Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Population Dynamics Model and Assessment of Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Seas Bowhead Whales

We present a density dependent population dynamics model with a parameterization based on fecundity variables that can be independently empirically estimated. Using a baseline version of this model, we fit a population growth trajectory for BeringChukchi-Beaufort Seas bowhead whales using a time series of abundance estimates from ice-based surveys including the most recent in 2011 which provided a precise estimate of high abundance. Model projections begin in 1914, believed to correspond approximately to the lowest historical abundance of this stock. Unlike past assessments, our model fitting approach employs maximum likelihood techniques. Due to constraints and complexities in the model, maximization requires intensive sophisticated numerical techniques. The results indicate that there is little evidence for recent density regulation. Estimates of survival rates imply realistic age expectancies, and estimates of fecundity parameters imply strong reproduction. Discussion of the results includes strengths and weaknesses of our approach, comparison of our results with those from past analyses, and implications of our findings for population management.
Effect of Educational Materials on Mother's Awareness, Knowledge and Behavior Regarding the Dangers of Shaken Baby Syndrome

Background:Shaken baby syndrome (SBS) is a very problematic form of physical violence endured by children. A violent shaking of a child occurs first, with excessive impact resulting in brain trauma and possibly eventual neurological squeals.Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of educational materials on mother's awareness, knowledge and behavior regarding the dangers of shaking baby syndrome. Design: Aquazi experimental design pre/ posttest one group was utilized. Sample: A purposive sample of 50 mothers and their infants. Tool of data collection:A structured interview questionnaire sheet included questions about shaking baby syndrome. Results: Increased total mean of mother's knowledge and behavior after educational materials and there was a positive correlation with highly statistical significant relation between mother’s knowledge and behavior regarding SBS in post intervention. Conclusion: Mother's awareness regarding the dangers of shaking baby syndrome improved after explanation of the educational materials.Recommendation:Include routinely services(awareness)to avoid shaking baby syndrome in all counseling programs for new parent preparations.Provide all new parents with written information and colored brochures on how to deal with a crying infant especially during the first months of life.
Infants’ Responses to Accompanied Versus Unaccompanied Singing

The data for this project were collected at the Infant Speech Perception Laboratory, McGill University. The authors would like to thank the parents and children who participated in this study. They also would like to thank Eva Villalba for her help with data collection and Dr. Linda Polka for comments on a previous version of this article. Address correspondence to Beatriz Ilari, Department of Music Education, Federal University of Paraná–DeArtes, Rua Coronel Dulcídio 638 Batel, 80420-160 Curitiba PR Brazil; e-mail: beatrizilari@yahoo.ca. Journal of Research in Music Education Volume 56 Number 4 January 2009 357-369 © 2009 MENC: The National Association for Music Education 10.1177/0022429408329107 Music Listening Preferences in Early Life
Use Omega Rather than Cronbach’s Alpha for Estimating Reliability. But…

ABSTRACT Cronbach’s alpha (α) is a widely-used measure of reliability used to quantify the amount of random measurement error that exists in a sum score or average generated by a multi-item measurement scale. Yet methodologists have warned that α is not an optimal measure of reliability relative to its more general form, McDonald’s omega (). Among other reasons, that the computation of is not available as an option in many popular statistics programs and requires items loadings from a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) have probably hindered more widespread adoption. After a bit of discussion of α versus , we illustrate the computation of using two structural equation modeling programs (Mplus and AMOS) and the MBESS package for R. We then describe a macro for SPSS and SAS (OMEGA) that calculates in two ways without relying on the estimation of loadings or error variances using CFA. We show that it produces estimates of that are nearly identical to when using CFA-based estimates of item loadings and error variances. We also discuss the use of the OMEGA macro for certain forms of item analysis and brief form construction based on the removal of items from a longer scale.
Histopathological Tumour Component Analysis in Testicular Mixed Germ Cell Tumours: A 10-Year Series

Objective: In this study, we examined histopathologically the tumour components or combinations of these components and analysed to changes of pathological findings with aging in the patients diagnosed with testicular mixed germ cell tumour (MGCT) in the last 10 years. Materials and methods: 207 patients who underwent radical inguinal orchiectomy due to testicular cancer between 2010 and 2019 were retrospectively reviewed and 107 cases with MGCT whose data were fully available were included in the study. Age, primary tumour localization, primary tumour size, histopathological components and combinations of these components were analyzed. To compare the change of tumour components with aging, patients were divided into two groups according to patients’ age, Group 1 was younger than 25 years of age and group 2 was ≥ 25 years old. Results: The mean age of the patients was 24.67 ± 4.31 years. Tumour component of MGCT included embryonal carcinoma in 87 patients (81.3%), teratoma in 72 patients (67.3%), yolk sac carcinoma in 66 patients (61.7%), choriocarcinoma in 17 patients (15.9%) and seminoma in 44 patients (41.1%). Current combination of these tumours was analyzed and the most common combination was found as embryonal carcinoma + teratoma + yolk sac carcinoma in 26 patients (24.3%) and the second most common combination was found as embryonal carcinoma + seminoma in 17 patients (15.9%). The incidence of three or more components was significantly higher in group 2 (57.8%) than in group 1 (51.6%) (p<0.05). The mean follow-up of the patients was 43.37 months (3-113) and 2 patients died for testicular cancer in follow-up period. Conclusion: In 10-year series, the most common MGCT component was found as embryonal carcinoma and teratoma, while the most common combination was embryonal carcinoma + teratoma + yolk sac carcinoma. Combination of three or more components in MGCT may be more reported with increasing age (especially over 25 years old).
Multiple Linear Regressions of Environmental Factors toward Discrete Human Performance

—The environmental factors such as temperature, lighting and noise are very contribute to the effect of comfort, health, performance and workers’ productivity. To ensure an ergonomics work environment, it is possible to require a specific attention especially in industries. The aim of this study is to show the effect of temperature, illuminance and sound pressure level on workers’ productivity in automotive industry by taking a workstation in an automotive plant as the location to conduct the study. From the analysis of the data, there were relationship between temperature, illuminance and noise on workers’ productivity. Then the multiple linear equation model were obtained to represent the relationship between temperatures, illuminance and sound pressure level on the production rate. From the equation model, the production rate for the workstation could be predicted by referring to the existing value of temperature, illuminance and sound pressure level.
Sequential Trivalent Inactivated Polio Vaccine/Bivalent Oral Polio Vaccine and Trivalent Inactivated Polio Vaccine-only Immunization Schedules: Analysis of an Open-label, Randomized, Controlled Trial

Brickley, EB; Wieland-Alter, W; Connor, RI; Ackerman, ME; Boesch, AW; Arita, M; Weldon, WC; O’Ryan, MG; Bandyopadhyay, AS; Wright, PF; (2018) Intestinal Immunity to Poliovirus Following Sequential Trivalent Inactivated Polio Vaccine/Bivalent Oral Polio Vaccine and Trivalent Inactivated Polio Vaccine-only Immunization Schedules: Analysis of an Open-label, Randomized, Controlled Trial in Chilean Infants. Clinical infectious diseases, 67 (suppl). S42−S50− . ISSN1058−4838DOI : https : //doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciy603 Downloaded from: http://researchonline.lshtm. ac.uk/id/eprint/4649922/ DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciy603
Management Strategies Of Palmar Hyperhidrosis: Challenges And Solutions Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology

: Palmar hyperhidrosis is a potentially disabling condition for which management remains a therapeutic challenge. Given the signi ﬁ cant impact on quality of life, various treatment options are available, ranging from topical agents and medical devices to systemic therapies and surgical interventions. Nonsurgical approaches, i.e. topical antiperspirants, botulinum toxin injections, iontophoresis, and systemic agents, are all supported by the current literature. Patients with mild-to-moderate disease can often bene ﬁ t from topical therapies only. As disease severity progresses, systemic oral medication, such as anticholinergic drugs, usually becomes necessary. Last-line surgical approaches (sympathetic denervation) should be reserved for severe refractory cases. Recently, therapeutic strategies have been evolving with several new agents emerging as promising alternatives in clinical trials. In practice, however, each modality comes with its own bene ﬁ ts and risks. An individual therapeutic ladder is generally recommended, taking into account disease severity, bene ﬁ t-to-risk pro ﬁ le, treatment cost, patient preference, and clinician expertise. This review will provide an update on current and emerging concepts of management for excessive hand sweating to help clinicians optimize therapeutic decision-making.
Epidemiological situation and risk Factors to Infectious Diseases in Dairy Cattle Located in Different Mesoregions of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, 2016/2017

The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiology of infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR), bovine viral diarrhea (BVD), neosporosis (NEO) and leptospirosis (LEP) from the perspective of the impact these diseases have to cause reproductive problems in dairy cattle herds located in different mesoregions of Rio Grande do Sul State. The herds analysed belong to two cooperatives and an association of producers. The seroprevalences of IBR, BVD, NEO and LEP ranged from 54.4 to 60.3%, 30.0 to 42.5%, 21.8 to 35.0% and 15.8 to 27.5%, respectively. The seroprevalences of IBR show a homogeneous distribution of the disease according to the mesoregions. Nevertheless, IBR was associated with estrus recurrence and abortion in herds located in the northeast and northwest mesoregions. BVD was associated with rearing of estrus in herds located in the southeast, southwest, northeast and northwest mesoregions. NEO was associated with cases of abortion in the herds located in the northeast and northwest mesoregions. LEP was associated with miscarriages in herds located in the northwest mesoregion. It was found that the epidemiological character of the disease cases were distinct in the different mesoregions. In this way, the priorities in the control and prevention programs of these diseases are different between the mesoregions, cooperatives and association of producers. Despite that fact, common control procedures were found amongst the disease cases studied; each one of them has its peculiarity in relation to the epidemiology and consequently control and prevention.
Age-related neural dedifferentiation and cognition

This review focuses on possible contributions of neural dedifferentiation to age-related cognitive decline. Neural dedifferentiation is held to reflect a breakdown in the functional specificity of brain regions and networks that compromises the fidelity of neural representations supporting episodic memory and related cognitive functions. The evidence for age-related dedifferentiation is robust when it is operationalized as neural selectivity for different categories of perceptual stimuli or as decreased segregation or modularity of resting-state functional brain networks. Neural dedifferentiation for perceptual categories appears to demonstrate a negative, age-invariant relationship with performance on tests of memory and fluid processing. Whether this pattern extends to network-level measures of dedifferentiation cannot currently be determined due to insufficient evidence. The existing data highlight the importance of further examination of neural dedifferentiation as a factor contributing to episodic memory and to cognitive performance more generally.
Copper metallurgy in ancient Etruria (southern Tuscany, Italy) at the Bronze-Iron Age transition_ a lead isotope provenance study

The Etruscan site of Populonia-Baratti (Southern Tuscany, Italy) became in the first millennium BCE one of the most important iron metalworking sites in the Mediterranean region thanks to the exploitation of nearby Elba Island iron ores. Recent studies, however, have demonstrated that, before iron, copper was smelted therein (9th–8th century BCE). The ancient Hellenistic text De mirabilibus auscultationibus by Pseudo-Aristotle states that the ancient inhabitants of Elba Island firstly exploited copper and that, later in, iron was won from the same mines by the inhabitants of Populonia. However, copper occurrences are extremely scanty on the island, while mainland southern Tuscany hosts a number of copper-rich deposits which could have been profitably exploited since Eneolithic. In order to investigate if, and to what extent, copper mining and smelting/working was practiced in this area in Final Bronze Age (FBA) to Early Iron Age (EIA), we have thus compared the lead isotope composition of copper slags found in the Populonia-Baratti area and dated to the 9th–8th century BCE with those of copper-rich ore deposits of southern Tuscany and Elba Island. In addition, few copper-based items from to FBA-EIA hoards of Elba Island have been investigated as well. All copper slag from Baratti-Populonia have lead isotope composition fully comprised within the nearby Campiglia Marittima district, but the ophiolitic copper (either form Tuscan mainland or the neighboring island of Elba) was never worked in this site. Differently, all items from the island of Elba do not show clear genetic relationship neither with Elban nor with the Tuscan mainland copper ores but display a “foreign” Pb signature, suggesting that, even before iron exploitation started, the island of Elba one of the main crossroads of the Mediterranean Sea was probably involved in metal trading (rather than metal working) with other regions.
Using Apps for Pronunciation Training: An Empirical Evaluation of the English File Pronunciation App.

This study explores the potential of the English File Pronunciation (EFP) app to help foreign language learners improve their pronunciation. Participants were 52 Spanish EFL learners enrolled in an English Studies degree. Pre- and post-tests were used to assess the participants’ perception and production (imitative, controlled, and spontaneous) before and after training. The targets addressed were a range of segmental features that tend to be fossilised in the interlanguage of advanced Spanish EFL learners, namely English /æ ɑː ʌ ə/ and the /s – z/ contrast. Training took place over a period of two weeks in which participants used the English File pronunciation app for around 20 minutes a day. Participants were randomly assigned to two groups (control and experimental). However, after the post-test, the group that had acted as control started to receive instruction and, after two weeks, took a second post-test, therefore acting as experimental too. Training fostered substantial improvements in the learners’ perception and production of the target features, although the differences between groups were not statistically significant for every sound or in every task.
Evolution of the extracytoplasmic function σ factor protein family

Abstract Understanding transcription has been a central goal of the scientific community for decades. However, much is still unknown, especially concerning how it is regulated. In bacteria, a single DNA-directed RNA-polymerase performs the whole of transcription. It contains multiple subunits, among which the σ factor that confers promoter specificity. Besides the housekeeping σ factor, bacteria encode several alternative σ factors. The most abundant and diverse family of alternative σ factors, the extracytoplasmic function (ECF) family, regulates transcription of genes associated with stressful scenarios, making them key elements of adaptation to specific environmental changes. Despite this, the evolutionary history of ECF σ factors has never been investigated. Here, we report on our analysis of thousands of members of this family. We show that single events are in the origin of alternative modes of regulation of ECF σ factor activity that require partner proteins, but that multiple events resulted in acquisition of regulatory extensions. Moreover, in Bacteroidetes there is a recent duplication of an ecologically relevant gene cluster that includes an ECF σ factor, whereas in Planctomycetes duplication generates distinct C-terminal extensions after fortuitous insertion of the duplicated σ factor. At last, we also demonstrate horizontal transfer of ECF σ factors between soil bacteria.
PhysioSkin: Rapid Fabrication of Skin-Conformal Physiological Interfaces

Advances in rapid prototyping platforms have made physiological sensing accessible to a wide audience. However, off-the-shelf electrodes commonly used for capturing biosignals are typically thick, non-conformal and do not support customization. We present PhysioSkin, a rapid, do-it-yourself prototyping method for fabricating custom multi-modal physiological sensors, using commercial materials and a commodity desktop inkjet printer. It realizes ultrathin skin-conformal patches (~1μm) and interactive textiles that capture sEMG, EDA and ECG signals. It further supports fabricating devices with custom levels of thickness and stretchability. We present detailed fabrication explorations on multiple substrate materials, functional inks and skin adhesive materials. Informed from the literature, we also provide design recommendations for each of the modalities. Evaluation results show that the sensor patches achieve a high signal-to-noise ratio. Example applications demonstrate the functionality and versatility of our approach for prototyping a next generation of physiological devices that intimately couple with the human body.
Detecting Frost Stress in Wheat: A Controlled Environment Hyperspectral Study on Wheat Plant Components and Implications for Multispectral Field Sensing

Radiant frost during the reproductive stage of plant growth can result in considerable wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) yield loss. Much effort has been spent to prevent and manage these losses, including post-frost remote sensing of damage. This study was done under controlled conditions to examine the effect of imposed frost stress on the spectral response of wheat plant components (heads and flag leaves). The approach used hyperspectral profiling to determine whether changes in wheat components were evident immediately after a frost (up to 5 days after frosting (DAF)). Significant differences were found between frost treatments, irrespective of DAF, in the Blue/Green (419–512 nanometers (nm)), Red (610–675 nm) and Near Infrared (NIR; 749–889 nm) regions of the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) in head spectra, and in the Blue (415–494 nm), Red (670–687 nm) and NIR (727–889 nm) regions in the leaf spectra. Significant differences were found for an interaction between time and frost treatment in the Green (544–575 nm) and NIR (756–889 nm) in head spectra, and in the UV (394–396 nm) and Green/Red (564–641 nm) in leaf spectra. These findings were compared with spectral and temporal resolutions of commonly used field agricultural multispectral sensors to examine their potential suitability for frost damage studies at the canopy scale, based on the correspondence of their multispectral bands to the results from this laboratory-based hyperspectral study.
Enterocolic increase of cannabinoid receptor type 1 and type 2 and clinical improvement after probiotic administration in dogs with chronic signs of colonic dysmotility without mucosal inflammatory changes

Colonic dysmotility in dogs can cause different GI signs. Sometimes, histology of enterocolic biopsies does not reveal inflammatory infiltrates or mucosal lesions that are typically associated with clinical disease activity. It is speculated that, similarly to humans, colonic dysmotility may be anxiety‐based, although recent data demonstrate that irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) could result from acute infectious enteritis. Specific Lactobacillus spp. strains administered orally in humans induced the expression of μ‐opioid and cannabinoid receptors in mucosal enterocytes, modulating intestinal morphine‐like analgesic functions. We investigated the potential association of GI signs caused by colonic dysmotility and mucosal expression of cannabinoid receptors in intestinal epithelial cells and the number of mucosal mast cells.
Effect of Income Heterogeneity on Value of Statistical Life in Taiwan

Value of statistical life (VSL) is an important measure to support cost-benefit analysis of public policies to improve social welfare. According to existing literature, the marginal willingness to pay (WTP) for reducing fatal risk is affected by heterogeneity in personal characteristics, and thus, the inferred VSL is also different. The impact of income heterogeneity on VSL is of great significance to policy applications and thus has become a hot topic in studies. In this study, we investigated the effect of income heterogeneity on the VSL in Taiwan through quantile regression analysis using the data collected by the “Manpower Utilization Survey. ” The results of this empirical study show that the hedonic wage function (HWM) constructed using empirical data from Taiwan was in line with the general form of non-linear function rather than the semi-log function that has been often used in previous studies, which should have a great impact on the estimation of the VSL. We also found that the estimated VSL of Taiwanese labor varied with the difference in wages, which needs to be taken into account when discussing public policies using VSL.