Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Precision Nutrition Unveiled: Gene–Nutrient Interactions, Microbiota Dynamics, and Lifestyle Factors in Obesity Management

Background: Obesity is a complex metabolic disorder that is associated with several diseases. Recently, precision nutrition (PN) has emerged as a tailored approach to provide individualised dietary recommendations. Aim: This review discusses the major intrinsic and extrinsic components considered when applying PN during the management of obesity and common associated chronic conditions. Results: The review identified three main PN components: gene–nutrient interactions, intestinal microbiota, and lifestyle factors. Genetic makeup significantly contributes to inter-individual variations in dietary behaviours, with advanced genome sequencing and population genetics aiding in detecting gene variants associated with obesity. Additionally, PN-based host-microbiota evaluation emerges as an advanced therapeutic tool, impacting disease control and prevention. The gut microbiome’s composition regulates diverse responses to nutritional recommendations. Several studies highlight PN’s effectiveness in improving diet quality and enhancing adherence to physical activity among obese patients. PN is a key strategy for addressing obesity-related risk factors, encompassing dietary patterns, body weight, fat, blood lipids, glucose levels, and insulin resistance. Conclusion: PN stands out as a feasible tool for effectively managing obesity, considering its ability to integrate genetic and lifestyle factors. The application of PN-based approaches not only improves current obesity conditions but also holds promise for preventing obesity and its associated complications in the long term.
Mantle Transition Zone Structure Beneath Northeast Asia From 2‐D Triplicated Waveform Modeling: Implication for a Segmented Stagnant Slab

The structure of the mantle transition zone (MTZ) in subduction zones is essential for understanding subduction dynamics in the deep mantle and its surface responses. We constructed the P (Vp) and SH velocity (Vs) structure images of the MTZ beneath Northeast Asia based on two‐dimensional (2‐D) triplicated waveform modeling. In the upper MTZ, a normal Vp but 2.5% low Vs layer compared with IASP91 are required by the triplication data. In the lower MTZ, our results show a relatively higher‐velocity layer (+2% Vp and −0.5% Vs compared to IASP91) with a thickness of ~140 km and length of ~1,200 km atop the 660‐km discontinuity. Taking this anomaly as the stagnant slab and considering the plate convergence rate of 7–10 cm/year in the western Pacific region during the late Cenozoic, we deduced that the stagnant slab has a subduction age of less than 30 Ma. This suggests that the observed stagnancy of the slab in the MTZ beneath Northeast Asia may have occurred no earlier than the Early Oligocene. From the constraints derived individually on Vp and Vs structures, high Vp/Vs ratios are obtained for the entire MTZ beneath Northeast Asia, which may imply a water‐rich and/or carbonated environment. Within the overall higher‐velocity stagnant slab, a low‐velocity anomaly was further detected, with a width of ~150 km, Vp and Vs reductions of 1% and 3% relative to IASP91. Such a gap may have provided a passage for hot deep mantle materials to penetrate through the thick slab and feed the Changbaishan volcano.
Comparing Interface Designs to Improve RSI platforms: Insights from an Experimental Study

Remote Simultaneous Interpreting (RSI) platforms enable interpreters to provide their services remotely and work from various locations. However, research shows that interpreters perceive interpreting via RSI platforms to be more challenging than on-site interpreting in terms of performance and working conditions [1]. While poor audio quality is a major concern for RSI [2,3], another issue that has been frequently highlighted is the impact of the interpreter's visual environment on various aspects of RSI. However, this aspect has received little attention in research. The study reported in this article investigates how various visual aids and methods of presenting visual information can aid interpreters and improve their user experience (UX). The study used an experimental design and tested 29 professional conference interpreters on different visual interface options, as well as eliciting their work habits, perceptions and working environments. The findings reveal a notable increase in the frequency of RSI since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this increase, most participants still preferred on-site work. The predominant platform for RSI among the interpreters sampled was Zoom, which has a minimalist interface that contrasts with interpreter preferences for maximalist, information-rich be-spoke RSI interfaces. Overall, the study contributes to supporting the visual needs of interpreters in RSI.
Advancing Graduate in Private Universities; Developing Graduate Employability for a Challenging Labor

This study aims to analyze the formulation of improving the quality of graduates carried out by universities in facing the world of work challenges. A qualitative case study type approach is used in this study. Interviews, observations and documentation are used as data collection media. The data analysis was carried out systematically, starting from data reduction, data presentation and conclusion. The study results show that the formulation of improving the output quality of STAI Al Maarif Way Kanan is carried out through planning, implementing and evaluating the quality improvement of graduates in a planned and systematic way with the principle of continuous improvement. This research provides implications for the importance of strategic management to create graduates who are competitive and ready to use.
Patient Satisfaction with the Quality of Oral Rehabilitation Dental Services: A Comparison between the Public and Private Health System

Measuring satisfaction can help us understand patients’ expectations and adopt individualized treatment according to their expectations. In the current study, we applied the DPQ (Dental Practice Questionnaire) to analyze the degree of patient satisfaction regarding medical services in the public and private sector in a Romanian city from the central region. A group of 200 patients, 100 patients from the public sector and 100 patients from the private sector, participated in the survey. The results showed significant differences in response when patients were stratified by age, gender, visit frequency and length of time attending the same practice. Significant differences between public and private practices were encountered. Moreover, the degree of patient satisfaction was found to be related to appointment promptness/length of time and the confidentiality/ability to listen/knowledge/respect shown by the dentist, while patients’ recommendations to others were influenced by dentists’ explanations and warmth, followed by the appointment system and confidentiality. Patient satisfaction with oral rehabilitation dental services plays an essential role in maintaining patients’ addressability, but there is a multitude of factors that can influence patients’ opinions. Further analysis of the evolution of the influencing factors (causing satisfaction or dissatisfaction), in time, could provide deeper insights into the links between patient satisfaction and these factors.
Biomass fly ash incorporation in cement based materials

In recent years, pressures on global environment and energy security have led to an increasing demand on renewable energy sources, and diversification of Europe’s energy supply. Among these resources the biomass could exert an important role, since it is considered a renewable and CO2 neutral energy resource once the consumption rate is lower than the growth rate, and can potentially provide energy for heat, power and transports from the same installation. Currently, most of the biomass ash produced in industrial plants is either disposed of in landfill or recycled on agricultural fields or forest, and most times this goes on without any form of control. However, considering that the disposal cost of biomass ashes are raising, and that biomass ash volumes are increasing worldwide, a sustainable ash management has to be established. The main objective of the present study is the effect of biomass fly ashes in cement mortars and concretes in order to be used as a supplementary cementitious material. The wastes analyzed in the study were collected from the fluidized bed boilers and grate boilers available in the thermal power plants and paper pulp plants situated in Portugal. The physical as well as chemical characterisations of the biomass fly ashes were investigated. The cement was replaced by the biomass fly ashes in 10, 20 and 30% (weight %) in order to investigate the fresh properties as well as the hardened properties of biomass fly ash incorporated cement mortar and concrete formulations. Expansion reactions such as alkali silica reaction (ASR), sulphate attack (external and internal) were conducted in order to check the durability of the biomass fly ash incorporated cement mortars and concretes. Alternative applications such as incorporation in lime mortars and alkali activation of the biomass fly ashes were also attempted. The biomass fly ash particles were irregular in shape and fine in nature. The chemical characterization revealed that the biomass fly ashes were similar to a class C fly ash. The mortar results showed a good scope for biomass fly ashes as supplementary cementitious materials in lower dosages (<20%). The poor workability, concerns about the organic content, alkalis, chlorides and sulphates stand as the reasons for preventing the use of biomass fly ash in high content in the cement mortars. The results obtained from the durability tests have shown a clear reduction in expansion for the biomass fly ash mortars/concretes and the binder blend made with biomass fly ash (20%) and metakaolin (10%) inhibited the ASR reaction effectively. The biomass fly ash incorporation in lime mortars did not improve the mortar properties significantly though the carbonation was enhanced in the 15-20% incorporation. The biomass fly ash metakaolin blend worked well in the alkali activated complex binder application also. Portland cement free binders (with 30-40 MPa compressive strength) were obtained on the alkali activation of biomass fly ashes (60-80%) blended with metakaolin…
Whole leg compression garments influence lower limb kinematics and associated muscle synergies during running

The utilization of compression garments (CGs) has demonstrated the potential to improve athletic performance; however, the specific mechanisms underlying this enhancement remain a subject of further investigation. This study aimed to examine the impact of CGs on running mechanics and muscle synergies from a neuromuscular control perspective. Twelve adult males ran on a treadmill at 12 km/h, while data pertaining to lower limb kinematics, kinetics, and electromyography were collected under two clothing conditions: whole leg compression garments and control. The Non-negative matrix factorization algorithm was employed to extract muscle synergy during running, subsequently followed by cluster analysis and correlation analysis. The findings revealed that the CGs increased knee extension and reduced hip flexion at foot strike compared with the control condition. Moreover, CGs were found to enhance stance-phase peak knee extension, while diminishing hip flexion and maximal hip extension during the stance-phase, and the ankle kinematics remained unaltered. We extracted and classified six synergies (SYN1-6) during running and found that only five SYNs were observed after wearing CGs. CGs altered the structure of the synergies and changed muscle activation weights and durations. The current study is the first to apply muscle synergy to discuss the effect of CGs on running biomechanics. Our findings provide neuromuscular evidence for the idea of previous studies that CGs alter the coordination of muscle groups, thereby affecting kinematic characteristics during running.
Developing Intercultural Competence via Virtual Exchange Programs: The Case of Moroccan University Students

This article presents the results of a study conducted at the School of Law and Economics of Casablanca. The study explores the effect of intercultural interventions in developing the learners’ intercultural competence. Two groups of informants representing two different master programs participated in this study. While the control group (29) attended only a traditional classroom course on Intercultural Awareness in Business, the treatment group (37) took the same class and also participated in a virtual exchange program that counted for 15% of their final grades. The study used the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS) to investigate the developmental patterns of the learners’ intercultural competence following the two intercultural interventions. The study sought to investigate how virtual exchange programs affected participants' intercultural competence and sensitivity in comparison to those who had a traditional classroom experience. The results exhibited significantly elevated levels of intercultural sensitivity in the treatment group compared to the control group, indicating that the treatment group exhibited markedly significant levels. The findings provide support for the recommendation to implement virtual exchange programs as a practical method to improve employability skills and global awareness among university students. Consequently, these findings substantiate the recommendation to incorporate virtual exchange programs as an efficacious approach for enhancing employability skills and fostering global awareness within formal academic settings, particularly among university students.
Floristic Composition, Ecological Characteristics and Biological Spectrum of District Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa, Pakistan

Abstract Current study was aimed at ecological investigation of floristic composition, ecological characteristicsand biological spectrum of district Bannu, KP, Pakistan. In the present study, 193 plant species of 154 generabelonging to 54 families were studied during 2013-2014, using frequent field visits in all seasons for the plantcollection. 75.13 percent (145/193) plant species belonged to dicotyledons whereas, 24.87 percent (48/193) speciescomes from monocotyledons. Poaceae was the leading family with 37 species. Based on habitat most plants wereobserved in the dry area (45.07%) compared to wet (34.71%), and cultivated (18.13%). Floristically 60.62 percentwere therophytes, 9.84 percent hemi-cryptophytes, and 9.84 percent geophytes. The leaf size spectra showed thatthe plants with Nanophyll leaves were dominant having 48.18 percent in the area. The vernal aspect was observed asfavorable season for plant growth. In the present study, therophytes were observed dominant with high percentage,indicating that this area is a part of semiarid zone of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
Coexistence in a warm and patchy world

For the many species that rely on patchily distributed resources, patterns of coexistence and diversity are the product of local abiotic and biotic interactions and inter-patch dispersal. Understanding the multi-scale drivers of coexistence in patchy landscapes has become increasingly pressing, as habitat fragmentation makes the world patchier, and warming threatens to disrupt biological processes across spatial scales. In my thesis, I use meta-analytic, observational and experimental approaches to understand how local species interactions and dispersal shape diversity in patchy landscapes, and how warming disrupts these dynamics. In Chapter 1, I review metacommunity experiments to identify when common experimental approaches that homogenize metacommunities fail to test existing theory, and outline how emerging theory on the invasion criterion, food webs and priority effects could be used to help reveal the mechanisms underlying observed responses. In Chapter 2, I use dispersal and anti-predator traits of specialist milkweed herbivores to predict species’ distributions across a patchy landscape and test the importance of local top-down pressure in mediating classic biogeographic relationships. In Chapter 3, I test predictions about the impact of warming on plant-herbivore interactions and the importance of species’ arrival order and demonstrate how warming strengthens trophic interactions, amplifies priority effects and alters the interspecific differences in dispersal that determine arrival order. In Chapter 4, I test the combined impact of
A frost ice formation method of horizontal axis wind turbine blade based on polynomial fitting

In this paper, a new direct calculation method of frost ice shape on the blade surface of horizontal axis wind turbine is proposed. Using linear interpolation algorithm, the airfoil ice shape obtained by LEWICE 2D software or ice wind tunnel experiment was fitted with equidistant step length in the first and fourth quadrants and equidistant step length in the second and third quadrants. The key point coordinates of ice shapes on cross-sections along the span-wise were mapped into lagging and flapping surfaces through the mathematical dimension reduction, respectively. The polynomial fitting was used to deal with ice projection points of multiple sections in lagging and flapping surfaces, and then the blade’s frost ice shape was obtained. By calculating the sum of squared residuals of the polar diameter at the same polar angle, the errors between experimental and airfoil frost shape fitting methods, experimental and FENSAP, and blade frost shape formation methods and FENSAP were analyzed. The results show that the new method is in good agreement with the ice shape of FENSAP simulation results and experimental results. The residual sum of squares is small. This method makes the analysis of frost ice morphology of wind turbine blades do not need to consider interdisciplinary. The calculation process is simple and reliable.
Performance feasibility study of direct contact membrane distillation systems in the treatment of seawater and oilfield-produced brine: the effect of hot- and cold-channel depth

Membrane distillation (MD) is a technology that is emerging as a viable alternative to traditional desalination techniques. This study assessed the feasibility of using the direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) con fig uration of MD to desalinate saline water of different concentrations. We considered the feed supply of Arabian Gulf seawater (AGS) sand oil field-produced water and used polypropylene (PP) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes to consider their performance under different operating conditions, such as channel depth, flow rate, temperature, feed concentration, etc. Their performance was evaluated by determining the water flux relative to the volume of salt rejection. The results showed that the permeate flux increased to 32.4 from 10.1 L/m 2 ·h when the temperature was raised from 45°C to 75°C. Additionally, the permeate flux decreased to13.6 from 27.3 L/m 2 ·h and the reduction in flux was around fifty percent when the concentration of sodium chloride (NaCl) in the feed solution was increased to 26% from 0%. The experimental results obtained using oil field-produced water were highly encouraging. The permeate flux was 11.5 and 12.5 L/m 2 ·h at 80°C and 85°C, respectively. The results indicated the enormous potential of DCMD to treat hypersaline oil field-produced water, with an overall rejection of salts reaching above 99%. In comparison, PP membranes had a higher salt rejection rate but lower water flux, while PVDF membranes had a lower salt rejection rate but higher water flux. This paper presents, for the first time, the results of a laboratory-scale study conducted in the State of Kuwait to treat AGS and oil-produced water using DCMD technology under Kuwait’s prevailing conditions. This study’s findings will lay the groundwork for conducting pilot-scale studies on AGS and oil-produced water not only in the Middle East region but globally.
The impact of social support for older adults in nursing homes on successful aging: a moderated mediation model

Objective To investigate the connection between social support (SS) and successful aging (SA) in older adults residing in nursing homes, examining the mediating role of meaning in life (MIL). Additionally, this study aims to assess whether frailty moderates the mediation model. Methods A cross-sectional survey approach was employed to recruit older adults from six nursing homes in Sichuan Province between August 2022 and December 2022. Questionnaires, including the General Information Questionnaire, Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ), Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI), and Successful Aging Inventory (SAI), were administered. Data obtained from the completed questionnaires were analyzed using SPSS and its macro program PROCESS. Results SS emerged as a noteworthy positive predictor of SA in older adults of nursing homes. MIL was identified as a partial mediator in the link between SS and SA. Furthermore, frailty attenuated the positive predictive impact of MIL on SA and moderated the latter part of the mediation model, wherein SS influences SA through MIL. The influence of MIL on SA was more pronounced in older adults with lower frailty levels in nursing homes, while it was diminished in those with higher levels of frailty. Conclusion Apart from ensuring the availability of essential medical resources in long-term care for older adults, workers in nursing homes should also recognize the significance of “spiritual aging” to cultivate a sense of MIL among older adults. Simultaneously, attention must be directed toward screening for frailty indicators in older adults. Psychological care and physical exercise programs should be intensified for older adults with a high level of frailty, aiming to decelerate the progression of frailty in nursing home residents. This approach leverages the mediating role of MIL and the moderating influence of frailty, ultimately enhancing SA and promoting healthy aging in older adults within nursing home settings.
The Influence Of Oil Exploration On The Livelihoods Of The Turkana Community: A Study Of Tullow Oil Company In Lokichar Location Of Turkana South Sub-County.

ix CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION . 1 1.1 Background of the Study. 1 1.2 Problem Statement . 2 1.3 Research Questions . 3 1.4 Objectives of the Study . 4 1.4. 1 General Objective . 4 1.4. 2 Specific Objectives . 4 1.5. Justification of the Study . 4 1.6 Scope and Limitations . 4 1.7 Definition of Key Concepts . 5 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 7 2.0. Introduction . 7 2.1 Mining and its Environmental Impact . 7 2.2 The Legal and Regulatory Framework in Kenya . 13 2.3 Community Perceptions on Mining . 13 vi 2.3 Community Perspectives on Communication . 18 2.4 Oil Mining and its Impact on Infrastructure Development . 19 2.5 The influence of Oil and Gas Production on Community Livelihoods . 24 2.6 Mitigation Strategies . 26 2.7 Theoretical Framework. 28 2.7. 1 The Livelihood Theoretical Approach . 29 2.7. 1 Resource Conflict Theory . 34 CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY . 35 3.0 Introduction . 35 3.1 Site Description . 35 3.2 Study Design . 37 3.3 Study population . 37 3.4 Unit of Analysis . 37 3.5. Unit of observation . 37 3.6 Sample Size . 38 3.7 Sampling Technique . 38 3.8 Methods and Tools of Data Collection . 39 3.8. 1 Secondary Sources . 39 3.8. 2 Key Informant Interview . 39 3.8. 3 Focus Group Discussions . 39 3.8. 4 Observation . 40