Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Workplace fun is not enough: the role of work engagement and trust

Abstract Research on workplace fun has neither identified the processes through which its positive impact is achieved nor the mechanisms that facilitate it. In the present study we examined the protecting role of five workplace fun dimensions with regard to need for recovery from work, turnover intentions, and chronic social stressors and the mediating role of vigor, dedication and absorption (work engagement). We also explored workplace fun under conditions of high, medium and low trust. The study was a cross-sectional survey. Four hundred and thirty-three employed individuals working in various professions in Greece participated by filling in an online questionnaire. Convenience sampling was used. A series of hierarchical regression analyses and mediation and moderation analyses showed that work engagement dimensions (vigor, dedication, and absorption) mediate the impact of organic workplace fun and management support for fun on turnover intentions, chronic social stressors and need for recovery from work. A significant interaction effect of trust for the relationship between different types of workplace fun and the outcomes measured was found. Our study shows that the relationship of workplace fun with favorable outcomes can be explained by fluctuations in work engagement and is stronger when trust levels are sufficient.
The Contribution of Glass Microspheres and PP Fibers in the Properties of NHL Grouts

Although, over the last decades, different types of additions have been used in mortars for conservation of heritage buildings, their use in lime-based grouts for stone masonry consolidation is limited. The purpose of this study is to contribute to the increase of knowledge regarding the performance of injection grouts prepared with glass microspheres and polypropylene (PP) fibers. The effects of glass microspheres and PP fibers on the properties of natural hydraulic lime-based grouts were analysed by rheological measurements, mechanical strength tests, water absorption and drying test. The content of glass microspheres (5-20%) and PP fiber (0.1-0.5%) was added by the weight of binder and to reduce the water demand, a polycarboxylate superplasticizer was used. From the assessment of the results, it was asserted that the fresh state behaviour was slightly affected by these additions, as in general the rheological properties worsened compared to the reference grout composition. On the other hand, the PP fibers influenced the hardened grouts’ properties in a positive way, while their mechanical and physical properties were slightly improved or maintained which is a crucial feature for the success of consolidation intervention.
Hierarchical structuring and evaluation of risks, uncertainties and technical challenges faced by building refurbishment contractors

The UK is believed to have some of the oldest buildings in Europe and these aged buildings are constantly growing in number while there is a concomitant growing pressure to maintain their utilitarian values in the face of changing technology, legislation and sustainability issues. Wholesale demolition of these buildings is believed to be unhealthy from an environmental protection perspective as it causes heavy pollution as well as placing more demand upon depleting resources. The need for alternatives to demolition and new-build is therefore imperative. Refurbishment is one such and a well-established alternative to demolition and new-build as the schemes are adjudged to be a cost-effective way of extending the lifespan of properties as it allows the provision of modern facilities. However, dealing with an existing building is faced with various unknowns, unexpected, unpredictable and often undesirable situations which will require further attention and a mechanism to identify any source of uncertainty because when risks are unidentified and not properly managed, they consequently affect project objectives. The study investigates the factors which contribute to risks, uncertainties and technical challenges associated with building refurbishment schemes and the impact they may have in achieving project desired outcomes. The overall objective is to develop a framework that provides helpful information to refurbishment practitioners to assist in minimising level of uncertainty. Developing a framework that provides support for decision makers in pinpointing the vital elements that define the characteristics of the refurbishment projects in terms of achieving high quality standards as well as those factors which may act as barriers was chosen for this study as there is no widely used, understood and accepted refurbishment focused framework
Temporal Dimensions of Job Quality and Gender: Exploring Differences in the Associations of Working Time and Health between Women and Men

Research shows strong links between working time organization and workers’ health outcomes. Working time is also known to be highly gendered, with men and women working to different schedules. This article merges these two strands of research and takes a gender-based approach to investigating the relationship between temporal job quality and self-reported health in Europe. First, the sixth European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) is used to establish the relationship between temporal dimensions of job quality and health and well-being outcomes for employed women and men. This is then corroborated using larger samples and more restricted measures of job quality drawn from micro-data from the 2019–2020 EU Labor Force Survey (LFS). The analyses show that good temporal job quality is positively associated with health and subjective well-being for both women and men, but this effect is significantly stronger for women, who are also at a greater risk of exposure to low control over working time and time under-employment. The findings highlight the importance of studying the impact of working and employment conditions on health from gender perspective, and the need for further exploration of job quality due to changes in the spatio-temporal organization of work during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
HMTM-Mediated Enhancement of Brain Bioenergetics in a Mouse Tauopathy Model Is Blocked by Chronic Administration of Rivastigmine

The tau protein aggregation inhibitor hydromethylthionine mesylate (HMTM) was shown recently to have concentration-dependent pharmacological activity in delaying cognitive decline and brain atrophy in phase 3 Alzheimer’s disease (AD) clinical trials; the activity was reduced in patients receiving symptomatic therapies. The methylthionine (MT) moiety has been reported to increase the clearance of pathological tau and to enhance mitochondrial activity, which is impaired in AD patients. In line 1 (L1) mice (a model of AD), HMTM (5/15 mg/kg) was administered either as a monotherapy or as an add-on to a chronic administration with the cholinesterase inhibitor rivastigmine (0.1/0.5 mg/kg) to explore mitochondrial function and energy substrate utilization as potential targets of drug interference. Compared with wild-type NMRI mice, the L1 mice accumulated greater levels of l-lactate and of the LDH-A subunit responsible for the conversion of pyruvate into l-lactate. In contrast, the levels of LDH-B and mitochondrial ETC subunits and the activity of complexes I and IV was not altered in the L1 mice. The activity of complex I and complex IV tended to increase with the HMTM dosing, in turn decreasing l-lactate accumulation in the brains of the L1 mice, despite increasing the levels of LDH-A. The chronic pre-dosing of the L1 mice with rivastigmine partially prevented the enhancement of the activity of complexes I and IV by HMTM and the increase in the levels of LDH-A while further reducing the levels of l-lactate. Thus, HMTM in combination with rivastigmine leads to a depletion in the energy substrate l-lactate, despite bioenergetic production not being favoured. In this study, the changes in l-lactate appear to be regulated by LDH-A, since neither of the experimental conditions affected the levels of LDH-B. The data show that HMTM monotherapy facilitates the use of substrates for energy production, particularly l-lactate, which is provided by astrocytes, additionally demonstrating that a chronic pre-treatment with rivastigmine prevented most of the HMTM-associated effects.
Impact of Diabetes Mellitus on the Immunity of Tuberculosis Patients: A Retrospective, Cross-Sectional Study

Background Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease that poses a significant health threat and is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Diabetes mellitus (DM) has high morbidity and mortality rates. Previous studies have reported that comorbidities can influence one another and aggravate immune disorders. A systematic and comprehensive evaluation of the immune status of patients with TB and DM (TB-DM) is helpful for early clinical immune intervention and for promoting the recovery of patients with TB-DM. Methods This study included 159 patients with TB without DM (TB-NDM) and 168 patients with TB-DM. Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) release assays (IGRAs) and TB-specific antibodies against 38kD+16kD proteins were used to detect humoral and cellular immune responses. Flow cytometry was used to analyze the absolute counts of the lymphocyte subsets. Results There was no significant difference in the positive rate of enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assays, enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and 38kD+16kD antibodies between the TB-DM and TB-NDM groups. Pulmonary lobe lesion and cavity formation rates were significantly higher in patients with TB-DM with poor glycemic control than patients with TB-NDM and TB-DM with normal glycemic control. The absolute counts of T lymphocytes, CD8+ T lymphocytes, and B lymphocytes in patients with TB-DM were markedly lower than those in patients with TB-NDM. The absolute counts of T lymphocytes and CD8+ T lymphocytes in patients with TB-DM and hyperglycemia were lower than those in patients with euglycemia. Linear regression analysis revealed that the absolute counts of total T lymphocytes, CD8+ T lymphocytes, and NK cells in patients with TB-DM significantly decreased with increasing fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels. Conclusion Hyperglycemia is a risk factor for pulmonary cavity formation and lobe lesions in patients with TB-DM and suppresses the absolute counts of total T lymphocytes, CD8+ T lymphocytes, and NK cells in patients with TB-DM. The potential mechanism may involve the downregulation of innate and adaptive immune responses.
Laboratory suspension freeze concentration (Lab SFC) followed by a simple centrifugal procedure for separation

Abstract Suspension freeze concentration (SFC) is a low temperature technology which has a promising prospect in food and bioproducts industry. In SFC, the dispersed ice crystals are made in aqueous fluid and become bigger in sizes after ripening, are then separated from the mother liquor to achieve ice removal. A laboratory device of 2 L capacity integrating ice nucleation and ripening in one pot has been investigated in this study. Centrifugation is then applied to the whole slurry (in contrast to a tightly packed ice phase in previous studies) to separate the liquid out, which simplifies greatly the SFC process. This procedure was successfully used to concentrate sucrose solution from 10oBrix (wt%) to 17.6oBrix (wt%). For the first time, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was used to look at the microscopic distribution of sucrose attached and partly included in the ice particles. The solute loss (sucrose inclusion in the ice phase) was further reduced to only 0.6oBrix (wt%) by partially melting the particle phase. The yield of solute reached to about 97% in one go of about 2 hours. Agitation, partial ice melting, etc., were also examined in the current work. Similarly, the solid contents of orange juice, skim milk and the red wine can be concentrated to similar levels in runs of about 1.5 hours. This work has shown that this laboratory scale device is nice and simple for concentrating small amounts of practical aqueous liquids. The centrifuge as it is adopted here is also simple to operate and the whole procedure shows great promise for practical applications.
Group I mGluRs in Therapy and Diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease: Focus on mGluR5 Subtype

Metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs; members of class C G-protein-coupled receptors) have been shown to modulate excitatory neurotransmission, regulate presynaptic extracellular glutamate levels, and modulate postsynaptic ion channels on dendritic spines. mGluRs were found to activate myriad signalling pathways to regulate synapse formation, long-term potentiation, autophagy, apoptosis, necroptosis, and pro-inflammatory cytokines release. A notorious expression pattern of mGluRs has been evident in several neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and schizophrenia. Among the several mGluRs, mGluR5 is one of the most investigated types of considered prospective therapeutic targets and potential diagnostic tools in neurodegenerative diseases and neuropsychiatric disorders. Recent research showed mGluR5 radioligands could be a potential tool to assess neurodegenerative disease progression and trace respective drugs’ kinetic properties. This article provides insight into the group I mGluRs, specifically mGluR5, in the progression and possible therapy for PD.
Design and Optimization of the Geometric Properties of a Crane Hook

Cranes are used in many industries to transport heavy loads from one position to another. These loads are fastened to a crane hook which makes it a critical aspect of the crane itself. The purpose of this study is to optimize the performance of the crane hook based on stress, geometry, and weight. A single load is considered and multiple cross sections—including square, circular, and trapezoidal—are analyzed. The analysis takes the form of theoretical calculations and finite element analysis through the use of SOLIDWORKS Simulation. The trapezoidal cross section is determined to be the most efficient and the weight and stress of this cross section are optimized by varying the cross sectional parameters.
Black Tax: Evidence of Racial Discrimination in Municipal Borrowing Costs

Municipalities with higher proportions of Black residents pay higher borrowing costs to issue rated bonds compared to other cities and counties that issue within the same state and year. These higher costs are unexplained by credit risk, more pronounced in states with higher levels of racial resentment, and robust to state-tax incentives to hold municipal bonds. In time-series tests using political election periods during which racial resentment has been shown to intensify, we find that the differences in borrowing costs also increase. Collectively, the findings illustrate that racial bias can increase borrowing costs, especially where racial resentment is severe. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the th annual Municipal Finance Conference. Ashleigh Eldemire the Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996. Kimberly F. Luchtenberg the Kogod School of Business at American University, Washington, DC, 20016. Matthew M. Wynter the College of Business at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, 11794. The authors are to Jeffrey Harris, Justin Birru, Matthew Serfling, Dermot Murphy, David Maslar, Tong Yao, and Shanette Porter for helpful suggestions and Gabriel Butler for a helpful discussion. They are also grateful for the comments from seminar participants if bond insurer, and Long-term is a continuous variable generated by the rating scales Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s, and A value of 1 is assigned to issuers with the high est (i.e., a value of 2 is assigned to the next highest rating (i.e., AA+,Aa1), and so forth. A value of 17 is assigned to issuers with no long-term Long-term Rating (Y/N) is an indicator variable set to 1 if the issuer has a Long-term Rating, and 0 otherwise. Long-term Rating (NM) is a continuous variable equal to Long-term Rating for all non-missing observations (i.e. Long-term Rating=17). Multi-CUSIPs is an indicator set to 1 if four or more bonds with unique maturities (CUSIPs) are packaged within the same offer, and 0 otherwise. Black Pop (%) Below Median includes counties with a smaller proportion of Black residents than the state-year median county proportion.
Remote sensing and photogrammetry techniques in diagnostics of concrete structures

Recently laser scanning technologies become widely used in many areas of the modern economy. In the following paper authors show a potential spectrum of use Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) in diagnostics of reinforced concrete elements. Based on modes of failure analysis of reinforcement concrete beam authors describe downsides and advantages of adaptation of terrestrial laser scanning to this purpose, moreover reveal under which condition this technology might be used. Research studies were conducted by Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Gdansk University of Technology. An experiment involved bending of reinforced concrete beam, the process was registered by the terrestrial laser scanner. Reinforced concrete beam was deliberately overloaded and eventually failed by shear.Whole failure process was tracing and recording by scanner Leica ScanStation C10 and verified by synchronous photographic registration supported by digital photogrammetry methods. Obtained data were post-processed in Leica Cyclone (dedicated software) and MeshLab (program on GPL license). The main goal of this paper is to prove the effectiveness of TLS in diagnostics of reinforced concrete elements. Authors propose few methods and procedures to virtually reconstruct failure process, measure geometry and assess a condition of structure.
The relationship between the 2D:4D ratio and lateral preference in a Ghanaian population

Prenatal androgen exposure has suggested to be associated with lateral preferences in humans as per the Geschwind-Behan-Galaburda (GBG) theory, the Sexual Differentiation Hypothesis (SDH) and the Callosal Hypothesis (CH). The 2D:4D ratio is the putative marker of prenatal androgen exposure. The study aimed to determine the relationship between the 2D:4D ratio and lateral preferences. The study was cross-sectional from May to June 2021 that involved 206 participants (females = 112, males = 94), aged between 18 to 32 years. Computer-assisted analysis was used to measure the right (2D:4DR) and the left (2D:4DL) digit ratios while lateral preferences were measured using the Lateral Preference Inventory (LPI) questionnaire. The females’ 2D:4DL was significantly higher than males with a medium effect size ( p = 0.033, d = 0.29). The odds that a male would have a preference for the left ear was greater relative to a female [AOR = 2.330 (95%CI: 1.034-5.251)]. There was a significant correlation between right-eye laterality and the 2D:4DR in females ( r = –0.589, p = 0.030). Also, left-foot laterality significantly correlated with the 2D:4DL in males ( r = 0.693, p = 0.046). Prenatal androgen exposure, as indexed by the 2D:4D ratio may be associated with lateral preferences of the eye in females and the foot in males. Further studies are however recommended.
A two-step metagenomics approach for the identification and mitochondrial DNA contig assembly of vertebrate prey from the blood meals of common vampire bats ( Desmodus rotundus ) Emerging Technique

The feeding behaviour of the sanguivorous common vampire bat ( Desmodus rotundus ) facilitates the transmission of pathogens that can impact both human and animal health. To formulate effective strategies in controlling the spread of diseases, there is a need to obtain information on which animals they feed on. One DNA-based approach, shotgun sequencing, can be used to obtain such information. Even though it is costly, shotgun sequencing can be used to simultaneously retrieve prey and vampire bat mitochon drial DNA for population studies within one round of sequencing. However, due to the challenges of analysing shotgun sequenced metagenomic data such as false negatives/positives and typically low proportion of reads mapped to diet items, shotgun sequencing has not been used for the identification of prey from common vampire bat blood meals. To overcome these challenges and generate longer mitochondrial contigs which could be useful for prey population studies, we shotgun sequenced common vampire bat blood meal samples (n = 8) and utilised a two-step metagenomic approach based on combining existing bioinformatic workflows (align ment and mtDNA contig assembly) to identify prey. After validating our results from detections made through metabarcoding, we accurately identified the common vampire bats’ prey in six out of eight samples without any false positives. We also generated prey mitochondrial contig lengths between 138 bp to 3231 bp (median = 770 bp, Q1 = 262 bp, Q3 = 1766 bp). This opens the potential to conduct phylogenetic and phylogeographic monitoring of elusive prey species in future studies, through the analyses of blood meal metagenomic data.
Household Effective Demand for Electricity in Ghana: Analysis and Implication for Tariffs

Outcomes of most developing country projects to secure inclusive growth through electricity provision appear to hinge on available information regarding households’ response to electricity. To provide the needed information for policy, this study assessed the determinants of household electricity demand and estimated the mean willingness to pay for electricity by households in Ghana. The study used a Contingent Valuation modelling procedure involving over 3000 households, to derive an effective demand function for electricity in Ghana. This was done through a national household survey. A mathematical programming analytical procedure was employed, to fully account for the block pricing tariff system used in Ghana. The study found that Ghanaian households are willing to pay a monthly mean electricity tariff of 50.40 Ghana cedis (US$11.56), which is lower than the average monthly tariff of 73.67 Ghana cedis (US$16.90) paid by households. Thus, the average tariff paid by households monthly is 46% higher than the mean willingness to pay. The study also found that the highest impact determinants of demand for electricity in Ghana were affordability of tariffs, usage of electrical appliances, and availability of electricity respectively. This study employs a mathematical programming procedure to determine the mean willingness to pay for electricity in Ghana. This procedure is theoretically more robust than the often-used differential calculus approach since it incorporates the block pricing of electricity in Ghana, which the calculus approach ignores. Also, it uses the largest and most inclusive known sample, specifically designed to elicit households’ willingness to pay for electricity in Ghana. The study is also unique in its findings.