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Interaction of menthol with polyethylene terephthalate bottles during storage time was tested at three different temperatures. Menthol is a mint flavor agent added to yogurt drinks in Iran and is considered as a factor affecting consumer acceptance. Absorption of menthol to packaging material could cause a loss of quality in the final product due to diminished flavor intensity. Tests were done on the effects of environmental conditions (storage for three months at temperatures of 4, 25, and 45°C) on flavor stability of yogurt drink samples. Absorbed flavor was extracted from PET bottles after the specified time periods and quantified using gas chromatography coupled with FID detector. Then, the diffusion coefficient of menthol into PET bottles (Dp) was determined using concentrations of absorbed menthol. Results showed different absorption levels under various conditions. After 90 days, the absorption quantities at 4, 25, and 45°C were 38.21, 186.66 and 700.50 ng g-1 of PET bottle, respectively. It was concluded that amounts of menthol absorption into PET bottles increased with storage time and higher temperature. Elevation of storage temperature resulted in significant increase in diffusion coefficient of menthol in PET bottle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air pollution is the world's largest environmental health threat to humans and has wide-ranging adverse effects on the environment. The term ventilation coefficient (VC), which is a function of the average wind speed through the planetary boundary layer (PBL) and the PBL height (PBLH), can be used to estimate air pollution potential. We analyzed PBLH, wind speed through PBL, and VC over Tehran using ERA5, and PM2.5 surface concentration using MERRA-2 during 1991-2020. Both PBLH and VC undergo substantial diurnal variations, with higher values during the day and much lower values at night. As a result, PM2.5 concentration in Tehran is the maximum in the early morning, while it is relatively lower in the afternoon. The average wind speed through PBL shows the same diurnal variation in all seasons, except in winter when winds in PBL are stronger at night than during the day. Both PBLH and VC over Tehran show substantial seasonal variations, with much higher values in summer followed in decreasing order by spring, autumn, and winter, highlighting an extremely high air pollution potential in winter. Hence, due to high pollutant emissions, the occurrence of severe air pollution is expected to be a common feature in Tehran in winter. PBLH has significantly increased over Tehran both during the day and at night for the period 1991-2020, primarily in response to the surface warming in recent decades, while wind speed through PBL has significantly declined only at night. The overall impact of such changes is an increase in VC over Tehran both during the day and at night, although the increasing trend of VC is statistically significant only at night. Our results highlight the urgent need for the implementation of effective sustainable policies to reduce air pollution and its adverse effects in winter when air pollution potential is high in Tehran., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background and Aims: Preterm birth (PTB) is the leading cause of perinatal mortality and morbidity, progesterone is one of the main hormones to maintain a normal pregnancy. However, there are still conflicting results regarding using progesterone supplementation to prevent PTB and improve neonatal outcomes. The length of treatment with progesterone supplementation is also one of the challenges ahead, so the present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between the duration of progesterone supplementation treatment and neonatal outcomes., Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted on pregnant women at risk of PTB and who have taken progesterone supplementation. They were asked about the length of treatment with progesterone supplements and finally, the neonatal outcomes of these women were measured., Results: A total of 265 pregnant women who met the inclusion criteria were included in this study and the subjects were divided into two groups that received progesterone <12 weeks and received progesterone ≥12. In the group of women receiving progesterone with a treatment duration of ≥12 weeks, the rate of preterm labor, respiratory distress syndrome, low birth weight, and the need for hospitalization were significantly lower than in the group receiving progesterone with a treatment duration of ≥12 weeks., Conclusion: Progesterone administration for longer than 12 weeks in women at risk of PTB can improve neonatal outcomes., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2023 The Authors. Health Science Reports published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Background:  Maternal health literacy (MHL) and health information-seeking behavior (HISB) could impact maternal health and pregnancy outcomes. Purpose and Research Design:  This cross-sectional study investigated MHL, HISBs, and pregnancy outcomes in Iranian pregnant women. This study was also aimed to determine the predictors of MHL and pregnancy outcomes. Study smple and   Data Collection : In this study, 337 randomly selected postpartum women completed three questionnaires, including a demographics form, an obstetrics history checklist, and the Maternal Health Literacy and Pregnancy Outcome Questionnaire (MHLAPQ). Results:  The mean MHL and pregnancy outcome scores were 60.80 ± 9.91 and 49.88 ± 5.69, respectively. Of the participants, 56% adopted both formal and informal HISB. Education and internet HISB was associated with the odds of being in the group with higher MHL. Participants with high MHL had more than twice higher odds for better pregnancy outcomes (OR = 2.25,  p  < 0.004). Conclusions:  Continued efforts are required to make health information sources more accessible to pregnant women to improve their health literacy and pregnancy outcomes.

Background and Aim: Although various surveys have been conducted for sexual problems, there is a lack of population-based studies on sexual distress in Iran. Thus, we sought to determine the prevalence and predictive factors of sexual distress in this population., Methods: Overall, 1000 married women aged 16-49 years were enrolled in this study using the two-stage cluster sampling method. To identify sexual distress, the female sexual distress scale-revised (FSDS-R) was completed. The predictive factors were assessed using a checklist., Results: A total of 318 women (31.8%) suffered from sexual distress. Among socio-demographic factors, satisfaction with marriage ( p  = 0.001), among personal factors history of infertility and fear of contracting sexually transmitted infections ( p  < 0.01), and among sexual and interpersonal factors satisfaction with the level of sexual desire ( p  = 0.01), pain during sexual intercourse ( p  < 0.01), premature ejaculation disorders in the partner ( p  < 0.05), and sexual satisfaction ( p  < 0.001) were significantly associated with sexual distress., Conclusion: Clinicians should evaluate sexual distress comprehensively and consider all the related dimensions. The high overall prevalence of sexual distress, with or without an identifiable dysfunction, signals the importance of health professionals being adequately prepared to discuss sexual health concerns., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2023 The Authors. Health Science Reports published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Background: To effectively manage sexual health, people must have access to sexual health services. A small percentage of women with sexual concerns seek professional help. Hence, the need to explain the help-seeking challenges is felt from the perspective of women and health care providers., Methods: This study explored Iranian women's challenges when seeking help for sexual concerns. Using a purposive sampling method, 26 in-depth interviews were conducted in Rasht in 2019-2020. The participants included sexually active women of reproductive age over 18 years old and 8 health care providers. The recorded interviews were transcribed and analyzed through content analysis., Results: From the description of 17 subthemes provided by the participants, two main themes were achieved, "Unfavorable sexuality development context" and "Inefficient sexual health services.", Conclusions: According to the results, it is suggested that policymakers pay more attention to the challenges women and health care providers face in help-seeking and promote sexuality education and sexual health services to achieve a higher level of help-seeking among women., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: One way of dealing with pregnancy-related anxiety is through women's beliefs. This study aimed to assess the effect of spiritual self-care blended learning on anxiety in women with preterm labor., Methods: A non-blinded and parallel randomized clinical trial was conducted in Kashan, Iran, from April to November 2018. In this study, 70 pregnant women with preterm labor were randomized to intervention and control groups (35 each) by flipping a coin. For the intervention group, spiritual self-care training was delivered through two face-to-face sessions and three offline sessions. The control group received routine mental healthcare. The data were collected using socio-demographic information and the Persian Short Form of the Pregnancy-Related Anxiety (PRA) Questionnaires. Participants filled out the questionnaires at baseline, immediately after the intervention, and four weeks after it. Chi-square, Fisher's exact test, independent t-tests, and repeated measures ANOVA were used to analyze the data. SPSS v.22 was used, with a significance level of P<0.05., Results: At baseline, the mean PRA scores in the intervention and control groups were 52.25±29.23 and 49.68±21.66, respectively (P=0.67). There were significant differences immediately after the intervention (28.02±12.13 and 51.42±20.99 in the intervention and control groups, respectively) (P<0.001), and four weeks post-intervention (25.45±10.44 and 52.17±21.13 in the intervention and control groups, respectively) (P<0.001); PRA was lower in the intervention group., Conclusion: Our results revealed the positive effect of spiritual self-care intervention on anxiety in women with preterm labor, so this intervention could be integrated into prenatal care. Trial Registration Number: IRCT20160808029255N., Competing Interests: None declared., (Copyright: © International Journal of Community Based Nursing and Midwifery.)

Delay in help-seeking for sexual health issues may lead to relationship discord and impact the quality of life. The study aimed to explore the factors related to HSBs (help seeking behaviors) for sexual health issues and to determine the role of negative attitudes relating to sexual concerns in the HSBs of Iranian women. This cross-sectional study was performed in 2020. Participants were 390 randomly selected women from Rasht, Iran. The data were collected using a demographic and a sexual history checklist, the Female Sexual Function Index-6-item (FSFI-6), the Attitudes-related Sexual Concern Scale (ASCS), and a help-seeking behavior questionnaire. Formal help-seeking in women with sexual concern was 16.2% and 48.6% engaged informal HSB. Informal HSB was associated with younger age (OR = 0.93; CI = 0.89-0.97), having a university degree (OR = 3.42; CI = 1.89-6.18), sexual abuse in adulthood (OR = 2.59; CI = 1.07-6.26) and lower negative attitudes-related sexual concerns (OR = 0.53; CI = 0.32-0.87). Formal HSB was related to having a university degree (OR = 3.03; CI = 1.32-6.98) and history of a chronic disease (OR = 3.43; CI = 1.68-6.98). Negative attitudes relating to sexual concerns greatly impact informal HSBs of women, so it should be considered in their health care programming.

Background: Medicalization may lead to over-testing during pregnancy and increased cesarean section (CS). This study investigated the medicalization of low-risk pregnancies and childbirths in Rasht, Iran., Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 337 postpartum women completed a demographic questionnaire and the Medicalized Pregnancy and Childbirth checklist. In this study, medicalization indicators were the source of providing prenatal care, prenatal screening for aneuploidy, number of received care, hospitalization before the onset of labor, intrapartum drug use, and CS. Demographic data were reported using descriptive statistics. Chi-square or Fisher's exact and Man-Whitney tests were used for comparison purposes. Logistic regression was run to determine the medicalization indicators associated with the mode of childbirth., Results: Of the participants, 82.2% received prenatal care from obstetricians, 85.8% had undergone prenatal screening tests. There was a significant difference between the median number of ultrasound examinations (P=0.006), prenatal screening for aneuploidy (P=0.002), and multivitamin/mineral supplements use (P<0.001), according to the source of providing prenatal care. Of the participants, 67.1% had CS. Women who received prenatal care from obstetricians had about 2.3 times more odds of CS (OR=2.23, P=0.019). Furthermore, with the increased number of ultrasounds, the odds of CS augmented by 25% (OR=1.25, P=0.013). Finally, 26.4% of the participants were hospitalized before the onset of labor; the intervention increased the odds of CS more than twice (OR=2.08, P=0.026)., Conclusion: The study showed a picture of medicalization in low-risk pregnancies. Of the medicalization indicators, the source of providing prenatal care, time of admission, and use of ultrasounds were associated with CS. Midwife-led care could diminish medicalization., (Copyright: © International Journal of Community Based Nursing and Midwifery.)

Background: Sexual desire and sexual distress are determined by emotional, psychosocial, hormonal, and anatomical factors during pregnancy., Objective: To identify the factors contributing to female low sexual desire and sexual distress during pregnancy separately and concurrently., Materials and Methods: Overall, 295 pregnant women were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Sexual desire and distress were assessed by the sexual interest and desire inventory-female (score ≤ 33.0 indicates low sexual desire) and the female sexual distress scale-revised (score ≥ 11 indicates sexual distress)., Results: 56.3% and 17.3% of pregnant women met the clinical cut-off for low sexual desire and sexual distress, respectively. After adjusting for the effect of the confounding variables by logistic regression multivariate analysis, satisfaction with body image before and during pregnancy, frequency of sexual intercourse, and satisfaction with foreplay were found to be significantly associated with low sexual desire. Factors related to sexual distress were similar to those noted for common sexual desire, except for satisfaction with foreplay. Other factors related to sexual distress included increased age, fear of abortion, and pregnancy trimester. Factors linked to concurrent low sexual desire and sexual distress were similar to those found for sexual distress, except for pregnancy trimester., Conclusion: Low sexual desire and sexual distress are relatively common sexual experiences during pregnancy. Several factors could predict low sexual desire but were not associated with sexual distress, and conversely. Comprehensive attention to all of these factors is essential while screening for sexual health during pregnancy., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Malary et al.)

Global solar radiation is the total amount of solar energy received on a horizontal surface and defined as the sum of direct, diffused, and reflected solar radiation. Global solar radiation is an important variable in agricultural, meteorological, hydrological, and climatological studies. The purpose of this paper is to develop an effective method to estimate the daily global solar radiation using different atmospheric properties detected from satellite data, including cloud fraction, cloud optical depth, aerosol optical depth, aerosol exponent, aerosol index, and precipitable water vapor from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and ozone monitoring instrument (OMI) daytime data in the urban area of Mashhad, Iran, during the years from 2000 to 2018. Based on seven combinations of the atmospheric properties, models were developed using a standard statistical method, namely, multiple linear regression method and a specific class of artificial neural networks, namely, feedforward multilayer perceptron. The efficiency of the models was compared for the assessment of the daily global solar radiation based on the combinations of the input data. For both methods, 80% percent of the data are used for model development and the remaining data for validation. Results of pairwise statistics indicate that, on average, the estimates were more accurate using the artificial neural networks than the regression method. Results show that in both methods, the accuracy of estimation improves when cloud fraction is used as a predictor. This implies the significant effect of cloud cover on solar radiation. However, using the cloud optical depth decreases the accuracy of the estimation of global solar radiation, i.e., the least accurate model is the one with cloud fraction and cloud optical depth for the neural network method and the model with CF and AE for the regression method. The estimation error comes from the inaccuracy in measuring cloud optical depth that depends on satellite sensor resolution and the inhomogeneity of types and microphysical properties of clouds over the study area. Due to the arid climate of the study area, the precipitable water vapor content does not considerably affect radiation attenuation. The best estimate is earned by cloud fraction and aerosol index as inputs indicating the simultaneous role of aerosol and cloud in global solar radiation. Aerosol index considers the effect of absorbing aerosols such as black carbon and dust and is a complementary information to the cloud cover. The results imply that both methods have the potential to achieve an operational stage, taking advantage of the better availability of satellite data. Even though the artificial neural network is found to be more accurate than multiple linear regression, using the regression method is recommended because it is more easy to use. Results show that the effective variables vary in different seasons. In both methods, estimation error is highest in the spring and lowest in the fall and winter. The high inaccuracy may be due to the high sensitivity of radiative transfer to atmospheric condition in spring. On the other hand, the high accuracy may be caused by the less solar radiation fluctuations during fall and winter because of the lower solar radiation flux.

We propose an image-based class retrieval system for ancient Roman Republican coins that can be instrumental in various archaeological applications such as museums, Numismatics study, and even online auctions websites. For such applications, the aim is not only classification of a given coin, but also the retrieval of its information from standard reference book. Such classification and information retrieval is performed by our proposed system via a user friendly graphical user interface (GUI). The query coin image gets matched with exemplar images of each coin class stored in the database. The retrieved coin classes are then displayed in the GUI along with their descriptions from a reference book. However, it is highly impractical to match a query image with each of the class exemplar images as there are 10 exemplar images for each of the 60 coin classes. Similarly, displaying all the retrieved coin classes and their respective information in the GUI will cause user inconvenience. Consequently, to avoid such brute-force matching, we incrementally vary the number of matches per class to find the least matches attaining the maximum classification accuracy. In a similar manner, we also extend the search space for coin class to find the minimal number of retrieved classes that achieve maximum classification accuracy. On the current dataset, our system successfully attains a classification accuracy of 99% for five matches per class such that the top ten retrieved classes are considered. As a result, the computational complexity is reduced by matching the query image with only half of the exemplar images per class. In addition, displaying the top 10 retrieved classes is far more convenient than displaying all 60 classes.

Background: Infertility is a significant psychological stressor among infertile couples. Aggressive behaviour such as domestic violence may be the consequence of this situation., Aims: To determine the relationship between domestic violence and infertility and its associated factors., Methods: This unmatched case-control study was conducted on 400 women who were referred to Al-Zahra teaching Hospital in Rasht, Islamic Republic of Iran, from May to December 2015. The data were collected by WHO Domestic violence questionnaire, which was validated in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Data were analyzed by using descriptive and analytical statistic (Chi square, t test, and logistic regression)., Results: Out of the 200 infertile women 136 (68%) reported a history of physical violence, 120 (60%) had experienced sexual violence and 140 (70%) had psychological violence. There was a significant relationship between infertility and physical, sexual and psychological violence (P < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis revealed that the education level of women [OR= 0.176, 95% CI (0.070-0.446)], unemployment husband [OR=15.83, 95% CI (1.307-191.977)] and infertility [OR= 0.133, 95% CI (0.057-0.31)] were associated with domestic violence (P < 0.05)., Conclusions: In this study there was a relationship between infertility and physical, sexual and psychological violence and infertile women were more likely to encounter domestic violence. Screening for domestic violence is necessary for infertile couples., (Copyright © World Health Organization (WHO) 2019. Some rights reserved. This work is available under the CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/igo).)

Background/aim: The prognostic value of the red cell distribution width (RDW) as a cost-effective and noninvasive test in acute pulmonary embolism (PE) is still unknown. We aimed to investigate the prognostic value of the admission RDW level in the long-term survival of PE patients. Materials and methods: In this registry-based, prospective cohort study, a total of 378 patients (mean age: 60.4 ± 17.11 years, 47.4% female) who presented with acute PE were enrolled. All the clinical data for each patient were obtained from our institutional PE registry. The follow-up was performed at a median time of 17 months. The primary endpoint was death at follow-up. Results: The mean RDW in study patients was 14.67 ± 2.13. The all-cause mortality rate during the follow-up was 15.6% (n = 59). After adjustment for potential confounders, the relationship between RDW and long-term mortality showed a trend of a significant level (hazard ratio: 1.109; 95% CI, 0.998−1.232; P = 0.053). We divided patients into 3 groups based on the European Society of Cardiology’s classification. As we moved from the low risk to the higher risk categories, the mean RDW increased significantly (P = 0.037). Conclusion: It seems there may be an independent association between RDW at presentation and PE mortality within 17 months.

Nowadays, there is a proliferation of available information sources from different modalities-text, images, audio, video and more. Information objects are not isolated anymore. They are frequently connected via metadata, semantic links, etc. This leads to various challenges in graph-based information retrieval. This paper is concerned with the reachability analysis of multimodal graph modelled collections. We use our framework to leverage the combination of features of different modalities through our formulation of faceted search. This study highlights the effect of different facets and link types in improving reachability of relevant information objects. The experiments are performed on the Image CLEF 2011 Wikipedia collection with about 400,000 documents and images. The results demonstrate that the combination of different facets is conductive to obtain higher reachability. We obtain 373% recall gain for very hard topics by using our graph model of the collection. Further, by adding semantic links to the collection, we gain a 10% increase in the overall recall.

Aims: To evaluate the impact of sex on long-term clinical outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)., Methods: In a large prospective cohort, 5664 patients (1716 women and 3948 men) who underwent PCI in a tertiary cardiac center between March 2007 and March 2010 were enrolled. Patients were followed up for median of 74.3 months. We compared the occurrence of long-term mortality, myocardial infarction (MI), and repeated revascularization between 2 sexes. Major adverse cardiac events were defined as a composite end point consisting of occurrence of all-cause mortality, nonfatal MI, or target vessel revascularization during follow-up period., Results: Women were older and had more conventional coronary artery disease risk factors, had smaller vessel diameter, and received drug-eluting stents more frequently than men. On the contrary, men were much more smokers and had higher frequency of acute coronary syndrome, multivessel disease, total coronary occlusion, and lower ejection fraction. After >6 years of follow-up, the all-cause mortality, nonfatal MI, target vessel revascularization, major adverse cardiac events, patient-oriented composite end point, and total repeat PCI were similar between 2 sexes. After adjusting for potential confounders, the total repeat PCI was the only observed difference that was significantly lower in women [11.2% in women vs. 12.4% in men, adjusted subdistributional hazard ratio=0.73 (95% confidence interval, 0.6-0.88); P = 0.001)., Conclusions: During >6 years of follow-up, no significant difference was observed in major clinical outcomes between 2 sexes.

Urinary incontinence (UI) is a common condition, especially in middle-aged and older women. UI is known to affect sexual function. Many women with UI do not consult a doctor about their condition. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship of sexual function and help seeking in postmenopausal women with urinary incontinence. This cross-sectional correlation study took place from March to May 2012. The subjects were selected by a clustered sampling method from various zones of Rasht (North of Iran). The data were collected using personal data forms, Questionnaire for Urinary Incontinence Diagnosis, Incontinence Severity Index, and Incontinence Quality of Life questionnaire. Data were analyzed by SPSS17 at the significant level of P < .05 and then were compared by parametric and nonparametric tests. A total of 313 menopausal women aged 45 to 60 years (mean 52.9) were recruited for the study. The mean sexual function score was 31.07 ± 7.52. Only 27.3% of subjects seek care for urinary incontinence. There was a significant correlation between sexual function and help seeking. The results of this study indicate that there is a significant correlation between sexual function and help seeking in postmenopausal women who participated in the present study. Health-care professionals should pay more attention to sexual symptoms of UI and make patients aware of available treatments.

Objective: UI is a common condition among women. UI adversely impacts upon QoL and participation in everyday activities. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship of QoL and help-seeking in postmenopausal women with UI., Design: This cross-sectional correlation study took place from March to May 2012; the subjects were selected by multi stage sampling method from various zones of Rasht City (North of Iran). The data were collected using personal data form, Questionnaire for Urinary Incontinence Diagnose (QUID), Incontinence Severity Index (ISI) and Incontinence QoL questionnaire (I-QoL), data were analyzed by SPSS at the significant level of P<0.05 and then were compared by parametric and non-parametric tests., Result: Three hundred and thirteen menopause women aged 45-60 years (mean 52.9) were recruited in the study. Mean QoL score was 46.18 ± 19.91. Only 27.3% of subjects seek care for UI. There was no significant correlation between the QoL and help-seeking., Conclusion: According to the findings although QoL was impaired in women with UI, their help-seeking was low. Most of them did not consider UI an important problem; health professionals should educate patients and aware patients of available treatments., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Light extinction, which is the extent of attenuation of light signal for every distance traveled by light in the absence of special weather conditions (e.g., fog and rain), can be expressed as the sum of scattering and absorption effects of aerosols. In this paper, diurnal and seasonal variations of the extinction coefficient are investigated for the urban areas of Tehran from 2007 to 2009. Cases of visibility impairment that were concurrent with reports of fog, mist, precipitation, or relative humidity above 90% are filtered. The mean value and standard deviation of daily extinction are 0.49 and 0.39 km(-1), respectively. The average is much higher than that in many other large cities in the world, indicating the rather poor air quality over Tehran. The extinction coefficient shows obvious diurnal variations in each season, with a peak in the morning that is more pronounced in the wintertime. Also, there is a very slight increasing trend in the annual variations of atmospheric extinction coefficient, which suggests that air quality has regressed since 2007. The horizontal extinction coefficient decreased from January to July in each year and then increased between July and December, with the maximum value in the winter. Diurnal variation of extinction is often associated with small values for low relative humidity (RH), but increases significantly at higher RH. Annual correlation analysis shows that there is a positive correlation between the extinction coefficient and RH, CO, PM10, SO2, and NO2 concentration, while negative correlation exists between the extinction and T, WS, and O3, implying their unfavorable impact on extinction variation. The extinction budget was derived from multiple regression equations using the regression coefficients. On average, 44% of the extinction is from suspended particles, 3% is from air molecules, about 5% is from NO2 absorption, 0.35% is from RH, and approximately 48% is unaccounted for, which may represent errors in the data as well as contribution of other atmospheric constituents omitted from the analysis. Stronger regression equation is achieved in the summer, meaning that the extinction is more predictable in this season using pollutant concentrations.