bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Enhanced photocatalytic activity and antiviral evaluation of CuO@Fe2O3 NC for amoxicillin degradation and SARS-CoV-2 treatment
Authors: Legmairi Souheila , Meneceur Souhaila , Hasan Gamil Gamal , Eddine Laouini Salah , Mohammed Hamdi Ali , Alharthi Fahad , Abdullah Johar Amin Ahmed
Published: July 2023

Copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs) and CuO NPs decorated with hematite (Fe2O3) nanocomposites (CuO@Fe2O3 NC) were biosynthesized by a green method using Portulaca oleracea leaves extract. The NC were characterized using various techniques, including x-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, and UV–vis spectroscopy. The results showed that the synthesized CuO and CuO@Fe2O3 NC were crystalline with a monoclinic crystal structure and contained functional groups responsible for catalytic activity. The size of the nanocomposites ranged from 39.5 to 45.9 nm, and they exhibited a variety of agglomerated or aggregated shapes. The CuO@Fe2O3 NC showed improved photocatalytic activity for the degradation of antibiotics in water and wastewater and promising antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2, indicating its potential for use in disinfection applications. The study investigated the impact of irradiation time on the photocatalytic degradation of Amoxicillin and found that increasing the irradiation time led to a higher degradation rate. The band gap energy (E
g) for pure CuO NPs was around 2.4 eV and dropped to 1.6 eV with CuO@Fe2O3 NC. In summary, the CuO@Fe2O3 NC has the potential to be an efficient photocatalyst and promising antiviral agent for environmental remediation. The CuO@Fe2O3 nanocomposites have been found to possess a high degree of efficacy in inactivating SARS-CoV-2 infectivity. The results of the study indicate that the nanocomposites exhibit potent anti-viral properties and hold significant potential for use in mitigating the spread of the virus.
A new dental CBCT metal artifact reduction method based on a dual-domain processing framework
Authors: Tang Hui , Lin Yu Bing , Jiang Su Dong , Li Yu , Li Tian , Bao Xu Dong
Published: July 2023

Objective. Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) has been wildly used in clinical treatment of dental diseases. However, patients often have metallic implants in mouth, which will lead to severe metal artifacts in the reconstructed images. To reduce metal artifacts in dental CBCT images, which have a larger amount of data and a limited field of view compared to computed tomography images, a new dental CBCT metal artifact reduction method based on a projection correction and a convolutional neural network (CNN) based image post-processing model is proposed in this paper. Approach. The proposed method consists of three stages: (1) volume reconstruction and metal segmentation in the image domain, using the forward projection to get the metal masks in the projection domain; (2) linear interpolation in the projection domain and reconstruction to build a linear interpolation (LI) corrected volume; (3) take the LI corrected volume as prior and perform the prior based beam hardening correction in the projection domain, and (4) combine the constructed projection corrected volume and LI-volume slice-by-slice in the image domain by two concatenated U-Net based models (CNN1 and CNN2). Simulated and clinical dental CBCT cases are used to evaluate the proposed method. The normalized root means square difference (NRMSD) and the structural similarity index (SSIM) are used for the quantitative evaluation of the method. Main results. The proposed method outperforms the frequency domain fusion method (FS-MAR) and a state-of-art CNN based method on the simulated dataset and yields the best NRMSD and SSIM of 4.0196 and 0.9924, respectively. Visual results on both simulated and clinical images also illustrate that the proposed method can effectively reduce metal artifacts. Significance. This study demonstrated that the proposed dual-domain processing framework is suitable for metal artifact reduction in dental CBCT images.
Calculation of the DNA damage yield and relative biological effectiveness in boron neutron capture therapy via the Monte Carlo track structure simulation
Authors: Han Yang , Geng Changran , Liu Yuanhao , Wu Renyao , Li Mingzhu , Yu Chenxi , Altieri Saverio , Tang Xiaobin
Published: July 2023

Objective. Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is an advanced cellular-level hadron therapy that has exhibited remarkable therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of locally invasive malignancies. Despite its clinical success, the intricate nature of relative biological effectiveness (RBE) and mechanisms responsible for DNA damage remains elusive. This work aims to quantify the RBE of compound particles (i.e. alpha and lithium) in BNCT based on the calculation of DNA damage yields via the Monte Carlo track structure (MCTS) simulation. Approach. The TOPAS-nBio toolkit was employed to conduct MCTS simulations. The calculations encompassed four steps: determination of the angle and energy spectra on the nuclear membrane, quantification of the database containing DNA damage yields for ions with specific angle and energy, accumulation of the database and spectra to obtain the DNA damage yields of compound particles, and calculation of the RBE by comparison yields of double-strand break (DSB) with the reference gamma-ray. Furthermore, the impact of cell size and microscopic boron distribution was thoroughly discussed. Main results. The DSB yields induced by compound particles in three types of spherical cells (radius equal to 10, 8, and 6 μm) were found to be 13.28, 17.34, 22.15 Gy Gbp−1 for boronophenylalanine (BPA), and 1.07, 3.45, 8.32 Gy Gbp−1 for sodium borocaptate (BSH). The corresponding DSB-based RBE values were determined to be 1.90, 2.48, 3.16 for BPA and 0.15, 0.49, 1.19 for BSH. The calculated DSB-based RBE showed agreement with experimentally values of compound biological effectiveness for melanoma and gliosarcoma. Besides, the DNA damage yield and DSB-based RBE value exhibited an increasing trend as the cell radius decreased. The impact of the boron concentration ratio on RBE diminished once the drug enrichment surpasses a certain threshold. Significance. This work is potential to provide valuable guidance for accurate biological-weighted dose evaluation in BNCT.
A kinetic Monte Carlo study of positive streamer interaction with complex dielectric surfaces
Authors: Marskar R , Meyer H K H
Published: July 2023

We present a computational study of positive streamers in air propagating over dielectric plates with square channels running orthogonal to the propagation direction. The study uses a newly developed non-kinetic Particle-In-Cell model based on Îto diffusion and kinetic Monte Carlo, which does not introduce artificial smoothing of the plasma density or photo-electron distributions. These capabilities permit the computational study to use high-resolution grids with large time steps, and also incorporates geometric shielding for particle and photon transport processes. We perform Cartesian 2D simulations for channel dimensions ranging from 250 µm to 2 mm, and track streamers over a distance of 4 cm and times ranging up to 300 ns, for various voltages ranging from 15 kV to 30 kV. These baseline simulations are supplemented by additional studies on the effects of transparency to ionizing radiation, streamer reignition, dielectric permittivity, and 3D effects. The computer simulations show: 1) Larger channels restrict streamer propagation more efficiently than narrow channels, and can lead to arrested surface streamers. 2) Geometric shielding of ionizing radiation substantially reduces the number of starting electrons in neighboring channels, and thus also reduces the onset point of streamer reignition. 3) Decreasing the streamer channel separation leads to slower streamers. 4) Increasing the dielectric permittivity increases the discharge velocity. The results are of generic value to fields of research involving streamer-dielectric interactions, and in particular for high-voltage technology where streamer termination is desirable.
Calculation of electronic excitation cross sections and rate coefficients for boron monohydride (BH)
Authors: Kawate T , Murakami I , Goto M
Published: July 2023

Aiming at the quantitative diagnostics of boron monohydryde, BH, in fusion plasmas, we present elastic, electronic excitation, and ionization cross sections of BH for the first time. The calculations were performed by the R-matrix and Born Encounter Bethe methods utilized by Quantemol-EC software. To examine the uncertainty due to the calculation conditions, we compared the results by different basis sets and internuclear distances of the target model. We found that the uncertainties are typically within ∼10%. Rate coefficients were derived and fitted to an Arrhenius function. The derived decay rate per photon,

S

/

X
B

, agreed with the value presented by Lieder et al (the ASDEX-Upgrade Team) (1994 Eur. Phys. Soc. Conf. Plasma Phys.
2 722).
Electrohydrodynamic jet printed bioinspired piezoelectric hair-like sensor for high-sensitivity air-flow detection
Authors: Wang Dazhi , Li Yikang , Hu Xin , Lu Liangkun , Xu Pengfei , Chen Xiangji , Liu Chang , Wang Lunxiang , Liu Ben , Suo Liujia , Cui Yan , Liang Junsheng
Published: July 2023

Inspired by the highly sensitive hairs of creatures in nature, this work proposes a high-aspect-ratio piezoelectric sensor that is processed using electrohydrodynamic jet (E-jet) printing technology. A thin layer of piezoelectric material is directly written on the surface of tungsten steel microwire by E-jet printing. The piezoelectric material was crystallized by high-temperature annealing and fully bonded to the microwire. The annealed piezoelectric thin film was then sputtered with copper electrodes which forms a piezoelectric hair-like sensor with a diameter of 120 μm and an aspect ratio of 300. It was observed that the piezoelectric hair-like sensor generates 18 mV with a displacement of 100 μm. The output signal increases linearly with the increase of lateral displacement and velocity. It was examined that the piezoelectric hair-like sensor can detect airflow velocity as low as 0.01 m s−1, which shows a lower detection threshold compared to piezoelectric hair-like airflow sensors processed in other ways. In addition, the piezoelectric hair-like sensor allows for the detection of an airflow velocity of 10 m s−1 and a response time of 70 ms. The experimental results show that the piezoelectric hair-like sensor has high sensitivity, a wide detection range and rapid detection response, which is expected to be a high-performance sensor for biosensing and airflow monitoring.
Are piezoelectric-electromagnetic hybrid energy harvesting systems beneficial?
Authors: Truong Binh Duc , Le Cuong Phu , Roundy Shad
Published: July 2023

The primary objective of this work is to investigate the performance of a hybrid energy harvesting system consisting of piezoelectric and electromagnetic transducers. We first show that a single–mechanism generator with negligible electrical losses, referred to as an electrically-lossless harvester, can reach the theoretical power bound regardless of the coupling strength between the mechanical and electrical domains, which renders the use of hybrid systems unnecessary. For a more realistic analysis, the electrically parasitic losses are then taken into account. We introduce effective figures of merit for the piezoelectric and electromagnetic generators that combine transducer coupling and resistive losses. The maximum output power of single-transducer and hybrid systems are determined analytically, expressed as functions of effective figures of merit. We find that there is no benefit to utilizing a hybrid system if one of the two, or both, effective figures of merit exceeds a threshold of

. We also derive the narrow conditions under which a resonant hybrid harvester system with multiple transduction mechanisms can outperform its counterpart which uses a single energy conversion. In order to provide a comprehensive assessment of the configurations considered, we analyze the relationships between optimizing system efficiency and maximizing output power. We reveal that the two problems generally yield different solutions. However, for a hybrid structure, these objectives result in a unique solution when the effective figures of merit of the two transductions are equal. This is a distinctive property of a hybrid system compared to a single-mechanism device.
A theoretical focus on nanoparticle attenuation capabilities for potential utilizations in radiation protect: TiO2-SiO2-Fe3O4-B4C-Al2O3
Authors: Cinan Z M
Published: July 2023

Radiation shielding materials are essential for various applications in space exploration, nuclear power plants, and medical devices. In this study, we present a theoretical design of radiation shielding nanocomposites based on a combination of TiO2-SiO2-Fe3O4-B4C-Al2O3 materials. Using the Phy-X/PSD, EpiXS, and XMuDAT programs, we calculated the radiation shielding properties, including mass attenuation coefficient, mean free path, and effective atomic number, of a series of nanocomposite structures with different Fe3O4 and B4C contents. Our results show that the addition of Fe3O4 and B4C to nanocomposites enhances the radiation shielding efficiency and the maximum shielding is observed in the nanocomposite with the highest density. The theoretical calculations also reveal that the proposed nanocomposites have excellent radiation shielding properties compared to conventional shielding materials, such as lead and concrete. This work demonstrates the potential of using a computational approach to design novel radiation shielding nanocomposites with improved performance, which could have significant implications for a wide range of applications.
Interfacial mechanical properties of periodic wrinkled graphene/polyethylene nanocomposite
Authors: Liu Feng , Zhu Yuan , Wu Ruoyu , Zhang Lidan , Zou Rui , Zhou Shengbing , Ning Huiming , Hu Ning , Yan Cheng
Published: July 2023

Molecular dynamics simulations have been performed to investigate the interfacial mechanical properties of periodic wrinkled graphene (GR) with polyethylene (PE) matrix. The influences of amplitude (H), wavelength (λ), and vacancy defect for the periodic wrinkled GR on the interfacial mechanical properties were considered and the potential mechanisms were analyzed. The results indicate that the interfacial mechanical properties of GR with periodic wrinkles are superior to that of flat GR, especially when the

H
/
λ
=
0.51

the interfacial strength enhances ∼29.3%. Through the radial distribution function (RDF) analysis we found that the stronger interfacial mechanical properties are, the more PE molecular chains are attached to the GR when the GR is separated from the PE matrix. In addition, we found that vacancy defect in periodic wrinkled GR does not always degrade the interfacial mechanical properties, and when the vacancy defect content is 20%, the interfacial mechanical properties can be improved, as the vacancy defect reduces the interfacial distance and increases the roughness of the interface.
The isolation feature geometry dependence of reverse gate-leakage current of AlGaN/GaN HFETs
Authors: Aghayan Mehrnegar , Valizadeh Pouya
Published: July 2023

Reverse gate-leakage current of AlGaN/GaN heterojunction field-effect transistors (HFETs) realized on array of submicron sized fins and conventional mesa isolation feature geometries is investigated at room temperature and zero drain-source bias. For each of the abovementioned device categories, the significance of leakage from the top surface gate as well as gated etched GaN surfaces, especially sidewalls, is studied for a wide range of gate-source voltages (VGS) (i.e. below and above the threshold voltage). It is proven that in the explored fin-type HFETs, for all values of VGS leakage through the gated GaN surfaces, especially the sidewalls, is more significant than the leakage from the top surface gate. This is while in the mesa category, the sidewall leakage is of importance only at less negative values of VGS, and leakage from the top surface gate substantially takes over at more negative VGS values. The discrepancy in the dominance of the aforementioned leakage paths at more negative VGS values among the explored fin and mesa-type HFETs is demonstrated to be due to the stronger electric field across the barrier in the gated region of the mesa-type HFET for this range of VGS. While in the explored fin-type HFETs Ion/Ioff ratio is as high as 2 × 107, the total amount of reverse gate-leakage at all values of VGS is substantially larger compared to the mesa category sharing an equal value of the overall gate width, which substantiates the significance of leakage through etched GaN surfaces in devices composed of larger number of sidewalls, incorporating larger area of gate-overlapping etched GaN surface.
A habituation memristor model for lung cancer screening application
Authors: Li Xing , Feng Zhe , Fang Xiuquan , Wu Zuheng , Zhu Yunlai , Xu Zuyu , Dai Yuehua
Published: July 2023

—Lung cancer screening is critical to the diagnosis and treatment of patients. Today, computed tomography (CT) scanning technology provides a promising approach for the screening of lung cancer. Nevertheless, the redundant information in CT images often limits the efficiency and accuracy of screening. The biological sensory nervous system has an important mechanism for screening out redundant information, namely habituation. Here, we designed a second-order memristor model with habituation characteristics. Some of the habituation behavior of the memristor model has been demonstrated with LTspice simulation. Furthermore, the habituation memristor model is incorporated in a volatile memristor based leaky integrate and fire (LIF) neuron circuit to construct a simple neural system. The simulation results indicate that the neural system exhibits reliable habituation behaviors. Finally, lung cancer screening tasks have been implemented based on the neural system with habituation behavior. The habituation memristor circuit serves as a data preprocessing layer that filters out relevant information from lung cancer images. The results indicate that the performance and accuracy of lung cancer screening performance are noticeably better than the neural system without habituation behavior. This work provides a new idea for lung cancer screening implementation.
Design and analysis of metasurface-based CPW-Fed UWB MIMO antenna for wireless communication systems
Authors: Li Yujun , Yang Helin , Cheng Houyuan , Wu Jiong , Yang Yuejie , Li Shangru , Jin Jing , Zhang Aidong
Published: July 2023

A compact 4-port coplanar waveguide (CPW) fed ultra-wideband (UWB) multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) antenna with enhanced isolation is proposed to operate from 3.66 GHz to 16.61 GHz with 127.78% impedance bandwidth. The proposed antenna system consists of 4 orthogonal arrays of monopole antennas improved by four iterations. The UWB characteristic of the antenna is obtained from an improved monopole antenna fed by CPW. The final MIMO antenna is machined on a Rogers 4003C substrate with dimensions of

60
×
60
×
0.3

mm3. The orthogonal arrangement of antennas brings about the polarization diversity and certain isolation of MIMO antennas. Four rows of orthogonal metasurface elements with via holes and the ring of the backplane further improve the isolation between antenna elements in the MIMO system. The MIMO antenna has an impedance bandwidth of 12.95 GHz with

S

11

<
−
10

dB and good isolation (

S

21

=
S

41

<
−
30

dB and

S

31

<
−
20

dB). In particular, S31 is always less than −25 dB at frequencies greater than 6 GHz. The measured results of MIMO antenna agree with the simulated results. The optimized MIMO antenna has excellent performance in many aspects, such as UWB, compact size, omnidirectional radiation, enhanced isolation and high efficiency, which means that it has application potential in UWB wireless communication systems.
On validity of the quasi-static approximation in scalar-tensor theories
Authors: Mirpoorian Seyed Hamidreza , Wang Zhuangfei , Pogosian Levon
Published: July 2023

The discovery of cosmic acceleration motivated extensive studies of dynamical dark energy and modified gravity models. Of particular interest are the scalar-tensor theories, with a scalar field dark energy non-minimally coupled to matter. Cosmological constraints on these models often employ the quasi-static approximation (QSA), in which the dynamics of the scalar field perturbations is proportional to the perturbation in the matter density. Using the QSA simplifies the physical interpretation of the phenomenology of scalar-tensor theories, and results in substantial savings of computing time when deriving parameter constraints. Focusing on the symmetron model, which is a well-motivated scalar-tensor theory with a screening mechanism, we compare the exact solution of the linearly perturbed field equations to those obtained under the QSA and identify the range of the model parameters for which the QSA is valid. We find that the evolution of background scalar field is most important, namely, whether it is dominated by the Hubble friction or the scalar field potential. This helps us derive a criterion for the symmetron model, but same argument can be applied to other scalar-tensor theories of generalized Brans-Dicke type. We consider two scenarios, one where the scalar field is only coupled to dark matter and where it couples to all of the matter.
Optogenetic spinal stimulation promotes new axonal growth and skilled forelimb recovery in rats with sub-chronic cervical spinal cord injury
Authors: Mondello Sarah E , Young Lisa , Dang Viet , Fischedick Amanda E , Tolley Nicholas M , Wang Tian , Bravo Madison A , Lee Dalton , Tucker Belinda , Knoernschild Megan , Pedigo Benjamin D , Horner Philip J , Moritz Chet T
Published: July 2023

Objective. Spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to debilitating sensorimotor deficits that greatly limit quality of life. This work aims to develop a mechanistic understanding of how to best promote functional recovery following SCI. Electrical spinal stimulation is one promising approach that is effective in both animal models and humans with SCI. Optogenetic stimulation is an alternative method of stimulating the spinal cord that allows for cell-type-specific stimulation. The present work investigates the effects of preferentially stimulating neurons within the spinal cord and not glial cells, termed ‘neuron-specific’ optogenetic spinal stimulation. We examined forelimb recovery, axonal growth, and vasculature after optogenetic or sham stimulation in rats with cervical SCI. Approach. Adult female rats received a moderate cervical hemicontusion followed by the injection of a neuron-specific optogenetic viral vector ipsilateral and caudal to the lesion site. Animals then began rehabilitation on the skilled forelimb reaching task. At four weeks post-injury, rats received a micro-light emitting diode (µLED) implant to optogenetically stimulate the caudal spinal cord. Stimulation began at six weeks post-injury and occurred in conjunction with activities to promote use of the forelimbs. Following six weeks of stimulation, rats were perfused, and tissue stained for GAP-43, laminin, Nissl bodies and myelin. Location of viral transduction and transduced cell types were also assessed. Main Results. Our results demonstrate that neuron-specific optogenetic spinal stimulation significantly enhances recovery of skilled forelimb reaching. We also found significantly more GAP-43 and laminin labeling in the optogenetically stimulated groups indicating stimulation promotes axonal growth and angiogenesis. Significance. These findings indicate that optogenetic stimulation is a robust neuromodulator that could enable future therapies and investigations into the role of specific cell types, pathways, and neuronal populations in supporting recovery after SCI.
Post-stimulus encoding of decision confidence in EEG: toward a brain–computer interface for decision making
Authors: Sadras Nitin , Sani Omid G , Ahmadipour Parima , Shanechi Maryam M
Published: July 2023

Objective. When making decisions, humans can evaluate how likely they are to be correct. If this subjective confidence could be reliably decoded from brain activity, it would be possible to build a brain–computer interface (BCI) that improves decision performance by automatically providing more information to the user if needed based on their confidence. But this possibility depends on whether confidence can be decoded right after stimulus presentation and before the response so that a corrective action can be taken in time. Although prior work has shown that decision confidence is represented in brain signals, it is unclear if the representation is stimulus-locked or response-locked, and whether stimulus-locked pre-response decoding is sufficiently accurate for enabling such a BCI. Approach. We investigate the neural correlates of confidence by collecting high-density electroencephalography (EEG) during a perceptual decision task with realistic stimuli. Importantly, we design our task to include a post-stimulus gap that prevents the confounding of stimulus-locked activity by response-locked activity and vice versa, and then compare with a task without this gap. Main results. We perform event-related potential and source-localization analyses. Our analyses suggest that the neural correlates of confidence are stimulus-locked, and that an absence of a post-stimulus gap could cause these correlates to incorrectly appear as response-locked. By preventing response-locked activity from confounding stimulus-locked activity, we then show that confidence can be reliably decoded from single-trial stimulus-locked pre-response EEG alone. We also identify a high-performance classification algorithm by comparing a battery of algorithms. Lastly, we design a simulated BCI framework to show that the EEG classification is accurate enough to build a BCI and that the decoded confidence could be used to improve decision making performance particularly when the task difficulty and cost of errors are high. Significance. Our results show feasibility of non-invasive EEG-based BCIs to improve human decision making.
Analysis of the performance of low gain avalanche diodes for future particle detectors
Authors: Vakili Aref , Pancheri Lucio , Farasat Mahsa , La Magna Antonino , Mascali David , Bregoli Matteo
Published: July 2023

Low-Gain Avalanche Diodes (LGAD) are the sensor of choice
for the timing detectors of the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the
High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC). This paper
presents the results of static and dynamic performance evaluations
of LGADs manufactured by Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. (HPK) and
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). Timing performance was
measured using β-scopes after a static characterization of the
device (current-voltage and capacitance-voltage curves) and a time
resolution better than 35 ps was extracted under high operational
bias voltage before irradiation. This value is considered within the
nominal requirements of the ATLAS project for un-irradiated
sensors. Transient Current Technique (TCT) was used to observe and
analyze a gain suppression mechanism, i.e. a decrease in gain
correlated with increased laser intensities. TCAD simulations were
carried out to interpret the gain suppression of the BNL sensors
under different conditions of bias voltage and laser intensity. A
good correspondence between experimental observations and TCAD
simulations was found.
A “Cool” route to the Higgs boson and beyond. The Cool Copper Collider
Authors: Vernieri Caterina , Nanni Emilio A. , Dasu Sridhara , Peskin Michael E. , Barklow Tim , Bartoldus Rainer , Bhat Pushpalatha C. , Black Kevin , Brau James E. , Breidenbach Martin , Bullard Brendon , Craig Nathaniel , Denisov Dmitri , Gray Lindsey , Harris Philip C. , Kagan Michael , Liu Zhen , Meade Patrick , Majernik Nathan , Mohammadi Abdollah , Nagaitsev Sergei , Ntounis Dimitris , Ojalvo Isobel , Pachal Katherine , Paus Christoph , Rosenzweig James , Schroeder Carl , Schwartzman Ariel G. , Simakov Evgenya , Swiatlowski Maximilian , Spataro Bruno , Strube Jan , Dong Su , Tantawi Sami , Wang Lian-Tao , White Andy , Wilson Graham W.
Published: July 2023

Construction of an e
+
e
- Higgs factory has been
identified as a major goal for particle physics. Such a collider
will offer precise measurements of the Higgs bosons couplings to
other particles. A Higgs factory extendable in energy can also
establish the Higgs self-coupling, measure the Higgs coupling to the
top quark, and expand the reach to probe new phenomena. We propose a
strategy for an energy-extendable Higgs factory based on a new
linear accelerator technology. This strategy offers a compact and
cost-effective design that could be realized as an accelerator
project in the US. The core technologies to be developed have broad
applications to accelerators for medicine and for X-ray science. The
challenge of realizing these technologies will offer unique and
exciting opportunities to young scientists.
Use of an automated software module for monthly routine Machine QA tests
Authors: Bonanno E. , Borzì G.R. , Cavalli N. , Pace M. , Stella G. , Zirone L. , Marino C.
Published: July 2023

The goal of this work is to investigate the feasibility of
implementing an automated module of a commercial software for
monthly routine Linac QA tests. The AAPM TG 142 report is a
reference document which includes recommendations for general
Quality Assurance (QA) tests for medical linear
accelerators. DoseLab software includes an AutoQA module for users
to run TG-142's Machine QA tests in an automated sequence. The
execution of the individual monthly tests (without DoseLab) is
compared with AutoQA in terms of time consuming, reproducibility,
additional data and user friendliness. The total time required was
195 minutes for single test mode, without DoseLab, and 80 minutes
for AutoQA. Auto QA allows the user to analyze more parameters than
single-test mode, especially for kV and MV images. Different
profiles in sizes and energies are examined in minor time. The
Winston-Lutz test is more quickly and complete. CBCT QA test is less
laborious and no user-dependent. Reproducibility of results is
verified: the coefficient of variation over 5 consecutive repeated
measurements is less than 5%. The software database makes it
possible to monitor the trend of different parameters over
time. AutoQA module significantly reduces the time spent for QA. It
also allows to get more quantitative informations and delete the
user-dependent uncertainties.
Belowground soil and vegetation components change across the aridity threshold in grasslands
Authors: Ren Zhuobing , Li Changjia , Fu Bojie , Wang Shuai , Zhou Wenxin , Stringer Lindsay C
Published: July 2023

Grassland ecosystem functions are affected by global climate change and increasing aridity. Belowground components of soil and vegetation, such as specific root length, belowground biomass and soil organic carbon are important for maintaining these functions. However, aridity affects these components in different ways. This research evaluates changes in soil properties and plant attributes with aridity along a 2600 km aridity gradient in the arid and semiarid grasslands of Inner Mongolia. The aridity index was used considering the ratio of precipitation to potential evapotranspiration, where a higher value indicates greater aridity. Results showed an overall aridity threshold for grassland ecosystems of 0.67, where abrupt changes in belowground components were observed. The effect of aridity on specific root length changed from negative (−0.18) below the threshold to positive (0.24) above the threshold, with the emergence of coordination between aboveground and belowground plant characteristics. Aridity exhibited a negative effect on belowground biomass, increasing from −0.24 below the threshold to −0.55 above the threshold as the positive effect of relative grass abundance disappeared. The total effect of aridity on soil organic carbon showed a subtle change, but the driving pathways through which aridity affects changed from soil loss to aridity itself and vegetation cover at plot scale. These findings highlight how aridity affects belowground components in grassland ecosystems above and below the aridity threshold. They provide a basis for better understanding aridity-driven interactions in grassland ecosystems, and can be used to inform actions to protect grasslands under future climate change.
Coherence, superposition, and Löwdin symmetric orthogonalization
Authors: Torun Gökhan
Published: July 2023

The notions of coherence and superposition are conceptually the same; however, an important distinction exists between their resource-theoretic formulations. Namely, while basis states are orthogonal in the resource theory of coherence, they are not necessarily orthogonal in the resource theory of superposition. Owing to the nonorthogonality, the manipulation and characterization of superposition states require significant efforts. Here, we demonstrate that the Löwdin symmetric orthogonalization (LSO) method offers a useful means for characterizing pure superposition states. The principal property of LSO is that the structure and symmetry of the original nonorthogonal basis states are preserved to the greatest extent possible, which prompts us to study the role of LSO in identifying the hierarchical relations of resource states. Notably, we reveal that the maximally coherent states turn into the states with maximal superposition with the help of LSO: in other words, they are equivalent under the action of symmetric orthogonalization. Our results facilitate further connections between coherence and superposition, where LSO is the main tool.
Study of the influence of road traffic emissions on air quality in sensitive areas of the Bucharest city, using Breeze Aermod software
Authors: Deak György , Raischi Marius , Lumînăroiu Lucian , Holban Elena , Tudor Georgeta , Raischi Natalia , Matache Razvan , Ibrahim Norlia Mohamad
Published: July 2023

Road traffic is one of the main causes of pollution in big cities due to a large number of vehicles and crowded intersections. Also, the lack of green spaces and the topography of the land can cause the accumulation of pollutants at the local level. Considering the increasing concern regarding the negative impact of air pollution on the health of the inhabitants of large cities, the present paper aims to investigate the level of pollution in the areas of two educational units located near some crowded boulevards in the city of Bucharest. To carry out the work, the air quality was analyzed by in-situ monitoring of the CO, PM10, and NO2, indicators of atmospheric pollution that could come from road traffic. Also were estimate the contribution of the nearest pollution sources to the total concentrations of pollutants measured by air quality monitoring equipment. Although more traffic emission were estimated near of the first monitoring area, than the second monitoring area, still the contribution to local pollution in the case of emission sources from area 2 was higher, this aspect was the cause of the complexity of the terrain, the higher buildings surrounding the emission sources, and the lack of vegetation.
The Effect of Chemical Treated Spent Mushroom Substrate (SMS) on Lignocellulosic Content
Authors: Adi Muhamad Ridauddin Mohamad , Izhar Tengku Nuraiti Tengku , Ibrahim Norlia Mohamad , Aziz Norhidayah Abd , Hadiyanto Hamid , Matei Monica
Published: July 2023

A by-product of the mushroom industry, spent mushroom substrate (SMS) is primarily made of lignocellulosic agricultural waste. SMS contains cellulose (38–46.6%), lignin (25–34.5%), and hemicellulose (19–27.7%) and is nutrient-rich. The primary objectives of this study included the characterization of SMS, analysis of lignocellulosic content prior to and following pre-treatment, analysis of the effects of various NaOH concentrations with varying molarities (1.0 to 5.0 Molar), and analysis of surface morphology using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The result that comparison between untreated and treated sample The result for untreated are contain high amount of lignin from 23.85% to 27.39% and for treated are amount reduce from 20.6% to 23.85%. The difference of NaOH concentration from 1.0 to 5.0 Molar, so the best pre-treatment is alkaline pre-treatment from 1.0 to 3.0 M are the best concentration to treat SMS sample from alkaline pre-treatment and proved sodium hydroxide pre-treatment as an effective method to reduce the hemicellulose and lignin contents. Images clearly showed how the pre-treatment could alter the biomass’s structural makeup and distort it, increasing the surface area that was open to enzymatic attack. The pre-treated SMS’s surface had numerous sporadic pores and cracks. The study’s findings demonstrated that SMS from the P. sajor-caju species has the potential to provide a new source of glucose for bioethanol production.
Optimum Binder Content of Asphaltic Concrete (ACW14) Mixture Incorporating Limestone
Authors: Mohammed Syakirah Afiza , Ahmad Abdul Ghapar , Santiagoo Ragunathan , Vijean Vikneswaran , Ahmad Wan Amiza Amneera Wan , Ahmad Razi , Kai Lim Shi
Published: July 2023

Due to the high demand for natural aggregates in pavement construction, researchers have been looking for alternative materials to replace natural aggregate. In this research, the optimum binder content of asphalt mixture incorporate limestones was investigated. The optimum binder content of asphalt mixture was tested according to Marshall method. About 20 % of limestone was used as aggregate replacement in asphaltic concrete mixture. To determine the stability, volumetric properties, and bitumen binder content, three percentage of asphalt binder content, namely 4.0%, 5.0% and 6.0% was prepared. From analysis, it indicated that stability and volumetric properties of asphalt mixture incorporate limestone meet the requirement set by JKR. From the result obtained, the optimum binder content of the control sample is 5.0% and optimum binder content of limestone mixture is 5.2%. The slightly different in optimum binder content value indicate that the optimum binder content of limestone mixture was comparable with control mixture.
Green natural rubber-based membrane for drug release
Authors: Prathumsuk Wichitraphon , Petchsuk Atitsa , Opaprakasit Mantana , Boondamnoen Orathai
Published: July 2023

Drug release membranes have been developed in various points of view for many decades. They should be flexible responding to body movement for the patient convenience. Most of them are synthetic materials. Since natural rubber (NR) is elastic and flexible, it is an interesting green material to develop as a drug release membrane. However, there is limitation of drug release of NR membrane. Therefore, the development of drug release efficiency of NR membrane is important and challenging. The objective of this work is to develop drug release membrane from NR based as NR is an alternative green material. NR, epoxidized natural rubber (ENR), poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), NR/PVA and ENR/PVA membranes were prepared by casting process. Sodium diclofenac was used as a drug in this work. The result from H1 NMR revealed that 25 mol% ENR was obtained. It was proven that there is no formation of chemical bonding between drug and matrix membrane by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy characterization. The swelling ratios of PVA, ENR/PVA, NR/PVA were about 165%, 120% and 100%, respectively, whereas ENR and NR were not swollen. It is probably due to the high hydrophilicity of PVA. NR and NR/PVA membrane surfaces presented some agglomeration of drug particles shown in scanning electron microscopy micrographs. The drug distribution in NR matrix was very poor whereas obvious agglomeration in ENR and PVA membranes was not present. The polar groups (epoxide and hydroxyl) may assist in ionic drug distribution. The result of drug release showed that neat NR membrane gave the lowest value at about 50%. Therefore, the drug was predicted to be trapped inside the NR matrix. This was similar to the case of NR/PVA membrane, whereas PVA membrane provided the highest and fastest release compared to others. However, in case of ENR, the %drug release increased gradually with the release time increased until it was constant at 7 hours onwards. It can be said that the modification of NR by adding hydrophilic group (as ENR) could enhance the %drug release. Moreover, the addition of hydrophilic part (combination of PVA) also increased the %drug release that obviously seen in ENR/PVA and NR/PVA membranes.
Degradation of Reactive Black 5 Dye (RB5) using Iron Electrode (Fe.S) Derived from Iron Sludge Steel Waste via Electrochemical Method
Authors: Azizan Nurul Athikah , Nasuha Norhaslinda , Maarof Hawaiah Imam
Published: July 2023

A study has been performed on the degradation of Reactive Black 5 (RB5) as pollutant using iron electrode (Fe.S) derived from iron sludge steel waste via electrochemical method. The Fe.S and titanium graphite electrodes were applied as anode and cathode respectively during the studied. The studied operating parameters were the effect of current density, initial pH, initial concentration, and the reusability of the Fe.S electrode. The experiment was carried out for 120 minutes of electrolysis time. From results revealed that Fe.S could be used three times with complete degradation of RB5 from initial concentration of 50 ppm. A complete RB5 colour removal can be achieved in any pH range (3,6, and 9). The current density at 4 mA/cm2showed a faster RB5 degradation compared to at 2, 6,8, and 10 mA/cm2.
Assessment on Water Footprint of Paddy Cultivation in Kedah
Authors: Azhar Nursabrina , Ahmad Wan Amiza Amneera Wan , Mohammed Syakirah Afiza , Ahmad Abdul Ghapar , Santiagoo Ragunathan , Vijean Vikneswaran , Ahmad Razi
Published: July 2023

A measurable metric to gauge both the amount of water pollution and water consumption per unit of crop is the water footprint (WF). WF can be used as a thorough indicator of the utilization of freshwater resources. To increase the yield of crops, agriculture, consumed large amount of water. To prevent water shortages, it is crucial to understand how much water is consumed during agriculture. This study’s goal is to estimate the region of Kedah’s water footprint for paddy cultivation in the year 2017. By using CROPWAT 8.0 computer programming, climatic parameters were used for the estimation of water evapotranspiration for blue and green to proceed with the water footprint accounting. The methodological framework followed the crop water requirement (CWR) option based on the water footprint assessment manual. Focusing on the water footprint accounting phase, the blue, green and grey water footprint was calculated. The findings demonstrated that the three forms of water footprints differ significantly from one another. In Kedah, the value of the green water footprint (1201m3/ton) is higher than that of the blue water (130m3/ton) and the grey water (357m3/ton) footprints. 71% of green water footprint indicates that there is enough rainfall to support paddy growth.
Improving Iron and Copper Uptake by Changing the Ratios in Root of Vetiver Grass
Authors: Halim Nursyafiqah Syuhada Abdul , Hamzah Nurhidayah , Baharudin Fauzi , Zainuddin Nur Syahiza , Rahim Nur Liza , Kamil Nor Amani Filzah Mohd , Akbar Nor Azliza , Zin Nur Shaylinda Mohd
Published: July 2023

Phytoremediation using Vetiver grass (VG) has been used in the past few decades all over the world, but the effectiveness of its uptake mechanism in water has less been discussed especially in mixed metal conditions. Hence, the focus of this research was to determine and evaluate the heavy metal removal effectiveness of two heavy metals, copper (Cu) and iron (Fe), based on vetiver grass uptake and toxicity. Three treatments of Fe and Cu mixture were chosen, and individual concentrations act as a control. The vetiver grass at a height of 10 cm and a root length of 25 cm for each treatment was used and harvested on days 0,1, 3, 6 and 7. The roots were randomly cut, oven-dried and used the digestion method to extract the Fe and Cu in the root. From the result, vetiver grass has better Fe and Cu uptake ability in the mixture treatment compared to the individual treatment. Fe uptake is increasing up to 25.3 % in the presence of Cu (mixture 1). Meanwhile, for Cu, mixture 3 is an ideal ratio to increase the Cu uptake by 14.5%. It shows that both Fe and Cu facilitated each other’s uptake in real wastewater conditions. There were also observed minimal toxicity signs such as necrosis throughout the experiment. The appearance of vetiver grass has changed in this experiment starting day 3 and remains yellowish. In conclusion, wastewater that contains a high concentration of Fe than Cu can promise the improvement of both Fe and Cu uptake by vetiver grass. This study benefits researchers that apply phytoremediation to remove heavy metals in wastewater by providing a guideline for Fe and Cu removal by vetiver grass. In future, the study will focus on the mechanism and interaction of Fe and Cu uptake by root
Influence of nano-hydroxyapatite particles on the mechanical and antibacterial properties of polycarbonate films
Authors: Abed Hadeel , Hameed Nahida J , Salim Evan T
Published: July 2023

In the present research, eco-friendly composite films of polycarbonate (PC)/nano-hydroxyapatite (nHAP) have been successfully prepared using the solution casting method with a concentration of (3, 5, 10 and 15% PS/PC with 1.6 nHAP). These films were characterized to investigate the influence of nano material upon the Ultraviolet (UV)-wethering of the mechanical properties employing tensile test, thermal properties utilizing Lee disk, and antibacterial properties utilizing culture method. From the tests, it was observed that the nano hydroxyapatite led to a reduction in the degradation and an increase in the thermal conductivity. The antibacterial studies manifested that the toxicity was severely decreased via the incorporation of nano hydroxyapatite and became highly antibacterial. Optical constants have been analyzed using UV–vis spectroscopy.Results reveal the decrease in band gap and enhancement in optical constants. FESEM images of 10% PS/PC and 10% PS/PC+1.6 nano particles exhibit a high degree of particle dispersion homogeneity within the 10% PS/PC matrix. The contact angle tests elucidated that the prepared films were highly hydrophobic with a hydrophobocity of 99%, which aids in the antibacterial capabilities and hence they can be used as packaging materials.