Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Molecular Characterization of Sudanese and Southern Sudanese Chicken Breeds Using mtDNA D-Loop

The objective of this study was to assess the genetic relationships and diversity and to estimate the amount of gene flow among the five chicken populations from Sudan and South Sudan and commercial strain of egg line White Leghorn chickens. The chicken populations were genotyped using mtDNA D-loop as a molecular marker. PCR product of the mtDNA D-loop segment was 600 bp and 14 haplotypes were identified. The neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree indicated that the indigenous Sudanese chickens can be grouped into two clades, IV and IIIa only. Median joining networks analysis showed that haplotype LBB49 has the highest frequency. The hierarchal analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that genetic variation within the population was 88.6% and the differentiation among the population was 11.4%. When the populations was redefined into two geographical zones, rich and poor Savanna, the results were fractioned into three genetic variations: between individuals within population 95.5%, between populations within the group 0.75%, and genetic variation between groups 3.75%. The pair wise F st showed high genetic difference between Betwil populations and the rest with F st ranging from 0.1492 to 0.2447. We found that there is large number of gene exchanges within the Sudanese indigenous chicken (Nm = 4.622).
Spike-Timing Codes Enhance the Representation of Multiple Simultaneous Sound-Localization Cues in the Inferior Colliculus

To preserve multiple streams of independent information that converge onto a neuron, the information must be re-represented more efficiently in the neural response. Here we analyze the increase in the representational capacity of spike timing over rate codes using sound localization cues as an example. The inferior colliculus receives convergent input from multiple auditory brainstem nuclei, including sound localization information such as interaural level differences (ILDs), interaural timing differences (ITDs), and spectral cues. Virtual space techniques were used to create stimulus sets varying in two sound-localization parameters each. Information about the cues was quantified using a spike distance metric that allows one to separate contributions to the information arising from spike rate and spike timing. Spike timing enhances the representation of spectral and ILD cues at timescales averaging 12 ms. ITD information, however, is carried by a rate code. Comparing responses to frozen and random noise shows that the temporal information is mainly attributable to phase locking to temporal stimulus features, with an additional first-spike latency component. With rate-based codes, there is significant confounding of information about two cues presented simultaneously, meaning that the cues cannot be decoded independently. Spike-timing-based codes reduce this confounded information. Furthermore, the relative representation of the cues often changes as a function of the time resolution of the code, implying that information about multiple cues can be multiplexed onto individual spike trains.
Revision of Indo-Pacific Species of the Loosejaw Dragonfish Genus Photostomias (Teleostei: Stomiidae: Malacosteinae)

Abstract Several studies of the ecology of mesopelagic fishes off Hawaii published in the 1970s and 1980s reported the existence of as many as two undescribed species in the Pacific Ocean. Diagnosed primarily on the basis of postorbital and accessory orbital photophore size and size at maturity, three new species are described: P. liemi, new species, and P. tantillux, new species, both endemic to tropical and subtropical Indo-Pacific water masses, and P. lucingens, new species, a species distributed in the subtropical and tropical Pacific and South Atlantic oceans. Photostomias liemi and P. tantillux represent smaller forms, with females maturing at standard lengths less than 70 mm, making these species the smallest sexually mature stomiids. Despite the analysis of some 35 morphometric and meristic characters, females of P. liemi are indistinguishable from females of P. atrox. The current study brings the total number of valid species of Photostomias to six. A key to these six species is provided.
Declining Discount Rates: Economic Justifications and Implications for Long-Run Policy

Should economic policy target immediate problems like malaria and AIDS? Or should it target climate change, which may have even more dramatic life-threatening effects in the very long term? We discuss how the pattern of discount rates over the planning horizon bears on this important issue. A declining pattern of discount rates is theoretically justified by uncertainty about future economic conditions, and its shape and relevance can be estimated from historical data. We analyse empirically long-term interest rate data from nine countries, construct a weighted average representing a possible global discount rate pattern for a very long range of future dates, and assess its implications for the valuation of carbon mitigation policies.
Probing the Evolutionary Status of Starless Cores through N2H+ and N2D+ Observations

We have undertaken a survey of N2H+ and N2D+ toward 31 low-mass starless cores using the IRAM 30 m telescope. Our main objective has been to determine the abundance ratio of N2D+ and N2H+ toward the nuclei of these cores and thus to obtain estimates of the degree of deuterium enrichment, a symptom of advanced chemical evolution according to current models. We find that the N(N2D+)/N(N2H+) ratio is larger in more "centrally concentrated cores" with larger peak H2 and N2H+ column density than the sample mean. The deuterium enrichment in starless cores is presently ascribed to depletion of CO in the high density (>3 × 104 cm-3) core nucleus. To substantiate this picture, we compare our results with observations in dust emission at 1.2 mm and in two transitions of C18O. We find a good correlation between deuterium fractionation and N(C18O)/N(H2)1.2 mm for the nuclei of 14 starless cores. We thus identified a set of properties that characterize the most evolved, or "prestellar," starless cores. These are higher N2H+ and N2D+ column densities, higher N(N2D+)/N(N2H+), more pronounced CO depletion, broader N2H+ lines with infall asymmetry, higher central H2 column densities, and a more compact density profile than in the average core. We conclude that this combination of properties gives a reliable indication of the evolutionary state of the core. Seven cores in our sample (L1521F, Oph D, L429, L694, L183, L1544, and TMC 2) show the majority of these features and thus are believed to be closer to forming a protostar than are the other members of our sample. Finally, we note that the subsample of Taurus cores behaves more homogeneously than the total sample, an indication that the external environment could play an important role in the core evolution.
Enterprise Architecture Documentation: Empirical Analysis of Information Sources for Automation

Over the past decade, Enterprise Architecture (EA) management emerged to a mature discipline commonly applied to realize cost saving potentials while increasing effectiveness of IT in organizations. Typically, EA management starts by documenting the current state in an EA model and deriving future planned states heading towards an optimized EA. In practice, organizations struggle with the documentation of their current state due to the complexity of their enterprise architecture and its frequent changes. Current research activities seek to automate the data collection process by integrating existing EA information sources of operative systems. However, a comprehensive analysis of possible information sources and their appropriateness for EA is not yet provided. To build an empirical basis, this paper presents findings of a survey conducted on the key problems in EA documentation as well as the appropriateness of specific EA information sources for automation with respect to provided data types and data quality.
The Schrödinger wave functional and S-branes

In this paper, we will consider the minisuperspace approach to S-branes dynamics in the Schrodinger picture description. Time evolution of the vacuum wave functional for quantum field theory on a S-brane is studied. Open string pair production is calculated. Analysis of the density matrix for mixed states is also performed.
A comparison of three methods of wound closure following arthroplasty

J Bone Joint Surg [Br] 2006;88-B:238-42. Received 4 July 2005; Accepted after revision 25 October 2005 We carried out a blinded prospective randomised controlled trial comparing 2octylcyanoacrylate (OCA), subcuticular suture (monocryl) and skin staples for skin closure following total hip and total knee arthroplasty. We included 102 hip replacements and 85 of the knee. OCA was associated with less wound discharge in the first 24 hours for both the hip and the knee. However, with total knee replacement there was a trend for a more prolonged wound discharge with OCA. With total hip replacement there was no significant difference between the groups for either early or late complications. Closure of the wound with skin staples was significantly faster than with OCA or suture. There was no significant difference in the length of stay in hospital, Hollander wound evaluation score (cosmesis) or patient satisfaction between the groups at six weeks for either hips or knees. We consider that skin staples are the skin closure of choice for both hip and knee replacements.
Motivational Job Assignments

This paper asks how a firm combines bonus payments with job assignments (through which it affects an employee's self‐efficacy) to provide incentives. We show that the firm chooses an inefficient job assignment rule to enhance the employee's self‐efficacy. The higher the employee's self‐efficacy, the higher his work motivation and thus the lower the bonus the firm has to pay. Thus distortions in the job assignment lead to losses in production, but savings in the wage bill. This finding provides an explanation for why firms do not separate job assignments from the provision of incentives.
How to attract Chinese online game users: An empirical study on the determinants affecting intention to use Chinese online games

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to develop and test a model explaining users’ intention to adopt online games in China. Through theories from diverse fields of information systems research, the authors aim to examine and validate antecedents of users’ intentions to play online games.Design/methodology/approach – The model proposes subjective norms and perceived control as antecedents to technology acceptance model (TAM) related beliefs, while suggesting convenience of operator, reality of design, provision of information and sense of belonging as antecedents of flow. The authors study the causal relations between the antecedents and usage intention by using structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the causalities in the proposed model.Findings – The results indicate that perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU), flow and subjective norms are direct predictors of Chinese online games users’ intentions. Subjective norm and sense of belonging are shown to be important predictors of.
News Values and Information Subsidies: How Organizations Build the Agenda on Social and Traditional Media

Information subsidies have been used for decades by organizations seeking media coverage. However, over the last decade, organizations are increasingly seeking to earn greater coverage by moving beyond traditional media and attempting to generate social media “buzz” about topics of significance. Agenda building theory has been used by a variety of scholars as a way to understand how sources influence, or build, the media’s agenda. Since the media agenda influences the public agenda, influencing the media agenda is important for sources. Existing research and literature has successfully linked the use of information subsidies with agenda building. A separate body of research has established that there is a set of news values that make a story newsworthy. This study attempts to link these bodies of research on agenda building and news values by examining how the presence of news values in information subsidies affects subsequent media coverage. It also extends these concepts and theories beyond traditional media and into social media. Results indicate that agenda building theory also can apply to social media, but more research is needed to understand how organizations help build the agenda on traditional media. News values do affect coverage, but they affect social and traditional media differently. The specific values of conflict and magnitude correlate with greater traditional media coverage, while a higher number of news values overall in a release correlates with greater social media conversation. The presence of conflict also correlates with higher social media conversation. Implications for both public relations theory and practice are discussed. NEWS VALUES, INFORMATION SUBSIDIES, AND AGENDA BUILDING iii
The proper effect site concentration of remifentanil for prevention of myoclonus after etomidate injection

Background Etomidate frequently induces myoclonus when administered intravenously with bolus injection during anesthetic induction. This can be bothersome for the anesthesiologist. The dose of remifentanil appropriate for preventing myoclonus without side effects was investigated. Methods All patients with American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status I-III were divided into three groups (n = 33 per group) according to the pretreatment effect site concentration of remifentanil (Ultiva, Glaxo-Wellcome, München, Germany) of 0, 2 or 4 ng/ml (Group N: 0 ng/ml, Group R: 2 ng/ml, Group Q: 4 ng/ml) by a target controlled infusion (TCI) system. After a 0.3 mg/kg dose of etomidate was injected intravenously for over 1 minute for anesthetic induction, myoclonus was observed. Before the etomidate injection, the patients were pretreated with remifentanil and their side effects were monitored. Results The number of patients showing myoclonus was significantly different among the groups. The incidence of myoclonus was 81%, 12% and 0% (groups N, R, and Q, respectively, P < 0.01). Side effects including bradycardia and hypotension did not occur in either Group R or Q. Chest wall rigidity occured in 45% of patients in Group Q. Conclusions Administration with a 2 ng/ml effect site concentration of remifentanil could reduce the incidence of myoclonus caused by etomidate bolus injection without chest wall rigidity.
Immune parameters relevant to neural xenograft survival in the primate brain

Cicchetti F, Fodor W, Deacon TW, van Horne C, Rollins S, Burton W, Costantini LC, Isacson O. Immune parameters relevant to neural xenograft survival in the primate brain. Xenotransplantation 2003: 10: 41–49. © Blackwell Munksgaard, 2003
Light field image coding with hybrid scan order

A Light field image contains shear amount of data as it keeps the full spatio-angular information of the real scene. In this paper we propose a light field image coding scheme based on the latest JEM coding technologies. We propose a novel hybrid scan order to rearrange subaperture images into an image sequence and verify its importance to coding performance of light field image format. The experiment on EPFL light field image dataset demonstrates that our scheme achieves 7.06 dB gain compared with directly encoding the image by the JPEG standard. With the QP set to 50, our scheme achieves an average compression ratio of 7107, and still provides larger PSNRs and better viewing experience than JPEG at a compression ratio of 100.
Transnational Corporations and Human Resource Development

Explores the behaviour of transnational corporations (TNCs) in Malaysian manufacturing firms in relation to employment absorption, human capital formation and technological change, based on a survey of 60 firms randomly selected within the major manufacturing establishments in Malaysia. Argues that TNCs exert an influence in promoting employment, training and innovation and adopt a much more proactive policy towards HRD than the local firms in Malaysia. However, their reluctance to participate and invest substantially in local R&D could result in a gradual reduction of technology flow and stifle the development of domestic innovative capacity. Policy measures are therefore required to induce TNCs to undertake greater R&D activities in Malaysia, and such measures should be conceived in the broader context of the indigenous technological development policy of the country.
The Influence Factors of Inherent Structure in e-Learning Process

All processes in learning activities are designed to facilitate students to achieve the goals. Many factors influence the success of achieving those goals, such as learning style, motivation, knowledge ability, etc. In the conventional learning process, it's assumed that all factors are the same among students. However, this is not the case in the reality. Previous studies showed that the denial of those factors cause the unoptimal student's ability to learn. Hence, in order to improve the effectiveness of their learning process, those factors have to be facilitated. The result of our preliminary study indicates that the existence factors of inherent structure that reflect relationship among learning style, motivation and knowledge ability. In this paper, we propose an e-learning framework based on those factors.
Social exclusion, infant behavior, social isolation, and maternal expectations independently predict maternal depressive symptoms

The objective of the study was to identify latent variables that can be used to inform theoretical models of perinatal influences on postnatal depressed mood and maternal–infant attachment. A routine survey of mothers with newborn infants was commenced in South Western Sydney in 2000. The survey included the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and 46 psychosocial and health‐related variables. Mothers (n = 15,389) delivering in 2002 and 2003 were surveyed at 2–3 weeks for depressive symptoms. Nonlinear principal components analysis was undertaken to identify dimensions that might represent latent variables. Correlations between latent variables and EPDS >12 were assessed by logistic regression. A five‐dimension solution was identified, which accounted for 51% of the variance among the items studied. The five dimensions identified were maternal responsiveness, social exclusion, infant behavior, migrant social isolation, and family size. In addition, the variable maternal expectation contributed significantly to total variance and was included in the regression analysis. Regression on EPDS >12 was predictive for all variables except for maternal responsiveness, which was considered an outcome variable. The findings are consistent with the proposition that social exclusion, infant behavior, social isolation among migrant mothers, and maternal expectations are determinants of maternal mood.
The Link between Peer Relations, Prosocial Behavior, and ODD/ADHD Symptoms in 7–9-Year-Old Children

Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are characterized by symptoms that hinder successful positive interaction with peers. The main goal of this study was to examine if the presence of symptoms of ODD and ADHD affects the relationship between positive social behavior and peer status found in 7–9-year-old children who show symptoms typical of ADHD and/or ODD. Furthermore, the possible interaction with sex was investigated. We used data collected in the first wave of The Bergen Child Study of mental health (BCS), a prospective longitudinal total population study of children's developmental and mental health. The target population consisted of children in the second to the fourth, in all public, private, and special schools in Bergen, Norway, in the fall of 2002 (N = 9430). All 79 primary schools in Bergen participated in the study. Both teacher (8809 complete cases) and parent (6253 complete cases) report were used in the analyses. ADHD and ODD scores were estimated using the Swanson Noland and Pelham rating scale version IV (SNAP-IV), and peer problems and prosocial behavior were assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). We replicated the relationship between peer problems and prosocial behavior found previously in typically developing children. Our results showed that the relationship between peer problems and prosocial behavior became weaker as the ODD symptoms increased in number and severity. For ADHD this effect was only found in the teacher report of the children. A sex effect for ODD symptoms was found only using the parent report: boys with ODD symptoms showed less prosocial behavior than girls with similar levels of ODD symptoms. Since this effect was not found using the teacher data, it may imply a situational effect (school/home) for girls with high levels of ODD. The moderator effect of ODD/ADHD was comparable for boys and girls. Our findings suggest that even if children with ADHD/ODD symptoms have the opportunity to practice their social skills in peer relationships, this is not necessarily accompanied by an increase in prosocial behavior.
Influence of different types of contact hypersensitivity on imiquimod-induced psoriasis-like inflammation in mice

It is currently believed that psoriasis and allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) are different diseases; however, they share clinical similarities. The involvement of T helper 17 (Th17) cells in these disorders provides a novel opportunity to investigate the relationship between them. The present study aimed to determine whether the same or overlapping inflammatory pathways are involved in the two diseases, and the influence of different types of ACD on psoriasis. Compound mouse models of Th1 or Th2-type contact hyper-sensitivity (CHS) combined with imiquimod (IMQ)-induced psoriasis-like inflammation were established, in order to mimic the characteristics of ACD and psoriasis. Histopathology, immunohistochemistry and cytokine detection in blood serum and tissues were used to compare the differences between the mice treated with IMQ alone or IMQ combined with Th1 and Th2-type CHS. As compared with the IMQ-treated mice or IMQ-treated Th1-type CHS mice, the mice with Th2-type CHS treated with IMQ exhibited more serious psoriasis-like inflammation with increased epidermal thickness and infiltrating cells in the derma. High mRNA expression levels of interleukin (IL)-17, IL-22, IL-23, TNF-α and RORγt were detected in back skin lesions. Additionally, high levels of IL-17 and IL-22 in blood serum were detected in IMQ-treated mice combined with Th2-type CHS. The mice treated with IMQ alone, and IMQ treatment combined with Th1-type CHS had a comparable psoriasis-like inflammatory response in the back skin. In conclusion, these data demonstrate that Th2-type CHS exacerbated the IMQ-treated psoriatic inflammation of mice via the IL-23/IL-17 axis. Th17 cells and associated pathways may link ACD and psoriasis. Therefore, patients with psoriasis should avoid contact with specific sensitizers, such as fragrance and rubber products, which may induce Th2 polarization.