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Frontline health workers face a significant issue concerning mental health, particularly stress and burnout. Nurses, being among them, grapple with this problem. The study aims to investigate the prevalence and determinants of burnout among nurses. A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted across twenty two hospitals. A total of nine hundred nurses participated through convenience sampling. Burnout was measured using a single-measurement approach. Both individual and unit-related factors were examined. Over half of the nurses experienced stress, while 7.3% had symptoms of exhaustion. One in every hundred nurses faced a high likelihood of experiencing complete burnout. Job satisfaction, basic salary, motivation, age, incentives, competence, extra responsibilities, and knowledge of quality emerged as significant predictors of burnout. Addressing burnout among nurses requires hospitals to improve job satisfaction, revisit salaries, and foster supportive environments with incentives. Tailored training and ongoing support are crucial for resilience. Prioritizing these strategies is vital for nurses' well-being and sustainable healthcare delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sumatra-Java megathrust has been a host of six earthquake-triggered tsunamis in recent decades, which caused severe damage. Cilegon industrial area is a tsunami-prone zone since it is located on the Sunda Strait coast, facing a possibility of large-magnitude earthquake occurrence in the transition zone of Sumatra and Java megathrust. In this study, we assess the tsunami hazard in this area using a deterministic approach from a worst-case earthquake scenario (Mw 8.9). The assessment was done using numerical tsunami modeling, considering various fault source models and digital elevation model (DEM) datasets to accommodate the uncertainty of those factors in the modeling. Two source models (non-uniform and uniform fault slips) and three DEM datasets (global, regional, and local data) were employed. Uniform slip affected the smaller maximum tsunami amplitude than the non-uniform slip, but the travel time from these two source models is similar. Differences in water depth and slope bathymetry profile also strongly influence the tsunami propagation characteristics, particularly in the finest layer model. Generally, the Cilegon coast is consistently hit by up to 9 m of tsunami height from all used scenarios. The estimated tsunami arrival time is more than 60 min, providing enough time for the coastal community to evacuate to the higher ground level. However, the Cilegon industrial area is still categorized as highly hazardous since the tsunami strike can damage industrial buildings, infrastructure, and factory equipment, leading to economic losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expanded polystyrene (EPS) is one of major plastic pollutants which toxicity increased when exposed to UV irradiation. In this study, the feasibility of upcycling waste EPS (WEPS), which originates from food packaging, into a flat-sheet filtration membrane was explored. The membrane was fabricated using the wet-phase inversion method, with polyimide serving as a blending additive varied from 2 to 8 wt.%. Characterization was carried out using water contact angle measurements, SEM, and UV–Vis spectrophotometry. The experimental results indicated that all WEPS/PI membranes demonstrated microplastic rejection rates exceeding 80%, and they exhibited greater uniformity compared to the pristine WEPS membrane. Furthermore, protein rejection improved with the concentration of PI. The addition of 8 wt.% polyimide led to a 240% increase in protein rejection, with all membranes having hydrophilic surface. The SEM images revealed that the introduction of polyimide altered the membrane's structure, enhancing its filtration properties by modifying the finger-like structure of the membrane. The addition of 8% polyimide to the WEPS dope solution decreased both pore size and porosity to the least value observed, while also enhancing the antifouling property by 67%. The experimental findings indicate that the WEPS/PI membrane holds significant promise to solve challenges of waste EPS accumulation, as well as offering sustainable solutions for addressing microplastic pollution by recycling the waste EPS into high-end filtration membrane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses the limited exploration in the literature regarding the influence of EFL teachers' informal digital learning of English (IDLE) on their creativity in Indonesian EFL classroom instructions. Using a cross-sectional survey design, data were collected from 244 Indonesian EFL teachers, encompassing both pre-service and in-service teachers. Through multiple regression analysis and Rasch modelling analysis, the study evaluated the association between teachers' IDLE participation, demographics, and their teaching creativity. Findings of the present study revealed that Indonesian EFL pre-service and in-service teachers actively participate in Informal Digital Learning of English (IDLE), which impacts their teaching creativity. Nearly half (49.18%) engage strongly in activities like listening to English songs and watching YouTube videos, while 36.88% moderately engage in online educational content and social media conversations. A smaller group (13.93%) shows lower engagement in IDLE. The regression analysis revealed that while IDLE significantly predicted teaching creativity (p < 0.001), demographic factors did not indicate a substantial influence on creativity in teaching practices. Additionally, a Rasch-Wright map analysis unveiled that over half of the participants displayed strong creativity in teaching, with a notable inclination among younger teachers towards innovative and student-centered pedagogical strategies. The findings of the current study highlight the need for further exploration into the dynamics between informal digital learning, demographics, and creative teaching approaches, emphasizing the potential for fostering innovative pedagogical practices in language education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Real-time low-light video enhancement on smartphones remains an open challenge due to hardware constraints such as limited sensor size and processing power. While night mode cameras have been introduced in smartphones to acquire high-quality images in light-constrained environments, their usability is restricted to static scenes as the camera must remain stationary for an extended period to leverage long exposure times or burst imaging techniques. Concurrently, significant process has been made in low-light enhancement on images coming out from the camera’s image signal processor (ISP), particularly through neural networks. These methods do not improve the image capture process itself; instead, they function as post-processing techniques to enhance the perceptual brightness and quality of captured imagery for display to human viewers. However, most neural networks are computationally intensive, making their mobile deployment either impractical or requiring considerable engineering efforts. This paper introduces VLight, a novel single-parameter low-light enhancement algorithm that enables real-time video enhancement on smartphones, along with real-time adaptation to changing lighting conditions and user-friendly fine-tuning. Operating as a custom brightness-booster on digital images, VLight provides real-time and device-agnostic enhancement directly on users’ devices. Notably, it delivers real-time low-light enhancement at up to 67 frames per second (FPS) for 4K videos locally on the smartphone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Biak tsunami event on February 17, 1996, was triggered by a Mw 8.2 earthquake at 5:59 UTC (14:59 local time). Based on the field survey, the maximum tsunami height was not located on the coast that directly faces the earthquake epicenter. The maximum tsunami of up to 7.7 m was recorded at Farusi village on the opposite coast. In addition to the high tsunami hit, the fast arrival time in this village was an anomaly that raised questions regarding the multiple tsunami sources. Previous studies suspected a landslide when a rupture occurred, but no one had yet identified the dimensions and mechanism of the landslide. The purpose of this research is to increase understanding of tsunami generators and answer that question. The COMCOT software is used to perform tsunami simulations, integrating fault and landslide sources simultaneously. This study obtains the Biak tsunami generator from a fault source model with a length of 272 km, a width of 110 km, an average dislocation of 8 m, and a maximum slip of 10.6 m. Also, there are three landslides occurred in the south coast. One of the major landslide source model has dimensions length and width of 5.629 km and 14.595 km, respectively, and a thickness of landslide material of 50 m, with an average slope of the slip plane of 10° located in the Ramardori. These two source models answer the particular questions of the Biak tsunami incident. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study conducted and evaluated 44 experiments using the non-hydrostatic version of the regional climate model RegCM4 (RegCM4-NH) and an additional three experiments with RegCM version 5 (RegCM5) over Southeast Asia for the period 2010–2015. The initiative was part of the coordinated regional climate downscaling experiment—Southeast Asia (CORDEX-SEA) project, in preparation for downscaling the latest coupled model intercomparison project Phase 6 (CMIP6) global climate models (GCMs). The RegCM4-NH experiments, forced by the ERA5 reanalysis, were configured using combinations of four cumulus, three planetary boundary layer (PBL), and three explicit moisture schemes. The spatiotemporal variability of simulated 2 m-temperature and rainfall for 2010–2015 was evaluated against observational datasets. The best experiments demonstrated reasonable reproduction of observed annual cycles and spatial distribution, while many exhibited unrealistic biases. A score ranking system was implemented to objectively compare the performance of experiments, enabling the identification of top-ranked experiments for Southeast Asia. The ensemble mean of the 44 RegCM4-NH experiments exhibited commendable performance, ranking 11th overall. Furthermore, the three additional RegCM5 experiments did not yield improved results compared to RegCM4-NH under the same physical configuration, suggesting that opting for RegCM4-NH would be a prudent choice for the CORDEX-SEA community in the forthcoming CMIP6 downscaling cycle for Southeast Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Introduction: Dementia is quite prevalent and among the leading causes of death worldwide. According to earlier research, diabetes may increase the possibility of developing dementia. However, the association between antidiabetic agents and dementia is not yet clear. This investigation examines the association between the use of sodium-glucose transporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) and the risk of dementia in patients with diabetes. Methods: Up to April 18, 2023, four databases—Europe PMC, Medline, Scopus, and Cochrane Library—were searched for relevant literature. We included all studies that examine dementia risk in adults with diabetes who use SGLT2i. Random-effect models were used to compute the outcomes in this investigation, producing pooled odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: Pooled data from seven observational studies revealed that SGLT2i use was linked to a lower risk of dementia in people with diabetes (OR 0.45, 95% CI 0.34–0.61; p < 0.00001, I2 = 97%). The reduction in the risk of dementia due to SGLT2i's neuroprotective effect was only significantly affected by dyslipidemia (p = 0.0004), but not by sample size (p = 0.2954), study duration (p = 0.0908), age (p = 0.0805), sex (p = 0.5058), hypertension (p = 0.0609), cardiovascular disease (p = 0.1619), or stroke (p = 0.2734). Conclusions: According to this research, taking SGLT2i reduces the incidence of dementia in people with diabetes by having a beneficial neuroprotective impact. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are still required in order to verify the findings of our research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two shallow earthquakes of moment magnitude 6.2 and 5.8 occurred in the central arm of Sulawesi on 26 July 2021 and 26 August 2021, respectively. The fault responsible for the earthquake had previously only been partially mapped, thus making further analysis of its characteristics crucial for the assessment of seismic hazard. In this study, we exploit data from a regional seismic network, relocate the associated seismicity using the double difference method with an updated velocity model, determine focal mechanisms from full-waveform inversion, and analyze the static stress changes caused by the mainshock. Our relocated hypocenters and focal mechanism solutions reveal two earthquake clusters, one at the Central Balantak Fault that exhibits normal slip on a SE–NW trending rupture, and the other at the West Balantak Fault, which exhibits dextral strike-slip motion on a SE–NW trending rupture. The additional static stress increase transferred by the Mw 6.2 mainshock may have triggered the subsequent Mw 5.8 event. A detailed assessment of previously unmapped faults in Central Sulawesi is essential for a more comprehensive understanding of seismic hazard in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suicide remains a major public health problem, with nearly 1 million deaths per year. The number tends to increase over time and factors leading to suicide suicidal behaviors are complex. However, there is a paucity of evidence on suicidal behaviors and the associated factors among people living with HIV (PLWH) in Indonesia. Therefore, this study aimed to estimate the prevalence and associated factors of suicidal behavior between indigenous and non-indigenous living with HIV who were on Dolutegravir and Efavirenz therapies. The cross-sectional data were collected using questionnaires. Participants completed the Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised (SBQ-R), Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-42 (DASS-42), HIV Stigma-Sowell Scale, and demographic information questions. The outcome was low and high self-reported suicidal behaviors, while logistic regression analyses were used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (aOR) for associated factors of high suicidal behaviors. A total of 200 PLWH were enrolled and 8.5% of the participants had high levels of suicidal behaviors. The majority of participants were Efavirenz users (84.0%), and Papuans as Indigenous (75.5%). More than half had a high school education (60.5%), were female (58%), married (54%), and unpaid (59%). The multiple logistic regression model showed that indigenous (aOR = 0.122; 95% CI = 0.029–0.514), and people who had children (aOR = 0.221; 95% CI = 0.051–0.957) were more likely to have low suicidal behaviors. Participants who were aged 18–27 years (aOR = 5.894; 95% CI = 1.336–30.579), had high self-blame (aOR = 1.342; 95% CI) = 1.004–1.792), and detectable HIV viral load (aOR = 6.177; 95%CI = 1.118–34.119) had high suicidal behavior. This study identified the risk of suicidality among PLWHs is high and routine suicide assessment is prioritized. The findings are also useful for intervention design and the development of clinical practice guidelines to manage the well-being of PLWH such as using digital intervention to cope with hindrances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the continuous setting, Morrey spaces have been studied extensively, especially since the late 1960s. Meanwhile, Morrey sequence spaces, which are also known as discrete Morrey spaces, have only been developed by Gunawan et al. since 2018. In this article, we extend some known results on their inclusion properties and their (lack of) uniform nonsquareness to mixed Morrey double-sequence spaces, i.e. Morrey double-sequence spaces equipped with a mixed norm. As in the calculation of three geometric constants of Morrey spaces by Gunawan et al. in 2019, we also compute three geometric constants, namely Von Neumann-Jordan constant, James constant, and Dunkl-Williams constant for mixed Morrey double-sequence spaces. These constants measure uniformly nonsquareness of any Banach space. Through the values of the three constants, we reveal that mixed Morrey double-sequence spaces are not uniformly nonsquare. A relation between mixed Morrey double-sequence spaces and mixed Morrey spaces is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pictures of objects are verified faster when they match the implied orientation, shape, and color in a sentence-picture verification task, suggesting that people mentally simulate these features during language comprehension. Previous studies had an unintended correlation between match status and the required response, which may have influenced participants' responses by eliciting strategic use of this correlation. We removed this correlation by including color-matching filler trials and investigated if the color-match effect was still obtained. In both a native sample (Experiment 1) and a non-native sample (Experiment 2), we found strong evidence for a color-match advantage on median reaction time and error rates. Our results are consistent with the view that color is automatically simulated during language comprehension as predicted by the grounded cognition framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nacre deposition varies across the shell's anterior, middle, and posterior regions. This study explores how cutting saibo (grafting tissue) from distinct regions of the pallial mantle in Pinctada fucata martensii influences pearl quality. Pearls sourced from saibo cut in the anterior and posterior areas exhibit significantly higher quality with fewer blemishes and protuberances than those from the middle region for August (p < 0.01), October (p < 0.01), and December (p < 0.05). Additionally, pearls from anterior and posterior saibo show lower irregular layer percentages in December (2.083% [anterior] and 2.509% [posterior]). Interference color values of pearls from posterior mantle saibo resemble those from the middle (p > 0.05) but are significantly higher than anterior mantle saibo pearls (p < 0.001). Yellowness index differs significantly among the saibo treatments (p < 0.001), with the anterior treatment having the lowest value (59.922), followed by posterior (67.068) and middle treatment (74.442). Despite insignificant differences in pearl luster and total nacre thickness (p > 0.05), pearls sourced from posterior mantle saibo demonstrate superior shape, fewer flaws, and better color. In conclusion, the saibo cutting location within the mantle significantly affects P. fucata martensii pearl quality. Opting for saibo from the posterior mantle minimizes blemishes, boosts the number of flawless pearls with enhanced color, and is thus recommended for pearl production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fatty alcohols can be generated by hydrogenating fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) using a heterogeneous catalyst. Among diverse alternatives, precious metal-based catalysts such as Re/Nb2O5 and Re/Al2O3 have exhibited superior performance. However, the kinetic study of hydrogenation FAME employing a Rhenium-based catalyst (Re) has not been investigated. Notably, kinetic studies are crucial for performance improvement and reactor design. As a result, the kinetics of the FAME hydrogenation process over these catalysts were studied and modeled comprehensively. The results demonstrate that the reaction with the Re/Nb2O5 catalyst has an order of 0.77 to FAME and 1.48 to hydrogen gas, with an Arrhenius constant of 18.55 bar−1.48 M0.23 min−1 and an activation energy of 64.44 kJ mol−1. The Re/Al2O3 catalyst has an order of 0.67 to FAME and 1.15 to hydrogen, with an Arrhenius constant of 1057.89 bar−1.15 M0.33 min−1 and an activation energy of 78.32 kJ mol−1. The Re/Al2O3 catalyst is more sensitive to temperature changes than the Re/Nb2O5 catalyst. Meanwhile, the Re/Nb2O5 catalyst is more sensitive to pressure changes than the Re/Al2O3 catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the BPS Lagrangian method, we obtain a distinct set of Bogomolny equations for the Cho–Maison monopoles from the bosonic sector of a regularized electroweak theory. In the limit of n → ∞ of the permittivity regulator, ϵ ρ n , the mass of the monopole can be estimated as M W ∼ 3.56 TeV. This value is within the latest theoretical window, 2.98–3.75 TeV. We also discuss some possible regularization mechanisms of the electroweak monopole in the Yang–Mills sector and the existence of its BPS state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The set of smooth functions is not dense in Morrey spaces. To address the density issue in Morrey spaces, Zorko spaces are defined by utilizing the difference of a function of first order. In this paper, we propose a subspace of Morrey spaces which is defined using the difference of a function of second order. Approximation properties in the new subspace are investigated and the relation with Zorko spaces is studied via properties of smoothness spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The synthesis and characterization of cerium-doped lanthanum fluoride (La(1−x)CexF3) nanocrystals have been carried out. The surfaces of La(1−x)CexF3 nanocrystals were modified with oleic acid using the co-precipitation technique, and then doped with cerium with various mole fractions (x) = 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20, and 0.25. The nanocrystals produced were characterized for their crystal structure using x-ray diffraction (XRD), their morphology by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), their functional group identification using Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR), and Raman spectroscopy, and their photoluminescence behavior using photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Detailed investigations revealed that, based on the XRD data and TEM images, La(1−x)CexF3 exhibits trigonal-structured nanocrystals with the symmetry space group P-3c1. Among the samples, La0.75Ce0.25F3 exhibited the sharpest PL peak. The PL spectra for La0.75Ce0.25F3 nanocrystals excited at 370 nm and showed an intense emission peak at 495 nm with a lifetime τ = 1.523 × 10−10 s. This emission was assigned to the 5d → 4f (2F5/2 and 2F7/2) transitions of Ce3+ energy levels, indicating a luminescence center mechanism. These results indicate that the synthesized La0.75Ce0.25F3 is a promising phosphor material for detector scintillators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Models with random effects, such as generalised linear mixed models (GLMMs), are often used for analysing clustered data. Parameter inference with these models is difficult because of the presence of cluster-specific random effects, which must be integrated out when evaluating the likelihood function. Here, we propose a sequential variational Bayes algorithm, called Recursive Variational Gaussian Approximation for Latent variable models (R-VGAL), for estimating parameters in GLMMs. The R-VGAL algorithm operates on the data sequentially, requires only a single pass through the data, and can provide parameter updates as new data are collected without the need of re-processing the previous data. At each update, the R-VGAL algorithm requires the gradient and Hessian of a “partial” log-likelihood function evaluated at the new observation, which are generally not available in closed form for GLMMs. To circumvent this issue, we propose using an importance-sampling-based approach for estimating the gradient and Hessian via Fisher’s and Louis’ identities. We find that R-VGAL can be unstable when traversing the first few data points, but that this issue can be mitigated by introducing a damping factor in the initial steps of the algorithm. Through illustrations on both simulated and real datasets, we show that R-VGAL provides good approximations to posterior distributions, that it can be made robust through damping, and that it is computationally efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary motivation for farmers to engage in organic farming as a subsistence business is its potential for profitability, which should provide socio-economic, financial, and environmental benefits. This study aimed to assess the financial feasibility of organic rice farming and compare it to conventional farming over a long-term period of 12 seasons. The study collected primary data from 203 smallholder farmers using structured questionnaires and participatory record-keeping data. A comprehensive mixed-methods approach was used to assess the feasibility of organic farming, including cost structure analysis, profitability analysis, benefit–cost ratio (BCR), internal rate of return (IRR), and net present value (NPV). Inferential statistics were used to determine significant differences in each variable. The results showed that organic rice farming faces several challenges, including declining yields during the conversion period and higher initial investment and cultivation costs compared to conventional rice farming. However, organic rice farming also presents an opportunity to generate high revenue due to the premium price and increasing demand for organic products. The high cost of inputs, especially organic fertilizers and intensive labor, is a significant challenge for organic rice farming, as it is not yet integrated with livestock to provide organic inputs. Labor-intensive cultivation practices, such as fertilizing and pest control, add to the workload. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated that organic rice farming is more resilient to external factors than conventional rice farming. The findings of this study can inform government policies to promote organic farming in other rice-producing countries and accelerate the adoption of organic rice farming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the last two decades, the amount of genomic data produced by scientific and medical applications has been growing at a rapid pace. To enable software solutions that analyze, process, and transmit these data in an efficient and interoperable way, ISO and IEC released the first version of the compression standard MPEG-G in 2019. However, non-proprietary implementations of the standard are not openly available so far, limiting fair scientific assessment of the standard and, therefore, hindering its broad adoption. In this paper, we present Genie, to the best of our knowledge the first open-source encoder that compresses genomic data according to the MPEG-G standard. We demonstrate that Genie reaches state-of-the-art compression ratios while offering interoperability with any other standard-compliant decoder independent from its manufacturer. Finally, the ISO/IEC ecosystem ensures the long-term sustainability and decodability of the compressed data through the ISO/IEC-supported reference decoder. Genie, an open-source encoder compliant with ISO/IEC's MPEG-G standard, delivers state-of-the-art genomic data compression ratios and guarantees long-term data sustainability and decodability through interoperability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During and after the COVID-19 pandemic, the world has become more aware of environmental concerns and the importance of sustainability. Using natural rubber instead of synthetic rubber is one step toward a greener environment in a variety of technological applications, including the fabrication of vehicle tires. The objective of this work is to optimize the formulation for the production of airless tires, primarily for military vehicle applications, using natural rubber. Two natural rubber types, SIR 20 and RSS 1, with carbon black variants N220 and N550 as reinforcing agents present novel synergistic effects, and potentially tailor the properties of the rubber compound more precisely to meet the demanding requirements of military vehicle tires. A comprehensive assessment was conducted to evaluate various physical, damping, processing, and mechanical properties under standard conditions and subsequent aging at 70 °C for 72 h. Comparative analysis against control samples revealed notable improvements, particularly in abrasion resistance, crucial for tire wear. The combination of RSS 1 and CB N220 showed significant enhancements in strength and rigidity, suggesting their viability as alternative fillers. Leveraging dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) results, the rubber compound underwent optimization to meet airless tire requirements, encompassing durability, comfort, and performance. This nuanced understanding of rubber's viscoelastic behavior holds paramount importance in designing puncture-resistant airless tires with optimal performance attributes. Combination of innovative materials and advanced characterization techniques to address the specific challenges of enhancing airless tire performance for military vehicles in challenging operational environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long short-term memory (LSTM) has proven effective in modeling sequential data. However, it may encounter challenges in accurately capturing long-term temporal dependencies. LSTM plays a central role in speech enhancement by effectively modeling and capturing temporal dependencies in speech signals. This paper introduces a variable-neurons-based LSTM designed for capturing long-term temporal dependencies by reducing neuron representation in layers with no loss of data. A skip connection between nonadjacent layers is added to prevent gradient vanishing. An attention mechanism in these connections highlights important features and spectral components. Our LSTM is inherently causal, making it well-suited for real-time processing without relying on future information. Training involves utilizing combined acoustic feature sets for improved performance, and the models estimate two time–frequency masks—the ideal ratio mask (IRM) and the ideal binary mask (IBM). Comprehensive evaluation using perceptual evaluation of speech quality (PESQ) and short-time objective intelligibility (STOI) showed that the proposed LSTM architecture demonstrates enhanced speech intelligibility and perceptual quality. Composite measures further substantiated performance, considering residual noise distortion (Cbak) and speech distortion (Csig). The proposed model showed a 16.21% improvement in STOI and a 0.69 improvement in PESQ on the TIMIT database. Similarly, with the LibriSpeech database, the STOI and PESQ showed improvements of 16.41% and 0.71 over noisy mixtures. The proposed LSTM architecture outperforms deep neural networks (DNNs) in different stationary and nonstationary background noisy conditions. To train an automatic speech recognition (ASR) system on enhanced speech, the Kaldi toolkit is used for evaluating word error rate (WER). The proposed LSTM at the front-end notably reduced WERs, achieving a notable 15.13% WER across different noisy backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrogen is a microbial group that plays an important role as anodic biocatalyst of microbial fuel cells (MFCs), one of the most extensively studied microbial-based technologies for bioelectricity generation. The aims of this research were to isolate potential electrogenic bacteria from aquaculture pond sediments and conduct a thorough evaluation on the MFCs' electricity production and efficiency parameters. A total of 18 electrogenic bacteria having various electrochemical abilities was successfully isolated using thioglycollate solid media enriched with Fe3+. Five isolates (namely KCf1, KCf2, KCf4, KCf10, and KCf14) were non-pathogenic electrogens and able to produce relatively stable and high open-circuit voltage values (690–810 mV) on glucose-fed MFCs. Further evaluations on electricity production in close-circuit mode (fixed resistor technique, polarization tests, and analysis of power overshoot phenomenon) and efficiency parameters (Coulombic and energy efficiencies) showed that KCf2, molecular identified as Bacillus altitudinis AC11.2, was the most potential MFC biocatalyst among all isolates. It produced an MPP value of 67.11 mW m−2, current density of 333.03 mA m−2, and Coulombic and energy efficiency of 53.86% and 63.27%, respectively. Efforts to increase the MFC's electrical output have been done by assembling four reactors in series and parallel circuits, obtaining the maximum total voltage of 1.6–2.0 V (for series configuration). This potential output was higher than a portable zinc–carbon battery (1.5 V) and a Ni–Cd battery (1.2 V). However, the voltage reversal suffered in series circuits was another challenge in the development of MFCs for bioelectricity production, since the existence of this phenomenon due to biological factors (microbial metabolism dynamics) are not easy to be controlled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jakarta Greater Area (JGA) has encountered recurrent challenges of air pollution, notably, high ozone levels. We investigate the trends of surface ozone (O3) changes from the air quality monitoring stations and resolve the contribution of meteorological drivers in urban Jakarta (2010–2019) and rural Bogor sites (2017–2019) using stepwise Multi Linear Regression. During 10 years of measurement, 41% of 1-h O3 concentrations exceeded Indonesia' s national threshold in Jakarta. In Bogor, 0.1% surpassed the threshold during 3 years of available data records. The monthly average of maximum daily 8-h average (MDA8) O3 anomalies exhibited a downward trend at Jakarta sites while increasing at the rural site of Bogor. Meteorological and anthropogenic drivers contribute 30% and 70%, respectively, to the interannual O3 anomalies in Jakarta. Ozone formation sensitivity with satellite demonstrates that a slight decrease in NO2 and an increase in HCHO contributed to declining O3 in Jakarta with 10 years average of HCHO to NO2 ratio (FNR) of 3.7. Conversely, O3 increases in rural areas with a higher FNR of 4.4, likely due to the contribution from the natural emission of O3 precursors and the influence of meteorological factors that magnify the concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose or Objective: Surfactants, including polysorbates and poloxamers, play a crucial role in the formulation of therapeutic proteins by acting as solubilizing and stabilizing agents. They help prevent protein aggregation and adsorption, thereby enhancing the stability of drug substance and products., However, it is important to note that utilizing high concentrations of surfactants in protein formulations can present significant analytical challenges, which can ultimately affect the product characterization. Methods: In our study, we specifically investigated the impact of elevated surfactant concentrations on the characterization of monoclonal antibodies. We employed various analytical techniques including size-exclusion chromatography (SEC), capillary electrophoresis (CE-SDS), a cell based functional assay, and biophysical characterization. Results: The findings of our study indicate that higher levels of Polysorbate 80 (PS-80) have adverse effects on the measured purity, biological activity, and biophysical characterization of biologic samples. Specifically, the elevated levels of PS-80 cause analytical interferences, which can significantly impact the accuracy and reliability of analytical studies. Conclusions: Our study results highlight a significant risk in analytical investigations, especially in studies involving the isolation and characterization of impurities. It is important to be cautious of surfactant concentrations, as they can become more concentrated during common sample manipulations like buffer exchange. Indeed, the research presented in this work emphasizes the necessity to evaluate the impact on analytical assays when there are substantial alternations in the matrix composition. By doing so, valuable insights can be gained regarding potential challenges associated with assay development and characterization of biologics with complex formulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This comparative study aimed to investigate the effects of an Augmented-Reality Game-Based Learning application, "StemUp," on the English learning performance and motivation of distinct rural and urban groups of young EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners. Multiple sources of data collection were employed, including pre- and post-tests, Keller's (1987) ARCS pre- and post-survey, and semi-structured interviews of the fifty participants. Quantitative findings confirmed that the study's AR game-based intervention resulted in a significant improvement in English performance and motivation for both groups, with the students from the rural area improving more in both English performance and motivation compared to those from the urban area. Motivation and enjoyment, gamification, and learning effectiveness were three important qualitative interview themes. Overall, this mixed-methods study found that the learning design employing "StemUp," with its unique 3D AR features/affordances, not only improved participant language gains in vocabulary, speaking, and listening, but also enabled participants to be more engaged and motivated in their English learning. The conclusion is that StemUP is a promising tool for assisting EFL learners in both rural and urban areas in their English language development as well as motivation improvement by facilitating an immersive language learning environment for EFL young learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microbial fuel cell (MFC), a bio-electrochemical device that exploits electroactive microbes, has gained more attention in developing countries, such as Indonesia. Unfortunately, studies related to bio-electrochemistry are often constrained due to the need for precise and high-cost instrumentation, such as data logger/acquisition or data logging-multimeter for continuously monitoring electricity generation of MFCs in the rigid time interval. This present work aimed at two issues: (1) to evaluate the use of a low-cost microcontroller-based data logger, the developed multi-channels Arduino UNO-based data logging system, for monitoring the electricity generation of ten MFC bioreactors simultaneously, and (2) to evaluate the electrochemical performance of MFCs biocatalysts by ten electroactive microbes isolated from aquaculture pond sediment in Indonesia. The monitoring system worked with a multi-channels Arduino UNO, a multiplexer, an external 16-bit ADC (analogue to digital converter) ADS1115, and a RTC (real time clock) module. The MFC performance was evaluated in the terms of open circuit voltage and close circuit voltage (polarization curve, power density, and losses). Statistical analysis confirmed the high accuracy of the developed system with the average of absolute and relative error values of 1.21 mV and 1.26%, respectively, comparable to traditional multimeter utilized for MFC electricity measurement. These results suggested that the developed data logging system could be a considerable option as a low-cost monitoring device for electrochemical studies of MFCs. Electrochemical performances of ten anodic biocatalysts were also evaluated, suggesting that there were three effective bacteria (isolate KCf2, KCf4, and KCf10) for producing relatively stable bioelectricity in the reactor of MFCs. These three electroactive microbes can produce power density of 0.069 W m−2, 0.021 W m−2, and 0.010 W m−2, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Unstable acetabular fracture remains a complex fracture that requires technically demanding surgery for orthopedic surgeons. Quadrilateral plate (QP) fractures of the acetabulum are a challenging group of acetabular fractures to manage. However, the literature regarding the management of these injuries are limited. The QP is a relatively thin medial wall of the acetabulum and intra-articular; thus, anatomical reduction and stable fixation are required for satisfactory outcome. This study aims to determine the functional, radiological, and quality of life outcome of unstable acetabular fracture with QP involvement. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study conducted at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital during the period of 2010–2020. Patients with unstable acetabular fractures with and without QP involvement were included in this study. They were followed up postoperatively at 1, 6, and 12 months. Functional outcome was assessed using the Harris Hip Score (HHS), Merle D'Aubigne, and Oxford Hip Score (OHS); while radiology outcome was assessed using Matta Outcome Grading; and quality of life was assessed using the SF-36. Results: This study involved 53 subjects with a median age was 29 (18–75) years of age. Twenty-eight (52.8%) subjects had unstable acetabular fracture with QP involvement. Twenty-five (47.2%) subjects had unstable acetabular fracture without QP involvement. Twenty-five (47.2%) subjects were fixed using quadrilateral hook plate, 3 (5.7%) with infrapectineal plate, 10 (18.8%) with posterior column plate, and 15 (28.3%) with suprapectineal plate. The median intraoperative bleeding in those with unstable acetabular fracture with QP involvement was 600 (300–4000) ml, which was higher than those without QP involvement (400 [100–1700] ml). Those with QP involvement achieved anatomical reduction in 20 (71.4%) subjects. Whereas, the subjects without QP involvement achieved anatomical reduction 23 patients (92%). Subjects with QP involvement had significantly lower functional, radiological, and quality of life outcomes compared to those without quadrilateral plate involvement based on Harris Hip Score (p = 0.046), Merle D'Aubigne (0.001), Oxford Hip Score (0.001), Matta Outcome Grading (0.004), and SF-36 (0.001). Patients with quadrilateral hook plate showed no significant functional, and radiological outcome difference compared to patients with infrapectineal plate based on Harris Hip Score (p = 0.582), Merle D'Aubigne (0.698), Oxford Hip Score (1.000), and Matta Outcome Grading (1.000). In addition, we also found no significant functional, radiological, and quality of life outcome difference between posterior column plate and suprapectineal plate group based on Harris Hip Score (p = 0.200), Merle D'Aubigne (0.643), Oxford Hip Score (0.316), Matta Outcome Grading (1.000), and SF-36 (0.600). Conclusions: Patients with unstable acetabular fracture with quadrilateral plate involvement subject had significantly lower functional, radiological, and quality of life outcomes compared to those without quadrilateral plate involvement. Both quadrilateral hook and infrapectineal plates demonstrated non-significant functional and radiological outcomes difference. Posterior column plate also resulted in the same functional, radiological, and quality of life outcome compared with suprapectineal fixation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coenzyme Q (CoQ) is essential for mitochondrial respiration and required for thermogenic activity in brown adipose tissues (BAT). CoQ deficiency leads to a wide range of pathological manifestations, but mechanistic consequences of CoQ deficiency in specific tissues, such as BAT, remain poorly understood. Here, we show that pharmacological or genetic CoQ deficiency in BAT leads to stress signals causing accumulation of cytosolic mitochondrial RNAs and activation of the eIF2α kinase PKR, resulting in activation of the integrated stress response (ISR) with suppression of UCP1 but induction of FGF21 expression. Strikingly, despite diminished UCP1 levels, BAT CoQ deficiency displays increased whole-body metabolic rates at room temperature and thermoneutrality resulting in decreased weight gain on high-fat diets (HFD). In line with enhanced metabolic rates, BAT and inguinal white adipose tissue (iWAT) interorgan crosstalk caused increased browning of iWAT in BAT-specific CoQ deficient animals. This mitohormesis-like effect depends on the ATF4-FGF21 axis and BAT-secreted FGF21, revealing an unexpected role for CoQ in the modulation of whole-body energy expenditure with wide-ranging implications for primary and secondary CoQ deficiencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drying is one of the key steps in the coffee production process. It is necessary to dry the coffee extracts to prevent microbial growth and to prolong the storage time of coffee. To this date, mechanical drying methods have been developed and employed in industries to shorten the drying time. However, these drying methods could alter the physicochemical properties of coffee and the compounds present in coffee. Therefore, it is crucial to maintain these factors in the coffee production process as they affect the stability, reconstitution, and aroma of the coffee produced. These properties are crucial as they determine the final quality of coffee. This review will focus on the effect of spray-drying, freeze-drying, and spray-freeze–drying on the physicochemical properties of coffee such as morphology, particle size, moisture content, bulk density, and compound retention. Effects on organoleptic properties are also discussed. Possible advancements to these drying methods such as the encapsulation process, the use of a porous frozen sample, and total solid enhancement of the raw material have been highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design of the gas distribution for small-demand power plants located on remote islands is logistically challenging. The use of small-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels can be an option for these logistic problems. This paper aims to conduct a techno-economic analysis of using small-scale LNG vessels for gas distribution to the power plants that are spread across different islands. Route optimisation has been conducted using the capacitated vehicle routing problem method. The ship's principal dimensions were determined using the aspect ratio from a linear regression of existing small-scale LNG vessels. As a case study, the gas demands for a gas power plant in eastern Indonesia were analysed into four distribution clusters. The results of the techno-economic analysis showed that the four distribution clusters have different characteristics regarding the LNG requirements, location characteristics and ship specifications. The capacity of small-scale LNG vessels feasible in terms of technical aspects varies from 2500, 5000, to > 10,000 m3 with variations in the ship speed depending on the location of the power plants. The amount of cargo requested and the shipping distance was affected to the cost of LNG transportation. The economic assessment proposes that the feasible investment by considering small-scale LNG cargo distribution, from the case study shows that with a ship capacity of 5000 m3 feasible margin rate is ≥ 3 USD/metric million British thermal units with an internal rate of return of 10% and estimated payback period is less than 15 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dimethyl ether has gained great attention by Indonesian Government since it will be used for the substitution for liquid petroleum gas. This work was aimed to study the effect of phosphorus addition on γ-Al2O3 catalyst for methanol dehydration to DME synthesis. The catalysts were prepared using sonication-assisted impregnation. The modified catalysts were characterized (XRD, BET, and NH3-TPR analysis), and their activity was tested in bench scale reactor. The results showed that the 5%P/γ-Al2O3 catalyst had medium acidity which was good for dehydration of methanol to DME. The surface area, pore volume, and pore diameter were measured as 132 m2/g, 0.42 mL/g, and 127 Å, respectively. The activity test was carried out at 240–280 °C, atmospheric pressure, and GHSV 2,142 h−1. The 5%P/γ-Al2O3 catalyst exhibited good performances at a temperature of 240 °C with 42% of methanol conversion, 18% of yield of DME, and 75% of selectivity of DME. Methanol dehydration using modified 5% P/γ-Al2O3 did not produce H2 by-products and other compounds which were produced during methanol dehydration with unmodified γ-Al2O3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automatic person identification (API) using human biometrics is essential and highly demanded compared to traditional API methods, where a person is automatically identified using his/her distinct characteristics including speech, fingerprint, iris, handwritten signatures, and others. The fusion of more than one human biometric produces bimodal and multimodal API systems that normally outperform single modality systems. This paper presents our work towards fusing speech and handwritten signatures for developing a bimodal API system, where fusion was conducted at the decision level due to the differences in the type and format of the features extracted. A data set is created that contains recordings of usernames and handwritten signatures of 100 persons (50 males and 50 females), where each person recorded his/her username 30 times and provided his/her handwritten signature 30 times. Consequently, a total of 3000 utterances and 3000 handwritten signatures were collected. The speech API used Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC) technique for features extraction and Vector Quantization (VQ) for features training and classification. On the other hand, the handwritten signatures API used global features for reflecting the structure of the hand signature image such as image area, pure height, pure width and signature height and the Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) architecture of Artificial Neural Network for features training and classification. Once the best matches for both the speech and the handwritten signatures API are produced, the fusion process takes place at decision level. It computes the difference between the two best matches for each modality and selects the modality of the maximum difference. Based on our experimental results, the bimodal API obtained an average recognition rate of 96.40%, whereas the speech API and the handwritten signatures API obtained average recognition rates of 92.60% and 75.20%, respectively. Therefore, the bimodal API system is able to outperform other single modality API systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 18 November 2022, a strong earthquake occurred in the near trench of Sunda Arc southwest of southern Sumatra, generating a small tsunami recorded at four tide gauge stations (KRUI, BINT, SBLT, and SIKA). Four seismological agencies (BMKG, GCMT, GFZ, and USGS) obtained nearly similar earthquake parameters and focal mechanisms from a seismic approach. The 2022 earthquake occurred near two major historical earthquakes that generated destructive tsunamis. One of the historical tsunamis, the 2010 Mentawai tsunami, was produced by a rare shallow and slow rupture earthquake with a higher tsunami impact than predicted from the seismic moment. It is related to the low material rigidity in the source location. This study aims to understand the source characteristics of the 2022 event, which were probably influenced by the depth-varying rigidity. We examined the four source models using numerical tsunami modeling. We tested five distinct rigidity values, i.e., 10, 12.5, 15, 17.5, and 20 GPa, for each source model to obtain the best match of simulated and observed tsunami waveforms. Waveform correlation coefficient and NRMSE are used as similarity indicators. The Mw 6.7 shallow source model with low rigidity (10 GPa) is the best model, as indicated by the correlation of ~ 0.74 and the lowest NRMSE. This solution is consistent with the long duration of the source time function of this event issued by IPGP. It is necessary to consider the appropriate rigidity characteristic in the tsunami hazard assessment since improper rigidity strongly affects the tsunami impact prediction in the coastal area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the process behind climate model biases, especially in rainfall, during the southwest (June to August; JJA) and northeast monsoon (December to February; DJF) seasons over the Philippines using the downscaled Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) simulations of the Southeast Asia Regional Climate Downscaling/Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment-Southeast Asia (SEACLID/CORDEX-SEA). Biases in the surface and near-surface climate are assessed over land in eastern (EastPH) and western (WestPH) Philippines using observation and reanalysis datasets. Results show that models with well-represented sea surface temperature (SST) provided better added values after downscaling. Although the CMIP5-driven models tend to overestimate both surface energy and water partitioning, simulations with well-represented SST have better surface energy partitions. In contrast to the reference simulation driven by ERA-Interim reanalysis, the CMIP5-driven simulations tend to underestimate (overestimate) moisture flux convergence during the DJF (JJA) season, which might have contributed to the overall underestimation (overestimation) of rainfall in this season. Further investigation along a vertical transect shows the differences in governing mechanisms for each season. During DJF (JJA) season, the simulation with underestimated (overestimated) SST, near-surface air temperature, and mixing ratio results in underestimated (overestimated) rainfall over EastPH (WestPH). In addition, the CMIP5-driven models were found to overestimate low-level winds, which may have induced the deep convection regardless of season, suggesting the role of low-level winds in the convection scheme used in RegCM4 aside from topography and land cover. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2018 Mw 6.2 Situbondo earthquake occurred in an active fault where no earthquakes of magnitude 6 or higher have been recorded in the last decade. Since the fault geometry responsible of this earthquake is not well identified, we analyze the mainshock and aftershock of the 2018 earthquake. We conduct hypocenter relocation of earthquakes from 10 October 2018 to 25 December 2018. We find that the distribution of the relocated aftershocks forming a lineament to the northwest relative to the mainshock with an average depth of 12.6 km. This southeast-northwest pattern is in agreement with the previously-published coseismic fault model derived from GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) data. In this study, we investigate the deformation after earthquake associated with viscoelastic relaxation, using continuous GNSS data available in the region. During our investigation, we use a rheological structure with an elastic layer 50 km thick, along with Maxwell viscosity of 9.0.0 × 1017 Pa s. We compared the surface deformation obtained from our analysis with GNSS data. Our investigation presents evidence that viscoelastic relaxation responsible for less than 1 mm/yr during 1.5 years after the mainshock. By comparing the model and data velocities, it is found that the model velocities are only 0.02% compared to those of the data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the distribution of coseismic slip of the 19th August 2018 Mw 7.2 Lombok earthquakes, Indonesia, using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) and Global Positioning System (GPS) data. Two look directions on ascending, with a maximum displacement of 27 cm and 35 cm, and one on descending of Sentinel-1 SAR data, with a maximum displacement of 12 cm, are used. In addition, static offsets from the GPS data, which are located at the most western part of the island and the northern part of the island, detect ~ 2 cm and ~ 5 cm coseismic displacement due to the earthquake. Using combined InSAR and GPS data, this study estimates the fault location, fault geometry and the coseismic slip distribution by a joint inversion using a trans-dimensional Bayesian method. This method solves for the contiguous area of the fault that is allowed to slip in the inversion whilst also solving for the magnitude. This dampens the spurious smoothing that can occur in distributed slip solutions, in particular with far-field geodetic data or deep sources. The maximum slip of ~ 3.5 m is located at deeper portion of the fault at ~ 21 km, adjacent to the epicenter of the earthquake. This study demonstrates that the coseismic slip of the 19th August 2018 earthquakes occurred on a structure further south towards Lombok, a parallel fault structure with Flores back arc thrust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The use of the pipeline embolization device (PED) with single or multiple coverage in cases of intracranial aneurysms is still not well defined. We aimed to compare rates of aneurysm occlusion and complications in patients covered with single versus multiple PEDs. Methods: For this systematic review, we searched PubMed and SpringerLink databases, and citations for studies on September 2022. All peer-reviewed studies of adult patients diagnosed with intracranial aneurysm covered with single and multiple PEDs were assessed, and the rates of aneurysm occlusion and complications were collected, and have been published between April 20, 2011, and September 30, 2022. The risk of bias assessment was scored using the Newcastle–Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale for cohort studies. Evidence from studies was synthesized as narrative synthesis. Results: A total of 5 studies with 772 patients and 795 aneurysms were included. A total of 531 (68.8%) patients were covered with a single PED, while 241 (31.2%) with multiple PEDs. The aneurysms are mostly located in the anterior circulation, with 93.84% in the single PED versus 86.08% in the multiple PEDs group. A total of 525 (92.58%) saccular types of aneurysms were covered in a single PED versus 222 (86.98%) in the multiple PEDs group. The overall aneurysms occlusion rates in approximately midterm follow-up were 72.34% in the single PED versus 87.04% in the multiple PEDs group. The overall complication rates among studies were 6.54% in a single PED versus 8.24% in the multiple PEDs group. Conclusions: There is no significant difference in overall intracranial aneurysm occlusion rates when comparing single versus multiple PEDs coverage for treatment of aneurysms, primarily with longer follow-up times, with low and no significantly different complication rates between groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Indonesia, the profession of counselling has a long history. Traditionally, counselling has been practiced within schools, although counsellors are beginning to practice in other contexts. However, regardless of setting, the profession has not yet established a clear and recognizable national professional identity that articulates the role of the counsellor and clearly differentiates counselling from other professions. To help create a shared national identity, the Indonesian counselling profession can implement strategies in three overarching domains: intrapersonal, intraprofessional, and interprofessional identity. Taken together, these strategies can help inform a national agenda for moving forward to create a profession that meets the needs of the Indonesian population and leads to a strong and unified national professional counsellor identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, biodiesel fuel is a suitable alternative to diesel fuel due to its less pollution and renewable nature. Waste and non-edible oils and heterogeneous catalysts can be used to produce biodiesel at a low cost. In this study, waste oil from restaurants is produced using the ester exchange method (transesterification) in the presence of a nano-catalyst prepared from stone-cutting factory sludge nano-powder. The produced nano-catalyst is identified by the mechanical method using a ball mill by nitrogen adsorption–desorption, scanning electron microscope, and transmission electron microscopy technique. Then, the important characteristics of the produced biodiesel have been matched with the standard test methods (ASTM D). After ensuring the proper characteristics of the produced biodiesel fuel, is investigated the performance change of the single-cylinder engine of 1.8 M at speeds of 1300–2000 rpm by 20% (B20), 50% (B50), and 100% (B100) combinations of biodiesel and diesel fuel. The results of the test showed with adding 20% volume of biodiesel in the fuel mixture, the power and torque of the engine increase due to complete combustion. Due to the improvement of combustion quality, the emission of CO and UHC pollutants is reduced by approximately 73% compared to diesel fuel, but the NOX pollutant increases by 32% compared to diesel fuel due to the high pressure and temperature of the combustion chamber. In general, it can be concluded that the use of 20% volume (B20) of biodiesel in the fuel composition, not only does not result in loss of power, but also reduces the special fuel consumption of braking, which is very important from an economic point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heart failure (HF) is a global pandemic with increasing prevalence and mortality rates annually. Its main cause is myocardial infarction (MI), followed by rapid cardiac remodeling. Several clinical studies have shown that probiotics can improve the quality of life and reduce cardiovascular risk factors. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the effectiveness of probiotics in preventing HF caused by a MI according to a prospectively registered protocol (PROSPERO: CRD42023388870). Four independent evaluators independently extracted the data using predefined extraction forms and evaluated the eligibility and accuracy of the studies. A total of six studies consisting of 366 participants were included in the systematic review. Probiotics are not significant in intervening left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) when compared between the intervention group and the control group due to inadequate studies supporting its efficacy. Among sarcopenia indexes, hand grip strength (HGS) showed robust correlations with the Wnt biomarkers (p < 0.05), improved short physical performance battery (SPPB) scores were also strongly correlated with Dickkopf-related protein (Dkk)-3, followed by Dkk-1, and sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1 (SREBP-1) (p < 0.05). The probiotic group showed improvement in total cholesterol (p = 0.01) and uric acid (p = 0.014) compared to the baseline. Finally, probiotic supplements may be an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, metabolic, and intestinal microbiota modulator in cardiac remodeling conditions. Probiotics have great potential to attenuate cardiac remodeling in HF or post-MI patients while also enhancing the Wnt signaling pathway which can improve sarcopenia under such conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discharge of anionic and cationic synthetic dyes into the environment can cause significant health and environmental problems. Adsorption is promoted as one of the efficient methods to solve this issue. In this work, a metal-organic framework, namely Materials of Institut Lavoisier-100(Cr) denoted as MIL-100(Cr), was synthesized mechanochemically through manual grinding without adding HF as modulator and solvent with 15 h of crystallization time. The synthesized material was employed as an adsorbent for methyl orange (MO) and methyl violet (MV). The obtained material was characterized by X-ray diffraction and FTIR spectroscopy techniques. A few parameters affecting adsorption capacity were studied: including optimum pH, contact time, and initial dyes concentration. The results showed that SEM images revealed the synthesized MIL-100(Cr) has irregular polyhedron morphology, and it is thermally stable up to 375 °C based on TGA measurement. Nitrogen sorption isotherm confirmed that MIL-100(Cr) possesses high surface area and pore volume up to 1557 m2/g, and 0.76 cm3/g, respectively, and can be classified as microporous material with pore diameter of 1.82 nm. In addition, the adsorbed MO and MV were evidenced by the presence of new peaks in the FTIR spectra of MIL-100(Cr) after adsorption at 2930, 1587, 1177, 1118 cm−1 for MO adsorption and 1170, 2971 cm−1 for MV adsorption. Moreover, MIL-100 (Cr) has the maximum adsorption capacity toward MO and MV of 430.21 mg/g (MO: pH = 4, t = 60 min) and 120.48 mg/g (MV: pH = 9, t = 150 min), respectively. The MO and MV adsorption mechanism is dominated by physisorption via electrostatic interactions due to the porosity features of the adsorbent. Furthermore, it also may be followed by π–π stacking, ion-dipole interactions, and hydrogen bonds. MO and MV adsorption kinetics were described by pseudo-second-order. The nonlinearity of the intraparticle diffusion plot graph confirmed any contribution from the pore and surface of MIL-100(Cr). The MO and MV adsorption isotherm models were in good agreement with the Langmuir isotherm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenator (ECMO) is a valuable technology to support people with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and is recommended for COVID-19 patients. This study aims to fabricate polymer-based composite membranes coated with ethylcellulose nanoparticles from waste paper and identify the performance of the composite as ECMO candidates. Composite membranes were made from four types of polymers, namely, nylon, PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene), Pebax® MH-1657, and SBS (poly-(styrene-b-butadiene-b-styrene)). PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) 1 wt.% and ethylcellulose nanoparticles (3% and 10 wt.%) were used as membrane coatings to increase their hydrophobic properties. The success of cellulose isolation and ethylcellulose synthesis from waste paper was confirmed by the FTIR and XRD analysis. The size of the synthesized ethylcellulose nanoparticles was 32.68 nm. The coating effect on composite membranes was studied by measuring the contact angle, membrane porosity, protein quantification tests, and single gas permeation of O2 and CO2. Based on the protein quantification test, the protein could not pass through the Pebax/PDMS and SBS/PDMS composites coated with 10 wt.% ethylcellulose; this indicated less risk of plasma leakage. The gas permeation test on nylon/PDMS, PTFE/PDMS, and SBS/PDMS composites coated with 10% ethylcellulose resulted high CO2/O2 selectivity, respectively, 2.17, 3.48, and 3.22 as good indication for extracorporeal oxygenation membrane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the best performing methods in high-utility itemsets mining is based on binary particle swarm optimization. This paper aims to improve the quality of that method by finding ways to increase both the number of obtained itemsets and the associated total utility of those itemsets. The method used is based on binary particle swarm optimization, which is one of the best algorithms to obtain high-utility itemsets based on swarm intelligence. To get the maximum results we tuned up the method to determine the optimal configurations of four parameters: initial population, inertia weight, acceleration coefficients, and velocity clamping. Our experimental results on five datasets indicate that the best configuration is combining constriction factor or adaptive method for setting inertia weight and using self-adaptive for acceleration coefficient. The use of frequent itemset or transactions of the highest total utility for initializing population does not have a significant addition compared to the inertia weight and acceleration coefficient parameters. The correct configuration of the binary particle swarm optimization can increase the number of high-utility itemsets compared to the standard configuration. The percentage increase of the number of itemset compared to the existing standard method is 157.93% for chess dataset, 134.39% for connect dataset, 42.69% for accident dataset, 4.62% for foodmart dataset, and 1.58% for mushroom dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil salinity plays an essential role in the growth of mangroves. Mangroves usually grow in intertidal zones. However, in Karimunjawa National Park (KNP), Indonesia, mangroves are also found in supratidal zones. Thus, this study aims to determine why mangroves can grow in this supratidal zone, even during the dry season. We analyze seasonal changes in groundwater flow and salinity dynamics using the hydraulic head, shallow groundwater salinity, and electrical resistivity imaging (ERI) data. The result shows that variation in groundwater salinity is caused by seawater intrusion, which is generated by a hydraulic gradient due to the sea level being higher than the water table in KNP. Rainfall and evapotranspiration, which change seasonally, likely affect the water table fluctuation and salt concentration. ERI images indicate this seawater intrusion in the top sediment up to the bedrock boundary. However, the resistivity difference in the wet and dry seasons shows that remarkable resistivity change occurs at the deeper layer (50–60 m below ground level (BGL)), likely due to freshwater recharge from rainwater on the land side. Groundwater in the KNP is shallow and saline; thus, mangroves in this zone, e.g., Ceriops tagal and Lumnitzera racemosa, can grow because their roots can reach this groundwater. These mangrove species can still grow in this zone even though the shallow groundwater is very saline (46–50 ppt). However, this condition might cause these mangroves to grow stunted. Thus, freshwater availability is crucial for mangrove growth in this supratidal zone to dilute this high groundwater salinity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mount Pandan is an active volcano with geothermal phenomena and is located in tectonically active East Java, Indonesia. We conducted a geomagnetic study around Mount Pandan to obtain further information about fault structures and geothermal prospects. We established 245 geomagnetic observation stations covering an area of 20 km2. We calculated the magnetic anomalies, applied upward continuation and reduction to the pole, and calculated the improved normalized horizontal tilt angle to interpret the area. Furthermore, modeling was performed that included previous research. Our study identified NW–SE-, SW-NE-, and W-E-trending structures that might be affected by the Kendeng thrust fault and act as pathways for geothermal fluid flow. This geothermal fluid is estimated to flow from the southern area between Mount Pandan and Mount Wilis toward the north. There are several hot springs around Mount Pandan and Tirtohusodo hot spring near Mount Wilis. Thus, the heat source may be located in the area between Mount Pandan and Mount Wilis and supply heat for the geothermal systems of both volcanoes. The modeling results show the intrusion of andesite-type bodies at the summit of Mount Pandan and in the northern part of the study area. We found low magnetic anomalies that might indicate a heated region as a potential geothermal area. The reservoir of the geothermal system in Mount Pandan is interpreted to be tuffaceous sandstone from the Kalibeng Formation with claystone from the Klitik Formation as a clay caprock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]