Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improving tenderness of breast meat of spent-laying hens using marination in alkaline or acidic solutions

The current usage of spentlaying hen meat has been limited due to the toughness and nonjuicy texture of its cooked meat. The objective of this research was to improve tenderness of spentlaying hen breast meat using alkaline or acidic solutions. Three hundred pieces of spentlaying hen breast meat were randomly arranged into 10 treatments including control (no marination), marinating with distilled water, sodium bicarbonate (SBC) (0.10, 0.15, 0.20, and 0.25 M), and lactic acid (LA) (0.05, 0.10, 0.15, and 0.20 M). SBC increased (p < 0.05) the pH of raw and cooked meats, whereas LA decreased (p < 0.05) the pH of those meats. High concentration of SBC and LA decreased (p < 0.05) lightness values on the surface of the cooked meat. A decrease in shear force values (p < 0.05) was found in the cooked meats with margination due to an increase in water-holding capacity (WHC) . Microscopic images of cooked meat illustrated the porous structure in SBC marinated meat. In addition, the clear gaps between each muscle fiber were observed in cooked LA marinated meat. Muscle fiber diameter of the marinated samples was greater (p < 0.05) than those of the control group, indicating the swelling of muscle in the marinated samples. Therefore, marinations with SBC and LA increased tenderness of the cooked meat by either increasing WHC or changing muscle structure of the meat. Based on the current findings, solutions of 0.10 M LA and 0.15 M SBC can be potential marinades for improving tenderness of spent-laying hen breast meat.
International return predictability and the term structure of risk∗

This paper explores return predictability within a panel VAR setup. Using quarterly data from 1971 to 2013, I show that stock and bond are actually predictable in 10 countries with well-developed capital markets. While it is generally admitted that stocks are safer on the long run, I obtain a rather flat term structure of risk. The “conventional wisdom” on longterm investing is simply not there. Using bootstrapped confidence intervals of the conditional moments, I show that stocks are significantly riskier than bonds or bills at any horizon. Longterm correlations across asset classes are very low, even at a ten-year horizon. This result is robust to alternative specifications and data. Overall, while I observe predictability with more precision than in studies focusing on a single country, the consequence of predictability is paradoxically weak. JEL Classification: C22, C23, G11, G12, G15.
Structure of Eastern Antarctic Peninsula Ice Shelves and Ice Tongues from Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery

Examination of synthetic aperture radar data collected over the southeastern Antarctic Peninsula shows that features sometimes mapped as ice shelves are more likely composed of numerous ice tongues interspersed within a matrix of fast ice and icebergs. The tongues are formed by the seaward extension of numerous small mountain glaciers that drain from the Antarctic Peninsula. Once afloat, the tongues intermingle with a matrix of fast ice and brash. Examination of 1997 Radarsat-1 image mosaics shows that southeastern Antarctic Peninsula composite-ice-shelves covered an area of about 3500 km . Similar to ice tongues around the rest of Antarctica, these features are highly fragmented and likely to be susceptible to mechanical failure. One such composite shelf located between New Bedford and Wright Inlets was observed to decrease in area by 1200 km between 1997 and 2000.
Feasibility of an Electronic Health Tool to Promote Physical Activity in Primary Care: Pilot Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

Background Physical inactivity is associated with increased health risks. Primary care providers (PCPs) are well positioned to support increased physical activity (PA) levels through screening and provision of PA prescriptions. However, PCP counseling on PA is not common. Objective This study aimed to assess the feasibility of implementing an electronic health (eHealth) tool to support PA counseling by PCPs and estimate intervention effectiveness on patients’ PA levels. Methods A pragmatic pilot study was conducted using a stepped wedge cluster randomized trial design. The study was conducted at a single primary care clinic, with 4 pre-existing PCP teams. Adult patients who had a periodic health review (PHR) scheduled during the study period were invited to participate. The eHealth tool involved an electronic survey sent to participants before their PHR via an email or a tablet; data were used to automatically produce tailored resources and a PA prescription in the electronic medical record of participants in the intervention arm. Participants assigned to the control arm received usual care from their PCP. Feasibility was assessed by the proportion of completed surveys and patient-reported acceptability and fidelity measures. The primary effectiveness outcome was patient-reported PA at 4 months post-PHR, measured as metabolic equivalent of task (MET) minutes per week. Secondary outcomes assessed determinants of PA, including self-efficacy and intention to change based on the Health Action Process Approach behavior change theory. Results A total of 1028 patients receiving care from 34 PCPs were invited to participate and 530 (51.55%) consented (intervention [n=296] and control [n=234]). Of the participants who completed a process evaluation, almost half (88/178, 49.4%) stated they received a PA prescription, with only 42 receiving the full intervention including tailored resources from their PCP. A cluster-level linear regression analysis yielded a non–statistically significant positive difference in MET-minutes reported per week at follow-up between intervention and control conditions (mean difference 1027; 95% CI −155 to 2209; P=.09). No statistically significant differences were observed for secondary outcomes. Conclusions Our results suggest that it is feasible to build an eHealth tool that screens and provides tailored resources for PA in a primary care setting but suboptimal intervention fidelity suggests greater work must be done to address PCP barriers to resource distribution. Participant responses to the primary effectiveness outcome (MET-minutes) were highly variable, reflecting a need for more robust measures of PA in future trials to address limitations in patient-reported data. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03181295; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03181295
Chen’s type inequality forwarped product pseudo-slant submanifolds of Kenmotsu f-manifolds

In the present paper, we consider non-trivial warped product pseudo slant submanifolds of type M? xf M? and M? xf M? of Kenmotsu f-manifold M? Firstly, we get some basic properties of these type warped product submanifolds. Then, we prove the general sharp inequalities for mixed totally geodesic warped product pseudo slant submanifolds and also we consider equality cases. Also generalizes some previous inequalities as well.
Phytochemical investigation of Punica granatum pomace: As source of bioactive and medicinal natural products

Punica granatum L. is a native plant that is greatly dispensed in south of Iran. The massive pomace of Punica exhibits a challenging losses exposure difficulty for the processing industries. The resent study was aimed to investigate the composition and quality of P. granatum pomace and understand its bioactive compounds to introduce it to different industries such as pharmaceutical, food, medicinal, agricultural etcetera for optimum use. The SHS (static headspace) GC-MS on the Combi PAL system method was used to identify and analyze the volatile components (VCs). Four different extracts (60°C water, distilled water, methanol and methanol 80%) were analyzed for polyphenol compounds identified by HPLC-DAD, total flavonoid content (TFC), total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant capacity (DPPH(2,2-diphenyl-1picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging assay). The relationship between TFC, TPC and antioxidant activity were statistically investigated. The dominant VCs of P. granatum were limonene (50.6%) followed by -pinene (25.1%), -terpinene (6.79%), -pinene (5.7%) and sabinene (2.59%), respectively. Gallic acid was major polyphenol compound in all studied extracts of marc. 60°C water extract from P. granatum pomace represented higher antioxidant capacity, TPC and TFC than other investigated extracts. This studied marc can be introduced to different industries as a source of bioactive and medicinal natural compounds because of its valuable phytochemical characterization.
Search Frictions in Crowdfunding Markets∗

This paper studies, theoretically and empirically, how search frictions affect price competition and funding allocation in the crowdfunding market. I develop a dynamic many-to-one matching model with fixed sample search, à la Burdett and Judd (1983), and show that borrowers employ mixed strategies in setting interest rates in a unique stationary equilibrium. I construct a novel dataset on a large panel of fundraisers’ behaviors and find evidence of persistent rate dispersion and funding mismatches, which are consistent with the theoretical predictions of the impact of search frictions. More importantly, the model implies that in a many-to-one matching market, interest rate dispersion caused by search frictions facilitates investor coordination and hence improves matching efficiency relative to a no friction environment. According to a nonparametric estimation, I find that with dispersed rates, the coordination effect can improve the aggregate funding probability by 28% compared with a random matching context.
What is the difference in the quality of education provided by government and private primary schools in Tanzania? : a comparative study

The establishment of private primary schools (PPS) in Tanzania came after the introduction of liberalisation and privatisation policies. However there has been a question on the differences of the quality of education provided by the PPS and Government primary schools (GPS). And therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the differences between the quality of education provided in the GPS and PPS in Tanzania. In this study Open System Theory and Education for Self Reliance Theory were used as the guiding theories to the study. The study incorporated two primary schools; a private owned with English as the Language of instruction and the second, was the government owned primary school with Kiswahili as the LOI. A qualitative strategy with multiple data collection methods such as face to face interviews with a semi structured form, participant observation, and document analysis was employed. Twenty two participants were involved in the study including six teachers, six parents and ten students. The study showed a clear difference in the quality of education provided by the PPS and GPS. The PPS which use English as LOI seemed to have better quality of education.The PPS were found to be rich in motivated, quality, skilful and committed teachers, resources and facilities; child centred teaching methods, responsible parents and good learning environment for the students except the outside playgrounds which were inadequate. On the other hand GPS had spacious classrooms as well as playgrounds. From the results we see that the PPS provide better quality of education as compared to GPS. It is therefore recommended that the government should increase its budget on primary education sector and improve conditions of its schools, value the teachers and improve their working conditions. It should as well have a full control and pay attention on what transpires in PPS.
Interest Rates and Insurance Company Investment Behavior

Life insurance companies, the largest institutional holders of corporate bonds, tilt their portfolios towards higher-yield bonds when interest rates decline. This tilt seems to be primarily driven by an increase in duration rather than credit risk and insurers do not seem to increase the credit risk of their bonds as interest rates decline. Moreover, the duration gap between their assets and liabilities deviates from zero for extended periods of time in either direction. These patterns cannot be explained by incentives to reach for yield. We propose a new model of duration-matching under adjustment costs that conforms with these patterns and test other implications of this model. The gradual duration matching poses financial stability challenges distinct from reaching for yield.
Big Code != Big Vocabulary: Open-Vocabulary Models for Source Code

Statistical language modeling techniques have successfully been applied to large source code corpora, yielding a variety of new software development tools, such as tools for code suggestion, improving readability, and API migration. A major issue with these techniques is that code introduces new vocabulary at a far higher rate than natural language, as new identifier names proliferate. Both large vocabularies and out-of-vocabulary issues severely affect Neural Language Models (NLMs) of source code, degrading their performance and rendering them unable to scale. In this paper, we address this issue by: 1) studying how various modelling choices impact the resulting vocabulary on a large-scale corpus of 13,362 projects; 2) presenting an open vocabulary source code NLM that can scale to such a corpus, 100 times larger than in previous work; and 3) showing that such models outperform the state of the art on three distinct code corpora (Java, C, Python). To our knowledge, these are the largest NLMs for code that have been reported. All datasets, code, and trained models used in this work are publicly available.
STEAMpunk girls co-design: Exploring a more integrated approach to STEM engagement for young women

Context: The call to increase the capacity of Australia's STEM workforce has resulted in a spotlight on the comparably fewer number of women working in STEM. One strategy to address this lack of representation is an integrated, 'STEAM' approach to teaching and learning STEM. STEAM education recognises the role of arts/humanities and the potential utility of a more creative mindset, applied to learning and teaching STEM. Whilst STEAM is still a relatively new pedagogical approach, research suggests positive outcomes whereby young people can develop innovative and transdisciplinary skillsets that can enhance their employment prospects in disciplines such as engineering. Purpose: The STEAMpunk Girls Co-Design program aims to determine if an integrated approach to education across the science, technology, engineering, arts and maths (STEAM) fields, can promote stronger engagement and a sense of empowerment, confidence and agency among young women in terms of their willingness to pursue STEM study and careers. Approach: A 10-day program was conducted in November 2016, involved 26 girls (aged 15-16 years) from three Sydney high schools. Students were enlisted to design a STEAM-based educational pilot for their peers. Longitudinal data was collected from online pre- and postprogram surveys. Results: Findings reveal a unique, female perspective that can utilised to improve STEM engagement programs for their peers (particularly if such programs seek to integrate the arts, humanities and social sciences as a means of increasing interest, engagement and retention in STEM). Students reported improvements in their understanding of the types of work people undertake in science, technology, engineering, and arts industries, as well as the variety of cross-disciplinary skills needed to work in STEM industries. Co-design proved to be a fitting methodological framework for the participants to experience a safe and supportive environment to experiment and trial their ideas. Program feedback was predominantly positive, with an average satisfaction agreement rating of 92% across all feedback categories. Conclusions: The STEAMpunk Girls co-design program identified benefits STEM-Arts integration, as well as issues and obstacles that adversely affect young women's engagement in STEM fields such as engineering.
Long travel distance for health care and poor adherence to breast cancer screening programs as predictors of patient delay

Patient delay (PD) is a leading cause of advanced stage of disease and poor prognosis among Brazilian breast cancer patients. The present study addressed socio-demographic variables and their impact on PD. Odds Ratios (OR) and Confidence Intervals (CI) were determined using regression analysis. Data of 103 breast cancer patients were obtained from medical records and interviews. All patients detected first symptoms of breast cancer on their own. On average, patients were seeking for medical help 67.5 (s= 124.1) days after recognition of symptoms. More than 60 days between recognition of symptoms and first medical visit was defined as PD in 33 (32.0%) cases. Low and intermediate educational level increased chance of PD, 1.22 (95%CI: 0.33-4.48) and 1.92 (95%CI: 0.53-7.00) fold. Having no stable relationship increased chance of PD 2.04 (95%CI: 0.88-4.73) fold. Patients without a private health insurance had a 1.90 (95%CI: 0.49-7.32) increased chance of PD. Women, who had not at all, or rarely performed medical visits at their own living place, had a 6.25 (0.76-51.33) increased chance of PD (p< 0.05). Patients who had never performed mammography and CBE had a 1.78 (0.57-5.53) and 1.47 (0.44-4.89) increased chance of PD. Not having a health service at the own living place was the most prominent causal factor of PD. As tumours of patients were not discovered during medical exams, the negative association between adherence to prevention programs and PD, points to additional attitudes of participating women that reduced treatment delay. Milena Edite Case de Oliveira1; Tácila Thamires de Melo Santos1; Lorena Sofia dos Santos Andrade1; Kedma Anne Lima Gomes1; Tiago Almeida de Oliveira2; Mathias Weller1* 1Programa de Pós-graduação em Saúde Publica. Universidade Estadual da Paraíba (UEPB). Campina Grande-Paraíba, Brazil 2Departamento de Estatística. Universidade Estadual da Paraíba (UEPB). Campina Grande-Paraíba, Brazil ISSN: 2639-4391
Achievement returns to parental choice: evidence from centralised assignment in London primary schools

Parents rank preferred public schools at application in an increasing number of districts around the world. Oversubscription implies a signi cant fraction of applicants is often denied the top choice. Does missing out on sought-after schools have negative consequences on pupils' achievement? This paper exploits the regression discontinuity design embedded in centralised assignment of primary school seats in London. Identi cation stems from sharp discontinuities in the probability of admission as function of distance to and preference for listed schools. I nd that missing out on the second choice has a negative impact on pupils' achievement, while no e ect is detected for the most-preferred school. Achievement losses are driven by pupils from high-income neighbourhoods and by applicants to academy schools. Results suggest a uent parents sort in areas with two e ective schools available, while disadvantaged families does not bene t in entering preferred schools. I nd little evidence of results being driven by di erential demand for academic performance. JEL Codes: H75, I21, I24, I28
Exchange Rate Misalignment and External Imbalances: What is the Optimal Monetary Policy Response?

How should monetary policy respond to capital inflows that appreciate the currency, widen the current account deficit and cause domestic overheating? Using the workhorse open-macro monetary model, we derive a quadratic approximation of the utility-based global loss function in incomplete market economies, solve for the optimal targeting rules under cooperation and characterize the constrained-optimal allocation. The answer is sharp: the optimal monetary stance is contractionary if the exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) on import prices is incomplete, expansionary if ERPT is complete – implying that misalignment and exchange rate volatility are higher in economies where incomplete pass through contains the effects of exchange rates on price competitiveness.
Mediation Role of Corporate Social Responsibility on Corporate Governance and Firm Value: Evidence from Indonesia Firms

: This study aims to examine the mediating role in corporate governance relations and firm value. The research was conducted on companies that participated in the CGPI program and published sustainability reports. Observation period 2011 - 2015. The results show that overall corporate social responsibility was not proven to mediate the relationship between corporate governance and company value as measured by NPM. Furthermore, corporate social responsibility does not mediate the relationship between corporate governance and corporate value as measured by ROE. Improving corporate governance will increase corporate social responsibility and corporate value, occurring in the measurement of company value with ROE. This can be explained that in carrying out corporate governance and ethical behavior the company always pays attention to long-term sustainability to increase company assets from the results of company operations reflected in ROE. Company value can be maximized in a company that is adapted to the principles of corporate governance and prioritizes the interests of stakeholders by carrying out corporate social responsibility.
Do Micro-Mobility Services Take Away Our Privacy? Focusing on the Privacy Paradox in E-Scooter Sharing Platforms

E-scooter sharing is gaining popularity while riders’ privacy concerns still remain, due to their destructive threat to individuals. Based on the APCO macro model, this study examines the relationships among antecedents (i.e., privacy experiences, privacy awareness, usage regularity, and geographical regularity), privacy concerns, and the outcome (i.e., continuance intention to use e-scooter sharing platforms). An interesting phenomenon is that quite a few users have continuance intention to use even when they have privacy concerns, which has rarely been explored with the concept of psychological distance. This research therefore further investigates the relationship between privacy concerns and users’ continuance intention by adding four different types of psychological distance (i.e., temporal, spatial, interpersonal, and platform-self distances) as moderating variables in our research model, drawing on construal level theory. Research findings are expected to contribute to literature on privacy paradox, the APCO macro model, and construal level theory, along with some practical implications.
Lessons from the Discovery of the “Calcium Paradox” due to Ca2+/Camp Interaction

What have we learned from the discovery of the “calcium paradox” due to Ca2+/cAMP interaction? Our discovery of the involvement of interaction between the intracellular signalling pathways mediated by Ca2+ and cAMP (Ca2+/cAMP interaction) in the neuronal protection has produced new paths for the understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer ́s and Parkinson's diseases. Interestingly, tachycardia and increment of catecholamine plasma levels (sympathetic hyperactivity) have been reported by hypertensive patients that use L-type Ca2+ channel blockers (CCBs) since seventies. Despite these adverse effects of CCBs have been initially attributed to adjust reflex of arterial pressure, during almost four decades this enigmatic phenomenon named "calcium paradox" remained unclear. We revealed that this phenomenon was resulting of increase of transmitter release from sympathetic neurons stimulated by CCBs due to its interference on the Ca2+/cAMP interaction. In this way, novel journeys for the development of new pharmacological strategies more effective for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases may be started.