Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Package Value for the Millennial Generation - Results of a Cross-Continental Study

Packaging plays a significant role in consumers' everyday decision making and in forming their choices. On the one hand, earlier research suggests that 70% of purchasing decisions are made in store. On the other hand, the proliferation of e-commerce has impacted shoppers' traditional purchasing habits by increasing their online purchasing behavior and shifting their product selections from "local" to "global". These changes are evident among the Millennial Generation, the first generation with access to internet since childhood, which is hypothesized to significantly affect their perceived relationships with packaging. This paper presents an international packaging survey aimed at the Millennial Generation (people between the ages of 18-30). The aim of the study was to explore the relationship between the Millennials and their perceptions of packaging. The study was carried out by several IAPRI member institutes. The survey data (N=802) was collected between November 2014 and March 2015 among university students in ten countries representing four geographical regions: Europe (Finland N=80, Norway N=48, Denmark N= 36, Switzerland N=67, Spain N=72), Latin America (Mexico N=101, Argentina N=105), USA (South Carolina N=87, California N=65), and Asia (Thailand N=141). The questionnaire was available in three languages (English, Spanish, and Thai) and it took approximately 15 minutes to be completed. The results show that Millennials have high expectations for packaging, particularly for the experiential value (i.e., emotions and experiences) delivered though packaging. Fiber-based materials have a positive environmental image among the Millennials across all continents. In countries with developed recycling systems, pro-environmental packaging was perceived as recyclable or made of recycled content. Conversely, in the countries with low recycling rates, waste reduction by composting, light weighting, and reuse were emphasized.
Cross sectional study of p53 immunohistochemical expression of HER2-positive and negative breast cancer patients

The current study included forty Iraqi female patients suffered from breast carcinoma were age varied from 34-75 years old, diagnosed through the period from 19 January 2019 to 7 April 2021. In present study used paraffin-embedded of female breast carcinoma sections have been confirmed histological diagnosis such as tumor size, differentiation degree and types of invasive breast cancers after reviewing all slides by specialist pathologists from different centers in AL-Najaf province. Cross sectional study of immunohistochemical expression of biomarker protein P53 (P53) positive and negative females with invasive breast cancers that have been conducted in Middle Euphrates Unit for Cancer Researches / University of Kufa . The highest percentage of P53 over expression was (12.5%) at age (50-59), while the lowest percentage found in age less than 40 years. The results obtained from the present study showed that there was significant difference (p<0.05) between P53 overexpression and patient age and according to histological type appeared of P53ve+ (27.5% in IDC and was (2.5%) in ILC, and P53ve+ which had significant difference (p<0.05) between P53ve+and histopathological type.
Rural Tourism in and after the COVID-19 Era: “Revenge Travel” or Chance for a Degrowth-Oriented Restart? Cases from Ireland and Germany

Focusing on rural destinations and calling on the evolutionary resilience concept as a theoretical lens, this paper investigates whether COVID-19 provokes “revenge tourism” after periods of lockdown or whether the pandemic can be used as a chance for a degrowth-oriented restart that forms the foundation for a more sustainable tourism sector. Analysing tourism data and documents regarding political and economic actors’ actions in two rural destinations in Ireland (Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark) and Germany (Southeast Rügen Biosphere Reserve), the study reveals that so far, neither “revenge travel” nor a degrowth-oriented restart of tourism can be identified. Rather, current development indicates that the two rural destinations show resilience in the sense of bouncing back to the pre-COVID-19 era and a continuation of further growth-oriented rural tourism as far as possible under the conditions of political COVID-19 measures. As this development will not allow the sector to genuinely come to grips with the negative ecological and sociocultural effects of rural tourism, the paper pleads for initiation of a debate about influencing business realities on a supranational level, and in this context, about the value of rural tourism destinations and possible forms of financial compensation for degrowth in rural tourism.
Aflatoxin Concentrations in Milk from High-Producing US Holsteins Fed Naturally-Infected Maize and Milked 3x Per Day

Aflatoxin belongs to a group of fungal toxins known as mycotoxins; these are highly oxygenated, heterocyclic, difuranocoumarin compounds produced by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus (Diaz, Calabrese, & Blain, 2008). Aflatoxins are hepatotoxic and carcinogenic secondary metabolic products from these fungal species. Once aflatoxins are produced by the fungi, they are heat, cold, and light stable. They persist to some extent in food even after the inactivation of the fungi by food processing methods, such as ultra-high temperature products, due to their significant chemical stability. Aflatoxins are colorless, odorless, and tasteless. Because even low concentrations can be important, and with the uneven distribution in commodities, aflatoxins are difficult to detect accurately (Peraica, Radić, Lucić, & Pavlović, 1999).
Downwind Wind Turbine Performance, Loading and Design Considerations

Due to their inherent yaw stability, downwind turbines are well suited for floating offshore platforms, for which there is a need to substantially lower the cost of wind-generated electricity. On downwind turbines, the additional leeway for the blade to deflect downstream and the reduced risk of a blade-tower strike enables improved handling of aerodynamic loads through flexible blade designs and a rotor layout that is optimized to match the incoming flow. The overall aim of this research project is to improve understanding of the performance, unsteady structural loading and operational stability of megawatt-size downwind wind turbines in relation to upwind turbines. Furthermore it is the goal of this work to translate those findings into recommendations for design and application of downwind turbines. For the experimental part of this work a modular scale-model wind turbine that allows for either upwind or downwind operation, with a range of rotor cone, tilt and yaw angles, is used. Unsteady three-dimensional full-scale numerical studies allow assessing benefits and drawbacks of multi-megawatt downwind compared to upwind turbines further. At optimum tip speed ratio, the power output of the model turbine and the computationally predicted power of the full-scale turbine is larger by 4% and 3% respectively for the downwind compared to the corresponding upwind rotor orientation. Likewise 3% higher thrust for the downwind is found for experiment and simulation. The higher power for the downwind is a consequence of higher flow incidence across the blade span and a higher axial velocity over the inboard portion of the blade span. These features arise due to a favorable upstream blockage effect of the nacelle, and subsequent acceleration of the flow towards the rotor plane on the downwind
Online Learning: ICT-Based Tools for Interaction and Effectiveness

COVID-19 has been a challenge in all sectors and education in particular. During the pandemic, there was an immediate and compulsory shift in conducting classes via online mode. Several colleges and schools have asked their teachers to hold classes online, yet most of them are neither equipped nor in the mindset to adapt to this new teaching methodology. Despite these limitations, Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and other platforms have become integral parts of lecturing and learning. Subjects have been taught using these platforms. Despite the challenges, classes are still held online and teachers are still able to reach students. It is important to note, however, that there are some notable challenges across all sessions that remain unnoticed and unresolved. In an online environment, controlling students' absences, engaging all students in discussions, monitoring their presence, keeping them active, conducting assessments, and nurturing creativity are all questionable. Research is needed to initiate and incorporate different ICT (Information Communication Technology) tools to facilitate effective teaching and learning. The purpose of this paper is to identify the various ICT tools and resources that can be used to support the above-discussed problems and make online teaching and learning more effective.
Age Matters? The Moderating Effect of Age on the Longitudinal Relationship between Upward and Downward Comparisons on Instagram and Identity Processes During Emerging Adulthood

This study tested whether age moderates the longitudinal relationships between upward and downward comparisons on Instagram and three identity processes (i.e., commitment, in-depth exploration, and reconsideration of commitment). Two hundred and eleven British emerging adults completed two self-report surveys, two months apart, in early 2020. A cross-lagged panel model with interaction terms found that age moderated the relationships between both upward and downward comparisons on Instagram and commitment. Contingent moderations were found: the relationship between upward comparisons and commitment was negative for older participants, whilst the relationship between downward comparisons and commitment was negative for younger participants. Significant age differences were not found in the paths between the comparison behaviours and the two exploratory processes. Findings therefore provide evidence to suggest that developmental factors may inform the identity implications of social comparisons on Instagram during emerging adulthood, and thus, developmental sensitivity is required when supporting emerging adults to navigate the platform.
The Maximum of the Periodogram of a Sequence of Functional Data

Abstract We study the periodogram operator of a sequence of functional data. Using recent advances in Gaussian approximation theory, we derive the asymptotic distribution of the maximum norm over all fundamental frequencies. We consider the case where the noise variables are independent and then generalize our results to functional linear processes. Our theory can be used for detecting periodic signals in functional time series when the length of the period is unknown. We demonstrate the proposed methodology in a simulation study as well as on real data. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.
Temporal dynamics of range expander and congeneric native plant responses during and after extreme drought events

Abstract Climate change is causing range shifts of many species to higher latitudes and altitudes and increasing their exposure to extreme weather events. It has been shown that range‐shifting plant species may perform differently in new soil than related natives; however, little is known about how extreme weather events affect range‐expanding plants compared to related natives. In this study we used outdoor mesocosms to study how range‐expanding plant species responded to extreme drought in live soil from a habitat in a new range with and without live soil from a habitat in the original range (Hungary). During summer drought, the shoot biomass of the range‐expanding plant community declined. In spite of this, in the mixed community, range expanders produced more shoot biomass than congeneric natives. In mesocosms with a history of range expanders in the previous year, native plants produced less biomass. Plant legacy or soil origin effects did not change the response of natives or range expanders to summer drought. During rewetting, range expanders had less biomass than congeneric natives but higher drought resilience (survival) in soils from the new range where in the previous year native plant species had grown. The biomass patterns of the mixed plant communities were dominated by Centaurea spp. ; however, not all plant species within the groups of natives and of range expanders showed the general pattern. Drought reduced the litter decomposition, microbial biomass, and abundances of bacterivorous, fungivorous, and carnivorous nematodes. Their abundances recovered during rewetting. There was less microbial and fungal biomass, and there were fewer fungivorous nematodes in soils from the original range where range expanders had grown in the previous year. We concluded that in mixed plant communities of range expanders and congeneric natives, range expanders performed better, under both ambient and drought conditions, than congeneric natives. However, when considering the responses of individual species, we observed variations among pairs of congenerics, so that under the present mixed‐community conditions there was no uniformity in responses to drought of range expanders versus congeneric natives. Range‐expanding plant species reduced soil fungal biomass and the numbers of soil fungivorous nematodes, suggesting that the effects of range‐expanding plant species can trickle up in the soil food web.
Sensing of damage and substrate stress in concrete using electro-mechanical impedance measurements of bonded PZT patches

The influence of stress and induced damage in concrete on the electro-mechanical (EM) impedance response of bonded PZT patches is evaluated for applied compressive loading. Full field displacements obtained from digital image correlation are used to evaluate the level of stress-induced damage in concrete. Stress in the substrate produces an imposed strain on the PZT. A change in the imposed strain produces a rightward frequency shift and an increase in the amplitude of the resonant peak in the EM conductance spectrum of the PZT. An increase in the substrate compliance produces a decrease in the resonant frequency and an increase in the amplitude of the resonant peak. Changes in the resonant peak in the conductance spectrum induced by increasing substrate stress are of a significant magnitude when compared with the changes induced by damage. In the early stages of damage associated with distributed microcracking, the counteracting influences of increasing level of damage and increasing stress on the resonant peak result in no shift in frequency for measurements under applied load. There is however an increase in the amplitude of the resonance peak. When the applied stress is removed, there is a net decrease in frequency resulting from damage in the form of distributed microcracks. Measures of changes in the resonant peak based on root mean square deviation (RMSD), do not show any observable change when measurements are performed under applied loading. There is a consistent increase in RMSD values and frequency shift with increasing damage when the applied stress is removed. The centroidal measure of the normalized frequency spectrum reflects changes in substrate stress. At higher applied stress levels, there is a nonlinear increase in damage, leading to localization and cracking. The influence of damage is dominant in this region and significant changes are obtained in the RMSD values in both loaded and unloaded conditions.
A Record of Water-ice Clouds at the Phoenix Landing Site Derived from Modeling MET Temperature Data

Water-ice clouds were frequently detected throughout the 151-sol Phoenix mission by the Phoenix lidar, providing insight into the Martian water cycle. However, the lidar could not be used continuously, and as such, the cloud data were temporally constrained to when observations were acquired. Here we reconstruct a record of water-ice clouds at the Phoenix landing site by examining the radiative contribution made by the clouds to the surface energy balance. This is accomplished by modeling the data from the 2 m MET air temperature sensor on board the lander. Clouds radiating from 0 and 30 W m−2 of energy toward the surface are consistent with the MET record over the course of the mission. The additional longwave flux at the surface induced a warming of the surface and near-surface temperatures, usually between 1–3 K; however, the clouds showed a high degree of sol-to-sol variability. This radiative analysis indicates that clouds were present much earlier in the mission than previously known, and cloud emission reached a maximum near sol 90, consistent with analyses of the annular cloud at the Phoenix landing site. The modeled flux from clouds was compared to the water-ice optical depth retrieved from the Phoenix lidar, showing that optically thicker clouds emitted more radiation toward the surface.
Research on the Formation Mechanism of Individual Food Waste Behavior from the Perspective of Image Construction

The attention regarding individuals’ external appearance and social identity provides a unique perspective to reveal the cause of their behavior. This study explored the formation mechanism of individual food waste behavior in China from the perspective of appearance image construction and social image construction, especially considering the role of emotion, education level, and body mass index (BMI) in relationship transmission. This study collected data by questionnaire in 133 cities in 32 provinces of China. By using the methods of factor analysis, correlation analysis, and hierarchical regression analysis, the results show that individuals with high need for external appearance image (r = 0.242, p < 0.001) and social image construction (r = 0.31, p < 0.001) are more likely to waste food. In terms of transmission mechanisms, positive emotions (e.g., excitement) (β = 0.104~0.187, 95% confidence interval) and negative emotions (e.g., anxiety and disgust) (β = 0.08~0.177, 95% confidence interval) are the intermediary factors of image construction affecting food waste behavior, and emotional fluctuations can aggravate individuals’ food waste behavior. In terms of interaction effects, BMI significantly positively regulates the predictive effect of image construction on food waste behavior, while the level of education buffers this predictive effect. Finally, relevant policy suggestions are put forward to guide individuals to reduce food waste.
Reverse Engineering Analysis of the High-Temperature Reversible Oligomerization and Amyloidogenicity of PSD95-PDZ3

PSD95-PDZ3, the third PDZ domain of the post-synaptic density-95 protein (MW 11 kDa), undergoes a peculiar three-state thermal denaturation (N ↔ In ↔ D) and is amyloidogenic. PSD95-PDZ3 in the intermediate state (I) is reversibly oligomerized (RO: Reversible oligomerization). We previously reported a point mutation (F340A) that inhibits both ROs and amyloidogenesis and constructed the PDZ3-F340A variant. Here, we “reverse engineered” PDZ3-F340A for inducing high-temperature RO and amyloidogenesis. We produced three variants (R309L, E310L, and N326L), where we individually mutated hydrophilic residues exposed at the surface of the monomeric PDZ3-F340A but buried in the tetrameric crystal structure to a hydrophobic leucine. Differential scanning calorimetry indicated that two of the designed variants (PDZ3-F340A/R309L and E310L) denatured according to the two-state model. On the other hand, PDZ3-F340A/N326L denatured according to a three-state model and produced high-temperature ROs. The secondary structures of PDZ3-F340A/N326L and PDZ3-wt in the RO state were unfolded according to circular dichroism and differential scanning calorimetry. Furthermore, PDZ3-F340A/N326L was amyloidogenic as assessed by Thioflavin T fluorescence. Altogether, these results demonstrate that a single amino acid mutation can trigger the formation of high-temperature RO and concurrent amyloidogenesis.
Fundamental period of infilled reinforced concrete frame structures

Abstract The fundamental period of vibration appears to be one of the most critical parameters for the seismic design and assessment of structures. In the present paper, the results of a large-scale analytical investigation on the parameters that affect the fundamental period of reinforced concrete structures are presented. The influence of the number of storeys, the number of spans, the span length, the infill wall panel stiffness and the percentage of openings within the infill panel on the fundamental period of infilled RC frames was investigated. Based on these results, a regression analysis is applied in order to propose a new empirical equation for the estimation of the fundamental period. The derived equation is shown to have better predictive power compared with equations available in the literature.
A Tightly Coupled Visual-Inertial GNSS State Estimator Based on Point-Line Feature

Visual-inertial odometry (VIO) is known to suffer from drifting and can only provide local coordinates. In this paper, we propose a tightly coupled GNSS-VIO system based on point-line features for robust and drift-free state estimation. Feature-based methods are not robust in complex areas such as weak or repeated textures. To deal with this problem, line features with more environmental structure information can be extracted. In addition, to eliminate the accumulated drift of VIO, we tightly fused the GNSS measurement with visual and inertial information. The GNSS pseudorange measurements are real-time and unambiguous but experience large errors. The GNSS carrier phase measurements can achieve centimeter-level positioning accuracy, but the solution to the whole-cycle ambiguity is complex and time-consuming, which degrades the real-time performance of a state estimator. To combine the advantages of the two measurements, we use the carrier phase smoothed pseudorange instead of pseudorange to perform state estimation. Furthermore, the existence of the GNSS receiver and IMU also makes the extrinsic parameter calibration crucial. Our proposed system can calibrate the extrinsic translation parameter between the GNSS receiver and IMU in real-time. Finally, we show that the states represented in the ECEF frame are fully observable, and the tightly coupled GNSS-VIO state estimator is consistent. We conducted experiments on public datasets. The experimental results demonstrate that the positioning precision of our system is improved and the system is robust and real-time.
Conversations in Cochlear Implantation: The Inner Ear Therapy of Today

As biomolecular approaches for hearing restoration in profound sensorineural hearing loss evolve, they will be applied in conjunction with or instead of cochlear implants. An understanding of the current state-of-the-art of this technology, including its advantages, disadvantages, and its potential for delivering and interacting with biomolecular hearing restoration approaches, is helpful for designing modern hearing-restoration strategies. Cochlear implants (CI) have evolved over the last four decades to restore hearing more effectively, in more people, with diverse indications. This evolution has been driven by advances in technology, surgery, and healthcare delivery. Here, we offer a practical treatise on the state of cochlear implantation directed towards developing the next generation of inner ear therapeutics. We aim to capture and distill conversations ongoing in CI research, development, and clinical management. In this review, we discuss successes and physiological constraints of hearing with an implant, common surgical approaches and electrode arrays, new indications and outcome measures for implantation, and barriers to CI utilization. Additionally, we compare cochlear implantation with biomolecular and pharmacological approaches, consider strategies to combine these approaches, and identify unmet medical needs with cochlear implants. The strengths and weaknesses of modern implantation highlighted here can mark opportunities for continued progress or improvement in the design and delivery of the next generation of inner ear therapeutics.