Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Sucrose Replacement by Stevia as a Non-Nutritive Sweetener and Bulking Compounds on Physiochemical Properties of Foodstuffs

Background & Aim: Changes in lifestyle, decrease in physical exercise along with incidence of obesity, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases indicate a need for low calorie formulations. The sweetness of Stevia, a natural sweetener, is estimated to be 300 times as much as that of sugar. Extraction of stevia leaves is considered a promoter of calorie balance and a beneficial part of a healthy diet. Stevia is also used to treat diabetes, obesity, tooth decay, hypertension, exhaustion and depression. Experimental: Regarding the aforementioned applications and critical role of sucrose in the creation of texture, color and taste, the replacement of sucrose is an important issue. Most researches indicate the fact that sugar- free products are not pleasant and acceptable; thus, the presence of sugar is inevitable i.e. in case of complete substitution, concurrent consumption of both sugar and stevia (different combinations) seemingly gives it more flavors and makes it the most demanded product. This article reviews effective parameters in sucrose substitution with stevia and the results obtained from it. Industrial and practical recommendations: Its bitter aftertaste can diminish its consumption in food formulation; however, other flavoring agents and fillers can modify this problem. With regard to its high sweetness (300 times as much as sucrose), its consumption is low and thus it is economically justifiable. Using this sweetener in daily industries, fruit juices and confectioneries as a sucrose substitute is possible with respect to the research findings.
Unemployment Insurance in Theory and Practice

A hallmark of modern labor economics is the close interplay between the development of theory, data sources and econometric testing. The evolution of the economic analysis of unemployment insurance provides a good illustration. New theoretical approaches, in particular job-search theory, have inspired a large amount of empirical research, some of it methodologically innovative and most of it highly relevant for economic policy. The paper presents a broad survey and an assessment of the economic analysis of unemployment insurance as it has evolved since the 1970s.
Pokémon GO and Physical Activity in Asia: Multilevel Study

Background Physical activity has long been considered as an important component of a healthy lifestyle. Although many efforts have been made to promote physical activity, there is no effective global intervention for physical activity promotion. Some researchers have suggested that Pokémon GO, a location-based augmented reality game, was associated with a short-term increase in players’ physical activity on a global scale, but the details are far from clear. Objective The objective of our study was to study the relationship between Pokémon GO use and players’ physical activity and how the relationship varies across players with different physical activity levels. Methods We conducted a field study in Hong Kong to investigate if Pokémon GO use was associated with physical activity. Pokémon GO players were asked to report their demographics through a survey; data on their Pokémon GO behaviors and daily walking and running distances were collected from their mobile phones. Participants (n=210) were Hong Kong residents, aged 13 to 65 years, who played Pokémon GO using iPhone 5 or 6 series in 5 selected types of built environment. We measured the participants’ average daily walking and running distances over a period of 35 days, from 14 days before to 21 days after game installation. Multilevel modeling was used to identify and examine the predictors (including Pokémon GO behaviors, weather, demographics, and built environment) of the relationship between Pokémon GO use and daily walking and running distances. Results The average daily walking and running distances increased by 18.1% (0.96 km, approximately 1200 steps) in the 21 days after the participants installed Pokémon GO compared with the average distances over the 14 days before installation (P<.001). However, this association attenuated over time and was estimated to disappear 24 days after game installation. Multilevel models indicated that Pokémon GO had a stronger and more lasting association among the less physically active players compared with the physically active ones (P<.001). Playing Pokémon GO in green space had a significant positive relationship with daily walking and running distances (P=.03). Moreover, our results showed that whether Pokémon GO was played, the number of days played, weather (total rainfall, bright sunshine, mean air temperature, and mean wind speed), and demographics (age, gender, income, education, and body mass index) were associated with daily walking and running distances. Conclusions Pokémon GO was associated with a short-term increase in the players’ daily walking and running distances; this association was especially strong among less physically active participants. Pokémon GO can build new links between humans and green space and encourage people to engage in physical activity. Our results show that location-based augmented reality games, such as Pokémon GO, have the potential to be a global public health intervention tool.
Differences in Emotion Regulation along the Eating Disorder Spectrum: Cross Sectional Study in Adolescents out Patient Care

Background: Emotion-regulation (ER) difficulties among individuals with eating disorders (EDs) are thought to contribute to the development and maintenance of eating disorders. Aims: The present study explores the differences in ER difficulties along the eating disorders spectrum, to reveal the basing emotional mechanism in each subtype. Method: In this case-control study, 91 girls, aged 11–18, diagnosed with eating disorders (EDs) according to DSM-V (35 ANRT, 29 ANBP, and 27 BN) were compared to 41 age-matched healthy controls (HC). Comparisons between the following ER dimensions were performed: alexithymia, anxiety, depression, DERS’s components (awareness and clarity of emotional states), acceptance of emotional distress; ability to engage in goal-directed behavior and refrain from impulsive behavior as well as access to appropriate strategies that are perceived as effective to modulate the duration and/or intensity of emotional responses. Results: The overall level of eating pathology was similar in BN and ANBP and higher than the ANRT group (p<0.001). The ANBP group reported significant higher level of alexithymia and depressive symptoms than the ANRT group and similar to the BN group (p<0.001). The anxiety levels of all patient groups were similar and higher in comparison to the HC (p<0.001). ANRT group presented significantly higher levels of alexithymia, depressive symptoms, anxiety and impulse control in comparison to HC (p<0.001) and significantly lower levels of alexithymia, depressive symptoms, and impulse control in comparison to ANBP (p<0.001). ANBP reported greater ER significant difficulties than ANRT (p<0.001) indicated by greater DERS total scores and DERS subscale scores non-acceptance, clarity and impulse control. ANBP and BN did not differ from each other on the DERS total score. Conclusion: ANBP and BN seem to be originated from combination of defects in the emotional regulation as well as the impulse regulation system and both should be targeted during treatment.
Multivariate Meta-Analysis as Structural Equation Models

Multivariate meta-analysis has become increasingly popular in the educational, social, and medical sciences. It is because the outcome measures in a meta-analysis can involve more than one effect size. This article proposes 2 mathematically equivalent models to implement multivariate meta-analysis in structural equation modeling (SEM). Specifically, this article shows how multivariate fixed-, random- and mixed-effects meta-analyses can be formulated as structural equation models. metaSEM (a free R package based on OpenMx) and Mplus are used to implement the proposed procedures. A real data set is used to illustrate the procedures. Formulating multivariate meta-analysis as structural equation models provides many new research opportunities for methodological development in both meta-analysis and SEM. Issues related to and extensions on the SEM-based meta-analysis are discussed.
Relationship between Teachers’ Job Satisfaction and Students’ Academic Performance

Problem Statement : An extensive literature on Job satisfaction has shown, teachers who are satisfied with their jobs perform better. Along with various indicators of teachers’ job satisfaction, variables such as organizational justice (Nojani, Arjmandnia, Afrooz, & Rajabi, 2012), organizational culture (Hosseinkhanzadeh, Hosseinkhanzadeh, & Yeganeh, 2013), and administrators’ decision-making styles (Olcum & Titrek, 2015) also relate to their job satisfaction. Purpose of the Study : We aimed to investigate the relationship between teachers’ job satisfaction and student’s academic performance in secondary schools. Method : Our sample consisted of 322 secondary-school teachers in Faisalabad, Pakistan, who completed the Job Satisfaction Scale for Teachers that we developed to gather data about teachers’ job satisfaction. Meanwhile, we gauged students’ performance according to the results of students declared by the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education [BISE] Faisalabad in 9th and 10th grades. We calculated means and standard deviations for descriptive purposes and applied Pearson’s r to explore the relationship between 9th- and 10th-grade students’ achievement scores and teachers’ job satisfaction. Results and Findings : Results revealed a strong, positive, and significant correlation between the tests. However, students’ performance showed no significant correlation with teachers’ job satisfaction. Nevertheless, all aspects of job satisfaction demonstrated significant positive correlations with the others, except for pay and supervision. Moreover, teachers’ professional experience exhibited a significant correlation with 9th-grade students’ performance. Conclusions and Recommendation : Work had positive and moderate correlation with promotion, colleagues, working conditions, and supervision. Colleagues had also positive and moderate correlation with working conditions and supervision. Researchers should develop criteria for the selection and recruitment of teachers, and schools should host refresher courses in order to retain teachers.
Host social behavior and parasitic infection: a multifactorial approach

I examined associations between several components of host social organization, including group size and gregariousness, group stability, territoriality and social class, and gastrointestinal parasite load in African bovids. At an intraspecific level, group size was positively correlated with parasite prevalence, but only when the parasite was relatively host specific and only among host species living in stable groups. Social class was also an important predictor of infection rates. Among gazelles, territorial males had higher parasite intensities than did either bachelor males or females and juveniles, suggesting that highly territorial individuals may be either more exposed or more susceptible to parasites. Associations among territoriality, grouping, and parasitism were also found across taxa. Territorial host genera were more likely to be infected with strongyle nematodes than were nonterritorial hosts, and gregarious hosts were more infected than were solitary hosts. Analyses also revealed that gregariousness and territoriality had an interactive effect on individual parasite richness, whereby hosts with both traits harbored significantly more parasite groups than did hosts with only one or neither trait. Overall, study results indicate that multiple features of host social behavior influence infection risk and suggest that synergism between traits also has important effects on host parasite load. Copyright 2004.
Development of a Quality of Sexual Life Questionnaire for Breast Cancer Survivors in Mainland China

Background There is a great need for a quality of sexual life questionnaire (QVS) in breast cancer survivors (BCSs) based on the Chinese social culture since the imported tools lack localization verification. To develop a QVS in BCSs and determine its validity and reliability. Material/Methods In the qualitative study, a total of 21 BCSs were interviewed by purposive sampling and snowball sampling; and in the quantitative study, a total of 249 BCSs, who were admitted and received outpatient follow-up, were investigated. Regarding construct validity, factor analysis was performed. The female sexual function index (FSFI), self-rating depression scale (SDS), and Locke-Wallace marital adjustment test (LWMAT) were used to evaluate criterion validity. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used as an index of internal consistency. To evaluate test-retest reliability, 50 patients were re-evaluated after 1 week. Results We put 28 items in the factor analysis model: (1) 5 factors were extracted by exploratory factor analysis (EFA), with a cumulative contribution of 60.37%; (2) the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed that the path coefficients among the factors were all above 0.5, and the standardized load coefficients of the most items were above 0.5; (3) the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.929 for the overall questionnaire, and ranged from 0.571 to 0.869 for the 5 factors; (4) the correlation coefficients between the overall questionnaire and the FSFI, SDS, and LWMAT were 0.582, −0.456 and 0.515, respectively (P<0.01); and (5) the test-retest correlation coefficient was 0.816, and the split-half-reliability coefficient was 0.899. Conclusions The QVS in BCSs has good reliability and validity, and can be used to assess the quality of sexual life among BCSs in Mainland China.
Factors Influencing Mobile Learning Among Higher Education Students in Malaysia

Mobile learning applications have been utilized in university teaching and learning settings. Mobile learning is a general term for education training and information which emphasis on the gathering of skill and knowledge. However, mobile learning is commonly referred to the intentional use of networked ICT in teaching and learning. this study proposes a model to identify that factors that influence the acceptance of mobile learning in higher education and to investigate if prior experience of mobile devices affects the acceptance of mobile learning. This study focus on higher education in Malaysia and 150 higher education students were taken as sample for this study. The objective of this research was to test the relationship from part of the UTAUT model which is performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence and facilitating conditions to predict whether the fourth element will affect the acceptance of mobile learning among public and private students. This study found that the performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence and facilitating conditions were significantly influence the acceptance of mobile learning. The technology will benefit students as well as the lecturers in completing their daily tasks.
Leishmania donovani Exploits Tollip, a Multitasking Protein, To Impair TLR/IL-1R Signaling for Its Survival in the Host

IL-1R/TLR signaling plays a significant role in sensing harmful foreign pathogens and mounting effective innate and adaptive immune responses. However, the precise mechanism by which Leishmania donovani, an obligate intramacrophagic pathogen, breaches IL-1R/TLR signaling and host-protective immunity remains obscure. In this study, we report the novel biphasic role of Toll-interacting protein (Tollip), a negative regulator of the IL-1R/TLR pathway, in the disease progression of experimental visceral leishmaniasis. We observed that during early hours of infection, L. donovani induced phosphorylation of IRAK-1, resulting in the release of Tollip from the IL-1R–associated kinase (IRAK)-1 complex in J774 macrophages, which then acted as an endocytic adaptor on cell surface IL-1R1 and promoted its lysosomal degradation. In the later stage, Tollip shuttled back to IRAK-1, thereby inhibiting IRAK-1 phosphorylation in association with IRAK-M to neutralize downstream TLR signaling in infected macrophages. Moreover, during late infection, L. donovani enhanced nuclear translocation and recruitment of transcription factors early growth response protein 2, NF erythroid 2–related factor 2, and Ahr on Tollip promoter for its induction. Small interfering RNA–mediated silencing of Tollip in infected macrophages significantly enhanced NF-κB activation and induced host-defensive IL-12 and TNF-α synthesis, thereby reducing amastigote multiplication. Likewise, abrogation of Tollip in L. donovani–infected BALB/c mice resulted in STAT-1–, IRF-1–, and NF-κB–mediated upregulation of host-protective cytokines and reduced organ parasite burden, thereby implicating its role in disease aggravation. Taken together, we conclude that L. donovani exploited the multitasking function of Tollip for its own establishment through downregulating IL-1R1/TLR signaling in macrophages.
Bipolar disorder type I and II show distinct relationships between cortical thickness and executive function

Frontal cortical abnormalities and executive function impairment co‐occur in bipolar disorder. Recent studies have shown that bipolar subtypes differ in the degree of structural and functional impairments. The relationships between cognitive performance and cortical integrity have not been clarified and might differ across patients with bipolar disorder type I, II, and healthy subjects.
APPLYING PLANT FACILITATION TO FOREST RESTORATION: A META-ANALYSIS OF THE USE OF SHRUBS AS NURSE PLANTS

After a millenarian history of overexploitation, most forests in the Medi- terranean Basin have disappeared, leaving many degraded landscapes that have been re- colonized by early successional shrub-dominated communities. Common reforestation tech- niques treat these shrubs as competitors against newly planted tree seedlings; thus shrubs are cleared before tree plantation. However, empirical studies and theory governing plant- plant interactions suggest that, in stress-prone Mediterranean environments, shrubs can have a net positive effect on recruitment of other species. Between 1997 and 2001, we carried out experimental reforestations in the Sierra Nevada Protected Area (southeast Spain) with the aim of comparing the survival and growth of seedlings planted in open areas (the current reforestation technique) with seedlings planted under the canopy of preexisting shrub species. Over 18 000 seedlings of 11 woody species were planted under 16 different nurse shrubs throughout a broad geographical area. We sought to explore variation in the sign and magnitude of interactions along spatial gradients defined by altitude and aspect. In the present work, we report the results of a meta-analysis conducted with seedling survival and growth data for the first summer following planting, the most critical period for reforestation success in Mediterranean areas. The facilitative effect was consistent in all environmental situations explored (grand mean effect size d 1 5 0.89 for survival and 0.27 for growth). However, there were differences in the magnitude of the interaction, depending on the seedling species planted as well as the nurse shrub species involved. Additionally, nurse shrubs had a stronger facilitative effect on seedling survival and growth at low altitudes and sunny, drier slopes than at high altitudes or shady, wetter slopes. Facilitation in the dry years proved higher than in the one wet year. Our results show that pioneer shrubs facilitate the establishment of woody, late-successional Mediterranean spe- cies and thus can positively affect reforestation success in many different ecological settings.
Dispersal and diversity in experimental metacommunities: linking theory and practice

There has been a recent rise in the number of experiments investigating the effect of dispersal on diversity, with many of the predictions for these tests derived from metacommunity theory. Despite the promise of linking observed relationships between dispersal and diversity to underlying metacommunity processes, empirical studies have faced challenges in providing robust tests of theory. We review experimental studies that have tested how dispersal affects metacommunity diversity to determine why shortcomings emerge, and to provide a framework for empirical tests of theory that capture the processes structuring diversity in natural metacommunities. We first summarize recent experimental work to outline trends in results and to highlight common methods that cause a misalignment between empirical studies and the processes described by theory. We then identify the undesired implications of three widely used experimental methods that homogenize metacommunity structure or species traits, and present alternative methods that have been used to successfully integrate experiments and theory in a biologically relevant way. Finally, we present methodological and theoretical insights from three related ecological fields (coexistence, food web and priority effects theory) that, if integrated into metacommunity experiments, could help isolate the independent and joint effects of local interactions and dispersal on diversity, and reveal the mechanisms underlying observed dispersal–diversity patterns. Together, these methods can provide stronger tests of existing theory and stimulate new theoretical explorations.
Reducing the gender gap in the physics classroom

We investigate if the gender gap in conceptual understanding in an introductory university physics course can be reduced by using interactive engagement methods that promote in-class interaction, reduce competition, foster collaboration, and emphasize conceptual understanding. To this end we analyzed data from the introductory calculus-based physics course for non-majors at Harvard University taught traditionally or using different degrees of interactive engagement. Our results show that teaching with certain interactive strategies not only yields significantly increased understanding for both males and females, but also reduces the gender gap. In the most interactively taught courses, the pre-instruction gender gap was gone by the end of the semester.
Gender Differences in the Usage and Attitudes toward the Internet among Student Teachers in a Public Malaysian University

The problems of gender disparity in the usage and attitude towards the Internet have received considerable interest among researchers. Most findings have revealed that females are at a disadvantage compared to their male counterparts where Internet usage is concerned. They have unequal access, a low rate of usage and exhibit negative attitudes towards the Internet (Nachmias et al., 2000; Sherman et al., 2000; Madell & Muncer, 2004). Prompted by these observations, this study was carried out to investigate the gender disparity in Internet usage and the attitudes among 152 student teachers (80 females and 72 males) at a public Malaysian university (Universiti Putra Malaysia). The results of this study revealed no gender disparity in Internet usage; the female student teachers were found to spend as much time using the Internet as their male counterparts. These results accordingly contradicted the common findings of other researchers. The results also revealed that the students exhibited positive attitudes toward the Internet regardless of gender, again in contradiction to most other findings. Possible reasons and the implications of these findings will be elaborated and discussed.