Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PCV 2 Infection in Vaccinated Conventional Gilts Inseminated with PCV 2 b-Spiked Semen

Received: Revised: Accepted: August 30, 2014 October 30, 2014 February 21, 2015 The present trial investigated the effect of PCV2 vaccination on viremia, virus shedding and viral load in maternal tissues and foetuses of conventional gilts inseminated with PCV2b-spiked semen. Twelve gilts were randomly divided into two groups of six animals each (vaccinated infected, VI; non-vaccinated infected, NVI). Estrus synchronization was followed by artificial insemination (AI) with a single PCV2 negative semen dose supplemented with 0.2 mL of a PCV2b suspension containing 10 TCID50/50 μL (total viral dose: 10 TCID50). Vaginal, nasal and faecal swabs, and blood samples were collected weekly from two days before artificial insemination till the end of the experimental period (55 days post AI; DPAI) and tested by real-time PCR (qPCR) for PCV2; sera were tested for antiPCV2 antibodies. During necropsy foetal and maternal tissues were collected for qPCR and histopathology. In each of the VI and NVI groups three out of the six gilts were pregnant at 29 DPAI. The VI group showed a significantly lower proportion of PCR-positive swabs: 24.6% VI vs 71.3% NVI. PCV2 clearance was demonstrated by qPCR in lymphoid tissue during the trial in the VI group. Only one foetus was PCV2-positive (in the NVI group) and three amniotic fluids of the NVI group. PCV2 was found in a significantly lower proportion of the placenta of foetuses in the VI group (39%) than the NVI group (77%). The PCV2 vaccine seems to play an active role in reducing virus shedding, tissue viral load and foetoplacental infection. ©2015 PVJ. All rights reserved
Quality protein maize for nutritional security: rapid development of short duration hybrids through molecular marker assisted breeding.

2Present address: International Maize and Wheat Centre, CP 56130, Mexico Quality protein maize (QPM) originally developed in the late 1990s at CIMMYT, Mexico possesses roughly twice as much usable protein as normal maize grown in the tropics. The improved quality of the protein in QPM is due to enhancement in lysine and tryptophan – the two limiting amino acids that are known to be regulated by opaque2 gene and associated modifiers. QPM has widely been adopted for cultivation in the developing world to fight protein malnutrition. In India, QPM was released for commercial cultivation almost a decade ago by introducing QPM lines from CIMMYT. However, all these inbred lines are of longer duration and thus, give rise to QPM hybrids of full season maturity. Utilizing marker assisted selection we transferred opaque2, a recessive gene, to two early maturing Indian inbreds that were, in turn, crossed to give rise to an early duration QPM hybrid, Vivek QPM 9, with 30% higher lysine and 40% more tryptophan while retaining the same level of productivity. Vivek QPM 9 yielded at par with Vivek Maize Hybrid 9 in the multilocation yield trials. Vivek QPM 9 has further been found suitable for cultivation under organic farming.
EFFECT OF IMATINIB ON THE REPRODUCTIVE FUNCTION IN MALE SWISS ALBINO MICE

Summary Tyrosine kinase inhibitors may cause transient or permanent testicular dysfunction when used in treatment of cancer. Like other anticancer agents tyrosine kinase inhibitors are genotoxins and induce irreversible effect on genetic makeup and may have carcinogenic potential. This is alarmingly dangerous in youth and children, since these effects last longer, affecting fertility or forming basis for carcinogenesis. There is paucity of reports on planned study of imatinib on testicular function. Hence the study was planned to assess the effects of imatinib on sperm morphology in male swiss albino mice. Methods: Male swiss albino mice were treated with imatinib and sacrificed at the end of 1 st , 2 nd , 4 th , 5 th , 7 th and 10 th week after the last exposure to imatinib. Testes were removed; cauda epididymis was separated and processed for sperm morphology assay. Results: There was significant but reversible decrease in sperm motility and count. There was a significant increase in abnormal sperms with all the doses of imatinib. Conclusion: Imatinib does affect sperm morphology significantly, but this effect is reversible once the drug is withdrawn.
Characteristics of Highly Birefringent Photonic Crystal Fiber with Defected Core and Equilateral Pentagon Architecture

A novel high birefringence and nearly zero dispersion-flattened photonic crystal fiber (PCF) with elliptical defected core (E-DC) and equilateral pentagonal architecture is designed. By applying the full-vector finite element method (FEM), the characteristics of electric field distribution, birefringence, and chromatic dispersion of the proposed E-DC PCF are numerically investigated in detail. The simulation results reveal that the proposed PCF can realize high birefringence, ranging from 1 to 1 orders of magnitude, owing to the embedded elliptical air hole in the core center. However, the existence of the elliptical air hole gives rise to an extraordinary electric field distribution, where a V-shaped notch appears and the size of the V-shaped notch varies at different operating wavelengths. Also, the mode field diameter is estimated to be about 2 μm, which implies the small effective mode area and highly nonlinear coefficient. Furthermore, the investigation of the chromatic dispersion characteristic shows that the introduction of the elliptical air hole is helpful to control the chromatic dispersion to be negative or nearly zero flattened over a wide wavelength bandwidth.
The Influence of Family-School Relations on Academic Success

Nach Coleman (1988, 1990) liegt Sozialkapital in sozialen Beziehungen und erleichtert bestimmte Handlungen, wie z.B. die Akkumulation von Humankapital. Enge soziale Bande zwischen Akteuren innerhalb des schulischen Handlungsfeldes sollten deshalb einen eigenstandigen Einfluss auf Bildungserfolg nehmen. In Anbetracht der fruhen Aufteilung in die verschiedenen Sekundarschulzweige nach der vierten Klasse innerhalb des deutschen Bildungssystems werden nicht nur die sozialen Beziehungen zu diesem Zeitpunkt relevant, sondern auch Veranderungen in diesen Beziehungen bis zu Monja Schmitt & Lydia Kleine diesem Zeitpunkt. National und auch international liegen nur wenige langsschnittliche Ergebnisse innerhalb dieses Forschungsfeldes vor. Unter Verwendung von Daten der Forschergruppe BiKS wird daher mittels multinomialer logistischer Regressionen untersucht, ob sich unabhangige Effekte enger Beziehungen unter Schulern, zwischen Schulern und Lehrern sowie fur das schulische Engagement der Eltern finden lassen: Kinder mit guten sozialen Beziehungen zu ihren Klassenkameraden und Lehrern, mit leistungsstarken Freunden und Eltern, die sich fur schulische Belange engagieren, haben bessere Chancen, ein hoheres Notenniveau zu erreichen. Mithilfe hierarchischer Wachstumskurvenmodelle wird zusatzlich gezeigt, dass auch Veranderungen der Beziehungen zwischen Schulern und Lehrern und zwischen den Schulern untereinander sowie des elterlichen Engagements mit Bildungserfolg zusammenhangen.
Predictors of First-Year Sultan Qaboos University Students' Grade Point Average

This study investigated predictors of first-year university grade point average (GPA) using academic and nonacademic variables. Data were collected from 1511 Omani students selected conveniently from the population of students entering Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) in Fall 2010. Variables considered in the analysis were general education diploma average score, university readiness, critical thinking skills, motivational traits, learning strategies, gender, type of school education, type of first admitted college, and overall performance on the foundation placement tests. Results of the stepwise multiple linear regression analysis indicated that the final full model included general education diploma average score, gender, overall performance on the foundation placement tests, type of college, extrinsic goal orientation, university readiness, and critical thinking as collectively statistically significant predictors of the grade point average; accounting for 26.8% of the variance in the grade point average. Research and practical implications for the study of university student success are discussed.
The Evalita 2014 Dependency Parsing task

SUMMARY. The Parsing Task is among the “historical” tasks of Evalita, and in all editions its main objective has been to define and improve state-of-the-art technologies for parsing Italian. The 2014’s edition of the shared task features several novelties that have mainly to do with the data set and the subtasks. The paper therefore focuses on these two strictly interrelated aspects and presents an overview of the participants systems and results. RIASSUNTO. Il “Parsing Task”, tra i compiti storici di Evalita, in tutte le edizioni ha avuto lo scopo principale di definire ed estendere lo stato dell’arte per l’analisi sin- tattica automatica della lingua italiana. Nell’edizione del 2014 della campagna di valutazione esso si caratterizza per alcune significative novita legate in particolare ai dati utilizzati per l’addestramento e alla sua organizzazione interna. L’articolo si focalizza pertanto su questi due aspetti strettamente interrelati e presenta una panoramica dei sistemi che hanno partecipato e dei risultati raggiunti.
Examining the Effects of Location, Neighborhood Social Organization, and Home Literacy on Early Cognitive Skills in the United States

Background. The bioecological model of human development indicates that there are multiple layers of factors influencing child development (Bronfenbrenner, Morris, 2006). Purpose. This study investigated the effects of community locale, neighborhood social organization, utilization of community cognitive developmental resources, and home literacy on early childhood cognitive skills. Material and methods. Hierarchical linear regression was employed with a nationally representative sample of kindergarten children from across the USA. This enabled an examination of the effects of community locale (urban, suburb/large town, and small town/rural) on neighborhood social organization, as well as the effect of social organization on early cognitive skills (a composite of individually administered early reading, math and general knowledge scales), above and beyond the effects of accessing community cognitive developmental resources (e.g., concerts, zoos, aquariums, museums, and libraries) and home literacy (e.g., parent-child shared reading). Multiple statistical controls were utilized, including race/ethnicity status, gender, 1 Address for correspondence: Academic Institution: Department of School Psychology, McKee Hall 298, Box 131, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO 80639; e-mail: john.froiland@unco.edu; tel. : 970-351-2819.
Non‐inversion tillage and farmland birds: a review with special reference to the UK and Europe

This paper reviews the current knowledge of the effects of non-inversion tillage (NIT) on farmland birds and their food resources. NIT is a method of establishing a crop without using a mouldboard plough and is becoming increasingly popular in the UK. NIT generally disturbs the soil to shallower depths than conventional tillage and is therefore expected to have beneficial effects on biodiversity on arable land as compared with mouldboard ploughing. The diets of farmland birds change throughout the year, and many species take invertebrates over the breeding season. Seeds are also important for many species of farmland birds throughout the year and especially over the winter months. The effects of NIT on these farmland bird food resources, in particular ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae), spiders (Arachnida: Araneae), earthworms (Annelida) and seeds (arable weeds and cereal crops) are reviewed.
Simons’ Levers of Control Framework: Commensuration within and of the Framework

Abstract Purpose Despite extensive adoption of Simons’ Levers of Control (LoC) framework, there is still considerable diversity in its operationalization which impedes the coherent development of the literature and compromises its value to researchers. The purpose of this paper is to draw researchers back to the conceptual core of the framework as a basis for stable, consistent definitions of the domain of observables. Methodology/approach We derive the conceptual core of the framework from Simons’ writings. We highlight instability in existing operational definitions of the LoC, weaknesses in the extent to which these definitions reference this conceptual core, and inconsistencies in the restriction of LoC to formal information-based routines. Findings We draw on the inconsistencies identified to build the case for commensuration or a “common standard” for the framework’s use on two levels: the constructs within the framework (through reference to the conceptual core of the framework) and the framework itself (through explicit inclusion of informal controls). Research implications We illustrate the benefits of commensuration through the potential to guide the scope of the domain of observables in empirical LoC studies, and to study LoC as complementary or competing with other management control theories. Originality/value Our approach to resolving tensions arising from inconsistencies in the empirical definitions of LoC differs from others in that we focus on the strategic variables underlying the framework to define the conceptual core. We believe this approach offers greater potential for commensuration at the level of the constructs within the framework and the framework itself.
Modeling the evolution of infrared galaxies: a parametric backward evolution model

Aims. We attempt to model the infrared galaxy evolution in as simple a way as possible and reproduce statistical properties such as the number counts between 15 μm and 1.1 mm, the luminosity functions, and the redshift distributions. We then use the fitted model to interpret observations from Spitzer, AKARI, BLAST, LABOCA, AzTEC, SPT, and Herschel, and make predictions for Planck and future experiments such as CCAT or SPICA. Methods. This model uses an evolution in density and luminosity of the luminosity function parametrized by broken power-laws with two breaks at redshift ∼0.9 and 2, and contains the two populations of the Lagache model: normal and starburst galaxies. We also take into account the effect of the strong lensing of high-redshift sub-millimeter galaxies. This effect is significant in the sub-mm and mm range near 50 mJy. It has 13 free parameters and eight additional calibration parameters. We fit the parameters to the IRAS, Spitzer, Herschel ,a ndAzTEC measurements with a Monte Carlo Markov chain. Results. The model adjusted to deep counts at key wavelengths reproduces the counts from mid-infrared to millimeter wavelengths, as well as the mid-infrared luminosity functions. We discuss the contribution to both the cosmic infrared background (CIB) and the infrared luminosity density of the different populations. We also estimate the effect of the lensing on the number counts, and discuss the discovery by the South Pole Telescope (SPT) of a very bright population lying at high redshift. We predict the contribution of the lensed sources to the Planck number counts, the confusion level for future missions using a P(D) formalism, and the Universe opacity to TeV photons caused by the CIB. Material of the model (software, tables and predictions) is available online � .
Are cross-country studies of the Environmental Kuznets Curve misleading?

In recent years, extensive literature on the Environmental Kuznets Curve leading to optimistic policy conclusions has attracted great attention. However, the underlying cross-section estimations are not very reliable. Accordingly, this contribution uses time series data for a single country with good data quality: Germany. With a specification in the tradition of error correction models, which are more appropriate in the presence of non-stationary time series, it is found that only for few pollutants can the typical EKC pattern be confirmed. For the major part, however, it is concluded that the doubts about the suitability of the EKC approach are well founded.
The far-ultraviolet main auroral emission at Jupiter - Part 1: Dawn-dusk brightness asymmetries

The main auroral emission at Jupiter generally ap- pears as a quasi-closed curtain centered around the magnetic pole. This auroral feature, which accounts for approximately half of the total power emitted by the aurorae in the ultra- violet range, is related to corotation enforcement currents in the middle magnetosphere. Early models for these currents assumed axisymmetry, but significant local time variability is obvious on any image of the Jovian aurorae. Here we use far-UV images from the Hubble Space Telescope to further characterize these variations on a statistical basis. We show that the dusk side sector is 3 times brighter than the dawn side in the southern hemisphere and 1:1 brighter in the northern hemisphere, where the magnetic anomaly compli- cates the interpretation of the measurements. We suggest that such an asymmetry between the dawn and the dusk sectors could be the result of a partial ring current in the nightside magnetosphere.
Ultra-Short Nacelles for Low Fan Pressure Ratio Propulsors

As the propulsor fan pressure ratio (FPR) is decreased for improved fuel burn, reduced emissions and noise, the fan diameter grows and innovative nacelle concepts with short inlets are required to reduce their weight and drag. This paper addresses the uncharted inlet and nacelle design space for low-FPR propulsors where fan and nacelle are more closely coupled than in current turbofan engines. The paper presents an integrated fan-nacelle design framework, combining a spline-based inlet design tool with a fast and reliable body-force-based approach for the fan rotor and stator blade rows to capture the inlet-fan and fan-exhaust interactions and flow distortion at the fan face. The new capability enables parametric studies of characteristic inlet and nacelle design parameters with a short turn-around time. The interaction of the rotor with a region of high streamwise Mach number at the fan face is identified as the key mechanism limiting the design of short inlets. The local increase in Mach number is due to flow acceleration along the inlet internal surface coupled with a reduction in effective flow area. For a candidate short-inlet design with length over diameter ratio L/D = 0.19, the streamwise Mach number at the fan face near the shroud increases by up to 0.16 at cruise and by up to 0.36 at off-design conditions relative to a long-inlet propulsor with L/D = 0.5. As a consequence, the rotor locally operates close to choke resulting in fan efficiency penalties of up to 1.6 % at cruise and 3.9 % at off-design. For inlets with L/D < 0.25, the benefit from reduced nacelle drag is offset by the reduction in fan efficiency, resulting in propulsive efficiency penalties. Based on a parametric inlet study, the recommended inlet L/D is suggested to be between 0.25 and 0.4. The performance of a candidate short inlet with L/D = 0.25 was assessed using full-annulus unsteady RANS simulations at critical design and off-design operating conditions. The candidate design maintains the propulsive efficiency of the baseline case and fuel burn benefits are conjectured due to reductions in nacelle weight and drag compared to an aircraft powered by the baseline propulsor.Copyright © 2014 by ASME
Who bears the burden of wage cuts ? Evidence from Finland during the 1990 s Petri Böckerman Labour

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the incidence of nominal and real wage cuts in the Finnish private sector during the 1990s. Design/methodology/approach – Estimation of econometric models for the probability of wage cuts using individual-level wage survey data from the payroll records of the Finnish employers’ organizations. Findings – Centralized nominal wage freezes together with a positive inflation rate produced real wage cuts for a large proportion of workers during the worst recession years of the early 1990s. Hence, centralized bargaining shaped the adjustment. The share of nominal wage cuts does not increase with falling inflation, which is consistent with downward wage rigidities. Full-time workers have had a lower likelihood of wage cuts compared with part-time workers. Declines in wages have also been more common in small plants. There is an important transitory component in wage cuts. Practical implications – Provides useful information about the adjustment of wages at the individual level. Originality/value – Few papers have analysed individual and employer characteristics that account for wage cuts. The paper contributes to the literature on wage rigidity.
Dysphagia Onset in Older Adults during Unrelated Hospital Admission: Quantitative Videofluoroscopic Measures

New-onset swallowing difficulties in older patients during unrelated hospital admissions are well recognized and may result in prolonged hospital stay and increased morbidity. Presbyphagia denotes age-related swallowing changes which do not necessarily result in pathological effects. The trajectory from presbyphagia to dysphagia is not well understood. This retrospective observational study compared quantitative videofluoroscopic measures in hospitalized older adults aged 70–100 years, reporting new dysphagia symptoms during admission (n = 52), to healthy asymptomatic older (n = 56) and younger adults (n = 43). Significant physiological differences seen in hospitalized older adults but not healthy adults, were elevated pharyngeal area (p < 0.001) and pharyngeal constriction ratio (p < 0.001). Significantly increased penetration (p < 0.001), aspiration (p < 0.001) and pharyngeal residue (p < 0.001) were also observed in the hospitalized older cohort. Reasons for onset of new swallow problems during hospitalization are likely multifactorial and complex. Alongside multimorbidity and polypharmacy, a combination of factors during hospitalization, such as fatigue, low levels of alertness, delirium, reduced respiratory support and disuse atrophy, may tip the balance of age-related swallowing adaptations and compensation toward dysfunctional swallowing. To optimize swallowing assessment and management for our aging population, care must be taken not to oversimplify dysphagia complaints as a characteristic of aging.
Social capital, growth, and poverty : a survey of cross-country evidence

This chapter surveys the major contributions to the rapidly growing empirical literature on social capital and economic performance, focusing primarily on cross-country approaches. It first addresses characteristics of governments that fall under broad definitions of the term social capital. It then reviews studies of “civil,” or nongovernmental, social capital. Most of this literature explores the determinants of growth in per capita income, devoting no attention to distributional effects. This chapter is a preliminary attempt to fill that gap by providing new cross-country evidence on the effects of social capital on poverty and the distribution of income. This chapter is limited primarily to cross-country studies of social capital and economic performance. It does not attempt to comprehensively review regional-, village-, or individual-level analysis or the expanding literature on social capital’s impact on noneconomic outcomes, such as health, education, or crime. Nor does it examine the rapidly growing body of work that explores the determinants of social capital.