, (R)-Boc-nipecotic acid is shown to exhibit 6.29 kcal/mol binding energy with 8.778 Å distance of nucleophilic attack. The stability and flexibility of the sarin-inhibited acetylcholinesterase, complexed with (R)-Boc-nipecotic acid suggests this compound should be tested experimentally as a new, promising antidote for sarin-inhibited acetylcholinesterase poisoning.
Parasitic Contamination of Local Drinking Water Sources in Aba Metropolis, Abia State, Nigeria

Water-borne parasitic infections have become a source of concern in recent times due to the contamination of various water sources. A survey on the parasitic contamination of local drinking water sources in Aba metropolis was carried out between August and October 2018. This was done to evaluate the extent of contamination of these water sources and their public health implications. A total number of eighty (80) water samples were investigated from five (5) major water sources within the study area using the standard sedimentation method and examined for parasite cysts, eggs and larvae. Physical/macroscopic examination was done to determine the pH, colour, odour, temperature and presence/absence of particles. Among the water sources analyzed, stream water samples had the highest rate of parasite contamination 27 (44.3%) followed by river water 14 (22.9%) while the least contaminated was borehole 7 (11.5%). Rainwater was found free from parasitic infestation. The differences in the level of contamination among the water sources analyzed were found to be statistically significant (P<0.05). Five parasites Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia lamblia, Ascaris lumbricoides of Entamoeba coli and Hookworm were observed. Each of the sample sources except rainwater harbored at least one of these. Among these parasites, Giardia lamblia had the highest rate occurrence of 15 (24.6%), followed by Entamoeba histolytica 14 (22.9%) and the least frequently occurring parasite was hookworm 8 (13.1%). Most of the identified water sources are utilized by the populace who lack access to potable water. The detection of protozoan and helminthic parasites in drinking water sources is a serious public health concern, hence the proper implementation of a supply of safe drinking water is vital.
Evaluating software tools to conduct systematic reviews: a feature analysis and user survey

Systematic reviews are research synthesis methods increasingly used in educational research to support evidence-based decision making. The conduction of a systematic review is a complex process with several phases usually supported by software tools. These tools used at the international level are not currently common in the Italian educational research. This work describes four software tools used in the international educational research and evaluates their general functionality and specific features’ usability to conduct the systematic review phases of study screening and selection. For this purpose, this study uses two methods: a feature analysis (Kitchenham et al., 1997) and an expert survey (Harrison et al., 2020). The results of both investigation methods agree to consider Covidence and Rayyan the most functional software tools in conducting SR. Among the four tools, ASReview has the greatest potential for making the process of a SR more efficient. Una valutazione dei software per condurre revisioni sistematiche: analisi delle caratteristiche e sondaggio a esperti Le revisioni sistematiche sono metodi di sintesi di ricerca sempre più utilizzati in campo educativo al fine di supportare il processo decisionale basato su evidenze. La conduzione di una revisione sistematica, poiché complessa e su più fasi, è sovente supportata in ambito internazionale da software specifici attualmente poco diffusi nella ricerca educativa italiana. Il contributo presenta quattro software utilizzati nella ricerca educativa internazionale e valuta le funzionalità generali e l’usabilità di caratteristiche specifiche per condurre le fasi di screening e di selezione degli studi. A questo scopo lo studio impiega i metodi dell’analisi delle caratteristiche (Kitchenham et al., 1997) e del sondaggio ad esperti in revisioni sistematiche (Harrison et al., 2020) in campo educativo. I risultati di entrambi i metodi di indagine concordano nel ritenere Covidence e Rayyan gli strumenti più funzionali per condurre revisioni sistematiche, mentre ASReview risulta il software con maggiore potenzialità per rendere il processo più efficiente.
Pemberdayaan Aplikasi Mobile dalam Peningkatan Kegiatan dan Informasi pada Dewan Dakwah Lampung

Dakwah dalam Islam merupakan salah satu lembaga syiar agama. Seperti dalam sejarah, syiar agama menggunakan beberapa metode dan alat yang disesuaikan dengan kondisi dan tempatnya. Saat ini, perkembangan teknologi menjadi hal yang melekat pada masyarakat. Tantangannya adalah bagaimana memberikan informasi yang mudah dan dapat dijangkau oleh pengguna. Lembaga Dewan Dakwah Islam diharapkan dapat menjadi sumber informasi atau acuan dalam penyampaian informasi terutama kepada pengurus masjid. Seperti informasi terkait jadwal shalat, rukun zakat, ataupun arah kiblat yang menjadi hal dasar yang digunakan oleh pengurus masjid. Sosialisasi aplikasi mobile dilakukan dihadapan para pengurus Lembaga dan perwakilan takmir masjid. Penggunaan aplikasi dilakukan guna membantu pihak Dewan Dakwah Lampung dalam memberikan informasi kepada masyarakat langsung melalui gawai. Hasil pengujian memberikan nilai dalam kategori sangat baik dengan 97,22 %. Namun dibutuhkan beberapa fitur tambahan seperti, arah kiblat, jadwal shalat dan lainnya dalam aplikasi mobile.
The Impact of Economic Size of Government on Income Distribution: Evidence from OECD Countries

In this study, the relationship between taxes and public expenditures, that show the government ˈ s economic size and income distribution, is analyzed. In the study covering the period 2000-2017 for 24 OECD countries, the Two-Step System Generalized Method of Moments and the bootstrap version of Dumitrescu-Hurlin (2012) panel causality test were used. According to the results of the Two-Step System Generalized Method of Moments, the expansion in the government ˈ s economic size increases the inequality. Findings of the panel causality test show unidirectional causality from taxes and expenditures to Gini. Öz Bu çalı ş mada, devletin ekonomik büyüklü ğ ünü gösteren vergi gelirleri ve kamu harcamaları de ğ i ş kenleri ile gelir da ğ ılımı ili ş kisi incelenmi ş tir. 24 OECD ülkesi için 2000-2017 dönemini kapsayan çalı ş mada İ ki A ş amalı Sistem Genelle ş tirilmi ş Momentler Yöntemi ve Dumitrescu-Hurlin (2012) panel nedensellik testinin bootstrap versiyonu kullanılmı ş tır. İ ki A ş amalı Sistem Genelle ş tirilmi ş Momentler Yöntemi’nin sonuçlarına göre, devletin ekonomik büyüklü ğ ündeki geni ş leme gelir e ş itsizli ğ ini artırmaktadır. Panel nedensellik testinin bulguları ise, vergi ve harcamalardan Gini Katsayısına do ğ ru tek yönlü bir nedenselli ğ in oldu ğ unu göstermektedir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Devletin Ekonomik Büyüklü ğ ü, Gelir Da ğ ılımı, OECD Ülkeleri, Panel Nedensellik, Sistem Genelle ş tirilmi ş Momentler Yöntemi