Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Formulation and Characterization of a Kinetically Stable Topical Nanoemulsion Containing the Whitening Agent Kojic Acid

The research was carried out to synthesize a stable kojic acid (KA) encapsulated nanoemulsion as a whitening agent for topical skin usage. In this study, the oil-in-water (O/W) KA nanoemulsion was formulated using integrated low and high energy methods that combined ultrasonic and hot temperature inversion methods. Several different combinations of parameters were screened, viz. xanthan gum amount (1.0 to 2.0 g), kojic acid (KA) amount (0.5 to 1.5 g), and surfactant-to-water ratio (1:10.75 to 1:4.875), to prepare a stable KA nanoemulsion. The identified best parameters to design the O/W KA nanoemulsion were then subjected to different stability tests: storage and pH stability (freeze-thaw and centrifugal tests). Results revealed that the Trial 6 formulation, with the highest ratio of Tween 80 to water (1:4.875 v/v), yielded the best polydispersity index at 0.255 ± 0.006 with an average particle size of 90.57 ± 1.401 nm. The formulation retained the recommended pH range (pH 4.95–5.18) for topical skin applications within six-week storage under room condition. The nanoemulsions were also kinetically stable as proven by the absence of phase separation after the centrifugation, freeze-thaw cycle, and storage temperature (2 and 25 °C) tests, except at the 37 °C three-week extended storage. The results collectively showed that the formulated O/W KA nanoemulsion is suitable for topical application on human skin.
Design and development of a portable resistive sensor based on α‐MnO2/GQD nanocomposites for trace quantification of Pb(II) in water

Abstract The occurrence of heavy metal ions in food chain is appearing to be a major problem for mankind. The traces of heavy metals, especially Pb(II) ions present in water bodies remains undetected, untreated, and it remains in the food cycle causing serious health hazards for human and livestock. The consumption of Pb(II) ions may lead to serious medical complications including multiple organ failure which can be fatal. The conventional methods of heavy metal detection are costly, time‐consuming and require laboratory space. There is an immediate need to develop a cost‐effective and portable sensing system which can easily be used by the common man without any technical knowhow. A portable resistive device with miniaturized electronics is developed with microfluidic well and α‐MnO2/GQD nanocomposites as a sensing material for the sensitive detection of Pb(II). α‐MnO2/GQD nanocomposites which can be easily integrated with the miniaturized electronics for real‐time on‐field applications. The proposed sensor exhibited a tremendous potential to be integrated with conventional water purification appliances (household and commercial) to give an indication of safety index for the drinking water. The developed portable sensor required low sample volume (200 µL) and was assessed within the Pb(II) concentration range of 0.001 nM to 1 uM. The Limit of Detection (LoD) and sensitivity was calculated to be 0.81 nM and 1.05 kΩ/nM/mm2, and was validated with the commercial impedance analyser. The shelf‐life of the portable sensor was found to be ∼45 days.
OpenVM MOOCs: a design for self-regulated learning

This paper presents the design of two miniMOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) Autonomy-driven learning and Self-Regulated Learning (SRL), developed in the Open Virtual Mobility MOOC. The design is based on two concepts: microlearning and SRL. All the MOOC elements were designed to support SRL. From a descriptive and quantitative approach, the research aims to explore participants' satisfaction and their perception on the supporting roles of the miniMOOC for SRL. Data was collected through an online survey through which 375 answers were collected. Results show the general satisfaction of learners with the MOOC design. As for the SRL design gamification and visualization of pathways were more relevant for certain SRL phases such as monitoring learning. OER and related quizzes were useful for all SRL phases. Quizzes especially supported self-reflection. Open Badges supported the forethought phase of SRL. Social elements such as forums and eportfolios obtained the lowest rates in relation to support of SRL. The paper concludes with recommendations for educational research and MOOCs design.
Analysis of E-Marketplace Use in East Java’s MSMEs Using the Technology Acceptance Model Approach

The e-commerce industry has the potential to be one of the drivers of the domestic economy. One of the impacts of the advancement of e-commerce is the emergence of many online-based marketplaces or so-called e-marketplaces. However, a lot of these online marketplaces sell 90% imported products. In addition, the outbreak of Covid-19 in Indonesia has prompted the government to establish several policies that have significantly reduced MSME performance by up to 70-100%. This study aimed to provide an empirical analysis of the influence of factors based on the Technology of Acceptance Model (TAM) approach, namely e-marketplace self-efficacy, complexity, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude towards using, behavioral intention to use, and actual technology use in e-marketplaces. The sample consisted of MSMEs in East Java, especially those engaged in the food and beverage industry sector with ready-to-eat processed food products whose business activities use the Shopee e-marketplace application platform. This is an online shopping marketplace focused on mobile platforms. There were 150 respondents. The Structural Equation Model (SEM) was used. E-marketplace self-efficacy, complexity, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude towards using, behavioral intention to use, and actual technology use in e-marketplaces all had positive effects on each other. This showed that a system that offers convenience will improve behavior, habits, and performance for MSMEs in using e-marketplace activities. The theoretical and methodological implications and opportunities for further research are discussed. Keywords: MSMEs, e-marketplace, technology acceptance model
Research Article: Study on formulated diet for large yellow croaker (Larimichthys crocea) larvae at the early feeding stage

Most hatcheries in China rely on live prey for successful rearing of fish and shrimp larvae. Besides the high costs, live prey with pathogenic bacteria also increases the risk of contracting foodborne diseases. More than 3.5 billion large yellow croaker (Larimichthys crocea) larvae (total length over 4-centimeters) were raised in 2016. However, no formulated diet is available for replacing live feed in early stages of this croaker so far. In the present study, a new microdiet (Yq) is investigated for rearing croaker larvae at early stages (15 days after hatching). A commercial import diet (Cd) and live prey (Lp) were fed as controls. About 20,000 larvae per tank were hatched from Ningde Fufa Fishery Company in May 4th, 2017. Quality parameters, such as growth performance, survival and three digestive enzyme activities were measured. The survival rate of Yq (58.5%), Cd (51.5%) and Lp (69.6%) exhibited no significant difference (p >0.05). Furthermore, the cost of Yq was only about 23.3% of the cost of Lp. Specific growth rate in Lp was about 8 times higher (p 0.05). The high survival rate and low cost of Yq showed that it is suitable in rearing Larimichthys crocea larvae at the early stages.
Moisture Characteristics of Improved Gravelly Guest Soil for Bio-slope-engineering

This paper explores the reasonable proportion of guest soil in bio-slope-engineering by means of proportional experiments. In the experiment, rubble and improved materials such as peat and water-retaining agent were selected to study the effect of peat and water-retaining agent content on moisture constant, permeability coefficient and water absorption rate of guest soil.The measurements showed that peat and absorbent agent improve effective water capacity and water absorption speed of guest soil, thus guest soil absorb and hold more effective water; however, with the increase of peat content, wilting moisture capacity of guest soil will increase and its permeability coefficient will also enlarge, which is a disadvantage to plants survival in drought conditions and slope stability in rainy seasons. According to guest soil’s proportional experiments and field test, the favorable amount of rubble, peat, absorbent agent and aggregate agent, is 80%, 20%, 1.0‰ and 1.0‰, respectively, and the reasonable content of fertilizer in guest soil is 100 g/m2. The results may guide the design and construction of Guest soil spraying for bio- slope-engineering.
A coarse to fine network for fast and accurate object detection in high-resolution images

Because of the popularisation of high ‐ resolution images, detecting objects in these images quickly and accurately has attracted increasing attention in recent studies. Current convolutional neural networks (CNN) ‐ based detection methods have limitations in detecting small objects owing to the interference of scale variation. In this work, we propose an improved generic framework based on YOLOv3. Equipped with multiresolution supervision for training and multiresolution aggregation for inference, this method can deal with the challenge of scale variation in high ‐ resolution images. At first, we move up the multiscale prediction position and add a dilated convolution module on YOLOv3 to improve the accuracy of detection, especially for small objects. Then, we present a coarse to fine method to reduce the detection time. Experiments on a COCO dataset show that our approach achieves 2.8% better accuracy compared with the previous YOLOv3. On a Dataset for Object deTection in Aerial images dataset (a high ‐ resolution remote sensing dataset), our approach outperformed the YOLOv3 by nearly three percentage points in mean average precision. Moreover, it is up to three times faster as well and two times smaller than the previous YOLOv3.
Human-assisted Sample Return Mission at the Schrödinger Basin, Lunar Far Side, Using a New Geologic Map and Rover Traverses

The Schrödinger basin on the south polar lunar far side has been highlighted as a promising target for future exploration. This report provides a high-resolution geologic map in the southwest peak-ring (SWPR) area of the Schrödinger basin, emphasizing structural features and detailed mapping of exposed outcrops within the peak ring. Outcrops are correlated with mineralogical data from the Moon Mineralogical Mapper instrument. Geologic mapping reveals a complex structural history within the basin through a system of radially oriented faults. Further, the geologic map shows both faulted and magmatic contacts between peak-ring mineralogies, providing both structural and magmatic context for understanding lunar crustal evolution and polar region processes. To investigate these relationships and address key scientific concepts and goals from the National Research Council (NRC) report, we propose three traverse paths for a robotic sample return mission in the SWPR area. These traverses focus on addressing the highest priority science concepts and goals by investigating known outcrops with diverse mineralogical associations and visible contacts among them. Coinciding with the preparation for the 2024 Artemis III mission, NASA is increasing the priority of robotic exploration at the lunar south pole before the next crewed mission to the Moon. Through mapping the Schrödinger SWPR, we identified the extent of different lunar crustal mineralogies, inferred their geologic relationships and distribution, and pinpointed traversable routes to sample spectrally diverse outcrops and outcrop-derived boulders. The SWPR region is therefore a promising potential target for future exploration, capable of addressing multiple high-priority lunar science goals.
Consumers’ willingness to pay for organic, clean label, and processed with a new food technology: an application to ready meals

Agri-food companies face the challenge that clean labels and organic are not possible for some processed foods – such as shelf-stable ready meals – with existing processing technologies. This study uses data collected via an online survey and estimates consumers’ willingness to pay for the attributes organic, clean label, and processed with a new food technology in a ready meal. Based on previous literature, one would expect that consumers who prefer a clean label would also prefer a product that is certified organic. However, it was found that consumers who frequently purchase ready meals, prefer a clean label over the organic certification. Results from a latent class analysis identified three classes of consumers within the sample of respondents, the pro-organic and clean label consumer, the pro-clean label and new technology, and the indifferent consumer. The classes of consumers identified in this study, showed heterogeneous preferences towards the organic and clean label attributions, which emphasizes the need to complement the consumer preference assessment with a segmentation analysis. Our findings highlight the importance of technological innovations and the need of presenting consumers with complete information on the new food technologies to mitigate potential neophobias due to unfamiliarity.
Exploring the neglected voices of children in sustainable tourism development: A comparative study in six European tourist destinations

Abstract For years, sustainable tourism has commanded the attention of academics and practitioners given its achievement through participatory planning. However, much research in the area has neglected to consider all voices of those (i.e., children) affected by tourism. This study, employing a post-test only experimental design, addresses this gap by including the voices of 498 children from six diverse European destinations concerning perceptions of tourism. Results show that children are willing to express their opinions given the opportunity. Moreover, their attitude towards tourists is negative, while they perceive locals to hold a subordinate position to tourists. In general, this study offers insight into children’s attitudes to tourism from the host perspective, demonstrating that there is a unique insider’s perspective that needs further research.
Nanocrystalline α-Fe2O3: A Superparamagnetic Material for w-LED Application and Waste Water Treatment

Nanocrystalline α-Fe2O3 is synthesized by sol-gel technique. The prepared nanomaterial was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), SEM, TEM, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Vibrating Sample Magnetometry (VSM) and photoluminescence (PL) techniques. X-ray powder diffraction analysis confirmed the formation of α-Fe2O3. Electron microscopy showed spherical morphologies with an average particle size of 30-40 nm. The magnetic property of the prepared material was studied by VSM at room temperature. VSM study shows superparamagnetic nature of the synthesized nanoparticles. Photoluminescence (PL) emission spectra show intense broad emission band centered at 570 nm with 393 nm excitation indicating its usefulness for w-LED application. The CIE-chromaticity color coordinates of prepared material were calculated. The photocatalytic activity of the α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles was analyzed and the nanopowder exhibited good photocatalytic activity for the removal AO7 from its aqueous solution.
An Empirical Study on Industrial Ecological Efficiency in Arid Resource Exploitation Region of Northwest China

Located in the northwest of China, Xinjiang is a typical arid desert area and mineral resources development zone. Lacking water resources and a fragile ecological environment restricts the sustainable development of the region. Based on the industrial panel data of Xinjiang from 2001 to 2015, this paper uses the Undesirable Output SBM model, Malmquist index model, and Tobit regression model to comprehensively and systematically measure and evaluate the industrial eco-efficiency and its change characteristics from provincial, regional and prefectural levels. The results show that:(1) The level of industrial eco-efficiency in Xinjiang is generally low, lower than the national average, but it has been rising steadily over time, from 0.36 in 2001 to 1.00 in 2008, and from 0.41 in the "Tenth Five-Year Plan" period to 0.99 in the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" period. (2) The industrial ecological efficiency of Xinjiang is not balanced in space. Northern Xinjiang is larger than that of eastern Xinjiang and southern Xinjiang. The prefectures have uneven and asynchronous development, which can be divided into two development modes: industrial region and agriculture and animal husbandry region. (3) Through the decomposition analysis of the Malmquist index, it is found that the technology progress index is the restriction factor of the changing trend of TFP, while the technical efficiency index and the pure technical efficiency index are the promoting factors. (4) The main factors causing the loss of ecological efficiency are industrial sulfur dioxide emissions, industrial nitrogen oxide emissions, total industrial water consumption, general industrial solid waste. It can be seen that the emission of air pollutants and excessive industrial water are the main problems in the region. (5) Industrial ecological efficiency is positively correlated with industrial development level, scientific and technological innovation, industrial structure, and environmental planning, and negatively correlated with opening up and industrial agglomeration degree. (6) Xinjiang is an extremely arid and water-scarce region. These are the key and prerequisite of saving water resources and strengthening the comprehensive utilization of water resources. Water- saving should be given top priority no matter in industrial areas, or agricultural and animal husbandry areas.
Economic and Ecological Design of Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems Based on a Developed IWO/BSA Algorithm

In this paper, an optimal design of a microgrid including four houses in Dakhla city (Morocco) is proposed. To make this study comprehensive and applicable to any hybrid system, each house has a different configuration of renewable energies. The configurations of these four houses are PV/wind turbine (WT)/biomass/battery, PV/biomass, PV/diesel/battery, and WT/diesel/battery systems. The comparison factor among these configurations is the cost of energy (COE), comparative index, where the load is different in the four houses. Otherwise, the main objective function is the minimization of the net present cost (NPC), subject to several operating constraints, the power loss, the power generated by the renewable sources (renewable fraction), and the availability. This objective function is achieved using a developed optimization algorithm. The main contribution of this paper is to propose and apply a new optimization technique for the optimal design of a microgrid considering different economic and ecological aspects. The developed optimization algorithm is based on the hybridization of two metaheuristic algorithms, the invasive weed optimization (IWO) and backtracking search algorithm (BSA), with the aim of collecting the advantages of both. The proposed hybrid optimization algorithm (IWO/BSA) is compared with the original two optimization methods (IWO and BSA) as well as other well-known optimization methods. The results indicate that PV/biomass and PV/diesel/battery systems have the best energy cost using the proposed IWO/BSA algorithm with 0.1184 $/kWh and 0.1354 $/kWh, respectively. The best system based on its LCOE factor is the PV/biomass which represents an NPC of 124,689 $, the size of this system is 349.55 m2 of PV area and the capacity of the biomass is 18.99 ton/year. The PV/diesel/battery option has also good results, with a system NPC of 142,233 $, the size of this system is about 391.39 m2 of PV area, rated power of diesel generator about 0.55 kW, and a battery capacity of 12.97 kWh. Otherwise, the proposed IWO/BSA has the best convergence in all cases. It is observed that the wind turbine generates more dumped power, and the PV system is highly suitable for the studied area.
Representation of “T3 sandhi” in mandarin: significance of context

ABSTRACT T3 sandhi in Mandarin is a phonological alternation where two adjacent T3-T3 tones are not allowed and become T[2]-T3. Although this phenomenon has been extensively studied in previous work, concerns about how T3 sandhi is represented in the mental lexicon remain controversial. We approached the issue of representation in a series of cross-modal priming experiments, including two semantic priming experiments with and without context. Our results indicated that T2 failed to prime a target beginning with T3 in a non-sandhi context. However, both T2 and T3 were able to induce semantic activation when appropriate contextual information was present. Conversely, when such information was absent, only T3 activated the lexical entry. Thus, our study suggests that T3 is specified, as expected for dissimilation, and T2 is resolved by a re-writing rule only under appropriate contextual information.
Seasonal dynamics of soil aggregates and associated C and N stocks in different fertilizer managements

ABSTRACT Soil aggregates and associated carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stocks are important for soil organic matter (SOM) consequences and quality. The study is meant to understand the mechanisms of how fertilization management affects Cand Nstocks. Tobacco monocropping systems with four fertilizer treatments (0, 75, and 112kg Nha−1, and 60kg Nha−1 + manure) were established in 1998. After 19 years, crop monocrop and fertilization management redetermined soil aggregates and related indicators. The results showed the large aggregates proportion (LMP) and small macroaggregates proportion (SMP) varied inversely with changing season. The LMP gradually rose after the implementation of tillage while microaggregates gradually declined. By manure fertilizer, LMP and SMP were significantly higher than those in inorganic fertilizer treatments, while microaggregates proportion (MIP) and silt and clay proportion (SCP) were lower than in inorganic fertilizer treatments. Soil water-stable aggregate and their associated soil organic stocks are changed with growing season, and tillage practices would have potentially affected these indicators, while the proportion and soil organic stocks more quickly recovered in large aggregates by manure application. Therefore, the proper application of manure combined with chemical fertilizer would maintain soil quality in tobacco cultivation.
Synthesis, characterization, cytotoxicity and computational studies of new phosphine‐ and carbodithioate‐based palladium(II) complexes

In quest of new metallo-pharmaceuticals with enhanced anticancer activity, four new phosphine- and carbodithioate-based Pd(II) complexes of the type [(R)CS2Pd(PR3)Cl] (where R = 4-(2-hydroxyethyl)piperazine (1, 2), dibenzyl (3, 4); PR3 = diphenyl(p-tolyl)phosphine (1, 3), tris(4-tolyl)phosphine (2, 4)) were synthesized and characterized using elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared and NMR (1H, 13C and 31P) spectroscopies and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The X-ray diffraction data confirmed the pseudo square-planar geometry ensuring bidentate coordination mode of carbodithioate ligands. Anticancer activity of the synthesized complexes and their ligands was assessed against human lung (A549), breast (MCF-7) and prostate (PC3) carcinoma cells using MTT assay. All the tested compounds showed activity in micromolar range. In many cases, the cytotoxicity of the synthesized complexes was higher than or comparable to that of the standard drugs cisplatin and doxorubicin. Complex 3 emerged as the most promising compound with the lowest IC50 values of 4.83, 3.72 and 5.11 μM for A549, MCF-7 and PC3 carcinoma cell lines, respectively. DNA binding studies were also carried out using UV–visible spectroscopy. We extended our investigations to explore the mechanism of anticancer activity using in silico tools. Based on the mechanism of action of standard drugs used, extensive docking studies were carried out on the three different biomolecular targets.