Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genetic Parameters of Growth Traits from a Joint Evaluation of Purebred and Crossbred Pigs

Summary Authors analyzed average daily gain and lean meat percentage of the Pietrain (Pi), Duroc (Du) and their cross (PixDu); Pietrain (Pi) and Hampshire (Ha) and the cross (PixHa) using the national database for the period of 1997-2010. Th e heritability estimates for average daily gain (0.20±0.02, 0.24±0.02, 0.25±0.03, 0.37±0.06, 0.37±0.02 for Pi, Du, PixDu, Ha, PixHa, respectively); and lean meat percentage (0.17±0.02, 0.15±0.02, 0.13±0.02, 0.22±0.06, 0.20±0.02 for Pi, Du, PixDu, Ha, PixHa, respectively) were low. Genetic correlation between the purebreds and the crossbreds ranged from moderately high to high for average daily gain (0.93±0.15, 0.85±0.12, 0.56±0.14, 0.75±0.12) and from moderate to moderately high for lean meat percentage (0.65±0.16, 0.56±0.16, -0.38±0.17, 0.48±0.20) for Pi – PixDu, Du – PixDu, Ha – PixHa, Pi – PixHa, respectively. Based on the results the selection of the purebred parents for crossbred pigs can be based on the performance of their purebred breeding values of average daily gain. On the contrary for lean meat percentage the crossbred breeding values of the purebred pigs can also be used to select the best purebred pigs for crossing.
Sensory-motor problems in Autism

Despite being largely characterized as a social and cognitive disorder, strong evidence indicates the presence of significant sensory-motor problems in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This paper outlines our progression from initial, broad assessment using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (M-ABC2) to subsequent targeted kinematic assessment. In particular, pronounced ASD impairment seen in the broad categories of manual dexterity and ball skills was found to be routed in specific difficulties on isolated tasks, which were translated into focused experimental assessment. Kinematic results from both subsequent studies highlight impaired use of perception-action coupling to guide, adapt and tailor movement to task demands, resulting in inflexible and rigid motor profiles. In particular difficulties with the use of temporal adaption are shown, with “hyperdexterity” witnessed in ballistic movement profiles, often at the cost of spatial accuracy and task performance. By linearly progressing from the use of a standardized assessment tool to targeted kinematic assessment, clear and defined links are drawn between measureable difficulties and underlying sensory-motor assessment. Results are specifically viewed in-light of perception-action coupling and its role in early infant development suggesting that rather than being “secondary” level impairment, sensory-motor problems may be fundamental in the progression of ASD. This logical and systematic process thus allows a further understanding into the potential root of observable motor problems in ASD; a vital step if underlying motor problems are to be considered a fundamental aspect of autism and allow a route of non-invasive preliminary diagnosis.
Effects of a drug overdose in a television drama on knowledge of specific dangers of self poisoning: population based surveys

Paracetamol is the drug most commonly taken in overdose in the United Kingdom,1causing a substantial number of deaths.2 We have investigated the impact of the fictional portrayal of a potentially fatal paracetamol overdose in the television drama Casualty (seen by 12.8 million viewers) on short and long term knowledge related to paracetamol poisoning. View this table: Responses to questionnaire for patients presenting with overdoses in the three weeks before and the three weeks after broadcast of index Casualty episode. Values are numbers (percentages) of those who responded to question unless stated otherwise The episode (described in detail in accompanying article3) depicted a man suffering potentially fatal liver damage after an untreated paracetamol overdose. Although the particular dose (50 tablets) and delay before presentation (2 days) were mentioned, the episode did not specify minimal toxic doses or maximum safe delays. At one week and 32 weeks after this episode …
Macroalgal detritus and food-web subsidies along an Arctic fjord depth-gradient

Tight coupling between pelagic and benthic communities is accepted as a general principle on Arctic shelves. Whereas this paradigm has been useful for guiding ecological research, it has perhaps led to a disproportionate focus on POM and ice algae as the most likely sources of carbon for the benthic food web. Arctic shelves are complex systems, including banks, fjords, and trough systems up to 350 m or more in depth. In this stable-isotope study, thirteen different potential carbon sources were analysed for their contribution to the food-webs of Isfjorden, Svalbard. A mixing model with herbivorous copepods and grazing sea urchins as end-members was applied to determine the relative contributions of the most likely carbon sources to pelagic and benthic taxa. Most taxa from the benthos feed on a broad mixture of POM and macroalgal detritus, even at depths down to 410 m. Most suspension-feeding bivalves had isotopic signals consistent with more than a 50% contribution from kelps and rockweeds. In contrast, nearly all pelagic species had diets consistent with an overwhelming contribution of pelagic POM. These results indicate that macroalgal detritus can contribute significantly to near-shore Arctic food-webs, a trophic link that may increase if macroalgae increase in the Arctic as predicted. These weaker quantitative links between pelagic and benthic components of coastal systems highlight the need for thorough sampling of potential carbon-baselines in food-web studies. A large detrital-carbon component in diets of Arctic benthos may dampen the impacts of strong seasonality in polar primary producers, leading to higher ecosystem resilience, but may also result in lower secondary productivity.
Photo-activated luminescence of CdSe quantum dot monolayers

We show that the luminescence from CdSe quantum dot monolayers can be strongly influenced by the interaction of water molecules adsorbed on the surface. Light-induced alterations in the surface states following adsorption of water, results in quasi-reversible luminescence changes in the quantum dot. The excitonic QY increases by a factor of 20 during the first 200 s of illumination in air (post vacuum) and then steadily decreases to a level 6 times that of the vacuum reference after 5000 s. The exciton emission exhibits an exponential blue shift of nearly 16 nm (60 meV) over 1 h of illumination. During this time, the line width decreases by 10% during the first 100 s and then slowly increases to 96% of the vacuum reference line width after 5000 s. Our model suggests that water molecules adsorbed on the surface of the quantum dot act to passivate surface traps, which results in increased luminescence, similar to an effect well-known for bulk CdSe surfaces. In addition, adsorbed water molecules act to oxidi.
Orderly Somatotopy in Primary Motor Cortex: Does It Exist?

In the current issue of NeuroImage and an upcoming issue of Cerebral Cortex appear data relevant to a fundamental question about the functional organization of the primary motor cortex (M1) of primates (Beisteiner et al., 2001; Hlustik et al., 2001; Indovina and Sanes, 2001), that is, does there exist an orderly somatotopy in M1 and, by extension, in other major motor areas of the brain. A fundamental finding of these papers provides support for separation between representations for finger and hand movement that adheres to a somatotopic organization. The new findings extend previous reports of somatotopically ordered representations for voluntary movements of various joints of the human upper extremity, fingers, wrist, elbow, and shoulder (Grafton et al., 1993; Kleinchmidt et al., 1997; Lotze et al., 2000), but conflict with thers (Rao et al., 1995; Sanes et al., 1995). However, as others and we have noted, the degree of somatotopic representation within the upper extremity representation appears rather limited (Schieber, 1999; Sanes and Donoghue, 2000). Clearly the major body parts—lower limb (hindlimb), upper limb (forelimb), and head—have functional and largely independent subdivisions to represent the muscles and movements controlled by the respective parts of M1. These functional subdivisions of M1 are commonly laid out along the cortical surface of primates with the lower (hind) limb most medial, the head most lateral, and the upper (fore) limb in between; they have acquired the designation of “areas,” such as the “M1 arm area,” though the term “representation” might provide a more suitable functional name. No serious challenge has emerged for this basic large-scale organization pattern in M1, but
Gender Gap in the EFL Classroom in East Asia

The present brief discussion is stimulated by recent research publications (Appleby 2013; Hicks 2013; Stanley 2013) on discrimination against female native English speaker teachers in east Asia where native white males have long dominated the English teaching positions at language schools and colleges. Not only the global commodification of native English speakers but also the internationally known male-oriented hiring practices in east Asia and other unexplored factors appear to be working in favor of young male native speakers from the West. The present discussion explores gender gap in the EFL classroom in east Asia from the perspective of global ELT community's political sensitivity to its professionalism.
TimeTrader: Exploiting Latency Tail to Save Datacenter Energy for On-line Data-Intensive Applications

Datacenters running on-line, data-intensive applications (OLDIs) consume significant amounts of energy. However, reducing their energy is challenging due to their tight response time requirements. A key aspect of OLDIs is that each user query goes to all or many of the nodes in the cluster, so that the overall time budget is dictated by the tail of the replies' latency distribution; replies see latency variations both in the network and compute. Previous work proposes to achieve load-proportional energy by slowing down the computation at lower datacenter loads based directly on response times (i.e., at lower loads, the proposal exploits the average slack in the time budget provisioned for the peak load). In contrast, we propose TimeTrader to reduce energy by exploiting the latency slack in the sub- critical replies which arrive before the deadline (e.g., 80% of replies are 3-4x faster than the tail). This slack is present at all loads and subsumes the previous work's load-related slack. While the previous work shifts the leaves' response time distribution to consume the slack at lower loads, TimeTrader reshapes the distribution at all loads by slowing down individual sub-critical nodes without increasing missed deadlines. TimeTrader exploits slack in both the network and compute budgets. Further, TimeTrader leverages Earliest Deadline First scheduling to largely decouple critical requests from the queuing delays of sub- critical requests which can then be slowed down without hurting critical requests. A combination of real-system measurements and at-scale simulations shows that without adding to missed deadlines, TimeTrader saves 15-19% and 41-49% energy at 90% and 30% loading, respectively, in a datacenter with 512 nodes, whereas previous work saves 0% and 31-37%.
Beginning Teachers' Perceptions of Mentors

Aefter a year of implementation of a be ginning teacher support system, 108 new teachers were asked their reactions to the mentoring program. Huffman and Leak found that mentors could be effec tive in addressing the needs of new teachers, but to maximize their effective ness the mentors should teach the same content and work at the same grade level as the beginning teacher. Furthermore, the authors conclude that it is imperative to provide adequate conference time for mentors and beginning teachers if the induction participants are to achieve program objectives.
The emotional politics of teaching and teacher development: with implications for educational leadership

This paper explores the emotions of teaching and teacher development in times of rapid change. It treats the emotional lives of educators not only as matters of personal disposition or commitment, as psychological qualities that emerge among individuals, but also as social and political phenomena that are shaped by how the work of teaching is organized, structured and led. The paper develops a conceptual framework of seven interrelated elements that are formed by sociological and social‐psychological literature, to cast light on how emotions are located and represented in teachers’ work and professional development. The paper closes with ten implications and recommendations for leaders and policymakers to embrace and engage the emotions as part of their own and other educators’ work.
Modelling heat production and energy balance in group-housed growing pigs exposed to low or high ambient temperatures

The effects of ambient temperature (T; 12–29°C), body weight (BW; 30–90 kg) and metabolisable energy intake (ME) on components of energy balance were studied in seven groups of Piétrain × Large White barrows kept in a respiratory chamber. In Expt 1 (groups 1, 2 and 3), T varied in a cyclic way from 22°C to 12°C and then from 12°C to 22°C with three or four consecutive days at each of 22, 19, 16, 14 and 12°C. Similarly, in Expt 2 (groups 4, 5 and 6), T varied from 19 to 29°C and then from 29 to 19°C with three or four consecutive days at each of 19, 22, 25, 27 and 29°C. In both experiments, pigs were offered feed ad libitum. In Expt 3, pigs (group 7) were exposed to the thermic conditions of Expt 1 but their feed allowance was adjusted on a BW basis to the ad libitum intake recorded at 19 and 22°C in Expt 1. Groups 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7 were used over two successive cycles with initial average BW of 37 kg at cycle 1 (four pigs per group) and 63 kg at cycle 2 (three pigs per group). Groups 3 and 6 were studied at an intermediary stage of growth; their initial BW was 45 kg. The O2 and CO2 concentrations, physical activity and feed intake were continuously and simultaneously measured and used to calculate total heat production (HP; HPtot), HP due to physical activity (HPact), activity-free HP (HP0), and thermic effect of feed. HP was modelled as a non-linear function with T, BW and ME as predictors. Results indicate that all components of HP were proportional to BW0·60. Physical activity was minimal between 19 and 27°C (8 % ME). The estimated lower critical temperature was 24°C. Between 24 and 12°C, total thermic effect of feed decreased from 31 to 16 % ME, but the short-term thermic effect of feed (5·1 % ME) remained constant. Equations for prediction of HPtot, HPact and HP0 according to BW, T and ME are proposed and evaluated according to literature values; values for the feed cost of thermoregulation in pigs are proposed.
Multicultural society and everyday cultural racism: second generation of Ethiopian Jews in Israel's ‘crisis of modernization’

Abstract The core of this article sets out to examine the extent to which a multicultural society can prevent cultural racism, which, like multiculturalism, is by definition based on a culture of diversity and separation. The ‘first modernity’ was organized along national lines, with a centralist state that opted to create an essentialist and uncontested national identity. Immigrants, especially those who came from ‘third world’ countries, were expected to undergo a process of assimilation, and to integrate into the dominant culture by relinquishing their particular past and tradition. Multiculturalism, which emerged historically as a criticism of that perspective, aims at creating a kaleidoscope of associations and cultural communities, which inevitably presents a challenge to the one ‘truth’ of the nation-state with the argument that this ‘truth’ favours some groups over others. Within the multicultural model, identity politics of various groups is perceived as a means to achieve recognition, acceptance, respect and even public affirmation of differences. However, do multicultural society and identity-related differences provide a solution to cultural racism as well? Investigating the second generation of the Ethiopian Jews, who migrated to Israel during its transformation from ethno-national republicanism to a neo-liberal, multicultural society, can help answer this question. By presenting their patterns of association, character of protest activities and the newly formed hybrid identity that Ethiopian youth have developed as a means to liberate themselves from a discriminating reality, and by examining the Others’ reaction to that challenge, this article uncovers certain mechanisms and methods of action through which a multicultural society, having a thin and mild version of multiculturalism, does not diminish cultural racism, particularly its everyday non-institutional version, but in fact augments it.
Observations on 17 patients with retinocytoma.

OBJECTIVE To study the clinical features and natural history of 17 patients with retinocytoma. DESIGN A retrospective case series. SETTING Tertiary referral center. PATIENTS Data on 17 patients with retinocytoma were reviewed for clinical features. The natural history of retinocytoma and its risk for malignant transformation were also evaluated. RESULTS Among 920 consecutive patients who had retinoblastoma, retinocytoma, or both, we identified 24 tumors in 17 patients (1.8%) with clinical features compatible with retinocytoma. The median age at diagnosis was 15 years (range, 4-45 years). Of the 24 tumors, the retinocytoma was bilateral in 3 cases (13%) and the family history of retinoblastoma was positive in 3 cases (13%). Seventeen (71%) of the tumors were extramacular in location, and 7 (29%) were located in the macular area. Ophthalmoscopic features characteristic of retinocytoma included the presence of a translucent retinal mass in 21 (88%), calcification in 15 (63%), and retinal pigment epithelial alteration in 13 (54%) of the 24 tumors. A combination of all 3 features was observed in 8 (33%) of the 24 tumors. In 13 (54%) of the tumors, a zone of chorioretinal atrophy could be observed. In 1 patient, subtle tumor regression was documented photographically. Only 1 retinocytoma (4%) underwent malignant transformation into retinoblastoma. At the last follow-up visit, none of the patients had developed a pineoblastoma or another second malignant neoplasm. CONCLUSIONS Retinocytoma is a rare benign retinal tumor that has characteristic clinical features. The areas of chorioretinal atrophy were suggestive of tumor regression. In our series, the risk for malignant transformation of retinocytoma into retinoblastoma was 4%; therefore, patients with a presumed diagnosis of retinocytoma should be closely observed.
The Role of Stress, Family Coping, Ethnic Identity, and Mother-Daughter Relationships on Substance Use Among Gang-Affiliated Hispanic Females

ABSTRACT Hispanic adolescent females are the largest group of minority adolescents in the nation and appear to be at great risk for substance use. This research is based on data generated from a cross-sectional study of 150 Mexican American gang-affiliated adolescent females to predict substance-use recurrence. Findings reveal that positive family relationships, and in particular, mother-daughter relationships are protective factors for alcohol- and tobacco-use recurrence. Furthermore, the ability of the immediate family to cope with difficulties, stress, and conflicts were significant in averting illicit drug recurrence. This research provides evidence of the role of the family as a protective factor among these adolescents, despite their gang affiliation and street orientation. Discussed is how these findings contribute to formulating effective intervention, prevention, and treatment responses aimed at this “beyond risk” population.
New examples of noncommutative Λ(p) sets

In this paper, we introduce a certain combinatorial property Z ⋆ (k), which is defined for every integer k � 2, and show that every set EZ with the property Z ⋆ (k) is necessarily a noncommutative �(2k) set. In particular, using number theoretic results about the number of solutions to so-called "S-unit equations," we show that for any finite set Q of prime numbers, EQ is noncommutative �(p) for every real number 2 < p < 1, where EQ is the set of natural numbers whose prime divisors all lie in the set Q.
Corporate Social Reporting: Emerging Trends in Accountability and the Social Contract

The article suggests that discord in Corporate Social Reporting (CSR) can be related to differing assumptions about (a) society, and (b) the role of CSR in the society/organisation relationship. It is then argued that, with this perspective, the major trends in CSR can be seen to be built around differing views of the world and that recent major developments in the subject focus upon the concepts of accountability and the social contract.
Technologies of Telling: Discourse, Transparency, and Erasure in Guatemalan Truth Commission Testimony

This paper offers a “critical epistemological reflection” on representations of survivor testimony in the Guatemalan truth commissions. As is commonly the case with TRC work, a good deal of effort was dedicated to the recuperation of victims' voices whose experiences of violence and suffering were brutally silenced in official Guatemalan state and public discourse. In this kind of “postconflict” context, the collection of survivor testimony is presumed to give new power to the victims and to create conditions for progressive social change in the aftermath of state-sponsored violence. However, my analysis problematizes these assumptions by elucidating multiple discursive forms, functions, and transformations in survivor testimony that are unrecognized in most truth commission reports. Examining these erasures in the representation of survivor testimony enables me to argue that the truth-telling process and analyses in truth commission efforts may well replicate dominant power relations that continue to tacitly disempower victims in unintended ways.
Ocular pursuit in normal and psychopathological subjects.

In this study records were secured from 20 normal S's, 17 schizophrenics, 8 manic-depressives, and 13 psychoneurotics. Each record consisted of a photographic recording of the eye movements elicited by 10 oscillations of a pursuit object at each of five velocities. The object of pursuit was the light of a flashlight bulb, which was made to pass through 9° of the visual field. "There was no pattern of ocular adjustment in the patients that was not found also in the non-patient group. Neither 'negativism' nor 'step-like' pursuit was found to have any diagnostic significance. In records of both the normal and psychopathic S's the amplitude of eye movement and pursuit movement was approximately identical, and decreased with increasing velocities of the pursued object. In both sets of records the duration of oscillation of the eye corresponds to the duration of oscillation of the pursued object. This relation was constant at all frequencies of oscillation. The difference between mentally diseased and normal subjects lay in the greater irregularity and earlier abandonment of pursuit in the former. The mentally diseased individuals showed, in greatly exaggerated form, certain characteristics of optic pursuit which were found in normal individuals. " (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)