Fetishizing Food in Digital Age: #foodporn Around the World

International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media (ICWSM), 2016International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media (ICWSM), 2016What food is so good as to be considered pornographic? Worldwide, the popular #foodporn hashtag has been used to share appetizing pictures of peoples' favorite culinary experiences. But social scientists ask whether #foodporn promotes an unhealthy relationship with food, as pornography would contribute to an unrealistic view of sexuality. In this study, we examine nearly 10 million Instagram posts by 1.7 million users worldwide. An overwhelming (and uniform across the nations) obsession with chocolate and cake shows the domination of sugary dessert over local cuisines. Yet, we find encouraging traits in the association of emotion and health-related topics with #foodporn, suggesting food can serve as motivation for a healthy lifestyle. Social approval also favors the healthy posts, with users posting with healthy hashtags having an average of 1,000 more followers than those with unhealthy ones. Finally, we perform a demographic analysis which shows nation-wide trends of behavior, such as a strong relationship (r=0.51) between the GDP per capita and the attention to healthiness of their favorite food. Our results expose a new facet of food "pornography", revealing potential avenues for utilizing this precarious notion for promoting healthy lifestyles

Fast neutrino flavor conversions in one-dimensional core-collapse supernova models with and without muon creation

In very dense environments, neutrinos can undergo fast flavor conversions on scales as short as a few centimeters provided that the angular distribution of the neutrino lepton number crosses zero. This work presents the first attempt to establish whether the non-negligible abundance of muons and their interactions with neutrinos in the core of supernovae can affect the occurrence of such crossings. For this purpose we employ state-of-the-art one-dimensional core-collapse supernova simulations, considering models that include muon-neutrino interactions as well as models without these reactions. Although a consistent treatment of muons in the equation of state and neutrino transport does not seem to modify significantly the conditions for the occurrence of fast modes, it allows for the existence of an interesting phenomenon, namely fast instabilities in the $\mu-\tau$ sector. We also show that crossings below the supernova shock are a relatively generic feature of the one-dimensional simulations under investigation, which contrasts with the previous reports in the literature. Our results highlight the importance of multi-dimensional simulations with muon creation, where our results must be tested in the future.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures in the main text. An appendix has been added with 3 figures showing a comparison between results obtained with different assumptions. The main results are unchanged, but their interpretation has been slightly modified and sometimes extended to improve clarity. Matches the version accepted on PR

On the characteristics of fast neutrino flavor instabilities in three-dimensional core-collapse supernova models

We assess the occurrence of fast neutrino flavor instabilities in two three-dimensional state-of-the-art core-collapse supernova simulations performed using a two-moment three-species neutrino transport scheme: one with an exploding 9$\mathrm{M_{\odot}}$ and one with a non-exploding 20$\mathrm{M_{\odot}}$ model. Apart from confirming the presence of fast instabilities occurring within the neutrino decoupling and the supernova pre-shock regions, we detect flavor instabilities in the post-shock region for the exploding model. These instabilities are likely to be scattering-induced. In addition, the failure in achieving a successful explosion in the heavier supernova model seems to seriously hinder the occurrence of fast instabilities in the post-shock region. This is a consequence of the large matter densities behind the stalled or retreating shock, which implies high neutrino scattering rates and thus more isotropic distributions of neutrinos and antineutrinos. Our findings suggest that the supernova model properties and the fate of the explosion can remarkably affect the occurrence of fast instabilities. Hence, a larger set of realistic hydrodynamical simulations of the stellar collapse is needed in order to make reliable predictions on the flavor conversion physics.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures; Minor changes to match the published version in PR

Expulsion of cadmium from a simulated wastewater using CKD as adsorbent: Optimization with isotherm study

Cement kiln dust (CKD) considers as an inexpensive, abundant adsorbent and was used in the present work for removing cadmium ions from a simulated wastewater. CKD was obtained from Al-Duh Cement Factory located in south of Al-Muthanna Governorate/Iraq and identified by X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with EDX, and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR). Optimization of the main effective parameters like initial cadmium concentration, CKD dosage, shaking speed, pH and contact time on the cadmium removal efficiency was achieved via applying reaction surface strategy (RSM). Results showed that underlying cadmium fixation has the fundamental impact on the cadmium removal efficiency followed by CKD dosage, time, pH, and lastly shaking speed. The preferred operating conditions were found to be an initial Cd concentration of 20 ppm, CKD dosage of 35 g \ L, pH of 8, shaking speed of 300 rpm, and contact time of 90 minutes. Based on these optimum conditions, 99.75% removal efficiency of cadmium was obtained. The adsorption isotherm results showed that the adsorption behavior of Cd ions on CKD agree well with Langmuir model. CKD seems to be a systematic, sustainable and economic material for cadmium removal from wastewater

Zinc (II) removal from simulated wastewater by electro-membrane extraction approach: Adopting an electrolysis cell with a flat sheet supported liquid membrane

The aim of this study is to utilize the electromembrane extraction (EME) system as a manner for effective removal of zinc from aqueous solutions. A novel and distinctive electrochemical cell design was adopted consisting of two glass chambers, a supported liquid membrane (SLM) housing a polypropylene flat membrane infused with 1-octanol and a carrier. Two electrodes were used, a graphite as anode and a stainless steel as cathode. A comprehensive examination of several influential factors including the choice of carrier, the applied voltage magnitude, the initial pH of the donor solution, and the initial concentration of zinc was performed, all in a concerted effort to ascertain their respective impacts on the efficiency of zinc elimination. Two distinct carriers, namely tris(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (TEHP) and bis(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (DEHP) were evaluated, in a tandem with utilization of 1-octanol. The results revealed essential role played by the applied voltage in augmenting the rate of mass transfer of zinc across the membrane. The best operating conditions were utilized for 1-octanol enriched with 1.0 vol.% bis(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate as a carrier, applied voltage of 60 V, initial pH of 5, initial zinc concentration of 15 mg L-1, extraction duration of 6 hours, and stirring rate of 1000 rpm. Surprisingly, operating under these meticulously devised conditions culminated in the outstanding removal efficiency of 87.3 %. In comparison with no applied voltage, a substantial enhancement in removal efficiency was observed, trans­cending from a meager 36.67 % to an impressive 87.3 % at 60 V, suggesting thus a tremen­dous potential of EME as an efficacious technique for the elimination of heavy metals

Predictive Modeling of Surface Roughness Of Centered And Un-Centered Workpiece Lengths In Turning Operation

The attempt of the present study has addressed an area that has been relativelyneglected in the past researches. This area focuses on studying and analysis the effectof different centered and un-centered workpiece lengths, using turning machinetailstock, on the products surface roughness, and then collecting data to generate anexperimental charts and equations for the prediction modeling of surface roughnessand increasing productivity for many turned products. These charts and equationscould be serving as a quick indication for manufacturers to avoid pre-chatter conditionsand the trial and error methods, and consequently reduce the required experience inthis field. So, the applicable range of workpiece lengths can be safely extended from10 mm to 60 mm bars with 10 mm in diameter, and from 10 to 75 mm bars with 20mm in diameter. This range could be increasing as bar diameter increasing and viseversa

Kinetic Modeling of Electromembrane Extraction of Copper using a Novel Electrolytic Cell Provided with a Supported Liquid Membrane

   The aim of this study is to investigate the kinetics of copper removal from aqueous solutions using an electromembrane extraction (EME) system. To achieve this, a unique electrochemical cell design was adopted comprising two glass chambers, a supported liquid membrane (SLM), a graphite anode, and a stainless-steel cathode. The SLM consisted of a polypropylene flat membrane infused with 1-octanol as a solvent and bis(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (DEHP) as a carrier. The impact of various factors on the kinetics constant rate was outlined, including the applied voltage, initial pH of the donor phase solution, and initial copper concentration. The results demonstrated a significant influence of the applied voltage on enhancing the rate of copper mass transfer across the membrane. As the applied voltage increased, the rate constant also increased. Additionally, increasing the pH of the solution led to an initial elevate in the rate constant, reaching a maximum value at pH 5, after which it started to decline. Moreover, higher initial copper concentrations had an adverse effect on the rate constant. Notably, the concentration decay profiles observed under different operating conditions followed first-order kinetics, with correlation coefficients exceeding 0.99. The elucidation of this discovery emanated from a remarkable and striking congruence between the experimental data and the mathematical underpinnings of the first-order kinetics model. This serendipitous alignment profoundly reinforced the robustness, veracity, and unwavering reliability of meticulously obtained results, amplifying the credibility and trustworthiness of the present comprehensive study

Synchronous Primary Tumors of the Kidney and Pancreas: Case Report

The simultaneous presence of primary carcinomas in the same patient is uncommon and synchronous primary tumors involving the kidney and pancreas are extremely rare. There are a few reports in the English literature of synchronous primary malignancies of the kidney and pancreas. We present a 62-year-old man who had weight loss of 9 kg and epigastric pain. Findings showed a Furhman grade II renal papillary carcinoma confined to the kidney and a synchronous well differentiated pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.Key Words: Synchronous double cancer, renal cell carcinoma, pancreatic carcinom