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The objective of this work was to establish the gold and mercury losses in an artisanal mining deposit (Uke) in Nigeria to convince miners about their inefficiency and suggest changes in their gold extraction practices. Samples of feeds and tailings from five sluice box concentration processes previously ground in hammer mills below 1 mm (P80 = 0.5 mm) were systematically sampled every 15 min. for 4 h and sent for gold analyses by a fire assay and intensive cyanidation. Dry grain size analyses of primary and amalgamation tailings allowed us to find out in which size fraction gold and mercury are lost. Total mercury losses in sixteen operations were obtained by weighing mercury at the beginning and in all steps of the concentrates' amalgamation. After analyses, the average gold grade in the feed resulted in 3.80 ± 1.52 ppm (two standard deviations). The gold recovery was 29.24 ± 13.24%, which is low due to a lack of liberation of the fine gold particles from the gangue (silicates). Finer grinding would be necessary. The mercury balance revealed that 42% of the mercury added is lost, in which 26% involves tailings and 16% evaporated. The HgLost-to-AuProduced ratio was found to be 3.35 ± 9.46, which is exceedingly high for this type of amalgamation process that should have this ratio around 1. One reason is the excessive amount of mercury in the amalgams, 76.5 ± 38.12%, when the normal is around 40%–50%. Mercury lost by evaporation in open bonfires is clearly contaminating amalgamation operators (usually children), neighbours, and the environment. The Hg-contaminated tailings and primary tailings are sold to local cyanidation plants, and this can form toxic soluble Hg(CN)2 in the process. The results of this research were brought to the attention of the miners and other stakeholders, including the regulatory agencies of the government. The % gold recovery by amalgamation was not established in this study, but if this process recovers 50 to 60% of the liberated gold particles in a concentrate and 30% of gold was recovered in the sluice boxes, then the total gold recovery should be between 15 and 20; i.e., 80 to 85% of gold mined is lost. On average, an operation produces 8.26 g of gold/month, which is split to six miners, representing USD 69/month/miner or USD 2.3/day. It was discussed with miners, authorities, and community members (in particular female miners) how to avoid exposure to mercury, how to improve gold recovery without mercury, and the health and environmental effects of this pollutant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining has commonly used the mercury amalgamation method for gold ore extraction. The processing waste or tailings often contain gold and other metals. This study examined the effects of cow manure amendment and the ratio of gold mine tailings on sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) gold phytomining. The pot experiment was conducted in the Faculty of Agriculture greenhouse at Padjadjaran University in Indonesia. The sweet potato MZ119 clone (an orange-fleshed sweet potato) was planted on a polybag (40 x 40 cm) consisting of 10 kg of planting media, which was a mixture of gold mine tailing and soil. The design used was a completely randomized design factorial with three replications. The first factor was ratios of gold mine tailing consisting of three levels, namely 30%, 50%, 70%, and 100% (w/w). The second factor was doses of organic manure, namely without cow manure, 250 g pot-1, 500 g pot-1, and 750 g pot-1. The results demonstrated that the application of cow dung and the gold mine tailings ratio (w/w) had a significant (p = 0.05) effect on plants' dry weight biomass, gold accumulation, and gold phytomining by sweet potato. The highest gold mass yield of 0.066 mg gold plant-1 was achieved by a 50% (w/w) gold mine tailing ratio and 750 g pot-1 cow manure treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Darjeeling is an important tourist destination and situated in the lower Himalayas at an average elevation of above 2000 m. Next to water, tea is the most extensively consumed beverage by human beings. Today, hills of Darjeeling positioned as one of the best quality tea productions in the world. Darjeeling tea has a complex and unique amalgamation of agro-climatic conditions which contributed to its unique savour and quality that has won the heart of millions of consumers across the globe. The unique quality and reputation of the tea attributable to its geographical origin was the major reason for Darjeeling tea to get the first Geographical Indications (GI) status in India in 2004. The basic objective of the study is to analyse the role of Geographical Indications in improving the living standard of the local community. After the analysis, it was concluded that tea is a labour-intensive industry which required a good number of labourers to plant, bend, pluck and manufacture. Darjeeling's fragile ecosystem has been endangered by increasing demand for natural resources. There is an urgent need to make locals aware about the different advantages of GI so that they can avail the benefits of it and improve things in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attempts to create consolidated city-county governments have persisted in recent decades, with many local government reformers touting this type of organizational change as a solution to a number of challenges in metropolitan areas. Overall, research in this area has generally shown no conclusive outcomes related to achieving greater efficiencies as measured by a reduction in expenditures. However, the 2014 consolidation of Macon-Bibb County, Georgia presents an opportunity to explore a substantively important case due to a mandated 20% reduction in expenditures over a 5-year period. This analysis finds that while officials generally met their goal of reducing budgeted expenditures, an analysis of actual expenditures and questions pertaining to longer-term outcomes, including reductions in staffing, performance, and credit ratings may be a cautionary tale for similar efforts in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-material additive manufacturing (MMAM) is garnering escalating interest. Yet, joining dissimilar materials faces formidable challenges due to solubility limitations and divergences in thermophysical properties. Taking the joining of high-strength steel (HSS) and Ti6Al4V (TC4) as an example, this work seeks to address various challenges encountered in MMAM. An exhaustive inquiry was undertaken to scrutinize the effects of various joining strategies (direct joining, composition gradient paths, and interlayer strategy) and deposition strategies (deposition sequence, interlayer thickness, and process parameters) on the AM-induced bonding of HSS to TC4. The findings demonstrate that these advanced strategic designs can effectively mitigate challenges arising from disparities in material compatibility and thermophysical properties between HSS and TC4. Leveraging rigorous thermodynamic analyses and the strategic orchestration of building techniques, three HSS–Cu10Sn–Nb–TC4 samples were successfully fabricated via laser-directed energy deposition (LDED), each manifesting tensile strengths exceeding 200 MPa. This achievement heralds a notable leap forward in the amalgamation of materials, particularly high-strength steel and titanium alloys, which could provide valuable insights into other MMAM structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new normal era allowed learning at IT vocational schools to be carried out directly (synchronously) through online meeting platforms and indirectly (asynchronously) through email, WhatsApp groups, and learning management system (LMS). However, the reality showed that not all synchronous and asynchronous learning implementations were effective. Based on these problems, it was necessary to evaluate and used an appropriate evaluation model. A breakthrough was used, namely the Amalgamation evaluation model based on the modification of the weighted product with the Provus and Alkin models in view of the Rwa Bhineda concept. The purpose of this research was to show the Amalgamation evaluation model design based on weighted product modification with the Provus and Alkin models in view of the Rwa Bhineda concept as the basis for determining the dominant indicators that need to be maintained for the synchronous-asynchronous learning effectiveness. This research used a development approach that focused on the design, initial trial, and initial trial revision. The analysis of this study results used a quantitative descriptive technique, namely the percentage descriptive calculation. This research results showed the evaluation model design was good categorized as evidenced by the average percentage of effectiveness was 88.67%. The emerging significance and value of this research results was the existence of innovation in the educational evaluation field, which makes it easier for evaluators to determine the dominant indicators that need to be maintained in supporting the effectiveness of synchronous-asynchronous learning implementation in IT vocational schools generally, and specifically in IT vocational schools in Bali. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The present study included 40 participants to investigate the association of circadian locomotor output cycles kaput (CLOCK) rs4580704 polymorphism with myocardial infarction (MI) cases. Materials and Methods: In this study, we enrolled 20 male and 20 female cases with MI. Genomic DNA extraction was done from lymphocytes using conventional techniques, employing the QIAamp DNA Blood Mini Kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany) from lymphocytes. Genotyping was conducted through TaqMan singlenucleotide polymorphism genotyping assays, employing real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on a 7500 Real-Time PCR System (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA). This streamlined approach ensures accurate and efficient analysis of genetic markers associated with MI across gender groups. Results: The study revealed significant associations between body mass index (BMI), hypertension, obesity, current smoking, and type 2 diabetes among both male and female MI patients. However, age, systolic blood pressure (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) did not exhibit significant differences between genders. Analysis of CLOCK rs4580704 polymorphism indicated no variance in genotype and allele frequencies between male and female MI patients. When considering both genders, CLOCK rs4580704 polymorphism was significantly associated with BMI, hypertension, obesity, current smoking, and type 2 diabetes (P = 0.02, P = 0.02, P = 0.04, and P = 0.02, respectively). Nevertheless, logistic regression analysis showed no significant differences among MI cases across the various models of CLOCK rs4580704 polymorphism. Conclusion: No significant association was found between CLOCK rs4580704 polymorphism and MI in both genders. However, significant links were identified between this polymorphism and various cardiovascular risk factors including BMI, SBP, DBP, hypertension, obesity, current smoking, and type 2 diabetes in MI cases. These findings underscore the potential influence of CLOCK rs4580704 polymorphism on cardiovascular risk profiles among individuals with MI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coloring graph is giving a color to a set of vertices and a set of edges on a graph. The condition for coloring a graph is that each color is different for each neighboring member graph. Coloring graph can be done by mapping a different color to each vertex or edge. Rainbow coloring is a type of rainbow connected with coloring edge. It ensures that every graph G has a rainbow path. A rainbow path is a path in a graph where no two vertices have the same color. The minimum number of colors in a rainbow connected graph is called the rainbow connection number denoted by rc(G). The graphs used in this study are the Amal(Fn,xz,m) graph and the Amal(on, xn, m) graph. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) has spurred population and economic growth in the small rural communities in which it is located, along with causing contamination of the soil, air, and water with grave effects on human health due to the uncontrolled use of mercury for gold processing activities. This study analyzes the levels of mercury in Secocha, an ASGM community in Arequipa, Peru. A total of 44 soil samples were taken from two ASGM commercial-extractive zones (n = 18) and non-processing urban zones (n = 26). Soil mercury analysis with atomic absorption spectrometry revealed average mercury levels of 86.11 mg/kg in commercial-extractive zone I, where ore processing has occurred for about 17 years, and mercury levels of 43.81 mg/kg in commercial-extractive zone II, where processing has occurred for about 7 years. In the urban zone, the average mercury level was 9.53 mg/kg. The average mercury concentrations for each zone exceed the relevant environmental quality standards established by the Peruvian Ministry of the Environment. In addition, urine samples were obtained from 15 miners and 15 people from the general urban population (non-miners). The average mercury level in the urine of miners was 7.04 µg/L, and in the urine of non-miners it was 0.49 µg/L. In both cases, the mercury urine level did not exceed the limits established by WHO and the Peruvian Ministry of Health, though miners’ elevated levels do raise concerns.

The introduction of mercury (Hg) into the environment by anthropogenic activities has resulted in negative implications for ecosystem functions and human health. Unlike the legacy of huge environmental pollution left by historic gold rushes in several developed countries, gold-rich nations in the developing world are currently witnessing what could qualify as a "new gold rush", conducted primarily by small-scale mining operators and characterized by the use of metallic Hg (Hg0) in the amalgamation process to extract gold from crude ores. Once introduced into the environment, Hg0 can undergo biogeochemical transformations to produce Hg species such as methyl-Hg, with well-established adverse impacts on living organisms. This review summarizes published data on both historical and recent trends of the use of Hg0 in artisanal gold mining (AGM) on a global scale and emphasizes the impacts of AGM on the environment. To achieve this, we used citations from research conducted in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, obtained from several search engines and databases. Our findings show that, in addition to the well-known environmental and human health adverse effects of gold mining with Hg0, gold extraction by the Hg amalgamation technique is boosting the economy in parts of Africa, South America, and Asia. Unfortunately, this appealing aspect of AGM may not be easily halted, pending the creation of alternative employment. Therefore, there is a clear need for the development of safe and affordable gold extraction and purification technologies. Ultimately, the growth of this specific economic sector should be regulated to help protect both the environment and human health. Information compiled in this review should help to (i) improve the mapping of AGM-impacted soil and aquatic systems on a global scale and (ii) stimulate discussions and research on how to take down current barriers to the development and implementation of safe AGM methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple, eco-friendly method for the synthesis of gold nanoflowers using a non-proteinogenic amino acid is discussed in the present work. Gold nanostructure with unique morphology was synthesized, with the assistance of ornithine amino acid. Ornithine-stabilised gold nanoflowers were found to be highly sensitive towards mercury ions (Hg2+) due to Au–Hg amalgamate formation. Due to amalgamate formation, an evolution in morphology of ornithine-stabilised gold nanoflowers happens which can be monitored by the red shift in surface plasmon resonance. Under optimum conditions, our sensor shows a dynamic response range with a detection limit of 6 nM. This developed nanosensor can be used as Hg2+ ion sensor in polluted water/waste water by a one-step assay protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Literature & Humanities / Edebiyat ve Beşeri Bilimler Dergisi is the property of Ataturk University Coordinatorship of Scientific Journals and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In recent decades, artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) has spurred population and economic growth in the small rural communities in which it is located, along with causing contamination of the soil, air, and water with grave effects on human health due to the uncontrolled use of mercury for gold processing activities. This study analyzes the levels of mercury in Secocha, an ASGM community in Arequipa, Peru. A total of 44 soil samples were taken from two ASGM commercial-extractive zones (n = 18) and non-processing urban zones (n = 26). Soil mercury analysis with atomic absorption spectrometry revealed average mercury levels of 86.11 mg/kg in commercial-extractive zone I, where ore processing has occurred for about 17 years, and mercury levels of 43.81 mg/kg in commercial-extractive zone II, where processing has occurred for about 7 years. In the urban zone, the average mercury level was 9.53 mg/kg. The average mercury concentrations for each zone exceed the relevant environmental quality standards established by the Peruvian Ministry of the Environment. In addition, urine samples were obtained from 15 miners and 15 people from the general urban population (non-miners). The average mercury level in the urine of miners was 7.04 µg/L, and in the urine of non-miners it was 0.49 µg/L. In both cases, the mercury urine level did not exceed the limits established by WHO and the Peruvian Ministry of Health, though miners' elevated levels do raise concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study semiconic idempotent commutative residuated lattices. After giving some properties of such residuated lattices, we obtain a structure theorem for semiconic idempotent commutative residuated lattices. As an application, we make use of the structure theorem to prove that the variety of strongly semiconic idempotent commutative residuated lattices has the amalgamation property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amalgamation' is a form of business reorganisation or combination of existing business ventures, where both ventures continue to exist as part of the amalgamated company. In the event of an 'amalgamation', states in India levy stamp duty on the value of the immovable properties of the amalgamating company. This is because the states treat the amalgamation as a transfer of immovable properties by the amalgamating company to the amalgamated company, and the order of the court approving the scheme of amalgamation is treated as the 'conveyance' of such property. Two judgments of the Supreme Court of India lend credibility to this position. One holds that amalgamation results in sub-letting of a lease by the amalgamating company to the amalgamated company. The other judgment holds that amalgamation involves the transfer of properties, and the order of the court approving the scheme of amalgamation is the 'instrument' liable to stamped as 'conveyance'. As a result, amalgamating companies have to pay a substantial amount of stamp duty. The objective of this article is to analyse, and argue against, this established position, because 'amalgamation' is a restructuring tool available to companies to pool their resources and pursue their objectives. The authors argue that the process of amalgamation does not result in extinguishment of any company involved in the amalgamation, and both companies continue to exist, albeit jointly as one. Thus, treating the process of amalgamation merely as a transfer of immoveable property is unjustified. The authors argue that treating the amalgamation order of two companies as 'conveyance', and the issuance of shares to the shareholders of the transferor company by the transferee company as the consideration for transfer of property, is inconsistent with one of the basic tenets of company law - that a company is different and distinct from its shareholders. It is further argued with respect to the distribution of legislative power under the Constitution of India that the Union Parliament has, and the state legislatures do not have, competence to levy stamp duty on corporate restructuring activities such as an amalgamation, and the argument in favour of conferment of such power would violate jurisdictional restrictions imposed by the Constitution of India on states' competence to make laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relativistic effects are important to understand the chemistry of heavier elements across the periodic table (PT). Three important relativistic effects are: contraction of s- and p-orbitals (direct relativistic effect), expansion of d- and f-orbitals (indirect relativistic effect) and spin–orbit (SO) coupling to split the p-, d- and f-orbitals. Each of these effects is approximately proportional to Z 2 (Z = atomic number) for the valence shell electrons in many electron atoms and consequently, these relativistic effects dominantly control the properties of the heavier elements (mainly the 6th and 7th period elements). These aspects are not given the proper importance in most of the inorganic chemistry text books and in chemistry education at the university level.

Contemporary cities are urban entities composed of multiple constituents, processes, and connections and operate across binary rhetoric. These very often are comprehended as urbanisms of multiplicity and warrant a different approach to understanding and reading. Plurality in the urban realm is not a new phenomenon. Many principles and urban design approaches in the past centuries adopted an amalgamation of differentials in their discourses to respond to contextual exigencies. This paper investigates such amalgamations through a critical literature review in a bid to lay the foundation of an urban design approach that will be capable of addressing the challenges of seeping multiplicity in the cities of the future.

This study examines the impact of amalgamation reforms on workload and digital governance within Armenian local authorities, against a backdrop of decentralization and government consolidation. It explores how these reforms affect public servants at different governmental levels and ordinary citizens, highlighting the transition towards e-governance as a mitigatory strategy. The research employed a mixed-method approach, incorporating document analysis, semi-structured interviews with government officials across various levels, and focus group discussions with citizens from amalgamated communities. This comprehensive methodology aimed to assess the shifts in workload distribution and the effectiveness of digital governance tools post-amalgamation. Findings indicate a significant shift in work responsibilities towards local administrators, particularly after community amalgamations, leading to increased workloads. While digital governance tools were introduced to alleviate these pressures, their effectiveness varied. Smaller communities reported satisfaction with service delivery improvements, attributing this to enhanced government support and capacity. However, larger communities faced challenges, including dissatisfaction with service delivery, loss of local identity, and perceived inequities in tax contributions versus benefits received. The study reveals that while amalgamation and digital governance initiatives aim to enhance administrative efficiency and public service delivery, they also present complex challenges. These include managing increased workloads and ensuring equitable service provision across communities. The research contributes to the discourse on local governance reform, emphasizing the need for a balanced approach that considers the implications for democracy, accountability, and citizen engagement in the face of significant structural changes.

Copyright of African & Mediterranean Journal of Architecture & Urbanism (AMJAU) is the property of Ecole Nationale d'Architecture and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Mercury is a highly toxic pollutant that can negatively affect human health and the environment; informal mining is one of the main sources of anthropogenic mercury release due to the separation or concentration by amalgamation that is still used to recover gold directly from ore. In the Nambija mining district, there is still informal mining based on practically no technical knowledge, which uses amalgamation as a processing technique for gold recovery. The production tasks that directly affect the handling of mercury during the in situ grinding–amalgamation process are monitored here. Experimental grinding tests were initially carried out in a "chancha" bar mill for a range of ore sizes and as a function of time; then, experimental tests were performed at the macro-level on grinding cycles in Chilean mills. Considering the characteristics of the ore mineral and the operation of the Chilean mills, it was determined that it is possible to reduce the Hg input to mill by up to 20% (at source). Experimental grinding–amalgamation tests were carried out at different times along with a grain size analysis of the ore; the recovery establishes the grinding time and the fraction in which the gold is extracted in a greater proportion, which affects the control of the amalgamation times. The mercury dosage used by the miners in the amalgamation process should be reduced, considering trials where there is better gold recovery and with the purpose of also reducing mercury losses; eventually, it is possible to jointly achieve an increase in gold recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let \(G = (V,E)\) be a connected simple graph of order \(p\) and size \(q\). A graph \(G\) is called local antimagic (total) if \(G\) admits a local antimagic (total) labeling. A bijection \(g : E \to \{1,2,\ldots,q\}\) is called a local antimagic labeling of $ if for any two adjacent vertices \(u\) and \(v\), we have \(g^+(u) \ne g^+(v)\), where \(g^+(u) = \sum_{e\in E(u)} g(e)\), and \(E(u)\) is the set of edges incident to \(u\). Similarly, a bijection \(f:V(G)\cup E(G)\to \{1,2,\ldots,p+q\}\) is called a local antimagic total labeling of \(G\) if for any two adjacent vertices \(u\) and \(v\), we have \(w_f(u)\ne w_f(v)\), where \(w_f(u) = f(u) + \sum_{e\in E(u)} f(e)\). Thus, any local antimagic (total) labeling induces a proper vertex coloring of \(G\) if vertex \(v\) is assigned the color \(g^+(v)\) (respectively, \(w_f(u)\)). The local antimagic (total) chromatic number, denoted \(\chi_{la}(G)\) (respectively \(\chi_{lat}(G)\)), is the minimum number of induced colors taken over local antimagic (total) labeling of \(G\). In this paper, we determined \(\chi_{lat}(G)\) where \(G\) is the amalgamation ofcomplete graphs. Consequently, we also obtained the local antimagic (total) chromatic number of the disjoint union of complete graphs, and the join of \(K_1\) and amalgamation of complete graphs under various conditions. An application of local antimagic total chromatic number is also given.

In this paper we introduce the modelwise interpolation property of a logic that states that whenever \(\models\phi\to\psi\) holds for two formulas \(\phi\) and \(\psi\), then for every model \(\mathfrak{M}\) there is an interpolant formula \(\chi\) formulated in the intersection of the vocabularies of \(\phi\) and \(\psi\), such that \(\mathfrak{M}\models\phi\to\chi\) and \(\mathfrak{M}\models\chi\to\psi\), that is, the interpolant formula in Craig interpolation may vary from model to model. We compare the modelwise interpolation property with the standard Craig interpolation and with the local interpolation property by discussing examples, most notably the finite variable fragments of first order logic, and difference logic. As an application we connect the modelwise interpolation property with the local Beth definability, and we prove that the modelwise interpolation property of an algebraizable logic can be characterized by a weak form of the superamalgamation property of the class of algebras corresponding to the models of the logic.

This paper attempts to examine critically the symbolic matrimonial union of different Nation States with numerous ethnic groups with kaleidoscopic cultures, customs and traditions with the possibility of having a formidable and a united country. Historians and scholars of various fields of academic enterprise in different historical epochs have spotted out through intellectual telescope and investigations that the protracted ailment of Nigeria State started in 1914 on the eve of amalgamation of the North and South Protectorates. It is the aim of this paper to redirect scholars’ attention to the major fundamental reasons why Nigeria is becoming an ancient Israel whereof the Northern Kingdom parted way from the Southern Kingdom consequent upon young despotic King who was not diplomatic in managing the affairs of the State probably because of his youthful exuberance. This paper observed that there is a loose tie among the Nation States that formed the entity Nigeria because the various Nations never consented to come together as one country, but rather, it was an imposition of the colonial masters just for an easy administrative purpose to exploit the natives and rob them of their patrimonial rights. This paper will focus mostly on the plethora of reasons that have contributed to the problem of: poor governance, marginalization, ethnicity, nepotism, unequal distribution of national wealth, poverty, economic bankruptcy, corruption, insecurity, political gerrymandering, poor health system, paper value educational system and visionless leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The position of South China in Gondwana remains controversial. In all previous models, the Yangtze and Cathaysia blocks, the two major components of South China, were amalgamated by the Tonian, and South China was considered to be a single coherent block in Gondwana. Based on a summary and critical reevaluation of available paleomagnetic, paleontological, stratigraphic, and detrital zircon data, we propose that the Yangtze and Cathaysia blocks were not juxtaposed until the early Paleozoic and were located at two separate parts of the northern margin of Gondwana before that time. The Yangtze block was located to the northwest of India in the Ediacaran and early Cambrian. Cathaysia was close to or a part of northern Australia in the Ediacaran, when Australia and India were separated by the Kuunga Ocean, and amalgamated with the eastern margin of India in the late Ediacaran to early Cambrian when the ocean closed. Our model implies that the early Paleozoic orogenesis in South China could have been related to two distinct events, the late Ediacaran to early Cambrian collision of Cathaysia/Australia with India (the Kuunga orogeny) and the Late Ordovician amalgamation of Cathaysia with Yangtze. It also implies that the Yangtze and Cathaysia blocks likely occupied two separate positions in Rodinia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intact data transmission to the authentic user is becoming crucial at every moment in the current era. Steganography; is a technique for concealing the hidden message in any cover media such as image, video; and audio to increase the protection of data. The resilience and imperceptibility are improved by choosing an appropriate embedding position. This paper gives a novel system to immerse the secret information in different videos with different methods. An audio and video steganography with novel amalgamations are implemented to immerse the confidential auditory information and the authentic user's face image. A hidden message is first included in the audio from the multimedia file; using LSB Technique. The Stego-video is created in the second stage by merging the authorized user's face into the frame of the video; by using PVD technology. Stego-audio is linked again with the stego-video in the third stage. The incorporated perspective techniques (LSB-SS and PVD-SS algorithms) with more significant data immersing capacity, good robustness and imperceptibility are proposed in this research work. The spread spectrum approach is used to increase the complexity of secret data recognition. Two different video files are tested with different voice files with the results such as PSNR, SSIM, RMSE and MSE as 52.3, 0.9963, 0.0024 and 0.0000059, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we develop a self-growing variant of the local model network (LMN) for recursive dynamical system identification. The proposed model has the following features: growing online structure, fast recursive updating rules, better memory use (no storage of covariance matrices is required), and outlier-robustness. In this regard, efficiency in performance and simplicity of implementation are the essential qualities of the proposed approach. The proposed growing version of the LMN model results from a synergistic amalgamation of two simple but powerful ideas. For this purpose, we adapt the neuron insertion strategy of the resource-allocating network to LMN model, and replaces the standard OLS rule for parameter estimation with outlier-robust recursive rules. A comprehensive evaluation involving three SISO and one MIMO benchmarking data sets corroborates the proposed approach's superior predictive performance in outlier-contaminated scenarios compared to fixed-size LMN-based models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biotic stress management through bio-priming is a common practice among the farmers of the Indo-Gangetic Plains. However, this indigenous technology is less explored for the sustainable management of soil resources. Therefore, field-based experiments (2016–17 and 2017–18) were conducted in Varanasi to evaluate the combined effect of seedling bio-priming and fertilization on biochemical properties, microbiological properties, and fertility of red cabbage soil at harvest. Based on the farmers' fertilization practice, the recommended dose of fertilizers (RDF) of N:P2O5:K2O were applied @ 120:60:60 kg ha−1. Three compatible bio-agents, viz., Trichoderma harzianum, Pseudomonas fluorescens, and Bacillus subtilis were applied alone and in combination with 75% RDF. The effect of treatment combinations was also analyzed for carbon (C) mineralization by conducting an incubation experiment for 90 days. Bio-priming treatments recorded a higher richness of soil microflora and soil fertility than control and sole application of chemical fertilizers. Application of 75% RDF + T. harzianum + P. fluorescens resulted in highest urease and cellulase activities and soil organic C. Inclusion of dual-species bacterial consortium (P. fluorescens and B. subtilis) in integrated system resulted in highest dehydrogenase activity and available P. These priming agents also exhibited significantly higher CO2 fluxes and C mineralization in our incubation study. A microbial consortium of T. harzianum and B. subtilis increased the microbial biomass C and available K. Although application of triple-species consortium improved C mineralization in laboratory conditions, the positive effects lowered down in field conditions. As a bottom-up approach, customization of bio-priming technology among farmers will help in attaining the UN-Sustainable Development Goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a series of high-resolution simulations generated with the moving-mesh code arepo to model the merger of a 1.1-M⊙ carbon-oxygen primary white dwarf (WD) with an outer helium layer and a 0.35-M⊙ secondary helium WD. Our simulations lead to detonations that are consistent with the edge-lit scenario, where a helium detonation is ignited at the base of the helium layer of the primary WD, which triggers an off-centre carbon detonation. This produces an asymmetric ejecta pattern and differences in line-of-sight observables (e.g. mean atomic weight). The ejecta that are flung into space are dominated by 56Ni, 4He, 28Si, and 32S. Our simulations result in a surviving degenerate companion of mass 0.22–0.25 M⊙ moving at >1700  |$\mathrm{km}\, \mathrm{s}^{-1}$|⁠ , consistent with the observational findings of hypervelocity WDs. The secondary's surface layers are enriched by heavy metals, with 56Ni making up approximately 0.8 per cent of the remaining mass. We also analyse the sensitivity of the outcome on simulation parameters, including the 'inspiral time', which defines a period of accelerated angular momentum loss. We find that the choice of 'inspiral time' qualitatively influences the simulation result, including the survival of the secondary. We argue that the shorter inspiral cases result in qualitatively and quantitatively similar outcomes. We also investigate the sensitivity of our results on the primary's chemical profile by comparing simulations using isothermal, constant composition models with the same mass and central composition and characterized by either a bare carbon-oxygen core (no helium) or a carbon-oxygen core enveloped by a thick helium layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multimodal deep learning, in the context of biometrics, encounters significant challenges due to the dependence on long speech utterances and RGB images, which are often impractical in certain situations. This paper presents a novel solution addressing these issues by leveraging ultrashort voice utterances and depth videos of the lip for person identification. The proposed method utilizes an amalgamation of residual neural networks to encode depth videos and a Time Delay Neural Network architecture to encode voice signals. In an effort to fuse information from these different modalities, we integrate self-attention and engineer a noise-resistant model that effectively manages diverse types of noise. Through rigorous testing on a benchmark dataset, our approach exhibits superior performance over existing methods, resulting in an average improvement of  10 % . This method is notably efficient for scenarios where extended utterances and RGB images are unfeasible or unattainable. Furthermore, its potential extends to various multimodal applications beyond just person identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This examine become confirmed to look at impact of mushroom supplementation as a prebiotic compound in fed diets of enhancement of increase overall performance in Nile tilapia, (Oreochromis niloticus) on the aquaculture unit in laboratory. A general of fifty fishes (25 in keeping with water tank) with preliminary common frame weighted of 50.64 ± 0.0329 gram had been fed diets supplemented with 25% mushroom stalk experimental food plan (MSEF) and market available food plan (MAF) for seven weeks in cage system. During the assessment, the physico-chemical parameters of used water had been maintained normal range for optimal growth. The effects confirmed the first-rate very last weight gains (WG) become discovered with inside the fish fed supplemented with 25% mushroom stalk experimental diet were suggestively accelerated as compared with fish fed market available food plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artisanal and small-scale gold is known to be sources of mercury pollution. This mercury contamination occurs when gold is isolated by the amalgamation method, contamination occurs. Mercury pollution in smallscale artisanal gold mining in the Kulon Progo area of Yogyakarta, the lowest tailing content was 164.49 mg kg-1, and the highest was 383.21 mg kg-1. This value exceeded the quality standard stipulated by Indonesian Government Regulation 22 of 2021 of 75 mg kg-1. The technology that can control pollution is stabilization/solidification (S/S). This research aimed to determine the optimum composition of the tailings mixture with tras soil. Variations in the design of tras soil with tailings were 100:0, 90:10, 80:20, 70:30, 60:40, 50:50, 40:60, 30:70, 20:80, and 10:90. The results showed that the optimum tras: tailings soil composition was 90:10, with a compressive test of 31 t m-2. Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) was 0.0033 mg L-1 according to the quality standard of Indonesian Government Regulation No. 22, 2021, with a value of 0.05 mg L-1. The compressive strength results follow the quality of the US EPA of 35 t m-2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A graceful labeling of a bipartite graph is an \a-labeling if it has the property that the labels assigned to the vertices of one stable set of the graph are smaller than the labels assigned to the vertices of the other stable set. A concatenation of cycles is a connected graph formed by a collection of cycles, where each cycle shares at most either two vertices or two edges with other cycles in the collection. In this work we investigate the existence of \a-labelings for this kind of graphs, exploring the concepts of vertex amalgamation to produce a family of Eulerian graphs, and edge amalgamation to generate a family of outerplanar graphs. In addition, we determine the number of graphs obtained with $k$ copies of the cycle $C_n$, for both types of amalgamations.

We have performed a detailed spectral analysis of the helium-rich hot subdwarf EC 20187−4939, using data obtained in the SALT survey of helium-rich hot subdwarfs. We have measured its effective temperature, surface gravity, and chemical abundances from the spectrum. Its radius has also been determined by fitting the spectral energy distribution using photometric data, from which a mass of 0.44 |$^{+0.32}_{-0.19}$|  M⊙ has been inferred using the measurement of surface gravity. This star is particularly abundant in helium and nitrogen, whilst being both carbon and oxygen-weak. The surface abundances and mass have been found to be consistent with a helium white dwarf merger product. The abundance effects of alpha captures on nitrogen during the merger process and possible connections between EC 20187−4939, and other carbon-weak related objects are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optical and near-IR photometry suggests that the carbon star DY Persei exhibits fadings similar to those of R Coronae Borealis (RCB) variables. Photometric surveys of the Galaxy and Magellanic Clouds uncovered new DY Per variables with infrared photometry identifying them with cool carbon stars, perhaps, with an unusual tendency to shed mass. In an attempt to resolve DY Per's identity crisis—a cool carbon giant or a cool RCB variable?—we analyze a high-resolution IGRINS H &K-band spectrum of DY Per. The CO first-overtone bands in the K band of DY Per show a high abundance of 18O such that 16O/18O = 4 ± 1, a ratio sharply at odds with published results for regular cool carbon giants with 16O/18O ∼ 1000 but this exceptionally low ratio is characteristic of RCB variables and HdC stars. This similarity suggests that DY Per indeed may be a cool RCB variable. Current opinion considers RCB variables to result from the merger of a He onto a CO white dwarf; observed abundances of these H-deficient stars including the exceptionally low 16O/18O ratios are in fair accord with predicted compositions for white dwarf merger products. An H-deficiency for DY Per is not directly observable but is suggested from the strength of an HF line and an assumption that F may be overabundant, as observed and predicted for RCB stars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The amalgamation of heterogeneous generations of mobile cellular networks around the globe has resulted in diverse data speed experiences for end users. At present, there are no defined mechanisms in place for subscribers of a mobile network operator (MNO) to use the services of third-party WiFi providers. MNOs also have no standardized procedures to securely interact with each other, and allow their subscribers to use third-party services on a pay-as-you-go basis. This paper proposes a blockchain-enabled offloading framework that allows a subscriber of a mobile operator to temporarily use another MNO or WiFi provider's higher-speed network. A smart contract is employed to allow diverse entities, such as MNOs, brokers and WiFi providers, to automatically execute mutual agreements, to enable the utilization of third-party infrastructure in a secure and controlled manner. The proposed framework is tested using Ethereum's testnet on the Goerli network using Alchemy and Hardhat. The analysis of the results obtained shows that the proposed technique helps mobile operators to offer improved user experience in the form of average speed and latency. The experiments show that the average time taken to deliver a 500 MB file is reduced from 10.23 s to 0.91 s for the global average scenario, from 6.09 s to 0.50 s for 5G, from 13.50 s to 0.50 s for 4G-LTE, from 41.11 s to 0.49 s for 4G, and from 339.11 s to 0.49 s for the 3G scenario. The results also show that, with WiFi offloading, users from all cellular generations can enjoy a similar quality of services, because delivery time ranges from 0.49 s to 0.91 s for offloaded experiments whereas for the non-offloaded scenario it ranges from 6.09 s to 339.11 s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are several potential uses for green nanoparticle amalgamated in the medicinal and environmental sciences. Green synthesis specifically tries to reduce the use of harmful chemicals. For instance, it is often acceptable to employ organic resources like plants. In a single green synthesis step, biomolecules found in plant extract may transform metal ions into nanoparticles. This naturally occurring conversion of a metal ion to a base metal may be carried out quickly, conveniently, and at ambient temperature and pressure. In the current study, the production of CuNPs utilizing different-sized Nelumbo nucifera leaf extract has been reported. In order to determine how CuNPs generated, several techniques including UV-Visible, XRD, SEM, EDAX, FTIR, and cyclic voltammetry studies were used. The UV-Visible spectra of the amalgamated CuNPs show a peak between 250 and 450 nm. The morphology of CuNPs are spike in shapes with sizes of 33nm for 10mM and 25nm for 50mM, and the nanoparticles are crystalline in nature, according to the XRD and SEM examinations. The amalgamated CuNPs contain 37.55% copper, according to EDAX, and FTIR shows the absorption peak of copper at 1640 and 576 cm-1.The oxidation and reduction of amalgamated CuNPs are visible by cyclic voltammetry. CuNPs have been put to the test against Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa for their antibacterial properties. CuNPs show the greatest zone of inhibition when used against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Aspergillus flavus and Candida albicans have been used as test subjects for the antifungal testing of CuNPs. The CuNPs against Candida albicans show the largest zone of inhibition. CuNPs demonstrate strong antibacterial and antifungal efficacy, which means they have a considerable potential for application in the development of medications used to treat bacterial and fungal infections. The electrical potential difference of amalgamated CuNPs has been measured using a voltmeter and it is found that as concentration rises, so does the electrical potential difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought is one of the most multifaceted hydrologic phenomena, affecting several factors such as soil moisture, surface runoff, and significant water shortages. Therefore, monitoring and assessing drought occurrences based on a single drought index are inadequate. The current study develops a multiscalar weighted amalgamated drought index (MWADI) to amalgamate multiple drought indices. The MWADI is mainly based on the normalized average dependence posterior probabilities (ADPPs). These ADPPs are obtained from Bayesian networks (BNs)-based Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulations. Results have shown that the MWADI correlates more with the standardized precipitation index (SPI) and the standardized precipitation temperature index (SPTI). As proposed, the MWADI synthesizes drought characteristics of different multiscalar drought indices to reduce the uncertainty of individual drought indices and provide a comprehensive drought assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have recently been witnessing that our society is starting to heal from the impacts of COVID-19. The economic, social and cultural impacts of a pandemic cannot be ignored and we should be properly equipped to deal with similar situations in future. Recently, Monkeypox has been concerning the international health community with its lethal impacts for a probable pandemic. In such situations, having appropriate protocols and methodologies to deal with the outbreak efficiently is of paramount interest to the world. Early diagnosis and treatment stand as the only viable option to tackle such problems. To this end, in this paper, we propose an ensemble learning-based framework to detect the presence of the Monkeypox virus from skin lesion images. We first consider three pre-trained base learners, namely Inception V3, Xception and DenseNet169 to fine-tune on a target Monkeypox dataset. Further, we extract probabilities from these deep models to feed into the ensemble framework. To combine the outcomes, we propose a Beta function-based normalization scheme of probabilities to learn an efficient aggregation of complementary information obtained from the base learners followed by the sum rule-based ensemble. The framework is extensively evaluated on a publicly available Monkeypox skin lesion dataset using a five-fold cross-validation setup to evaluate its effectiveness. The model achieves an average of 93.39%, 88.91%, 96.78% and 92.35% accuracy, precision, recall and F1 scores, respectively. The supporting source codes are presented in https://github.com/BihanBanerjee/MonkeyPox. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary cities are urban entities composed of multiple constituents, processes, and connections and operate across binary rhetoric. These very often are comprehended as urbanisms of multiplicity and warrant a different approach to understanding and reading. Plurality in the urban realm is not a new phenomenon. Many principles and urban design approaches in the past centuries adopted an amalgamation of differentials in their discourses to respond to contextual exigencies. This paper investigates such amalgamations through a critical literature review in a bid to lay the foundation of an urban design approach that will be capable of addressing the challenges of seeping multiplicity in the cities of the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a possible use of white sweet clover (Melilotus albus Med.) for phytoremediation was assessed. The plants were grown on soils with naturally occurring concentrations of potentially toxic elements (PTEs). First, the content of PTEs was determined in plant biomass and in soil samples using: (a) Optical emission spectrometry with inductively coupled plasma to determine Sb, As, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Se, and (b) thermal decomposition, amalgamation, and atomic absorption spectrometry to determine Hg. The effectiveness of Melilotus albus Med. (M. albus) for phytoremediation was evaluated using the bioconcentration factor (BCF). The phytoextraction potential of M. albus was determined using bioaccumulation factor (BAC) and translocation factor (TF) values. The highest concentration of PTEs in roots was detected for zinc (10.56 mg/kg of dry weight, DW) and copper (5.128 mg/kg of DW). Similarly, the highest concentration in above-ground parts of the plant was detected for zinc and copper (12.638 and 4.0 mg/kg of DW, respectively). Although the values were relatively high, the effectiveness of the absorption of these PTEs by plant biomass from the soil was relatively very low. BAC and BCF were always lower than 1. On the other hand, the results suggested that M. albus effectively transports PTEs (only for Zn, Pb and Hg) from roots to shoots, because TF was always higher than 1. However, the accumulation of PTEs from soils with a natural abundance of PTEs was not excessive in comparison to conventional maize silage. Therefore, there is no potential risk of biomethane production in biogas plants when biomass from M. albus is used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Municipal amalgamation has become a prevalent trend in many modern nations, driven by a desire to enhance the size and scope of local government units. This expansion is primarily motivated by the prospects of economies of scale. Municipal mergers are seen as a method to guarantee that municipalities possess the necessary financial and technical proficiency to provide a wide range of services to their residents. Aim: To ascertain the feasibility of economies of scale in local government and conditions that should be met in order to successfully achieve economies of scale. Methods: This study utilised a qualitative research approach, which involved a content analysis of strategic documents from the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, including the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and the Growth and Development Strategy 2055 document. Results: Economies of scale have not consistently served as an effective foundation for municipal reforms, as the merging of municipalities does not always result in improved service delivery or economies of scale. Conclusion: Although municipal amalgamations are anticipated to enhance economic, social, administrative, and financial sustainability, thereby creating financially viable municipalities, they often prioritise sound financial management, institutional capacity building, good governance, and basic service delivery. However, this study discovered that these outcomes are not always realised. Contribution: Municipal amalgamation is a relatively new concept in Africa and South Africa and, as a result, there is limited literature. This study aimed to provide a local context and perspective of municipal amalgamations.

In this paper, we study semiconic idempotent commutative residuated lattices. After giving some properties of such residuated lattices, we obtain a structure theorem for semiconic idempotent commutative residuated lattices. As an application, we make use of the structure theorem to prove that the variety of strongly semiconic idempotent commutative residuated lattices has the amalgamation property.