Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Processing on the Proximate and Mineral Composition of Archachatina marginata and Achatina achatina

Proximate and mineral nutrients composition of boiled and roasted samples of two African giant land snails Archachatina marginata and Achatina achatina were assessed in this study. The study aimed at investigating the effect of two cultural methods of preparing snails for consumption in Nigeria (boiling and roasting) on the nutritional quality of the snail meat. Proximate analysis was carried out following the methods of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists, while mineral nutrients were analyzed using atomic absorption spectrometry. The results showed that roasting affected the nutrient composition of the two snail species more than boiling. In A. marginata, only the carbohydrate content was increased by boiling (unprocessed 22.53 ± 1.08%, boiled 34.68±2.34%), whereas roasting of the same sample led to increased carbohydrate (32.62 ± 2.20%), protein (66.85± 3.01%), and fat (3.02 ± 0.18%) contents (unprocessed 22.53 ± 1.08%, 63.46 ± 2.56%, and 2.40 ± 0.02%, respectively). Similarly, in A. achatina only the carbohydrate content was increased by boiling (33.82± 2.16%), while roasting increased both the carbohydrate (31.28 ± 2.00%) and protein (66.58 ± 2.04%) contents (unprocessed 24.38 ± 1.29 and 63.46 ± 2.56%, respectively). Boiling increased the concentration of all the mineral elements assayed in A. marginata and A. achatina except Na, while roasting increased the concentration of all the mineral elements in the two snail species. Thus, to achieve higher levels of nutrients in snails, it may be advisable to roast rather than boil the flesh. Also, the two snail species should be cultivated and consumed as a good, cheap and alternative source of protein as there is no difference in their nutrient composition.
Help seeking attitudes and illegal drug use among methadone maintenance therapy patients in Malaysia

Abstract Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified substance use disorders as a significant public health concern for many countries. In Malaysia, the government took the step to address this concern in 2005 through the introduction of Methadone Maintenance Therapy (MMT) to treat opioid use disorders. The purpose of this study is to test whether help-seeking attitudes by MMT patients are associated with continued substance use. Method: Participants were 171 patients who received MMT in 2 of the National Anti-Drug Agencies in Klang Valley, Malaysia. Participants were, on average, 45.35 years old (SD = 10.22) and approximately half of them were married. Participants’ Help Seeking Attitudes were measured using the 10-Item Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help–Short Form (ATSPPH-SF) (Fischer and Farina 1995). The dependent measure for this analysis was whether or not the participant had a positive drug screen in the past 6 months of their MMT. Results: Frequencies indicate that 46.2% of the participants had positive drug screen results indicating illicit drug use during the past 6 months of MMT treatment. Logistic regression results indicate that more positive Help Seeking Attitudes are associated with reduced odds of a positive drug screen (O.R. = .87, 95% CI = .80, .93, p < .001). Participant perceptions that help-seeking is positive reduced the odds of having a positive drug screen. Conclusions: This result suggests that research, practice, and policy efforts might include messages that aim to promote help-seeking and to reduce stigma associated with seeking help for substance use disorders.
Peroxy radicals in the summer free troposphere: seasonality and potential for heterogeneous loss

Abstract. The sum of peroxy radicals (HO2+ΣiRiO2) and supporting trace gases were measured on the Jungfraujoch (3580 m a.s.l.) during the late summer of 2005. The period was marked by extended times of heavy snow which led to reduction in the observed peroxy radicals during the snowy periods that was greater than the concomitant reduction in j(O1D). In the limit a first order loss rate of 0.0063 s−1 can be derived for the peroxy radical loss in the snowy conditions that could be potentially ascribed to a heterogenous loss process. On snow free days photolysis of HCHO is shown to be a significant peroxy radical source. The seasonal trends of the peroxy radical concentrations have been mapped from the winter to summer transition in line with previous experiments. Net ozone production in late summer at the Jungfraujoch was net neutral to marginally ozone destructive. A value of 28±4 pptv is calculated for the ozone compensation point for the snow free days.
Study of Post-World War II French Aeronautical Aluminium Alloy and Coatings: Historical and Materials Science Approach

ABSTRACT In many countries, collections of historic aircraft, conserved in Air and Space museums or local associations, reflect the importance of a national or local history. Mostly parked outdoors, aircraft suffer from significant corrosion requiring conservation operations. During renovation, metallic parts are often replaced by association members. This can lead to a major loss of information since industrial archives dealing with materials and processes do not always survive. However, if these elements can be considered, they could be a fundamental source of information on the materials originally used and of the technical history of aeronautics. This work reports a thorough study of aluminium-based alloy parts collected on a Breguet aeroplane dating from the 1950s, during its recent renovation. Thanks to an approach coupling multi-scale material characterisation and research in archives, information on the industrial knowledge is revealed. Several historic grades of aluminium-based alloys were found, namely A-U4G, A-U4G1, and A-U3G, depending on the role of the part. Similarly, different protective coatings were identified (anodic oxidation, primers, and paintings), depending on the role of the metallic part and its location in the plane. Knowledge of the materials from bulk metal to the coated surface is necessary for good conservation practices regarding aeronautical heritage artefacts. Related documents and archives also fundamentally help in understanding such complex artefacts.
p53 Mutation in Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Northern Thailand

Background: A specific mutation in the p53 gene at codon 249 has been detected in HCC from areas with high exposure to dietary contaminated with aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) , whereas this mutation is absent from HCC in regions with negligible exposure to AFB1. Objective: The aim of our study was to examine p53 codon 249 mutation in HCC tissue from patients resided in Northern Thailand, and analyzed the relationship between this mutation and clinicopathologic factors. Patients and Methods: Between January 2001 to June 2003, total 25 liver samples were collected from HCC patients. Mutation of the p53 gene at codon 249 was detected by SOMA. Results: Of 25 cases, there were 21 samples (84%) with p53 gene expression, and 4 samples were undetectable (16%). Mutation at codon 249 of p53 gene was detected in 6 samples (24%), and wild-type p53 was found in 15 samples (60%). There was no statistically significant association between p53 mutation at codon 249 and age, HBV infection, HCV infection, Child class, tumor size, or AFP level. Only male sex had correlation with this mutation. (p <0.05) Conclusion: HCC from Northern Thailand has high prevalence of p53 codon 249 mutation compare to other countries with high incidence of aflatoxin exposure. Further studies in non HCC patients as well as the analysis of aflatoxin contamination in food product in Thailand is needed.
Hydrogen desorption and adsorption measurements on graphite nanofibers

Graphite nanofibers were synthesized and their hydrogen desorption and adsorption properties are reported for 77 and 300 K. Catalysts were made by several different methods including chemical routes, mechanical alloying, and gas condensation. The nanofibers were grown by passing ethylene and H2 gases over the catalysts at 600 °C. Hydrogen desorption and adsorption were measured using a volumetric analysis Sieverts' apparatus, and the graphite nanofibers were characterized by transmission electron microscopy and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area analysis. The absolute level of hydrogen desorption measured from these materials was typically less than the 0.01 H/C atom, comparable to other forms of carbon.
Practices of ambiguity: becoming "information literate" in two Norwegian schools

The purpose of this study is to examine the establishment of information literacy (IL) practices among secondary school pupils aged 14-16-years-old (grades 9-10) in two Norwegian schools. In Norway, a new curriculum introduced in 2006 emphasised digital skills, aiming to develop IL relating to digital texts in particular. Despite the fact that an ambitious national curriculum has been in place for quite some time, not much is known about how this works in practice in the subject group of this study. The main purpose of this article is to identify the kind of IL practices that have been established and how the pupils experience and reproduce these practices. It seems that the pupils become information literate but not to the extent the curriculum anticipates. The study used mixed methods in order to reveal general trends and to explore certain issues in more depth. The material consists of data from a questionnaire and interviews. The study has a sociocultural perspective as its theoretical point of departure, resting on an understanding of how IL practices in school are formed through interaction and/or the lack of interaction between pupils and their teachers. Without interaction guiding the pupils, their IL practices are at the risk of becoming practices of ambiguity. The implications of this study is that one must go beyond national curricula and examine the way IL or digital literacy is actually performed in schools in order to understand how these practices are shaped.
Cross-Country Income Differences and Technology Diffusion in a Competitive World

This paper develops a new open-economy endogenous growth model where technology diffusion allows for a stable and non-degenerate world income distribution. In accordance with the empirical literature, I find that country characteristics such as the social infrastructure, the degree of openness, the investment rate, population growth, the level of human capital, or growth policies such as subsidies to innovation investments explain a country’s position in the eventual world income distribution. Club convergence in growth rates can be traced back to a country’s openness and to a minimum required level of human capital.
Fluorescent Chemosensors Based on Energy Migration in Conjugated Polymers: The Molecular Wire Approach to Increased Sensitivity

We demonstrate herein how conjugated polymers (molecular wires) can be used to interconnect (wire in series) receptors to produce fluorescent chemosensory systems with sensitivity enhancements over single receptor analogues. The enhancement mechanism in the polyreceptor materials is based on an energy migration scheme in which excitations, diffuse along the polymer backbone. Analyte binding produces trapping sites for the excitations which results in greatly attenuated emission intensity. Three different cyclophane-based receptor systems that bind paraquat were investigated. These systems are quenched by paraquat binding, and the quenching enhancements relative to a monomeric model compound were used to determine the efficiency of energy migration. Two polymers with related poly(phenyleneethyny1ene) structures were investigated, and the all-para system was found to exhibit more facile energy migration than the more electronically localized analogue that contained meta linkages. The para polyreceptor system was found to display a 65-fold enhancement in sensitivity to paraquat as compared to a model monoreceptor fluorescent chemosensor. However, we have determined that delocalization alone is not sufficient to produce facile energy migration, and the more delocalized polythiophenes appear to be less effective at energy migration than the para poly(phenyleneethyny1ene) material. Paraquat-induced fluorescent quenching studies on homologous polymers that lacked the cyclophane receptors were also performed. These results indicate that diffusive quenching by paraquat is enhanced by energy migration.
A Dynamic and Multivariate Analysis of Treasury Bill Behavior in a Bank Asset Portfolio

The portfolio behavior of banks in a developing financial market environment is somewhat different from that of developed markets. To explore such a situation, in this study, a dynamic and multivariate analysis of the behavior of treasury bills in the bank's asset portfolio is employed by using data from the Ethiopian banking sector. A very comprehensive econometric model that includes initial stock variable, asset portfolio variables, liability portfolio variables, and yield differentials has been developed. The study is time series and covers the period from the first quarter of 2000 to second quarter of 2010 of the Ethiopian banking sector. Except for the yield differentials other variables are found to be significant. Besides, all the explanatory variables maintain the a priori expected sign except one of the yield differentials: relative yield differential between long-term and short-term securities. This is attributed to the less attractive and more stable nature of the yield on long-term securities in the Ethiopian financial market.
Attitudes towards Smart Phones and Tablets

This paper examines the perceptions of advantages of smart phones and tablets on basic and general English students' language learning, self-sufficiency, and interest using smart phones and tablets at an Iranian university college during one university term. Through a survey administered to 333 basic and general English students and through selective observations and interviews, the following questions were examined: 1) Students' perceived impact of smart phones and tablets on increasing their confidence throughout the course,2) Students’ perceived comfort/enjoyment with smart phones and tablets for the students at the beginning and end of the semester,3) Students' perceived impact of devices through a comparison between pre and post survey measures on improvement of reading comprehension, reading speed, vocabulary and spelling, motivation, and preparing them for class tests and quizzes. Tablets were evaluated more positively than smart phones by the students as a means to increase confidence. Both tablets and smart phones were evaluated positively, both as a means of improving students’ motivation to learn, and as a means to develop reading comprehension, spelling, and vocabulary. However, students’ expectations regarding the impact of such devices on their reading speed, preparation for tests and quizzes, as well as comfort and enjoyment were not met.
Students’ Mathematical Reasoning, Communication, and Language Representations: A Video-Narrative Analysis

Purpose Learning mathematics is a complex process, requiring many conceptual lenses and rich data sources to document and understand students’ construction of knowledge. The purpose of this article is both to introduce a unique database on students’ mathematical learning and to describe analytical techniques used to study students’ growth of the knowledge of mathematics and language. Design/Approach/Methods Our approach includes the following aspects: First, we describe a unique collection of video-taped recordings of longitudinal and cross-sectional studies of diverse, U.S. students, learning mathematics (Video Mosaic Collaborative, VMC). Second, we introduce our analytical methods, which utilize the database for collaborative study of students’ learning. These methods include video-narrative analyses that display fine-grained examinations of interactions among students who are solving engaging problems that require them to reason mathematically and to represent their understandings with language and non-language forms. These analyses, referenced as VMCAnalytics, demonstrate the accessibility and flexibility of the database to study relationships among students’ mathematics and language learning. Findings The findings generated are illustrated by two examples demonstrating the accessibility and flexibility of the database to study relationships between mathematics and language learning (mathematics register). Originality/Value The contribution of our work is illustrated by describing the rich database; employing a collaborative research approach; and signifying our understanding of relationships among students’ mathematical and language learning.
Usage of test- driven development in open source projects

The aim of this thesis is to provide an understanding of the use of test-driven development (TDD) in unit testing level in open source software (OSS) projects. TDD is a software development approach relying in short development cycles. Test-first approach, in which software tests are written first and then just enough code to pass them, is a central part of TDD. This way tests and production code are developed synchronously together supporting quality assurance processes in OSS projects which are sometimes reported to suffer from insufficient testing. To get an understanding of the use of TDD in OSS projects, 2500 OSS projects were downloaded from GitHub and an automatic script was developed to analyse the projects and particularly test files which have one precise target file. These tests were divided in to three categories depending on if the tests were committed before, with or after their target files. It turned out that 74% (1822 out of 2500) projects contained at least one test file. 52% (1292) of all projects contained at least one test file with one precise target file and which was committed to the project’s repository either before or with its target file. 561 projects contained at least 10 tests with a single target and of which at least 50% were committed before or with their target files. These 561 projects are 22% from all projects and nearly one third (31%) of projects containing tests. Furthermore, it turned out that only half of all tests committed before or after their target files were committed by the same author who also committed the production code. Naturally tests committed with the production code were added by the same committer. Based on the results it seems that a distinct minority of the downloaded projects are certainly following the test-first aspect of TDD in the sense that tests are added to the project’s repository before the production code, although it is possible that tests are made first and only committed later with the target file. Since majority of the tests were committed with the target file, it can be assumed that most of them were created at least closely together. Thus, the most important finding in this study is that there is evidence of the open source community's commitment to creating tests for their code.
Monotonicity of some functions involving the Psi function and sharp estimates for the remainders of certain series

Let s, t > 0, t > s and t − s = 1. We prove that the function t−s ψ(x+t)−ψ(x+s) − x is decreasing on (−s, ∞) if t−s < 1 and increasing on the same interval if t− s > 1. We apply this result in finding sharp estimates for the error term of several series such as ∑∞ k=1(−1) 1 k−1+a , a > 0. Our results generalize a recent theorem of L. Tóth and J. Bukor. Mathematics Subject Classification: 33B15; 26D15; 41A44; 41A58; 41A80
Forms of Government Decentralization and Institutional Quality: Evidence from a Large Sample of Nations

This paper studies the effects of various forms of government decentralization on institutional quality across countries. Using corruption and the shadow economy to proxy for institutional quality, as well as three forms of government decentralization (i.e., virtual, physical, and fiscal), the econometric results show virtual decentralization to be the most effective in improving institutional quality. The effects on transition and countries in Asia are also considered.
Protection of embankment dam toe and abutments under overtopping conditions

This article is primarily intended to introduce the theoretical and practical significance of the downstream toe and abutments of embankment dams. Further, summary of previous empirical and experimental research works carried out in the field of embankment dam protection under overtopping conditions is presented. Relationships for sizing of dumped riprap stones at embankment toe are proposed based on key findings from the research areas of design of dumped ripraps and embankment dam toe. The proposed criteria are tested with available experimental data. The paper also aims at bringing to the fore, possibilities for further research.
Implantation of Adult Stem Cells in Patients with Heart Disease: ClinicalPractice Implications for Nurses

This is a systematic review that aims to identify scientific publications in databases that cover the bone marrowderived adult stem cells implantation in heart disease patient with changes in ejection fraction. For the study were used the databases LILACS, MEDLINE, Cochrane, Embase, CINAHL, PubMed and Ovid. In the five eligible trials with 279 patients, bone marrow – derived adult stem cells implantation indicates that there is statistical significance, although the number of studies are not conclusive for expressive statements to allow inferences about the effectiveness of the outcome. Based on the results we point out that the nurse should be focused on promoting adherence to treatment through conventional education measures.
Do wives earnings contribute to reduce income inequality?: Evidence from Spain

In this paper we analyze the effect of female labor force participation on income inequality. We present evidence from Spain by using data from the Family Expenditure Survey for 1980 and 1990. The case of Spain is particulary interesting because inequality decreased over the eighties, while the labor force participation rate of married women increased substantially over the same period. Our results show that although female labor force participation has contributed to decrease income inequality in Spain, it is far from being one of the main factors behind the observed decrease in inequality over the eighties.
Anomalous baseline effects in mainstream emotion research using psychophysiological variables

The goal of this study was to see whether anomalies observed in physiological baseline measurements could be found in data from previously published studies. Three datasets were reanalyzed. The first dataset was from a study on the speed with which fear arises in animal phobic participants vs. controls. The second study was concerned with the difference in anticipatory responses prior to choosing cards from risky vs. non-risky decks of cards in a gambling task. The third dataset was from a study investigating the effect of emotional priming on the evaluation of Japanese characters. In all three studies marginally significant anomalous effects were found. The anomaly was an unexpected difference in the baselines preceding randomized emotional vs. calm stimuli. In the studies using emotional pictures this was mostly due to the baselines preceding erotic pictures. The combined result across the three studies was significant (z = 2.748, p = 0.003). A secondary goal of this study was to estimate, independent of the reason for the anomalous baseline effect, how much this effect might have influenced measurement of the response values. It is shown that the error introduced by taking a baseline value at or just before the start of the stimulus ranges from 10% to 30% of the main effect, at least in the three studies investigated here. This finding carries implications for the interpretation of results in mainstream psychophysiological research.