Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Some properties of starches from cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta) and cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz.) grown in Malawi

The physicochemical and functional properties of starch from cocoyam and ten varieties of cassava grown in Malawi were studied to unravel their potential in industrial application. The properties of starch varied significantly with crop and among varieties. Cocoyam starch granules exhibited polygonal truncated shapes and small sizes (average of 7 μm) while the cassava starch granules were rounded, irregular with oval and truncated ellipsoidal-granules with average size of 10.14 μm. The cocoyam starch gave lower values of amylose values content and paste clarity but higher phosphorus content, maximum wavelength of iodine complex absorption and blue value than cassava starches. Cassava starches gels were more stable to freeze thawing releasing 28.40 – 46.92% of the water than cocoyam which released 54.06% of its water. Swelling and solubility of both cocoyam and cassava starches increased with temperature (60 90°C). Cocoyam starch exhibited lowered swelling power and solubility than cassava starches. The studies of gelatinization and retrogradation characteristics indicated similar enthalpy values of gelatinization of cocoyam and cassava starch; cocoyam starch displayed higher retrogradation tendencies than cassava starches.
Swimming performance of the migratory Neotropical fish Leporinus reinhardti (Characiformes: Anostomidae)

The fishways built in Latin America were mainly based on those used in the northern hemisphere for passing salmonids upstream. However, the swimming capacity in terms of speed and endurance is a major factor concerning the design of a fishway, and this information is not available for migratory neotropical fish species. Therefore, studies on swimming performance of neotropical species is fundamental. The aim of this study was to estimate the critical, sustained and prolonged speeds for the piau-tres-pintas Leporinus reinhardti, and to evaluate the influence of water temperature on the swimming performance of the species. Variable (increasing) and fixed velocity tests were performed in a respirometer. When compared to other species whose critical speed data are available, the piau showed higher speeds, for a given total length. Fatigue times per prolonged speed class were estimated as well as prolonged speed per fatigue time class. The changing point from sustained to prolonged swimming was estimated to occur approximately at a speed of seven body-lengths per second (1.12 m/s for an individual with 16 cm total length: the first maturation length). In spite of the great swimming performance of piau, the adoption of efficient directives in fishway projects to allow the passage of neotropical ichthyofauna, will depend on a more detailed analysis of the swimming capacity of different species.
Emergence of Orthobiologics as a Novel Therapeutic Modality for Osteoarthritis of Knee

Osteoarthritis [OA] of knee is a common cause of disability worldwide. The number of non-operative treatment options is on the rise. Orthobiologic therapy has emerged as a novel yet effective modality for early OA. It aims at achieving biologic repair, by repairing the damaged joint surface with autologous articular cartilage. Exploiting the healing and rejuvenating properties of body's own cells for the repair and renewal of damaged tissues is the basic crux behind orthobiologic therapy. Creation of an ambient structural, biological and biomechanical environment is an essential prerequisite for successful orthobiologic therapy. There are a number of orthobiologic options - platelet rich plasma (PRP), bone marrow concentrate (BMC), adipose tissue derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADMSC), autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) and autologous conditioned serum. This review article discusses the clinical indications, rationale, preparation, pros and cons of each one of them in detail along with a comprehensive review of published literature.
First Report of Twinning in the Hawksbill Sea Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) from Khram Island, Chonburi Province, Thailand

Twinning in reptiles and especially in the sea turtle, occurs rarely. During an investigation (May – August, 2011) of the nesting monitoring program on Khram Island, Chonburi, where an important nesting site in Thailand is located, we found that the number of female turtles has decreased. Unexpectedly, twinning in hawksbill turtle embryos has also been reported. This is the first discovery of such a phenomenon in the Gulf of Thailand. An un-hatched egg, with two fully developed embryos has been found. The embryos shared one yolk sac and differed substantially in size. The larger one has a carapace deformity with a 31.5 mm curved carapace width and a 22.5 mm length, while the smaller embryo has a normal carapace with a 16.5 mm width and a 18.5 mm length. However, the causes of twinning in sea turtles are still not well understood. Low temperature has been suggested as a possible factor. Other environmental or genetic factors could also be involved. For further studies, the pattern of the twins’ and parental DNA should be investigated.
Maternal supplementation and demographic features association with developing fetus

Background: In Pakistan, most of the low socio-economic setup and under nutrition mothers deliver the babies having multiple congenital anomalies. These abnormalities make infant physically disable and sometimes mentally retarded too. Nutritional status of mother effects on various pregnancy pregnancy. Objectives: To find out the impact of supplementation and demographic features of mother on her fetus through scan. Methodology: The study was conducted to investigate the association of nutritional status and demographic features on pregnancy scan in Pakistani women. This data was collected from different areas of Pakistan, during January 2015 to June 2015, through proforma. The proforma was designed by literature review and expert opinion, consisting of eight questions, filled by researcher in formal interview with pregnant woman of 2nd trimester. The sample size of the study was two fifty two. Data was analyzed by using SPSS16. Results: Results of this study show that 46% mothers were using no nutritional supplement during pregnancy and out of 46%, 36.5% women were bearing their first pregnancy, 93.7% women showed normal scan. 31.7% women got normal BMI, while significant association was found among scan, pregnancy number and BMI of mother. Conclusion: The results showed that BMI value and number of pregnancy are the factors which have profound effect on the fetus scan. Supplementation and Hb level have negative correlation with scan. Other demographic factors have clinically significant effects on the pregnancy outcomes.
Melatonin Concentration in Plasma, Pineal Gland and Duodenum of Pregnant Rats and their Fetuses after Melatonin and Phenytoin Administration

Stebelova K. , M. Mach, I. Herichova, E. Ujhazy, M. Zeman: Melatonin Concentration in Plasma, Pineal Gland and Duodenum of Pregnant Rats and their Fetuses after Melatonin and Phenytoin Administration. Acta Vet. Brno 2006, 75: 161-167. Melatonin (MEL) is involved in regulation of variety of physiological processes. Beside the pineal gland, the presence of MEL was confirmed in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT), where it may exert multiple actions. We investigated the effects of a single MEL administration of 0.4, 4.0 and 40.0 µg MEL/ml of tap water on MEL levels in rat plasma, pineal gland and duodenum. In addition, we studied the effect of a prolonged administration of MEL, an anticonvulsant drug phenytoin (PHT) and a combination of MEL+PHT, on MEL concentrations in pregnant rats and their fetuses. Single MEL administration of 4.0 and 40.0 µg MEL/ml resulted in a dose-related increase of MEL concentration in the rat plasma and duodenum but in a decrease of MEL in the pineal gland. After a prolonged MEL administration, MEL levels in duodenal tissues were significantly lower in control group and group treated with PHT as compared to animals, where MEL and PHT were administered simultaneously. A significant increase in MEL concentration was recorded in the intestine of fetuses taken from mothers treated with MEL and MEL + PHT. Our results indicate a dose-related absorption of MEL from tap water to GIT tissues of pregnant rats and their fetuses, where MEL may increase the protection of the intestinal mucose. Exogenous melatonin, fetus, gastrointestinal tract, rat, phenytoin
Estimation of the squashing degree within a three-dimensional domain

Context. The study of the magnetic topology of magnetic elds aims at determining the key sites for the development of magnetic reconnection. Quasi-separatrix layers (QSLs), regions of strong connectivity gradients, are topological structures where intense-electric currents preferentially build-up, and where, later on, magnetic reconnection occurs. Aims. QSLs are volumes of intense squashing degree, Q; the eld-line invariant quantifying the deformation of elementary ux tubes. QSL are complex and thin three-dimensional (3D) structures dicult to visualize directly. Therefore Q maps, i.e. 2D cuts of the 3D magnetic domain, are a more and more common features used to study QSLs. Methods. We analyze several methods to derive 2D Q maps and discuss their analytical and numerical properties. These methods can also be used to compute Q within the 3D domain. Results. We demonstrate that while analytically equivalent, the numerical implementation of these methods can be signicantly dierent. We derive the analytical formula and the best numerical methodology that should be used to compute Q inside the 3D domain. We illustrate this method with two twisted magnetic congurations: a theoretical case and a non-linear force free conguration derived from observations. Conclusions. The representation of QSL through 2D planar cuts is an ecient procedure to derive the geometry of these structures and to relate them with other quantities, e.g. electric currents and plasma ows. It will enforce a more direct comparison of the role of QSL in magnetic reconnection.
Stochastic Loss Reserving with the Collective Risk Model

This paper presents a Bayesian stochastic loss reserve model with the following features. 1. The model for expected loss payments depends upon unknown parameters that determine the expected loss ratio for the given accident years and the expected payment for each settlement lag. 2. The distribution of outcomes is given by the collective risk model in which the expected claim severity increases with the settlement lag. The claim count distribution is given by a Poisson distribution with its mean determined by dividing the expected loss by the expected claim severity. 3. The parameter sets that describe the posterior distribution of the parameters in (1) above are calculated with the Gibbs sampler. 4. For each parameter set generated by the Gibbs sampler in (3), the predicted distribution of outcomes is calculated using a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). The Bayesian predictive distribution of outcomes is a mixture of the distributions of outcomes over all the parameter sets produced by the Gibbs sampler. This paper concludes by applying this model to the problem of calculating risk margins for loss reserves using a cost of capital formula.
Incentives Beyond the Money: Identity and Motivational Capital in Public Organizations

This paper explores optimality of contracts and incentives when the principal (public organisation) can undertake investments to change agents’ (public workers) identity. In the model, workers within the organisation can have different identities. We develop a principal-agent dynamical model with moral hazard, which captures the possibility of affecting this workers’ identity through contracts offered by the firm. In the model, identity is a motivation source which reduces agents’ isutility from effort. We use the term identity to refer to a situation in which the worker shares the organisational objectives and views herself as a part of the organisation. Contrary, we use the term conflict to refer to a ituation in which workers behave self-interested and frequently in the opposite way of the organisation. We assume that identity can be achieved when principal include mission-sense developing investments in contracts. By mission we mean a single culture that is shared by all the members of an organization. We discuss the conditions under which spending resources in changing workers’ identity and invest in this kind of motivational capital is optimal for organisations. Our results may help to inform public firms’ managers about the optimal design of incentive schemes and policies. For instance, we conclude that investing in motivational capital is the best option in the long run whereas pure monetary incentives works better in the short run.
Antarctic stratospheric warming since 1979

Antarctic stratospheric warming since 1979 Y. Hu and Q. Fu Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, USA Received: 26 November 2008 – Accepted: 4 December 2008 – Published: 16 January 2009 Correspondence to: Y. Hu (yyhu@pku.edu.cn) Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union.
A pilot study of user acceptance and educational potentials of virtual patients in transcultural psychiatry

Objectives: The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate user acceptance, educational potentials and face and con-struct validity of a dedicated Virtual Patient system for refugee trauma cases, designed to enhance clinical, interper-sonal, social and cultural competence.Methods: We developed a Virtual Patient system portraying a female refugee – mediated by a still image and pre-recorded voice – that was evaluated by an invited group of physicians (n=9) working as residents in Psychiatry (n=8) and General Medicine (n=1). The participants were invited to provide insights/feedback about the system’s usefulness and its educational value.Results: Scores across our sample were high regarding the Virtual Patient system’s realistic nature (median value: 5 on a 7-point scale) as well as the Virtual Patient’s ability to mirror the course of a real clinical investigation (median value: 6 on a 7-point scale). The system was said to provide a good environment for safe training of clinical and com-municative skills. The system’s face and construct validity were also demonstrated. Proposed future improvements will include the implementation of detailed feedback from a Virtual Advisor and/or the Virtual Patient him/herself, the use of video-simulated patients and the ability to formulate clinical questions in free text.Conclusions: This dedicated Virtual Patient system was well received by the participants. They appraised it as having a good potential for training in relationship to the clinical encounter and the management of traumatized refugees.
Numerical and experimental studies of the rolling sphere wake

A numerical and experimental investigation is reported for the flow around a rolling sphere when moving adjacent to a plane wall. The dimensionless rotation rate of the sphere is varied from forward to reversed rolling and the resulting wake modes are found to be strongly dependent on the value of this parameter. Results are reported for the Reynolds number range 100 < Re < 350, which has been shown to capture the unsteady transitions in the wake. Over this range of Reynolds number, both steady and unsteady wake modes are observed. As the sphere undergoes forward rolling, the wake displays similarities to the flow behind an isolated sphere in a free stream. As the Reynolds number of the flow increases, hairpin vortices form and are shed over the surface of the sphere. However, for cases with reversed rotation, the wake takes the form of two distinct streamwise vortices that form around the sides of the body. These streamwise structures in the wake undergo a transition to a new unsteady mode as the Reynolds number increases. During the evolution of this unsteady mode, the streamwise vortices form an out-of-phase spiral pair. Four primary wake modes are identified and a very good qualitative agreement is observed between the numerical and experimental results. The numerical simulations also reveal the existence of an additional unsteady mode that is found to be unstable to small perturbations in the flow.
Eat or Be Eaten: A Theory of Mergers and Firm Size

We propose a theory of mergers that combines managerial merger motives with an industry-level regime shift that may lead to value-increasing merger opportunities. Anticipation of these merger opportunities can lead to defensive acquisitions, where managers acquire other firms to avoid losing private benefits if their firms are acquired, or "positioning" acquisitions, where firms position themselves as more attractive takeover targets to earn takeover premia. The identity of acquirers and targets and the profitability of acquisitions depend on the distribution of firm sizes within an industry, among other factors. We find empirical support for some unique predictions of our theory. Copyright (c) 2009 The American Finance Association.
Measurements of ESD HBM events, simulator radiation and other characteristics toward creating a more repeatable simulation or; simulators should simulate

Significant differences in test results are found when more than one brand of ESD simulator is used for immunity testing of electronic equipment. These problems prompted this work on fundamental measurements of ESD events and ESD simulators. This paper describes the characteristics of the special equipment designed for the measurements, describes the measurements, and compares the measurements to evaluate the effects of ESD testing repeatability.
Diagnostic Accuracy of Cytological Sampling Techniques by Bronchoscopy in the Diagnosis of Lung Cancer

Background: With advent of newer diagnostic modalities for obtaining small biopsies and cytologic samples by bronchoscopy it is important to assess the diagnostic accuracy of these techniques. Material and Methods: A Retrospective and Prospective study was conducted on 347 bronchoscopic specimens from 200 patients with clinical and / or radiological suspicion of carcinoma lung. To evaluate the role and relative diagnostic accuracies of bronchial washings, brushings and broncho-alveolar lavage in the diagnosis of lung cancer Results: 119/200 cases were diagnosed as positive for malignancy on cytology and 56/80 cases were confirmed positive on histopathological evaluation. Cytological materials included in the study were 8 BW, 180 BAL and 159 BB constituting a total sample size of 347. The overall sensitivity of BW, BAL and BB was 25%, 72% and 94% respectively. Thus, BB provided a significantly superior sensitivity and improved the diagnostic yield. Squamous cell carcinoma was the most common histologic type of malignancy diagnosed on both cytology and histopathologic evaluation with accuracy of 78.8%. A specific diagnosis of malignancy was made in 124 cases (62%) by combination of cytology and biopsy. Conclusion: Cytologic samples and small biopsies obtained under bronchoscopic guidance are forming important samples for diagnosing and classifying lung tumours. Every technique has utility and limitation. However, combination of different methodologies on bronchoscopy increases the diagnostic accuracy.
In step with b-boys: individuation and reflexivities from a practice

Attentive to the debates on individuation process lived in the contemporary social relations, this essay has resulted from dialogues with hip-hop’s activists. It aims to discuss how breakdance practice has contributed to identity individuation of dancers of Restinga Crew, group from Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Propositions by Alberto Melucci and Danilo Martuccelli are the main references and the research was conducted in 2013 and 2014, by in loco observation and narrative interviews. The text emphasizes the reflexive dynamics produced by the crew regarding possibilities of individual singularization built in relation with peer recognition and the collective belonging. In this sense, it analyses the challenges experienced as ambient to production of cultural capital and as support to get integration in others social spaces.
Does Child Labour Affect School Attendance and School Performance? Multi Country Evidence on SIMPOC Data

This paper provides evidence on the the impact of child labor on child schooling.The limited evidence that does exist on this issue makes little or no attempt to control for the endogeneity of child labour hours in the estimation.Such endogeneity can arise because of the reverse causation of child labour by learning dis advantage and lack of necessary intrinsic skills. The present study is conducted on the data sets of Belize,Cambodia,Namibia,Panama,Philippines,Portugal and Sri lanka, that were collected under the SIMPOC programme of the ILO.The study,that seeks to control for the endogeneity mentioned above, provides extensive evidence of the damage done by child labour to the child's education right from her point of entry to the labour market.A lone and significant exception is provided by the Sri Lankan results.The Sri Lankan evidence suggests a cut off point in the range of(approximately) 12-15 hours a week beyond which child work impacts negatively on the child's learning. This evidence is supportive of ILO Convention No. 138, Art. 7(b), which stipulates that "light work" may be permitted as of the age of 12 provided it does not "prejudice attendance at school". This is howvever not true of the evidence from other countries.One result that all the data sets agree on is the strong positive role that adult education plays in promoting the child's learning.
Biofuel sustainability: review of implications for land use and food price

This article reviews the main findings, obtained from the literature, on two aspects that question first generation biofuel sustainability: the consequences of increased biofuel production on indirect land use change (ILUC) and related emissions and the impact of biodiesel on food-commodities prices. The measurement of ILUC, although necessary, is currently highly uncertain as demonstrated by the wide variation in estimates; in any case it seems that none of the first generation biofuels will be able to fulfill the sustainability criteria imposed by the RE Directive. Regarding the food-fuel debate, even if discrepancies in results have been observed, this review suggests that changes in biofuel prices have little impact on food prices. On the other hand, the impact of an increasing production of biofuel on food prices is not negligible.
Chain conditions on subgroups of LCA groups

In this paper, we study ace (ascending chain condition) and dec (descending chain condition) on different types of subgroups of LCA (locally compact abelian) groups, such as open subgroups, compact subgroups, discrete subgroups, metrizable subgroups, closed divisible subgroups, proper dense subgroups. We characterize compactly generated LCA groups as the class of LCA groups whose open subgroups satisfy ace; the compactly cogenerated groups as the class of LCA groups whose discrete subgroups satisfy dec. We also show that ace and dec on the following classes of subgroups are pairwise equivalent: (a) closed subgroups (b) closed totally disconnected subgroups (c) closed (7-compact subgroups (d) closed metrizable subgroups. We also obtain a characterizati on of those LCA groups which contain no proper dense subgroups.