Detection and characterization of environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) in soils and sediments from superfund sites

Environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) from combustion-generated PM have been demonstrated to form via reactions of molecular precursors with redox-active transition metals at 150-500C thermal reactions in a few seconds reaction times. While ambient temperatures are much lower, soils/sediments contain similar transition metals, and reaction times of contaminants in soils/sediments are years, rather than seconds. This questions whether EPFRs could be formed at ambient temperatures in soils/sediments from Superfund sites that are contaminated with hazardous materials. Superfund soils contaminated with PCP from Georgia and Montana, and sediments contaminated with PAHs from Washington. Using EPR spectroscopy, EPFR concentrations and structural assignments were determined. Contaminated soils/sediments were ~30x, ~12x, ~2x higher than the background at the Georgia, Montana, and Washington sites, respectively. Conventional humic substances extraction procedures revealed ~90% of the EPFRs originated from clays/minerals/humins fraction. Similarity of EPR signals in the Georgia and Montana PCP contaminated soils were observed (g = 2.00300 and ΔHp-p = 6.0 G), whereas, signals in the Washington sediments were similar to other PAH contaminated soils (g = 2.00270 and ΔHp-p = 9.0G). Several methods of analyses (Total Carbon Content, GC-MS, ICP-AES, Vapor and gas/liquid phase dosing) confirm pentachlorophenoxyl EPFR. Chemisorption and electron transfer from PCP or PAHs to transition metals and other electron sinks in soil are indicated for EPFRs formation. Low temperature thermal treatment of PCP contaminated soil in an open type heating system indicated the formation of a more oxygen-centered structure of the pentachlorophenoxyl radical or new, similar radicals. Both type of heating system, open and closed, demonstrated an EPFR concentrations that peaked at ~10 x 10E+18 spins/g of soil at ~75-100C, with lifetimes of 2 – 24 days at room temperature in ambient air indicating persistency in the environment. Discovery of EPFRs formed in PCP contaminated soils indicates that EPFRs are not only confined to combustion-generated particles. Studies on EPFR similar to pentachlorophenoxyl cause cardiopulmonary dysfunctions via induction of oxidative stress. The existence of potentially toxic EPFRs questions the long held belief that sorption of an organic pollutant to a soil matrix is a method of mitigating its environmental impact

The Influence of Pay as a Motivator on the Research Productivity of Educators

Research is one of a university’s primary functions. This study aimed to determine the influence of pay as a motivator on the research productivity of educators. It utilized a mixed-methods research design. The respondents are 150 faculty members randomly selected during the 1st semester of the SY 2022-2023. It used a validated survey instrument. The results show a 0.279 weakly positive correlation between the two variables. The computed t-value for this predictor exceeds the 95% confidence interval of (.492, 1.735) by a significant margin of p=0.001, hence the researchers reject the null hypothesis, which states that pay as a motivator significantly does not influence research productivity. For the qualitative phase, the emerging themes include the issues and problems regarding research productivity including lack of time due to work overload, lack of knowledge in research writing, tedious procedures in the research approval, and lack of work motivation/encouragement. Thus, the researchers crafted recommendations that could help enhance faculty members ’ research productivity

The effect of transverse magnetic correlations on a coupled order parameter: shifted transition temperatures and thermal hysteresis

We use a Green's function method with Random Phase Approximation to show how magnetic correlations may affect electric polarization in multiferroic materials with magnetic-exchange-type magnetoelectric coupling. We use a model spin 1/2 ferromagnetic ferroelectric system but our results are expected to apply to multiferroic materials with more complex magnetic structures. In particular, we find that transverse magnetic correlations result in a change in the free energy of the ferroelectric solutions leading to the possibility for thermal hysteresis of the electric polarization above the magnetic Curie temperature. Although we are motivated by multiferroic materials, this problem represents a more general calculation of the effect of fluctuations on coupled order parameters

Pressure induced enhancement of ferroelectricity in multiferroic RRMn2_2O5_5(RR=Tb,Dy, and Ho)

Measurements of ferroelectric polarization and dielectric constant were done on $R$Mn$_2$O$_5$ ($R$=Tb, Dy, and Ho) with applied hydrostatic pressures of up to 18 kbar. At ambient pressure, distinctive anomalies were observed in the temperature profile of both physical properties at critical temperatures marking the onset of long range AFM order (T$_{N1}$), ferroelectricity (T$_{C1}$) as well as at temperatures when anomalous changes in the polarization, dielectric constant and spin wave commensurability have been previously reported. In particular, the step in the dielectric constant at low temperatures (T$_{C2}$), associated with both a drop in the ferroelectric polarization and an incommensurate magnetic structure, was shown to be suddenly quenched upon passing an $R$-dependent critical pressure. This was shown to correlate with the stabilization of the high ferroelectric polarization state which is coincident with the commensurate magnetic structure. The observation is suggested to be due to a pressure induced phase transition into a commensurate magnetic structure as exemplified by the pressure-temperature ($p$-$T$) phase diagrams constructed in this work. The $p$-$T$ phase diagrams are determined for all three compounds.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, submitted for review in Phys. Rev.

Correlation Between Body Weight Day Old Chick (DOC) and Body Weight Each Week from Commercial Farms in Province of Rizal, Philippines

Farmers of the poultry industry are seeking new and more efficient techniques to produce broilers more quickly, without sacrificing quality, nutrition, or cost, as the demand for poultry rises in conjunction with the human population. This study analyzed the weight of broilers from day 1 to harvest day to determine the impact of each daily or weekly weight on the final weight of the broilers. The experiment was conducted in a conventional type of housing. One hundred thousand male Cobb strain day-old chicks were housed. The feed of the chicks consisted of commercially blended feeds including CP and BMEG, as well as vitamins, minerals, and amino acids, in accordance with nutritional needs. The study examined the relationship between the day-old chick’s weight and the flock’s weekly weight and discovered that there is no correlation between the day-old chick’s weight and its weekly weight at days 7, 14, 21, 28, and 35 (harvest weight). However, the weight at the 7-day mark had the greatest effect on the potential market weight of the broiler. It can be determined that the early life of chickens plays a crucial role in their productivity

Sex Disaggregated Gender-Based Labor Differentiation among the Elected Barangay Officials in the First District of Cavite

This study was conducted from July 2018 to December 2019 to determine gender role differentiation among elected Barangay (smallest administrative division in the Philippines) officials in the 1st district of Cavite in the Philippines. We used a purposive incidental technique, focusing on 137 samples of male and female Barangay officials. The first district of Cavite Province, consisting of the city of Cavite and municipalities of Noveleta, Kawit, and Rosario, has 134 Barangays with 1,072 elected Barangay seats; of these seats, women occupied 298 (27.8%). In reproductive, productive, community managing, and leisure-related activities, both the female and male elected officials were dominant when it came to choices and decisions within their respective households. Most legislated gender policies addressed the protection and welfare of children, curbing delinquent gangs, and substance dependence and abuse. (The male elected officials dominate access, control of, and benefits from the reproductive, productive, community managing, and leisure activities in their respective household.) Men have access to and control of vehicles and house repairs while women manage finances, and care for sick children. Other household problems, needs, and constraints included waste management, noise nuisances, and teenagers\u27 behaviors - also, (lack of proper knowledge on gender and development) also the difficulty in recalling new terminologies used during gender-related seminars. We suggest that the Barangay council attend orientation and training on the Harmonized Gender and Development Guide (HGDG) and be given materials (to) that would educate them on gender terminologies. Responsible parenting seminars would help families guide their youths; mothers would be given an important role in this program, and fathers, through all-male advocacy groups in the country like KATROPA, which would in turn strengthen family bonding

Conditional Fgfr1 Deletion in GnRH Neurons Leads to Minor Disruptions in the Reproductive Axis of Male and Female Mice

In humans and mice, inactivating mutations in fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (Fgfr1) lead to gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) deficiency and a host of downstream reproductive disorders. It was unclear if Fgfr1 signaling directly upon GnRH neurons critically drove the establishment of a functional GnRH system. To answer this question, we generated a mouse model with a conditional deletion of Fgfr1 in GnRH neurons using the Cre/loxP approach. These mice, called Fgfr1cKO mice, were examined along with control mice for their pubertal onset and a host of reproductive axis functions. Our results showed that Fgfr1cKO mice harbored no detectable defects in the GnRH system and pubertal onset, suffered only subtle changes in the pituitary function, but exhibited significantly disrupted testicular and ovarian morphology at 25 days of age, indicating impaired gametogenesis at a young age. However, these disruptions were transient and became undetectable in older mice. Our results suggest that Fgfr1 signaling directly on GnRH neurons supports, to some extent, the reproductive axis function in the period leading to the early phase of puberty, but is not critically required for pubertal onset or reproductive maintenance in sexually mature animals. &nbsp;</p