Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Impact of Gender on Food Waste at the Consumer Level

Abstract Food waste is one of the main contributors to economic disparities, social inequalities and environmental pollution. Numerous studies have sought to understand the drivers of food waste at various stages in the food supply chain, including the consumption stage. Based on a quantitative analysis of 252 Romanian consumers, the present study shows that gender is an important factor that affects the individuals’ attitudes and behaviours in regard to food and a potential factor that could affect the amount of food wasted. The study found that attitudes towards food waste evolve as individuals age, and that, at each stage, women tend to be more concerned about the negative impact of food waste on social equity or the family budget than men. In addition, women were found to display behaviours in regard to food acquisition and preparation that can result in higher food waste in a larger degree than men, even though the study found no differences in the actual amount of food wasted by the two genders. The results of the study are important because they show the need to adapt the public awareness campaigns on food waste on the particularities of each gender across several age groups.
Nonlinear simulation of an elastic tumor-host interface

Abstract We develop a computational method for simulating the nonlinear dynamics of an elastic tumor-host interface. This work is motivated by the recent linear stability analysis of a two-phase tumor model with an elastic membrane interface in 2D [47]. Unlike the classic tumor model with surface tension, the elastic interface condition is numerically challenging due to the 4th order derivative from the Helfrich bending energy. Here we are interested in exploring the nonlinear interface dynamics in a sharp interface framework. We consider a curvature dependent bending rigidity (curvature weakening [22]) to investigate metastasis patterns such as chains or fingers that invade the host environment. We solve the nutrient field and the Stokes flow field using a spectrally accurate boundary integral method, and update the interface using a nonstiff semi-implicit approach. Numerical results suggest curvature weakening promotes the development of branching patterns instead of encapsulated morphologies in a long period of time. For non-weakened bending rigidity, we are able to find self-similar shrinking morphologies based on marginally stable value of the apoptosis rate.
Supporting Parents and Teachers in Additional Language Learning

Supervisory Committee Kathy Sanford, Department of Education Supervisor Kristen Mimick Co-Supervisor or Departmental Member Tim Hopper Departmental Member This Masters’ project will examine the need for support in learning French as an additional language in elementary schools. Through both French Immersion and Core French programs, we have identified gaps in knowledge for teachers and parents. Firstly, teachers of Core French programs often lack the knowledge and confidence to adequately teach the Prescribed Learning Outcomes from the British Columbia Ministry of Education curriculum. This project will address why some teachers do not feel confident or prepared to teach Core French and what type of resources are needed to support Core French teachers. Secondly, we explore the home/school relationship of French Immersion students coming from an English background. Parents who enrol their child in French Immersion without possessing French skills themselves may face challenges when helping their child with schoolwork at home. We investigate ways to create a positive home literacy environment that incorporates French learning with the child and parents. Throughout our research, three core topics developed. Firstly, the value of additional language learning shows the importance and usefulness of learning an additional language. These key values demonstrate why French education is and should be included in British Columbia curriculum. Secondly, the gaps in knowledge in both Core French teachers and French Immersion parents show a need for additional resources and support. Finally, we assess how the home literacy environment impacts students in French programs.
"Now that you've got that coverage": Promoting use of a regular source of primary care among homeless persons.

BACKGROUND The growing number of homeless persons in the United States demonstrates greater morbidity and mortality than the population as a whole. Homeless persons are often without a regular source of primary care. Homeless persons use emergency departments and are hospitalized at higher rates than nonhomeless persons. In 2010, the enactment of the Affordable Care Act expanded access to primary care services. Nurse practitioners were at the forefront of its subsequent implementation. PURPOSE The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the factors that influence establishing and maintaining a regular source of primary care among homeless persons. METHODOLOGICAL ORIENTATION In 2017, semistructured interviews were conducted in a federally qualified health center that serves predominately homeless persons. SAMPLE A purposive convenience sample included adult health center users (N = 20). The majority of participants were insured (90%), African American (70%), and male (65%). CONCLUSIONS Thematic analysis revealed five facilitators: sense of community, mutual patient-provider respect, financial assurance, integrated health services, and patient care teams. To establish and maintain use of a regular primary care source, homeless persons desire to experience a sense of community, feel respected by their provider/staff, and have certainty that costs will not exceed their capacity to pay. Integrated care models that leverage a multidisciplinary team approach support the use of a regular primary care source. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE Actualizing achievable strategies that promote the consistent use of a regular primary care source can reduce use of avoidable emergency and hospital-based services, thereby improving health outcomes among homeless persons.
Sexist Humor and Sexual Aggression Against Women: When Sexist Men Act According to Their Own Values or Social Pressures

Exposure to sexist humor creates a context in which some men feel comfortable expressing aggressive tendencies toward women (i.e., self-reported rape proclivity). This is in part because this type of humor makes it easier for men who have antagonistic attitudes toward women to express their prejudice without fear of social reprisal. Besides, previous research has demonstrated the influence of motivational variables such as autonomy (initiation or regulation of intentional behavior based on free choice) and control (acting under external pressure) on aggression. We conducted two experiments to explore the hypothetical influence of priming autonomy and control motivations on the relation between sexist humor and the expression of sexually aggressive tendencies toward women. Study 1 (N = 108) revealed that control-primed men with high (vs. low) scores in hostile sexism reported a higher rape proclivity when exposed to sexist (vs. neutral) humor. These results were partially replicated in Study 2 (N = 132), assessing the accessibility of aggressive sexual thoughts. This research contributes to our understanding of the influence of sexist humor and motivational orientations in sexist men on the expression of aggressive sexual behaviors directed against women.
Estimating the Crest Lines on Polygonal Mesh Models by an Automatic Threshold

Crest lines convey the inherent features of the shape. Mathematically Crest lines are described via extremes of the surface principal curvatures along their corresponding lines of curvature. In this study we used an automatic threshold estimation technique to estimate crest lines. We firstly computed the principal curvature and corresponding direction for each vertex in the mesh; then we computed the saliency value by a linear combination of the maximal absolute curvature and the absolute curvature difference; finally, we automatically determine the threshold to detect the crest lines according to the saliency value. For illustrative purpose, we demonstrated our method with several examples.
Heavy metal pollution and health risk assessment of agricultural land in the Southern Margin of Tarim Basin in Xinjiang, China

ABSTRACT The study aimed to analyze the level of heavy metal pollution in the agricultural lands in the southern margin of Tarim Basin, Xinjiang, and its risks to human health. A total of 1765 soil samples were collected from the Cele-Ruoqiang area. The contents of soil As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb and Zn were analyzed using the pollution load index method. The results showed that soil was slightly contaminated with Hg and Cd; the multivariate statistical analysis indicated that Cr, Ni, As, Cu, Zn, and Cd were formed mostly by geochemical genesis, whereas Hg and Pb contents by the geological origin and human activities. The health risk assessment showed that there is no unacceptable non-carcinogenic health risk. As levels posed carcinogenic risk, however, they were within human tolerance. Thus, this study provides a scientific basis for local agricultural production safety and prevention and control of soil heavy metal pollution.
In care, aftercare and caring for those in care: my successful care journey

ABSTRACT Coyle and Pinkerton identify gaps in the care leaving system in Northern Ireland regarding social work training and meeting the challenges of transitioning from care. The primary focus of this article is to provide a perspective of care and leaving care which could contribute to social work education and practice in these areas. Framed within a strengths perspective, the article draws on my own care journey from service user to social work student to newly qualified social worker. As a final-year social work student on Placement Learning Opportunity in a children's home which mainly provided long-term care, I reflected on my own care journey and what I thought made it successful. I concluded that a number of resilience-enhancing factors existed both at the personal and environmental levels including my own level of motivation, meaningful roles, positive school experiences and surrogate relationships. I also considered the relevance of my care journey to my qualifying social work training, including the importance of relationships in residential social work, learning responsibility and understanding the reality of independent living. Implications for social work education and practice include use of personal knowledge and engaging with duality, which means recognition of an individual actively combining and integrating lived service user or carer experience and professional training in their social work qualifying training and professional practice. However, this article emphasises that elements of my care journey should not be used as a checklist for current and former “looked after” children as each child's and young person's care journey is lived and experienced in different ways.
LncRNA SPRY4‐IT1 regulates breast cancer cell stemness through competitively binding miR‐6882‐3p with TCF7L2

SPRY4‐intronic transcript 1 has been found in several kinds of cancers, but the role of SPRY4‐IT1 in breast cancer stem cells has not been studied. We investigated whether SPRY4‐IT1 is involved in the promotion of breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs). We used qRT‐PCR to detect the expression of SPRY4‐IT1 in MCF‐7 cells and MCF‐7 cancer stem cells (MCF‐7 CSCs). The effects of SPRY4‐IT1 on the proliferation and renewal ability of breast cancer cells were investigated by in vitro and in vivo assays (ie in situ hybridization, colony formation assay, sphere formation assay, flow cytometry assay, western blotting, xenograft model and immunohistochemistry). The mechanism of SPPRY4‐IT1 as a ceRNA was studied by a dual‐luciferase reporter assay and bioinformatic analysis. In our study, SPRY4‐IT1 was up‐regulated in MCF‐7 CSCs compared with MCF‐7 cells, and high SPRY4‐IT1 expression was related to reduced breast cancer patient survival. Furthermore, SPRY4‐IT1 overexpression promoted breast cancer cell proliferation and stemness in vitro and in vivo. In addition, SPRY4‐IT1 knockdown suppressed BCSC renewal ability and stemness maintenance in vivo and in vitro. The dual‐luciferase reporter assays indicated that SPRY4‐IT1 as a sponge for miR‐6882‐3p repressed transcription factor 7‐like 2 (TCF7L2) expression. Taken together, these findings demonstrated that SPRY4‐IT1 promotes proliferation and stemness of breast cancer cells as well as renewal ability and stemness maintenance of BCSCs by increasing the expression of TCF7L2 through targeting miR‐6882‐3p.
Preventing immediate‐onset food allergy in infants, children and adults: Systematic review protocol

More than 17 million people across Europe have allergies to food and the burden of food allergies is increasing. In 2014, the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) published guidelines for preventing food allergy. Important research has been published since then and it is essential to ensure the guidelines reflect the latest evidence. A systematic review will be undertaken to help prepare new guidelines due to be published in 2020.
Metabolic engineering of rice endosperm for betanin biosynthesis.

Betanin has been widely used as an additive for many centuries, and its use has increased because of its market application as an additive, high free radical scavenging activity, and safety, health-promoting properties. The main source of betanin is red beet, but many factors notably affect the yield of betanin from red beets. Betanin is not produced in cereal grains. Thus, developing biofortified crops with betanin is another alternative to health-promoting food additives. Here, rice endosperm was bioengineered for betanin biosynthesis by introducing three synthetic genes (meloS, BvDODA1S, and BvCYP76AD1S). The overexpression of these genes driven by rice endosperm-specific promoters established the betanin biosynthetic pathways in the endosperm, resulting in new types of germplasm-'Betanin Rice' (BR). The BR grains were enriched with betanin and had relatively high antioxidant activity. Our results proved that betanin can be biosynthesized de novo in rice endosperm by introducing three genes in the committed betanin biosynthetic pathway. The betanin-fortified rice in this study can be used as a functional grain to promote health and as a raw material to process dietary supplements.
A comparison between the TEG 6s and TEG 5000 analyzers to assess coagulation in trauma patients

Supplemental digital content is available in the text. BACKGROUND Trauma-induced coagulopathy is a major driver of mortality following severe injury. Viscoelastic goal-directed resuscitation can reduce mortality after injury. The TEG 5000 system is widely used for viscoelastic testing. However, the TEG 6s system incorporates newer technology, with encouraging results in cardiovascular interventions. The purpose of this study was to validate the TEG 6s system for use in trauma patients. METHODS Multicenter noninvasive observational study for method comparison conducted at 12 US Levels I and II trauma centers. Agreement between the TEG 6s and TEG 5000 systems was examined using citrated kaolin reaction time (CK.R), citrated functional fibrinogen maximum amplitude (CFF.MA), citrated kaolin percent clot lysis at 30 minutes (CK.LY30), citrated RapidTEG maximum amplitude (CRT.MA), and citrated kaolin maximum amplitude (CK.MA) parameters in adults meeting full or limited trauma team criteria. Blood was drawn ≤1 hour after admission. Assays were repeated in duplicate. Reliability (TEG 5000 vs. TEG 6s analyzers) and repeatability (interdevice comparison) was quantified. Linear regression was used to define the relationship between TEG 6s and TEG 5000 devices. RESULTS A total of 475 patients were enrolled. The cohort was predominantly male (68.6%) with a median age of 49 years. Regression line slope estimates (ß) and linear correlation estimates (p) were as follows: CK.R (ß = 1.05, ρ = 0.9), CFF.MA (ß = 0.99, ρ = 0.95), CK.LY30 (ß = 1.01, ρ = 0.91), CRT.MA (TEG 6s) versus CK.MA (TEG 5000) (ß = 1.06, ρ = 0.86) as well as versus CRT.MA (TEG 5000) (ß = 0.93, ρ = 0.93), indicating strong reliability between the devices. Overall, within-device repeatability was better for TEG 6s versus TEG 5000, particularly for CFF.MA and CK.LY30. CONCLUSION The TEG 6s device appears to be highly reliable for use in trauma patients, with close correlation to the TEG 5000 device and equivalent/improved within-device reliability. Given the potential advantages of using the TEG 6s device at the site of care, confirmation of agreement between the devices represents an important advance in diagnostic testing. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Diagnostic test, level II.
Study the Relationship between Hemodialysis (HD) Patients and Their ABO Blood Grouping as Well as Screening of Hemodialysis Access-related Bacterial Infections

Aim: This study aimed to study the relationship between hemodialysis patients and ABO blood grouping as well as screening for aerobic bacterial infection. Samples of urine and blood were collected from sixty patients who were submitted to Medical City and Al-kahdemiya hospitals in Baghdad in the period between December 2011 and February 2012. The specimens (urine and blood) were cultured on BHI broth and blood culture media (respectively) and bacterial cultures which were obtained were diagnosed to genus and species using biochemical tests and APi system. Eighty percent of urine samples were positive to culturing while (50%) from the blood samples were positive to culturing. The most isolated bacteria from urine were: Staphylococcus aureus (23%) and Escherichia coli (19.8%) while from blood were S. epidermidis (32.6%) and E. coli (32.6 %). The percentage of the seroprevelence of Helicobacter pylorl was 53% of the total number of HD patients and that 60% of these patients who carried H. pylori antibodies belonged to O blood group. The results also revealed that (55, 25, 10, 10%) of the HD patients were belonging to (O, B, A and AB) respectively.
Corpus luteum vascularization during the maternal recognition of pregnancy in llamas (Lama glama).

The aim of this study was to characterize corpus luteum vascularization and its association with plasma progesterone concentration in early stages of pregnancy, when maternal recognition of pregnancy is expected to occur. In all animals both plasma progesterone concentration and corpus luteum vascularization increased from day 6 to day 8 post-mating and afterwards in non-pregnant llamas they started to decrease to reach basal levels around Days 12 to 14 post-mating; while in pregnant animals both variables remained elevated until the end of the study. A lineal positive relationship between corpus luteum vascularization and plasma progesterone concentration was observed in pregnant (r2 = 0.46, p < .0001) and non-pregnant llamas (r2 = 0.66, p < .0001). Pregnant animals showed higher plasma progesterone concentration and corpus luteum vascularization than the non-pregnant ones from day 12 post-mating until the end of the study (P˂0.05 and P˂0.01, respectively). These results suggest that maternal recognition of pregnancy should occur before Day 12 post-mating in order to expand luteal lifespan; maintaining corpus luteum vascularization and progesterone production. Also, the assessment of CL vascularization area could be a useful and non-invasive method for early pregnancy diagnosis due to its association with plasma progesterone concentration.
People living with HIV/AIDS: body image and its important associations with mental health and BMI

ABSTRACT Patients on antiretroviral therapy face new challenges, such as bodily changes. We conducted a cross-sectional study with people living with HIV/AIDS. We investigate the self-perception of body image and its associations. Most of the patients reported negative self-perception of body image (NSPBI), being mostly women, up to 40 years old and with changes in BMI. NSPBI was associated with depressive symptoms and punctual alterations in the redistribution of body fat: face, abdomen and legs, subjects still little elucidated. Assessing neglected aspects can improve the way these patients see themselves, and come to understand the disease as only a part of their lives.
Diet Mimicking “Fast Food” Causes Structural Changes to the Retina Relevant to Age-Related Macular Degeneration

ABSTRACT Introduction: Metabolic syndrome is a disorder characterized by a constellation of findings including truncal obesity, elevated blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol levels, and high blood glucose. Recent evidence suggests that metabolic syndrome may be associated with increased risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and other eye diseases. Recently, C57BL/6J wild-type mice fed with a “fast food” diet consisting of high fat, cholesterol, and fructose-supplemented water showed unique systemic pathology consistent with metabolic syndrome and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Additionally, these mice showed higher levels of fibrosis, inflammation, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and mitochondrial dysfunction compared to mice fed with only a high-fat diet alone. Since similar pathways are activated in AMD, we sought to determine whether mice fed a “fast food” diet exhibited retinal changes. Methods: 3-month-old wild-type mice were randomized to a standard chow (n = 11) or a “fast food” (n = 18) diet and fed for 9 months. At 1 year of age, tissues were collected and retinas were analyzed using transmission electron microscopy. Quantitative measures of Bruch’s membrane thickness and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cell counts were performed. Results: “Fast food” fed mice showed ocular pathology relevant to various stages of AMD including basal laminar deposits, focal thickening of Bruch’s membrane, and a significant loss of RPE cells. Discussion/conclusion: A wild-type mouse model of metabolic syndrome fed a “fast food” diet developed changes to the retina similar to some of the pathologic features seen in AMD. Further investigations into this and similar animal models as well as further epidemiological studies are needed to more clearly define the association between metabolic syndrome and AMD.
Groundwater, soil and compost, as possible sources of virulent and antibiotic-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa

ABSTRACT Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a major public health concern all around the world. In the frame of this work, a set of diverse environmental P. aeruginosa isolates with various antibiotic resistance profiles were examined in a Galleria mellonella virulence model. Motility, serotypes, virulence factors and biofilm-forming ability were also examined. Molecular types were determined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Based on our results, the majority of environmental isolates were virulent in the G. mellonella test and twitching showed a positive correlation with mortality. Resistance against several antibiotic agents such as Imipenem correlated with a lower virulence in the applied G. mellonella model. PFGE revealed that five examined environmental isolates were closely related to clinically detected pulsed-field types. Our study demonstrated that industrial wastewater effluents, composts, and hydrocarbon-contaminated sites should be considered as hot spots of high-risk clones of P. aeruginosa.