Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
LATEST ACHIEVEMENTS ON ANTENNA DIAGNOSTICS AND PROCESSING OF MEASURED FIELDS

A stand-alone commercial program, performing advanced electromagnetic processing of measured data, is being developed by TICRA. The program reads the measured field and computes the extreme near field or the currents on the antenna surface. From the inspection of the extreme near field or currents, the program will solve typical antenna diagnostics problems, such as identification of array element failure and antenna surface errors, but also allow artificial removal of undesired contributions, such as currents on cables and fixtures, thereby saving valuable time and resources in the antenna design and validation process. The program will be based on two field reconstruction techniques, the SWE-PWE presented at AMTA in 2007, and a new and more accurate inverse higher-order Method of Moments (INV-MoM). The paper will illustrate the theory behind the two techniques and present numerical cases with simulated data.
Effects of starvation on RNA:DNA ratio, glycogen content, and C: N ratio in columellar muscle of the Japanese turban shell Turbo (Batillus) cornutus (Gastropoda)

: The validity of using the RNA : DNA ratio, glycogen content, and C : N ratio in the columellar muscle as indicators of the nutritional condition in the Japanese turban shell Turbo cornutus was examined. These biochemical indices were compared between fed and starved animals. The fed animals were fed brown algae to satiation for 108 days as a control, whereas the starved animals were not fed for the first 75 days and then fed for next 33 days. All three indices declined during the starvation period, and the values for the starved group were significantly lower than those for the fed group during days 20–75. At day 108, after the re-feeding period, the indices for the starved group were found to have increased. Among the indices, only the RNA : DNA ratio for the starved males responded rapidly to starved conditions and became significantly lower even at day 4, and only the RNA : DNA ratio for the starved males and females recovered to those levels of the fed animals at day 108. The results indicated that the RNA : DNA ratio is the most rapid indicator of nutritional stress among the three indices. However, it is recommended that glycogen content and C : N ratio be used in addition to the RNA : DNA ratio for monitoring the health of T. cornutus as the RNA : DNA ratio showed large variations.
Vicarious Trauma

This study compared vicarious trauma in a random sample of male and female clinicians who treat survivors (n=95) and those who treat offenders (n=252). A national survey was conducted with members of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA) and the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC). These data were used to test the relative contribution of variables theorized to contribute to two vicarious trauma effects (avoidance and intrusions) using the Impact of Event Scale. The sample reported high levels of avoidance and intrusions. Variables associated with vicarious trauma differed based on client population served. Sequential regression analyses were used to examine theoretically derived variables. Implications for practice and further research are discussed.
Glutathione S-Transferase P1 *C Allelic Variant Increases Susceptibility for Late-Onset Alzheimer Disease: Association Study and Relationship with Apolipoprotein E ε4 Allele

Background: Oxidative stress and neuronal cell death have been implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease (AD). Considering that the glutathione transferase ( GST ) supergene family encodes isoenzymes that appear to be critical in protection against oxidative stress, we aimed at determining the various GSTP1 , GSTM1 , and GSTT1 polymorphisms and ApoE genotypes to investigate their role as susceptibility genes for late-onset AD (LOAD). Methods: We included 210 LOAD patients and 228 healthy controls matched for age, sex, and educational level in our case–control genetic association study. GSTM1 and GSTT1 genotypes were studied by conventional PCR, whereas GSTP1 and ApoE genotypes were determined by real-time PCR on the LightCycler. Results: We found a significant association between LOAD and the GSTP1 * C allelic variant [odds ratio (OR) = 1.9; P <0.05], but no association between the GSTM1 and GSTT1 deleted genotypes and LOAD. In addition, a preliminary result suggested that carriers of both the GSTP1 * C and ApoE e4 allelic variants were at increased risk of LOAD (OR = 19.98; P <0.0001). Conclusion: The GSTP1 * C allelic variant should be considered a candidate for LOAD, particularly in persons having the ApoE e4 allelic variant, because the GSTP1 and ApoE gene products are implicated in oxidative stress and apoptosis processes leading to β-amyloid-mediated neurodegeneration.
Effects of forest regeneration on the structure of bird communities in northern Finland

Breeding bird communities in five stages of secondary forest succession were studied in northeastern Finland in 1980–82. Three groups of communities were distinguished: open land, brush phase and forest communities, dominated by Motacilla alba and Oenanthe oenanthe, Phylloscopus trochilus and Anthus trivialis, Phylloscopus trochilus and Fringilla montifringilla, respectively. Pair density, number of species, biomass of adult birds and species diversity increased in the course of succession, none of these, however, monotonously. Average bird weight showed a decreasing trend although the variation was considerable. The degree of specialization in communities (measured by ratios derived from numbers of species, genera and families) increased in the course of succession with the exception that the initial stage had relatively high values. Species nesting and feeding in trees and shrubs increased in numbers during forest regeneration whereas species nesting and feeding on the ground showed the opposite trend. The proportions of hole-nesting and sedentary species increased with increasing forest age. The initial stages of forest succession in the north are occupied by specialized open habitat species breeding originally on open bogs and shores. These communities thus clearly differ from those predicted from the general theory of succession, which postulates that the pioneer stages of succession are dominated by habitat generalists and that these communities should have relatively low values of community diversity.
Isolation and characterization of endophytic bacteria from wild and traditionally cultivated rice varieties

Abstract Endophytic bacteria were isolated from surface-sterilized stems, seeds, and leaf sheaths of wild and traditionally cultivated rice varieties. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rDNA revealed a wide divergence among the isolates. However, the most frequently isolated groups were Methylobacterium sp. in the α-subdivision of Proteobacteria, and Curtobacterium sp. in the high G+ C Gram-positive group. Various phenotypic traits that are expected to be involved in the persistence and functions of the bacteria were analyzed: Most of the isolates from rice excreted pectinase, were motile, and showed an osmotic resistance to 0.6 M sucrose. These traits may be involved in endophytic characteristics in rice. About 50% of the isolates showed a cellulase activity. A few isolates fixed nitrogen, produced indole-3-acetic acid, and formed capsules. These activities were partially correlated with the phylogenetic group.
The trans-omics landscape of COVID-19

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global health emergency. Various omics results have been reported for COVID-19, but the molecular hallmarks of COVID-19, especially in those patients without comorbidities, have not been fully investigated. Here we collect blood samples from 231 COVID-19 patients, prefiltered to exclude those with selected comorbidities, yet with symptoms ranging from asymptomatic to critically ill. Using integrative analysis of genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic and lipidomic profiles, we report a trans-omics landscape for COVID-19. Our analyses find neutrophils heterogeneity between asymptomatic and critically ill patients. Meanwhile, neutrophils over-activation, arginine depletion and tryptophan metabolites accumulation correlate with T cell dysfunction in critical patients. Our multi-omics data and characterization of peripheral blood from COVID-19 patients may thus help provide clues regarding pathophysiology of and potential therapeutic strategies for COVID-19. COVID-19 is a critical public health threat, but molecular characterizations of patients’ immunity is still lacking. Here the authors collected blood from patients with various disease severity, and prefiltered to exclude selected comorbidity, to obtain genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic and lipidomic profiles to report a trans-omics landscape.
Impacto do algodoeiro Bt na dinâmica populacional do pulgão-do-algodoeiro em casa de vegetação

The objective of this work was to develop an experimental protocol to assess the impact of Bt cotton on bionomics and on plant choice for Aphis gossypii colonization. The bionomics of the cotton aphid was assessed in greenhouse with insects reared in individual cages containing Bt cotton plants of the variety DP 404 BG (Bollgard) or its nontransformed isoline DP 4049. Cages with Bt cotton and non-Bt cotton were used as choosing arena for evaluation of winged adults preference. There was no significant difference for pre-reproduction period (immature phase), reproduction period, longevity, survivorship curve total and daily production of offspring by female, and curve of accumulated production of offspring by the population. There was no preference of colonization for any plant by winged adults, which indicates equivalent rates of colonization of the initial populations. Bt cotton plants do not affect the population dynamics of A. gossypii, and do not increase its potential risk as pest.
A Nonlinear Relationship

Several studies have empirically explored the determinants of tourism demand and supply as well as the factors that affect destination or tourism competitiveness. However, no prior research has considered the role that uncensored information plays in a country’s ability to compete globally in the tourism industry. Using the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index, a new measure of tourism competitiveness developed by the World Economic Forum, and the Freedom of the Press Index created by Freedom House, this study concludes that countries that enjoy a free press as well as those that have a restricted press can be competitive in the tourism industry.
Effects of animated images of sympatric predators and abstract shapes on fear responses in zebrafish

Previously, zebrafish were shown to respond to the presence of a live predator, the sight of a live predator, moving computer images of a predator, and images of different moving objects in a context and stimulus specific manner. For example, zebrafish showed a robust antipredatory reaction towards a sympatric predator, the Indian leaf fish (Nandus nandus) but not towards an allopatric predator or sympatric or allopatric harmless fish species. In a subsequent study, however, we found zebrafish not to show avoidance in response to the image of another sympatric predator, Xenentodon cancila. The results implied that zebrafish may possess genetic predispositions that allow them to effectively evade at least certain sympatric predators without any prior exposure to them. However, it is not known whether zebrafish can respond to other sympatric predators with antipredatory reactions without any prior exposure to such predators. It is also not known whether such responses may be dependent upon, or idiosyncratic to, predator species. To answer these questions, we examined the effect of computer animated (moving) images of five different predator species all sympatric with zebrafish (Nandus nandus, Channa maculata, Xenentodon cancila, Mystus bleekeri, Chitala chitala) and of two abstract shapes (star and rectangle, also animated) on zebrafish behaviour. The results confirmed that the sight of N. nandus is an aversive stimulus and that the image of X. cancila is not. However, the results also revealed that images of three other species (C. maculata, M. bleekeri, C. chitala) and that of a rectangle induce even more robust aversive reactions than what is elicited by N. nandus. At this point we do not know what features of the images may be perceived as aversive by zebrafish or whether the observed behavioural responses would be adaptive or effective in nature. Nevertheless, we argue that image-presentation based fear paradigms will be useful in future translational research. We also conclude that it may be premature to decide whether zebrafish can recognize their sympatric predators.
Knowledge Transfer in Spanish Footwear Clusters Can Local Firms be Locked Out by Their Crucial Partner?

How do internal resources, relational resources, and relational mechanisms determine knowledge transfer among crucial partners in clusters? We analyze a sample of Spanish footwear manufacturers to distinguish the relative impact of internal resources, intracluster relationships, and governance (including power asymmetries) on knowledge transfer between leading firms and their partners. Internal resources appear to be highly beneficial for knowledge transfer among partners, while intra-cluster relationships diminish such transmissions. The governance structure of the partnership also appears to have an important influence on knowledge transfer between leading organizations and their suppliers. These results suggest valuable implications for practitioners, researchers, and policy makers at both the firm and meso levels.
The Effects of Repeated Reading on the Fluency and Comprehension Skills of Elementary-Age Students with Learning Disabilities (LD), 2001-2011: A Review of Research and Practice.

This article provides an extensive review of the literature on the use of repeated reading to improve the reading fluency and comprehension skills of elementary-age students with learning disabilities. A systematic review of the published literature from 2001 to 2011 was conducted and nineteen (N = 19) research-based repeated reading studies were identified. Based on the criteria for inclusion, repeated reading research has been conducted using four main approaches: (a) repeated reading as the primary intervention, (b) repeated reading compared to other reading interventions, (c) repeated reading in combination with other reading interventions, and (d) repeated reading as part of a reading program. Overall, the results suggest that repeated reading is an effective strategy to increase students’ reading fluency and comprehension skills. Findings indicated moderate to large gains in reading fluency and comprehension on practiced passages. However, these gains showed only minor to moderate transfer to novel passages. Implications for classroom practice, limitations, and future research directions are presented.
The Effect of a Mixture of Live Lactic Acid Bacteria on Intestinal Gas Production in Pigs

Probiotics are believed to be bene? cial for the host through the improvement of the microbial environment in the intestine. Reduction of flatulence is considered to be one of the effects of probiotics. We examined the effect of a commercial mixture of live lactic acid bacteria (LAB) on gas production by pig intestinal digesta aiming at the estimation of its effect on flatulence. Eight castrated male pigs (average B.W. 12 kg) were randomly divided into two groups, which consumed a diet with or without LAB. After 15 days of oral administration of the mixture (Biofermin S, 0.1 g/kg B.W.), the whole digesta from the jejuno-ileum, cecum, gyri centripetales and gyri centrifugales was removed. Moisture, pH and organic acid concentration of the digesta were not affected in most cases by LAB, although a decrease in acetate:propionate was observed (p<0.05) in the cecum and gyri centripetales. In vitro incubation of these digesta showed a signi? cant reduction in gas production (p<0.05) by LAB. The reduction was mainly caused by a decrease in carbon dioxide. In contrast to that, hydrogen sulfide was significantly increased (p<0.05, except for in the jejuno-ileum), by LAB. A negative correlation was seen between hydrogen sulfide and methane production. Keywords: flatulence, gas production, lactic acid bacteria, pig, probiotics, small and large intestine.
HIV/AIDS and admission to intensive care units: A comparison of India, Brazil and South Africa.

In resource-constrained settings and in the context of HIV-infected patients requiring intensive care, value-laden decisions by critical care specialists are often made in the absence of explicit policies and guidelines. These are often based on individual practitioners’ knowledge and experience, which may be subject to bias. We reviewed published information on legislation and practices related to intensive care unit (ICU) admission in India, Brazil and South Africa, to assess access to critical care services in the context of HIV. Each of these countries has legal instruments in place to provide their citizens with health services, but they differ in their provision of ICU care for HIV-infected persons. In Brazil, some ICUs have no admission criteria, and this decision vests solely on the ‘availability, and the knowledge and the experience’ of the most experienced ICU specialist at the institution. India has few regulatory mechanisms to ensure ICU care for critically ill patients including HIV-infected persons. SA has made concerted efforts towards non-discriminatory criteria for ICU admissions and, despite the shortage of ICU beds, HIVinfected patients have relatively greater access to this level of care than in other developing countries in Africa, such as Botswana. Policymakers and clinicians should devise explicit policy frameworks to govern ICU admissions in the context of HIV status.
Co-evolution of the Eclipse SDK Framework and Its Third-Party Plug-Ins

Today, when constructing a new software system, many developers build their systems on top of frameworks. Eclipse framework is one such popular and widely adopted framework that has been evolving for over a decade. Like many other evolving software systems, the Eclipse SDK framework has both stable and supported APIs (good interfaces) and unstable, discouraged and unsupported non-APIs (bad interfaces). However, despite being discouraged by Eclipse, in our experience, the usage of bad interfaces is not uncommon. In this thesis, by means of a series of empirical studies, we quantify/qualify some the challenges faced by Eclipse third-party plug-in developers in using the interfaces provided by the Eclipse SDK framework. Furthermore, we propose solutions to the identified challenges, like changes in development strategy to both interface providers and interface users. In particular, the lessons learned from this study can provide valuable information in particular to the interface providers, i.e., Eclipse SDK developers, and the interface uses, i.e., ETP developers, in co-evolving the Eclipse framework. In general, the lessons learned can be transferable to other framework ecosystem.
On the radio luminosity distribution of active galactic nuclei and the black hole fundamental plane

We have studied the dependence of the AGN nuclear radio (1.4 GHz) luminosity on both the AGN 2-10 keV X-ray and the host-galaxy K-band luminosity. A complete sample of 1268 X-ray selected AGN (both type 1 and type 2) has been used, which is the largest catalogue of AGN belonging to statistically well defined samples where radio, X and K band information exists. At variance with previous studies, radio upper limits have been statistically taken into account using a Bayesian Maximum Likelihood fitting method. It resulted that a good fit is obtained assuming a plane in the 3D LRLX-LK space, namely logLR= XlogLX+ KlogLK + 0, having a 1 dex wide (1 ) spread in radio luminosity. As already shown by La Franca, Melini & Fiore (2010), no evidence of bimodality in the radio luminosity distribution was found and therefore any definition of radio loudness in AGN is arbitrary. Using scaling relations between the BH mass and the host galaxy K-band luminosity, we have also derived a new estimate of the BH fundamental plane (in the L5GHz-LX-MBH space). Our analysis shows that previous measures of the BH fundamental plane are biased by 0.8 dex in favor of the most luminous radio sources. Therefore, many AGN studies, where the BH fundamental plane is used to investigate how AGN regulate their radiative and mechanical luminosity as a function of the accretion rate, or many AGN/galaxy co-evolution models, where radio-feedback is computed using the AGN fundamental plane, should revise their conclusions.
Milking performance of East Friesian Poll Dorset cross ewe hoggets

The milking performance of East Friesian Poll Dorset cross and Poll Dorset hoggets in a commercial milking system was studied at Flock House Agricultural Centre. Hoggets were milked twice daily from 2-4 days post-lambing on a 30 bale rotary platform for about 102 days. Live weight of the Poll Dorset and East Friesian cross hoggets were similar (P>0.05), both groups increased in weight from 51.5 ‐ 0.7 to 61.8 ‐ 0.8 kg over the trial period. Mean daily milk yield of the East Friesian cross hoggets was significantly higher (P<0.01) than for the Poll Dorset hoggets, 1.13 ‐ 0.06 and 0.87 ‐ 0.08 l/ewe/day, respectively. Milk production of the East Friesian cross hoggets over the lactation period was 30% higher in milk volume (113.1 ‐ 6.0 versus 86.8 ‐ 7.9 l/ewe) but had a lower milk solids content (18.19 ‐ 0.06 versus 18.48 ‐ 0.07 %) resulting in a 25% higher yield of milk solids (204 ‐ 3 versus 164 ‐ 4 g/ewe/ day) than Poll Dorset hoggets.
Is There Life after the Complete Loss of Analyst Coverage

ABSTRACT : This paper examines the value of sell-side analysts to covered firms by documenting the effects on firm performance and investor interest after a complete loss of analyst coverage for periods of at least one year. We find that analyst coverage adds value to a firm both because it reduces information asymmetries about the firm's future performance and because it maintains investor recognition for that firm's stock. After the introduction of regulations that curtailed the informational advantage of analysts in the early 2000s, the investor recognition role of analysts remains important. Firms that lose all analyst coverage continue to suffer a significant deterioration in bid-ask spreads, trading volumes, and institutional presence but do not show a significant difference in subsequent performance relative to covered peers. In addition, controlling for other factors, we find that firms that lose all analyst coverage for one year are significantly more likely to delist than their covered peers. Ou.