Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of non-farm activities on the economy of rural communities in Enugu State, Nigeria

ABSTRACT There is no doubt, an ongoing shift in the economic mainstream of rural areas from farm to non-farm activities. This study explored the effects of non-farm activities on the economy of rural communities in Enugu State, Nigeria. The data for this study were acquired using questionnaire survey, administrative maps and literature. Data obtained were analyzed using descriptive statistics, mean variables and analyis of variance (ANOVA). The findings show that increase in household income and rural economic diversification were the most felt positive effects while the loss of plant and land degradation were found to be the most critical negative effects of non-farm activities on the rural communities in the study area. Generally, the influence of the negative effects on households were poorly ranked when compared with the benefits of non-farm activities in the study area. From the results of the ANOVA, it was concluded that there is a significant difference in the positive effect enjoyed by all the communities. However, the benefits were locational dependent. This study, therefore, suggests that the achievement of a sustainable rural economy in Enugu state should be centered on making deliberate policies to improve non-farm activities since it complements the household’s agricultural income.
Propriétés de transport et solubilité des gaz dans les électrolytes pour les batteries lithium-ion

The performance and the safety of a lithium-ion battery depend to a great extent on the stability of the electrolyte solution, because the high voltage of the battery may cause the decomposition of lithium salt or organic solvents, which limits then the battery lifetime. During these degradations, several gases are, generally, generated like the CO2, CO, CH4 and C2H4, which induce in fact several problems related to the pressure increase inside the sealed cell. The main objective of this PhD thesis is to understand the key thermodynamic parameters which drive the gas dissolution in classical solvents and electrolytes. For that, several pure solvents and electrolytes have been firstly investigated to determine their volumetric and transport properties, as well as, their vapour pressure as the function of temperature and composition.
Advances in magnetic and optical resonance

T.F. Prisner, Pulsed High-Frequency/High Field EPR. M. Mehring and G. Wackerle, Magnetic Resonance with Gas-Phase Atoms. P. Hodgkinson and P.J. Hore, Sampling and the Quantification of NMR Data. J.X. Tull,M.A. Dugan, and W.S. Warren, High-Resolution, Ultrafast Laser Pulse Shaping and Its Applications. Subject Index, Volume 20. Cumulative Subject Index, Volumes 18-20.
Application of Connected and Automated Vehicles in a Large-Scale Network by Considering Vehicle-to-Vehicle and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure Technology

Application of connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) is expected to have a significant impact on traffic safety and mobility. Although several studies evaluated the effectiveness of CAVs in a small roadway segment, there is a lack of studies analyzing the impact of CAVs in a large-scale network by considering both freeways and arterials. Therefore, the objective of this study is to analyze the effectiveness of CAVs at the network level by utilizing both vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication technologies. Also, the study proposed a new signal control algorithm through V2I technology to elevate the performance of CAVs at intersections. A car-following model named cooperative adaptive cruise control was utilized to approximate the driving behavior of CAVs in the Aimsun Next microsimulation environment. For the testbed, the research team selected Orlando central business district area in Florida, U.S. To this end, the impacts of CAVs were evaluated based on traffic efficiency (e.g., travel time rate [TTR], speed, and average approach delay, etc.) and safety surrogates (e.g., standard deviation of speed, real-time crash-risk models for freeways and arterials, time exposed time-to-collision). The results showed that the application of CAVs reduced TTR significantly compared with the base condition even with the low market penetration level. Also, the proposed signal control algorithm reduced the approach delay for 94% of the total intersections present in the network. Moreover, safety evaluation results showed a significant improvement of traffic safety in the freeways and arterials under CAV conditions with different market penetration rates.
Geodynamic Emplacement Setting of Late Jurassic Dikes of the Yana–Kolyma Gold Belt, NE Folded Framing of the Siberian Craton: Geochemical, Petrologic, and U–Pb Zircon Data

We present the results of geostructural, mineralogic–petrographic, geochemical, and U–Pb geochronological investigations of mafic, intermediate, and felsic igneous rocks from dikes in the Yana–Kolyma gold belt of the Verkhoyansk–Kolyma folded area (northeastern Asia). The dikes of the Vyun deposit and the Shumniy occurrence intruding Mesozoic terrigenous rocks of the Kular–Nera and Polousniy–Debin terranes were examined in detail. The dikes had diverse mineralogical and petrographic compositions including trachybasalts, andesites, trachyandesites, dacites, and granodiorites. The rocks showed significant similarities in distributions of REE, and their concentrations of most HFSEs were close to the intermediate ones between ocean islands basalts and enriched middle ocean ridge basalts. We propose that the subduction that was ongoing during the collision of the Kolyma–Omolon superterrane with Siberia led to melting in the asthenospheric wedge and in the lithosphere, which formed a mixed source for the dike systems from both an enriched and a depleted mantle source. The U–Pb SHRIMP-II dates obtained for the dikes corresponded to the Late Jurassic interval of 151–145 Ma. We present a geodynamic model for the northeastern margin of the Siberian Craton for the Tithonian age of the Late Jurassic.
Use of by-products in a total mixed ration silage

The objective of this study was to evaluated fermentation losses and silage quality with the addition of different by-products in TMR. A completely randomized design was used with four treatments: Control (CTL, with hay, corn silage, cracked corn, soybean meal, wheat bran and minerals); CTL plus the addition of fresh orange pulp (FOP); CTL plus soybean hulls (SBH) or CTL plus wet brewery wastes (WBW), with six replicates. The ingredients were mixed and ensiled in 24 PVC experimental silos. After 56 days of ensiling, fermentation losses (effluents, dry matter and gases), and the TMR silage pH and chemical composition were analyzed; aerobic stability was evaluated over seven days after the silos were opened. Lower dry matter (P ? 0.0001) was observed in TMR ensiled with wet (WBW and FOP) compared to dry (SBH) by-products. Greater ADF (P = 0.031) was observed in SBH when compared to others by-products. WBW and FOP increased dry matter (P ? 0.0001) and effluent losses (P ? 0.0001) when compared to CTL and SBH. SBH treatment remained stable after 176-hour, which differ (P = 0.0015) compared with the other treatments (range from 94.5 to 99 hours of exposure to air). The density (kg DM/m3) changed (P ? 0.0001) among treatments. The inclusion of SBH in TMR silages had the greatest density, followed by CTL, WBW and FOP. The density was negatively correlated with DM losses ( r= - 0,81; P ? 0.0001). The pH differ (P = 0.003) among treatments. Highest pH of TMR silage was observed for SBH (3,67) and the lowest (3,56) for FOP. Soybean hulls successful improved aerobic stability and density, whereas aerobic stability and density were decreased and fermentation losses increased when fresh orange pulp and wet brewery were used. Little effects on chemical composition were observed, thereby agro-industrial by-products can be used in TMR silages as long as there is adequate product availability and pricing.
Highly nonlinear frequency-dependent spin-wave resonance excited via spin-vorticity coupling

A nonuniform vorticity of lattice deformation in a surface acoustic wave (SAW) can generate a spin current (SC) in nonmagnetic metals via spin-vorticity coupling (SVC). We demonstrated a strong enhancement of SVC-derived SC generated in Cu and Pt films with increasing the frequency of the SAW by observing the spin-wave resonance (SWR) in an adjacent NiFe film. The comparative amplitudes and high-order frequency variations of SWR in NiFe/Cu and NiFe/Pt bilayers imply that the amplitude of the SC generated via SVC in a SAW is robust against the strength of spin-orbit interaction in nonmagnetic metals.
Investigating the Impact of the Prefabrication Concept on the Design and Selection of Building Components, Case Study: Peripheral Walls in Mass Housing Projects

Today, Prefabrication is considered as one of the concepts of industrialization in response to the growing needs of human societies for development. It is particularly important to address this concept in mass housing projects. The most important goals in adopting the prefabrication approach are to increase construction speed and quality and reduce costs. A review of the literature on prefabrication illustrates the importance of Design for Manufacturability and Design for Assembly concepts about components of prefabricated systems. In this regard, this research has been carried out to identify the criteria and indicators for selection of prefabricated peripheral walls and to design a system based on updatable databases to select proper options according to the importance of criteria and indicators in various mass housing projects. The research method is descriptive-analytical. The results indicate the necessity of involving building material suppliers in designing the mentioned system. Therefore, it is envisaged to continuously import new material specifications in the form of suggested options by the material suppliers in the system’s database. The criteria and indicators of peripheral wall selection extracted from the literature review of prefabrication and an Analytic Hierarchy Process structure is proposed to obtain the appropriate options considering the importance of criteria and indicators. To determine the scoring criteria for options, on the one hand, the standards set for the technical specifications of materials were discussed and on the other hand, samples including materials and Peripheral wall systems were investigated based on the prefabrication criteria.
Evaluation of Iraqi Rice Cultivars for Their Tolerance to Drought Stress

Drought stress is a serious problem around the globe and particularly in the Republic of Iraq. Rice is the third most consumed crop for the Iraqi people; however, its cultivation and production is very low due to several challenges including drought. The current study was performed to evaluate five Iraqi rice cultivars along with relevant (drought-tolerant and drought-susceptible) controls under drought stress, either by treatment with 10% PEG (polyethylene glycol) or through water withholding to induce natural drought stress. The phenotypes of all the cultivars were evaluated and the transcriptional responses of key drought-responsive candidate genes, identified through the EST-SSR marker-based approach, were studied. We also studied transcript accumulation of drought-related transcriptional factors, such as OsGRASS23, OsbZIP12, and OsDREB2A. Moreover, the reference cultivars also included a drought-tolerant inter-specific cultivar Nerica 7 (a cross between Oryza sativa ssp. indica X O.glaberrima). Among the cultivars, the more drought-tolerant phenotypic characteristics and higher transcript accumulation of drought-related marker genes OsE647 and OsE1899 and transcriptional factors OsGRASS23, OsbZIP12, and OsDREB2A were observed in four (out of five) significantly drought-tolerant Iraqi cultivars; Mashkab, followed by Furat, Yasmen, and Amber 33. On another note, Amber Barka was found to be significantly drought susceptible. Mashkab and Amber Barka were found to be the most drought-tolerant and-susceptible cultivars, respectively. The identified tolerant cultivars may potentially serve as a genetic source for the incorporation of drought-tolerant phenotypes in rice.
Guaranteed Cost Formation Tracking Control for Swarm Systems with Intermittent Communications

The current paper studies guaranteed cost time-varying formation tracking design and analysis problems of high-order swarm systems subject to intermittent communications. Different from the existing work of the time-varying formation control, the time-varying formation tracking can be achieved while certain performance can be guaranteed, and the impacts of the intermittent communications and switching topologies are considered. First, a new intermittent time-varying formation tracking control protocol with a global performance index is proposed, where not only the formation regulation performances but also the control energy expenditures are involved. The codesign of the gain matrix with the performance index is achieved to compromise the formation regulation performances against control energy expenditures, and the guaranteed cost is determined to restrain the upper bound of the performance index. Then, guaranteed cost time-varying formation tracking design and analysis criteria are given, where the matrix variable of the linear matrix inequality conditions is used to design the gain matrix and to determine the guaranteed cost. Finally, a simulation example is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.
VIBRATIONAL SPECTRUM CHARACTERIZATION OF OUTER SURFACE OF HELICOBACTER PYLORI BIOFILMS BY FUNCTIONALLY-ENHANCED DERIVATIVE SPECTROSCOPY (FEDS)

Mid-infrared spectroscopy in conjunction with Functionally-Enhanced Derivative Spectroscopy (IR+FEDS) is a powerful analytical tool for the improving of analysis of microorganism IR spectra. The objective of this work is to characterize the outer surface of two H. pylori strains by IR+FEDS. This work is a key stage for the study of cell-cell and cell-surface interactions between microorganisms, as well as, for polymicrobial biofilm characterizations where H. pylori species are involved. For that, artificial bacterial biofilms, or bacterial biolayers, were deposited on ultrafiltration cellulose membranes which were previously modified by covalent insertion of a spectral marker and used as sensing surface for analysis of bacterium biolayers. Biolayers were analyzed using an infrared spectrophotometer with ATR and data were analyzed by classic procedures and by deconvolution based on FEDS transform. It is concluded that, for correct application of technique is required a minimum amount of noise in the working spectra which can be achieved by simple smoothing algorithms; in addition, reproducibility must be warranted by the implementation of standardized protocols and the use of an appropriate number of samples. It is concluded that in addition to typical signals associated with IR spectrum of microorganisms, by FEDS, a better and more detailed description of outer membrane of H. pylori biofilms can be performed. In particular, the detecting and monitoring of cysteine-rich proteins can be satisfactorily performed by IR+FEDS.
THE CURRENT EVIDENCE COMPARING LABIAL AND LINGUAL FIXED ORTHODONTICS IN TERMS OF CLINICAL OUTCOMES AND ADVERSE EFFECTS

For patients who are aesthetically conscious, lingual orthodontic appliances provide an outstanding alternative to labial appliances. This study is intended to review the latest literature comparing labial and lingual orthodontics in terms of clinical outcomes and adverse effects. The electronic database search was done on PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Web of Knowledge, and Google Scholar to find the current evidence. Lingual appliances were associated with increased overall oral discomfort, poorer speech performance, increased difficulty in eating and reduced intermolar width compared to labial appliances. On the other hand, lingual appliances were associated with increased intercanine width and substantially reduced loss of the first molar maxillary anchorage during space closure.
PGPR inoculation of a contaminated soil affects plant growth and phytoavailability of Cd and Pb

ABSTRACT To evaluate the effects of cabbage varieties and PGPR inoculation on the mobility and phytoavailability of Pb and Cd in a contaminated soil, a factorial (3 × 6) pot experiment with completely randomized design and three replications was performed. The cabbage varieties were ornamental cabbage, broccoli and cabbage and the PGPR strains included Pseudomonas putida PTCC1694, Bacillus megaterium PTCC1656, Azotobacter chroococcum, Proteus vulgaris PTCC1079 and Bacillus subtilis PTCC1715. The results indicate that the PGPR inoculation increased the amounts of plant biomass, the Pb and Cd concentrations in the root and shoot, the Pb and Cd uptake performances, the mobility, phytoavailability and translocation factor. The Pb bound to Fe-Mn oxides (42.7%) and the Cd bound to carbonate (38.1%) were the predominant heavy metal fractions. The percentages of the Pb and Cd in the soluble, exchangeable and organic matter-bound fractions increased while those of the Pb and Cd in the carbonate and Fe-Mn oxide-bound fractions decreased by lowering the soil pH and increasing the concentration of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). It is concluded that inoculation of heavy metal contaminated soils by the PGPR strains, especially Bacillus megaterium PTCC1656, enhances the phytoremediation process by increasing the metal phytoavailability and biomass production of the plant. Abbreviations HMe: Heavy metals; PGPR: Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria; DOC: Dissolved organic carbon; HCN: Hydrogen cyanide; IAA: Indole-3-acetic acid; MIC: Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations; LB: Liquid broth; EC: Electrical conductivity; OC: Organic carbon; FC: Field capacity; WS: Water soluble; EX: Exchangeable; CAR: Bound to carbonates; OX: Bound to Fe-Mn oxides; OM: Bound to organic matter; RES: Residual; BOA: Ornamental cabbage; BOC: Cabbag; BOI: Broccoli; Pp: Pseudomonas putida PTCC1694; Bm: Bacillus megaterium 107 PTCC1656; Ac: Azotobacter chroococcum; Pv: Proteus vulgaris PTCC1079; Bs: Bacillus subtilis 108 PTCC1715; C-: Uninoculated non-rhizosphere soil; C+: Uninoculated rhizosphere soil; TF: Translocation factor; MF: Mobility factor; ANOVA: Analysis of variance
A Reflection on Virtual Reality Design for Psychological, Cognitive and Behavioral Interventions: Design Needs, Opportunities and Challenges

ABSTRACT Despite the substantial research interest in using Virtual Reality (VR) in healthcare in general and in Psychological, Cognitive, and Behavioral (PC&B) interventions in specific, as well as emerging research supporting the efficacy of VR in healthcare, the design process of translating therapies into VR to meet the needs of critical stakeholders such as users and clinicians is rarely addressed. In this paper, we aim to shed light onto the design needs, opportunities and challenges in designing efficient and effective PC&B-VR interventions. Through analyzing the co-design processes of four user-centered PC&B-VR interventions, we examined how therapies were adapted into VR to meet stakeholders’ requirements, explored design elements for meaningful experiences, and investigated how the understanding of healthcare contexts contribute to the VR intervention design. This paper presents the HCI research community with design opportunities and challenges as well as future directions for PC&B-VR intervention design.
Synthesis and Demulsification of Two Lower Generation Hyperbranched Polyether Surfactants

A lower generation hyperbranched molecular skeleton R12-1.0G was synthesized with methanol as solvent by means of Michael addition and amidation condensation reaction with C12 fatty amine, acrylate, and ethylenediamine as raw materials. The structure was characterized by IR and 1H NMR spectrum. Two lower generation hyperbranched polyethers were further synthesized by means of a skeleton as raw materials through addition reaction with epoxyethane and epoxypropare, respectively. The surface tension, cloud point, and HLB value of the hyperbranched polyethers were determined systematically. On this basis, the demulsification of two hyperbranched polyethers for simulated emulsion was studied in this paper. The results showed that two hyperbranched polyethers are typical surfactants, and they show different demulsification for the simulated emulsion. The structure of polyethers can influence the demulsification performance, and the main factor is the molecular block structure. The demulsification mechanism of two hyperbranched polyethers was studied using the single-droplet protocol, and the dynamic data of drainage time, half life time, and rupture rate constant obtained are consistent with the demulsification law of the hyperbranched polyethers. This study may be helpful in accounting for the demulsification mechanism and for developing effective demulsifiers with new structure.
Hydrophilic conditions: a new way for self-assembly of hybrid silica containing long alkylene chains

For the first time, hybrid materials with long-range order (lamellar and even 2D hexagonal) were obtained during hydrolysis–polycondensation of α,ω-bis(trimethoxysilyl)alkanes thanks to hydrophobic van-der-Waals type interactions using highly hydrophilic conditions, the nanostructure depending mainly on the alkylene chain lengths.
Simple DNA-based logic gates responding to biomolecules and metal ions

The combination of chemical and molecular technologies to emulate silicon-based processing has arisen as a fascinating area of research in the scientific community. This has stimulated the development of molecular-scale logic gates that can parallel the Boolean functions representing the fundamental basis of modern computing. In this regard, the extraordinary diversity of nucleic acid structures and functions can be potentially harnessed to perform logic operations for molecular computers. In this Perspective, we highlight recent advances in the development of simple DNA logic gates devices producing luminescence, colorimetric, electrochemical or electrochemiluminescence signals responding to biomolecules and metal ions for sensory and computing applications.
Evaluation of the Correlation between the rs4918 Polymorphism of AHSG Gene and Coronary Artery Calcification in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease

Objectives: Fetuin-A is a circulating calcification inhibitor that prevents coronary artery calcification (CAC) by increasing calcium phosphate solubility and inhibiting VSMC differentiation and apoptosis. In this study, we investigated the correlation between rs4918 and CAC in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods: Forty-two healthy individuals and eighty-one CAD patients were recruited in the present study. The CAC score (CACS) was measured by CT angiography and the genotype analysis of rs4918 single-nucleotide polymorphism SNP was performed by the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique. Results: The CACS was significantly higher in CAD patients compared to healthy individuals (p < 0.001); however, there was no significant difference between the mean CACS in the presence and absence of rs4918 (p = 0.792). The mean calcium score of the left main coronary artery (LMCA) was significantly lower in carriers of the rs4918 allele (p = 0.036). The frequency of rs4918 SNP was almost similar in the control group and CAD patients (p = 0.846). Conclusions: in patients with CAD, we found no significant association between rs4918 SNP and CACS, indicating that carriers of this allele are not at increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases compared with those without.