Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessment of Bioaccumulating Ability of Mariscus longibrateatus and Effects of Effluents from Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company on the Plant

The operations of Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) lead to the generation of effluents. Plants growing in the drain are in constant exposure to these effluents. Mariscus longibrateatus, which is the most abundant plant species growing in the drain, was studied to determine the effects of the effluents on the plant. Plant samples and soil on which the plant grows, were analyzed for heavy metals. Manganese (1.30mg/g) and copper (1.30mg/g) had the highest concentration of heavy metals in the roots. The plant samples had thinner leaves than the control plant, which may be attributed to dehydration and some hidden injuries. The leaf whole vascular bundle of the studied plants ranged from 19085–20790µm2 whereas phloem and xylem area ranged from 3995 – 4290µm2 and 6584-7004µm2 respectively. Transfer and bioaccumulation factors revealed that heavy metals were not effectively transferred from the root to the stem, but the plant was able to survive in the drain containing KRPC effluents. It is concluded that the effluents caused some changes in the plant. It can be inferred that Mariscus longibrateatus are tolerant to the toxicants in the effluents, and therefore, this plant species is recommended for bioremediation study because of its tolerant ability to heavy metals.
An Updated Assessment of the Changing Arctic Sea Ice Cover

Sea ice is an essential component of the Arctic climate system. The Arctic sea ice cover has undergone substantial changes in the past 40+ years, including decline in areal extent in all months (strongest during summer), thinning, loss of multiyear ice cover, earlier melt onset and ice retreat, and later freeze-up and ice advance. In the past 10 years, these trends have been further reinforced, though the trends (not statistically significant at p <0.05) in some parameters (e.g., extent) over the past decade are more moderate. Since 2011, observing capabilities have improved significantly, including collection of the first basin-wide routine observations of sea ice freeboard and thickness by radar and laser altimeters (except during summer). In addition, data from a year-long field campaign during 2019–2020 promises to yield a bounty of in situ data that will vastly improve understanding of small-scale processes and the interactions between sea ice, the ocean, and the atmosphere, as well as provide valuable validation data for satellite missions. Sea ice impacts within the Arctic are clear and are already affecting humans as well as flora and fauna. Impacts outside of the Arctic, while garnering much attention, remain unclear. The future of Arctic sea ice is dependent on future CO2 emissions, but a seasonally ice-free Arctic Ocean is likely in the coming decades. However, year-to-year variability causes considerable uncertainty on exactly when this will happen. The variability is also a challenge for seasonal prediction.
Diagnostic accuracy of antigen-detection rapid diagnostic tests for diagnosis of COVID-19 in low-and middle-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Antigen detection rapid diagnostic tests (Ag-RDTs) used for detecting severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) nucleocapsid protein are inexpensive, faster and easy to use alternative of Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT) for diagnosis of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we assessed the diagnostic accuracy of Ag-RDTs in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). We included studies that evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of Ag-RDTs (sensitivity and specificity) against reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) as a reference standard. The study population comprised of people living in LMICs irrespective of age and gender, who had undergone testing for COVID-19. We included peer reviewed prospective or retrospective cohort studies, cross-sectional studies, case control studies, randomized clinical trials (RCTs) as well as non-randomized experimental studies which addressed the review question. A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, Scopus, and Google Scholar to identify studies published between 1 January, 2020 and 15 August, 2021. The Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (QUADAS)-2 tool was used to assess the methodological quality of studies. The analysis was done using Review Manager 5.4 and R software 4.0. 2. From the total of 12 diagnostic accuracy studies with 4,817 study participants, pooled sensitivity and specificity were 78.2% and 99.5% respectively. Sensitivity was marginally higher in subgroup analysis based on studies with low risk of bias and applicability concerns (78.9%) and studies using SD Biosensor Ag-RDT (79.4%). However, an inverse relation between cycle threshold (Ct) and sensitivity of Ag-RDT was not seen. The review demonstrated pooled sensitivity value approaching the minimum performance requirement for diagnosis of COVID-19 by WHO with specificity value meeting the specified requirement. Ag-RDTs, therefore have the potential to be used as a screening tool for SARS-CoV-2 detection in low resource settings where RT-PCR might not be readily accessible. However, false negative results need to be interpreted with caution.
EVALUATION OF WATER QUALITY STANDARDS AND SANITARY CONDITIONS IN MONIYA ABATTOIR, IBADAN, NIGERIA

This work examined the sanitary conditions and water quality standards in Moniya abattoir in Akinyele Local Government area of Oyo State, Nigeria. Samples were collected from the hand-dug well, bore hole and from strategic locations inside the stream that serves as discharge point for all the slurry from the abattoir. The samples were analysed for physico-chemical and biological parameters. The results showed that parameter like temperature 36.4 0 C was having value outside the WHO limits as a result of microbiological activities since the samples contain high level of BOD. Higher value of iron, 3.99mgL -1 is suspected to come from blood washed into the water and leachates to underground water. There is also higher concentration of manganese, 3.73mgL -1 but this was traced to the properties of aquifer on which the abattoir is located. From the bacteria assessment, the samples were polluted with pathogenic organisms of faecal origin.
Time-Varying Effects of External Shocks on Macroeconomic Fluctuations in Peru: An Empirical Application using TVP-VAR- SV Models

Este estudio utiliza una familia de modelos VAR con coeficientes cambiantes en el tiempo y volatilidad estocástica (TVP-VAR-SV) para analizar el impacto de los choques externos en el crecimiento de la producción y la inflación en el Perú en 1992Q1-2017Q1. La relevancia estadística de los modelos se evalúa utilizando el criterio de información de desviación (DIC) y la verosimilitud marginal calculada utilizando el método de entropía cruzada (CE). Los resultados muestran que: (i) es más relevante introducir SV que TVP; es decir, el mejor modelo de ajuste admite solo interceptos variables y SV; y TVP-VAR y CVAR son los modelos menos favorecidos por los datos; (ii) las funciones impulso respuestas de los modelos indican que los impactos de los choques externos son diferentes bajo alta inflación, crisis económica y el cambio de política monetaria, con un mayor impacto en los episodios de alta incertidumbre; (iii) el impacto y la importancia de los choques externos ha aumentado con el tiempo; y (iv) los resultados son robustos a los cambios en las priors, la estructura de rezagos, el orden de las variables, la variable externa y la variable para la actividad económica doméstica.
DIVERSITY BRANCH SELECTION IN REAL WORLD APPLICATION

Multipath propagation continues to be the dominant channel impairment in many aeronautical mobile telemetry (AMT) applications. Avoidance and diversity techniques continue to be the only practical means to combat this problem. In 2004 limited results from the development of a new post-detection, no-hit diversity selector were reported. Late breaking results from flight test were reported orally. A review of the methodology, flight test results and conclusions are presented in this paper. Also presented is an update describing enhancements of the implementation which emphasize operational flexibility as well as support for alternate demodulator products.
Thermal Conductivity of GaAs Nanowire Arrays Measured by the 3ω Method

Vertical nanowire (NW) arrays are the basis for a variety of nanoscale devices. Understanding heat transport in these devices is an important concern, especially for prospective thermoelectric applications. To facilitate thermal conductivity measurements on as-grown NW arrays, a common NW-composite device architecture was adapted for use with the 3ω method. We describe the application of this technique to obtain thermal conductivity measurements on two GaAs NW arrays featuring ~130 nm diameter NWs with a twinning superlattice (TSL) and a polytypic (zincblende/wurtzite) crystal structure, respectively. Our results indicate NW thermal conductivities of 5.2 ± 1.0 W/m-K and 8.4 ± 1.6 W/m-K in the two samples, respectively, showing a significant reduction in the former, which is the first such measurements on TSL NWs. Nearly an order of magnitude difference from the bulk thermal conductivity (~50 W/m-K) is observed for the TSL NW sample, one of the lowest values measured to date for GaAs NWs.
Opposition-Based Multi-tiered Grey Wolf Optimizer for Stochastic Global Optimization Paradigms

Researchers are increasingly using algorithms that are influenced by nature because of its ease and versatility, the key components of nature-inspired metaheuristic algorithms are investigated, involving divergence and adoption, investigation and utilization, and dissemination techniques. Grey Wolf Optimizer (GWO), a relatively recent algorithm influenced by the dominance structure and poaching deportment of grey wolves, is a very popular technique for solving realistic mechanical and optical technical challenges. Half of the recurrence in the GWO are committed to the exploration and the other half to exploitation, ignoring the importance of maintaining the correct equilibrium to ensure a precise estimate of the global optimum. To address this flaw, a Multi-tiered GWO (MGWO) is formulated, that further accomplishes an appropriate equivalence among exploration and exploitation, resulting in optimal algorithm efficiency. In comparison to familiar optimization methods, simulations relying on benchmark functions exhibit the efficacy, performance, and stabilization of MGWO.
Fabrication and characterization of compliant off-chip double helix and carbon nanotube interconnect

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) type double helix chip-level electrical interconnect structures are fabricated and characterized in this work. Due to their springlike structure, double helix interconnects have the potential to provide mechanical compliance to compensate for nonidealities, such as nonplanarity and thermal expansion mismatch between chips and substrates. A double helix configuration provides for structures with a high volumetric density of conductor for enhanced current carrying capability and lower electrical resistance. The fabrication process is compatible with wafer-level fabrication and packaging. Instead of using soldered interconnections, the double helix interconnects use pressure to make electrical connection and provide sufficiently low resistance, which is estimated to be approximately 35 ± 15 mΩ in this work. Large arrays of double helix structures have been fabricated and characterized with high yield. The mechanical and electrical models of the structures are presented. Reworkability tests were performed and the structures show a consistent resistance over 50 remating cycles. To characterize the high frequency performance, the double helix were designed and fabricated on top of coplanar waveguides (CPW) as flip-chip interconnects. The structure was characterized and simulated in High Frequency Structural Simulator (HFSS) up to 50 GHz. The measured insertion and reflection loss were less than -0.6 dB and -15 dB, respectively. Other than using a structurally compliant interconnect, one can also use flexible material to gain compliance. A reliable solution-based process to fabricate thick carbon nanotube (CNT)
Switch-and-inverter based adaptive subarrays for hybrid mmWave multi-user MIMO systems

ABSTRACT The hybrid precoding design is considered for a millimeter-wave (mmWave) multi-user (MU) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) downlink communication system. A small quantity of more energy-efficient switches and inverters (SIs) are being substituted for a large amount of high-resolution phase shifters (PSs) in the analog precoder of the mmWave MIMO system. This SI-based hybrid precoding architecture reduces significantly both the hardware complexity and energy consumption and thus enhances substantially the transmission energy efficiency (EE). On the basis of the achievable sum-rate (ASR) maximization, the SI-based overlapped subarray (OSA) hybrid precoding is exploited. Compared with the traditional SI-based sub-connected (SC) array configurations, the greater the overlapping antenna elements, the better the transmission ASR performance, and the nearer the fully PS-based precoding configuration. Finally, the SI-based hybrid precoding is equipped with the Gram–Schmidt orthogonalization (GSO) based dynamic subarray mapping and antenna selection (AS) mechanism to improve further the EE measure while maintaining excellent ASR performance.
Rectification and validation of a daily satellite-derived Antarctic sea ice velocity product

Abstract. Antarctic sea ice kinematics plays a crucial role in shaping the Southern Ocean climate and ecosystems. Satellite passive-microwave-derived sea ice motion data have been used widely for studying sea ice motion and deformation, and they provide daily global coverage at a relatively low spatial resolution (in the order of 60 km × 60 km). In the Arctic, several validated datasets of satellite observations are available and used to study sea ice kinematics, but far fewer validation studies exist for the Antarctic. Here, we compare the widely used passive-microwave-derived Antarctic sea ice motion product by Kimura et al. (2013) with buoy-derived velocities and interpret the effects of satellite observational configuration on the representation of Antarctic sea ice kinematics. We identify two issues in the Kimura et al. (2013) product: (i) errors in two large triangular areas within the eastern Weddell Sea and western Amundsen Sea relating to an error in the input satellite data composite and (ii) a more subtle error relating to invalid assumptions for the average sensing time of each pixel. Upon rectification of these, performance of the daily composite sea ice motion product is found to be a function of latitude, relating to the number of satellite swaths incorporated (more swaths further south as tracks converge) and the heterogeneity of the underlying satellite signal (brightness temperature here). Daily sea ice motion vectors calculated using ascending- and descending-only satellite tracks (with a true ∼ 24 h timescale) are compared with the widely used combined product (ascending and descending tracks combined together, with an inherent ∼ 39 h timescale). This comparison reveals that kinematic parameters derived from the shorter-timescale velocity datasets are higher in magnitude than the combined dataset, indicating a high degree of sensitivity to observation timescale. We conclude that the new generation of “swath-to-swath” (S2S) sea ice velocity datasets, encompassing a range of observational timescales, is necessary to advance future research into sea ice kinematics.
Topical Intranasal Corticosteroids Compared with Systemic Steroids in the Treatment of Eustachian Tube Dysfunction in Children

Background: Using corticosteroids in treatment of ETD has been the focus of various studies in which many of them suggested that either topical intranasal corticosteroids or systemic oral steroids are helpful in the management of ETD. The aim of the work was for comparing the efficacy of topical intranasal corticosteroids with that of systemic oral steroids in the treatment of ETD. Patients and Methods: prospective trial on 100 consecutive patients in the age group of 6- 12 years with an intact TM as to be documented on otoscopic examination and with an ETD as to be documented with a tympanogram type C. Subjects were allocated equally into two groups group 1: had intranasal corticosteroids and group 2: had systemic oral steroids. Data such as ear complaint, patient history, general investigation, otorhinolaryngological clinical check, tympanometry, pure tone audiometry and treatment, if taken were collected from all the patients. Results: The decrease in tympanograms type C after treatment was correlated with the increase in type A tympanograms which indicate complete resolution of the condition in both tested groups of both treatment arms. Difference between the two study groups regarding tympanogram type C normalization shows no statistically significant difference between each treatment arm. Pure tone audiometry results indicate an improvement in the subjects HL after management in both examined groups, but results weren’t statistically significant. Conclusions: Using corticosteroids, whether oral or intranasal, in the management of ETD is effective in resolving the condition, but there is no significant difference between the two in the outcome results and so oral steroid complications could be avoided by using local steroid spray.
Social media industries: bridging the gap between theory and practice

This study investigates emerging roles in social media work across a range of professions and organisations, and the transforming media and communications environment associated with digital technologies, big data and social media platforms. We use the umbrella term ‘social media industries’ to point to the emergence of a distinctive site of services, products, markets, audiences, professions and forms of labour that revolve around social media. As a snapshot and ‘moment in time’ study, we examine job market data and report on in-depth interviews with 18 specialists in social media communications from 12 different organisations. To better understand the implications of these changes for universities we conducted focus group interviews with students. Our participants emphasized that this is a fast moving field and we acknowledge that this research must be ongoing. However, as well as informing media and communication curriculum design, the analysis presented also tells us a great deal about emerging contexts for what we might call social media work. Key Findings and Highlights A large number of new jobs are targeting social media expertise, across a very wide range of industries. 21% of social media jobs in our data set fell into traditional Communications and Marketing fields, while 26% were situated within Retail and Hospitality The retail and hospitality sectors are employing social media specialists to expand promotions, build a brand and organise events, as well as to develop communities or ‘fans’. These roles complement the movement into online retail and away from bricks and mortar selling. Organisations are increasingly restructuring to incorporate social media work. Definitions of social media across organisations varied greatly and depended heavily on the uses to which it was put. Media agencies in particular see the complexity and integrated or ‘ecological’ character of the media and communications environment, and emphasise the need to think broadly about what social media is. Organisations often struggle to negotiate and keep pace with changes to social media platforms, such as Facebook’s ‘pay-to-play’ model for organisational Pages. Social media specialists require a balanced skill set that go beyond traditional marketing to include multimedia content production skills, storytelling and communication skills, data analytics and critical analysis capabilities. Experience rather than qualifications is currently more important in making new appointments. Social media community management work requires a unique and diverse skill set, and is seen as 24/7 work. Crisis management plays a large part in the work of social media managers, but in a way that is highly valued by organisations who are able to converse with, rather than just broadcast to, customers or stakeholders.
Impact of Professional Development Programmes on Teachers’ Knowledge and Academic Performance of Senior High School Students in Ghana

To improve educational outcomes through improvements in teaching standards, the Ministry of Education has stepped up efforts aimed at providing continuous and lifelong learning among Ghanaian teachers. However, the impact of the recent emphasis on a comprehensive framework for the professional development of teachers on teaching and learning outcomes has not been adequately studied. Despite the growing body of literature suggesting that professional development and professional knowledge may be associated with student outcomes, these relationships remain an open question. This study, therefore, sought to determine the impact of teachers’ professional development on academic performance in senior high schools in Ghana and the mediating role of teachers’ professional knowledge. A survey was conducted, and valid questionnaires were retrieved from 4,102 teachers in selected public senior high schools from four regions (including 77 districts and 97 public senior high schools) across the Southern, Middle, and Northern belts of Ghana. The results of the study showed that professional development has a significant positive relationship with professional knowledge (γ = 0.26, p < 0.001). Also, professional development and professional knowledge were positively related to academic performance (γ = 0.08, p < 0.001) and (γ = 0.04, p < 0.001) respectively. Finally, the results of the study showed that professional knowledge partially mediated the relationship between professional development and academic performance. The study, therefore, concluded that professional development leads to improvements in the academic performance of students through improvements in teachers’ professional knowledge and other characteristics of teachers that were not accounted for by this study. Among other things, the study recommends that teachers should be encouraged to engage in diverse professional development activities that respond to the inadequacies in their professional competencies.
Voting for Votes: Opposition Parties’ Legislative Activity and Electoral Outcomes

Scholars frequently expect parties to act strategically in parliament, hoping to affect their electoral fortunes. Voters assumingly assess parties by their activity and vote accordingly. However, the retrospective voting literature looks mostly at the government’s outcomes, leaving the opposition understudied. We argue that, for opposition parties, legislative voting constitutes an effective vote-seeking activity as a signaling tool of their attitude toward the government. We suggest that conflictual voting behavior affects voters through two mechanisms: as a signal of opposition valence and as means of ideological differentiation from the government. We present both aggregate- and individual-level analyses, leveraging a dataset of 169 party observations from 10 democracies and linking it to the CSES survey data of 27,371 respondents. The findings provide support for the existence of both mechanisms. Parliamentary conflict on legislative votes has a general positive effect on opposition parties’ electoral performance, conditional on systemic and party-specific factors.