Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Uptake and accumulation of microplastics in an edible plant

Microplastic (MP, 100 nm−5 mm) may present an attributable risk to ecosystem and human health, and its pollution has become a global environmental concern. Despite a wealth of information on the accumulation of MPs in aquatic species, there is no information on the uptake and accumulation of MPs by higher plants. Terrestrial edible plants are directly exposed to MPs when agricultural soil was applied with organic manure, sewage sludge as fertilizer or plastic mulching. In this paper, the uptake of two sizes of polystyrene (PS) microbeads (0.2 and 1.0 μm) and then their distribution and migration in an edible plant lettuce were firstly investigated based on laboratory experiments. We used fluorescent markers to track PS microbeads in plant tissues and found fluorescence to be a sensitive and reliable detection method. Sections from untreated control lettuce showed no autofluorescence. When roots were treated with fluorescently labeled PS microbeads, the microbeads could be identified by its fluorescence. Our main study investigated the uptake of 0.2 μm beads, as few luminescence signals were observed in lettuce roots for 1.0 μm beads in our experiment. We observed that 0.2 μm fluorescent microbeads were extracellularly trapped in the root cap mucilage (which is a highly hydrated polysaccharide) and a “dark green tip” (which was typical of lettuce roots exposed to label PS beads) was usually visible to the naked eye. Confocal images revealed that the PS luminescence signals were mainly located in the vascular system and on the cell walls of the cortex tissue of the roots, indicated that the beads passed through the intercellular space via the apoplastic transport system. Once inside the central cylinder, the 0.2 μm PS beads were transferred from the roots to the stems and leaves via the vascular system following the transpiration stream. We also observed that the PS beads adhered to one another and self-assembled systematically into “grape-like” and “(chain) string-like” clusters in the intercellular space of the root and stem vascular tissue of lettuce plant. In contrast to the root and stem, PS beads were dispersed in the leaf tissue. Here, for the first time we provide evidence of the adherence, uptake, accumulation, and translocation of submicrometer MPs within an edible plant. Our findings highlight the previously underappreciated human exposure pathway to MPs through the consumption of contaminated crops and emphasize the need for new management strategies to control the release of MPs waste products into the terrestrial environment. Ultimately, the potential impacts of low range sized MPs on food safety of crop plants and human health need to be urgently considered.
A high efficiency PWM CMOS class-D audio power amplifier

Based on the difference close-loop feedback technique and the difference pre-amp, a high efficiency PWM CMOS class-D audio power amplifier is proposed. A rail-to-rail PWM comparator with window function has been embedded in the class-D audio power amplifier. Design results based on the CSMC 0.5 μm CMOS process show that the max efficiency is 90%, the PSRR is −75 dB, the power supply voltage range is 2.5–5.5 V, the THD+N in 1 kHz input frequency is less than 0.20%, the quiescent current in no load is 2.8 mA, and the shutdown current is 0.5 μA. The active area of the class-D audio power amplifier is about 1.47 × 1.52 mm2. With the good performance, the class-D audio power amplifier can be applied to several audio power systems.
Vertical-axis tidal-current generators and the Pentland Firth

Abstract This paper extends ideas presented to the World Renewable Energy Conference [1, 2]. One idea involves the impedance of flow channels and its relevance to the maximum tidal-stream resource. Estimates of the inertial and damping terms of the impedance of the Pentland Firth suggest a much higher resource size than studies based purely on the kinetic flux, because adding extra turbines will have less effect on flow velocities than in a low impedance channel. This very large resource has pushed the design of the turbine towards the stream velocities, depth, and seabed geology of this site. A second idea is an algorithm to control the pitch of close-packed vertical-axis generators to give an evenly distributed head. Finally, there are suggestions for a seabed attachment aimed specifically for conditions in the Pentland Firth and intended to allow rapid installation of a self-propelled tidal-stream generator.
Applying service niche indicators to London's energy system

Purpose – The use of cross‐cutting urban services (e.g. energy or water) has been proposed as a way of improving the performance of urban sustainability indicators. The purpose of this paper is to consider how this service niche approach might be applied to London's energy system.Design/methodology/approach – Semi‐structured interviews with stakeholders from London's energy policy community are presented. A diffusion of innovation framework is then used to assess how the service niche approach fits with existing practice and consequently whether it is likely to be adopted in practice.Findings – The service niche approach resonates with current indicator practice but it cannot overcome barriers such as a lack of political will or resources alone. While the method is therefore unlikely to be adopted as a wholesale replacement for existing strategies, it could be beneficial for complementary assessments.Research limitations/implications – A limited sample of six interviewees is presented but, by examining ot.
Adherence to international and national recommendations for the prevention of surgical site infections in elective surgery at two tertiary hospitals in Oman

Surgical site infections are the most common healthcare acquired infections among surgical patients. The lives of surgical patients who develop surgical site infections are characterised by prolonged hospital stays and increased morbidity, mortality and increased medical healthcare costs. Consequently, it is recommended that surgical team staff should adhere to specific recommendations and practices to prevent surgical site infections. The risk of contracting surgical site infections depends on surgically related factors such as the duration of one’s pre-operative hospital stay, the use of antibiotics in surgery, pre-operative skin preparation with an appropriate antiseptic, the use of aseptic techniques, preoperative hair removal with clippers, and reducing of human traffic flow in operating theatres. In addition to this, patient related factors such as nutritional status, obesity, age, and underlying illnesses like diabetes mellitus are other potential sites of risk. The present study aims to both comprehensively assess adherence to existing guidelines, and compare current preoperative strategies with evidence-based guidelines for the prevention of surgical site infections. Findings from quantitative research underscore that, although perioperative healthcare providers follow the surgical site infection prevention guidelines, they do not fully adhere to current recommended practices. More specifically, findings indicate a lack of adherence to preventative guidelines for surgical site infection, such as duration of antibiotic prophylaxis, preoperative hair removal of the patient with the use of razors (which is no longer recommended), preoperative showering without the use of proper antiseptic agents, and use of incorrect preoperative skin cleaning techniques during the preparation of the incision site. Furthermore, this study identifies issues concerning adherence to other measures recommended intraoperatively, including, frequent opening of the operating room door and movement of people in the operating room during surgical procedures, having higher numbers of surgical team staff in the operating room than required for most surgical procedures, the wearing of jewellery in operating theatres, improper usage of surgical masks and caps, as well as using personal mobile phones in operating rooms. The results of this study show that adherence with infection control recommendations in the operating theatre need to be carefully monitored, and risk factors that contribute to health care professionals’ non-adherence with recommended practices also need to be identified to improve the quality of routine surgical practice for the safety of the surgical patient.
Gestão integrada de resíduos sólidos urbanos – uma proposta para o município de Paranavaí, Estado do Paraná, Brasil - doi: 10.4025/actascitechnol.v33i1.581

The search for solutions in the urban solid waste problem is one of the challenges city public management currently faces. With population growth and migration to urban areas in the last decade, difficulties in managing this waste have increased and diversified. In this context, this work proposes an integrated management of urban solid waste for the city of Paranavai, aiming at rational use of natural resources, decreasing the amount of generated waste, waste valorization and minimizing the risks associated with its elimination. The model presents an integrated management system, consisting of segregate collection, selective collection, selection units, composting units, and sanitary landfill. It also analyzes how household solid waste has been managed, the characteristics of waste generated by the population of Paranavai, as well as the amount of recyclable material collected in the city and the way the sanitary landfill is operated, where approximately 1,700 tons of urban solid waste are deposited monthly.
combination of unfractionated heparin ufh and triple antiplatelet therapy after percutaneous coronary intervention pci may increase the risk of life threatening hemothorax in a patient with recent rib fracture

It is a well-known fact that ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) is an emergent condition which requires urgent intervention. Oftentimes, STEMI presents in the setting of a cardiac arrest or arrhythmia during which the patient has required chest compressions. If Return of Spontaneous Circulation (ROSC) is thus achieved, a very common circumstance for these patients is the appearance of fractured ribs. Due to this traumatic experience, these fractures and injuries can likely pose a bleeding risk. However, at the same time urgent anti-coagulative and anti-platelet activity is known to be a standard care in such patients. The bleeding risk involved with such therapies has been explored in other conditions such as subarachnoid hemorrhage and it has been deemed to be a risk factor which must be evaluated closely. Similarly, post-PCI bleeding complications have been explored with regards to complex MI, free wall ruptures, etc. However, the same caution has not been evaluated with regards to rib fractures and potential complication of hemothorax in those with MI receiving antiplatelet and anti-coagulation medications. We propose that this is a common scenario, which must at least be evaluated or considered prior to beginning treatment with such medications and is a potential complication which must at least be considered following revascularization. DOI: 10.29011/CTIM-104. 100004
Adolescent Sexual Development

Likely no other life cycle period besides adolescence experiences as much profound and lasting physical and emotional change in such a short time. When considering all the physical, sexual, social, and emotional development issues occurring throughout adolescence, it becomes less easy to simply describe what ‚typical behavior‛ is, and what it is not. Puberty is defined as the early part of adolescence somewhere between the ages of twelve to sixteen in boys and nine to sixteen in girls, during which a person becomes physically capable of reproduction. Puberty usually takes from two to four years to complete and is marked by tremendous physical and emotional growth, sexual function and behavior changes.
Correlation between write endurance and electrical low frequency noise in MgO based magnetic tunnel junctions

The write endurance and the 1/f noise of electrical origin were characterized in CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJ) for spin transfer torque or thermally assisted magnetic random access memories. A statistical study carried out on a set of 60 nominally identical patterned junctions of 200 nm diameter revealed a correlation trend between the electrical 1/f noise power in the unexercised MTJs and the number of write cycles that these MTJs can withstand before electrical breakdown. The junctions showing the largest 1/f noise power before the write endurance test (successive 30 ns pulses of 1.73 V) have the lowest endurance. In contrast, MTJs initially exhibiting lower 1/f noise tend to have a better electrical reliability, i.e., much longer write endurance. This correlation is explained by the presence of electron trapping sites in the MgO barrier and the role of electron trapping/detrapping phenomena in both MTJ reliability and its 1/f electrical noise power. These results suggest that 1/f noise could be used as a predictive characterization of the MTJ endurance.
The One Standard Error Rule for Model Selection: Does It Work?

Previous research provided a lot of discussion on the selection of regularization parameters when it comes to the application of regularization methods for high-dimensional regression. The popular “One Standard Error Rule” (1se rule) used with cross validation (CV) is to select the most parsimonious model whose prediction error is not much worse than the minimum CV error. This paper examines the validity of the 1se rule from a theoretical angle and also studies its estimation accuracy and performances in applications of regression estimation and variable selection, particularly for Lasso in a regression framework. Our theoretical result shows that when a regression procedure produces the regression estimator converging relatively fast to the true regression function, the standard error estimation formula in the 1se rule is justified asymptotically. The numerical results show the following: 1. the 1se rule in general does not necessarily provide a good estimation for the intended standard deviation of the cross validation error. The estimation bias can be 50–100% upwards or downwards in various situations; 2. the results tend to support that 1se rule usually outperforms the regular CV in sparse variable selection and alleviates the over-selection tendency of Lasso; 3. in regression estimation or prediction, the 1se rule often performs worse. In addition, comparisons are made over two real data sets: Boston Housing Prices (large sample size n, small/moderate number of variables p) and Bardet–Biedl data (large p, small n). Data guided simulations are done to provide insight on the relative performances of the 1se rule and the regular CV.
Wide Audience Requirements Engineering (WARE): A Practical Method and Case Study

This study presents a new method to effectively determine requirements for information systems involving widely dispersed end users, such as customers, suppliers, business partners, and other end-users outside the organization, and demonstrates the efficacy of the method in a case study. Recently more IS have been targeted towards users outside the organization, making effective requirements engineering (RE) difficult. Outside users may have little relationship with the firm, are more costly to reach, may have different world views, and may not be available for iterative RE efforts. We identified seven problems associated with RE for wide audience end users and seven associated desirable characteristics for RE method that would address them. We reviewed IS, RE, and manufacturing literature to identify methods that addressed these characteristics and found three methods that supported four to five of the desired characteristics. We developed a method, wide audience requirements engineering (WARE), intended to support all seven characteristics. Major WARE features include a flexible, structured interviewing process (laddering), cognitive modeling (CSC), interpretive analysis, and a presentation tool that allows managers to view the requirements at several levels of aggregation by âdrilling downâ all the way to the original interviews. We used WARE to develop the requirements for a major information system, directed at outside users, at Helsingin Sanomat, Finlandâs largest newspaper. The demonstration showed that WARE was effective for its intended purpose. The requirements developed using WARE became the basis for a three year development roadmap for the system. The use of WARE helped managers and developers understand user preferences, reasoning, and priorities.
Study of Control Algorithm for Wheeleg Robot Walking in Unknown Rough Terrains

This paper presents three algorithms to control the motion of wheeleg robot in unknown rough terrains. First, on the basis of the wheeleg robot, we establish the plane geometry model. By this way, we can easily derive the kinematics and dynamics equations. Based on these equations, we design the control strategy, include three algorithms: posture control, force compensation control and force control. We lay emphasis on researching force control. Then, dynamic simulation of the wheeleg robot is performed in unknown rough terrains to verify the proposed algorithms. Finally, analysing and comparing the three algorithms, and drawing the conclusion.
Experimental verification of a lateral wave above a lossy interface

Lateral waves have been recognised and theoretically investigated, but their existence has not been verified experimentally under controlled laboratory conditions. The present work describes an experiment consisting of microwave-field measurements above a lossy dielectric interface under conditions where a strongly dominant lateral wave is theoretically predicted. The results agree well with the expected field, and therefore confirm the existence of lateral waves.
Ecological assessment of water quality in an urban river replenished with reclaimed water: the phytoplankton functional groups approach

Comprehensive water quality assessment plays a vital role in decision making for the sustainable management of urban rivers, and thus the exploration of integrated ecological assessment methods for water quality has become a major requirement. This study assessed the water quality of the North Canal River on the basis of its ecological status using the phytoplankton functional groups (PFGs) approach. The river runs through the megacities of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in China, and is mainly replenished with reclaimed water. The results showed that the PFGs approach is much better for evaluating the water quality of urban rivers than the conventional physicochemical index method and phytoplankton diversity metrics, because the PFGs approach is more sensitive to the spatiotemporal variations in the water quality of urban rivers. The average Q r index, for ecological status estimation in rivers, based on the PFGs of the North Canal River was 3.30, indicating ‘good’ water quality. In the dry season, the dominant PFG upstream was group D (Cyclotella spp.), whereas the major downstream PFGs had changed to group Y (Glenodinium spp., Cryptomonas ovata, and Cryptomonas erosa) and W1 (Euglena spp. and Gonium pectoral). While the dominant PFG throughout the river changed to TB: Melosira spp. in the wet season. The Q r at each site was one to two grades lower during the wet season than the dry season, indicating that water quality was worse in the wet than the dry season.
The Mechanism of the Neuroprotective Effect of Kynurenic Acid in the Experimental Model of Neonatal Hypoxia–Ischemia: The Link to Oxidative Stress

The over-activation of NMDA receptors and oxidative stress are important components of neonatal hypoxia–ischemia (HI). Kynurenic acid (KYNA) acts as an NMDA receptor antagonist and is known as a reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenger, which makes it a potential therapeutic compound. This study aimed to establish the neuroprotective and antioxidant potential of KYNA in an experimental model of HI. HI on seven-day-old rats was used as an experimental model. The animals were injected i.p. with different doses of KYNA 1 h or 6 h after HI. The neuroprotective effect of KYNA was determined by the measurement of brain damage and elements of oxidative stress (ROS and glutathione (GSH) level, SOD, GPx, and catalase activity). KYNA applied 1 h after HI significantly reduced weight loss of the ischemic hemisphere, and prevented neuronal loss in the hippocampus and cortex. KYNA significantly reduced HI-increased ROS, GSH level, and antioxidant enzyme activity. Only the highest used concentration of KYNA showed neuroprotection when applied 6 h after HI. The presented results indicate induction of neuroprotection at the ROS formation stage. However, based on the presented data, it is not possible to pinpoint whether NMDA receptor inhibition or the scavenging abilities are the dominant KYNA-mediated neuroprotective mechanisms.
Time Line Correlative Spectral Processing for Stratification of Blood Pressure using Adaptive Signal Conditioning

Stratification of Blood Pressure is essential input in most of the cardiovascular diseases detection and prediction and is also a great aid to medical practitioners in dealing with Hypertension. Denoising based on spectral coding is developed based on frequency spectral decomposition and a spectral correlative approach based on wavelet transform. The existing approaches perform a standard deviation and mean of peak correlation in signal conditioning. The artifact filtrations were developed based on thresholding. Filtration of coefficients has an impact on accuracy of estimation and hence proper signal conditioning is a primal need. Wherein threshold is measured with discrete monitoring, time line observation could improve the accuracy of filtration efficiency under varying interference condition. Dynamic interference due to capturing or processing source results in jitter type noises which are short period deviations with varying frequency component. Hence a timefrequency analysis for filtration is adapted for filtration. This paper presents an approach of spectral correlation approach for signal condition in stratification of blood pressure under cuff less monitoring. This presented approach operates on the spectral distribution of finer resolution bands for monitoring signal in denoising and decision making. Existing approaches lacks the capability of loss-less denoising which is efficiently worked out in this paper. Keywords—Stratification of blood pressure; discrete wavelet transform; spectral coding; and selective correlative approach