Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Optical Properties of Limonene Secondary Organic Aerosols: The Role of NO3, OH, and O3 in the Oxidation Processes

Limonene, a typical proxy of monoterpenes emitted from biogenic sources, plays an important role in secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation. However, the optical properties of SOA generated from limonene under various oxidation pathways remain poorly understood. In this study, we investigate the refractive index (RI) of limonene SOA produced from four oxidation conditions with cavity ring‐down spectrometer (CRDS) and photoacoustic extinctiometer operated at 532 and 375 nm. Our results show that there is a significant difference in RI values of SOA produced from NO3 oxidation compared to other oxidation pathways. The mean values of RI of SOA produced from NO3 oxidation, NOx oxidation, OH oxidation with NOx‐free, and O3 oxidation experiments are 1.578, 1.469, 1.495, and 1.494 at 532 nm; and 1.591, 1.527, 1.513, and 1.537 at 375 nm, respectively, while no detectable absorption is found in all oxidation conditions. We attribute the high RI values of SOA by NO3 oxidation to two factors: a large proportion of organic nitrates and high‐molecular‐weight dimers/oligomers in the SOA. Our study results indicate that the nighttime chemistry may significantly influence the optical properties of limonene oxidation products. The RI values of limonene SOA generated under various oxidation conditions at different wavelengths retrieved in our laboratory experiments could help improve the model predictions for evaluating the effect of biogenic SOA on the global radiative forcing as well as climate change.
Use of ozone for the preparation of functional silk fibroin-based biomaterial loaded with bioactive compounds for biomedical applications

ABSTRACT Silk fibroin (SF) can be used for the preparation of porous functional biomaterials due to its biocompatibility, biodegradability, and minimal inﬂammatory reactions. High porosity and homogenous interconnected pore structure is a challenge for the preparation of porous biomaterials. Porous SF foam materials can be formed by bubbling inert gases through aqueous solutions and subsequent freeze drying process. In this study, SF foam structures were prepared by first purging ozone gas and then freeze drying of this ozone-treated aqueous SF solution. Resulting porous materials were efficiently loaded with plant extract for the preparation of functional biomaterials having antimicrobial properties. The interactions of SF with ozone led to chemical modifications that improved both foaming and hydrophobic properties. Intensive ozone treatment caused the crystallinity degree of untreated SF to decrease from 48% to 42%. Ozone treatment also resulted in a significant reduction in surface tyrosine content from 55% to 43%. The use of ozone gas for the preparation of SF foam material enhanced the adsorption capacity of phenolic compounds. The enhancement in the adsorption of phenolic compounds on SF foam structure can be attributed to the oxidation-dependent increase in hydrophobicity.
On the origin of photon mass, momentum, and energy in a dielectric medium [Invited]

The debate and controversy concerning the momentum of light in a dielectric medium (Abraham vs Minkowski) is well-known and still not fully resolved. In this paper, we investigate the origin of both momenta in the frame of special relativity by considering photons in media as relativistic quasiparticles. We demonstrate for the first time to the best of our knowledge that the Minkowski form of the photon mass, momentum, and energy follows directly from the relativistic energy conservation law. We introduce a new expression for the momentum of light in a dispersive medium, consistent with the experimentally observed propagation of photons at the group velocity. Finally, the effect of light-induced optical stretching is discussed, which can be used for experimental verification of the existing expressions for the photon momentum.
Analysis of Photocatalytic Degradation of Phenol with Exfoliated Graphitic Carbon Nitride and Light-Emitting Diodes Using Response Surface Methodology

Response surface methodology (RSM) involving a Box–Benkhen design (BBD) was employed to analyze the photocatalytic degradation of phenol using exfoliated graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) and light-emitting diodes (wavelength = 430 nm). The interaction between three parameters, namely, catalyst concentration (0.25–0.75 g/L), pollutant concentration (20–100 ppm), and pH of the solution (3–10), was examined and modeled. An empirical regression quadratic model was developed to relate the phenol degradation efficiency with these three parameters. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was then applied to examine the significance of the model; this showed that the model is significant with an insignificant lack of fit and an R2 of 0.96. The statistical analysis demonstrated that, in the studied range, phenol concentration considerably affected phenol degradation. The RSM model shows a significant correlation between predicted and experimental values of photocatalytic degradation of phenol. The model’s accuracy was tested for 50 ppm of phenol under optimal conditions involving a catalyst concentration of 0.4 g/L catalysts and a solution pH of 6.5. The model predicted a degradation efficiency of 88.62%, whereas the experimentally achieved efficiency was 83.75%.
Solvent-assisted extraction of oil from papaya (Carica papaya L.) seeds: evaluation of its physiochemical properties and fatty-acid composition

ABSTRACT The present work reports the solvent-assisted extraction of oil from papaya (Carica papaya L.) seeds. Various operating parameters such as solid solvent ratio, temperature and time on oil yield, and its effects have been investigated using response surface methodology. The experimental oil yield (20.30 ± 0.03%) at optimal condition was well agreed with the predicted value. The compositions from GC-FID results showed saturated fatty acid (20.94%), monounsaturated fatty acid (73.12%), and polyunsaturated fatty acid (4.96%). It was also found that the solvent-assisted extraction is a simple and effective method for extraction of oil from papaya seeds.
Participant experiences of a post-release electronic monitoring program for domestic violence in New South Wales, Australia

Electronic monitoring has been increasingly used internationally with recent implementation in Australia for those convicted of domestic violence offenses. It is timely and important to gain a better understanding of the physical, psychological, social, and offending-related experiences and impacts of electronic monitoring on this group to inform further implementation. This study describes the experiences of individuals who were subject to a post-release electronic monitoring program for domestic violence in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Semi-structured phone interviews were conducted with 16 men who had recently experienced electronic monitoring. Thematic analysis was used to investigate common themes across participants’ experiences. Demographic and basic quantitative health data were also collected. Five themes were identified: (a) confusion regarding program practices, (b) awareness and pressure of monitoring, (c) social exclusion effects, (d) felt and enacted stigmatization, and (e) “for them not for me. ” The findings reveal participants were highly aware of their being monitored, with a mix of positive and negative responses to this cognizance. Being electronically monitored had several flow-on effects on participants’ lives, creating challenges in social spheres across work and personal life. Stigma, both felt and enacted, featured heavily in participants’ responses. Individual factors that may affect program adherence were also identified, including education level and intent to commit a crime. Further quantitative work will be useful for informing a more complete understanding of the relationship between program experiences and outcomes such as reoffending and post-release community integration.
Compensation of high nitrogen toxicity and nitrogen deficiency with biochar amendment through enhancement of soil fertility and nitrogen use efficiency promoted rice growth and yield

The quality and nutritional status of agricultural soils are depleting gradually, and biochar is widely used in soil quality improvement. A sustainable approach of biochar application needs a better understanding of its interaction with nitrogen application and the final effect on crop growth. In our study, the effect of different biochar application levels (0, 15, 30, and 60 tons ha−1) in combination with nitrogen fertilizer levels (0, 150, 300, and 450 kg ha−1) on soil properties, rice growth, and nitrogen use efficiency were investigated. The results showed that sole application of biochar (B60) did not promote the rice growth except the soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen, total phosphorous, and available potassium compared with no biochar addition, while a single application of 450 kg N ha−1 (N450) adversely affected the rice physiological and yield traits by destroying rice leaf ultrastructure and reducing the stomatal length by 13%, stomatal width 3% and density 12%, plant height 5%, dry biomass plant−1 4%, spike weight plant−1 8%, and grain weight plant−1 9% compared to N300 unless it was treated in combination with biochar. Biochar can significantly compensate the toxicity of excessive nitrogen and deficiency of low nitrogen fertilizer on rice growth. Compared to a single application of B0+N450 (450 kg N ha−1), combined application of biochar and nitrogen B30+N450 could elevate rice plant nitrogen content by 13%, plant height 30%, aboveground dry biomass plant−1 136%, spike weight plant−1 34%, and grain weight plant−1 36% while increments in total nitrogen accumulation (TNA 79%%) and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE 35%) were noted in B30+N300 treatment. These results suggest that biochar amendment combined with a proper amount of nitrogen fertilizer is an effective approach to promote soil conditions, manage nitrogen utilization, improve plant growth and increase crop yield on a sustainable basis.
Coral Reef Mapping with Remote Sensing and Machine Learning: A Nurture and Nature Analysis in Marine Protected Areas

Mapping habitats is essential to assist strategic decisions regarding the use and protection of coral reefs. Coupled with machine learning (ML) algorithms, remote sensing has allowed detailed mapping of reefs at meaningful scales. Here we integrated WorldView-3 and Landsat-8 imagery and ML techniques to produce a map of suitable habitats for the occurrence of a model species, the hydrocoral Millepora alcicornis, in coral reefs located inside marine protected areas in Northeast Brazil. Conservation and management efforts in the region were also analyzed, integrating human use layers to the ecological seascape. Three ML techniques were applied: two to derive base layers, namely geographically weighted regressions for bathymetry and support vector machine classifier (SVM) for habitat mapping, and one to build the species distribution model (MaxEnt) for Millepora alcicornis, a conspicuous and important reef-building species in the area. Additionally, human use was mapped based on the presence of tourists and fishers. SVM yielded 15 benthic classes (e.g., seagrass, sand, coral), with an overall accuracy of 79%. Bathymetry and its derivative layers depicted the topographical complexity of the area. The Millepora alcicornis distribution model identified distance from the shore and depth as topographical factors limiting the settling and growth of coral colonies. The most important variables were ecological, showing the importance of maintaining high biodiversity in the ecosystem. The comparison of the habitat suitability model with species absence and human use maps indicated the impact of direct human activities as potential inhibitors of coral development. Results reinforce the importance of the establishment of no-take zones and other protective measures for maintaining local biodiversity.
Commitment or not? Creator's quality strategies with uncertain market in reward-based crowdfunding

ABSTRACT This paper studies a creator's quality commitment strategies with uncertain demand when the creator lacks setup funding and chooses crowdfunding to finance. Facing uncertain demand, the creator may or may not choose to make a quality commitment. Conventional wisdom indicates that the strategy of committing to a certain quality outperforms the no-commitment strategy by eliminating the consumers' strategic behavior of delaying purchases. We build a two-period model consisting of crowdfunding and spot sales periods, a creator lacking setup funding, and consumers with heterogeneous valuations for the product. When considering the creator's setup cost and market uncertainty, we find, counterintuitively, that making no quality commitment to consumers can be more profitable for the creator because of the advantage of flexibility. Moreover, our analysis shows that when the creator's setup cost is high enough, the profit-maximising creator will make a quality commitment to consumers and offer a higher-quality product than when making no commitment. Also, we show that the product quality increases with the market uncertainty under certain conditions. In addition, we find that the creator should finance through crowdfunding only when the setup cost is less than a threshold, and the threshold increases with market uncertainty.
The Canadian Beaufort Shelf trophic structure: evaluating an ecosystem modelling approach by comparison with observed stable isotopic structure

Climate-driven impacts on marine trophic pathways worldwide are compounded by sea-ice loss at northern latitudes. For the Arctic, current information describing food web linkages is fragmented, and there is a need for tools that can describe overarching trophic structure despite limited species-specific data. Here, we tested the ability of a mass-balanced ecosystem model (Ecopath with Ecosim, EwE) to reconstruct the trophic hierarchy of 31 groups, from primary producers to polar bears, in the Canadian Beaufort Sea continental shelf. Trophic level (TL) estimates from EwE were compared with those derived from two nitrogen stable isotope (SI) modelling approaches (SI linear and scaled) to assess EwE accuracy, using a dataset of 642 δ15N observations across 282 taxa. TLs from EwE were strongly, positively related to those from both SI models (R2 > 0.80). EwE performed well (within 0.2 TL) for groups with relatively well-known diets or for taxa characterized by fewer trophic connections (e.g., primary consumers). Performance was worse (> 0.5 TL) for species groups aggregated at coarse taxonomic levels, those with poorly documented diets, and for anadromous fishes. Comparisons with SI models suggested that the scaled approach can overestimate the TL of top predators if ecosystem-specific information is not considered.
Stability analysis of discretized structure systems based on the complex network with dynamics of time‐varying stiffness

The stability analysis of dynamic continuous structural system (DCSS) has often been investigated by discretizing it into several low‐dimensional elements. The integrated results of all elements are employed to describe the whole dynamic behavior of DCSS. In this paper, DCSS is regarded as the complex dynamic network with the discretized elements as the dynamic nodes and the time‐varying stiffness as the dynamic link relations between them, by which the DCSS can be regarded to be the large‐scale system composed of the node subsystem (NS) and link subsystem (LS). Therefore, the dynamic model of DCSS is proposed as the combination of dynamic equations of NS and LS, in which their state variables are coupled mutually. By using the model, this paper investigates the stability of DCSS. The research results show that the state variables of NS and LS are uniformly ultimately bounded (UUB) associated with the synthesized coupling terms in LS. Finally, the simulation example is utilized to demonstrate the validity of method in this paper.
Consumers’ Post-purchase Regret Determinants in Sri Lankan Shopping Malls

Aims: This study aims to find the factors affecting post-purchase regret at shopping malls in Sri Lanka. Marketing needs better recognition of customer behavior decisions. The importance of this study is to find the gaps in customer expectations and what malls actually deliver. It also aims to identify ways to create the best possible post-purchase customer experience. Study design: Factors considered in this study have framed the number of alternatives forgone, the return process experience at mall shop, the self-esteem, and risk-aversion of the consumer. Place and duration of study: People who have shopped at malls during the year 2020 were chosen via an online survey, and 369 responses were collected concerning the period mentioned above. Methodology: A questionnaire was used to gather data, and its reliability has been tested with Pearson Product-Moment values and reliability measured via a factor analysis using SPSS application. Results: The results indicated that the number of alternatives forgone, return procedure of the mall shop, and the consumers' self-esteem positively associated with post-purchase regret. At the same time, risk-aversion shows a negative relationship with post-purchase regret. Conclusion: The number of alternatives is the most significant factor that relates to post-purchase regret. To lower the regret of alternatives forgone, mall shop managers must look into customer’s preferences. It is better to cluster the loyal and non-loyal customers in a long time. The number of options showcase in the mall must be limited, but with a sense of marketing. To decrease dissatisfaction with the return procedure, one should enhance the services behind the return procedure and provide correct directions. Risk aversion is negatively proportional to post-purchase regret.
A novel ferronucleoside that targets DNA replication in pancreatic cancer cells

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a disease that remains largely refractory to existing treatments including the nucleoside analogue gemcitabine. In the current study we demonstrate that the ferronucleoside 1-(S,Rp) is cytotoxic in a panel of PDAC cell lines including gemcitabine resistant MIAPaCa2, with IC50 values comparable to cisplatin. Biochemical studies show that the mechanism of action is inhibition of DNA-replication, S-phase cell cycle arrest and stalling of DNA-replication forks which were directly observed at single molecule resolution by DNA-fibre fluorography. In agreement with this, transcriptional changes following treatment with 1-(S,Rp) include activation of three of the four genes (HUS1, RAD1, RAD17) of the 9-1-1 check point complex clamp and two of the three genes (MRE11, NBN) that form the MRN complex as well as activation of multiple downstream targets. Furthermore, there was evidence of phosphorylation of checkpoint kinases 1 and 2 as well as RPA1 and gamma H2AX, all of which are considered biochemical markers of replication stress. Studies in p53 deficient cell lines showed activation of CDKN1A (p21) and GADD45A by 1-(S,Rp) was at least partially independent of p53. In conclusion, because of its potency and activity in gemcitabine resistant cells, 1-(S,Rp) is a promising candidate molecule for development of new treatments for PDAC.
MSWI BA treated with Advanced Dry Recovery: a field scale study on materials’ leaching properties

ABSTRACT In many European countries, the environmental properties of waste-derived aggregates are mostly assessed based on laboratory leaching tests such as the standardised percolation tests CEN/TS/14405, ISO/TS 21268-3, or DIN 19528. These tests are conducted under specified conditions, which are similar yet somewhat different from realistic field conditions. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the leaching properties of ADR (Advanced Dry Recovery) recovered MSWI BA in the field in order to understand more about its environmental impacts in actual civil engineering structures. Two field scale studies (a lysimeter and a larger interim storage field study) were constructed and the leachate quality was investigated. These results were then complemented with the results of previously conducted laboratory leaching tests using a liquid to solid ratio (L kg−1) comparison. The results demonstrated that the leaching behaviours of many potentially harmful substances, such as chloride, copper and antimony, was similar despite the study scale. In addition, this study illustrated the importance of investigating the leaching properties of waste-derived aggregates on a larger scale, even though the uncertainties in such studies may not be easily controlled.
Improved Rice Technology Adoption: The Role of Spatially-Dependent Risk Preference

This study analyses farmers’ adoption of improved rice technology, taking into account farmers’ risk preferences; the unobserved spatial heterogeneity associated with farmers’ risk preferences; farmers’ household and farm characteristics; farm locations, farmers’ access to information, and their perceptions on the rice improved varieties (i.e., high yield varieties, HYV). The study used data obtained from field experiments and a survey conducted in 2016 in Nigeria. An instrumental-variable probit model was estimated to account for potential endogenous farmers’ risk preference in the adoption decision model. Results show that risk averse (risk avoidant) farmers are less likely to adopt HYV, with the spatial lags of farmers’ risk attitudes found to be a good instrument for spatially unobserved variables (e.g., environmental and climatic factors). We conclude that studies supporting policy action aiming at the diffusion of improved rice varieties need to collect information, if possible, on farmers’ risk attitudes, local environmental and climatic conditions (e.g., climatic, topographic, soil quality, pest incidence) in order to ease the design and evaluation of policy actions on the adoption of improved agricultural technology.
Trends in Epidemiology and Management of Breast Cancer in Women Under 46 Years: Institutional Experience from a Tertiary Cancer Centre in Eastern India

Background: Breast cancer in younger women is a growing burden both in developed and Asian subcontinent. Despite studies showing varying results about the impact of age on treatment outcome and suboptimal survival, very few robust Indian studies have thrown light on this biologically different entity. Methods: Histologically / cytologically confirmed cases of non-sarcomatous, female ductal breast carcinoma patients of age group less than and equal to 45 years of all stages attending radiotherapy department of R.G Kar Medical College between January 2016-December 2018 were included in the study. Relevant information was obtained from patient`s files/case records. Database was locked on 31st March 2021.The baseline demographic profile, cancer subsites along with treatment provided were analysed using SPSS version 16 (IBM Inc, Armonk, New York, U.S.). Descriptive data are provided. Results: Total 272 patients were eligible for the study as per the inclusion criteria with median age of 39 years (22-45 years). Majority were urban married Hindu females. Majority were locally advanced and node positive high grade disease as per AJCC 7th staging system. Modified radical mastectomy was significantly higher than breast conservation surgery as the surgical modality (76 vs. 8.9%). 31.2%, 54.5% patients received neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy respectively.61% patients received curative intent radiotherapy either in conventional or hypofractionated schedule. Myelosuppression and oral mucositis were the major treatment related adverse events. Overall median PFS was 48 months. Conclusion: Breast cancer in younger age group is distinct in terms of disease biology. Effective screening and diagnostics modalities with focus on mass awareness amongst patients and health care workers are the cornerstone of improving outcome and survival. Keywords: breast cancer, young females, retrospective single institutional study.