Good R2 Values Research Articles

A-238 Lyophilized Bead Multiplex Assays for CT/NG/TV Detection

Abstract Background Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG), and Trichomonas vaginalis (TV) cause the three most prevalent sexually transmitted infectious diseases in developed countries, contributing to approximately 300 million new infections worldwide, annually. Due to the challenges of culturing and using immunoassays to detect these pathogens, DNA-based molecular tests have been instrumental, and current trends in molecular testing for CT/NG/TV have moved toward point-of-care tests. Lyophilization provides benefits required for point-of-care tests, such as ambient storage, extended shelf life, simplified downstream workflow, and variable formats. A lyophilized-bead format enables an assay to be placed in sealed consumables and stored at room temperature for up to two years. An additional consideration is the need for endogenous and exogenous controls. Exogenous in-process controls can be used to validate the performance of workflows culminating in a qPCR reaction and provide flexibility to test developers. An ideal exogenous in-process control is nonhomologous to human or human pathogen genome sequences and does not align with primers or probes designed for pathogen detection. The objective of the current study was to develop a lyophilized-bead-format assay containing an ideal exogenous control and establish whether it is a valid option for the accurate detection of CT, NG, and TV. Methods A synthetic DNA control containing targets for CT/NG/TV/RNase P (RP)/exogenous control was used to establish an analytical LOD by qPCR. The 5-plex assay, lyophilized in beads, was hydrated and tested for linearity over an 8-log range of the synthetic DNA control. Further, the qPCR lyophilized bead with assay was tested with a proficiency sample by extracting DNA from ZeptoMetrix NATtrol CT/NG/TV Positive Control and spiking-in the exogenous DNA control. qPCR was performed on the extracted DNA and human cDNA. Results The analytical LOD for the control DNA was determined to be 5 copies/reaction. Additionally, linearity was observed by qPCR over an 8-log range of the synthetic DNA control for all five targets in multiplex with good efficiencies and R2 values. Finally, all targets were amplified and detected by qPCR using DNA extracted from ZeptoMetrix NATtrol CT/NG/TV Positive Control with spiked-in exogenous DNA control. The detection of the exogenous sequence in the qPCR multiplex reaction indicated the extraction was successful. Conclusions We have developed a multiplex qPCR assay in lyophilized-bead format that can identify infectious agents, such as CT/NG/TV, in a single reaction. We have included RP as a human host control, plus an exogenous in-process control, for a total of 5-plex in separate fluorescent channels. We have shown that our lyophilized beads with assay produce a positive qPCR result when combined with a proficiency sample.

Harnessing the power of ternary nanocomposites: Iron oxide, multiwalled carbon nanotubes, and bentonite for superior ciprofloxacin adsorption

Water contamination from antibiotics can have detrimental effects on one’s health. Consequently, treating the polluted water is required to fix this issue. Fe3O4-multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs)-Bentonite nanocomposite has been successfully prepared using a customized co-precipitation process. The synthesized nanocomposite was used as an adsorbent to extract the ciprofloxacin from aqueous solutions. The synthesized nanocomposite was examined using several characterization methods. Scanning electron microscopy demonstrates that the Fe3O4 nanoparticles and bentonite are well-decorated on MWCNTs. The nanocomposite exhibits a high BET surface area of 221.577 m2/g and a pore volume of 0.411 cm3/g. According to the analysis, the average pore diameter was found to be 3.717 nm. Additionally, the adsorption model agreed with the Jovanovic model, which had a 137.35 mg/g adsorption capacity, with a χ2 of 2.161, and a good nonlinear R2 value of 0.999. Moreover, adsorbent was found to be highly stable even after 4 cycles. The ΔS and ΔH values were found to be positive, which suggested an endothermic process. The synthesized nanocomposite proved to be a viable option for water treatment applications, and there is no literature available on CIP antibiotic adsorption using Fe3O4-MWCNT-Bentonite nanocomposite.

Recycling of Waste Granodiorite Powder as a Partial Cement Replacement Material in Ordinary Concrete

Abstract In this study, the effect of using waste granodiorite powder (WGP) as a cement replacement material in percentages ranging from 1 to 9% on various physical and mechanical properties of ordinary concrete was investigated. The resistance of produced concretes with WGP to the high temperature effects on the 28 days compressive strength were studied as well. Granodiorite is one of the well-known igneous rocks that have been used in previous research as a replacement for coarse or fine aggregates due to the hardness of its grains. However, rare studies have investigated its powder as a partial cement replacement material. Results showed the ability of investigated WGP with high surface area to act as a supplementary cementitious material that contributed to enhance the results of mechanical and physical properties of concrete. At traditional room temperature, the optimal replacement percentage was 7%, where the 28 days compressive and tensile strengths were improved by 28.3% and 17.3%, respectively. The optimal replacement ratio varied between 7 and 9% in the case of high temperatures, according to exposure time and temperature degree. Statistical and sensitivity analysis was conducted on 66 available compressive strength value represents all variables before and after elevated temperature exposure. While the regression equation showed good R2 value of 85.3%, sensitivity analysis indicated that compressive strength value is most sensitive to temperature, followed by WGP ratio and exposure time, with importance values of 56, 26, and 18 %, respectively. Results showed also that the setting times and consistency was decreased with increasing the replacement ratio with WGP, while the workability was slightly improved up to 5% replacement ratio. Furthermore, microstructure analysis showed that WGP can help to densify the concrete matrix due to its small size and ability to fill the interstitial voids in the concrete matrix.

Seasonal variation in atmospheric optical depth (AOD) and thermal inertia (TI) inter-relationship over Martian Gale crater

Investigating the relationship between thermal inertia (TI) and aerosol optical depth (AOD) is significant in giving insights into the seasonality of dust deposition and lifting phenomenon. The present study focuses on establishing a relationship of AOD with TI and different particle sizes over different Martian seasons. Two different Martian landforms (exposed rock and sand dunes) have been used to establish these relationships. TI layer was generated using THEMIS nighttime images for different seasons, whereas Curiosity Rover measured AOD values and Mars Climate database (MCD) visible column dust optical depth were used to derive rover equivalent AOD. An inverse relation was observed between AOD and TI for exposed rock and sand dune regions for all the seasons with low to moderate coefficient of determination (R2). A similar inverse trend was observed between rover equivalent AOD and particle size with R2 values ranging from 0.8 in the case of sand dunes (winter) to 0.93 in exposed rock (autumn). The results were further compared within the AOD obtained from orbiter image (HRSC) derived using Shadow method for spring season (Shaheen et al., 2022). The same inverse relation was found within TI having good R2 values of 0.61 for exposed rock and 0.76 for the sand dunes. Error estimation using Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Normalized Mean Square Error (NMSE), Fractional Bias (FB), Index of agreement errors was carried out for TI vs. AOD and particle size vs. AOD. Excellent statistical significance was obtained for AOD and particle size, in the case of sand dunes it was 0.96 for autumn and 0.99 in case of exposed rock for spring season, respectively.

VERTICAL ACCURACY ASSESSMENT OF VARIOUS OPEN-SOURCE DEM DATA: DEMNAS, SRTM-1, AND ASTER GDEM

DEM can be used optimally when it has good accuracy. Thus, assessing DEM data quality is mandatory before use it for specific thematic applications. Recently, there are open-source DEM data that can be downloaded and used freely by users, such as SRTM and ASTER GDEM. However, Indonesia tried to develop their own national seamless DEM, called DEMNAS. This study aims to evaluate the open-source DEMs that are popular in Indonesia: DEMNAS, SRTM-1, and ASTER GDEM. Accuracy assessment was conducted by comparing the DEMs to GPS measurements. The results showed that SRTM-1 had the best accuracy with 5.529 meters, followed by DEMNAS and ASTER GDEM with 8.172 meters and 13.632 meters, respectively. We also analyzed the linear relation between DEMs and GPS elevation data using the coefficient of determination, and all DEMs showed good R2 values. Lastly, the correlation between the error and the height of DEMs was also examined. The results were SRTM-1 had correlation between the height and accuracy, as well as ASTER GDEM. In contrast, the errors in DEMNAS were relatively uniform in all range of elevation.

Equilibrium Isotherm Analyses and Kinetic Studies of Bioadsorption of Methylene Blue Dye onto Dried Olive Leaves

Background: Olive leaves were collected, dried, ground, and then used as a low-cost, environmentally friendly recycled adsorbent. The ability of dried olive leaves to extract Methylene Blue, as an industrial pollutant in contaminated water, was tested. Method: In this study, the dried olive leaves (DOL) were used as bioadsorbents to extract Methylene Blue (MB) dye from water. Batch experiments were conducted to address the effect of drying temperature of DOL within the range of (75 C - 200 C) on MB dye extraction. The amount of MB dye absorbed was determined using a UV-Vis spectrophotometer. Results: Based on the results, increasing the drying temperature of the olive leaves improved the percentage of MB removal. The adsorption equilibrium isotherms for MB onto DOL bio-adsorbents were fitted and analyzed by four well-defined Temkin, Sips, Freundlich, and Langmuir systems. In all systems, the isothermal adsorption showed good regression R2 values. Moreover, the MB adsorption onto DOL was detected versus the drying temperature, and it was found that the adsorption was enhanced at elevated drying temperatures. Maximum removal capacities of the MB by DOL were 53.0, 66.0, 93.0, and 136.0 mg/g at 75 C, 100 C, 150 C, and 200 C, respectively starting with 250 mg/L MB solution. Moreover, the adsorption kinetic MB/DOL system was investigated by applying pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, and intra-particle diffusion systems. Conclusion: It was found that the pseudo-second-order kinetic system was the best model for the adsorption kinetics description of MB onto DOL bio-adsorbents

Prediction of cytotoxicity of heavy metals adsorbed on nano-TiO2 with periodic table descriptors using machine learning approaches.

Nanoparticles with their unique features have attracted researchers over the past decades. Heavy metals, upon release and emission, may interact with different environmental components, which may lead to co-exposure to living organisms. Nanoscale titanium dioxide (nano-TiO2) can adsorb heavy metals. The current idea is that nanoparticles (NPs) may act as carriers and facilitate the entry of heavy metals into organisms. Thus, the present study reports nanoscale quantitative structure-activity relationship (nano-QSAR) models, which are based on an ensemble learning approach, for predicting the cytotoxicity of heavy metals adsorbed on nano-TiO2 to human renal cortex proximal tubule epithelial (HK-2) cells. The ensemble learning approach implements gradient boosting and bagging algorithms; that is, random forest, AdaBoost, Gradient Boost, and Extreme Gradient Boost were constructed and utilized to establish statistically significant relationships between the structural properties of NPs and the cause of cytotoxicity. To demonstrate the predictive ability of the developed nano-QSAR models, simple periodic table descriptors requiring low computational resources were utilized. The nano-QSAR models generated good R2 values (0.99-0.89), Q2 values (0.64-0.77), and Q2F1 values (0.99-0.71). Thus, the present work manifests that ML in conjunction with periodic table descriptors can be used to explore the features and predict unknown compounds with similar properties.

Adsorption of anionic dye from aqueous environment using surface-engineered Zn/Cu hydroxy double salt-based material: mechanistic, equilibrium and kinetic studies.

Herein, ethylene glycol (EG)-modified Zn/Cu hydroxy double salts (HDS) were synthesized using a facile synthetic approach. The formation of layered structure and presence of EG in the interlayer region were confirmed using PXRD and FTIR techniques. Furthermore, XPS analysis was used to confirm presence of metal ions in synthesized HDS. The surface area and pore size diameter of the HDS was found to be 32.30 m2 g-1 and 2.22 nm, respectively, using BET. The role of HDS was evaluated for its potential application as a sorbent for Congo red (CR) dye uptake. Batch studies were conducted to examine the impact of key variables, i.e., pH, time, adsorbent dosage and dye concentration on adsorption efficiency of HDS. Linear-nonlinear isotherm and kinetic models were employed for detailed analysis of experimental data. Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherm models were subsequently utilized to fit equilibrium data, among which Langmuir demonstrated to be most accurate. The maximum monolayer adsorption capacity estimated using Langmuir model was computed to be 181.81 mg g-1. The kinetic data follows pseudo-second-order model having good R2 value (0.999). Additionally, thermodynamic study suggested spontaneous and endothermic nature of adsorption process having reusability up to 5 cycles with removal efficiency more than 85%.

ANALYSIS OF RHODAMINE B IN LIP CREAM USING COLORIMETRIC METHOD BY DIGITAL IMAGING

Background: lip cream is one type of lip color often used by women. Beside it, there are still some manufacturers add Rhodamine B to lip color, especially lip cream. This is very dangerous for the health of consumers. Therefore, it is necessary to analysis of Rhodamine B in samples red lip cream. Objective: the purpose of this research to analysis Rhodamin B contained in lip cream using colorimetric method by digital imaging. Method: the method of this research is colorimetric method by digital imaging. This method is a simple, low budget, easy, and fast method. Result: the standard curve Zn-thiocyanate-Rhodamine B solution of RGB components, shows the result is green component curve has a good R2 value is 0,9992 with the linear regression equation y = 0,0423x + 0,1335. Accuracy expressed as % recovery, shows good results with an average value of 100,7%. Determination of the precision value also shows good result, the RSD value obatained is 1,96%. So that, the colorimetric method by digital imaging can be used to analysis of Rhodamine B in samples. Conclusions: sample A and B positive Rhodamine B with concentrations of 0,6730 ppm and 0,0488 ppm.

EFFECTS OF WASTE CROSSED-LINKED POLYETHYLENE ELECTRICAL WASTE COATING ON THE PROPERTIES OF BITUMEN

The high cost of construction materials and increased axle loads has motivated researchers to seek alternative cost-effective materials for road construction. Studies on the use of waste thermoplastic polyethylene material to improve bitumen properties have been investigated. However, few studies on the use of thermoset polyethylene (cross-linked polyethylene) to modify bitumen have been carried out. This research investigated the use of waste cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) cable coating on bitumen properties. An FTIR analysis carried out on waste XLPE cable coating revealed that it is predominantly composed of XLPE material. A comparative study carried out on the bitumen properties revealed that the modifier had a decreasing effect on its penetration and ductility but, had an increasing effect on softening point and specific gravity; Hence, a considerable improvement in the temperature susceptibility and stability of the bitumen. The short-term ageing analysis carried out revealed that the modified bitumen can withstand short-term ageing requirements at 2% and 4% by weight of pure bitumen. FTIR analysis carried out on the pure and modified bitumen revealed that changes observed in bitumen properties with increasing modifier content were a result of physical changes and not chemical changes. A one-way ANOVA carried out on the properties of various bitumen content revealed that the modifier had a significant effect on the properties of pure bitumen with increasing bitumen content. The regression models developed properly described the relationship between the modifier content and the bitumen properties as they expressed very good R2 values.

Rational Design of a Low-Data Regime of Pyrrole Antioxidants for Radical Scavenging Activities Using Quantum Chemical Descriptors and QSAR with the GA-MLR and ANN Concepts

A series of pyrrole derivatives and their antioxidant scavenging activities toward the superoxide anion (O2•-), hydroxyl radical (•OH), and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH•) served as the training data sets of a quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) study. The steric and electronic descriptors obtained from quantum chemical calculations were related to the three O2•-, •OH, and DPPH• scavenging activities using the genetic algorithm combined with multiple linear regression (GA-MLR) and artificial neural networks (ANNs). The GA-MLR models resulted in good statistical values; the coefficient of determination (R2) of the training set was greater than 0.8, and the root mean square error (RMSE) of the test set was in the range of 0.3 to 0.6. The main molecular descriptors that play an important role in the three types of antioxidant activities are the bond length, HOMO energy, polarizability, and AlogP. In the QSAR-ANN models, a good R2 value above 0.9 was obtained, and the RMSE of the test set falls in a similar range to that of the GA-MLR models. Therefore, both the QSAR GA-MLR and QSAR-ANN models were used to predict the newly designed pyrrole derivatives, which were developed based on their starting reagents in the synthetic process.

Simultaneous removal of ternary heavy metal ions by a newly isolated Microbacterium paraoxydans strain VSVM IIT(BHU) from coal washery effluent.

In the present work, the removal of Cr (VI), Cd (II) and Pb (II) at 50mg/L of each metal ion concentration was investigated by Microbacterium paraoxydans strain VSVM IIT(BHU). The heavy metal binding on the bacterial cell surface was confirmed through X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and energy dispersive X-ray. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis also confirmed the reduction of Cr (VI) to Cr (III). Heavy metal removal dynamics was investigated by evaluating dimensionless, and the value of Nk (9.49 × 10-3, 9.92 × 10-3 and 1.23 × 10-2 for Cr (VI), Cd (II) and Pb (II) ions) indicated that the removal of heavy metals by bacterial isolate was mixed diffusion and transfer controlled. It was found that both the experimental and predicted values for isolated bacterial strain coincided with each other with a good R2 value in the L-M Algorithm range of 0.94-0.98 for the ternary metal ion system. The bacterial isolate presented a maximum heavy metal ion removal efficiency of 91.62% Cr (VI), 89.29% Pb (II), and 83.29% Cd (II) at 50mg/L.

Experimental and Analytical Study of High-Strength Concrete Containing Natural Zeolite and Additives

The study compares the durability of Natural Zeolite with Metakaolin, Silica Fume, and Fly Ash on high-strength concrete. 300 concrete specimens were tested for compressive strength before and after an acid attack, modulus of elasticity, water absorption, and rapid chloride permeability. 5%, 10%, and 15% of the cement were replaced with cementitious elements while maintaining the same quantity of Natural Zeolite. In this investigation, the water-cement ratio was maintained at 0.35. After 28 days, the specimens were tested for durability. Samples of all mixes were TG/DT and FTIR tested. The optimal percentages of cementitious materials that resulted to the maximum durability enhancements were reported as the study results. Experimental results showed that Natural Zeolite and Metakaolin strengthened the durability of concrete. All the data show that 5% Natural Zeolite with 10% Metakaolin performs well. Good R2values and appropriate independent variable coefficients suggested that the regression findings for high-strength concrete durability were accurate. The P values of all models were less than 0.005 and the F values were statistically significant and appropriate; therefore, the generated models predict concrete's strength with authenticity. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2022-08-10-019 Full Text: PDF

Models for predicting broadleaf vegetable responses to green manures mixtures in semi-arid environment

The broadleaf vegetables require large amounts of nutrients to provide a high productivity, and quality products, mainly due to their short period of development and growth. The green manuring has emerged as a viable alternative to provide these requirements for these vegetables, mainly from spontaneous species in the Caatinga biome. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate and estimate the maximum physical and economic efficiencies of lettuce and arugula agro-economic characteristics in monocropping as a function of equitable quantities of Merremia aegyptia and Calotropis procera biomass mixtures at different growing seasons, using polynomial and exponential models, based on the criteria of biological logic of growth and production of the cultures, of significance of the regression mean square, of high value of the coefficient of determination (R2), of significance of the regression parameters, and of maximization of productivity and profit. The types of polynomial and exponential models chosen estimated the lettuce and arugula agro-economic characteristics with good precision and high R2 values. The maximum agronomic (physical) efficiency of the lettuce and arugula was made possible with the incorporation into the soil of 47.38 and 42.23 t ha-1 of M. aegyptia and C. procera, respectively, and the maximum economic efficiency of production for these leafy vegetables was reached with biomass amounts of 45.96 and 33.61 t ha-1, respectively. The rates of return obtained for lettuce and arugula cultivation for the optimized mixture amounts were 2.6 and 1.5 of those achieved in the control treatment (without fertilization), respectively.

Color removal from secondary treated pulp & paper industry effluent using waste driven Fe–TiO2 composite

In the present study, the concurrent fixed-bed dual technology (photocatalysis and photo-Fenton) was performed as a polishing step for the color removal of tertiary treated agro-based paper & pulp industry effluent. For this purpose, the cheap and visibly dynamic Fe-TiO2 composite was prepared using industrial waste materials which also promoted the idea of the circular economy. The effectiveness of the prepared composite and the dual process was evaluated in terms of color removal efficiency and rate constant along with optimizing the process factors. Various kinetic models namely Log-linear, Weibull, and Biphasic with shoulder were used for the comparative study of three different processes i.e. photocatalysis, photo-Fenton, and dual process. Several parameters such as pH (4.5), % surface area covered (100%), and H2O2 dose (525mgL-1) were optimized which gave the best output using dual-process i.e. 91.6% of color reduction along with good R2 values i.e. 0.874, 0.981 and, 0.998 for Log-linear, Weibull and, Biphasic with Shoulder model respectively. The proposed composite was durable enough to retain its dual catalytic ability with minor activity reduction of 5-10% even after 50 recycles. Thus, this innovative technology with the dual effect of photocatalysis and photo-Fenton can be a potential bet as a tertiary treatment option in the existing industrial wastewater treatment system for removing color from the final treated effluent.

Cytotoxic Evaluation, Molecular Docking, and 2D-QSAR Studies of Dihydropyrimidinone Derivatives as Potential Anticancer Agents.

The diverse pharmacological role of dihydropyrimidinone scaffold has made it to be an interesting drug target. Because of the high incidence and mortality rate of breast cancer, there is a dire need of discovering new pharmacotherapeutic agents in managing this disease. A series of twenty-two derivatives of 6-(chloromethyl)-4-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2-oxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyrimidine-5-carboxylate (3a-3k) and ethyl 6-(chloromethyl)-4-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-2-oxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyrimidine-5-carboxylate (4a-4k) synthesized in a previous study were evaluated for their anticancer potential against breast cancer cell line. Molecular docking studies were performed to analyze the binding mode and interaction pattern of these compounds against nine breast cancer target proteins. The in vitro cell proliferation assay was performed against the breast cancer cell line MCF-7. The structure activity relationship of these compounds was further studied using QSARINS. Among nine proteins, the docking analysis revealed efficient binding of compounds 4f, 4e, 3e, 4g, and 4h against all target proteins. The in vitro cytotoxic assay revealed significant anticancer activity of compound 4f having IC50 of 2.15 μM. The compounds 4e, 3e, 4g, and 4h also showed anticancer activities with IC50 of 2.401, 2.41, 2.47 and 2.33 μM, respectively. The standard tamoxifen showed IC50 1.88 μM. The 2D qualitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) analysis was also carried out to identify potential breast cancer targets through QSARINS. The final QSAR equation revealed good predictivity and statistical validation R2 and Q2 values for the model obtained from QSARINS was 0.98 and 0.97, respectively. The active compounds showed very good anticancer activities, and the binding analysis has revealed stable hydrogen bonding of these compounds with the target proteins. Moreover, the QSAR analysis has predicted useful information on the structural requirement of these compounds as anticancer agents with the importance of topological and autocorrelated descriptors in effecting the cancer activities.

Improvement of Oil Valorization Extracted from Fish By-Products Using a Handheld near Infrared Spectrometer Coupled with Chemometrics.

A handheld near infrared (NIR) spectrometer was used for on-site determination of the fatty acids (FAs) composition of industrial fish oils from fish by-products. Partial least square regression (PLSR) models were developed to correlate NIR spectra with the percentage of saturated fatty acids (SFAs), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and, among them, omega-3 (ω-3) and omega-6 (ω-6) FAs. In a first step, the data were divided into calibration validation datasets, obtaining good results regarding R2 values, root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) and bias. In a second step, all these data were used to create a new calibration, which was uploaded to the handheld device and tested with an external validation set in real time. Evaluation of the external test set for SFAs, MUFAs, PUFAs and ω-3 models showed promising results, with R2 values of 0.98, 0.97, 0.97 and 0.99; RMSEP (%) of 0.94, 1.71, 1.11 and 0.98; and bias (%) values of −0.78, −0.12, −0.80 and −0.67, respectively. However, although ω-6 models achieved a good R2 value (0.95), the obtained RMSEP was considered high (2.08%), and the bias was not acceptable (−1.76%). This was corrected by applying bias and slope correction (BSC), obtaining acceptable values of R2 (0.95), RMSEP (1.09%) and bias (−0.05%). This work goes a step further in the technology readiness level (TRL) of handheld NIR sensor solutions for the fish by-product recovery industry.

Kinetics of bread physical properties in baking depending on actual finely controlled temperature

Baking is a complex process involving simultaneous heat and mass transfer besides chemical reactions and structural transformations. This study built a finely controlled cavity to measure the physical changes in baking bread and correlate the process variables and bread physical properties throughout the baking process. The temporal evolution of temperature, moisture, weight loss, volume, porosity, crumb structure, and color change was assessed. The proposed experimental system showed longitudinal symmetry, ensuring greater control of the bread changes during baking. The bread lost 11, 15, and 17% of its moisture when baked at 180, 200, and 220 °C, respectively. In the baking at 200 °C, only the crust lost moisture, while the bread center gained up to 4.2% in moisture content. The bread volumetric expansion was higher at lower temperatures, i.e., 27.6% at 180 °C, 23% at 200 °C, and 23.5% at 220 °C. The color evolution presented a sigmoid profile for all CIE L*a*b* color space parameters. A proposed model described the development of color parameters as a function of temperature with good R2 and RMSE values, which allows predicting bread color throughout baking for each oven condition. The correlations obtained under controlled baking conditions accurately predict bread physical properties for each baking setup, allowing oven cavity design and optimization.

Light propagation, coefficient attenuation, and the depth of one optical depth in different water types

The ocean color satellite can only sense a water column up to one optical depth. However, literatur regarding the depth of one optical depth is very limited to none. This study aimed to determine light propagation, attenuation coefficient (Kd), and the depth of one optical depth in different water types. We used in situ data of downwelling irradiance (Ed) with depths taken using the instrument of submersible marine environmental radiometer (MER) in the northeastern gulf of mexico (NEGOM) in April 2000. We also used SeaWiFS data such as water leaving radience (Lw ), remote sensing refectance (Rrs), and chlorophyll-a concentration (Chla). The results showed that the light propagation pattern generally decreased with increasing depth. The reduction in light intensity with depth was very strong in the red wavelengths, lower in the green wavelengths, and the lowest in the blue wavelengths. In contrast, Kd values were generally found the lowest at the blue wavelengths, slightly increase at the purple and green wavelengths, and the highest at the red wavelengths. The depth of one optical depth in the case-1 waters was found as deep as 39.79 m (λ=475 nm), followed by intermediate water of 31.79 m (λ=475 nm), and in the case-2 waters of 16.08 m (λ=490 nm). Both Kd (490) in situ and modelled results showed a good correlation (r=0.83-0.84) and R2 values of 0.68-0.71.

Implementing the Smile4life intervention for people experiencing homelessness: a path analytical evaluation

BackgroundPeople experiencing homelessness have high levels of dental decay, oral cancer and poor oral health-related quality of life. The Scottish Government sought to address these issues by developing a national oral health improvement programme for people experiencing homelessness, named Smile4life. The aim was to investigate implementation behaviours and the role of work-related beliefs upon the delivery of the Smile4life programme across NHS Board areas in Scotland.MethodsNon-probability convenience sampling, supplemented by snowball sampling, was used to recruit practitioners working across the homelessness sector. The overall evaluation of the implementation of the Smile4life programme was theoretically informed by the Behaviour Change Wheel. The questionnaire was informed by the Theoretical Domains Framework and was divided into three sections, demography and Smile4life Awareness; Smile4life Activities; and Smile4life work-related beliefs. A psychometric assessment was used to develop Smile4life Awareness, Smile4life Activities, Ability to Deliver and Positive Beliefs and Outcomes subscales. The data were subjected to K-R20, exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach’s alpha, t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation analysis and a multivariate path analysis.ResultsOne hundred participants completed the questionnaire. The majority were female (79%) and worked in NHS Boards across Scotland (55%). Implementation behaviour, constructed from the Delivering Smile4life scale and the summated Smile4life activities variable, was predicted using a linear model a latent variable. The independent variables were two raw variables Positive Beliefs and Outcomes, and Ability to deliver Smile4life. Results showed relatively good model fit (chi-square (1.96; p > 0.15), SRMR (< 0.08) and R2 (0.62) values). Positive and highly significant loadings were found describing the Implementation Behaviour latent variable (0.87 and 0.56). The two independent variables were associated (p < 0.05) with Implementation Behaviour.ConclusionsWork-related factors, such as positive beliefs and outcomes and ability to deliver are required for implementation behaviours associated with the delivery of the Smile4life programme. Future work should include training centred on the specific needs of those involved in the homelessness sector and the development of accessible training resources, thereby promoting implementation behaviours to assist the progression and sustainability of the Smile4life programme.