Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Chicory syrup as a substitution of sugar in fine pastry

Fine pastry is a favorite snack but contains big amount fats and sugars. Sugar consumption is a major factor in the development of diabetes and obesity. Because of the growing interest in low-calorie alternatives to sucrose, producers react with different new products which can replace sugar and do not compromise the consumer acceptability of food products. This study deals with replacement of sugar with chicory oligofructose syrup, which provides same sweetness as sugar but contain over 70 % of fiber. Chicory syrup is composed of oligo-fructose and inulin. Inulin-type fructans are beneficial for immune and cardiovascular systems and its prebiotic function can protect colon health. In this study, the influence of sucrose (7 g.100g-1) replacement with chicory oligofructose syrup (0; 3.5; 7 g.100g-1) on the texture, specific loaf volume and sensory acceptability of biologically leavened muffins was tested. The substitution of sugar by the chicory syrup decreased specific loaf volume from 2.15 to 2.01 mL.g-1 while hardness, springiness and chewiness increased. There was no detrimental impact of syrup addition to cohesiveness of fine pastry muffin. It was observed that due to the syrup addition, pastry hardens faster, as showed results of hardnesss measured after 24 h. Bread crumb and crust sensory characteristics were not affected by the syrup addition. Weak impact of sugar replacement on sensory evaluation may be related to a reduced amount of the panelists involved in this study. More extensive study will, however, be performed to describe the impact of sugar replacement of fine biologically leavened muffins in more details. The results of this preliminary study shows, that the substitution of sugar by chicory syrup change textural properties and loaf volume. Despite all, based on sensory analysis the chicory syrup up to amount 7 g.100g-1 seems to be adequate for its use as a sugar replacer in fine pastry as biologically leavened muffins.
Evaluation of Nano and Magnetization in Wastewater Treatment and its effect on the growth of Vigna radiata L.

Two laboratory experiments were conducted, the first to obtain the best concentration of nanomaterial’s used Fe3O4 in removing heavy elements from wastewater, and the concentrations were (50, 100, 150, 200, 250) mg.L−1, and the concentration was chosen 100 mg. L−1 was the best concentration after achieving the highest rate of removal of heavy elements from wastewater, and the second to test the effect of treated nanoparticles and magnetic particles, and the interference between them in the germination rate of livestock seeds used as a biomarker in sterile plastic plates at a rate of three iterations per treatment and experiment parameters were water treatment River T0 and T1 treatment untreated wastewater and T2 wastewater treatment with nanomaterial’s treatment, T3 magnetic treatment wastewater treatment and T4 treatment, which overlap between the two treatments, and T3 and T4 treatments achieved the highest germination rate of 100% for the two treatments. A field experiment was conducted in Al-Mu’tasim area, 20 km south of Samarra - Salah Al-Din area located at latitude 3771307 and longitude 413224 in July 2019 to see the effect of experiment treatments on some characteristics of the growth of Vigna radiata L. plants, and the results showed that the T4 treatment significantly exceeded all treatment treatments in Some plant growth characteristics such as plant height, leaf area, dry vegetable weight, dry root weight and percentage (43.00, 14.60, 77.95, 71.87)% for trait respectively when compared to T1 treatment which achieved lower mean for the mentioned traits.
The rationality of political experimentation

Theorists from John Stuart Mill to Robert Nozick have argued that citizens can gain insight into the demands of justice by experimenting with diverse forms of political life. I consider the rationality of such experimentation, arguing for three distinct but related claims. First, rational citizens will not be highly incentivized to conduct experiments in living. Here I develop an account of what I call the ‘prudential rationality constraint’ (PRC). The PRC implies that rational citizens will be undermotivated from the standpoint of social value to conduct experiments in living. Second, despite the success of various radical political experiments (e.g., democracy after 1648), citizens generally ought to engage in moderate rather than radical political experimentation. The latter will nearly always be prudentially irrational to conduct, hard to learn from, and quite possibly harmful to participants and third parties. Finally, there are important but overlooked ways, including through entrepreneurship, in which institutions can incentivize citizens to engage in socially valuable political experimentation.
Mortality forecasting using a Lexis-based state-space model

Abstract A new method of forecasting mortality is introduced. The method is based on the continuous-time dynamics of the Lexis diagram, which given weak assumptions implies that the death count data are Poisson distributed. The underlying mortality rates are modelled with a hidden Markov model (HMM) which enables a fully likelihood-based inference. Likelihood inference is done by particle filter methods, which avoids approximating assumptions and also suggests natural model validation measures. The proposed model class contains as special cases many previous models with the important difference that the HMM methods make it possible to estimate the model efficiently. Another difference is that the population and latent variable variability can be explicitly modelled and estimated. Numerical examples show that the model performs well and that inefficient estimation methods can severely affect forecasts.
Point-Based Estimator for Arbitrary-Oriented Object Detection in Aerial Images

Object detection in aerial images is important for a wide range of applications. The most challenging dilemma in this task is the arbitrary orientation of objects, and many deep-learning-based methods are proposed to address this issue. In previous works on oriented object detection, the regression-based method for object localization has limited performance due to the shortage of spatial information. And the models suffer from the divergence of feature construction for object recognition and localization. In this article, we propose a novel architecture, i.e., point-based estimator to remedy these problems. To utilize the spatial information explicitly, the detector encodes an oriented object with a point-based representation and operates a fully convolutional network for point localization. To improve localization accuracy, the detector takes the manner of coarse-to-fine to lessen the quantization error in point localization. To avoid the discrepancy of feature construction, the detector decouples localization and recognition with individual pathways. In the pathway of object recognition, the instance-alignment block is involved to ensure the alignment between the feature map and oriented region. Overall, the point-based estimator can be easily embedded into the region-based detector and leads to significant improvement on oriented object detection. Extensive experiments have demonstrated the effectiveness of our point-based estimator. Compared with existing works, our method shows state-of-the-art performance on oriented object detection in aerial images.
Multimodal perception of interpersonal synchrony: Evidence from global and continuous ratings of improvised musical duo performances.

Investigating cues that underpin perceptual judgments of interpersonal coordination has important implications for understanding sociocognitive evaluations of the quality of human interactions. With a focus on musical interpersonal coordination, we conducted 2 experiments investigating the impact of music style, modality of stimulus presentation, rater expertise, and audio/visual stimulus features on ratings of perceived synchrony in improvised duo performances. In the first experiment, participants made synchrony ratings following 10-s excerpts of musical performances, whereas in the second experiment, participants rated longer (up to 1 min) excerpts continuously as the music unfolded. Several consistent results emerged across the 2 experiments, including that participants perceived standard jazz improvisations featuring a regular beat as significantly more synchronous than free improvisations that aimed to eschew the induction of such a beat. However, ratings of perceived synchrony were more similar across these 2 styles when only the visual information from the performance was available, suggesting that performers’ bodily cues functioned similarly to communicate and coordinate musical intentions. Computational analysis of the audio and visual aspects of the performances indicated that synchrony ratings increased with increases in audio event density and when coperformers engaged in periodic movements at similar frequencies, whereas the salience of visual information increased when synchrony ratings were made continuously over longer timescales. These studies reveal new insights about the correspondence between objective and subjective measures of synchrony and contribute methodological advances indicating both parallels and divergences between the results obtained in paradigms utilizing global versus continuous ratings of musical synchrony.
Leukocyte trafficking and vascular integrity

The endothelial cells that pave the inner lining of blood vessels maintain a tight barrier between the vasculature and the underlying tissues. However, disruptive stressors, such as transmigrating leukocytes and inflammatory mediators challenge blood vessel integrity every day. In this thesis, we investigated several protective mechanisms that enables endothelial cells to cope with a continuously changing vascular environment. On a daily basis billions of leukocytes traverse the endothelial barrier without damaging the vascular bed or underlying tissue. In this thesis, we show that leukocyte diapedesis is in part regulated by the spatial distribution of ICAM-1 in microdomains within the plasma membrane. However, the precise mechanisms by which the endothelium maintains a tight barrier during ICAM-1-mediated leukocyte transendothelial migration is currently poorly understood. Here we show that local RhoA-mediated F-actin rings contribute to endothelial pore confinement that locally maintain endothelial barrier integrity preventing vascular leakage during leukocyte diapedesis. In addition, the ability of endothelial cells to renew their junctions after disruption by inflammatory mediators or leukocytes is instrumental in barrier maintenance and stabilization. Additional studies revealed a key role for the Rho-GEF Trio in stabilizing VE-cadherin-based junctions. Finally, we describe a methodology to screen for new endothelial proteins that regulate vascular integrity during leukocyte diapedesis. Altogether, the work described in this thesis shows the importance of the endothelial cells in regulating vascular homeostasis during inflammatory events such as leukocyte transendothelial migration. ICAM-1 regulates both leukocyte trafficking and vascular integrity during inflammation-driven leukocyte recruitment. We conclude that endothelial barrier maintenance during inflammation and leukocyte diapedesis are regulated by independent pathways.
Effect of bilingualism on aphasia recovery

ABSTRACT Background The severity of post-stroke aphasia has also been reported to be less in bilingual patients compared to their monolingual counterparts Aim To analyze the effect of bilingualism on aphasia recovery during the early post-stroke phase. Methods Bengali version of Western Aphasia Battery (WAB)was used for language assessment. It was administered during the first week and 90–100 days post-stroke. Severity assessment was done by calculating aphasia quotient (AQ). We enrolled 155 monolingual and 53 bilingual patients with aphasia, of whom 120 monolingual and 43 bilingual participants were followed up. Results The probability of recovering was higher for bilinguals than in monolingual patients. When the location of stroke was analyzed, the percentage of patients recovering in the “medium” class was higher for bilingual than monolinguals by fair margins for sub-cortical and mixed cortico-subcortical strokes With respect to gender, bilingual patients present better recovery than monolinguals in both genders, but especially in males. The mean improvement of AQ in low age (p = 0.22), high volume (p = 0.05), and low AQ (p = 0.17) groups were found to be fairly higher for bilinguals in contrast to monolinguals. Conclusions This is, to our knowledge, the first study reporting differences in aphasia recovery between bilingual and monolingual subjects. Bilingual participants experienced better aphasia recovery following a stroke when viewed through the lens of different variables.
The phylogenetic placement of Temnogametum (Zygnemataceae) and description of Temnogametum iztacalense sp. nov., from a tropical high mountain lake in Mexico

Abstract A new species Temnogametum iztacalense sp. nov. (Zygnemataceae) was described using an integrative taxonomic approach. Material was collected between 2014–2019 from purple mats at the bottom of La Luna Lake, which is a shallow, well-oxygenated, acidic and ultraoligotrophic high mountain lake exposed to high levels of ultraviolet radiation. Morphological analysis revealed that the material belonged to the Zygnemataceae and contained mature zygospores of oblate-sphaeroidal shape; smooth and yellow exospores, finely punctate and brown mesospores, and thin hyaline endospores. Transmission electron microscopy showed vacuolization, wavy thylakoids and a large number of starch granules and plastoglobules. The topology of the concatenated 18S-rbcL tree using the Bayesian method separated T. iztacalense into an independent branch within the Zygnematales. The chromatographic profile of T. iztacalense revealed 20 compounds, the major ones being lutein (596.9 ± 20.9 mg g–1 algae) and β-carotene (171.4 ± 3.3 mg g–1 algae). This is the first reported phylogeny of Temnogametum isolated from this kind of lake based on 18S-rbcL sequences.
Financial Inclusion and Economic Growth in Nigeria

Purpose: Financial inclusion entails the delivery of financial services to individuals and businesses at segments of the society at a reasonable rate that meets their desired transactions. In view of this, the paper examined financial inclusion and economic growth in Nigeria from 1981-2018. Methods: The ARDL model was used to analyze the annual time series data collected from the CBN Statistical Bulletin and the World Bank report. The augmented Dickey Fully (ADF) unit root test, to test for stationarity of the variables preceded the ARDL model. Results: The ADF unit root test results showed that the dependent variable was stationary at order zero I(0), while the independent variables were stationary at order one I(1). Based on the first-hand results, it was revealed that both in the short-run and long-run, access and effective usage of financial services bring about a significant increase in economic growth. But per capita income has a negative but significant relationship with economic growth. Implications: The study conforms to finance-led growth theory which averred that the financial system is a positive function of economic growth. Based on these findings, the paper recommended that more efforts needed to be done to enhance and extend financial inclusion services such as electronic transaction in the form of POS, ATM, mobile money, etc to all rural communities in Nigeria as well as financial literacy and engagement of low-income people in the formal financial services in order to increase economic growth.
Dimensions of Sense of Membership in a Sport Fan Community: Factors, Outcomes, and Social Capital Implications

Through developing the Sport Fan Sense of Community (SFSC) scale, this study examined the factors that would constitute a sense of membership in a sport fan community, the impact of these factors on behavioral and psychological outcomes of membership, and their influence on the creation and maintenance of social capital through membership in the sport fan community. Sport fans (N = 525) were surveyed and data were analyzed through a two-step confirmatory factor analysis and subsequent structural equation model analyses. A total of 17 items under five key factors were resulted for the SFSC scale, including Collective Unity, Positivity, Inclusivity, Social Opportunities, and Knowledgeable Members. These factors significantly (p < .05) contributed to the psychological outcomes related to cognitive and affective benefits, as well as behavioral outcomes of increased game attendance, merchandise sales, and positive word of mouth. An individual’s sense of membership in the fan community also contributed to his/her bridging and bonding of social capital. This study built on previous conceptualizations of sport fan communities and developed the SFSC scale to delineate, specify, and measure one’s sense of membership in a fan community. The findings help further the theoretical understanding of sport fan communities and also provide evidence for sport organizations to identify operational areas in which they can communicate with consumers in order to create, channel, and sustain stronger communities.
Effect of large weirs on abundance and diversity of migratory Labeobarbus species in tributaries of Lake Tana, Ethiopia

Lake Tana has a remarkable fish diversity, including 17 endemic Labeobarbus species, of which nine spawn in the inflowing rivers. Three of the migratory species are threatened, namely the endangered Labeobarbus macrophtalmus and the vulnerable L. acutirostris and L. platydorsus. In July–November 2016 during the wet season netting upstream and downstream of large weirs in two rivers and in two undammed rivers showed that weirs had a severe negative effect on migratory Labeobarbus, including the three threatened species. Of eight Labeobarbus species caught below the Gelda River weir, only L. intermedius was recorded above the weir, and in the Shini River, five Labeobarbus species were caught below the weir, but none above it. Labeobarbus diversity below the Gelda River weir (H’ = 1.4) was significantly different to that above the weir (H’ = 0), whereas in the two rivers without any weirs, Labeobarbus diversity downstream (H’ = 1.39 and 1.55) was not significantly different from that upstream (H’ = 1.52 and 1.40). Therefore, specific mitigation measures, such as fishways, need to be designed from the outset of proposed weir and instream dam construction.
Development of diagnostic tests for the detection of Neospora caninum infected cattle

iii Lay summary . vii Table of contents . ix Author declaration . xv Acknowledgements . xvii List of figures . xix List of tables . xxiii List of abbreviations . xxvii Chapter 1: General introduction . 1 1.1 Neospora caninum . 1 1.2 Life cycle, host spectrum and infectious stages . 3 1.2. 1 Heteroxenous life cycle: definitive and intermediate hosts . 3 1.2. 2 Infectious stages . 5 1.3 Transmission of infection . 9 1.4 Molecular and cell biology. 10 1.4. 1 N. caninum genome and transcriptome . 10 1.4. 2 Host cell-parasite interactions . 12 1.4. 3 Antigenic repertoire of N. caninum . 13 1.4. 4 Stage-specific expression of N. caninum antigens . 16 1.5 Bovine neosporosis . 18 1.5. 1 Pathogenesis . 18 1.5. 2 Consequences of the disease . 18 1.6 Immune responses to N. caninum in cattle . 21 1.6. 1 Cell-mediated immune responses . 22 1.6. 2 Humoral immune responses . 25 1.6. 3 Foetal immune responses . 26 1.7 Diagnosis of bovine neosporosis . 27 1.7. 1 Examination of aborted foetuses . 28 1.7. 2 In vivo diagnosis of bovine neosporosis . 31 1.7. 3 Limitations of current serological diagnostics . 36
Regulation of RpoS by a novel small RNA: the characterization of RprA

Translational regulation of the stationary phase sigma factor RpoS is mediated by the formation of a double‐stranded RNA stem–loop structure in the upstream region of the rpoS messenger RNA, occluding the translation initiation site. The interaction of the rpoS mRNA with a small RNA, DsrA, disrupts the double‐strand pairing and allows high levels of translation initiation. We screened a multicopy library of Escherichia coli DNA fragments for novel activators of RpoS translation when DsrA is absent. Clones carrying rprA (RpoS regulator RNA) increased the translation of RpoS. The rprA gene encodes a 106 nucleotide regulatory RNA. As with DsrA, RprA is predicted to form three stem–loops and is highly conserved in Salmonella and Klebsiella species. Thus, at least two small RNAs, DsrA and RprA, participate in the positive regulation of RpoS translation. Unlike DsrA, RprA does not have an extensive region of complementarity to the RpoS leader, leaving its mechanism of action unclear. RprA is non‐essential. Mutations in the gene interfere with the induction of RpoS after osmotic shock when DsrA is absent, demonstrating a physiological role for RprA. The existence of two very different small RNA regulators of RpoS translation suggests that such additional regulatory RNAs are likely to exist, both for regulation of RpoS and for regulation of other important cellular components.
Lessons on Change: Shifting to Online Teaching during COVID-19

The current COVID-19 pandemic has presented educators at all levels of schooling with the challenge of converting face-to-face instruction to online learning. Past efforts to enact educational change, especially the adoption of technology in the classroom, have had mixed results. The author outlines frequent barriers to successful pedagogical change and contrasts these with observations of positive change strategies employed by her institution in moving to online learning. The essay concludes that strong institutional support for the development of technical skills, coupled with collegial sharing and building on current practices, leads to a sense of agency among instructors and a greater willingness to embrace change.
Familial influences on the division of household labour in Malaysian families

Gendered division of household labour is a social issue facing many countries. However, there is limited available research on this issue in Malaysian context. Scholars raise the possibility that differences across racial and ethnic groups are due to differences in historical experiences and cultural background, which may condition the symbolic meanings of daily activities. This possibility remains under-researched in Malaysia. This study examines the gendered experiences of division of household labour among Malay and Chinese couples in Malaysia and reasons given for it. A qualitative semi-structured interview was conducted with 30 respondents (18 women and 12 men) in Malaysia. The respondents consist of 15 Malays and 15 Chinese. The interview findings suggest there are three themes emerged related to the familial influences on couples’ domestic behaviours: (1) the way female interviewees see their father’s and brothers’ attitude towards housework influencing their expectation of their spouse, (2) the way female interviewees see their mother’s attitude towards housework influencing their own attitudes, and (3) the way male interviewees were expected by their mothers to engage in housework. These findings suggest that parents are influential in shaping their children’s attitudes and therefore their contribution to housework tasks after they form their own families. It also indicates the importance of ethnic identity in influencing the way couple engage in and share housework. This study adds insight to the complexities of the factors that may allow couples to move towards a more equal division of household labour. Keywords: ethnicity, family, gender, housework, socialization, unequal