Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On the Biocompatibility and Teat Retention of In Situ Gelling Intramammary Formulations: Cattle Mastitis Prevention and Treatment

Treatment and prevention of cattle mastitis remains a formidable challenge due to the anatomical and physiological constraints of the cow udder. In this study, we investigated polymeric excipients and solvents that can form, (when combined) novel, non-toxic and biocompatible in situ gelling formulations in the mammary gland of bovine cattle. We also report on a new approach to screen intramammary formulations using fresh excised cow teats. Fourteen hydrophilic polymers and six solvents were evaluated for in vitro cytotoxicity and biocompatibility towards cultured bovine mammary epithelial cells (MAC-T), microscopic and macroscopic examination upon contact with excised cow teats. No significant cytotoxicity (p > 0.05) was observed with polyethylene oxides, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, carboxymethyl cellulose, sodium alginate and xanthan gum. Polycarbophil and carbopol polymers showed significantly higher cytotoxicity (p < 0.05). Concentration-dependent cytotoxicity was observed for glycerin, propylene glycol, polyethylene glycol 400, ethanol, N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone and 2-pyrrolidone, with the 2-pyrrolidone solvents showing higher cytotoxic effects (p < 0.05). In situ gelling formulations comprising hydroxypropyl methylcellulose or carboxymethyl cellulose and solvents in specific ratios were biocompatible at higher concentrations with MAC-T cells compared to alginates. All investigated formulations could undergo in situ sol-to-gel phase transformation, forming non-toxic gels with good biocompatibility in excised cow teats hence, showing potential for use as intramammary carriers for sustained drug delivery.
HEED-01-2021-0002_proof 82..97

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate an English Proficiency (EP) programme and its efficacy with respect to students’ academic performance in a university within a multi-lingual context, as the programme had been in effect for some years. Design/methodology/approach – A quasi-experimental approach was used to study the efficacy of an EP programme in a university within a multilingual context. Data across two academic years were used, along with regression discontinuity design. Findings – Results suggest that the EP programme had a significant and positive intervention effect on students’ initial semester grade point average. The programme effect size was found to be medium to large. Research limitations/implications – It might be useful to extend the study for one more year for more concrete conclusions. As the study was anchored upon the structure of the 2016 EP programme, any major curricular/structural change to the programme warrants another study. Practical implications – This study demonstrated that the implementation of EP programmes in higher education institutions is essential not only for international students who are foreign language speakers of English but also for domestic students in English-speaking countries, especially for bi/multilingual speakers. Originality/value – Previous studies related to the efficacy of EP within higher education have focused on international students who speak English as an additional/foreign language. Further, most studies have focussed on students’ self-reported experiences and have yielded disparate findings. This study contributes to scholarship as it addresses the under-researched area related to domestic students who speak English as the first language in a bi/multi-lingual context.
A Comparative Study of Middle Cerebral and Umbilical Arteries Doppler Indices in Controlled Versus Uncontrolled Insulin- Dependent Pregestational Diabetic Pregnancies

Objectives: To evaluate the effect of glycemic control on umbilical and fetal middle cerebral arteries Doppler indices in pregestational diabetic pregnant women. Methods: 60 insulin-dependent pregestational diabetic pregnant women were included and equally divided into two groups according to HbA1C levels namely; controlled diabetics ( HbA1C < 6.5 %) and uncontrolled diabetics (HbA1C ≥ 6.5 %). UA, MCA Doppler indices (resistance index and pulsatility index) and Cerebroplacental Doppler ratio were measured for every patient. Results: There was no statistically significant differences in umbilical artery, middle cerebral artery Doppler indices and cerebroplacental ratio between the controlled & uncontrolled pregestational diabetic pregnant women. Conclusion: Doppler indices of placental or fetal circulation are unaffected by maternal glycemic control in pregestational diabetic pregnant women.
Differences in cortical contractile properties between healthy epithelial and cancerous mesenchymal breast cells

Cell contractility is mainly imagined as a force dipole-like interaction based on actin stress fibers that pull on cellular adhesion sites. Here, we present a different type of contractility based on isotropic contractions within the actomyosin cortex. Measuring mechanosensitive cortical contractility of suspended cells among various cell lines allowed us to exclude effects caused by stress fibers. We found that epithelial cells display a higher cortical tension than mesenchymal cells, directly contrasting to stress fiber-mediated contractility. These two types of contractility can even be used to distinguish epithelial from mesenchymal cells. These findings from a single cell level correlate to the rearrangement effects of actomyosin cortices within cells assembled in multicellular aggregates. Epithelial cells form a collective contractile actin cortex surrounding multicellular aggregates and further generate a high surface tension reminiscent of tissue boundaries. Hence, we suggest this intercellular structure as to be crucial for epithelial tissue integrity. In contrast, mesenchymal cells do not form collective actomyosin cortices reducing multicellular cohesion and enabling cell escape from the aggregates.
Behaviour of 3D printed re-entrant chiral auxetic (RCA) geometries under in-plane and out-of-plane loadings

Three-dimensional printing of auxetic materials is an emerging research field due to their intriguing negative Poisson’s ratio (NPR) behaviour which enables improved load resistance than conventional materials for various applications. In this research, re-entrant chiral auxetic (RCA) structures of three different geometries were printed using polylactic acid (PLA) filament. The PLA material was also characterised in compression and tension. In total, 27 RCA specimens of varied cell sizes were designed, printed and tested under in-plane tension and compression and out-of-plane bending loads. Digital image correlation method was employed to study the failure modes, displacement profiles, load–displacement curves and ductility characteristics. Results showed that the samples with the smallest cell sizes exhibited the highest resistance against compression, tension and out-of-plane loading. The elastic modulus and Poisson’s ratio was also higher for these geometries with the maximum NPR of −9 in compression and −5 in tension. In comparison, the larger cell geometries due to wider gaps between the cells showed higher deformability which resulted in high energy absorption characteristics in compression and tension. Whereas in out-of-plane bending, all designed geometries, irrespective of cell sizes exhibited similar deformability with the maximum ductility obtained for the RCA structures made of smaller cells.
Comparison of light-time formulations in the post-Newtonian framework for the BepiColombo MORE experiment

The ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission, launched on 20 October 2018, is currently in cruise toward Mercury. The Mercury Orbiter Radio-science Experiment (MORE), one of the 16 experiments of the mission, will exploit range and range-rate measurements collected during superior solar conjunctions to better constrain the post-Newtonian parameter γ. The MORE radio tracking system is capable of establishing a 5-leg link in X- and Ka-band to obtain 2-way range-rate measurements with an accuracy of 0.01 mm s−1 @ 60 s sampling time and 2-way range measurements at centimeter level after a few seconds of integration time, at almost all solar elongation angles. In this paper, we investigate if the light-time formulation derived by Moyer, implemented in JPL’s orbit determination code MONTE, is still a valid approximation, in light of the recent advancements in radiometric measurement performance. Several formulations of the gravitational time delay, expressed as an expansion in powers of GM/c 2 r, are considered in this work. We quantified the contribution of each term of the light-time expansion for the first superior solar conjunction experiment of BepiColombo. The maximum 2-way error caused by Moyer approximation with respect to a complete second order expansion amounts to 17 mm. This is at the level of accuracy of the novel pseudo-noise (PN) ranging system at 24 Mcps used by MORE. A complete second order expansion is then recommended for present and future superior solar conjunction experiments. The perturbation caused by the planets in the Solar System is considered as well, resulting in significant effects due to the Jupiter, the Earth and the Saturn systems. For these bodies the classical Shapiro time delay is sufficient. The corrections due to the Sun oblateness and angular momentum are negligible. The aforementioned considerations are valid for all superior conjunction experiments involving state-of-the-art radio-tracking measurements.
Study on the compressive strength of lightweight cellular concrete with influence from acid and alkali corrosion

Lightweight cellular concrete (LCC) could be in frequent contact with chemicals (such as acid rains, chemical factories and acidic soils). However, the effect of acid and alkaline corrosion on the compressive strength of LCC is often ignored. In this study, the acid and alkali test were carried out to study the strength change of LCC specimens with different mix ratios, and the comparison was made with the untreated specimens. The results show that compared with specimens immersed in acid solution and untreated specimens, the compressive strength LCC specimens immersed in alkaline solution was always the lowest. With the increase of the foam content and water-binder ratio, the compressive strength of LCC specimens immersed in alkaline solution decreased. The compressive strength of LCC specimens immersed in acid solution decreased with the increase of the water-binder ratio. With the increase of the immersion time, the compressive strength of LCC specimens immersed the acid and alkaline solution all decreased.
Experimental study on the removal of the chloride ion in sea water via ultra-high lime with aluminum process

In order to study the feasibility of mixing concrete with dechlorinated sea water, ultrahigh lime with aluminum process was used in the laboratory to conduct dechlorination tests on sea water with different chloride ion concentrations. Experiments show that the ultra-high lime with aluminum process can effectively decrease the chloride ion concentration in sea water.
A review of rarefied gas flow in irregular micro/nanochannels

In today’s complex micro–electro–mechanical systems (MEMS), investigation of flow through irregular micro/nanochannels, such as bended channels, variable cross-sectional area channels, and those with rough surfaces, can contribute considerably to efficient designing of the microdevices and to gain a better understanding of the flow structure in these geometries. The present paper reviews the prominent studies published in literature on rarefied gas flow through these types of complex geometries. The main focus of the study is to explore the physical aspects of the findings and the analyses provided in support of the results. Finally, the areas in which a gap exists in literature and could be subjects of future studies are introduced.
The application of progressive systems in high density vannamei shrimp culture

The increase of super-intensive pond waste and the rearing period of high-density shrimps, has been reported to be a problem of environmental quality deterioration, which is accompanied by the chance of disease outbreak. Therefore, a progressive system with two phases of cultural activities, namely nursery and grow-out, is known to be an alternative in the process of avoiding the critical period between Day of Culture (DOC) 30-50, as well as increasing the chances of a successful culture. This research aims to examine the application of a progressive system, in the super-intensive culture of vannamei shrimps. The two methods used were Progressive & Non-Progressive treatments (PG & NPG). The NPG was used by directly stocking PL-10 to a grow-out pond of 1,000 m2, with a density of 500 PL/m2. However, PG (nursed for 21 days) was used by stocking PL-10 to PL-31 in 100 m2 pond with a density of 5,000 PL/m2, which were then transferred to a grow-out pond of 1,000 m2. The results showed that the PG treatment had better water quality parameters compared to the NPG. The survival rate, production, and feed conversion ratio in the PG treatment produced better performance than the NPG, with differences in the value of feeds used and yield of shrimp sales at 25.64% and 64.33%, respectively.
Democracy or Optimal Policy: Income Tax Decisions Without Commitment

How do differences in the government's political and commitment structure affect the aggregate economy, inequality, and welfare? I analyze this question, using a calibrated Ayagari's (1994) economy with wealth effects of labor supply wherein a flat tax rate and transfers are endogenously determined according to its political and commitment structure. I compare four economies: a baseline economy, an economy with the optimal tax with commitment in all steady states, an economy with the optimal tax without commitment, and a political economy with sequential voting. I obtain two main findings. First, the commitment structure shifts the government's weighting between redistribution and efficiency. A lack of commitment leads the government to pursue a more redistributive policy at the expense of efficiency. Second, given a lack of commitment, the political economy with voting yields greater welfare than the economy with the time-consistent optimal policy. In the latter case, a lack of commitment hinders the government from implementing a more frugal policy desirable in the long run; instead, it cares more for low-income and wealth households, resulting in a substantial efficient loss. However, in the political economy with voting, the government considers only the interests of the median voter, who is middle class and reluctant to bear larger distortions from a higher tax rate and larger transfers. These findings imply that in terms of welfare, policies targeting the middle class would possibly be better than those exquisitely designed for the general public.
A Structural Measure of the Shadow Federal Funds Rate

We propose a shadow policy interest rate based on an estimated structural model that accounts for the zero lower bound. The lower bound constraint, if expected to bind, is contractionary and increases the shadow rate compared to an unconstrained systematic policy response. By contrast, forward guidance and other unconventional policies that extend the expected duration of zero-interest-rate policy are expansionary and decrease the shadow rate. By quantifying these distinct effects, our structural shadow federal funds rate better captures the stance of monetary policy given economic conditions than a shadow rate based only on the term structure of interest rates.
Monetary Policy and Corporate Debt Maturity

Does monetary policy influence the maturity structure of corporate debt? We answer this question exploiting: i) time-series and firm-level data on debt maturity for the US corporate sector; ii) several proxies of FED monetary interest rate shocks. Our results show that a loosening of the policy rate lengthens corporate debt maturity, an effect entirely driven by the adjustments of very large companies. We explain such findings through a model combining moral-hazard frictions and yield-seeking investors, who increase their demand of long-term debt-securities when the policy rate goes down. Only large and unconstrained companies can accommodate the demand shift. Empirical evidence on the response of corporate bonds’ issuance by large companies and holdings by mutual funds validates our proposed mechanism.
Energy Transition Metals

The energy transition requires substantial amounts of metals such as copper, nickel, cobalt and lithium. Are these metals a key bottleneck? We identify metal-specific demand shocks, estimate supply elasticities and pin down the price impact of the energy transition in a structural scenario analysis. Metal prices would reach historical peaks for an unprecedented, sustained period in a net-zero emissions scenario. The total value of metals production would rise more than four-fold for the period 2021 to 2040, rivaling the total value of crude oil production. Metals are a potentially important input into integrated assessments models of climate change.
Heterogeneous Returns to Medical Innovations

This paper sets up a quasi-experiment to estimate the impact of medical innovations on the economic outcomes for the individual and their family based on the rich administrative data for Sweden covering 1 million persons. I find that an increase in medical innovations by one standard deviation raises family income by 15%. Medical innovations strongly influence not only own disposable and labour income and welfare payments but also a spouse’s income. I also find that the economic effects are heterogeneous in relation to the insurance eligibility of the health shock. Results also suggest decreasing yet always positive returns to scale.
Regional Income Distributions in France, 1960–2018

This paper proposes homogeneous annual series on the income distribution of French metropolitan départements for the period 1960-69 and 1986-2018. We rely on unpublished and newly digitised archives of the French Ministry of Finance. They consist of fiscal tabulations that are a summary of households’ income tax declarations. Based on these raw sources, we interpolate the whole income distribution of French metropolitan départements after 1986. Before 1986, we need more assumptions as only households liable to French income tax filed income tax declarations at that time. We propose a methodology to estimate the number and average income of non-taxable households before 1986 that also allows us to reconstruct the income distribution of French metropolitan départements for the period 1960-69.
Combined Effects of Auditing and Discretionary Accruals on the Cost of Debt: Evidence From Spanish SMEs

Previous literature shows mixed evidence on the effect of discretionary accruals and auditing on the cost of debt. We hypothesize that, in the SMEs setting, auditing can act as a substitute for accruals quality, and thus audits may mitigate the effect of discretionary accruals on the cost of debt. Using a sample of Spanish SMEs, we find that auditing is negatively related with the cost of debt, while higher discretionary accruals are related with a lower cost of debt. Nonetheless, this effect is lower than that one observed for audits. When considering the combined effect of both variables, the effect of discretionary accruals is replaced by that of auditing. These results suggest that, among SMEs, discretionary accruals do not have a relevant effect on the cost of debt when companies are audited, supporting the hypothesis that there exists a substitution effect between discretionary accruals and auditing. JEL Classification: M42; G32
The Internationalization of Domestic Banks and the Credit Channel of Monetary Policy

How does the expansion of domestic banks in international markets affect the bank lending channel of monetary policy? Using bank-firm loan-level data, we find that loan growth and loan rates from international banks respond less to monetary policy changes than domestic banks and that internationalization partially mitigates the risk-taking channel of monetary policy. Banks with a large international presence tend to tolerate more their credit risk exposition relative to domestic banks. Moreover, international banks tend to rely more on foreign funding when policy rates change, allowing them to insulate better the monetary policy changes from their credit supply than domestic banks. This result is consistent with the predictions of the internal capital markets hypothesis. We also show that macroprudential FX regulation reduces banks with high FX exposition access to foreign funding, ultimately contributing to monetary policy transmission. Overall, our results suggest that the internationalization of banks lowers the potency of the bank lending channel. Furthermore, it diminishes the risk-taking channel of monetary policy within the limit established by macroprudential FX regulations.
The Role of Financial Statement Comparability in Mitigating Underpricing of Seasoned Equity Offerings

Due to substantial adverse selection when a firm transacts in its own securities, reference to economically comparable firms’ financial statements in valuation decisions becomes especially important (Bhojraj and Lee 2002). Our paper examines the mitigating impact of financial statement comparability (FSC) on underpricing in the market for seasoned equity offerings (SEOs). Underpricing has an expected component apparent in generally negative SEO announcement date returns and an unexpected component measured by the difference between the SEO firm’s pre-offer day closing stock price and the underwriter’s offer price (Altinikic and Hansen 2003). Using a modified version of the continuous measure of FSC developed by De Franco, Kothari, and Verdi (2011), we provide evidence of a significantly positive (negative) relation between FSC and announcement returns (discounts in the offer price). This evidence implies that FSC reduces direct measures of the cost of capital in a market replete with information asymmetry problems. Cross-sectional tests reveal that FSC reduces SEO underpricing through FSC’s mitigating effect on information asymmetry. Additional cross-sectional tests examine the descriptive validity of FASB and IASB assertions that the effectiveness of FSC in enhancing the decision-usefulness of accounting information depends on the following: the degree of economic similarity between the subject firm and its peers, and the quality of the subject firm’s underlying accounting information.
The Impact of IT Decision-Making Authority on IT Project Performance in the U.S. Federal Government

Many information technology (IT) projects in the U.S. federal government have been plagued with failures and overruns in recent years, wasting a large amount of tax revenues and undermining the public’s confidence in the government’s ability to manage such resources and deliver on its commitments. What affects the performance of IT projects in the federal government? We find that prior literature on IT project management from the private sector setting is inadequate to answer this question. In addition, to the best of our knowledge, information systems (IS) research thus far has not considered how the decision-making authority of an IT unit influences IT project performance at the organizational level. We leverage several unique characteristics of the public sector, vis-à-vis for-profit firms, in developing our theory and hypothesis. Utilizing official datasets on IT projects and human resource records, we find that the more IT managerial officials and supervisors a federal bureau has, the lower time overruns it experiences in its IT projects. Interestingly, this relationship is weakened when the bureau has a larger number of ongoing IT projects. Our findings offer new theoretical insights for the IT project management literature and provide meaningful policy insights into government IT management.