Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gender difference in betel quid consumption levels and tobacco use among adults in Myanmar

Several small scaled studies in Myanmar investigated determinants of betel quid chewing status but to better understand more complete profiles of betel quid chewing habits, this study investigated the associations of betel quid consumption levels with tobacco and sociodemographic factors using a nationally representative sample in Myanmar. A cross-sectional, secondary data analysis was conducted by using Myanmar Demographic and Health Survey (MDHS) (2015-2016). Chi-square tests, and multinomial logistic regression were performed with p-value < 0.05 as a significance. Men averagely chewed 5.59 (SD=8.229) pieces per day while women chewed 1.25 (SD=3.584) pieces. The prevalence of chewing daily pieces 1-2, 3-5 and 6+ were 7.9%, 17.1% and 34.2% for men and 6.1%, 8% and 7.1 %, respectively, for women. In multivariate analysis, low education, low family wealth, married, and urban were more likely to chew 6+ pieces per day relevant to no consumption in both genders, while a positive association with age was observed only in women. Tobacco use was associated with low consumption level (1-2 pieces), relative to no consumption in both genders. Therefore, this study underlined the need to improve knowledge on the dangers associated with betel quid chewing and tobacco use among socially disadvantaged populations and urban residents.
Combining ability and gene action for fruit yield and its attributes in brinjal (Solanum Melongena L.)

Gentic studies for fruit yield per plant and its attributing traits in brinjal was conducted by following line x tester mating design comprising of seven lines and four testers at Instructional Farm, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh, Gujarat. The analysis of combining ability revealed the predominant role of both additive and non-additive gene effects in the inheritance of fruit yield and its component traits. The genotypes NSR-1, JBG-10-208 and Pant Rituraj displayed high gca effect for fruit yield per plant and some desirable traits like days to 50 % flowering, days to first picking, fruit girth, fruit weight, numbers of primary branches per plant, plant spread and total soluble solids. The estimates of sca effect of the crosses indicated that five hybrids manifested significant and positive sca effect for fruit yield per plant. The crosses JBG-10-208 x GJB-2, ABR-2-23 x GBL-1 and AB-09-1 x GOB-1 were emerged as best specific combinations. The cross JBG-10-208 x GJB-2 was also found good specific combiner for plant height, fruit weight, fruit girth and number of primary branches per plant and also showed maximum per se performance. These hybrids may be exploited for obtaining transgressive segregants toward developing hybrid varieties in brinjal.
Effects of Harvest-Aid Herbicides on Sicklepod (Cassia obtusifolia) Seed Yield and Quality

Experiments were conducted in 1989 and 1990 to study the effects of 220 g ai ha-1 AC 263,222, 840 g ai ha-1 glufosinate, 560 g ai ha-1 glyphosate, and 840 g ai ha-1 paraquat on sicklepod seed production and quality when applied at R5, R6, R7, and R8 growth stages of sicklepod. No seed were produced on plants treated at R5 with paraquat and glufosinate; glyphosate was the least effective herbicide at this growth stage. Although sicklepod seed germinated after AC 263,222 application at R5, no seedling emergence occurred. Normal seedlings, seedling emergence, and seedling radicle length were reduced by all herbicides applied to parent plants at R5, R6, and R7 growth stages. AC 263,222 applied at R7 reduced normal seedlings and seedling emergence more than any other herbicide. No effects were observed on any of the variables investigated when herbicides were applied at R8.
Sometimes a Long and Winding Road: An Exploration of Kalamazoo Promise Stop Out and Reenrollment

This exploratory, descriptive study examined trends associated with Kalamazoo Promise (KPromise) student stop out, reenrollment, and persistence to a credential upon reenrollment. For the 2006–2017 cohorts, 78% were retained from first to second year. Inferential models suggested that first-year stop out was mainly correlated to students’ high school free-and-reduced lunch eligibility (FRL) and high-school GPA. Forty-five percent of stopped out students reenrolled, and reenrollment was primarily correlated with time. The median time to return was 3 non-summer semesters, with Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino(a) students predicted to reenroll in fewer semesters than White students. For the 2006–2012 cohorts, 30% of all stopped out students who reenrolled have earned a degree to date. Upon reenrollment, nearly half of all postsecondary certifications were earned by FRL students. Discussion links our findings to wider trends, highlights actions to bolster outcomes, and illustrates how this study could be a benchmark comparison for other tuition-free policies.
The Effect of Levers of Control and Leadership Style on Creativity

Introduction: This research aims to investigate how leadership assists the levers of control (LOC) to influence employees’ creativity. Background problem: Managing a company is challenging due to the numerous issues faced, including those relating to the employees’ creati­vity. Prior studies showed different results concerning how company controls constrained or enhanced the employees’ creativity. Previous studies explained that incentives can influence the employees’ creativity, but only temporarily. However, organizations require creativity continuously in order to sustain themselves. In response to this issue, it is essential to investigate other determinants that encourage employees’ creativity, and how the process is relevant to each organization’s core values. This study examines this through companies control systems and leadership aspects. Novelty: Our study attempts to complement previous studies and answer Spekle’s (2017) call. This study offers transformational leadership to strengthen employees’ creativity, aligned through the LOC. Research Methods: The data were collected via an online survey. The questionnaires were sent to startup companies’ employees who had worked in the creative divisions of those companies for a minimum of six months. There were 109 responses that we processed. This study used SEM-PLS to analyze the data. Finding/ Result: The LOC positively influenced employee creativity. The more leaders behaved as transformational leader, it strengthened LOC to influence employees’ creativity. Conclusion: This study shows that the dimensions used to establish the LOC should be integrated, to align the employees’ creative ideas for new methods of working. Furthermore, this study supports the prior research into the self-determination theory and answers Spekle et al (2017), that leadership is required to influence the employees. Particularly, companies should appoint appropriate leaders to encourage their employees’ creativity. Transformational leaders should be considered to be an option.
Observations of wall conditioning by means of boron powder injection in DIII-D H-mode plasmas

We report observations from the DIII-D tokamak indicating that boron (B) powder injection in tokamak plasmas improves wall conditions similarly to glow discharge boronization (GDB). Isotopically enriched B powder (B11 > 95%) was introduced gravitationally in a sequence of H-mode plasma discharges at rates up to ∼160 mg s−1 for durations up to 3 s. Boron injection to cumulative amounts ≤0.1 g appeared to improve wall conditions similarly to boronization, with indications of reduced wall fueling, reduced recycling at the outer strike point and reduced impurity content at breakdown. Post-mortem analysis of graphite samples exposed to far scrape-off layer plasma fluxes during boron injection confirm the formation of a B-C layer, with average surface composition B:C ∼ 1. The results suggest that injecting boron-rich powders in tokamak plasmas can effectively replenish boron films on carbon plasma facing components to improve wall conditions and extend the duration of the beneficial effects of GDB.
Association Study of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in KDM3A andLOC203413 Genes with Male Infertility

A case-control study conducted on fertile and infertile men in Coimbatore population. The study, aimed to identify and associate the following two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs2030259 and rs5911500 in genes KDM3A (lysine (K)-specific demethylase 3A) and LOC203413.The SNPs were identified by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) technique in 17 normospermic individuals and in 13 infertile males (9 oligospermic and 4 azoospermic) and results were analysed using fisher’s exact test. Although the polymorphisms were found in both fertile and infertile men, no significant association is found for both 2 SNPs with infertility from the samples observed.
Recommendation of users in social networks: A semantic and social based classification approach

Recently, the study of social network‐based recommender systems has become an active research topic. The integration of the social relationships that exist between users can improve the accuracy of recommendation results since the users' preferences are similar or influenced by their connected friends. We focus in this article on the recommendation of users in social networks. Our approach is based on semantic and social representations of the users' profiles. We have formalized and illustrated these two dimensions using the Yelp social network. The novelty of our approach concerns the modelling of the credibility of the user, through his/her trust and commitment in the social network. Moreover, in order to optimize the performance of the recommendation process, we have used two classification techniques: an unsupervised technique that uses the K‐means algorithm (applied initially to all users); and a supervised technique that uses the K‐Nearest Neighbours algorithm (applied to newly added users). A recommendation algorithm has been proposed taking into account the cold‐start and sparsity problems. A prototype of a recommender system has been developed and tested using two publicly available datasets: the Yelp database and the Rich Epinions database. The comparative evaluation results show the effectiveness of combining the semantic, the social and the credibility information in an approach that appropriately uses the K‐means and K‐Nearest Neighbours algorithms.
Manipulation of Estrous Cycle to Improve Reproductive Efficiency in Cattle and Buffalo

Estrus detection has been cited as one of the most important factor affecting the reproductive success of artificial insemination programs. Various estrus synchronization protocols have been developed to bring a large percentage of groups of females into estrus at a predetermined time. Earlier protocols have involved controlling estrous cycle length in cattle either by extending the life span of the corpus luteum by the use of progestogens or shortening the life span of the corpus luteum by the use of Prostaglandins. The reduced fertility following the earlier synchronization protocols made it necessary to understand ovarian follicular and corpus luteum dynamics in cattle. An increase in this basic understanding and the development of treatment regimes to manipulate ovarian follicular and corpus luteum dynamics over the last decade have resulted in development of better estrus synchronization protocols. These protocols are very promising and have the potential to enhance pregnancy rates and the success of artificial insemination programs.
Lifestyle-Related Determinants of Obesity Among Omani Children

Objectives This study aimed to examine the relationship between body mass index (BMI) z-scores and lifestyle-related factors including nutrition, physical activity, screen time and time spent sleeping in 6–10-year-old Omani children. Methods This cross-sectional study included mother-child dyads that were recruited from five provinces in Oman. Children’s BMI measurements and questionnaires on nutrition intake, physical activity, screen time and time spent sleeping and a single-day dietary recall were collected. Results A total of 197 dyads were included in this study. The children’s mean age was 7.7 ± 1.6 years and 53% were female. In this study, 17.4% of the children were classified as overweight or obese. No significant relationship was found between the children’s BMI z-scores and nutrition intake, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity time or screen time (P ≥0.05). Increased time spent sleeping at night was positively associated with childhood obesity (P <0.05). Conclusion The relationship between obesity and caloric intake, physical activity and screen time among children younger than 10 years seems to be moderated by certain factors that need to be investigated. Qualitative studies and questionnaires that are culturally sensitive are therefore needed.
Influence of probiotic and flaxseed oil supplementation on some physiological parameters and immune response of broilers

The present research was aimed to study the effect of probiotic, flaxseed oil and their combination on some physiological traits and immune response of broilers. 200 one-day-old chicks (Ross 308) were randomly divided into four equal groups (50 of each) with two replicates. All the chicks were reared in farm of Veterinary Medicine College/ University of Baghdad for 42 days from 2 November 2016 up to 13 December 2016. The 1 group (control) fed on basal diet, 2 group fed on basal diet with 0.5 gm probiotic /kg feed, 3 group fed on basal diet with 2 gm flaxseed oil/kg feed and 4 group fed on basal diet with 0.5 gm probiotic and 2 gm flaxseed oil/kg feed. The results of the 4 groups recorded significant (P≤0.05) increase in RBC (2.03×103/ml), total protein (63.66 g/l) as compared with the 2, 3 and control groups at aged 42 days. The results also showed significant reduction in cholesterol, triglycerides concentrations and H/L ratio of 3 and 4 groups at the same time. In conclusion, dietary probiotic and flaxseed oil supplementation have improved the some hematological and biochemical parameters of broilers; also that mixture has enhanced the immune response to ND vaccine of treated
Acoustics Based Proximity Detector for Mobile Phones

Modern mobile phones are equipped with an infrared photoelectric proximity sensor, most commonly applied to turn off the touch screen during a phone call to prevent accidental touches when users' face/ear is detected in proximity to the screen. In this work we propose to achieve the sensing functionality without using a special sensor. Specifically, we use an already existing speaker and microphones for proximity sensing, without interfering with their originally intended operation. We build our method on the observation that the transfer function from the mobile phone speaker to the microphones varies as a function of objects located in the vicinity of the mobile phone. We have prototyped our solution on 2 mobile phones — Samsung Galaxy A70 and Xiaomi Mi 9, and achieved 99% accuracy of detection. We demonstrate that our method is robust to various environments, geometries, fabrics, and performs well in the presence of noise. We also evaluate the performance of various implementations, and discuss their trade-offs.
Kinetics of optical clearing of human skin studied in vivo using portable Raman spectroscopy

We studied the effect of optical clearing (OC) by glycerol, OmnipaqueTM (iohexol), and polyethylene glycol on human skin in vivo using a portable Raman spectroscopy system. Kinetic curves were determined for different concentrations of these optical clearing agents (OCAs). The three agents enhanced OC, showing non-monotonic behavior for serial concentrations. The dehydration mechanism also caused a decay in OC during the initial 10−20 min. Furthermore, characteristic Raman signals could be used to identify different areas of skin and tissues. Variations in different skin sites predominantly affected the Raman bands at 462, 683, 883, 1253, 1415, 1450, and 1655 cm−1.
Optimal placement of protective devices and switches in a radial distribution system with distributed generation

Optimal placement of protective devices and switches in the distribution system improves the system reliability at the cost of increased investment. In this study, a new bi-directional analytical model has been developed to solve the problem of optimal placement of protective devices and switches in various zones of a distribution system with distributed generation (DG). The model determines the optimal number and locations of reclosers, switches, ‘fuse-save fuses’ and ‘fuse-blow fuses’ for increasing the system reliability while reducing the investment and outage costs, considering system data uncertainties. For considering uncertainties in load data, failure rates (temporary and permanent) and repair rates, the model utilises three-point estimate method. The formulated problem has been solved for 69-bus distribution system and radial distribution system connected to bus 4 of the reliability busbar test system, using genetic algorithm optimisation technique. After analysing the test results, it is concluded that considerable profit to the utility is achieved by optimal placement of protective devices and switches in various zones of the distribution system with DG units.
Current crowding and spreading resistance of electrical contacts with irregular contact edges

Practical electrical contact edges are irregular either macroscopically due to fabrication errors or microscopically due to the nature of edge or surface roughness. However, electrical contact models typically assume ideal and regular contact geometries, where geometrical effects of the irregular electrode edges are not well characterized. This paper studies current crowding and spreading resistance of electrical contacts with irregular contact edges. Using finite element method based numerical simulations, we investigate the scaling of total resistance, spreading resistance, potential drop and current distribution for electrical contacts of tilted contact edges, with various electrode lengths a and edge angles θ. It is found that as the contact edge angle θ increases, the spreading resistance and therefore the total resistance decreases. This is attributed to the increased current crowding towards the corner of the longer electrode side edge when the edge tilt increases, leading to shorter current conduction paths. For a given edge tilt angle θ, the scaling of spreading resistance with a follows closely that of zero edge angle θ=0: the spreading resistance decreases with a when a/h<1 and then converges to a constant when 1$? > a/h>1, where h is the thickness of the conductor. The current density distribution near the electrical contacts are shown for different edge angles θ.
Oxygen Isotopic Fractionation in Clouds: A Bin‐Resolved Microphysics Model Approach

Measurements of the ratio of oxygen‐18 to oxygen‐16 are often used to reconstruct past climate or to quantify phase changes. However, in most models, the evolution of the isotopic ratio is calculated using the Rayleigh parameterization. The Descam model has recently been extended to simulate isotopic fractionation from occurring condensation/evaporation processes and the mass of oxygen‐18 in aerosol particles, droplets, and ice crystals explicitly as a function of their size. In a first step, isotopic calculations are implemented into the 1.5d dynamical framework where several sensitivity studies are conducted to test the evolution of the isotopic ratio as a function of the different phase changes in a convective cloud. Though an isotopic signature can be identified for different microphysical pathways, the predominant factor for the isotopic ratio in the precipitation seems to be the dynamical evolution of the considered cloud.
Anaphylaxis in children and adolescents: The Portuguese Anaphylaxis Registry

Anaphylaxis is increasing at pediatric age; however, its characterization is hampered by underdiagnosis and underreporting. The aim of this study was to identify the causes of anaphylaxis in children and adolescents in Portugal, thus contributing to a better knowledge of its etiology, clinical manifestations, and management.
Enhanced Image Reconstruction From Quarter Sampling Measurements Using An Adapted Very Deep Super Resolution Network

Quarter sampling is a novel sensor concept that enables the acquisition of higher resolution images without increasing the number of pixels. This is achieved by covering three quarters of each pixel of a low-resolution sensor such that only one quadrant of the sensor area of each pixel is sensitive to light. By randomly masking different parts, effectively a non-regular sampling of a higher resolution image is performed. Combining a properly designed mask and a high-quality reconstruction algorithm, a higher image quality can be achieved than using a low-resolution sensor and subsequent upsampling. For the latter case, the image quality can be enhanced using super resolution algorithms. Recently, algorithms based on machine learning such as the Very Deep Super Resolution network (VDSR) proofed to be successful for this task. In this work, we transfer the concepts of VDSR to the special case of quarter sampling. Besides adapting the network layout to take advantage of the case of quarter sampling, we introduce a novel data augmentation technique enabled by quarter sampling. Altogether, using the quarter sampling sensor, the image quality in terms of PSNR can be increased by + 0.67 dB for the Urban 100 dataset compared to using a low-resolution sensor with VDSR.
Effects of a root-colonized dark septate endophyte on the glutathione metabolism in maize plants under cadmium stress

ABSTRACT A high Cd-tolerant dark septate endophyte (DSE), Exophiala pisciphila, was inoculated into maize (Zea mays L.) roots under Cd stress. The Cd content, enzymes activity and thiol compound content relevant to glutathione (GSH) metabolism in maize leaves were analyzed. The Cd content in maize shoots increased with increasing Cd stress, but the DSE significantly reduced the Cd content at the 40 mg/kg Cd treatment. Cd stress increased the enzyme activity of glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione S-transferase (GST) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) as well as the thiol compound contents of sulfur, thiols (-SH) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG). The content of reduced GSH and the GSH/GSSG ratio reached a peak at the 5 mg/kg Cd treatment but then decreased with increasing Cd stress. Furthermore, the DSE significantly enhanced the GR and GSH-Px activity and increased the contents of -SH and GSH under low Cd stress (5 and 10 mg/kg), but decreased the γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase and GST activity under high Cd stress (20 and 40 mg/kg). Highly positive correlations between the Cd content with enzymes activity and enzymes activity with thiol compound content were observed. Results indicated that DSE played a role in activating GSH metabolism in maize leaves under Cd stress.