Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Female-biased Parental Investment and Growth Performance among the Mukogodo

One of the boldest predictions about behavior to come out of evolutionary biology is the idea that in certain circumstances parents should be expected to bias their investment in favor of one sex of offspring or the other. Previous work among the has provided tentative support for this prediction in one human society, where parents appear to be biasing their investment in favor of daughters, who tend to have better marital and reproductive prospects than sons. This chapter reports on new research among the Mukogodo that both confirms and elaborates upon the earlier findings. Sex biases in parental investment and the closely related topic of sex ratio evolution have been important topics in evolutionary biological theory since Fisher (1934) explained why parents in a population should, on average, invest equally in sons and daughters. Fisher's reasoning was as simple as it was powerful. Because every individual in a sexually reproducing, diploid species gets half its nuclear genetic material from its mother and half from its father, selection should favor parents who invest equally in daughters and sons because a single unit of investment in an individual of one sex will have the same effect on a parent's fitness as it unit invested in the other sex, Later theoreticians explored circumstances in which selection might favor individual parents who bias their investment in favor of one sex or another. Hamil-ton (1967), for example, examined circumstances in which siblings of one sex compete with one another for mates. In such situations, the competition makes individuals of the competitive sex more costly to produce from the point of view of the parents than individuals of the other sex, and so selection should favor parents who produce more of the other sex. Subsequently, others explored situations in which one sex of offspring is more expensive than the other because it competes 203
Narrative generation through characters' point of view

Virtual Actors are at the heart of Interactive Storytelling systems and in recent years multiple approaches have been described to specify their autonomous behaviour. One well known problem is how to achieve a balance between the characters' autonomy, defined in terms of their individual roles and motivations, and the global structure of the plot, which tends to emphasise narrative phenomena and the coordination of multiple characters. In this paper we report a new approach to the definition of virtual characters aimed at achieving a balance between character autonomy and global plot structure. Where previous approaches have tended to focus on individual actions our objective is to reincorporate higher-level narrative elements in the behaviour of individual actors and address the relation between character and plot at the level of behaviour representation. To this end we introduce the notion of a characters' Point of View and show how it enables a story to be described from the perspective of a number of different characters: it is not merely a presentation effect it is also a different way to tell a story. As an illustration, we have developed an Interactive Narrative based on Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice. The system, which features a novel planning approach to story generation, can generate very different stories depending on the Point of View adopted and support dynamic modification of the story world which results in different story consequences. In the paper, we illustrate this approach using example narratives generated using our fully implemented prototype.
A High-Order Time and Space Formulation of the Unsplit Perfectly Matched Layer for the Seismic Wave Equation Using Auxiliary Differential Equations (ADE-PML)

Unsplit convolutional perfectly matched layers (CPML) for the velocity and stress formulation of the seismic wave equation are classically computed based on a second-order finite-difference time scheme. However it is often of interest to increase the order of the time-stepping scheme in order to increase the accuracy of the algorithm. This is important for instance in the case of very long simulations. We study how to define and implement a new unsplit non-convolutional PML called the Auxiliary Differential Equation PML (ADE-PML), based on a high-order Runge-Kutta time-stepping scheme and optimized at grazing incidence. We demonstrate that when a second-order time-stepping scheme is used the convolutional PML can be derived from that more general non-convolutional ADE-PML formulation, but that this new approach can be generalized to high-order schemes in time, which implies that it can be made more accurate. We also show that the ADE-PML formulation is numerically stable up to 100,000 time steps.
Prosodic interactions on segmental durations ingreek

The present study is an experimental investigation of the effects of prosodic variables on segmental durations in Greek. Nonsense disyllabic CVCV words were produced in a carrier sentence under different conditions of stress, focus and tempo. The results indicate: (1) the intrinsic durations of vowels are rather canonical in the order /iu<eo<a/; (2) the adjacent consonant /s/ shows complementary duration tendencies; (3) stress has bigger effect on the vowel than the consonant; (4) focus has no major effects; (5) tempo has also bigger effect on the vowel than the consonant. In summary, stress has a bigger effect on both consonant and vowel durations than tempo whereas the effects of focus are in question.
Extended Time Test Accommodation: Directions for Future Research and Practice

Several pieces of legislation, most recently No Child Left Behind, hinge on effective assessment of students with disabilities. Mandated inclusion and mandated accountability for progress raises many interesting questions regarding how to fairly, effectively, and validly perform assessments on students with disabilities. The purpose of this article is to summarize and discuss current research on extended time testing, particularly the implications of ETTA for assessment. Research indicates that in regard to students with learning disabilities practitioners and researchers need (a) to find ways to provide realistic, not inflated, estimates of a student’s ability, (b) to determine if test instruments are suitable for use with students with learning disabilities, (c) to consider whether students with learning disabilities were included in the normative and validation samples, (d) to know that scores from accommodated assessments should be tentative, and (e) to weigh whether scores from assessments that are not validated are more useful than information available from other sources.
ste-GAN-ography: Generating Steganographic Images via Adversarial Training

Adversarial training was recently shown to be competitive against supervised learning methods on computer vision tasks, however, studies have mainly been confined to generative tasks such as image synthesis. In this paper, we apply adversarial training techniques to the discriminative task of learning a steganographic algorithm. Steganography is a collection of techniques for concealing information by embedding it within a non-secret medium, such as cover texts or images. We show that adversarial training can produce robust steganographic techniques: our unsupervised training scheme produces a steganographic algorithm that competes with state-of-the-art steganographic techniques, and produces a robust steganalyzer, which performs the discriminative task of deciding if an image contains secret information. We define a game between three parties, Alice, Bob and Eve, in order to simultaneously train both a steganographic algorithm and a steganalyzer. Alice and Bob attempt to communicate a secret message contained within an image, while Eve eavesdrops on their conversation and attempts to determine if secret information is embedded within the image. We represent Alice, Bob and Eve by neural networks, and validate our scheme on two independent image datasets, showing our novel method of studying steganographic problems is surprisingly competitive against established steganographic techniques.
Underpining the Relaionships between Burnout, Depression and Somatic Stress - A Mixed Method Approach

A number of measures have been designed by researchers to assess different dimensions of occupational stress. Many existing studies are particularly focused on the various manifestations of stress e.g. depression, anxiety, burnout, somatic illness etc. still there exists a debate regarding the similarities and differences among these stress dimensions. This study focused on measuring somatic stress, depression & burnout and tried to identify the relationship between these dimensions of stress using few stress instruments adapted to the sample of 274 teachers from few universities from KP province of Pakistan by using convenience based sampling. In addition, this study also aimed to get a better understanding of these dimensions of stress through semi-structured interviews. Study aimed to clarify the different facets of stress from the available literature and also addressed the stress measurement problems using mixed methods, particularly for the new entrants in this field. Results revealed significant positive relationships between emotional exhaustion & depersonalization. Emotional exhaustion also showed significant impact on depression and somatic stress. The results deduced from the semi-structured interviews supported the results deduced from the quantitative methodology. However, detailed interviews for the analysis purpose (in NVIVO or ATLAS) couldn’t be conducted which is one of the shortcomings of this study. Future researchers should give equal weight to both the methods i.e. quantitative as well as qualitative.
Comparison of fatigue model results for rough surface elastohydrodynamic lubrication

The paper compares the results of applying different fatigue failure models to surfaces that experience elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHL) and have surface roughness features which are large compared with the equivalent smooth surface film thickness. The surface profiles used for the comparisons reported are taken from test gear surfaces used in an FZG gear test. The surface has a roughness of 0.31 μm Ra, with peak to valley dimensions of the order 1.5 μm. The tips of the asperities have been modified by running-in during the gear test. A transient EHL analysis was carried out using contacting components having this profile for a number of sliding speeds and nominal viscosity values. From these analyses, time-dependent pressure and shear stress distributions at the contacting surfaces were calculated. The resulting subsurface stress field was obtained relative to axes fixed in the moving surfaces using an elastic analysis so as to give the stress history at each point in a representative test section of the contacting component. A number of multi-axial fatigue criteria based on a critical plane approach were applied to the test section and the results compared. In addition, a varying amplitude multi-axial fatigue theory based on shear strain cycles was also applied to the section. The cycle counts were obtained using the rainflow counting method and the accumulated damage in a single pass through the contact area was calculated. In comparing the results obtained, the various fatigue models were found to identify the same asperity features as being those most prone to fatigue.
The effects of food restriction on the perception of hunger, metabolic state and stress responsiveness in sheep

ii Acknowledgements . iv Table of contents . vi List of Tables. xi List of Figures . xiii Abbreviations . xvi Chapter 1. General introduction . 1 1.1. Hunger and motivation for food . 2 1.1.1 Feeding motivation and behavioural demand. 3 1.1.2 Other behavioural measures of hunger . 8 1.2. Metabolic and endocrine signals and hunger . 9 1.2.1 Metabolic signals . 10 1.2.1.1. Adipose tissue and fatty acids . 10 1.2.1.2. Glucose . 11 1.2.1.3. β-hydroxybutyrate . 13 1.2.1.4. Urea . 14 1.2.2 Endocrine signals . 15 1.2.2.1. Leptin . 15 1.2.2. 2. Insulin . 18 1.2.2.3. Ghrelin . 19 1.2.2.4. Insulin-like growth factor-1 . 22 1.2.2.5. Cortisol . 23 1.2.3 Effects of endocrine signals on food intake. 24 1.2.4 Short-term and long-term regulation of feeding motivation . 26 1.3. Other indicators of biological functioning . 27 1.3. 1 Wool growth . 27
Costs and Effectiveness of Treatment Alternatives for Proximal Caries Lesions

Objectives Invasive therapy of proximal caries lesions initiates a cascade of re-treatment cycles with increasing loss of dental hard tissue. Non- and micro-invasive treatment aim at delaying this cascade and may thus reduce both the health and economic burden of such lesions. This study compared the costs and effectiveness of alternative treatments of proximal caries lesions. Methods A Markov-process model was used to simulate the events following the treatment of a proximal posterior lesion (E2/D1) in a 20-year-old patient in Germany. We compared three interventions (non-invasive; micro-invasive using resin infiltration; invasive using composite restoration). We calculated the risk of complications of initial and possible follow-up treatments and modelled time-dependent non-linear transition probabilities. Costs were calculated based on item-fee catalogues in Germany. Monte-Carlo-microsimulations were performed to compare cost-effectiveness of non- versus micro-invasive treatment and to analyse lifetime costs of all three treatments. Results Micro-invasive treatment was both more costly and more effective than non-invasive therapy, with ceiling-value-thresholds for willingness-to-pay between 16.73 € for E2 and 1.57 € for D1 lesions. Invasive treatment was the most costly strategy. Calculated costs and effectiveness were sensitive to lesion stage, patient’s age, discounting rate and assumed initial treatment costs. Conclusions Non- and micro-invasive treatments have lower long-term costs than invasive therapy of proximal lesions. Micro-invasive therapy had the highest cost-effectiveness for treating D1 lesions in young patients. Decision makers with a willingness-to-pay over 16.73 € and 1.57 € for E2 and D1 lesions, respectively, will find micro-invasive treatment more cost-effective than non-invasive therapy.
Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment Strategy for National Development

Women entrepreneurship and empowerment are technically interrelated, the paper aims to examine Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment Strategy for National Development. Women in developed nations play an important role in national and economic development. Indeed, women in northern Nigeria are not adequately empowered because of the patriarchal nature of the region that gave much power to men and placed women at subordinate positions, in view of this the paper aim to examine why northern Nigerian women are not adequately empowered, and how they can be empowered in the nation. The study is qualitative in nature, here data were obtained from a secondary source, documents were systematically reviewed to discuss the topic under study. From the available data, the study showcased that surely, women are being dominated in the entrepreneurship in of northern Nigeria, this is because most of the business enterprises are been controlled by men in the region. In explaining this study empowerment theory was used, the theory was propounded by Sara Longwe in 1990. Essentially, the assumption of the theory dwells on Original Research Article Ali and Salisu; JEMT, 22(3): 1-13, 2019; Article no.JEMT. 44828 2 women empowerment and gender equality. This Theory aims to critically access the level of women empowerment and development. The postulation of the theory is to ensure equal opportunities for both men and women to attain gender parity. This theory will help in abridging gender differences and sustain equal access to education and economy. The study found that cultural stereotype, unequal access to education and inadequate capital has affected northern women entrepreneurship and empowerment. Given this, the study recommends that the government should empower the northern women through free education and skills acquisition programmes in Nigeria especially in the northern region. government and financial institutions should provide women with soft loans to empower them to start a business.
Does Size Matter? Scale, Corruption and Uncertainty

We study the role of the size of the economy in mitigating the impact of public sector corruption on economic development. The analysis is based on a dynamic general equilibrium model in which growth occurs endogenously through the invention and manufacture of new intermediate goods that are used in the production of output. Potential innovators decide to enter the market considering the fraction of future profits that may be lost to corruption. We find that depending on the predictability of bribes, the size of the economy may be an important factor in determining the effects of corruption on innovation and economic growth.
Prevalence of Dermatological Presentations of Canine Leishmaniasis in a Nonendemic Area: A Retrospective Study of 100 Dogs

This retrospective study determined the prevalence of dermatological lesions associated with canine leishmaniasis (CanL) in a nonendemic area in Italy. The medical records of 131 dogs with CanL were reviewed and, of these, 115/131 dogs (88%) had dermatological manifestations of which 100/131 dogs (76%) met the inclusion criteria. Sixty-two percent of dogs were male and 38% were female and the mean age was 6.4 years. Thirty-two percent of dogs were mixed breeds; the remainder represented a variety of pure breeds. In 79% of dogs dermatological signs occurred in association with systemic signs of CanL, whilst 21% of dogs had only dermatological manifestations. The most common dermatological manifestation was exfoliative dermatitis (74%), followed by ulcerative (18%) and nodular (11%) lesions. In 51% of dogs the lesions were localized mainly on the pinnae, head, and pressure points; in the remaining 49% lesions were generalized. The only statistically significant association was between Retriever breed and animals with only dermatological signs (P = 0.0034, OD 5.97, CI 0.996–37.933). In this study dermatological manifestations of CanL were very commonly reported, and their prevalence is similar to previous studies in endemic areas despite the fact that dogs living in nonendemic areas are not exposed to repeated infectious bites and continuous stimulation of the dermal immune system.
Statistical evidence for miscoding lesions in ancient DNA templates.

It is generally believed that sequence heterogeneity in PCR products from fossil remains are due to regular DNA polymerase errors as well as miscoding lesions compounded by damage in the template DNA (Paabo 1990; Handt et al. 1994b, 1996; Hoss et al. 1996; Krings et al. 1997). However, it has been difficult to test the frequency with which this assumption holds. First, DNA extractions from fossil remains rarely produce a yield large enough for pre-PCR analysis of postmortem modifications (Hoss et al. 1996). Second, in most cases, it is not possible to determine whether nucleotide misincorporations by the DNA polymerase enzyme during amplification are caused by regular DNA polymerase errors or miscoding lesions in the template DNA sequences (Greenwood et al. 1999). Finally, the error rates of the DNA polymerase enzymes for PCR have proved to be highly unpredictable, making it difficult to account for regular DNA polymerase errors in amplified DNA sequences (Eckert and Kunkel 1991). Here, we present a statistical model for analyzing PCR-mediated base-misincorporations, catalyzed by the commonly used Thermus aquaticus (Taq) polymerase enzyme, in amplification products from fossil remains. The error rate of the Taq polymerase enzyme may vary more than 10-fold (;2 3 1024 to ,1 3 1025 per nucleotide per cycle) according to the precise DNA sequence and the in vitro conditions of DNA synthesis (Eckert and Kunkel 1991). Therefore, the tests of the model rely solely on the relative distribution of the distinct Taq polymerase errors, which, in contrast to the highly variable error rate, is nearly constant and independent of the starting template material and the conditions for the PCR, as shown in table 1. Hence, the tests are not affected by variations in PCR efficiencies and accuracy. The model compares the distribution of the regular Taq polymerase errors with the observed substitutions in amplification products from fossil remains under the hypothesis that any significant differences between the distributions are due to miscoding lesions in the template DNA sequences used for PCR. The model was applied to published multiple clone sequences of the mitochondrial (mt) DNA control region from three differently preserved specimens of Homo representing different ages: a ;600-year-old Hokokam Indian (VC15A) found in a cave in Arizona, southwestern United States (Handt et al. 1996), the ;5,000-
Buyer Uncertainty and Two-Part Pricing : Theory with Evidence from Outsourcing and New York Restaurants

We consider two-part pricing of a service offered to risk-averse buyers subject to independent demand uncertainty. Buyers subscribe to the service before the uncertainty resolves. Vendors maximize profit by balancing between insuring buyers against the uncertainty and reducing ex-post deadweight loss. We introduce the concepts of felicitous goods, for which the total and marginal benefits are positively correlated, and distress goods, for which the total and marginal benefits are negatively correlated. The profit-maximizing two-part price includes a usage charge greater than the marginal cost of service for felicitous goods, while the usage charge is less than the marginal cost for distress goods. We discuss how our analytical model could improve pricing practices in the IT services outsourcing industry. Further, using the Zagat Survey, we tested our analytical predictions on pricing by New York restaurants. For two diners on their first date, a major uncertainty is whether they would like each other. If they do, they would prolong the meal by ordering appetizer, soup, and dessert, while if not, they might just do with a main course. We found that, among “singles scene” and “romantic” restaurants, the prices of appetizer, soup, and dessert were 6-20% higher relative to main courses than among “business dining” restaurants. This is not consistent with alternative explanations of restaurant pricing.
A Hybrid Approach for Course Scheduling Inspired by Die-hard Co-operative Ant Behavior

In this paper, a hybrid approach towards University Course Scheduling has been presented. This approach is inspired by the mutual-aid and persistent/die-hard behavior of ants exhibited when faced with difficult scenario while collecting food. In first stage, ant functions construct a feasible solution with mutual help of each other without keeping in view the quality of the solution. In second stage, optimizer ant functions improve quality of the solution obtained in first stage. This approach is derived from persistent ant behavior where they coordinate and work resolutely on food/victim irrespective how difficult to carry it may be. A benefit of this approach is that many different heuristics and techniques may be used in the framework The approach has shown promising results when compared to existing approaches in literature.