Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Low Frequency Lateral Acceleration and Subjective Ratings of Acceleration Intensity and Driving Confidence in Production Cars

There are few studies in the literature that relate subjective ratings to objective measures of low frequency lateral acceleration such as might be experienced whist cornering in a car. This paper reports a study where 1203 subjects drove two different cars (‘sport’ and ‘comfort’) on two different lateral acceleration trials. Objective measures of acceleration were taken, in addition to ratings of lateral acceleration intensity and confidence. It is shown that there was little difference between the peak lateral accelerations experienced in the two cars, although males chose to drive with greater lateral acceleration (i.e. at higher speed) than the females. Despite differences between the objective measures of acceleration being small, subjective data showed that the intensity of acceleration was rated higher for the comfort car than the sport car indicating that subjective ratings are context specific. Ratings of intensity were correlated with measures of peak acceleration for each car //// trial combination. Drivers were more confident driving the sport car than the comfort car on the two trials. However, there was only a weak and inconsistent relationship between lateral acceleration and driving confidence. It is hypothesised that this is an example of risk homeostasis whereby drivers choose to moderate their speed (and therefore the lateral acceleration) in response to their confidence level that might be affected by a complex combination of factors.
Effect of dietary inclusion of Polyalthia longifolia leaf meal as Phytobiotic compared with antibiotics on performance , carcass characteristics and Haematology of broiler chicken

A 45-day feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary inclusion of Polyalthia longifolia leaf meal as phytobiotic compared with antibiotics on performance, carcass characteristics and haematology of broiler chicks. Two hundred and fifty day old chick (Arbo acre) was divided into five groups with five replicates, each of ten birds in a completely randomized design (CRD). Group 1was fed on basal diet without feed additives, group 2 was fed on basal diet supplemented with the antibiotic (Oxytetracycline) at 25mg/kg), group 3,4 and 5 were fed basal diets supplemented with P. longifolia leaf meal (PLM) at levels 1.5, 2.5 and 3.5% respectively. The basal diet was formulated to meet the nutritional requirements of growing birds according to NRC (1994), experimental parameters covered growth performance, carcass /dressing percentage and some haematological analysis. The result showed that there was a significant (P<0.05) differences among all treatments in the values of final live weight, feed conversion and mortality. Feed intake, carcass / dressing percentage and haematological parameters were not significantly (P>0.05) affected with the dietary inclusion of PLM and oxytetracycline (O.T.C) in the diet. It was concluded based on the data from the final live weight, feed intake, mortality, carcass characteristics and those from haematological parameters evaluated that PLM could be incorporated up to 3.5% level in a broiler ration.
Cleaning in pairs enhances honesty in male cleaning gobies

A recent game theoretic model akin to an iterated prisoner's dilemma explored situations in which 2 individuals (the service providers) interact simultaneously with the same service recipient (the client). If providing a dishonest service pays, then each service provider may be tempted to cheat before its partner, even if cheating causes the client's departure; however, a theoretical cooperative solution also exists where both partners should reduce cheating rates. This prediction is supported by indirect measures of cheating (i.e., inferred from client responses) by pairs of Indo-Pacific bluestreak cleaner wrasses Labroides dimidiatus. Here, we examine how inspecting in pairs affects service quality in Caribbean cleaning gobies Elacatinus spp. We measured dishonesty directly by examining the stomach contents of solitary and paired individuals and calculating the ratio of scales to ectoparasites ingested. We found that the propensity to cheat of females and males differed: females always cleaned relatively honestly, whereas males cheated less when cleaning in pairs than when cleaning alone. However, overall, the cleaning service of single and paired individuals was similar. Our results confirm that cleaners cooperate when cleaning in pairs; however, our findings differ from the specific predictions of the model and the observations on L. dimidiatus. The differences may be due to differences in mating systems and cleaner--client interactions between the 2 cleaner fish species. Copyright 2009, Oxford University Press.
Flow Patterns and Heat Transfer for Flow Boiling in Small to Micro Diameter Tubes

An overview of the recent developments in the study of flow patterns and boiling heat transfer in small to micro diameter tubes is presented. The latest results of a long-term study of flow boiling of R134a in five vertical stainless-steel tubes of internal diameter 4.26, 2.88, 2.01, 1.1, and 0.52 mm are then discussed. During these experiments, the mass flux was varied from 100 to 700 kg/m2s and the heat flux from as low as 1.6 to 135 kW/m2. Five different pressures were studied, namely, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14 bar. The flow regimes were observed at a glass section located directly at the exit of the heated test section. The range of diameters was chosen to investigate thresholds for macro, small, or micro tube characteristics. The heat transfer coefficients in tubes ranging from 4.26 mm down to 1.1 mm increased with heat flux and system pressure, but did not change with vapor quality for low quality values. At higher quality, the heat transfer coefficients decreased with increasing quality, indicating local transient dry-out, instead of increasing as expected in macro tubes. There was no significant difference between the characteristics and magnitude of the heat transfer coefficients in the 4.26 mm and 2.88 mm tubes but the coefficients in the 2.01 and 1.1 mm tubes were higher. Confined bubble flow was first observed in the 2.01 mm tube, which suggests that this size might be considered as a critical diameter to distinguish small from macro tubes. Further differences have now been observed in the 0.52 mm tube: A transitional wavy flow appeared over a significant range of quality/heat flux and dispersed flow was not observed. The heat transfer characteristics were also different from those in the larger tubes. The data fell into two groups that exhibited different influences of heat flux below and above a heat flux threshold. These differences, in both flow patterns and heat transfer, indicate a possible second change from small to micro behavior at diameters less than 1 mm for R134a.
Diagrammatic Approach for Investigating Two Dimensional Elastic Collisions in Momentum Space II: Special Relativity

The diagrammatic approach to the collision problems in Newtonian mechanics is useful. We show in this article that the same technique can be applied to the case of the special relativity. The two circles play an important role in Newtonian mechanics, while in the special relativity, we need one circle and one ellipse. The circle shows the collision in the center-of-mass system. And the ellipse shows the collision in the laboratory system. These two figures give all information on two dimensional elastic collisions in the special relativity.
Assessment of fixed rate mortgage implied insurance cost: Method and ex-post Swiss market analysis

A huge part of housing finance is related to mortgage. In Europe, loan-to-value range between 50% and 85% for mortgage while the mortgage market/GDP ratio increased by 20% in 2010. In most developed countries housing is the most important household's investment or expenditure. This investment is generally leveraged by mortgage borrowing. The mortgage can bear fixed or variable interest rate; both with their pros and cons. Fixed rate allows easier budgeting over years since the bank bear the interest rate risk. This property of fixed rate mortgage is often assimilated to insurance that hedge against monthly payment fluctuation. Usually, initial variable rate is cheaper since the interest rate risk is assumed by the borrower. Yet, there has been surprisingly little work on mortgage decisions from the perspective of the household. Instead, most research on mortgages has been conducted by real estate or fixed-income securities specialists who are interested in pricing mortgage-backed derivatives. This paper proposes a method to assess the relative cost of fixed rate mortgage implied insurance for the borrower. Thus, we link the insurance cost with insurance premium concept and the related hedged risk. The proposed method is applied to Swiss data. This method offers a sound's basis for comparison of the cost of fixed mortgage rate in time and among countries. It also allows the exploration of the relationship between fixed rates implied insurance cost and people's preference for the financial product. We use the method to analyse mortgage rate between 2002 and 2012. We compare variables rates (Libor and bank variable rate) with five and three years fixed rate. We find that most of the time fixed implied insurance is costly for the borrower. This cost represents a value between 0.5% and 7% of the total initial mortgage when compared with libor.
Investigation of the toxicity levels of supplemental dietary DL-methionine for poultry in a tropical environment.

The study investigated the effect of supplementing dietary methionine on growth performance, serum biochemistry and liver histology in cockerels. A total of three hundred 1 dayold cockerel chicks were randomly assigned to diets containing 0.10, 0.25, 0.35, 0.45 or 0.55% of dietary methionine in a completely randomized design and fed for six weeks. Feed intake, weight gain, survival rate, serum cholesterol, transaminase activities and thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) values and liver histology were determined. The result showed that feed intake and growth rate decreased with increasing level of dietary methionine although not significant (p> 0.05), while survival rate was 100% regardless of dietary treatments. Birds fed 0.10, 0.25 and 0.35% methionine had significantly higher (p< 0.05) weight gain, feed efficiency and HDL cholesterol but lower (p<0.05) LDL cholesterol and TBARS values than those fed 0.45 and 0.55% methionine. The activities of gamma glutamyl transaminase (GGT) and alanine transaminase (ALT) was significantly higher in birds fed 0.10 and 0.25 than 0.35, 0.45 and 0.55% methionine while aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activity decrease significantly (p< 0.05) with increasing levels of methionine. Normal hepatic architecture was observed in liver of birds fed 0.10 and 0.25% methionine while those fed higher levels had distorted hepatic architecture, the severity of which increased with increasing levels of methionine. Thus, inclusion of supplemented dietary methionine above 0.25% is likely to create health hazards in poultry in a tropical environment like Nigeria.
Combined GRACE and InSAR estimate of West Antarctic ice mass loss

[1] We estimate the mass balance of eight drainage basins in West Antarctica from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) data (GFZ RL04, GSM Level 2) using a constrained inverse-gravimetric approach. We consider InSAR observations of ice surface velocity as an indication of mass change, assuming that large mass loss occurs in areas of fast glacier flow. From these mass distribution functions we construct forward models of the geoid height change and their spatial correlations for each drainage basin. Then the difference between the GRACE data and the forward model is minimized by adjusting the total amount of mass change within each drainage basin. To overcome the ambiguity inherent in this inverse problem, we constrain its solution by including a priori estimates based on the InSAR mass-budget method. However, unconstrained (GRACE only) mass-change estimates can be recovered for three to four combined drainage basins. Differences between GRACE and InSAR values exist mainly for the Pine Island Glacier and Getz Ice Shelf region, resulting in a lower unconstrained GRACE total of −91.0 ± 3.5 Gt/yr (for the years 2002–2008) compared to the InSAR estimate of −116.6 ± 19.0 Gt/yr (outflow measurement for the years 1992, 1996, and 2006). There is evidence that this difference arises from anomalously large accumulation within the GRACE time interval (August 2002 to August 2008) in the Amundsen Sea sector and possibly from an overestimation of ice thickness for parts of the Bellinghausen Sea sector underlying the InSAR mass-budget values.
European Natural Gas Seasonal Effects on Futures Hedging

This paper is the first to discuss the design of futures hedging strategies in European natural gas markets (NBP, TTF and Zeebrugge). A common feature of energy prices is that conditional mean and volatility are driven by seasonal trends due to weather, demand, and storage level seasonalities. This paper follows and extends the Ederington and Salas (2008) framework and considers seasonalities in mean and volatility when minimum variance hedge ratios are computed. Our results show that hedging effectiveness is much higher when the seasonal pattern in spot price changes is approximated with lagged values of the basis (futures price minus spot price). This fact remain true for short (a week) and long (one, three and six months) hedging periods. Furthermore, volatility of weekly price changes also has a seasonal pattern and is higher in winter than in summer. A simple volatility seasonal model that is based on sinusoidal functions on the basis improves the risk reduction obtained by strategies in which hedging ratios are estimated with linear regressions. Seasonal hedging strategies, linear regression based strategies, or even a naive position, perform better than more sophisticated statistical methods.
Molecular phylogeny of Nitidulidae: assessment of subfamilial and tribal classification and formalization of the family Cybocephalidae (Coleoptera: Cucujoidea)

We present a molecular phylogeny of Nitidulidae based on thirty ingroup taxa representing eight of the ten currently recognized subfamilies. Approximately 10 K base pairs from seven loci (12S, 16S, 18S, 28S, COI, COII and H3) were used for the phylogenetic reconstruction. The phylogeny supports the following main conclusions: (i) Cybocephalidae are formally recognized as a distinct family not closely related to Nitidulidae and its constituent taxa are defined; (ii) Kateretidae are sister to Nitidulidae; (iii) Cryptarchinae are monophyletic and sister to the remaining nitidulid subfamilies; (iv) subfamily Prometopinae stat. res. is reinstated and defined, to accommodate taxa allied to Axyra Erichson, Prometopia Erichson and Megauchenia MacLeay; (v) Amphicrossinae, Carpophilinae and Epuraeinae are shown to be closely related taxa within a well‐supported monophyletic clade; (vi) tribal affinities and respective monophyly within Nitidulinae are poorly resolved by our data and must be more rigorously tested as there was little or no support for prior morphologically based tribes or genus‐level complexes; (vii) Nitidulinae are found to be paraphyletic with respect to Cillaeinae and Meligethinae, suggesting that they should either be subsumed as tribes, or Nitidulinae should be divided into several subfamilies to preserve the status of Cillaeinae and Meligethinae; (viii) Teichostethus Sharp stat. res. is not a synonym of Hebascus Erichson and the former is reinstated as a valid genus. These conclusions and emendations are discussed in detail and presented within a morphological framework.
New concepts in pathogenesis and management of polycystic ovarian syndrome: Insulin resistance and role of insulin sensitizers

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is classically characterized by the clinical triad of androgen excess, anovulation infertility and obesity. Anovulation occurs due to functional ovarian and/or adrenal hyperandrogenism. The etiology and patho physiology of PCOS is unknown . Proposed theories include excess of gonadotropins; the effect of which is amplified by disturbances in intrinsic regulatory peptides, such as inhibin or extrinsic regulatory peptides, such as insulin or insulin like growth factor ( IGF). For over 25 years insulin resistance has been known to be associated with PCOS. Improvement in insulin resistance with the use of insulin sensitizers, such as metformin and thiazoldinediones (TZDs) have been seen to be associated with better ovulation and reduced testosterone levels in patients with PCOS. Aims: The aim of the present review is to discuss the new concepts in the pathogenesis of PCOS and to know usefulness of insulin sensitizers in such patients. Methods : Over 50 articles extending the span of more than 25 years have been reviewed and an attempt has been made to know the etiopathogenesis of PCOS and also to assess the validity for the uses of insulin sensitizers in patients of PCOS. Results: With the advancement of knowledge regarding etiopathogenesis, the management of PCOS has changed in recent years. In view of positive association between hyperinsulinemia and PCOS, improvement in insulin resistance through weight loss and use of insulin sensitizing drugs has been recommended. Conclusions: Besides symptomatic treatment, recent studies recommend use of insulin sensitizers in management in PCOS for better outcome in them. Key words: Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), Insulin resistance (IR) Insulin sensitizers (IS).
Characterizations of signed measures in the dual of $BV$ and related isometric isomorphisms

We characterize all (signed) measures in $BV_{\frac{n}{n-1}}(\mathbb{R}^n)^*$, where $BV_{\frac{n}{n-1}}(\mathbb{R}^n)$ is defined as the space of all functions $u$ in $L^{\frac{n}{n-1}}(\mathbb{R}^n)$ such that $Du$ is a finite vector-valued measure. We also show that $BV_{\frac{n}{n-1}}(\mathbb{R}^n)^*$ and $BV(\mathbb{R}^n)^*$ are isometrically isomorphic, where $BV(\mathbb{R}^n)$ is defined as the space of all functions $u$ in $L^{1}(\mathbb{R}^n)$ such that $Du$ is a finite vector-valued measure. As a consequence of our characterizations, an old issue raised in Meyers-Ziemer [MZ] is resolved by constructing a locally integrable function $f$ such that $f$ belongs to $BV(\mathbb{R}^n)^{*}$ but $|f|$ does not. Moreover, we show that the measures in $BV_{\frac{n}{n-1}}(\mathbb{R}^n)^*$ coincide with the measures in $\dot W^{1,1}(\mathbb{R}^n)^*$, the dual of the homogeneous Sobolev space $\dot W^{1,1}(\mathbb{R}^n)$, in the sense of isometric isomorphism. For a bounded open set $\Omega$ with Lipschitz boundary, we characterize the measures in the dual space $BV_0(\Omega)^*$. One of the goals of this paper is to make precise the definition of $BV_0(\Omega)$, which is the space of functions of bounded variation with zero trace on the boundary of $\Omega$. We show that the measures in $BV_0(\Omega)^*$ coincide with the measures in $W^{1,1}_0(\Omega)^*$. Finally, the class of finite measures in $BV(\Omega)^*$ is also characterized.
Conditioned Export-Led Growth Hypothesis: A Panel Threshold Regressions Approach

This paper proposes a reassessment of the export-led growth hypothesis focusing on conditioning effects from countries initial level of GDP per worker, human capital stock, and exports share in GDP. For this purpose a panel threshold regression technique was applied over selected cross-country panel data, covering a broad sample of 72 countries and two sub-samples over the period from 1974 to 2003. Special attention was given to the 5-years data averaging procedure, using panel unit root tests, and to the variables measures choice, where a sensitivity analysis is proposed. Overall, the evidence reported favors the export-led growth hypothesis, where the relationship between exports and growth was showed to be not as trivial as linear specifications would indicate.
Outcomes of Osteoarthritis after Bariatric Surgery

Joint Osteoarthritis (OA) is a major source of morbidity and disability in the aging population. It is especially a concern to overweight individuals, as obesity is an important risk factor for the development of OA. The relationship between obesity and the development of joint damage is not purely the result of mechanical forces as pathologic inflammatory markers have been implicated in the process as well. Recent clinical practise guidelines state that weight-loss leads to functional improvement in joint pain. It can then be expected that bariatric surgery, the only proven long-term weight-loss modality in the morbidly obese, should have a similar effect. However, the improvement in OA post-surgery is not as drastic in comparison to the change in other obesity-related co-morbidities. Bariatric surgery, however, can be used in conjunction with orthopaedic surgery to ultimately treat OA through joint replacement. Effective weight-loss, as achieved through bariatric surgery, can improve post-operative outcomes in the obese population, making poor surgical candidates into acceptable ones. In this editorial, we explore the relationship between obesity and osteoarthritis and the roles of combining bariatric and orthopaedic surgeries.
Does the Adverse Announcement Effect of Climate Policy Matter? - A Dynamic General Equilibrium Analysis

We consider a carbon emissions tax announced today, but implemented after a known time-lag. Before implementation, the announcement induces higher emissions than without intervention. In welfare terms, this adverse announcement effect could more than outweigh the gain after tax implementation. We quantify a “critical lag” such that a shorter (longer) implementation lag is a welfare gain (loss) over no-intervention. We identify resource scarcity as the main driver for a short critical lag. The model is a global Ramsey Model extended by an exhaustible carbon resource and linked to a climate model.
Title : Filtering efficiency and feeding mechanisms of Daphnia pulex on Microcystis aeruginosa and Nannochloropsis

The filtering and feeding rate of Daphnia pulex from the Old Durham Reservoir, Durham, NH, were measured to determine the feeding efficiency on different concentrations of non-toxic Nannochloropsis (Class Eustigmatophyceae) and toxigenic cyanobacteria Microcystis aeruginosa. Direct observations of thoracic appendage beats and post-abdominal rejections were also measured at 5*105 and 106 cells mL-1 concentrations of Nannochloropsis and M. aeruginosa to examine the feeding mechanisms of the D. pulex. In the presence of increasing Nannochloropsis concentrations, the filtering rates decreased and the feeding rates increased. When exposed to M. aeruginosa, both the filtering and feeding rates decreased. The thoracic beats decreased and the post-abdominal rejections increased from 5*105 and 106 cells mL-1 of both food types. Similarly, the thoracic beats decreased and post-abdominal rejections increased from food suspensions of Nannochloropsis to M. aeruginosa. These results indicate that when compared to Nannochloropsis, M. aeruginosa had a negative effect on the feeding rates over a wide range of food concentrations of the Daphnia. The lowered feeding rates are in part due to a reduction in collection rates (i.e. lower thoracic appendage beats) and an increase in the food rejection as evidenced by the higher post abdominal rejection rate.