Removal of Copper from Aqueous Solution Using Orange Pell, Sawdust and Bagasse

Orange peel, sawdust and bagasse have been used as adsorbents for the removal of Cu(II) from aqueous solution. The effects of contact time, pH, concentration, dose and ionic strength on the removal of Cu(II) have been studied. Moreover, treated sawdust has been used as an adsorbent for the same. The equilibrium adsorption capacity of the adsorbents for Cu(II) was obtained by Langmuir isotherm. The ionic strength effect on the removal of Cu(II) from its aqueous solution indicated that the removal followed ion-exchange mechanism

Social Movements and Institutional Entrepreneurship as Facilitators of Technology Transition: The Case of Free/Open-Source Software

We integrate insights from the literature on social movements and institutional entrepreneurship into the strategic niche management (SNM) and multilevel perspective (MLP) frameworks to understand the emergence of Linux, a free/open-source operating system, in a regime dominated by proprietary operating systems such as Unix and Windows NT. Employing a “microhistories” methodology, we document how actors in the free/open-source movement took steps that enabled an alternate technological niche to form, gain momentum and eventually infiltrate the extant regime. Our account delineates the key role that actors play in shaping the identity of a niche, amplifying its presence, and finally mainstreaming it. We observe a heterogenous response by incumbents to the emergent niche and highlight the sustained coexistence of a niche and regime as a distinct form of technological transition. Finally, we demonstrate the significant impact that a niche can have, spanning beyond the targeted regime, and becoming part of the landscape. Our insights highlight how tracing the processes involved in the emergence and development of a niche can provide a prospective and generative understanding of technological transition, thereby contributing to and complementing the extant SNM and MLP literatures

Analytic Continuation of the Relativistic Three-Particle Scattering Amplitudes

We investigate the relativistic scattering of three identical scalar bosons interacting via pair-wise interactions. Extending techniques from the nonrelativistic three-body scattering theory, we provide a detailed and general prescription for solving and analytically continuing integral equations describing the three-body reactions. We use these techniques to study a system with zero angular momenta described by a single scattering length leading to a bound state in a two-body subchannel. We obtain bound-state-particle and three-particle amplitudes in the previously unexplored kinematical regime; in particular, for real energies below elastic thresholds and complex energies in the physical and unphysical Riemann sheets. We extract positions of three-particle bound-states that agree with previous finite-volume studies, providing further evidence for the consistency of the relativistic finite-volume three-body quantization conditions. We also determine previously unobserved virtual bound states in this theory. Finally, we find numerical evidence of the breakdown of the two-body finite-volume formalism in the vicinity of the left-hand cuts and argue for the generalization of the existing formalism

Evolution of Efimov States

The Efimov phenomenon manifests itself as an emergent discrete scaling symmetry in the quantum three-body problem. In the unitarity limit, it leads to an infinite tower of three-body bound states with energies forming a geometric sequence. In this work, we study the evolution of these so-called Efimov states using relativistic scattering theory. We identify them as poles of the three-particle $S$ matrix and trace their trajectories in the complex energy plane as they evolve from virtual states through bound states to resonances. We dial the scattering parameters toward the unitarity limit and observe the emergence of the universal scaling of energies and couplings -- a behavior known from the non-relativistic case. Interestingly, we find that Efimov resonances follow unusual, cyclic trajectories accumulating at the three-body threshold and then disappear at some values of the two-body scattering length. We propose a partial resolution to this "missing states" problem.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures

Solving Relativistic Three-Body Integral Equations in the Presence of Bound States

We present a simple scheme for solving relativistic integral equations for the partial-wave projected three-body amplitudes. Our techniques are used to solve a problem of three scalar particles with a formation of a S-wave two-body bound state. We rewrite the problem in a form suitable for numerical solution and then explore three solving strategies. In particular, we discuss different ways of incorporating the bound-state pole contribution in the integral equations. All of them lead to agreement with previous results obtained using finite-volume spectra of the same theory, providing further evidence of the validity of the existing finite- and infinite-volume formalism for studying three-particle systems. We discuss an analytic and numerical estimate of the systematic errors and provide numerical evidence that the methods presented allow for determination of amplitude above the three-body threshold as well. In conjunction with the previously derived finite-volume formalism, this work furthers the objective for extracting three-hadron scattering amplitudes directly from lattice QCD

Solving relativistic three-body integral equations in the presence of bound states

We present a systematically improvable method for numerically solving relativistic three-body integral equations for the partial-wave projected amplitudes. The method consists of a discretization procedure in momentum space, which approximates the continuum problem with a matrix equation. It is solved for different matrix sizes, and in the end, an extrapolation is employed to restore the continuum limit. Our technique is tested by solving a three-body problem of scalar particles with an $S$ wave two-body bound state. We discuss two methods of incorporating the pole contribution in the integral equations, both of them leading to agreement with previous results obtained using finite-volume spectra of the same theory. We provide an analytic and numerical estimate of the systematic errors. Although we focus on kinematics below the three-particle threshold, we provide numerical evidence that the methods presented allow for determination of amplitude above this threshold as well.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figure

Cardiovascular Disease Risk Prediction via Social Media

Researchers use Twitter and sentiment analysis to predict Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) risk. We developed a new dictionary of CVD-related keywords by analyzing emotions expressed in tweets. Tweets from eighteen US states, including the Appalachian region, were collected. Using the VADER model for sentiment analysis, users were classified as potentially at CVD risk. Machine Learning (ML) models were employed to classify individuals' CVD risk and applied to a CDC dataset with demographic information to make the comparison. Performance evaluation metrics such as Test Accuracy, Precision, Recall, F1 score, Mathew's Correlation Coefficient (MCC), and Cohen's Kappa (CK) score were considered. Results demonstrated that analyzing tweets' emotions surpassed the predictive power of demographic data alone, enabling the identification of individuals at potential risk of developing CVD. This research highlights the potential of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and ML techniques in using tweets to identify individuals with CVD risks, providing an alternative approach to traditional demographic information for public health monitoring.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, 16th International Conference on Social Computing, Behavioral-Cultural Modeling & Prediction and Behavior Representation in Modeling and Simulation (SBP-BRiMS 2023

Survival analysis and prognostic indicators of systemic lupus erythematosus in Pakistani patients

To aim of this study is to analyse the survival rate and prognostic indicators of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in Pakistani population. A total of 198 Patients with SLE diagnosed between 1992 and 2005 were reviewed retrospectively. Clinical features at presentation, subsequent evolving features, autoantibody profile, damage scores and mortality data were obtained. Prognostic factors for survival were studied by statistical analysis. Of 198 SLE Patients studied, 174 were women and 24 were men. The women to men ratio was 7.2:1. Mean age at presentation was 31 years (range 14-76). Mean duration of symptoms before diagnosis was 2.8 years. Mean duration of follow-up was 34.21 months (+/- 33.69). Mean disease duration was 15.6 years. At diagnosis, arthritis, malar rash, oral ulcers and alopecia were the commonest features. During the follow-up, the prevalence of nephritis, arthritis, neurological and hematological disease increased significantly. About 76% (n = 151) of the Patients had organ damage at the time of data analysis, and renal disease was the commonest cause. Univariate analysis revealed that renal disease (P = 0.000), seizures (P = 0.048), pleural involvement (P = 0.019), alopecia (P = 0.000) and discoid lesions (P = 0.005) were predictors for damage. Multivariate model, however, revealed that only renal disease was independent risk factor for damage (P = 0.002). During the study period, 47 Patients (24%) died (five due to disease-related complications and rest as a result of infections). The 3-, 5-, 10-, 15- and 20-year survival rates of our cohort were 99, 80, 77, 75 and 75%, respectively. Cox regression analysis revealed that renal involvement (P = 0.002) and infections (P = 0.004) were independent risk factors for mortality. The survival of our Pakistani SLE Patients was significantly lower compared to that of the Caucasian series reported in last decade. Nephritis not only contributes to organ damage but also acts a major determinant for survival. Infection remains the commonest cause of death. Renal involvement and infections are independent risk factors for mortality. Judicious use of immunosuppressive agents is necessary to improve the short-term survival of lupus Patients

Early renal damage assessed by the SLICC/ACR damage index is predictor of severe outcome in lupus patients in Pakistan

We investigated Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus with the objective of assessing whether early damage accrued in systemic lupus erythematosus as measured by the SLICC/ACR Damage Index predicts mortality in lupus Patients that have been followed prospectively in a single center. Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus from Aga Khan University hospital presenting between 1992 and 2007 were included. This enabled all Patients to be potentially followed for at least 10 years. Yearly SLICC/ACR Damage Index scores were determined for each Patient. Early damage was defined as a score \u3e= 1, and no damage as a score of 0 at the initial assessment. Kaplan-Meier and Log rank tests were used to compare the survival experience between those with and without damage, with all Patients being assessed at 10 years. In this inception cohort 198 Patients were identified and were followed for 10 years. Of these, 47 (23.7%) Patients had a SLICC/ACR Damage Index score of 0 (no damage) while 151 Patients (76.3%) had at least one SLICC/ACR Damage Index item scored (early damage). Mean renal damage score at 1, 5 and 10 years was 0.16, 0.34 and 0.67, respectively. Of lupus Patients who exhibited renal damage at their first SLICC/ACR Damage Index assessment, 31% died within 10 years of their illness as compared with only 13% who had no early renal damage (p \u3c 0.003). Mean renal damage score at 1 year after diagnosis was a significant predictor of death within 10 years of diagnosis (p \u3c 0.002)

Detection of the recurrence of superficial urothelial carcinoma of urinary bladder by combined urine cytology and cystoscopy

The study was aimed to evaluate the accuracy of combined urine cytology and cystoscopy for the detection of the recurrence of superficial urothelial carcinoma of urinary bladder without bladder biopsy. A total 60 patients [males 48, females 12; age range 41-80 years (mean age- 63.15 years)] were included. Urine cytology as well as cystoscopy were done with a targeted biopsy taken from any apparently visible growth in the bladder. The systematic biopsy was taken where there was no growth. Reports of the cytology and cystoscopy were compared with the histopathology reports. It was found that 18 patients were cytology positive (false positive 2) and 42 patients were cytology negative (false negative 10) with sensitivity 61.5% and specificity 94%. During cystoscopy 24 patients were found recurrent growth in the bladder (false positive 3) and 36 patients were negative (false negative 5) with sensitivity 80.7% and specificity 91%. But when combined urine cytology and cystoscopic findings evaluated, the sensitivity and specificity were found 100% and 91% respectively. In conclusion, combined urine cytology and cystoscopy can be used for the detection of recurrence of superficial urothelial carcinoma of urinary bladder