Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Organic Broilers in Floorless Pens on Pasture

This thesis investigates different aspects of rearing broilers organically in floorless pens on pasture. The birds and pens were moved daily to fresh pasture. The interdisciplinary studies comprise the birds' growth performance and carcass quality, health, behaviour, leg condition and the birds’ effect on pasture. In the final study, on-farm diets were tested in a feeding experiment indoors. The data are based on four experiments carried out during 2000 to 2003. In 2000 and 2002, restricted-fed conventional broilers (ROSS 208) were reared in floorless pens on pasture and in control groups outdoors on straw. In 2001, two genotypes, ROSS 208 and the slow-growing ISA 657 were reared on three ground types, pasture, outdoors on straw and indoors on wood shavings with either an ad libitum or restricted feeding level. In 2003, a feeding experiment with slow-growing broilers fed on-farm diets in a choice feeding system was conducted indoors. Most birds were reared to 12 weeks of age, but ad libitum-fed ROSS birds were reared to 6 weeks. The experimental phase was from ca. 3 weeks to slaughter. The experiments indicate that under the given conditions - access to pasture does not offer sufficient protein and metabolizable energy to allow considerable feed savings in the farm enterprise (Paper I) - moving the floorless pens daily provides favourable conditions to prevent infections with Campylobacter and Eimeria in outdoor broilers (Paper II) - access to pasture as such appears to play no major role for the broilers' physical activity (Paper III) or leg condition (Paper IV) - broiler chickens on pasture can sustain white clover in a mixed grass/white clover pasture (Paper V) - with access to high-quality protein during the first three weeks there is a good potential to produce organic broiler meat with feed produced on-farm in northwestern Europe (Paper VI).
Effects of carprofen administered by different routes to control experimental uveitis in dogs (Efeitos do carprofeno, aplicado por diferentes vias, no controle de uveítes experimentais em cães)

ABSTRACT Efficacy of carprofen, administered by different routes, was studied in experimental uveitis in dogs. Anterior chamber paracenteses was accomplished at two different moments (M0 and M1), with a five hour interval between them. At M0 and M1, 0.2mL of aqueous humor was collected and quantitation of total protein and prostaglandin E 2 (PGE 2 ) were determined. Four groups were formed (n=8), which received carprofen at the end of M0, by the following routes: subcutaneous (GIm), subconjunctival (GII), and topical (GIII). A fourth group that received no treatment was instituted (Control). Conjunctival histopathology of the GII animals was performed. In all groups, values of protein and PGE 2 significantly enhanced at M1; however, they did not significantly change among groups at M1. Inflammatory exudate of acute character and mild hemorrhage were seen at histopathology after carprofen administration. Carprofen was unable to inhibit PGE 2 synthesis and the protein influx to the anterior chamber by any of the tested routes. However, the reduction of 44% in protein levels (topical) suggests that the agent can be used by this route as an adjuvant to control uveitis in dogs. Keywords: dog, uveitis, carprofen, total protein, prostaglandin E
The extremal solution of a boundary reaction problem

We consider $\Delta u = 0$ in $ \Omega$, $\qquad \frac{\partial u}{\partial \nu} =\lambda f(u)$ on $\Gamma_1, \qquad u = 0$ on $\Gamma_2$ where $\lambda>0$, $f(u) = e^u$ or $f(u) = (1+u)^p$, $\Gamma_1$, $\Gamma_2$ is a partition of $\partial \Omega$ and $\Omega\subset \mathbb R^N$. We determine sharp conditions on the dimension $N$ and $p>1$ such that the extremal solution is bounded, where the extremal solution refers to the one associated to the largest $\lambda$ for which a solution exists.
An analysis of the relevance of off-balance sheet items in explaining productivity change in European banking

The 1990s have witnessed a significant growth in bank income generated through non-traditional activities, especially for large EU universal banking institutions. Using the non-parametric Malmquist methodology this study analyses the impact of the inclusion of off-balance sheet (OBS) business in the definition of banks’ output when estimating total factor productivity change indexes. Whereas the results reinforce the prevalent view in the recent literature, indicating that the exclusion of non-traditional activities leads to a misspecification of banks’ output, the impact of the inclusion of these activities varies. Overall, the inclusion of OBS items results in an increase in estimated productivity levels for all countries under study. However, the impact seems to be the biggest on technological change rather than efficiency change.
The Theoretical Foundation of Industrial Relations and its Implications for Labor Economics and Human Resource Management

The author identifies the core principle that forms the theoretical and policy foundation for the field of industrial relations—labor is embodied in human beings and is not a commodity—and argues that the field's two central dependent variables are labor problems and the employment relationship. Next, he uses this core principle, along with complementary ideas from institutional economics, to develop a theoretical framework that not only explains the nature of the employment relationship and labor problems but also reveals shortcomings in related theories from labor economics and human resource management. Finally, this framework is used to derive the “fundamental theorem” of industrial relations, demonstrate that optimal economic performance occurs in a mixed economy of imperfect labor markets and organizations, and show that a certain amount of labor protectionism promotes economic efficiency and human welfare.
Influence of food, storage temperature, and time on the extracorporeal viability of ruminal fluid of cattle

Rumen fluid obtained from slaughter houses is sometimes used for transfaunation. In this study, we evaluated the ruminal fluid of cattle fed on pasture or pasture and concentrate and slaughtered recently. The rumen fluid samples were stored in a water bath, at ambient temperature, cooled, or frozen and subjected to physical, chemical, and microbiological evaluation for 24 h. The color, consistency, and odor changed primarily in the cooled samples, followed by the ambient temperature and water bath samples. The pH of fresh ruminal fluid was 7.5 in the pasture group and 6.4 in the pasture and concentrate group. The methylene blue reduction time of the fresh ruminal fluid was 2.35 min in the pasture group and 1.86 min in the pasture and concentrate group; the best values were observed in the water bath group. The chloride content was 15.7 mEq/l in the pasture group and 16.3±3.6 mEq/l in the pasture and concentrate group. A predominance of gram-negative bacteria was observed. The concentration of protozoa was 51.5 in the pasture group and 47.5 × 104/ml in the pasture and concentrate group, with a slight predominance of small protozoa; motility was better in the water bath samples than in the ambient temperature, cooled, and frozen samples. The viability of ruminal fluid collected from freshly slaughtered cattle was influenced by food provided in vivo; however, changes as a function of time and storage temperature were more remarkable. The rumen fluid was viable for up to 9 h when stored in the water bath (38°C) and 2 h at ambient temperature, and it was observed to be nonviable when subjected to cooling or freezing.
Fostering engaged employees: the role of leadership and self-efficacy

This study examines the role of supporting leadership and self-efficacy in the development of work engagement. We evaluate the mediating role of self-efficacy between leadership and work engagement in a sample of 271 employees from a Public Administration (City Hall). Results from the Structural Equation Modeling Analysis reveal that self-efficacy mediates the relationship between leadership and work engagement. The perception of having supporting leaders relates significantly with employees’ self-efficacy, which in turns, positively relates to work engagement.
Validating Customer Loyalty Model Using Structural Equation Modelling in a Kenyan Hospital

In healthcare services, customer satisfaction measurement is increasingly gaining emphasis due to researchers’ and clinicians’ desire which is to get outcomes that reflect varying unique patient perceptions. Ultimately, the main aim of every patient is to have their disease or health problem alleviated. These parameters alienate healthcare service from other service contexts. The study sought to assess quality levels and examine drivers of patients’ loyalty in Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi (AKUHN) in Kenya. Semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data through face-to-face interviews. The contextual measures mainly used in social, business and education fields were adopted and customized to fit healthcare environment. The 251 respondents were randomly selected and were proportional to the cluster of the services they sought. The causal relationship between service quality and customer loyalty as mediated by customer satisfaction and trust was analyzed using structural equation modeling. The model converged with good fit statistics. Both trust and customer satisfaction exhibited significantly strong mediating effects between quality of service and patients’ loyalty. This implies that customer satisfaction and trust are key parameters in explaining the strength of the significant relationship between quality of service and customer loyalty.
New shape descriptor in the context of edge continuity

The object contour is a significant cue for identifying and categorising objects. The current work is motivated by indicative researches that attribute object contours to edge information. The spatial continuity exhibited by the edge pixels belonging to the object contour make these different from the noisy edge pixels belonging to the background clutter. In this study, the authors seek to quantify the object contour from a relative count of the adjacent edge pixels that are oriented in the four possible directions, and measure using exponential functions the continuity of each edge over the next adjacent pixel in that direction. The resulting computationally simple, low-dimensional feature set, called as ‘edge continuity features’, can successfully distinguish between object contours and at the same time discriminate intra-class contour variations, as proved by the high accuracies of object recognition achieved on a challenging subset of the Caltech-256 dataset. Grey-to-RGB template matching with City-block distance is implemented that makes the object recognition pipeline independent of the actual colour of the object, but at the same time incorporates colour edge information for discrimination. Comparison with the state-of-the-art validates the efficiency of the proposed approach.
An Apparent Decrease in the Prevalence of "Ross Sea Killer Whales" in the Southern Ross Sea

Killer whales (Orcinus orca), both ecotype-B and -C, are important to the Ross Sea, Antarctic ecosystem. The ecotype-C is referred to as “Ross Sea [RS] killer whale. ” Herein, we review data on occurrence patterns and diet of RS killer whales and present new information on numbers observed in the southwestern Ross Sea, 2002-2003 to 20082009 austral summers. These “resident” whales appear to feed principally on fish, including the large Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni). On the basis of sea watches from Cape Crozier, Ross Island, sighting frequency and average group size appears to have decreased; prevalence as indicated by casual observations from helicopter pilots flying over the area on a daily basis has also decreased in nearby McMurdo Sound. Consistent with a decrease in the catch-per-unit-effort of scientific fishing for toothfish in McMurdo Sound, we suggest and review evidence that the change in RS killer whale numbers in the southern Ross Sea is related to an industrial fishery-driven, densitydependent northward contraction of the toothfish stock and not to changes in the physical (and, in turn, biological) environment. We surmise that in this closely coupled foodweb, composed of very abundant penguin, seal, and whale components, loss of the toothfish option for RS killer whales would force more direct competition with other predators for capture of the smaller-fish prey. Therefore, we propose, the RS killer whales have opted to move elsewhere, in a scenario consistent with that of the Pacific coast of Canada, where numbers of resident killer whales have decreased following the loss of large fish as a prey choice.
Salmonine Consumption and Competition for Endemic Prey Fishes in Bear Lake, Utah-Idaho

Abstract Two principal sport fish—the indigenous Bonneville cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarki utah and the introduced lake trout Salvelinus namaycush—are the dominant piscivores in Bear Lake, a 282-km2 oligotrophic system. These piscivores rely predominantly on four endemic prey fish species that make up a major portion of the unique Bear Lake fish assemblage. We estimated the annual biomass of pelagic and benthic prey fish by using hydroacoustic and trawling techniques. We also estimated the lakewide abundance of piscivores with a multiple mark–recapture survey and used a bioenergetics model to compare the population-level consumption of prey fish with prey fish production. Prey fish biomass declined to a minimum during 1991 and 1992 but subsequently recovered to reach maximum levels during 1994 and 1995. The proportion of maximum ration estimates from model simulations indicated that the piscivores were consuming well below maximum rations during a period when predation exceeded prey fish production, .
Canadian Snow and Sea Ice: Trends (1981–2015) and Projections(2020–2050)

The Canadian Sea Ice and Snow Evolution Network (CanSISE) is a climate research network focused on developing and applying state of the art observational data to advance dynamical prediction, projections, and understanding of seasonal snow cover and sea ice in Canada and the circumpolar Arctic. Here, we present an assessment from the CanSISE network on trends in the historical record of snow cover (fraction, water equivalent) and sea ice (area, concentration, type, and thickness) across Canada. We also assess projected changes in snow cover and sea ice likely to occur by mid-century, as simulated by the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) suite of earth system models. The historical datasets show that the fraction of Canadian land and marine areas covered by snow and ice is decreasing over time, with seasonal and regional variability in the trends consistent with regional differences in surface temperature trends. In particular, summer sea ice cover has decreased significantly across nearly all Canadian marine regions, and the rate of multiyear ice loss in the Beaufort Sea and Canadian Arctic Archipelago has nearly doubled over the last eight years. The multimodel consensus over the 2020–2050 period shows reductions in fall and spring snow cover fraction and sea ice concentration of 5–10 % per decade (or 15–30 % in total), with similar reductions in winter sea ice concentration in both Hudson Bay and eastern Canadian waters. Peak pre-melt terrestrial snow water equivalent reductions of up to 10 % per decade (30 % in total) are projected across southern Canada.
A simple analysis of the mixed-state information metric in AdS3/CFT2

We compute the quantum information metrics of a thermal CFT on [Formula: see text] perturbed by the scalar primary operators of conformal dimensions [Formula: see text] = 3, 4, 5, 6. In particular, we assume that the Hamiltonians of the mixed states commute with each other and the temperature is fixed. Under these conditions, the evaluation is analogous to the pure state case. Then we apply the method of A. Trivella [Class. Quantum Grav. 34, 105003 (2017)] to calculate the mixed state information metric for the scalar primary operator of conformal dimension [Formula: see text] = 4 holographically, and reproduce exactly the result in the CFT2 by our approach.
Examining the role of knowledge management on organizational performance with considering mediating role of market orientation and innovation

Abstract: The main objective of the organization, improving performance and achieve a level of excellence and sustainability in order to maintain the survival, growth, profitability and meet the needs of society. Therefore, the factors effecting on performance has high importance. One of the most important parameters effecting present dynamic environment, is knowledge management. This research measures the impact of knowledge management as the main and independent variable on the performance as the dependent variable and the effect of market orientation and innovation variables as the role of mediator has been investigated too. Data collecting instrument was an adopted questionnaire. The statistical population of the research is composed 265 managers who are active in forge industry in Mashhad.The sample size estimated to be 70. We analyzed data collected by the questionnaire, and SPSS V.21 software was used for the data analysis. The results expresses a significant relationship between the variables of knowledge management and performance, and if effect of the mediating role of market orientation and innovation applied, the relationship between knowledge management and performance will be stronger than it used to, also our regression analysis emphasized that market orientation has a stronger role than innovation in this relationship.
How does the budget deficit affect inflation in Sri Lanka

Macroeconomic theory assumes that budget deficits are inflationary. Therefore, policy makers and economists have long worried about the relationship between government budget deficits and inflation. Empirical studies examining the relationship between budget deficits and inflation have shown mixed results and been heavily debated in the recent past. This study investigates the relationship and causal structure between government budget deficits, deficit financing sources, and inflation in Sri Lanka, using time series data from 1950 to 2010, with particular attention to domestic deficit financing sources. For this study, we use the vector autoregressive (VAR) model. Results of this study suggest that budget deficits and inflation have a positive relationship; at the same time, causality analysis suggests a bi-directional causal structure between budget deficits and inflation in Sri Lanka. Also this analysis suggests that the main determinants of inflation rate are budget deficits, growth of money supply, interest rates and the real exchange rate of the country. Furthermore, results suggest that domestic borrowings affect inflation more positively than foreign borrowings, also suggesting a bi-directional causal structure between domestic borrowings and inflation. Sri Lanka has primarily used three domestic debt instruments for deficit financing: Treasury bills, rupee loans, and development and
Prevalence of Escherichia Coli in Some Selected Foods and Children Stools with Special Reference to Molecular Characterization of Enterohemorrhagic Strain

Escherichia coli is one of the most important etiologic agents of childhood diarrhea that represents a major public health problem in developing countries and now is being recognized as emerging entero-pathogens in the well developed countries. Among the diarrhegenic Escherichia Coli (DEC) this work was focused on the Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia Coli (EHEC) that produce Shigatoxins (Stxs). The infection is mainly transmitted through food of bovine origin such as beef and dairy products that has been often associated with outbreaks which ranged from mild diarrhea to the life-threatening hemolytic uremic syndrome. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of potentially virulent STEC isolates from minced meat, some selected dairy products and from children clinical cases. Out of 360 samples, a total of 115 E.coli isolates were recovered as following 35 (30.43%) isolate from meat, 21 (18.26%) from raw milk, 31 (26.96%) from cheese and 28 (24.35%) from children stool. The identification were based on Microscopical examination, Biochemical identification and Serotyping. Twenty eight isolates were identified serologically. O26:K60 serotype 6 (21.4%) was found to be the most prevalent serotype. Screening for virulence genes (Stx1, Stx2, eaeA, hlyA) was done using multiplex PCR, which revealed detection of the target genes in 10 out of 115 (8.7%) examined samples. About 7 (70%) samples possessed eaeA gene alone; while 2 (20%) samples contained Stx2 gene. Both Stx1 and eaeA genes were detected in 1(10%) sample only.
Origin of ferromagnetism in Fe- and Cu-codoped ZnO

Fe- and Cu-codoped ZnO was previously reported as a room-temperature dilute magnetic semiconductor. We have investigated the origin of the ferromagnetism in Zn0.95−xFe0.05CuxO using the zero-field Fe57 nuclear magnetic resonance and neutron diffraction. These measurements reveal that some Fe ions of Zn0.95−xFe0.05CuxO form a secondary phase, ZnFe2O4. Detailed comparison of nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of Zn0.95−xFe0.05CuxO, bulk ZnFe2O4 with normal spinel structure, and nanocrystalline ZnFe2O4 with inverted spinel structure shows that the secondary phase possesses an inverted spinel structure and is ferrimagnetic at room temperature, while normal zinc ferrite is nonmagnetic. The ferromagnetism in Fe- and Cu-codoped ZnO stems from the secondary phase, while the majority of Fe ions substituted into the ZnO lattice appears to remain magnetically inert.
DMPK prevents ROS-induced cell death by assembling a HK II-Src complex on mitochondrial surface

DMPK is a serine/threonine protein kinase that was initially proposed to be the cause of the most frequent adult muscular dystrophy, myotonic dystrophy 1 (DM1). Recently, it has been shown that DMPK is not the primary determinant of the DM1, but its deletion causes late onset myopathy and cardiac abnormalities in knock-out mice. Evidence present in the literature suggests a mitochondrial localization of high MW DMPK isoforms in muscle and cardiac tissue. However, to date, there is not a single association of mitochondria-anchored isoforms with the respective function of the organelle in the affected tissues. Therefore, we have examined the role of mitochondria-anchored isoform A, either by stably expressing it in cells lacking endogenous protein, or by stably silencing the endogenous one. DMPK significantly decreased levels of mitochondrial superoxide and consequently increased cell survival in prolonged serum and glucose depletion, both in SAOS-2 and rhabdomyosarcoma cells. At the molecular level we have found DMPK to interact with HK II and Src, increasing the HK II association to mitochondria. Detachment of HK II from mitochondria abolished differences in superoxide levels, while a HK II inhibitor 5-TG protected cells from death by stabilizing HK II on the OMM and by decreasing mitochondrial ROS in the absence of DMPK. Src activity was also important for HK II maintenance on OMM since its inhibition sensitized only DMPK-expressing cells to detachment of HK II. These data attribute an antiapoptotic role to DMPK due to an unprecedented link to HK II and its protective effect against mitochondrial ROS.
Multiproduct Food Retail Sales: A Case Study for Germany

Temporary price reductions (sales) as a means of promotional measures have become an increasingly important tool in the marketing mix of German food retailers. Various models have been proposed to explain the rationales behind such pricing strategies. Recently these models have been extended to capture the multiproduct nature of retail business. In this paper German retail food scanner data over two years are used to estimate a three step procedure to explain breadth and depth of sales, and their impact on category revenues.