Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Internal environmental conditions of soybean processing plants and safety in workplace

Currently, the domestic agricultural sector has become increasingly professionalized; therefore, measures aimed at safety in the workplace and monitoring of environmental risks have been gaining major importance in this scenario. Thus, this study aimed at assessing internal environmental conditions of four soybean processing plants (SPPs) operating with a screen-air machine, densimetric table and with or without spiral separator. These plants are in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil), being assessed on site considering every feature related to machinery and equipment, as well as technological level. Field evaluations comprised measurements of noise, illuminance and suspended dust. Results showed that none of the SPPs is in full accordance with current laws for the investigated parameters, among which noise level is what most threatens the environmental conditions. Moreover, lightening conditions are unsatisfactory since the environments are extremely dark, not reaching minimal standard. Regarding the suspended dust is possible to claim that there is an emerging risk.
An Empirical Investigation of Factors Influencing IT Professionals' Knowledge Sharing Behavior in Organizations

Knowledge management is important for competitive advantage in knowledgebased organizations. A critical aspect of managing knowledge is the knowledge sharing behavior of organizational members. A positive relationship between knowledge sharing and organizational performance has been widely supported in prior literature. The vast body of extant literature on knowledge sharing behavior has identified that individuals possess specialized knowledge which can be valuable to the organization, specifically when it is shared. Knowledge sharing behavior however is influenced by several factors which either facilitate or inhibit knowledge sharing among individuals in an organizational context. A better understanding and management of these factors would help organizations in realizing the expected benefits of knowledge sharing. Prior literature has examined the direct effects of several antecedents of knowledge sharing behavior utilizing rational or social theoretical perspectives. The interactional perspective, however, has received little attention in prior research. This approach recognizes the importance of better understanding how factors from diverse theoretical perspectives influence knowledge sharing behavior in organizations, since no single theoretical perspective can completely explain the phenomena. Several individual and contextual factors such as perceptions of equity, work group cohesiveness and emotional disposition are expected to influence individuals’ in sharing Rudramuniyaiah, Prasad, 2014, UMSL, p.7 their specialized knowledge. However, the influence of these factors on knowledge sharing has not been investigated in prior literature. This study investigates the relationship between the presence of specialized knowledge and knowledge-sharing behavior under the influence of contextual factors. We developed a contingency model of knowledge sharing behavior drawing upon the factors identified from prior literature and empirically test the model using survey responses from IS professionals. The research provides useful insights into knowledge sharing behavior in organizations. We discuss the implications for research and practice and suggest directions for future research.
Student ability and difficulties with transfer from a block-based programming language into other programming languages: a case study in Colombia

ABSTRACT Background and context Transfer is a process where students apply their learning to different contexts. This process includes using their knowledge to solve problems with similar complexity, and in new contexts. In the context of programming, transfer also includes being able to understand and use different programming languages. Objective This study explores: (a) student ability to transfer from a block-based programming language into another block-based programming language; (b) student ability to transfer from a block-based programming language to a text-based programming language; (d) student ability to transfer their learning within the same programming language; and (d) the difficulties students had to transfer in these contexts. Method A group of students participating in a program called Coding For Kids explained three different programs in different programming languages during an interview protocol. The students used the programming language MakeCode, and worked on transfer activities in Scratch and Python. Findings The results suggest that while most students are able to transfer between block-based programming languages, most of them struggle to explain a program in a text-based programming language, and to solve a new coding challenge. Implications Instructional designers should consider different strategies to facilitate student transfer into professional programming languages, which is particularly difficult for non-English speakers.
Spray-drying microencapsulation of polyphenols by polysaccharide from yeast cell walls

This study used polysaccharide (PS) from yeast cell walls to encapsulate polyphenols (PP) extracted from green tea (a good antioxidant substance) to avoid the effects of sensitive factors such as temperature, light and oxygen, and to preserve its stability and bioactivities. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of four types of wall material (PS-MD (maltodextrin), PS-whey, whey, and MD). After selecting the most appropriate wall material, the study continued to investigate the effects of the ratios of the core to the wall material (1:1, 1:2, 1:3 and 1:4, w/w); the inlet air temperatures of spray-drying (130, 140, 150 and 160 °C); and the feed flow rates (04, 05, 06 and 07mL/min) on the microencapsulation yield (MEY) and the microencapsulation efficiency (MEE). The results showed the best settings as follows the wall material being PS-MD, the ratio of PP to the wall material as 1:3 (w/w), the inlet air temperatures at 140 °C, and the feed flow rate at 05mL/min. Under those conditions, the MEY and the MEE were found to be highest as 31.118mg/g and 86.73%, respectively. When examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), they had various sizes and spherical shapes and some of them had smooth or concave surfaces. As a result, it could be concluded that polyphenols were successfully encapsulated in the PS-MD matrix by spray-drying and the application to some food products could be further studied.
In Reply.

Muratli et al raise the critical issue of whether there is a cause and effect relationship between low vitamin D status and accelerated rates of cognitive decline in older adults. We agree that dementia may lead to reduced vitamin D status owing to reduced exposure to sunlight, decreased dietary intake, and perhaps other circumstances, and therefore, reverse causation cannot be ruled out as an explanation for our results. Indeed, vitamin D status was lower on average in those participants in our study who were diagnosed as having dementia. 1 However, as we stated in our report, 1 we do not believe that the significant associations between low vitamin D status and rates of decline in episodic memory and executive function were due to higher prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in participants with dementia because the results remained similar after removing those participants from the statistical analysis. Importantly, participants diagnosed as having mild cognitive impairment and those considered to be cognitively normal had similar baseline vitamin D status.
Exploration of Relational Thinking Skills Using Problem Solving of Geometry Transformation

The aimed study is analyzing the mathematical ability of students with relational thinking skills in geometry transformation material. This study used a descriptive qualitative approach. Data collection techniques were carried out by giving tests based on contextual problems and interviews. The test result was used to measure the effectiveness and completeness of learning outcomes. Furthermore, the result of the interviews supported the data of test results and identified the problem that was faced during the process of the test. The research showed that the most achieved indicator is the first indicator which can write the important information and create the relation about the description of the problem. Meanwhile, the least indicator that has been achieved was the third and fourth indicator which analyzed the relation by using structures, symbols, and properties to find models and re-check in the form of sketching and operating matrices transformation.Tujuan dari penelitian ini yaitu “mengkaji kemampuan matematis peserta didik dengan relational thinking skill pada materi transformasi geometri”. Penelitian ini menggunakan deskripstif dengan pendekatan kualitatif. Teknik pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan memberikan soal tes berbasis permasalahan kontekstual dan wawancara. Hasil test digunakan untuk mengukur keefektifan dan ketuntasan hasil belajar. Selanjutnya hasil wawancara mendukung data dari hasil tes dan mengidentifikasi masalah yang dihadapi selama proses tes. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa Indikator yang paling banyak dicapai yaitu indikator pertama yang mana mampu menuliskan informasi penting dan membentuk relasi tentang gambaran sebuah masalah. Sementara itu, indikator yang paling sedikit dicapai adalah indikator ketiga dan keempat yang mana menganalisis relasi dengan menggunakan struktur, simbol, dan sifat untuk mencari model dan mengecek kembali dalam bentuk sketsa dan operasi transformasi matriks.
Advertising Personality Impact to Education Institution Brand Image Base on Three Hits Theory of Exposure

This research conducted to examine the causal effects of two dimensional design of print advertisement communication personality in tutoring course education institution base on brand personality that beneficially applied toward tutoring education institution brand image. After conducting observation of three groups of participants with different information advertisement treatment i.e. sincerity personality, excitement personality and control group, in the longitudinal three weeks experiment using One-Way ANOVA randomized block design analysis, gathered in the context of case study. It is proven that sincerity advertisement treatment is not appropriate to apply in making information and advertisement design for this case if publish more than one time broadcast. Contrarily, for the excitement personality form of advertisement treatment appear to increase influence on the brand image aggregate for three weeks, means excitement personality design of advertisement will strengthened the three hits theory. These research outcomes, when applied to education institution will providers, will help in designing appropriate personality form of information and communication of advertisement.
Analyzing the performance of South Africa’s commodity market prices through business cycle indicators

"The soundness of the capital market is crucial in establishing resilient financial market deepening and general economic progress. Equally, the health of the financial market’s commodity market is undoubtedly a key determinant of inclusion, equitability, including sustained growth and development, especially in commodity-dependent countries. However, countries worldwide are faced with the continued challenge of falling commodity prices, presenting varied negative effects. Understanding the performance of the commodity market through lenses of fundamental or real-side indicators, other than just micro-specific financial or monetary variables, could prove helpful in constructing better inferences of the commodity market from an industrial, investor and policy standpoint. This study conducted a comprehensive evaluation of South Africa’s official component series of the business cycle indicators (BCI), to assess their potential and capacity to serve as explanatory signals for commodity market prices. The study utilized the cross-correlations tests, Granger causality tests, variance decomposition and charting techniques to assess the co-movement and concordance between business cycle component series (regressors) and the All-commodity index (regressand). Monthly observations from June 2003 to November 2017 were employed. Evidence of existing co-movement or concordance was established between the commodity market and most of the BCIs. Significant BCIs were identified as leading, lagging and coincident indicators for the commodity market based on the underlying properties established in the empirical estimates of the study. Keywords: Business cycle indicators, commodity market, capital market, South Africa. JEL Classification: Q02, F44 "
Palliative Care for Patients with End-Stage, Non-Oncologic Diseases—A Retrospective Study in Three Public Palliative Care Departments in Northern Italy

Patients with irreversible malignant and non-malignant diseases have comparable mortality rates, symptom burdens, and quality of life issues; however, non-cancer patients seldom receive palliative care (PC) or receive it late in their disease trajectory. To explore the characteristics of non-cancer patients receiving PC in northern Italy, as well as the features and outcomes of their care, we retrospectively analyzed the charts of all non-cancer patients initiating PC regimens during 2019 in three publicly funded PC departments in Italy’s populous Lombardy region. We recorded the baseline variables (including data collected with the NECPAL CCOMS-ICO-derived questionnaire used since 2018 to evaluate all admissions to the region’s PC network), as well as treatment features (setting and duration) and outcomes (including time and setting of death). Of the 2043 patients admitted in 2019, only 12% (243 patients—131 females; mean age 83.5 years) had non-oncological primary diagnoses (mainly dementia [n = 78], heart disease [n = 55], and lung disease [n = 30]). All 243 had Karnofsky performance statuses ≤ 40% (10–20% in 64%); most (82%) were malnourished, 92% had ≥2 comorbidities, and 61% reported 2–3 severe symptoms (pain, dyspnea, and fatigue). Fifteen withdrew or were discharged from the study PCN; the other 228 remained in the PCN and died in hospice (n = 133), at home (n = 9), or after family-requested transfer to an emergency department (n = 1). Most deaths (172/228, 75%) occurred <3 weeks after PC initiation. These findings indicate that the PCN network we studied cares for few patients with life-limiting non-malignant diseases. Those admitted have advanced-stage illness, heavy symptom burdens, low performance statuses, and poor survival. Additional efforts are needed to improve PCN accessibility for non-cancer patients.
Anthropometric Assessment of General and Central Obesity in Urban Moroccan Women

In the last few decades, North African countries have faced the nutrition transition, leading to an increase in obesity, exacerbated by an extremely low rate of physical activity (PA). Particular attention must be paid to abdominal obesity (one of the metabolic syndrome criteria), which has been linked to several health problems. The present study aims to investigate the prevalence of overweight/obesity, particularly abdominal obesity, in a sample of urban Moroccan women and to analyze the anthropometric indicators of metabolic syndrome risk among subsamples with different PA and socio-demographic characteristics. Urban Moroccan women living in Casablanca (n = 304; mean age 37.4 ± 15.6 years) were recruited for this cross-sectional study. Data concerning socio-demographic variables, PA behavior, and anthropometric measures (height, weight, waist, and hip circumferences) were directly collected. Body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, waist-to-height ratio, and relative fat mass were computed. Comparisons between women with different socio-demographic characteristics were performed through ANCOVA adjusted for age. The results reveal that 39.4% of the women did not practice any PA. The percentage of women above the cutoffs of risk for general and central obesity was more than half for all the indexes, except for waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and 19.6% were at a very high risk of health issues. Moreover, being female unmarried, childless, graduates, and students were found to be protective against obesity. In conclusion, Moroccan women have a high level of obesity, especially abdominal, and preventive interventions are needed to reduce the health impact of obesity in this population.
Impact of intermittent fasting on laboratory, radiological, and anthropometric parameters in NAFLD patients

Aim of the study Despite the ample flow of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) drugs in the pipeline, lifestyle modifications are still the optimal solution of NAFLD. The aim of the study was to assess short term effects of Ramadan fasting (RF) as a sort of intermittent fasting (IF) on biochemical, radiological, and anthropometric parameters of NAFLD patients. Material and methods Ninety-eight NAFLD patients were recruited and voluntarily subjected to 16 hours daily fasting for an average of 22-29 days, without special dietary recommendations. Anthropometric, laboratory and radiological parameters were measured before, at 30 days, and one month after fasting (fasting and non-fasting phases). Results Patients were mostly rural (76%), hypertensive (34.7%), diabetic (43.9%), and female (76.8%), with overt criteria of metabolic syndrome (67.3%). Liver transaminases (ALT and AST) were ameliorated significantly after fasting (p ≤ 0.01), which continued in the following month (p ≤ 0.01) especially in those with elevated ALT before fasting (46%). Eleven patients (24.4%) experienced ALT normalization after one month of fasting, which was further increased to 15 (33.3%) one month later. Lipid profiles (cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL, LDL, cholesterol/HDL risk ratio) were significantly corrected following IF (p ≤ 0.01) and continuing in the next phase (p ≤ 0.010). Body mass index (BMI) lessened following the fasting (p ≤ 0.01), while no remarkable changes were noted regarding waist, hip, and triceps skin fold thickness (p ≤ 0.01). Glycemic indices (HbA1c, postprandial, HOMA-IR) and fibrosis markers (FIB-4 and APRI) were significantly ameliorated (p ≤ 0.01), while reduction in inflammatory markers was not long lasting (p ≤ 0.01). Conclusions Intermittent fasting led to momentous improvements in ultrasonographic, biochemical, and anthropometric parameters of NAFLD especially in early phases and prediabetics.
Analysis of Risk Factors for the Development of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in a Group of Romanian Patients

Introduction Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is caused by numerous risk factors, the most common being old age, obesity, family history of diabetes mellitus, GDM, history of fetal macrosomia, history of polycystic ovary syndrome or treatment with particular drugs, multiple births, and certain races. The study proposed to analyze the risk factors causing GDM. Method In the study, we included 97 pregnant women to whom there was an OGTT performed between weeks 24th and 28th of pregnancy, divided into two groups, with GDM and without GDM. The statistical analysis was performed with SPSS 26.0, the tests being statistically significant if p value < 0.05. Results The favoring risk factors for the onset of GDM were analyzed, with statistically significant differences between the GDM group and the group without GDM related to the delivery age (32.39 ± 4.66 years old vs. 28.61 ± 4.71 years old), history of fetal macrosomia (13.7% vs. 0%), presence of GDM during previous pregnancies (7.8% vs. 0%), HBP before pregnancy (9.8% vs. 0%), gestational HBP (17.6% vs. 0%), glycemia value at first medical visit (79.37 ± 9.34 mg/dl vs. 71.39 ± 9.16 mg/dl), and weight gain during pregnancy (14.61 ± 4.47 kg vs. 12.48 ± 5.87 kg). Conclusions Identifying the risk factors for the GDM onset has a special importance, implying an early implementation of interventional measures in order to avoid the onset of GDM and associated maternal and fetal complications.
In Vitro Model of Suppression of the Alloantigen Response by Tolerogenic Dendritic Cells Transfected with Personalized DNA Constructs Encoding HLA Epitopes.

BACKGROUND A search for efficient graft rejection modulation techniques for the promotion of durable engraftment remains to be a matter of close study all over the world. Despite the variety of immunosuppressive drugs, the schemes currently used show a lack of selectivity and have a number of side effects. Here we investigated an approach for the induction of antigen-specific tolerance in a human "stimulator-responder" model in vitro, using dendritic cells (DCs) transfected with designed DNA constructs encoding the stimulator's major histocompatibility complex (MHC) epitopes. METHODS The object of the study is peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 10 healthy donors. To induce antigen-specific tolerance, personalized DNA constructs were created for five responder-stimulator pairs, based on the sequences of donors' and recipients' MHCs. DNA sequencing was performed to select epitopes for incorporation into genetic constructs. A mixed lymphocyte culture assay was used (i) to assess the proliferative response in both directions for all possible stimulator-responder pairs (90 reactions) and (ii) to assess the tolerogenic properties of the generated transfected DCs (5 reactions). RESULTS A significant increase in the amounts of FoxP3+ CD4+CD25+ cells and in IL-10 production was shown in culture of donor mononuclear cells after co-cultivation with the responder's dendritic cells transfected with donor-specific plasmids. The tolerogenic cultures generated using tolerogenic DCs transfected with MHC epitopes had a significantly greater ability to inhibit the proliferation of autologous MNCs in response to an allogeneic MHC stimulus. CONCLUSIONS The produced DCs transfected with DNA constructs against HLA stimulating epitopes exhibited tolerogenic properties and may be used to develop antigen-specific tolerance. Thus, we proposed a perspective approach to the induction of antigen-specific tolerance, which should subsequently be studied for use in clinical practice.