Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Eliminación de plomo proveniente de fuentes acuosas utilizando nanotubos de carbono

Los iones plomo pueden ser removidos del agua usando adsorbentes. Entre los diversos adsorbentes desarrollados, los nanotubos de carbono (NTsC) muestran un impacto unico en la eliminacion y adsorcion rapida de impurezas nocivas en fuentes acuosas. Los NTsC funcionalizados mejoran la eficiencia y el potencial de adsorcion de los iones Pb 2+ en comparacion con otros materiales. En este articulo de revision, se estudio la eliminacion de los iones Pb 2+ de soluciones acuosas usando NTsC donde se enfatizan los posibles mecanismos de adsorcion de iones Pb 2+ , los factores que la afectan, la modificacion de los NTsC para mejorar su capacidad de adsorcion, la cinetica de adsorcion y los estudios termodinamicos involucrados.
Development of Novel Fermented Almond Milk Tea and It’s Evaluation as Antidiabetic Drink

Background: It is well known that almond and tea is best known to prevent Diabetes mellitus due to its abundant source of polyphenols. Also, probiotics also have been used in the treatment of Diabetes. This study is focused on the combined effect of all these three ingredients through the process of fermentation. Objective: The aim of this present study is to develop, analyse sensory parameters in human volunteers for optimisation and evaluate the antidiabetic efficiency of Fermented Almond milk tea (FAMT) both in vitro and in vivo analysis. Study Design: Development of FAMTOptimisation of FAMT based on sensory analysis from 25 human participants In vitro antidiabetic analysis of FAMT extract  Animal studies. Place and Duration: The research work was conducted during November, 2019 to March, 2020 at the Department of Biotechnology, Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering, Post Bag No.1, Pennalur, Sriperumbudur Tk, Kancheepuram Dt, TN-602117, India. Original Research Article Kannan et al.; JPRI, 33(2): 75-87, 2021; Article no.JPRI. 65110 76 Materials and Methods: FAMT was prepared by optimisation of different formulation based on sensory analysis recorded from 25 healthy human volunteers. The FAMT extract was prepared and was used for the in vitro analysis and phytochemical screening. The animal study was performed with 30 Albino Wistar rats which were divided into 5 groups under preventive regimen. Group I was healthy normoglycemic control group. Group II served as positive control. Group III received metformin (350 mg/kg bw, p.o) for 28 days. Group IV received 5% Fermented almond milk for 28 days. Group V received 5% FAMT for 28thday. All groups except Group I received single dose of STZ (50 mg/kg bw, i.p) on the 29th day for the induction of Diabetes mellitus. After 7 days from induction, animals were anaesthetized and blood was drawn for the evaluation of plasma glucose and serum TG, cholesterol & insulin. Results: It was observed that FAMT (8:2) was favoured by the participants more than other formulations. FAMT was found to contain Saponins, flavonoids and phenol. The total poly phenol of FAMT (373 ± 3.0 μg/ml) was high than Fermented almond milk (232.5 ± 2.50 μg/ml). The DPPH scavenging, α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibiting percentage of FAMT (59 ± 4%,52 ± 3%, 50 ± 4% respectively) was high when compared to fermented almond milk (32 ± 2%,34 ± 2% and 45 ± 2% respectively). From animal studies it was significantly observed that plasma glucose (P<0.0001) was reduced, serum insulin (P<0.001) was increased, serum TG (P<0.0.001) and cholesterol (P<0.01) were reduced when compared to Positive control GroupII. Conclusion: Thus, FAMT was proved to act as a prophylactic anti-diabetic drink and was more potent than normal fermented almond milk.
A Correlation Study Between Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Serum Triglyceride Level After an Oral Fat Tolerance Test

Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become one of the most common chronic liver diseases worldwide. High postprandial serum lipid concentrations have been reported in patients with metabolic syndrome. Meanwhile, postprandial triglyceride (TG) was found to be a potential replacement when fasting TG is not available. We aimed to investigate the relationship between postprandial TG concentration during oral fat tolerance testing (OFTT) and NAFLD. Methods : A total of 472 Chinese adults, aged 25 to 65 years enrolled in this study. All the participants underwent OFTT. Serum triglyceride and other lipid concentrations were measured, and their relationships with NAFLD were analyzed. Results: Of the 472 participants, 155 were diagnosed with NAFLD. The fasting and postprandial TG concentrations of the participants with NAFLD were higher than those of healthy participants (P<0.05). The TG concentrations of the healthy participants peaked 4 h postprandially, whereas those of the participants with NAFLD peaked 6 h postprandially and had higher peak values. Postprandial triglyceride concentration showed significant association with higher risk of NAFLD.Conclusions: Higher postprandial TG concentration is positively related to higher risk of NAFLD, and postprandial TG concnetrations of NAFLD patients were higher than healthy individuals with a delayed peak time. Hence, 4h postprandial TG maybe a potential indicator for NAFLD.Trial registration number: ChiCTR1800019514
Recent Shift in the Warming of the Southern Oceans Modulated by Decadal Climate Variability

It has been reported that the Southern Hemisphere oceans experienced rapid warming during the decade‐long global surface warming slowdown (2003–2012) and the earlier period of the Argo record (2006–2013). In this study, we analyze updated observations to show that this rapid warming has slowed down, leading to less contribution of the Southern Hemisphere oceans to the global ocean heat storage (∼65% over the available Argo period 2006–2019). Two warming hotspot regions, the southeast Indian Ocean and South Pacific Ocean, have experienced cooling over 2013–2019. This decadal shift is related to variations in the Southern Annular Mode and Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation. The isopycnal deepening (shoaling) forced by changing winds dominated the regional ocean temperature changes over the earlier warming (later cooling) period. Our finding demonstrates how decadal variability modulates long‐term climate change and provides important observational information for the ongoing calibration of decadal prediction systems.
Preparation, Characterization, and Stability of the (1-x) CsH2PO4 + xTiO2 Composite Electrolytes for Fuel Cells

Composite Electrolytes (1-x)CsH2PO4/xTiO2(0 ≤ x ≤ 0.4) were prepared and analyzed the structural, thermal, and transport properties. We have investigated the ionic conductivity of the composites electrolyte highly pressurized pellets and found that the conductivity of pure CsH2PO4 (CDP) increased three orders of magnitude at the transition temperature. The conductivity value of the composites is greater than pure CDP after 250°C. Arrhenius plots have confirmed the conductive nature of ionic conduction. The dehydration behavior and thermal stability of the materials were observed in terms of differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis and differential thermal analysis, and found that the minimum weight loss for the composite 0.6CDP/0.4TiO2. The electrodes were prepared with the technique of vapor deposition.
Extending Cooling Rate Performance of Fast Scanning Chip Calorimetry by Liquid Droplet Cooling

The liquid droplet cooling technique for fast scanning chip calorimetry (FSC) is introduced, increasing the cooling rate for large samples on a given sensor. Reaching higher cooling rates and using a gas as the cooling medium, the common standard for ultra-fast temperature control in cooling requires reducing the lateral dimensions of the sample and sensor. The maximum cooling rate is limited by the heat capacity of the sample and the heat exchange between the gas and the sample. The enhanced cooling performance of the new liquid droplet cooling technique is demonstrated for both metals and polymers, on examples of solidification of large samples of indium, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and poly (butylene 2,6-naphthalate) (PBN). It was found that the maximum cooling rate can be increased up to 5 MK/s in room temperature environment, that is, by two orders of magnitude, compared to standard gas cooling. Furthermore, modifying the droplet size and using coolants at different temperatures provide options to adjust the cooling rate in the temperature ranges of interest.
The Lived Experiences of High-Achieving Historically Underrepresented Students at Four CCCU Institutions

Abstract The study of marginalized students in higher education has been critiqued for focusing research attention on common areas of struggle rather than examining areas of success. This study attempted to address that gap, particularly at faith-based, predominantly White institutions as represented by the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of high-achieving students from historically marginalized groups involved in the Act Six program—a rigorous comprehensive urban leadership scholarship program—at four predominantly White CCCU institutions. The 30 participants defined their experience in terms of their sense of belonging, as measured by their perceptions of whether they as a student mattered (individual sense of belonging), and whether diversity mattered to the institution (institutional sense of belonging). Data from interviews indicated that peer support, institutional support, academics and faculty engagement, and campus-climate contributions and challenges all played a role in the student experience. The resulting implications for practice include pragmatic ideas for fostering a sense of belonging through the cadre model and campus community, within the classroom and the academic experience, and through the actions of senior leaders. Although this research documents a high degree of success for Act Six students individually, as well as of this particular program at the sponsoring institutions, the inconsistencies encountered by students in relation to their sense of belonging emphasizes the importance of educational leaders expanding efforts to develop hospitable campus services and a supportive campus climate.
A Bayesian approach for CT perfusion parameters estimation with imperfect measurement

Perfusion CT imaging is commonly used for the rapid assessment of patients presenting with symptoms of acute stroke. Maps of perfusion parameters such as cerebral blood volume (CBV), cerebral blood flow (CBF), and mean transit time (MTT) derived from the scan data provide crucial information for stroke diagnosis and treatment decisions. Most vendors implement singular value decomposition (SVD)-based methods on their scanners to calculate these parameters. However, SVD-based method is known to have issues of improperly handling the imperfect scan. For example, increasing the acquisition interval or decreasing the scan duration may introduce a bias in the estimated perfusion parameters. In this work, we propose a Bayesian inference algorithm, which can tolerate the imperfect scan conditions better than conventional method and is able to derive the uncertainty of a given perfusion parameter. We apply the variational technique to the inference problem, which becomes an expectation-maximization problem. The probability distribution (with Gaussian mean and variance) of each estimated parameter can be obtained. We perform evaluations in simulation studies both with full and incomplete data. The proposed method can obtain much less bias in estimation than the conventional method, and additionally providing the degree of the uncertainty in measurement.
Characterization of Jatropha Oil and its Biodiesel

The ever-increasing demand in consumption of fossil fuel strongly contradicted by its depletion in reserves coupled with the Green House Gas effect associated with the combustion of hydrocarbon has opened a channel for the inevitable desire for an environmentally friendly and a renewable source of energy like bio-fuel. Oil extracted from Jatropha curcas, a non edible plant looks good to be one of the solutions of the problems associated with energy consumption in recent time. Dried Jatropha seeds were shelled and oven-dried and weighed for every 30 minutes until a constant weight was obtained indicating that moisture had been taken care of 300 g of milled Jatropha was soaked in 2000 cm 3 of petroleum ether and covered for 48 hours to avoid vaporization. Whatman No 1 filter paper was used in filtering just as filtrate was concentrated at 60 ° C by using water bath. A constant volume of 241 ml was obtained and subsequently characterized. The specific gravity of the oil was calculated to be 0.9, its refractive index stood at 1.47. The specific heat capacity is 2.353 Jkg -1 K -1 while its viscosity was found to be 28.43 cSt at 32 °C. The fossil diesel engine can operate smoothly with some blend of Jatropha oil even up to 50% with diesel.
Petrogenesis and tectonic setting of Mid‐Triassic volcanic rocks in the East Kunlun orogenic belt, NW China: Insights from geochemistry, zircon U–Pb dating, and Hf isotopes

The Elashan magmatic belt is located at the eastern margin of the East Kunlun orogenic belt (E‐KOB) in northwestern China, where voluminous magmatism occurred during the Late Permian to Late Triassic. Mid‐Triassic volcanism produced the Xilikete Formation, which shows a geochemistry similar to that of highly fractionated I‐type (HFI) volcanic rocks. These rocks are characterized by high SiO2 (73.82–74.97 wt%), differentiation index (DI; 91.01–94.69), and alkalis (e.g., high K2O + Na2O, with K2O/Na2O ratios greater than 1.0) and by enrichment in some large‐ ion lithophile elements (LILEs; e.g., Rb, K, and Pb) and depletion in other LILEs (e.g., Ba and Sr) as well as some high‐field‐strength elements (HFSEs; e.g., Nb, Ta, and Ti); these features confirm that they are HFI volcanic rocks. Zircon U–Pb ages indicate that the volcanic rocks were emplaced at ~239 Ma. These zircons have εHf(t) values ranging from −2.26 to +0.36, with two‐stage model ages (TDM2) of 1,441–1,221 Ma, indicating a magma source that involved partial melting of Mesoproterozoic lower crust accompanied by a minor juvenile mantle component. The ~240 Ma magmatism in the E‐KOB was probably developed in response to subduction of the Palaeo‐Tethys oceanic plate. Previous studies indicate that a tectonic transformation from subduction to continental collision occurred at ~240 Ma. Combining these data with regional geological observations, we conclude that the Daheba volcanic rocks formed in an active continental margin setting related to the subduction of the Palaeo‐Tethys oceanic plate beneath the E‐KOB.
Review of Flow-Control Devices for Wind-Turbine Performance Enhancement

It is projected that, in the following years, the wind-energy industry will maintain its rapid growth over the last few decades. Such growth in the industry has been accompanied by the desirability and demand for larger wind turbines aimed at harnessing more power. However, the fact that massive turbine blades inherently experience increased fatigue and ultimate loads is no secret, which compromise their structural lifecycle. Accordingly, this demands higher overhaul-and-maintenance (O&M) costs, leading to higher cost of energy (COE). Introduction of flow-control devices on the wind turbine is a plausible solution to this issue. Flow-control mechanisms feature the ability to effectively enhance/suppress turbulence, advance/delay flow transition, and prevent/promote separation, leading to enhancement in aerodynamic and aeroacoustics performance, load alleviation and fluctuation suppression, and eventually wind turbine power augmentation. These flow-control devices are operated primarily under two schemes: passive and active control. Development and optimization of flow-control devices present the potential for reduction in the COE, which is a major challenge against traditional power sources. This review performs a comprehensive and up-to-date literature survey of selected flow-control devices, from their time of development up to the present. It contains a discussion on the current prospects and challenges faced by these devices, along with a comparative analysis centered on their aerodynamic controllability. General considerations and conclusive remarks are presented after the discussion.
Audio-Visual Tracking of Concurrent Speakers

Audio-visual tracking of an unknown number of concurrent speakers in 3D is a challenging task, especially when sound and video are collected with a compact sensing platform. In this paper, we propose a tracker that builds on generative and discriminative audio-visual likelihood models formulated in a particle filtering framework. We localize multiple concurrent speakers with a de-emphasized acoustic map assisted by the image detection-derived 3D video observations. The 3D multi-modal observations are either assigned to existing tracks for discriminative likelihood computation or used to initialize new tracks. The generative likelihoods rely on color distribution of the target and the de-emphasized acoustic map value. Experiments on AV16.3 and CAV3D datasets show that the proposed tracker outperforms the uni-modal trackers and the state-of-the-art approaches both in 3D and on the image plane.
Slight Increases in Salinity Improve Muscle Quality of Grass Carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus)

Fish muscle quality is an important parameter in the aquaculture industry. In this study, we analyzed and compared the muscle quality of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) cultured at salinities of 0‰, 3‰, and 6‰ (GC0, GC3, GC6). There was no significant difference in crude protein and crude fat content of muscle between GC0 and GC3. Crude fat was significantly lower in GC6 compared to the other groups. GC3 and GC6 had higher hydroxyproline content, which suggested that these groups had higher collagen content. GC3 and GC6 had higher contents of free amino acids and umami amino acids than GC0, but there was no significant difference in sweet or sour amino-acid content among groups. GC3 and GC6 had better texture properties, including hardness, gumminess, chewiness, resilience, and springiness, than GC0. GC3 had the highest water-holding capacity among the groups. As the salinity increased, the diameter of muscle fibers decreased and the sarcolemma showed a thickening trend. These results suggest that a slight increase in salinity (i.e., 3‰) can effectively improve the muscle quality of grass carp.
Microbiota Modulation to Reduce Cardiovascular Risk in HIV Patients: A Systematic Review

Background: human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is associated with premature and accelerated aging linked to the development of several co-morbidities, such as cardiovascular events, even after controlling for traditional cardiovascular risk factors. Since both traditional and “novel” factors are involved in the increased cardiovascular risk (CVR) observed in HIV-infected patients, new biomarkers could be needed to diagnose, evaluate and prevent the evolution of these events. Furthermore, since microbiota disturbance is involved in HIV-associated co-morbidities, all strategies focused on reversing or modulating gut microbiota (GM) composition and/or functionality could be of interest. In this context, a solid scientific evidence based on well-designed clinical trials is needed to support the use of prebiotics, probiotics, symbiotics and fecal transplantation (FT) to modify GM in HIV-infected patients and, therefore, to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in this population. Methods: a search in PubMed has been carried out covering all clinical trials (Clinical Trial filter) including adult humans (19+ years) and whose results have been published in the last 10 years. Besides, the results obtained from ClinicalTrials.gob have been included and described in the present review Thus, we have reviewed the main results obtained from 3 clinical trials concerning the effects of prebiotics, 25 concerning probiotics, 6 concerning symbiotics and 4 concerning FT. Results: none of the trials included in this review investigated if these compounds were able to reduce cardiovascular events in HIV patients. Conclusions: the huge variability observed in the type of compound used, the dose and the length of administration, makes difficult to analyse the results as a proper meta-3 analysis and, therefore, to adopt general recommendations. Thus, there is an urgent need to investigate in this direction through robust and well-designed clinical trials.
Replacement of Amide Chemistry with Click Chemistry : Current Trend in Proteomics

In the past decades of proteomics research, amide chemistry played a vital and indispensable role. Presence of amino and carboxylic groups in proteins, availability of respective amide/carboxyl and amine labeled ligands and mild reaction environment for corresponding amide chemistry have fulfilled the requirement of advanced proteomics research. We have used the amide chemistry for enantioseparation of biologically important amino acids in recent years [1-3]. But in recent years amide chemistry has lost its importance to quite an extent due to its one drawback: on account of ample presence of amino and carboxylic groups it has become kind of “non-selective” reaction. The use of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and its variations in proteomics research [4,5] has widen the gap of conventional amide chemistry protocol and current click-chemistry protocol.
The Relationship of Human Resource Practitioner Professional Ability and Management System Formulation under Mediation of Achievement Motivation

This research explored the relationship among human resource practitioner professional ability, achievement motivation and the degree of human resource management system formulation. The research focus was the human resource management practitioners in enterprises and data were collected through convenience sampling. The results show that there is a significant influence between the： (1) professional ability of human resource management practitioners and the degree of human resource management system formulation and (2) achievement motivation of human resource management practitioners and human resource management system formulation and also that (3) achievement motivation has a partial mediating effect between professional ability and the degree of human resource management system formulation.
Intrastate Armed Conflict Termination and Foreign Direct Investment

Does intrastate conflict termination increase foreign direct investment (FDI)? Why do some countries receive rapid FDI inflows after an internal armed conflict ends, while others do not? As a key explanation, we focus on the different types of conflict termination that send different signals to foreign investors. We argue that post-conflict countries receive more FDI when an intrastate conflict ends in a decisive manner because decisive termination lowers the risk of conflict resumption that creates precarious investment climates. Using the UCDP armed conflict termination data from 1970 to 2009, we empirically find that countries emerging from an intrastate conflict that ends in one side's victory, in particular government victory, and that ends in a peace agreement with major power involvement attract more FDI over the course of post-conflict years.