bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Phloridzin Highly Accumulated in Malus rockii Rehder and Its Structure Revision and Hypolipidemic Activity
Authors: Lang Li-Juan , Wang Min , Lei Chang , Shen Yi , Zhu Qi-Jie , Diao Hong-Mei , Chen Hao , Shen Lei , Dong Xiang , Jiang Bei , Xiao Chao-Jiang
Published: December 2021

Phloridzin is a lead compound of the prestigious antidiabetic gliflozins. The present study found that phloridzin highly accumulated in Malus rockii Rehder. The content of phloridzin in M. rockii was the highest among wild plants, with the percentage of 15.54% in the dry leaves. The structure of phloridzin was revised by proton exchange experiments and extensive 2D NMR spectra. Phloridzin exhibited significant hypolipidemic activity in golden Syrian hamsters maybe by increasing the expression of CYP7A1, at the doses of 50 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg. The total performance of anti-hyperlipidemic effect of phloridzin may be superior to that of lovastatin, though lovastatin was more active than phloridzin. In addition, phloridzin exhibited moderate antimalarial activity with inhibition ratio of 31.3 ± 10.9% at a dose of 25 mg/kg/day, and showed moderate analgesic activity with 28.0% inhibition at a dose of 50 mg/kg.
Validity and Reliability of the German Version of the CP QOL-Child and CP QOL-Teen Questionnaire
Authors: Maier Manuel , Stoltenburg Corinna , Sarpong-Bengelsdorf Akosua , Lebek Susanne
Published: December 2021

The aim of the study was to determine the psychometric properties of the German version of the Cerebral Palsy Quality of Life Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (CP QOL-Child and -Teen). It is a condition-specific questionnaire with a self-report version, measuring well-being rather than ill-being, which differs from existing measurement methods. Fourteen children (9–12 years) and 64 caregivers (4–12 years) answered the child questionnaire. Twenty-one adolescents and 26 caregivers (all adolescents 13–18 years) replied to the teen version. Functioning was categorized by the Gross Motor Function Classification System. For CP QOL-child internal consistency (Cronbach's α) ranged from 0.58 to 0.88 and for CP QOL-Teen from 0.68 to 0.95. Test–retest reliability after 2 to 4 weeks ranged between 0.75 and 0.94 in children's version and 0.89 and 0.96 in teen's version. Correlation with well-established generic KIDSCREEN-10 questionnaire was moderate to strong. The German versions of CP QOL-Child and -Teen are appropriate tools for assessing the quality of life of children and adolescents with cerebral palsy in the German-speaking population.
Preliminary Evaluation of a NitrAdine-Based Brushing Solution for Patients Suffering from Gingivitis: A Prospective Clinical Case–Control Study
Authors: Perelli Michele , Abundo Roberto , Semenza Mario , Centracchio Mauro , Chiara Stefano Di , Monaco Andrea , Arduino Paolo Giacomo
Published: December 2021

Objectives This article aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of a nonantibiotic biofilm-removal formulation based on NitrAdine (PerioTabs), combined with a regular home oral hygiene regimen, in Caucasian patients with gingivitis.

Materials and Methods A sample of 60 patients were included in this clinical prospective study. All selected subjects underwent regular prophylaxis and professional oral hygiene at baseline; 30 days later, they were recalled for the measurements of the reference parameters about bleeding on probing (full-mouth bleeding upon probing score [FMBS]) and plaque index (full-mouth plaque score [FMPS]); no other clinical procedure was performed. Consequently, half of the patients (n = 30) were instructed to use PerioTabs for 10 days. The remaining patients (n = 30) were used as the negative control, only instructed to continue with their usual oral hygiene regimen. Fifteen days after, the clinical parameters of FMBS and FMPS were re-evaluated in both groups.

Results Changes in the scores of clinical indices FMBS and FMPS were calculated and compared. A significant difference between pre- and post-values, for both FMBS and FMPS, was noticed in the test group; in particular, the bleeding index value demonstrated the more significant changes: 22 participants showed a clinically meaningful improvement, and 5 had a small improvement. Only three patients had no evidence of change. In addition, 50% of patients had a reduction in plaque levels. No side effects were reported.

Conclusions The adjunctive use of 10-day PerioTabs treatment in the daily oral hygiene routine seemed to be efficient in reducing gingival bleeding and plaque accumulation, with absence of adverse effects. These results should be confirmed in studies with a larger number of participants following a controlled-blinded design.
Relativistic Maxwellian mixture model
Authors: Ueno Genta , Zenitani Seiji
Published: December 2021

For analyzing distribution functions of relativistic plasma, we propose a mixture model composed of relativistic Maxwellian distributions. We first summarize the basic properties of the relativistic Maxwellian distribution, including the derivation of the normalization constant when there is a bulk velocity. We also examine the maximum likelihood estimation of the relativistic Maxwellian distribution. We then introduce a relativistic Maxwellian mixture model (R-MMM), which is a weighted sum of relativistic Maxwellian distributions. We develop an expectation–maximization algorithm for estimating the parameters of R-MMM, namely, the mixing proportion, the bulk velocity, and the temperature of each component. We apply a two-component R-MMM to a distribution function by a particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation of relativistic pair plasma and separate the simulated distribution function into two components. We find that one component has a large bulk velocity while the other is almost stagnant, and that the two components have almost the same temperatures, which is also consistent with the initial temperature of PIC simulation.
Phase segregation induced efficiency degradation and variability in mixed halide perovskite solar cells
Authors: Singareddy Abhimanyu , Sadula Uday Kiran Reddy , Nair Pradeep R.
Published: December 2021

Phase segregation is a critical phenomenon that influences the stability and performance of mixed halide perovskite based opto-electronic devices. In addition to the underlying physical mechanisms, the spatial pattern and randomness associated with the nanoscale morphology of phase segregation significantly influence performance degradation—a topic which, along with the multitude of parameter combinations, has remained too complex to address so far. Given this, with MAPbI1.5Br1.5 as a model system, here we address the influence of critical factors like the spatial randomness of phase segregation, the influence of ion migration, and the effect of increased non-radiative recombination at domains/interfaces. Interestingly, our analytical model and detailed statistical simulations indicate a unique trend—morphology evolution with increased phase segregation results, surprisingly, in a recovery in efficiency while non-radiative recombination at domains/domain boundaries results in efficiency degradation. Further, our quantitative and predictive estimates identify critical parameters for interface states beyond which device variability could be an important system level bottleneck. Indeed, these estimates are broadly applicable to systems that undergo phase segregation and have interesting implications to perovskite-based optoelectronic devices—from stability concerns to engineering approaches that attempt to arrest phase segregation.
Experimental investigation of the methane combustion assisted by atmospheric pressure oxygen microwave plasma torch
Authors: Zhang Xiao-Lin , Niu Yu-Long , Li Shou-Zhe , Cao Shu-Li , Ji Chun-Jun
Published: December 2021

The atmospheric-pressure oxygen microwave plasma is employed to enhance the methane combustion in the jet-diffusion combustor. The plasma-assisted combustion (PAC) is compared with natural combustion without plasma application in terms of the flame morphology, flame temperature, and combustion efficiency. It is found experimentally that the oxygen plasma assistance in combustion is prominent in lean oxygen condition, and the active species generated in the microwave plasma torch contribute to the combustion process more dominantly than the flame temperature change caused by heating of oxygen microwave plasma. The combustion degree of CH4 in PAC is much more enhanced in lean oxygen combustion, and the exhaust gas in combustion is effectively controlled with the use of the oxygen microwave plasma torch.
Interpretation of slow electroluminescence and open circuit voltage transient response in Cs-based perovskite solar cells
Authors: Córdoba M. , Unmüssig M. , Herterich J. , Würfel U. , Taretto K.
Published: December 2021

The desirable small hysteresis in the current–voltage characteristics of perovskite solar cells is often understood as a result of small ionic concentration or mobility and low interface charging by depleted/accumulated ions. However, devices having very small apparent hysteresis at practical scan rates can exhibit strong ionic effects seen in the transient response to excitation events. We explore Cs-based double-cation perovskite solar cells showing vanishing hysteresis and nearly hour-long responses to light- and voltage-step excitation, which are tracked by the evolution of open-circuit voltage and injected current, together with electroluminescence emission, respectively. The observed responses, including the increase of electroluminescence with time, are explained by the modulation of the electric field within the perovskite by mobile ions under the condition of interface recombination of mobile charge carriers dominating overall recombination. This is further explored by a numerical model containing mobile ions, which requires that charge carriers recombine predominantly at the interfaces of the device in order to obtain transient responses comparable to the experiments. Further support for the predominance of interface recombination is experimentally obtained by steady-state photocarrier grating characterization, which yields diffusion lengths of photogenerated carriers above 1 μm, i.e., well above the 300 nm perovskite layer thickness. The numerical model further shows that within the case of dominating interface recombination, the shape of both the light- and voltage-step transient responses are strongly determined by the energy band offsets between the perovskite and the contact layers of the solar cell.
Low-frequency acoustic generation and nonreciprocal transmission device
Authors: Wang Jiyao , Qin Ling , Xu Wei
Published: December 2021

The acoustic nonreciprocal device has attracted the attention of some researchers because of the potential practical applications, for example, biomedical ultrasound applications, energy saving, and harvesting. We propose a low-frequency acoustic generation and nonreciprocal transmission device inspired by the previous studies and nature of the vibro-acoustic propagation. We utilize ultrasonic transducer to form acoustic radiation pressure on the water surface, which can vibrate water to produce low-frequency sound. Meanwhile, an ultrasonic metamaterial is designed based on our previous research. The metamaterial is placed under the metal sink to obstruct the 20 kHz ultrasonic waves and pass through the frequency sound waves. With that, the low-frequency acoustic sound is generated and pass through the metamaterial when the proposed device is in the forward configuration. When the device is in the backward configuration, the ultrasonic wave is obstructed by the metamaterials and metal sink bottom. Thus, no vibration is excited in the water, and therefore, no acoustic sound is generated. With the above-mentioned mechanism, the device can obtain the acoustic nonreciprocity in the very low-frequency range.
Molecular dynamics simulation of thermal transport in semicrystalline polyethylene: Roles of strain and the crystalline-amorphous interphase region
Authors: He Jixiong , Liu Jun
Published: December 2021

With potential thermal management applications, such as plastic heat exchangers and thermal interface materials, thermally conductive polymers have gained renewed interest in the past decade. Ultradrawn polyethylene fibers and films have been experimentally shown to have thermal conductivities at least two orders of magnitude of these in their amorphous counterparts. However, the theoretical molecular-level understanding of strain effects on the thermal transport in drawn semicrystalline polymers, such as polyethylene, especially the roles of different interlamellar chain topologies in the crystalline-amorphous interphase region, remains elusive. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we investigated the strain effects on the thermal conductivity and vibrational transport in a simplified sandwich semicrystalline structure. We found that the topology of the interlamellar chains determines the dependence of thermal conductivity on strains. Comparing thermal resistances at different regions in the interlamellar structure, thermal resistance at the amorphous region is not necessarily the highest; the interphase region with the transition from the crystalline to amorphous state can have a much higher resistance. We conducted the frequency domain analysis to obtain the heat flux spectrum in the crystalline-amorphous interphase region and found that the vibrational modes at intermediate and high frequencies can contribute more than these at relatively low frequencies to the total heat flux because of the complex interlamellar chain topologies (e.g., loop chains). Our work provides molecular-level understandings of the structural-property relationship in semicrystalline polymers with strains, which could assist the design and development of thermally conductive polymers for thermal management applications.
Study on pore size distribution and thermal conductivity of aramid nanofiber aerogels based on fractal theory
Authors: Chen Xiao , Hu Yinghe , Zhuang Xupin , Wang Xiaoyin
Published: December 2021

Aramid nanofiber aerogels (ANFAs) have been considered as ideal thermal insulation materials due to their low bulk density, hierarchical porous structure, high thermal insulation, and thermal stability. Thermal conductivity of ANFAs is highly determined by their complicated porous structure. Fractal geometry theory can effectively simulate pore size distribution, but it is rarely used in the study of the thermal conductivity of aerogels. In this work, the Sierpinski carpet model and two modified Sierpinski carpet models were established to study the pore size distribution of ANFAs, and then the equivalent resistance method was used to transform the models into series and parallel fractal resistance networks, which were applied for the calculation of the effective thermal conductivity of ANFAs. Results show that the calculated results are closer to the experimental data, with a minimum error of 0.78%, indicating the thermal conductivity prediction model is effective and reliable.
Dynamics of high-velocity domain wall motion and spin wave excitation in trilayer structures
Authors: Chen Xingtai , Hayward Thomas J. , Liu Wenqing , Bryan Matthew T.
Published: December 2021

Propagation of dipolar-coupled transverse domain walls in a permalloy/non-magnetic/permalloy trilayer was investigated using micromagnetic modeling. Circulating stray fields meant that the walls adopted a composite structure with behavior analogous to walls seen in nanotubes. Wall velocities were sensitive to the chirality of the stray field circulation, with velocities of the most favored chirality enhanced by 32% compared with velocities seen in the individual constituent layers just below their Walker breakdown field. Additionally, Walker breakdown was completely suppressed within the trilayer for both chiralities, despite occurring in the constituent layers when modelled in isolation, leading to a maximum of 317% velocity enhancement. Wall velocity saturated around 1100 m/s due to the Cherenkov-like emission of spin waves, comparable to the magnonic regime of nanotubes. By reproducing the advantageous domain wall dynamics of nanotubes within a planar system, we demonstrate that ultrafast magnetic switching may feasibly be realized within a lithographically produced system.
From nanowires to super heat conductors
Authors: Yang Lin , Prasher Ravi , Li Deyu
Published: December 2021

Thermal transport through various nanowires has attracted extensive attention in the past two decades. Nanowires provide an excellent platform to dissect phonon transport physics because one can change the wire size to impose systematically varying boundary conditions that can help to distinguish the contributions of various scattering mechanisms. Moreover, novel confinement phenomena beyond the classical size effect promise opportunities to achieve highly desirable properties. Based on a summary of research progresses in nanowire thermal properties, we discuss more intriguing observations due to the classical size effect, coupling between mechanical and thermal properties, and divergent thermal conductivity as a result of conversion from three-dimensional to one-dimensional phonon transport, showcasing the superdiffusive thermal transport phenomenon. We hope that these discussions could provide a new perspective on further exploring thermal transport in nanowires, which may eventually lead to breakthroughs such as achieving thermal conductivity values higher than that of any known materials.
3D photothermal imaging of real subsurface defects in anisotropic media
Authors: Thummerer G. , Gahleitner L. , Mayr G. , Burgholzer P.
Published: December 2021

In this paper, we present a 3D photothermal imaging tool to detect subsurface defects in anisotropic media using the virtual wave concept. In addition, we propose a novel approach to compute the temperature contrast using a virtual wave signal, which enables a temporal noise-free representation of the contrast temperature signal. The results obtained with the proposed imaging tool are compared with those obtained using computed tomography for a carbon fiber-reinforced polymer sample containing a delamination caused by a defined impact. To sum up, this work presents a fast, easily interpretable, and efficient 3D photothermal defect reconstruction and visualization tool.
Efficient and tunable blue light generation using lithium niobate nonlinear photonics
Authors: Sayem Ayed Al , Wang Yubo , Lu Juanjuan , Liu Xianwen , Bruch Alexander W. , Tang Hong X.
Published: December 2021

Thin-film lithium niobate (LN) has recently emerged as a playground for chip-scale nonlinear optics and leads to efficient frequency conversions from near-infrared to near-visible bands. For many nonlinear and quantum photonics applications, it is desirable to operate deep into the visible band within LN's transparency window. However, the strong material dispersion at short wavelengths makes phase-matching difficult, necessitating sub-micrometer scale control of domain structures for efficient phase-matching. Here, we report the operation of thin film LN in the blue wavelength and high fidelity poling of the thin-film LN waveguide to this regime. As a result, quasi-phase matching is realized between IR (871 nm) and blue (435.5 nm) wavelengths in a straight waveguide and prompts strong blue light generation with a conversion efficiency (1040% ± 140%/W). This blue second harmonic generator exhibits stable temperature tunability, which is important for applications that require precise frequency alignment, such as atomic clocks.
Resonant nanocavity-enhanced graphene photodetectors on reflecting silicon-on-insulator wafers
Authors: He Zhengyi , Zhang Guanglin , Zhang Shan , Feng Xiaoqiang , Liu Zhiduo , Wang Gang , Yang Siwei , Ding Guqiao
Published: December 2021

The weak light absorption and zero-bandgap properties of two-dimensional graphene negatively affect electron–hole recombination and quantum yield, restricting its usefulness in practical optoelectronic applications. In this work, plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition is used to synthesize three-dimensional graphene (3D-graphene) in situ on the surface of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers, thereby creating high-performance broadband photodetectors. The nanocavity structure of the 3D-graphene integrates with the optical cavity structure of the SOI to enhance the interaction that occurs between the 3D-graphene and incident light. The resulting device has excellent performance in the near-infrared (NIR). The mechanism by which the light absorption of the photodetector is enhanced is explored in detail via experimental analysis and theoretical calculation. Photodetectors based on the 3D-graphene/SOI Schottky heterojunction exhibit a broad detection range (from 440 to 1550 nm), ultrahigh responsivity (27.4 A/W), and excellent detectivity (1.37 × 1011 Jones) at a wavelength of 1550 nm. The Schottky heterojunctions combine two structures (nanocavity and optical cavity) that enhance light absorption. They are also compatible with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor technology, providing a strategy for manufacturing high-performance NIR photodetectors.
Establishing direct phenomenological connections between fluid and structure by the Koopman-Linearly Time-Invariant analysis
Authors: Li Cruz Y. , Chen Zengshun , Tse Tim K. T. , Weerasuriya Asiri Umenga , Zhang Xuelin , Fu Yunfei , Lin Xisheng
Published: December 2021

In this work, we introduce a novel data-driven formulation, the Koopman-Linearly Time-Invariant (Koopman-LTI) analysis, for analyzing Fluid-Structure Interactions (FSI). An implementation of the Koopman-LTI on a subcritical free-shear flow over a prism at Re = 22 000 corroborated a configuration-wise universal Koopman system, which approximated the configuration's nonlinear dynamics with stellar accuracy. The Koopman-LTI also successfully decomposed the entwined morphologies of raw measurement into a linear superposition of frequency-based constituents. Most importantly, with random and anisotropic turbulence, the Koopman-LTI yielded frequency-wise identical modes for structure response and fluid excitation, thus establishing direct constitutive relations between the phenomenology of fluid and structure.
Pressure, temperature, and orientation dependent thermal conductivity of pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN)
Authors: Perriot Romain
Published: December 2021

We use reverse non-equilibrium molecular dynamics to determine the thermal conductivity tensor, κ, of tetragonal pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN). The most stable form under standard ambient conditions (PETN I, with space group P4¯21c) is considered in the temperature and pressure intervals 200–500 K and 0–8 GPa, which covers approximately the stability range for this polymorph. We compute κ along the [100] and [001] directions, which is enough to construct the full thermal conductivity tensor for a system with tetragonal symmetry. In addition, we also determine κ along the [010] direction and confirm that κ100∼κ010, with less than 4% average absolute error between the two quantities. We observe an anisotropic response for κ, with κ100>κ001 across the whole (T,P) interval, and 37% difference at 300 K, 0 GPa. We provide analytical functions to interpolate κ(P,T) within the fitting interval and serve as input for continuum-scale simulations.
Quasi-continuous cooling of a microwave mode on a benchtop using hyperpolarized NV− diamond
Authors: Ng Wern , Wu Hao , Oxborrow Mark
Published: December 2021

We demonstrate the cooling of a microwave mode at 2872 MHz through its interaction with optically spin-polarized NV− centers in diamond at zero applied magnetic field, removing thermal photons from the mode. By photo-exciting (pumping) a brilliant-cut red diamond jewel with a continuous-wave 532-nm laser, outputting 2 W, the microwave mode is cooled down to a noise temperature of 188 K. This noise temperature can be preserved continuously for as long as the diamond is optically excited and kept cool. The latter requirement restricted operation out to 10 ms in our preliminary setup. The mode-cooling performance of NV− diamond is directly compared against that of pentacene-doped para-terphenyl, where we find that the former affords the advantages of cooling immediately upon light excitation (whereas pentacene-doped para-terphenyl undesirably mases before it begins cooling) and being able to cool continuously at substantially lower optical pump power.
High temperature thermoelectric properties of the tetradymite Bi2−xPbxTe2Se (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.03)
Authors: Léon Adèle , Misra Shantanu , Levinský Petr , Hejtmánek Jiří , Wiendlocha Bartlomiej , Lenoir Bertrand , Candolfi Christophe
Published: December 2021

We report on the synthesis, characterizations, and high-temperature thermoelectric properties of polycrystalline samples of Bi2−xPbxTe2Se for 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.03. Powder x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy confirm the successful insertion of Pb into the hexagonal unit cell of the tetradymite Bi2Te2Se. Pb acts as an acceptor-like impurity, gradually shifting the lightly doped, n-type electronic properties of Bi2Te2Se toward heavily doped, p-type properties in Pb-containing samples, which is additionally confirmed by electronic structure calculations. The increased degenerate character results in high power factors while maintaining low thermal conductivity values. This favorable combination of thermoelectric properties yields a peak dimensionless figure of merit ZT of 0.70 at 425 K for x = 0.02 in the direction perpendicular to the pressing direction.
Translating in a constrained environment
Authors: Rędzioch-Korkuz Anna
Published: December 2021

Translating children’s literature has been an object of interest researched from a number of vantage points, including the question of constraining factors. Scholars have highlighted mainly the question of dual readership or cultural adaptation, frequently without a global and systemic analysis of all impediments. This article examines the Polish translation of the German book for children, Katharina von der Gathen’s Klär mich auf, from a constraint-based framework. This article focuses on the reconstruction of the constraints in the translation process: the point of departure is the framework with three basic factors that constrain translation, i.e., the intention of the author/translator, text type, and the profile of the audience. The presented argumentation incorporates other formal impediments, such as the visual layer of the book and the semiotic make-up of the source text, language taboo and censorship or the literary polysystems. The analysis of the constraint framework helps to comprehend the translation in terms of the ST-TT relationship regarding their intended audiences, genre-related features, and the child-adult duality.
Translation, validity, and reliability of the Persian version of the University of Cincinnati Auditory Processing Inventory
Authors: Bagheri Fereshteh , Keith Robert W. , Ebadi Abbas , Eshaghi Masoumeh , Shirzad Motahareh , Ahmadi Akram
Published: December 2021

Background

Cincinnati Auditory Processing Inventory is used to examine difficulties with listening abilities among adolescents and adult groups and to investigate necessary skills for accurate processing of auditory information. This study aimed to develop the Persian version of the University of Cincinnati Auditory Processing Inventory (P-UCAPI) questionnaire.

Methods

A methodological and cross-sectional study was conducted on 121 adolescents and adults with normal auditory skills in the age range of 13- to 53-year-old in Babol city in Iran. The translation procedure was preceded according to World Health Organization (WHO). Then, item analysis, face validity, test–retest, and internal consistency were calculated. The descriptive statistics of the total score of the P-UCAPI and its subscales (listening and concentrating, understanding speech, following spoken instruction, attention, educational assistance, and other) were measured. In addition, the performance of males and females on this questionnaire was compared. The level of significance was established at (p<.05).

Results

A panel including two speech pathologists and one audiologist performed the content validity of the P-UCAPI and reached a consensus on all the items of the questionnaire. To investigate the need for item reduction, a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient did not change with removing of each item so, none of the items were eliminated. The mean value and standard deviation of the participants for the total scores of the P-UCAPI were obtained at 53.04 ± 10.77. The mean values and standard deviations of subscales of the P-UCAPI were: listening and concentrating (13.51 ± 4.89), understanding speech (5.77 ± 1.73), following spoken instruction (5.74±.0), attention (8.70 ± 1.24), education assistance (5.68 ± 1.85), and other (13.98 ± 3.84). Males and females had similar performance on P-UCAPI (p-value=.16) and its subscale including listening and concentrating (p-value=.24), understanding speech (p-value=.60), following spoken instruction (p-value=.77), attention (p-value=.96), education assistance (p-value=.71), and other (p-value=.72). The findings of the item analysis revealed that the value of Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was not obtained higher than .83 after deleting each item. The value of ICC for test–retest reliability of P-UCAPI was .62 ranging from .38 to .85. For the internal consistency, the value of the alpha coefficient value was (α=.82).

Conclusion

P-UCAPI as a translated instrument with satisfactory values for reliability is appropriate to measure the central processing skills of normal adults in Iran.
In situ gamma spectrometry using a portable HPGe detector. Radiological characterisation and environmental surveillance around an operating nuclear power plant. Possibilities and limits.
Authors: Corbacho J A , Baeza Antonio
Published: December 2021

The in situ technique for measuring radionuclides in the soil using a portable Ge detector is a highly versatile tool for both the radiological characterisation and for the monitoring of operating nuclear power plants. The main disadvantage of this technique is related to the lack of knowledge of the geometry of the source whose activity concentration is to be determined. However, its greatest advantage is the high spatial representability of the samples and the reduced time and resource consumption compared to gamma spectrometry laboratory measurements. In this study, the possibilities and limits offered by in situ gamma spectrometry with a high-resolution gamma portable detector in two common uses are shown. First, the radiological background characterisation and its relationship with the geology of an area of 2700 km2 are assessed. Second, its potential for monitoring man-made activity concentration in soils located around an operating nuclear power plant in Spain for surveillance purposes is evaluated. Finally, high-accuracy radiation maps were prepared from the measurements that were carried out. These radiation maps are essential tools to know the radioactive background of an area, especially useful to assess artificial radioactive deposits produced after a nuclear accident or incident.
Plasma–wave interaction in helicon plasmas near the lower hybrid frequency
Authors: Zhao Yide , Bai Jinwei , Cao Yong , Wu Siyu , Ahedo Eduardo , Merino Mario , Tian Bin
Published: December 2021

We study the characteristics of plasma–wave interaction in helicon plasmas near the lower hybrid frequency. The (0D) dispersion relation is derived to analyze the properties of the wave propagation and a 1D cylindrical plasma–wave interaction model is established to investigate the power deposition and to implement the parametric analysis. It is concluded that the lower hybrid resonance is the main mechanism of the power deposition in helicon plasmas when the RF frequency is near the lower hybrid frequency and the power deposition mainly concentrates on a very thin layer near the boundary. Therefore, it causes that the plasma resistance has a large local peak near the lower hybrid frequency and the variation of the plasma density and the parallel wavenumber lead to the frequency shifting of the local peaks. It is found that the magnetic field is still proportional to the plasma density for the local maximum plasma resistance and the slope changes due to the transition.
Switchable instantaneous frequency measurement by optical power monitoring based on DP-QPSK modulator
Authors: Zhu Yu-Lin , Wu Bei-Lei , Li Jing , Wang Mu-Guang , Xiao Shi-Ying , Yan Feng-Ping
Published: December 2021

We propose and analyze an instantaneous frequency measurement system by using optical power monitoring technique with improved resolution. The primary component adopted in the proposal is a dual-polarization quadrature phase shift keying (DP-QPSK) modulator which is used to modulate the microwave signal that has a designed time delay and phase shifting. The generated optical signal is sent to polarization beam splitter (PBS) in DP-QPSK modulator. Owing to the complementary transmission nature of polarization interference introduced by PBS, the frequency information is converted into the optical power and the relationship between the amplitude comparison function (ACF) and microwave frequency to be measured is established. Thus, the frequency of the microwave signal can be easily measured through monitoring the optical powers of the two output ports of the PBS. Furthermore, by adjusting the direct current (DC) biases of the DP-QPSK modulator instead of changing the electrical delay, the measurement range and resolution can be switched. In this paper, the basic principle of the instantaneous frequency measurement system is derived in detail, and simulation has been performed to investigate the resolution, the measurement range, and the influence of imperfection devices. The proposed scheme is wavelength-independent and its measurement range is switchable, which can avoid the laser wavelength drifting problem and thus greatly increasing the system flexibility.
Asthma exacerbation due to climate change-induced wildfire smoke in the Western US
Authors: Stowell Jennifer D , Yang Cheng-En , Fu Joshua S , Scovronick Noah C , Strickland Matthew J , Liu Yang
Published: December 2021

Climate change and human activities have drastically altered the natural wildfire balance in the Western US and increased population health risks due to exposure to pollutants from fire smoke. Using dynamically downscaled climate model projections, we estimated additional asthma emergency room visits and hospitalizations due to exposure to smoke fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the Western US in the 2050s. Isolating the amount of PM2.5 from wildfire smoke is both difficult to estimate and, thus, utilized by relatively few studies. In this study, we use a sophisticated modeling approach to estimate future increase in wildfire smoke exposure over the reference period (2003–2010) and subsequent health care burden due to asthma exacerbation. Average increases in smoke PM2.5 during future fire season ranged from 0.05 to 9.5 µg m−3 with the highest increases seen in Idaho, Montana, and Oregon. Using the Integrated Climate and Land-Use Scenarios (ICLUS) A2 scenario, we estimated the smoke-related asthma events could increase at a rate of 15.1 visits per 10 000 persons in the Western US, with the highest rates of increased asthma (25.7–41.9 per 10 000) in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. Finally, we estimated healthcare costs of smoke-induced asthma exacerbation to be over $1.5 billion during a single future fire season. Here we show the potential future health impact of climate-induced wildfire activity, which may serve as a key tool in future climate change mitigation and adaptation planning.
Determination and modelling moisture sorption isotherms of dehydrated butterfly-pea (Clitoria ternatea L.) flower powder
Authors: Hawa L C , Efendi M , Ubaidillah U , Yulianingsih R
Published: December 2021

Butterfly-pea flower (Clitoria ternatea L.) is one of the edible flowers that is widely processed into dried flowers or powder form. Processed butterfly-pea flower is mostly used as a food colorant or flavonoid and anthocyanin-rich teas which are naturally present in the flower. Some polyphenolic acid, i.e., gallic acid, protocratic acid, and chlorogenic acid are also contained in this flower. During the storage period, color degradation occurs which will reduce the quality of the powder. Therefore, a study on the determination of moisture sorption isotherm from butterfly-pea powder is necessary information to maintain the quality of this product for a longer storage period. The objectives of this research are to evaluate the behavior of moisture sorption isotherm, construct its mathematical modelling and analyze the color changes at different temperatures and aw. 60 mesh of butterfly-pea powder with 28% initial moisture content (db) was stored at aw 0.3 – 0.9 (in a saturated salt solution containing MgCl2, K2CO3, NaC1, KC1, and BaCl2) at 30, 40, and 50°C by static gravimetric method. The results showed that based on the Brunauer classification, the behavior of moisture sorption isotherm of dehydrated butterfly-pea powder is in accordance with the Type II-sigmoid curve, while the Peleg model is the best model in predicting the moisture sorption isotherm. Recommended storage conditions for butterfly-pea flower powder are at 30°C with equilibrium moisture content at 23-30% (db). During storage powder color turns darker over the entire aw range with a color index of L* (lightness, 9.97); a* (redness, 2.33); b* (yellowness, -5.56).
Analysis of cassava chip image characterization during drying process
Authors: Sandra  , Hendrawan Y , Damayanti R , Perdana L P R
Published: December 2021

Monitoring method during food processing is an indispensable activity in the industry of food processing. A digital image processing technique is one of the methods to process images into information in the form of product physical condition. This study aimed to monitor the changes in cassava chips image characteristics through the images along the drying process. The image characteristic i.e covered color, texture, and area. The images were captured by using Webcam type Logitech C525 8.0 megapixel autofocus per minute. Then, the result of these images was processed to get color data of R, G, B, H, S, I, L, a*, b* and the texture i.e. energy, homogeneity, contrast, entropy, and to identify chips size was processed by the number of pixels of the image. While the data about the mass changes along the drying process were taken per minute from a digital scale. The results of this study showed that the length of drying made the value of R, G, B, H and I decreased, but the value of S contrastively increased. The area or the number of image pixels declined dramatically in 1 hour of drying, later (after one hour of drying) the decline was almost zero.
Suitability of orange-fleshed sweet potato genotypes for ingredients of selected food products
Authors: Utomo J S , Ginting E
Published: December 2021

Promotion of orange-fleshed sweet potato with high beta-carotene content would enhance the consumption of sweet potato as well as support the local-based food diversification. Deep-fried chips, jam, juice, and noodle are the products that commonly make from cereals and fruits other than tubers. Producing those products from sweet potato was aiming to study the suitability and acceptance concerning promoting their utilization and adoption once they are released as new varieties. Five orange-fleshed sweet potato genotypes, namely MSU 06071-82, MSU 06039-07, MSU 06042-18, MIS 0651-09, and Beta-2 were studied their suitability for making food products, such as deep-fried chips, jam, juice, and noodle-based on their physical, chemical and sensorial attributes. The results showed that MSU 06042-18 genotype with a relatively high beta-carotene content (5.425 μg/100 g wb) was suitable for the ingredient of deep-fried chips jam, juice, and noodle products, followed by MSU 05036-11 and Beta 2. In particular, MSU 06071-82 and MIS 0651-09 genotypes were suitable for juice ingredients based on the parameter evaluated. This information is essential in terms of enhancing the adoption of orange-fleshed sweet potato genotypes by farmers and their utilization by food processors.
Sensory optimization of formulated coffee mix from pedada seed (Sonneratia caseolaris) and robusta coffee (Coffea canephora)
Authors: Wulandari E S , Herlambang K C , Jariyah  , Fibrianto K
Published: December 2021

Pedada seed is one of potential anti-oxidant resources of coastal plants which is under-utilized. In this current study, pedada seed was formulated in to Robusta coffee to develop a novel coffee mix. The purpose of this study was to obtain the most ideal formula of pedada-Robusta coffee mix based on sensory evaluation using Just about Right (JAR) analysis of French-press brewed coffee mix. The best coffee mix formula was obtained for the mix of 1:1 proportion between pedada seed and Robusta coffee. There were 18 out of 19 sensory attributes of the best formula that sensorially accepted by the consumer respondents. Those included vegetative aroma, brown sugar aroma, musty aroma, sweet aroma, nutty aroma, cocoa aroma, citrus-fruit aroma, sweet taste, sour taste, body-mouth-feel, mouth-feel strength, nutty flavour, burnt flavour, chemical flavour, citrus-fruit flavour, beany flavour, roasted flavour and sweet flavour. The best pedada-coffee mix was also characterized as having mean particle size of 421.5±19.1 μm, total phenolic content of 21.55±0.21 mg GAE/g, antioxidant activity of 48.60±0.94%, caffeine content of 278.50 ± 4.95 mg/kg, total dissolved solids of 0.4±0.066% and colour with a value of L=17.0±0.0; a=18.6±0.9 and b=23.6±0.9.
Potential of microwave drying technology for increase drying rate and physical quality of kaffir lime (Citrus hystrix DC) leaves
Authors: Su’aidah F , Taruna I
Published: December 2021

The effects of microwave power on microwave drying rates and the physical quality of kaffir lime leaves were studied. Three power levels were used in this study, high (723 watts), medium (537 watts), and low (420 watts). The moisture content, drying rate, color (L, a, b), and organoleptic parameters of each power level will be compared with the oven drying method (60°C). The result shows that the final moisture content of the high, medium, and low power of microwave drying are 6.06, 4.26%, and 6.16%db respectively, which is lower than oven drying, 16.62%db. Besides, the drying rate of microwave drying is 26.39-48.71%db/minute, higher than oven drying 0.32%db/minute. Dried kaffir lime leaves with medium level power (537 watt) has the lowest color difference (ΔE = 1.0 ± 0.29) compared to fresh leaves. While, the color and aromatic preference test dried kaffir lime leaves by microwave drying was preferable than oven drying.
Demand forecasting of button mushrooms using qualitative and quantitative methods at PT. S
Authors: Ihwah A , Rucitra A L , Citraresmi A D P , Jemal M A , Ayyubi S A
Published: December 2021

Indonesia is one of the countries with an extraordinary natural wealth of plants, one of which is mushroom plants. Button mushroom is one type of mushroom that most people favour. PT. S is a company that produces button mushroom products. The company performs demand forecasting using qualitative methods to fulfil consumer demand, benefiting production, raw material, and planting planning. This research aimed to compare the result of demand forecasting for 2021 by the company and demand forecasting using the ARIMA method as quantitative forecasting. The best ARIMA model was ARIMA (1,1,1) with a p-value of 0.000 and an MSE of 1.32. The results of demand forecasting using the ARIMA method were closer to the actual data than that of by the company. The total actual sales data from January – April 2021 is 150,958 kg. The difference between the total actual sales data and demand forecasting using the qualitative method is 2,277 kg, meanwhile, the difference between the total actual sales data and demand forecasting using the ARIMA method is 596 kg.
Application of the six sigma DMAIC in quality control of potato chips to reduce production defects
Authors: Arifin M H F , Mustaniroh S A , Sucipto S
Published: December 2021

To produce competitive products, Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs), one of which is Agronas as a potato chip producer in Batu City, must continue to improve the quality of their products by minimizing production defects. Quality defects on potato chips occurred in color, crispness, wholeness, and size consistency indicators. This study aimed to identify and analyze the factors causing defects in potato chips and to design alternative improvement strategies. The research method used is Six Sigma Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve dan Control (DMAIC), with a sample size of 15 packs for each variable. The results showed that the main priority of the defined stage for quality improvement was crispness and size consistency with a Critical To Quality (CTQ) value of 80.2%. In the measuring stage, based on the process capability value, the final result is 82.3% which has a value above the industry standard in Indonesia of 69.2%. The result of the analysis of the DPMO value of 177,425 is equivalent to 2.43 sigma. The priority of improvement is the two highest defect levels of crispness and size consistency. Factors causing defects in potato chip crispness include limited manpower, lack of supervision and training, different levels of quality, manual packaging, and less than optimal frying. Alternative improvement strategies are labor controlling from the manager, providing training and process SOPs, supervising the selection of raw materials, and checking packaging equipment regularly. Factors causing defects in potato chips’ size consistency include limited manpower, lack of supervision and training, and the absence of a chip rating machine. Alternative improvements include training and process SOPs, supervision in grading chips, and procurement of grading machines.
Integration of Statistical Quality Control (SQC) and Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) in the quality control of resina colophonium production in Company X
Authors: Rucitra A L , Amna A U F
Published: December 2021

Resina colophonium is a product that is produced from the processing of pine sap. This product is widely used for adhesives, additives for beauty products and mixtures of paints and varnishes. One of the companies engaged in the production of resina colophonium is Company X. Production process is an important aspect of the company, so any problems must be avoided to eliminate product defects. One way that can be done to avoid problems in the production process is to carry out proper quality control. The purpose of this study was to analyze the quality control of the production process at Company X. The quality control method used is the integration of the Statistical Quality Control (SQC) method to determine the frequency of problems and Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) to complete identification by looking for the causes of these problems so that problem did not repeat. Based on the results of the quality control analysis, it is found that the most serious problem that affects the quality of the production process lies in the labor aspect with a value number is 38.46% and the root of the potential cause is the number of workers who are not following the current work.
The brewing conditions optimization of Eucalyptus blended tea bags
Authors: Mu’tamar M F F , Fakhry M , Ulya M
Published: December 2021

Blended tea is a mixed herbal drink made from herbal plants’ leaves, roots, flowers, or stems. The blended tea that formulation has been reported in previous studies is composed of Eucalyptus leaves, cinnamon, and black tea. However, the optimum brewing conditions of Eucalyptus blended tea have not been studied. This study aims to determine the optimum brewing conditions of Eucalyptus blended tea using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) with Central Composite Design (CCD). This study used two factors, the loading per tea bag (2 g, 2.5 g, 3 g) and brewing time (2, 4, and 6 minutes). The parameters used were water-soluble extract content, color (L, a, b), and overall acceptability. The results showed that a weight of 2.48 g with a brewing time of 3.45 minutes was the optimum condition for brewing blended tea of Eucalyptus, cinnamon, and black tea.