Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
In Vitro Antioxidant Treatment of Semen Samples in Assisted Reproductive Technology: Effects of Myo-Inositol on Nemaspermic Parameters

Male infertility and the poor quality of sperm seem to be influenced by oxidative stress. In particular, the reactive oxygen species (ROS) mainly produced by morphologically altered spermatozoa affect sperm motility, morphology, and integrity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Myo-Inositol (Myo-Ins) on a number of parameters such as viscosity and total and progressive motility of spermatozoa, in order to better validate its possible practical application in vitro, in order to improve the capacitation protocols commonly used in Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART). A total of 100 fresh and 25 thawed semen samples were analyzed in vitro prior to and after addition of Myo-Ins. Treatment of samples with Myo-Ins showed an increase in the sperm total and progressive motility in both fresh and thawed samples. Furthermore, Myo-Ins proved to be well tolerated by spermatozoa in vitro, demonstrating that it can be efficiently and safely used as antioxidant in the laboratory practice and for preparation of semen samples in ART.
Youth Sport Participation and Peer Support in the Context of Physical Disability: A Qualitative Perspective

Despite the benefits of sport participation, there is a limited understanding on how to initiate and maintain sport participation among youth with physical disabilities. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively explore the role of peers in supporting sport participation among youth with physical disabilities using self-determination theory’s (SDT) mini-theories as guiding frameworks. Interviews were conducted with eight youth with physical disabilities using youthengaging strategies, and inductively-deductively thematic analysis. Youth participated in a variety of sports, predominantly at the recreational level. Peers’ changing roles throughout the youths’ progression was expressed in line with the three basic psychological needs of SDT. Multi-level need thwarting and supporting behaviours were also highlighted to play a role in sport engagement, and the manifestations of their sport internalization. Peers may assist in creating positive sport experiences for youth with physical disabilities by fulfilling the basic psychological needs of SDT.
The search for a bilingual advantage in executive functions: a developmental perspective.

Bilinguals need very intensive language-control mechanisms to produce effective communication and avoid intrusions from the non-target language, because both languages are always active in a bilingual mind (Thierry & Wu, 2007), competing with each other. It is mostly assumed that bilinguals apply inhibition to the non-target language (see, for example, the IC model, Green, 1998). This constant need of inhibition makes bilinguals much better at their general inhibitory abilities as compared to their monolingual counterparts, as claimed by the bilingual advantage defenders (Bialystok et al., 2005). However, recent findings suggest that the repeatedly shown bilingual advantage effect in tasks tapping into domain general inhibition might stem from uncontrolled factors associated to bilingualism, rather than from bilingualism itself, as well as to small sample sizes (Paap & Greenberg, 2013). Crucially, previous evidence tended to neglect the importance of factors such as immigrant status or socio economic status. In the present thesis I aimed at testing the reliability of the criticisms to the bilingual advantage by testing large samples of carefully matched bilingual and monolingual children, young adults and seniors in sets of classic tasks that tap into domain general executive functions, such as Stroop, Flanker and Simon tasks. I found no indication of the bilingual advantage whatsoever, since every bilingual and monolingual group behaved comparably in every task, obtaining highly similar indices. The results are discussed and interpreted in the light of different perspectives.
The Arctic and Antarctic oscillations and their projected changes under global warming

The Arctic Oscillation (AO) and the Antarctic Oscillation (AAO) are the leading modes of high‐latitude variability in each hemisphere as characterized by the first EOF of mean sea‐level pressure. Observations suggest a recent positive trend in the AO and it is speculated that this may be related to global warming. The CCCma coupled general circulation model control simulation exhibits a robust and realistic AO and AAO. Climate change simulations for the period 1900–2100, with forcing due to greenhouse gases and aerosols, exhibit positive trends in both the AO and the AAO. The model simulates essentially unchanged AO/AAO variations superimposed on a forced climate change pattern. The results do not suggest that a simulated trend in the AO/AAO necessarily depends on stratospheric involvement nor that forced climate change will be expressed as a change in the occurence of one phase of the AO/AAO over another. This pattern of climate change projects exclusively on the AAO pattern in the southern hemisphere but not in the northern hemisphere where other EOFs are involved. The extent to which this forced climate change pattern and the unforced modes of variation are determined by the same mechanisms and feedbacks remains an open question.
Semantic Parametric Reshaping of Human Body Models

We develop a novel approach to generate human body models in a variety of shapes and poses via tuning semantic parameters. Our approach is investigated with datasets of up to 3000 scanned body models which have been placed in point to point correspondence. Correspondence is established by nonrigid deformation of a template mesh. The large dataset allows a local model to be learned robustly, in which individual parts of the human body can be accurately reshaped according to semantic parameters. We evaluate performance on two datasets and find that our model outperforms existing methods.
Finding variation: assessing the development of syntactic complexity in ESL Speech

Int J Appl Linguist. 2018;1–15. wileyon This paper examines the development and variation of syntactic complexity in the speech of 66 L2 learners over three academic semesters in an intensive English program. This investigation tracked development using hierarchical linear modeling with three commonly‐used, recommended measures of productive complexity (i.e., length of AS‐unit, clause length, subordination) and three exploratory measures of structural complexity (i.e., syntactic variety, weighted complexity scores, frequency of nonfinite clauses) to capture different aspects of syntactic complexity. All measures showed growth over time, suggesting that learners are not forced to prioritize certain aspects of the construct at the expense of others (i.e., no trade‐off effects) across development. The unexplained significant variation found in these data differed among the measures reinforcing notions of multidimensionality of linguistic complexity.
Anticipatory Attentional Suppression of Visual Features Indexed by Oscillatory Alpha-Band Power Increases:A High-Density Electrical Mapping Study

Retinotopically specific increases in alpha-band (∼10 Hz) oscillatory power have been strongly implicated in the suppression of processing for irrelevant parts of the visual field during the deployment of visuospatial attention. Here, we asked whether this alpha suppression mechanism also plays a role in the nonspatial anticipatory biasing of feature-based attention. Visual word cues informed subjects what the task-relevant feature of an upcoming visual stimulus (S2) was, while high-density electroencephalographic recordings were acquired. We examined anticipatory oscillatory activity in the Cue-to-S2 interval (∼2 s). Subjects were cued on a trial-by-trial basis to attend to either the color or direction of motion of an upcoming dot field array, and to respond when they detected that a subset of the dots differed from the majority along the target feature dimension. We used the features of color and motion, expressly because they have well known, spatially separated cortical processing areas, to distinguish shifts in alpha power over areas processing each feature. Alpha power from dorsal regions increased when motion was the irrelevant feature (i.e., color was cued), and alpha power from ventral regions increased when color was irrelevant. Thus, alpha-suppression mechanisms appear to operate during feature-based selection in much the same manner as has been shown for space-based attention.
Colored Noise Based Multicondition Training Technique for Robust Speaker Identification

This letter proposes a colored noise based multicondition training technique for robust speaker identification in unknown noisy environments. The colored noise samples generation is based on filtering a white Gaussian sequence that leads to a power spectral density (PSD) proportional to 1/fβ, where β ∈ [0, 2]. Gaussian mixture models (GMM) are applied to obtain the speaker models using the noisy speech signals with a single signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The colored noise based multicondition training is evaluated for the speaker identification task considering the test utterances corrupted with real acoustic noises and different values of SNR. The results show that the proposed technique outperforms the white noise based multicondition and the clean-speech training approaches.
Egalitarianism, option luck and insurance markets

It is argued here that individuals should never be held responsible for being lucky or unlucky, so that the notion of option luck is prima facie unacceptable. But applying the Conditional Equality and Egalitarian Equivalence criteria to problems of allocation under risk provides a rationale for policies which are sometimes similar to policies based on the notion of option luck. Dworkin’s concept of option luck plays a key role in the development of his idea of a hypothetical insurance market that can help in calibrating the transfers between unequally talented individuals. The allocation criteria analyzed here enable us to make a critical examination of the performance of insurance markets in general, and to show that Dworkin’s hypothetical insurance is highly problematic.
Cultivating University Teachers’ Innovative Work Behavior: The Case of Pakistan

This research focuses on identifying the role of ethical work context (EWC) along with internal social capital (SC) in creation of innovative work behavior (IWB) among teachers in Higher education institutions across Pakistan. Data from 724 faculty members from various public/private universities were analyzed in relation to ethical work context, internal social capital and innovative work behavior. It was identified that ethical work context had a direct impact on innovative work behavior. Furthermore, social capital played significant role in creation of innovative work behavior and also work as mediator between ethical work context and innovative work behavior.
The distribution of ejected subhaloes and its implication for halo assembly bias

Using a high-resolution cosmological N-body simulation, we identify the ejected population of subhaloes, which are haloes at redshift z = 0 but were once contained in more massive 'host' haloes at high redshifts. The fraction of the ejected subhaloes in the total halo population of the same mass ranges from 9 to 4 per cent for halo masses from ∼10 11 to ∼10 12 h ―1 M ⊙ . Most of the ejected subhaloes are distributed within four times the virial radius of their hosts. These ejected subhaloes have distinct velocity distribution around their hosts in comparison to normal haloes. The number of subhaloes ejected from a host of given mass increases with the assembly redshift of the host. Ejected subhaloes in general reside in high-density regions, and have a much higher bias parameter than normal haloes of the same mass. They also have earlier assembly times, so that they contribute to the assembly bias of dark matter haloes seen in cosmological simulations. However, the assembly bias is not dominated by the ejected population, indicating that large-scale environmental effects on normal haloes are the main source for the assembly bias.
H-mode grade confinement in L-mode edge plasmas at negative triangularity on DIII-D

Plasmas with a negative triangularity shape have been created on the DIII-D tokamak that, despite maintaining standard L-mode edge radial profiles, reach volume averaged pressure levels typical of H-mode scenarios. Within the auxiliary power available for these experiments, plasmas exhibit near-zero power degradation while sustaining βN = 2.7 and H98,y2 = 1.2 for several energy confinement times. Detailed comparison with matched discharges at positive triangularity indicates that Trapped Electron Modes are weakened at negative triangularity, consistent with increased confinement and reduced intensity of fluctuations in electron density, electron temperature, and ion density. These results indicate that a negative triangularity plasma operating without an edge pedestal might provide an attractive scenario for operations in future reactors.
Evaluation of entity resolution approaches on real-world match problems

Despite the huge amount of recent research efforts on entity resolution (matching) there has not yet been a comparative evaluation on the relative effectiveness and efficiency of alternate approaches. We therefore present such an evaluation of existing implementations on challenging real-world match tasks. We consider approaches both with and without using machine learning to find suitable parameterization and combination of similarity functions. In addition to approaches from the research community we also consider a state-of-the-art commercial entity resolution implementation. Our results indicate significant quality and efficiency differences between different approaches. We also find that some challenging resolution tasks such as matching product entities from online shops are not sufficiently solved with conventional approaches based on the similarity of attribute values.
Changes in H+-ATP Synthase Activity, Proton Electrochemical Gradient, and pH in Pea Chloroplast Can Be Connected with Variation Potential

Local stimulation induces generation and propagation of electrical signals, including the variation potential (VP) and action potential, in plants. Burning-induced VP changes the physiological state of plants; specifically, it inactivates photosynthesis. However, the mechanisms that decrease photosynthesis are poorly understood. We investigated these mechanisms by measuring VP-connected systemic changes in CO2 assimilation, parameters of light reactions of photosynthesis, electrochromic pigment absorbance shifts, and light scattering. We reveal that inactivation of photosynthesis in the pea, including inactivation of dark and light reactions, was connected with the VP. Inactivation of dark reactions decreased the rate constant of the fast relaxation of the electrochromic pigment absorbance shift, which reflected a decrease in the H+-ATP synthase activity. This decrease likely contributed to the acidification of the chloroplast lumen, which developed after VP induction. However, VP-connected decrease of the proton motive force across the thylakoid membrane, possibly, reflected a decreased pH in the stroma. This decrease may be another mechanism of chloroplast lumen acidification. Overall, stroma acidification can decrease electron flow through photosystem I, and lumen acidification induces growth of fluorescence non-photochemical quenching and decreases electron flow through photosystem II, i.e., pH decreases in the stroma and lumen, possibly, contribute to the VP-induced inactivation of light reactions of photosynthesis.
Obesity and Risk of Hip Fracture in Adults: A Meta-Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies

Background Many observational studies assessed the association between obesity and risk of hip fracture in adults, but reported controversial results. Our goal was to evaluate the association between obesity and risk of hip fracture in adults by conducting a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Methods Three databases, PubMed, Embase and Web of Science, were searched through May 2012 to identify eligible cohort studies. Either a fixed- or a random-effects model was used to calculate the pooled relative risk (RR) with its 95% confidence interval (95%CI). Results Fifteen prospective cohort studies involving a total 3,126,313 participants were finally included into this meta-analysis. Overall, adults with obesity compared with the normal weight group had a significantly decreased risk of hip fracture (RR: 0.66, 95% CI 0.57 to 0.77, P<0.001). Meta-analyses by the adjusted status of RRs also suggested adults with obesity compared with the reference group had a significantly decreased risk of hip fracture (adjusted RR: 0.48, 95% CI 0.39 to 0.58, P<0.001; unadjusted RR: 0.66, 95% CI 0.56 to 0.78, P<0.001). Subgroup analyses by gender suggested individuals with obesity had a significantly decreased risk for developing hip fracture compared with the reference group in both men (RR 0.54, 95% CI 0.48 to 0.60, P<0.001) and women (RR 0.70, 95% CI 0.58 to 0.84, P<0.001). No evidence of publication bias was observed in this meta-analysis. Conclusions This meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies suggests that obesity significantly decreases the risk of hip fracture in adults, and obesity is probably a protective factor of hip fracture in adults.
INTERAKSI TEKANAN PEKERJAAN DAN KOMITMEN PADA PERILAKU CYBERLOAFING KARYAWAN

The aims of this study were to examine 1) the effect of work stressor and commitment to supervisor on employee cyberloafing; 2) the influence of work stressor on employee cyberloafing with commitment to supervisor as a moderating variable. Work stressors consist of role ambiguity, role conflict, and role overload. This study has some hypotheses, la) the role ambiguity has a positive effect on cyberloafing, lb) the role conflict has a positive effect on cyberloafing, and lc) the overload has a negative effect on cyberloafing; 2) the commitment to supervisor has a negative effect on cyberloafing; 3a) the effect of role ambiguity on cyberloafing is moderated by the employee commitment to supervisor, b) the effect of role conflict on cyberloafing is moderated by the employee commitment to supervisor, c) the effect of role overload on cyberloafing is moderated by the employee commitment to supervisor. Through purposive sampling method, 103 samples were taken from administrative employees of Sebelas Maret University. The employees have an internet access when do their task. Data analysis using hierarchical regression analysis shown that only hypothesis 2 was supported. The employee commitment to supervisor has a significant negative effect on cyberloafing. While work stressor has not effect on cyberloafing, and commitment to supervisor has not moderate the effect of work stressor on cyberloafing.Keywords: Work stressor, Role ambiguity, Role conflict, Role overload, Commitment, Cyberloafing
Obsolescence Vs Modernization in a Schumpeterian Vintage Capital Model

In this paper, we build up a general equilibrium model explicitly incorporating Schumpeterian growth a la ` Aghion and Howitt (1992) and a vintage capital structure in line with Solow (1960). Technological progress is embodied. We show that the investment rate is a fundamental determinant of the proﬁtability of R&D in contrast to the R&D based growth models with disembodied technical progress. We characterize the balanced growth paths and point at the possible existence of multiple equilibria due to the strategic complementarity between investment and R&D activities. More importantly, the embodiment hypothesis is shown to give rise to a precise modernization mechanism through investment and the average age of capital. The modernization eﬀects of investment may well balance the typical obsolescence costs inherent to embodiment, a result that should be of interest in the current debate on the viability of the current information technology boom as a long run growth regime.
Contribution of some physical characteristics to unipedal non-dominant lower limb balance among footballers

Purpose. the objective was to determine the correlations between age, body mass index, foot length, tibia length, and calf circumference – and unipedal non-dominant lower limb balance (UNLLb), on the basis of the contributions of each physical attribute to UNLLb performance among professional football players in a Nigerian National Football League club. Methods. this descriptive correlational study involved 32 purposively recruited male professional football players who met the inclusion criteria. the participants’ age was recorded along with height, weight, foot length, tibia length, and calf circumference, measured with standardized procedures, while their UNLLb was assessed with the use of a Wii balance board. the primary outcome measure was UNLLb, reflecting the centre of pressure parameters. the data were analysed with the spearman rank order correlation; stepwise multiple linear regression analysis was used to explore the contributions of the selected variables to UNLLb at 0.05 alpha levels. Results. All physical attributes except age were significantly correlated with UNLLb. the stepwise regression analysis showed limb length (13.2%, p = 0.023, f = 0.191), calf circumference (22.3%, p = 0.004, f = 0.329), and weight (11.5%, p = 0.033, f = 0.167) to be significant contributors to UNLLb with visual input allowed, while tibia length (14.9%, p = 0.017, f = 0.215) and foot length (9.5%, p = 0.048, f = 0.142) were significant predictors with visual input denied. Conclusions. Limb length, calf circumference, body weight, tibia length, and foot length are significant predictors of UNLLb among professional footballers.
Study the Physico-chemical Properties of Reservoir at Makni , Osmanabad District ( M . S ) , India

Water means “life” and it is one of the abundantly available Substances in nature, which man has exploited more than any other resources for the substance of life. Water covers about 70% of the earth’s surface out of which only 2.7% of the total water if freshwater of which 1% is ice free water in the rivers, lakes and atmosphere as biological water. It has been estimated that only 0.00192% of the total water on earth is available for human consumption (Trivedy R.K., 1988). In developing countries, about 1.8 million people mostly children’s die every year as a result of water related diseases (WHO, 2004). Analysis of water quality and monitoring for physico-chemical parameters are essential to preserve and protect the natural ecosystem. Water quality index (WQI) is very useful and efficient method for assessing the suitability of water quality. It is also a very useful tool for communicating the information on overall quality of water (Asadi et al., 2007) to the concerned citizens and policy makers. The limnology play an important role in decision making process for problems like dam construction, pollution control, fish and aquaculture practices (Muly & Gaikwad, 1999). The study of different water parameters is very important for understanding of the metabolic events in the aquatic ecosystem. The parameters such as turbidity, alkalinity, hardness etc. influence each other and also the sediments parameters as they govern the abundance and distribution of the flora and fauna. Such studies when carried out from time to time which indicates on ecosystem. Climatic factors such as rainfall, temperature, pressure and humidity etc. play an important role in the geology as well as terrestrial environment and knowledge of these factor help in understanding the complex processes in water bodies. Temperature is basically important for its affects on certain chemical and biological activates in the organism attributing in aquatic media. In India subcontinent the temperature in most of the water bodies ranges between 7.8 to 38.5oc (Singhal et al., 1986). The total life of the world depends on water and hence the hydrological study is very much essential to understand the relation between 2321-7871