Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Extraction of Si from Alkaline-Roasted Boron Ore Concentrate

The process of alkali roasting boron ore concentrate was proposed for the problems existing in the process of boron ore concentrate smelting. In the paper the influencing factors included molar ratio of alkali to boron ore concentrate, roasting temperature, and roasting time were investigated. The single experiment and orthogonal experiments show the optimal conditions for roasting under the conditions evaluated include a temperature of 550oC, roasting time of 60 min, and a molar ratio of alkali to ore of 3:1. In the roasting process, the Si extraction correlated with the shrinking core model assuming a solid product layer according to XRD and SEM. Thus, the kinetics is controlled by diffusion through the product layer. The apparent activation energy for Si extraction was 13.47kJ•mol-1, and the roasting rate can be expressed as: 1-(2/3α)-(1-α)2/3=1.428×10-2exp(-13470/RT)t
Optimization of The Amount of Chickpea Sourdough and Dry Yeast in Wheat Bread Formulation: Evaluation of Physicochemical, Sensory and Antioxidant Properties

The aim of this study was to optimize amounts of chickpea sourdough (A) and instant active dry yeast (B) in bread formulation and to evaluate the potential use of chickpea sourdough in bread production by examining various quality parameters.An experimental design suggested by Response Surface Methodology was used.The bread produced according to the optimized model (OBrd) was compared with control bread (CBrd) in terms of several quality parameters. According to the optimization results, optimum levels of usage were 59.06 g for A and 3.39 g for B. Smaller and more homogeneous pore structures were obtained in bread (OBrd) texture by the use of chickpea sourdough according to the image analysis. The bread also acquired sour, sweetish and acceptable sensory profiles. Physicochemical properties and antioxidant activity were also improved by the use of chickpea sourdough.
DISCOTIC LIQUID CRYSTALS : SELF-ORGANIZING MOLECULAR WIRES

Abstract When considering the possibility of commercially viable applications for discotic liquid crystals it is worth noting that in the case of calamitic liquid crystals some 80 to 90 years elapsed between their discovery in 1888 and their first application in displays. Since discotic mesophases were only discovered in 1977 [ll, it is not surprising that the first applications are yet to be realized.
A simulation model for settling tanks with varying cross-sectional area

ABSTRACT A quasi-one-dimensional model of the process of continuous sedimentation in clarifier-thickeners (settlers) with variable cross-sectional area is presented. The partial differential equation (PDE) model extends the settler model advanced by Bürger et al. (2013), which assumes a constant cross section. A reliable numerical method that handles the special features of the nonlinear PDE is presented along with an advantageous time-step condition for continuous and batch sedimentation under the condition of a variable cross-sectional area. Simulations of continuous sedimentation show the effect of change of cross-sectional area in the concentration inside the vessel and in the underflow. Simulations of batch settling in cones illustrate the versatility of the numerical scheme to include a vertex, where the area shrinks to zero.
Prevalence And Associated Risk Factors Of Bacterial Vaginosis Among Pregnant Women In Africa: A Systematic Review

Background: Bacterial vaginosis is the most common form of vaginitis which causes abnormal vaginal discharge in woman of childbearing age, which predispose to various gynecological and obstetric problems. In Africa sub-continent, the prevalence of BV among pregnant women is different among different countries. This review aimed to show the overall prevalence and to describe the different risk factors associated with BV among pregnant women in Africa. Methods: PubMed, Medline, science direct, Google scholar and other relevant databases were searched from January 2008 to December 2018. Article retrieval and screening was done using standard procedural steps and strict inclusion/exclusion criteria. The total articles included in this review were 31 and cumulative prevalence was drawn from each country. Results: This review addressed the prevalence of BV and its associated risk factors among pregnant women and its associated risk factors conducted in 31 eligible studies from 15 different countries of Africa, in which most of the studies were from Nigeria 22.6% (7/31), Kenya 16% (5/31) and Ethiopia 13% (4/31). Samples from a total of 19,354 pregnant women 4795 were positive for BV with the overall prevalence of 24.8% (4795/19,354), and the highest cumulative prevalence was reported from two studies conducted in more than two countries (1113/2349, 47.4%). Fifteen out of 31 articles or studies (48.4%) are significantly associated with different risk factors. Out of the 15 articles 33.3% (5/15) of the associated risk factors are HIV followed by age and previous BV/STI (20%). Conclusion: The prevalence of BV among pregnant women was different in all regions of Africa with the pooled prevalence of 24.8%. HIV infected pregnant women and sexually active women (mostly in the age group of 20-30 years) were at high risk for BV and in some studies reported BV positive women are also at high risk of acquiring HIV infection.
Substrate recognition determinants of the small heat shock protein αB-crystallin and its role in cataractogenesis

αB-crystallin is a molecular chaperone that prevents the formation of cytotoxic protein aggregates. In this work, different variants of αB-crystallin were characterized concerning structure, dynamics and function to elucidate the mechanism of substrate interaction of αB-crystallin. Binding motifs in substrate proteins were investigated using peptide array experiments. Complementary, the role of α-crystallin in lenses of mouse models of cataract was analyzed. Reversible interactions of α-crystallin with unfolding intermediates are suggested as the mode of action.
Credit risk evaluation and rating for SMES using statistical approaches: the case of European SMES manufacturing sector

The prevention of financial losses is crucial for enterprises, especially in periods of market instability and uncertainty. Credit risk refers to the likelihood that a company will not be able to cover its liabilities and become insolvent and defaulted. Credit risk is of utmost importance not only for the enterprises but also for financial institutions (banks), which try to eliminate any possible losses from insolvent clients. Most of the enterprises in Europe are SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises). Manufacturing sector is one of the most important, especially in Western Europe. The aim of the current study is to evaluate credit risk of European SMES manufacturing companies for the period 2012-2014 under different schemes, with the use of a popular statistical approach, namely logistic regression. The results of the analysis imply that even with a mixed and unbalanced data set with a small number of defaults, the applied method perform well and provide meaningful results. The results of this paper could help the owners and the financial managers of SMEs in European Union in their financial decisions and strategic investments so as to be able to avoid credit risk and future bankruptcy. More viable SMEs in European Union may mean more development and less unemployment. Â JEL classification numbers: G30, G32, G33 Key Words: Credit risk, SMEs, Manufacture, Logistic Regression.
Treatment of acidic wastewater from thien ke tin processing factory by sulfate reducing bioreactor: a pilot scale study

A pilot-scale system of a total volume of 6 m using sulfate reducing (SR) bioreactor technology was established for the treatment of acidic wastewater from Thien Ke tin processing factory in Tuyen Quang province, Vietnam. In the system, the acidic wastewater with high metal content went first to a collecting tank filled with limestone gravels to increase pH to a value favorable for SRB growth, and at the second step to a SR bioreactor where sulfate reduction occurred to produce sulfide for metal precipitation. To activate the SR bioreactor, a laboratory SRB mixed culture dominated by Desufovibiro, Desulfobulbus and Desulfomicrobium species was added at a cell density of ∼10 cell/ml so that a full activation was achieved just after a week of incubation. Molasses was added to the SR bioreactor at 0.5 ml/L as substrate for the SRB growth during the operation. The performance of the system was studied under batch and continuous modes. The batch mode showed good results after three day-operation. The pH increased from 2.8 – 3.2 to 7 – 7.2, and a total of 750 mg/L sulfate was reduced to sulfide presumably by the SRB. The produced sulfide efficiently removed metals from the wastewater, such as iron from 143.1 mg/L to 0.3 mg/L, copper from 16.32 mg/L to 0.04 mg/L and manganese from 10.9 mg/L to 0.05 mg/L. The continuous mode with a hydraulic load of 100 l/h and an according retention time of three days showed constitutive contaminant removal. The effluent pH of the system was around 7 within six-day period. The sulfate reduction was active, keeping sulfate concentration in the final effluent as low as ∼ 150 mg/L. Accordingly, the three most metal contaminants (iron, copper and manganese) were found at concentrations below the regulated limits. The results showed the possibility of applying SR bioreactor technology for the treatment of AMD is feasible and the use of previously enriched mixed culture of SRB could be a good approach to shorten the activation period of the SR bioreactor.
Development and Validation of Nomograms Predicting Overall and Cancer-specific Survival of Spinal and Pelvic Tumor Patients with Distant Metastasis

Background: Primary spinal bone tumors with distant metastasis are a sign of advanced stage and are usually accompanied by poor prognosis. This study is to identify the risk factors and establish prognostic nomograms to predict 1- and 3-year overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) rates for spinal and pelvic bone tumor patients with distant metastasis.Patients and methods: Spinal and pelvic bone tumor patients with distant metastasis between 1998 and 2016 were selected for this study from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Nomograms to predict 1- and 3-year OS and CCS rates were constructed based on independent risk factors identified by univariate and multivariate Cox analyses. Concordance indexes (C-indexes), receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, calibration plots, and decision curve analysis (DCA) were used to assess the nomograms.Results: All patients (n=343) were randomly divided into a training cohort (n=243) and validation cohort (n=100). No significant differences were found in thedemographic data of all patients in the training and validation cohorts. Ultimately, only four independent risk factors (patient age, histology, grade and surgery) were identified as significantly associated with OS and CCS. The C-indices were 0.722 (95% CI, 0.685 to 0.759) and 0.686 (95% CI, 0.61 to 0.760) for the internal validation and external validation of the OS nomogram, respectively. Similarly, the C-indices based on the CCS nomogram were 0.717 (95% CI, 0.678 to 0.757) and 0.695 (95% CI, 0.619 to 0.771) for the internal validation and external validation, respectively. The calibration curves revealed that the predicted survival and actual survival were in concordance. DCA showed the clinical utility and benefits of the nomograms.Conclusion: The nomograms we constructed based on the SEER database can accurately predict individual patient survival.
The Effects of COVID-19 on Education in Pakistan: Students’ Perspective

Due to the wide spread of COVID-19, the educational institutes were closed on 20th March, 2020 and the individuals were advised to isolate themselves at home. This lockdown not only adversely affected the economy but all the educational activities were shut down which created a huge gap in students’ learning and knowledge all over the globe. This quantitative study was designed to explore the impact of COVID-19 on the education of higher level students in the context of Pakistan. The five point Likert Scale questionnaire was provided to the learners enrolled in intermediate, undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate level. 74 respondents respond to the questionnaire. The data were analyzed through SPSS 23. The results of the findings revealed that students have been facing a lot of difficulty to grasp certain concepts during e-classes. The students lacked internet access along with not been given any prior guidance related to the usage of online platform. The challenges regarding online classes at the same time are being faced by the teachers as well along with the students. It was also analyzed that although teachers are providing all the necessary resources and feedback to the students but still students have been going through difficulties in grasping the concept, gaining knowledge and communicating with their teachers online. Due to immense number of online classes teachers have a huge workload on their part.
Obtaining evidence for no effect

In Press Collabra: Psychology Obtaining evidence that something does not exist requires knowing how big it would be were it to exist. Testing a theory that predicts an effect thus entails specifying the range of effect sizes consistent with the theory, in order to know when the evidence counts against the theory. Indeed, a theoretically relevant effect size must be specified for power calculations, equivalence testing, and Bayes factors in order that the inferential statistics test the theory. Specifying relevant effect sizes for power, or the equivalence region for equivalence testing, or the scale factor for Bayes factors, is necessary for many journal formats, such as registered reports, and should be necessary for all articles that use hypothesis testing. Yet there is little systematic advice on how to approach this problem. This article offers some principles and practical advice for specifying theoretically relevant effect sizes for hypothesis testing.
Object Recognition’s Garden Path: Low Spatial Frequencies

Several experiments, notably one done by Bruner and Potter (1964), have demonstrated delayed object recognition when viewing a blurred image gradually come into focus. Bruner and Potter (1964) suggested that the wrong answer is held until there is an obvious contradiction. Others have hypothesized that “competitive activation” is responsible for delayed recognition. The results of the experiments reported in this paper are consistent with a third hypothesis, that delayed recognition is due to an initial organization of image elements that is incompatible with correct recognition and that the initial grouping and figure-ground perception, among other aspects of organization, drive subsequent perception via top-down cortical pathways. A total of 7 experiments using 3 forms of degradation supported this hypothesis. Images degraded by low-pass filtering produced significant delay in recognition, while degradation by fragmentation did not, and a third form of degradation similar to fragmentation mitigated the effect. The experiments also demonstrate that if images are low-pass filtered delayed recognition occurs with presentations of as little as 100 ms and early presentations lead to delayed recognition over long intertrial intervals, at least 105 seconds. Further, support for the hypothesis that top-down cortical influence is key to this phenomenon came from an experiment showing that masking eliminates delayed recognition for short presentations. Taken together these results support a hypothesis that delayed recognition is due to errors in perceptual organization that lead to incorrect responses and these errors are fostered by low spatial frequencies.
New superprotonic crystals with dynamically disordered hydrogen bonds: cation replacements as the alternative to temperature increase

Investigations of new single crystals grown in the K3H(SO4)2–(NH4)3H(SO4)2–H2O system from solutions with different K:NH4 concentration ratios have been carried out. Based on the X-ray diffraction data, the atomic structure of the crystals was determined at room temperature taking H atoms into account. It has been determined that [K0.43(NH4)0.57]3H(SO4)2 crystals are trigonal at ambient conditions such as the superprotonic phase of (NH4)3H(SO4)2 at high temperature. A distribution of the K and N atoms in the crystal was modelled on the basis of the refined occupancies of K/N positions. Studies of dielectric properties over the temperature range 223–353 K revealed high values of conductivity of the crystals comparable with the conductivity of known superprotonic compounds at high temperatures, and an anomaly corresponding to a transition to the phase with low conductivity upon cooling.
Simulation and Mathematical Description of Mechanical Shocks Caused by Brake Actuation on Electric Motors

When a brake engages or releases on an electric motor, a mechanical shock is generated. These so-called brake shocks propagate across the motor housing and the motor shaft, affecting safety relevant mechanical and electronic components. The nature of the interference may be irreversible, i.e. mechanical damage, or reversible, e.g. interference of signal measurement or data transmission. Especially component failures or faulty signal values on rotary encoders are undesirable from a safety point of view. Current shock testing procedures are insufficient to simulate real brake shock characteristics and to identify valid shock limits regarding these shocks. In the first part of this paper, the characteristics of brake shocks are presented and compared to pyroshocks with similar characteristics. Furthermore, it shows that the Pseudo-Velocity Shock Response Spectrum (PVSRS) appears to be the best mathematical method to describe the severity of brake shocks with respect to their potential of damaging encoder components or influencing electrical signals. In the second part a testing machine will be introduced, which is able to generate mechanical shocks with comparable characteristics of real mechanical brake shocks for up to several million cycles. During further research, endurance tests shall be performed with the machine to determine the resilience of safety-related components against mechanical brake shocks. The long-term goal is to define scientifically confirmed test criteria for a standardized shock testing procedure to be applied on safety-related components on electric motors. It is intended to include this testing procedure in an international safety-related standard, like IEC 61800-5-3.
Short communication Soil microbial biomass and nitrogen transformations among five tree species of the Catskill Mountains, New York, USA

We measured soil microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN), microbial uptake of 15 N, potential net mineralization and net nitrification in the laboratory to determine the influence of tree species on nitrogen (N) transformations in soils of the Catskills Mountains, New York, USA. Organic horizon soils were taken from single species plots of beech (Fagus grandifolia), hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), red oak (Quercus rubra), sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis). 15 NH4Cl was added to the soils and N pools were sampled at 1, 3, 10 and 28 days to examine microbial uptake of 15 N over time. Soil MBN was about 60% lower in red oak and sugar maple soils than in the other three species. Soil pools of NO3 and rates of net nitrification were significantly greater in soils associated with sugar maple than hemlock, red oak and yellow birch. With the exception of sugar maple soils, microbial recovery of 15 N was significantly greater after 10 and 28 days compared to 60 min and 1 day following 15 N tracer addition. Microbial 15 N recovery declined significantly within sugar maple stands within the first 3 days of incubation. Soil carbon to nitrogen ratio (C:N) was lowest in sugar maple soils and highest in red oak soils. However, correlations between soil C:N and MBN or rates of net mineralization and nitrification were not significant. Soil moisture could account for 22% of the variation in MBN and 36% of the variation in net mineralization. Soil microbial transformations of N vary among tree species stands and may have consequences for forest N retention and loss. q 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Nickel-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling Reaction of Aryl Sulfoxides with Arylzinc Reagents: When the Leaving Group is an Oxidant

Nickel-catalyzed Negishi-type cross-coupling of aryl methyl sulfoxides with arylzinc reagents has been developed. By consuming the catalyst-oxidizing methanesulfenate anion through oxidative homocoupling of the arylzinc reagent, smooth catalyst turnover could be executed. Arylzinc reagents prepared from arylmagnesium bromide, zinc bromide, and lithium bromide were optimal to afford the products in good to high yields, while arylzinc reagents prepared through other procedures showed lower reactivities. The reactivity of aryl methyl sulfoxide was compared with that of typical aryl (pseudo)halides.
Urinary cytology as a tool for differential diagnosis between acute tubular necrosis and proliferative glomerulonephritis in patients with nephrotic syndrome and acute kidney injury

Objective Acute tubular necrosis (ATN) is a frequent cause of acute kidney injury (AKI). In patients with nephrotic syndrome (NS), AKI demands the differential diagnosis between ATN and rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis. In some cases, conclusive diagnosis is possible only by kidney biopsy. We aimed to study the potential use of urine cytology in the differential diagnosis between ATN and proliferative glomerular lesion in patients with NS.Results Cell size analysis showed a higher proportion of small cells and a lower proportion of large cells in the urine of patients with AKI. Cells phenotypes were easily defined using cytological preparations. Leukocytes were found to be a primary classifier of NS groups, with higher number in patients with AKI and patients with proliferative glomerular lesions. Our data suggests that urinary cytology can be readily performed and support the differential diagnosis between proliferative glomerular lesion and ATN in patients with NS and AKI.
Perceived threat and acute anxiety predict increased everyday altruism during the COVID-19 pandemic

Threatening situations have been shown to influence prosocial and altruistic behaviour in laboratory studies. However, it is unknown whether those effects would transfer to a real-life crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we examined the impact of changing COVID-19 threat on everyday altruism. Specifically, we investigated the association between defensive emotions associated with varying levels of perceived threat imminence, and reported frequency of altruistic behaviours. A sample of 600 United States residents was recruited online via Prolific at 4 different timepoints in March and April (n=150 each week). We collected self-report measures of everyday altruism, Perceived COVID-19 threat, and defensive emotions associated with varying threat imminence (anticipatory versus acute anxiety). Linear mixed effects models were used to predict variation in everyday altruism as a function of perceived COVID-19 threat and defensive emotions. Our results revealed a clear and consistent association between acute anxiety in response to the pandemic, and frequency of altruistic behaviours. No significant association was found between altruism and less acute defensive responses. These results suggest acute defensive emotions associated with higher threat imminence may promote altruistic action during a real-life crisis.