Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Relationship Between STEM Identity in Marginalized Groups and Engagement Strategies in 5th Grade Science Students

This investigation focused on improving STEM identity and agency in students from populations historically marginalized from STEM participation. The investigation took place over six weeks in a 5th-grade science classroom in the upper Midwest and was bookended by a STEM identity survey. During the six-week process, the teacher focused heavily on increasing the visibility of marginalized groups in the forms of role models and images represented in content. Additionally, there was increased access to materials at all levels, hands-on experiments, opportunities for choice, and real-world applications of content. Students were frequently polled on their understanding of the lesson and its usefulness in daily life. Results suggest that students’ sense of agency increased across the intervention. Approximately the same amounts of white and non-white students made a positive change in their STEM identities. Additionally, a large percentage of students with the lowest confidence in their abilities made positive changes throughout the study. The findings indicate educators can improve students’ outcomes by providing resources that support students’ identities and implement choice and hands-on applications of lessons for meeting the needs of diverse learners. ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE STEM IDENTITY 4
Effect of long‐term drainage on plant community, soil carbon and nitrogen contents and stable isotopic (δ13C, δ15N) composition of a permanent grassland

This study compares data statistically that were collected from both long‐term drained and undrained plots to test hypotheses concerning the effect of drainage on plant community, soil total nitrogen (TN), soil total carbon (TC) and stable isotopic (δ15N, δ13C) contents in a permanent grassland. In addition, the effects of soil depth, topography (elevation, slope, aspect and compound topographic index (CTI)) and spatial autocorrelation were taken into account. Data were collected in 2010 at Rowden Moor, North Wyke, Devon, UK, where, for the plots of this study, subsurface drainage was introduced in 1987. The results of a set of six linear mixed models showed that: (i) plant community did not depend on drainage, but on elevation and spatial effects, (ii) both TN and TC not only depended on drainage, but also topography and sample depth, (iii) the TC to TN ratio did not depend on drainage, but on elevation, CTI and sample depth only, (iv) δ15N values did not depend on drainage, but on topography and sample depth and (v) δ13C values depended on drainage together with topography and sample depth. Thus, drainage represented a significant effect for only TN, TC and δ13C. Furthermore, changes in soil physicochemical conditions, following the introduction of drainage in the clay soil 24 years previously, induced a shift in the plant community from a Lolium perenne L. dominated grassland with numerous patches of Juncus species, towards one with Lolium perenne and Trifolium repens L.
Preparation of a synergistically stabilized oil-in-water paraffin Pickering emulsion for potential application in wood treatment

Abstract Pickering emulsions (emulsions stabilized by solid-state additives) are attractive as they have strong similarities with traditional surfactant-based emulsions. In this study, an oil-in-water (O/W) paraffin Pickering emulsion system with satisfying stability and small droplet size distribution was developed by hydrophilic silica particles and traditional surfactants as mixed emulsifiers. The droplet morphology and size distribution were observed by optical microscopy and a laser particle analyzer. The emulsion stability was improved and the droplet size was reduced after addition of a suitable amount of silica particles. The silica concentration of 1% showed the optimal effect among all the levels observed (0.1, 0.5, 1 and 2%). Wood was impregnated with the prepared emulsion, and the chemical and morphological properties of the product were investigated by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) combined with energy-dispersed X-ray analysis (SEM-EDXA). Moreover, the hydrophobicity, thermal properties, surface hardness, axial compression strength (CS) and dynamic mechanical properties were tested. The silica was evenly distributed in the wood cell wall and thus there was a synergistic positive effect from the paraffin and silica in the cell wall leading to better hydrophobicity, improved surface hardness and mechanical properties including the thermal stability.
Levoglucosan stability in biomass burning particles exposed to hydroxyl radicals

Experiments were carried out in a smog chamber to investigate the oxidation of levoglucosan in biomass burning particles exposed to gas‐phase hydroxyl radicals (OH). The experiments featured atmospherically‐relevant particle and oxidant concentrations and both high and low relative humidity conditions. In every experiment, we observed levoglucosan decay in particles exposed to OH. The extent of decay ranged from ∼20% to ∼90% and was strongly correlated to the integrated OH exposure. Increased relative humidity did not enhance or impede reaction. Relative kinetics indicate that levoglucosan has an atmospheric lifetime of 0.7–2.2 days when biomass burning particles are exposed to 1 × 106 molecules cm−3 of OH (typical average summertime conditions). This implies that levoglucosan reacts with OH on a timescale similar to that of transport and deposition, which has important implications for the use of levoglucosan as a tracer for biomass burning emissions in source apportionment studies.
Effects of storage conditions on phytochemical and stability of purple corn cob extract powder

Recently, purple corn cob has been gaining popularity for a dietary supplement and natural colorant. However, phytochemicals in waxy purple corn cob (WPC) are likely degraded during storage; thus, the microencapsulation by spray drying was used for lengthening those compounds. This work focused on the phenolic and anthocyanin content and antioxidant activity (ADA) in WPC extract microcapsules by hydroxypropyl beta-cyclodextrin (HPβCD) during storage at 4 and 30 °C for 60 days. The results revealed that only peonodin-3-glucoside at 30 °C was found as a higher decrease than 4 °C. Pelagonidin-3-glucoside and ADA were found more stable at both storage temperatures; however, the increase of protocatechuic acid and hydroxybenzoic acid were observed during storage, especially at 30 °C. Consequently, the storage under 4 °C was appropriate to maintain the phytochemical content in WPC extract powder. Practical Application: The microencapsulation of WPC extract by HPβCD demonstrates the considerable potential to improve the stability of bioactive compounds during storage at cool and room temperature; thus, HPβCD represents a competent alternative coating material with sensitive compounds from plant extract. Additionally, this work also provides the valuable information describing the phytochemical composition and concentration in the cob, which is perhaps used as a low-cost source of nutraceutical compound for the functional food and pharmaceutical industry.
Influences of CO2 Bubbling Types on Preparation of Calcite Nanoparticles by Carbonation Process

This study investigates the comparison of influences of CO2 bubbling into the calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) slurry through a microbubble generator (MBG) and an ordinary CO2 generator (OCG) on the preparation of calcite nanoparticles by a carbonation method. Each obtained precipitate was characterized using XRD, SEM and particle size analyses. During the carbonation process at each CO2 flow rates, it was determined that the MBG generates tiny bubbles whereas an increase in CO2 flow rates led to an increase bubble size when the OCG was used. The flow rate of CO2 was not an important parameter with using the MBG as calcite nanoparticles were prepared (<125 nm) at each CO2 flow rates. The necessary time for the complete reaction decreases with an increase in the CO2 flow rates through the MBG in comparison to the OCG. To produce calcite nanoparticles with a high production recovery in shorter times, the MBG should be adopted to the carbonation reactor.
Impact of Xanthohumol on the DNA stability of human peripheral lymphocytes

Ziel der vorliegen Arbeit war die Untersuchung der DNA-schutzenden Eigenschaften von Xanthohumol (XAN), einem prenylierten Hopfen-Flavonoid, das in Bier enthalten ist. Zur Realisierung der Arbeit wurde ein Protokoll fur die ex vivo Untersuchung mit peripheren humanen Lymphozyten entwickelt. Es wurde verwendet um Schutzeffekte gegenuber 3 Vertretern nahrungsrelevanter Kanzerogene, namlich vor dem polyzyklischen aromatischen Kohlenwasserstoff Benzo(a)pyren (B(a)P), dem heterozyklischen aromatischen Amin 2-amino-3-methyl-3H-imidazo(4,5f)-quinolin (IQ) und dem aliphatischen Nitrosamin N-nitrosodimethylamin (NDMA) zu untersuchen. Die Verbindungen wurden mit menschlichem Leberhomogenat (S9-Mix) aktiviert und zeitgleich mit peripheren Lymphozyten, die als Indikatorzellen fungierten, inkubiert. Die Blutzellen wurden vor und nach Konsum eines XAN-haltigen Getranks (XAN-Gehalt/Liter: 12 mg) abgenommen. Insgesamt nahmen 22 Personen an einer Placebo-kontrollierten Interventionsstudie im „Cross-Over“-Design teil; der Zeitraum der Einnahme des Getranks betrug 14 Tage. Die Ergebnisse der Einzelzellgelelektrophoresetests (SCGE-Assays), die auf der Bestimmung der DNA-Migration in einem elektrischen Feld beruhen, zeigen, dass die durch B(a)P- und IQ ausgeloste DNA-Schadigungen nach zwei-wochiger Interventionszeit in Lymphozyten signifikant reduziert wurden, namlich um 19,2% bzw. 14,7%. Mit dem Nitrosamin wurde kein signifikanter Effekt detektiert. Um zu beweisen, dass XAN fur die protektiven Effekte verantwortlich ist wurde eine Nachfolgestudie mit 10 Probanden realisiert, die das reine Flavonoid in verkapselter Form konsumierten (Aufnahme: 12 mg/Person/Tag uber einen Zeitraum von 2 Wochen). Auch in der zweiten Studie konnten Schutzeffekte vor B(a)P und IQ detektiert werden. Weiters wurden Versuche unternommen, um die molekularen Mechanismen, die fur diese Schutzeffekte verantwortlich sind, zu eruieren. Die Gesamt-aktivtat von Glutathion-S-Transferase (GST) sowie die Plasmakonzentrationen der Isoformen GST-π and GST-α wurden bestimmt. Es zeigte sich, dass GST-α durch die Intervention (um 58,4%) signifikant induziert wurde. Diese Beobachtung konnte die protektiven Eigenschaften des Flavonoids erklaren, da bekannt ist, dass Glutathion-S-Transferasen elektrophile Metaboliten von IQ und B(a)P inaktivieren. Zusammenfassend zeigen die vorliegenden Ergebnisse, dass bereits extrem niedrige Dosen von XAN Menschen vor DNA-Schaden, die durch Nahrungskanzerogene verursacht wurden, schutzen konnen.
Effect of water supply on vegetative growth and yield characteristics in onion (Allium cepa L.).

The present experiment was conducted during 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 seasons to study the effect of irrigation regimes on vegetative growth of onion plants cv. Giza 6. Six water supplies were applied in the field. The water quantity ranged between 350 to 3750 m /fed with 15 or 30 days irrigation interval. Results indicated that the higher water supply resulted in higher vegetative parameters: Plant height, number of leaves per plant, bulb and neck diameter. Bulbing ratio showed reverse as the lowest water supply resulted in higher bulbing ratio. Dry matter content showed high negative correlation with applied water quantity in both leaves and bulbs. Higher water supply increased double and bolter while decreased exportable bulbs. There were positive correlation between vegetative growth and total bulb yield.
Measurements of Atmospheric Ozone, NO2, OClO, and BrO at 80°N using UV Visible Spectroscopy

The motivation for this thesis was to study chemical and dynamical processes in the Arctic stratosphere, using data from two ground-based spectrometers (GBSs). The GBSs took atmospheric trace gas measurements at the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL), which is located at Eureka, Nunavut, Canada (80.05°N, 86.42°W) and operated by the Canadian Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Change. The University of Toronto GBS took measurements at Eureka on a campaign basis from 1999-2011. The PEARL-GBS was installed permanently at Eureka in 2006 and has taken measurements during the sunlit part of the year since then. GBS and other ground-based ozone and NO2 column measurements were compared with Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) and Optical Spectrograph and Infra-Red Imaging System (OSIRIS) satellite measurements above Eureka. Ozone from all instruments agreed within 9.2%, while NO2 from most instruments, including the GBS, agreed to within 20%. On 1 August 2008, a solar eclipse of 98% totality passed over Eureka. GBS NO2 increased to 1.84 12 . 0 43 . 0   times normal levels. This agrees with a ratio of 1.91 that was calculated using a photochemical model, adjusted for reduced sunlight during the eclipse. In spring/winter 2011, up to 47% (250 DU) ozone loss was calculated using GBS data and modeled passive ozone. This was the largest ozone loss in the 11-year GBS measurement record. GBS OClO was elevated, indicating chlorine activation and NO2 was low, suggesting denitrification. GBS, satellite, and chemical transport model data were used to investigate the iii 2011 vortex breakup. NOx transport led to middle-stratosphere ozone loss within an anticyclone. Furthermore, isolated, or “frozen-in”, vortex and lower-latitude airmasses were observed following the vortex breakup. Stratospheric BrO was retrieved from spring 2008 GBS zenith-sky measurements, using an optimal estimation technique. GBS BrO was compared with OSIRIS and Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) satellite data. Discrepancies are partly attributed to bromine explosions in the boundary layer. New off-axis GBS measurements taken in spring 2010 are sensitive to boundary layer bromine. The combination of GBS stratospheric and tropospheric BrO measurements will be useful for future estimates of the Arctic bromine budget.
Study on binding force by atomic force microscopy

ABSTRACT Clarify the potential mechanism of cellular chemical processes at cellular and molecular levels in native environment is currently an important research topic in life sciences. Recent efforts in the past decade indicate that the atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a powerful tool for studying the single cells and single molecules under near-physiological conditions and AFM strongly promotes the development of nanobiotechnology. Rituximab is a monoclonal antibody against CD20, which is a member of leukocyte differentiation antigens with high expression on most B-cell lymphoma cells. In this work, the single-molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) was applied to measure the CD20-rituximab specific binding force on Burkitt's lymphoma patient bone marrow B cells. The experimental results lay the foundation for the further investigation of the molecular mechanism of rituximab's anti-cancer effect.
Visual Question Answering With Enhanced Question-Answer Diversity

Visual Question Answering (VQA) is a multi-modal Machine Learning task that consists of two inputs, an image and a natural language question about this image, and requires an answer. VQA models are often quite complex and are bad at answering previously unseen questions. Additionally, data collection requires intensive human labor, and it is hard to augment the natural language data. This research proposes a method of enhancing the question-answer (QA) input data, using the Visual Genome dataset to automatically generate new QA-pairs by using its extensive image annotations. We construct two baseline VQA-models, one that chooses an answer from a pre-defined list and one that generates an answer word-by-word with an LSTM, and train them on four datasets with different degrees of data augmentation. We compare the models using several metrics while testing on a holdout test set from the original dataset. Additionally, experiments are conducted where we measure how adding noise to the question embedding affects the performance of both baseline models, as an indication for robustness to uncertainty in the question input. We find that training on augmented datasets slightly decreases performance on the holdout test set for both baseline models. All models, however, show to be highly resistant to noise on the question embedding. Additionally, models trained on the augmented datasets appear to be more resistant to noise compared to models trained on the original dataset. This suggests that our method of data augmentation improves a VQA model’s robustness to unseen data.
Running title: QUALITY ANALYSIS OF HONEYS FROM BAHIA/BRAZIL BY ICP OES Academy Section: Chemical Sciences

Honey is a food of nutritional, medicinal and commercial importance. The physicochemical characteristics, pollen spectrum and mineral composition of eighteen honey samples obtained from regions (Cachoeira, Coqueiros, Maragojipe and Santiago do Iguape) near the Paraguaçu River, Bahia, Brazil were evaluated. Botanical families Asteraceae, Leguminosae, Malvaceae, Myrtaceae and Palmae were most frequently found. Five samples had water contents above the maximum limit established by the Brazilian legislation (> 20%). The mineral composition was determined by ICP OES, after microwave digestion. Ca, K, Mg and Na were measured (mg Kg) in the range from: 18.85 to 79.61; 366.74 to 1214.98; 12.46 to 44.59 and 11.56 to 85.39, respectively. Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn had variable concentration ranges, between 0.05 and 6.13 mg Kg. Al, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Ni, Pb, Se and V showed values below the LOD. Principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) demonstrated that there are no similarities of mineral composition among honey samples.
Deciding to Parent or Remain Childfree: Comparing Sexual Minority and Heterosexual Childless Adults from Israel, Portugal and the UK

This study compared Israeli, Portuguese, and British childless lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) and heterosexual adults on parenthood aspirations as indicated by their desire and intent to become a parent and their concern about childlessness. For this purpose, 168 childless adults (57 self-reported as LGB) in Portugal were matched on socio-demographic variables with 168 participants from the UK and 168 participants from Israel, resulting in a sample of n=504 (Mage = 28.26, SD = 6.17). Participants were recruited through convenience sampling and completed online questionnaires assessing parenthood desire, intent, and concern about childlessness. Results indicated that participants from Israel and Portugal reported higher levels of parenthood desire, intent, and concern about childlessness than participants from the UK. Parallel patterns also appeared separately for LGB and heterosexual participants between the countries. Heterosexual participants from Israel scored higher than counterparts from Portugal on parenthood intention and concern about childlessness. Additionally, LGB participants in general reported lower levels of parenthood desire, intentions, and concern about childlessness than did heterosexual participants. The findings are interpreted in light of the different socio-cultural contexts of the countries, i.e., the individualistic values characterizing the UK versus the familistic values characterizing the Israeli and Portuguese contexts, alongside a strongly pronatalist stance evident in Israel and economic context in Portugal. The study contributes to the scant comparative literature on parenthood aspirations among LGB individuals as a function of cultural context by providing a multicontextual viewpoint on parenthood aspirations, sexual orientation, and diverse socio-cultural contexts. Implications for clinicians are discussed.
Collateral Damage: High-Salience Events and Variation in Racial Discrimination

Each year a handful of events polarize the country, highlighting group-level differences in beliefs or life experiences and increasing the salience of the fault lines between groups. Prior research in organizational theory has often recognized the importance of these events in influencing organizational policy and strategy; less attention has been paid to how these polarizing events affect subsequent individual economic opportunities. In this paper we examine whether events that momentarily increase the salience of demographic divisions (e.g., race, gender, sexual orientation) have unrecognized economic repercussions for members of the focal group linked to polarizing events. We draw upon research on mega-events and discrimination to propose that high-salience race-related events have repercussions on unrelated economic activities of minorities. Specifically, we propose that African Americans will be less able to raise funding for new ventures in the immediate aftermath of an event due to increases in bias against out-group members as a result of increased racial salience. We test this theory using two controlled experimental designs and a quasi-natural experimental design relying on high-profile police shootings of African Americans as an exogenous event. Together, the studies provide evidence that racially salient events depress quality evaluations, and, correspondingly, success odds, of African American entrepreneurs relative to others. The findings suggest that high-salience events, even when they involve unrelated incidents with no economic relevance, have costly economic repercussions for minority founders.
Experimental investigation of the stable water isotope distribution in an Alpine lake environment (L-WAIVE)

Abstract. In order to gain understanding on the vertical structure of atmospheric water vapour above mountain lakes and to assess its link with the isotopic composition of the lake water and with small-scale dynamics (i.e. valley winds, thermal convection above complex terrain), the L-WAIVE (Lacustrine-Water vApor Isotope inVentory Experiment) field campaign was conducted in the Annecy valley in the French Alps during 10 d in June 2019. This field campaign was based on an original experimental synergy between a suite of ground-based, boat-borne, and two ultra-light aircraft (ULA) measuring platforms implemented to characterize the thermodynamic and isotopic composition above and in the lake. A cavity ring-down spectrometer and an in-cloud liquid water collector were deployed aboard one of the ULA to characterize the vertical distribution of the main stable water isotopes (H216O, H218O and H2H16O) both in the air and in shallow cumulus clouds. The temporal evolution of the meteorological structures of the low troposphere was derived from an airborne Rayleigh–Mie lidar (embarked on a second ULA), a ground-based Raman lidar, and a wind lidar. ULA flight patterns were repeated several times per day to capture the diurnal evolution as well as the variability associated with the different weather events encountered during the field campaign, which influenced the humidity field, cloud conditions, and slope wind regimes in the valley. In parallel, throughout the campaign, liquid water samples of rain, at the air–lake water interface, and at 2 m depth in the lake were taken. A significant variability of the isotopic composition was observed along time, depending on weather conditions, linked to the transition from the valley boundary layer towards the free troposphere, the valley wind intensity, and the vertical thermal stability. Thus, significant gradients of isotopic content have been revealed at the transition to the free troposphere, at altitudes between 2.5 and 3.5 km. The influence of the lake on the atmosphere isotopic composition is difficult to isolate from other contributions, especially in the presence of thermal instabilities and valley winds. Nevertheless, such an effect appears to be detectable in a layer of about 300 m thickness above the lake in light wind conditions. We also noted similar isotopic compositions in cloud drops and rainwater.