Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genome Wide Association Studies for Milk Production Traits in Chinese Holstein Population

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) based on high throughput SNP genotyping technologies open a broad avenue for exploring genes associated with milk production traits in dairy cattle. Motivated by pinpointing novel quantitative trait nucleotide (QTN) across Bos Taurus genome, the present study is to perform GWAS to identify genes affecting milk production traits using current state-of-the-art SNP genotyping technology, i.e., the Illumina BovineSNP50 BeadChip. In the analyses, the five most commonly evaluated milk production traits are involved, including milk yield (MY), milk fat yield (FY), milk protein yield (PY), milk fat percentage (FP) and milk protein percentage (PP). Estimated breeding values (EBVs) of 2,093 daughters from 14 paternal half-sib families are considered as phenotypes within the framework of a daughter design. Association tests between each trait and the 54K SNPs are achieved via two different analysis approaches, a paternal transmission disequilibrium test (TDT)-based approach (L1-TDT) and a mixed model based regression analysis (MMRA). In total, 105 SNPs were detected to be significantly associated genome-wise with one or multiple milk production traits. Of the 105 SNPs, 38 were commonly detected by both methods, while four and 63 were solely detected by L1-TDT and MMRA, respectively. The majority (86 out of 105) of the significant SNPs is located within the reported QTL regions and some are within or close to the reported candidate genes. In particular, two SNPs, ARS-BFGL-NGS-4939 and BFGL-NGS-118998, are located close to the DGAT1 gene (160bp apart) and within the GHR gene, respectively. Our findings herein not only provide confirmatory evidences for previously findings, but also explore a suite of novel SNPs associated with milk production traits, and thus form a solid basis for eventually unraveling the causal mutations for milk production traits in dairy cattle.
World-Line Formalism: Non-Perturbative Applications

This review addresses the impact on various physical observables which is produced by confinement of virtual quarks and gluons at the level of the one-loop QCD diagrams. These observables include the quark condensate for various heavy flavors, the Yang-Mills running coupling with an infra-red stable fixed point, and the correlation lengths of the stochastic Yang-Mills fields. Other non-perturbative applications of the world-line formalism presented in the review are devoted to the determination of the electroweak phase-transition critical temperature, to the derivation of a semi-classical analogue of the relation between the chiral and the gluon QCD condensates, and to the calculation of the free energy of the gluon plasma in the high-temperature limit. As a complementary result, we demonstrate Casimir scaling of k-string tensions in the Gaussian ensemble of the stochastic Yang-Mills fields.
Leptin inhibits the anti‐CD3‐driven proliferation of peripheral blood T cells but enhances the production of proinflammatory cytokines

There is increasing evidence that leptin affects immune responses and that in the absence of leptin, immunity is suboptimal. Most data so far indicate that leptin increases proinflammatory immune responses by an effect on T cells and macrophages. Here we show that, under certain circumstances, leptin can inhibit T cell proliferative responses. Separation of the responding T cells into different subpopulations revealed an interesting heterogeneity of cellular behavior in that naïve and memory T cells were differentially affected by leptin. The anti‐CD3‐driven proliferation of memory T cells was inhibited by leptin, whereas that of naïve T cells was markedly enhanced. Despite the inhibition of proliferation of the memory T cells, their production of interferon‐γ was substantially increased. These data show that leptin can inhibit certain immune responses in vitro. However, despite this inhibition of proliferation, the production of proinflammatory cytokines is significantly enhanced by leptin. The findings demonstrated here show further complexity in the actions of leptin on the immune system.
A widely tunable high-speed transmitter using an integrated SGDBR laser-semiconductor optical amplifier and Mach-Zehnder modulator

The first integrated sampled-grating distributed Bragg reflector (SGDBR) laser-semiconductor optical amplifier-Mach-Zehnder modulator transmitter is presented. Devices have 3 dB bandwidth ranging from 13-18 GHz corresponding to electrodes lengths that range between 200-300 /spl mu/m long. This corresponds to a V/sub pi/ of 4.8-6.2 V.
CD3 directed bispecific antibodies induce increased lymphocyte–endothelial cell interactions in vitro

Bispecific antibody (BsMAb) BIS-1 has been developed to redirect the cytolytic activity of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) to epithelial glycoprotein-2 (EGP-2) expressing tumour cells. Intravenous administration of BIS-1 F(ab′)2 to carcinoma patients in a phase I/II clinical trial, caused immunomodulation as demonstrated by a rapid lymphopenia prior to a rise in plasma tumour necrosis factor-α and interferon-γ levels. Yet, no lymphocyte accumulation in the tumour tissue and no anti-tumour effect could be observed. These data suggest a BsMAb-induced lymphocyte adhesion to blood vessel walls and/or generalized redistribution of the lymphocytes into tissues. In this study, we describe the effects of BIS-1 F(ab′)2 binding to peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) on their capacity to interact with resting endothelial cells in vitro. Resting and pre-activated PBMC exhibited a significant increase in adhesive interaction with endothelial cells when preincubated with BIS-1 F(ab′)2, followed by an increase in transendothelial migration (tem). Binding of BIS-1 F(ab′)2 to PBMC affected the expression of a number of adhesion molecules involved in lymphocyte adhesion/migration. Furthermore, PBMC preincubated with BIS-1 F(ab′)2 induced the expression of endothelial cell adhesion molecules E-selectin, VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 during adhesion/tem. These phenomena were related to the CD3 recognizing antibody fragment of the BsMAb and dependent on lymphocyte–endothelial cell contact. Possibly, in patients, the BIS-1 F(ab′)2 infusion induced lymphopenia is a result of generalized activation of endothelial cells, leading to the formation of a temporary sink for lymphocytes. This process may distract the lymphocytes from homing to the tumour cells, and hence prevent the occurrence of BIS-1 F(ab′)2– CTL-mediated tumour cell lysis. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaign
Modeling the 26 December 2004 Indian ocean tsunami : Case study of impact in Thailand - art. no. C07024

[1] The devastating 26 December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami stressed the need for assessing tsunami hazard in vulnerable coastal areas. Numerical modeling is but one important tool for understanding past tsunami events and simulating future ones. Here we present a robust simulation of the event, which explains the large runups and destruction observed in coastal Thailand and identifies areas vulnerable to future tsunamis, or safer for reconstruction. To do so, we use an accurate tsunami source, which was iteratively calibrated in earlier work to explain the large-scale tsunami features, and apply it over a computational domain with a finer grid and more accurate coastal bathymetry in Thailand. Computations are performed with a well-validated numerical model based on fully nonlinear and dispersive Boussinesq equations (FUNWAVE) that adequately models the physics of tsunami propagation and runup, including dissipation caused by bottom friction and wave breaking. Simulated runups in Thailand reproduce field observations with a surprising degree of accuracy, as well as their high degree of along-coast variation: a 92% correlation is found between (58) runup observations and computations, while the model explains 85% of the observed variance; overall, the RMS error is approximately 1 m or 17% of the mean observed runup value (skill of the simulation). Because we did not use runup observations to calibrate our coseismic tsunami source, these results are robust, and thus provide a uniquely accurate synoptic prediction of tsunami impact along the Andaman coast of Thailand, including those areas where no observations were made.
New Approach to Improve Classification Accuracy Using Ant Clony Optimization

The selection of a classifier is only one aspect of the problem of data classification. Equally important (if not, more so) is the pre-processing strategy to be employed. In this paper, a pre-processing step is proposed in order to increase accuracy of classification. The objective of this pre-processing step is to achieve a high degree of separation among classes before the classifier is trained or tested. This results into a trace ratio problem which is difficult to solve. Methods such as Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) have already been used for the solution of this problem by turning it into a simpler yet inexact problem. In our approach ACO is used to solve the trace ratio problem directly also can increase classification accuracy by finding a transformation matrix to discriminate between classes.
Re-embodiment of Honeybee Aggregation Behavior in an Artificial Micro-Robotic System

In this article we describe the re-embodiment of biological aggregation behavior of honeybees in Jasmine micro-robots. The observed insect behavior, in the context of the insect's sensor—actor system, is formalized as behavioral and motion-sensing meta-models. These meta-models are transformed into a sensor—actor system of micro-robots by means of a sensors virtualization technique. This allows us to keep the efficiency and scalability of the bio-inspired approach. We also demonstrate the systematic character of this re-embodiment procedure on collective aggregation in a real robotic swarm.
Implementation of Coloured Stochastic Activity Networks within the PDETool Framework

The aim has been to develop a modeling tool for coloured stochastic activity networks (CSANs). CSANs are a high-level extension of stochastic activity networks (SANs) which provide features for hierarchical modeling and data manipulation by introducing coloured place and macro activity. SDES is an abstract unified description for stochastic discrete-event systems. PDETool is a multi-formalism modeling framework which provides features for construction and translation of models into the XML-based input language of an SDES-based simulation engine, called SimGine. PDETool is easily extensible to support a wide range of graphical and non-graphical formalisms. Furthermore, it facilitates the construction, animation and simulation of models. A formalism can be implemented in PDETool if a mapping can be provided to the input language of SimGine. In this paper, we describe the implementation of CSANs in the PDETool framework by developing a graphical user interface for model construction and a translator of models into the input language of SimGine.
Superresolution Using Splines and Anisotropic Diffusion Superresolution Using Splines and Anisotropic Diffusion Elizabeth Begin

Acknowledgments First and foremost I would like to thank my advisor Professor Janusz Konrad for his constant support and encouragement throughout this research. Although he is very busy, he has always made time to answer questions and provide guidance. In addition, a special thanks to Serdar Ince, a previous PhD student, for his collaboration on this work. Serdar provided the optical flow code utilized for motion estimation in this thesis. Clem Karl and Professor Maja Bystrom for reviewing this thesis and providing feedback. In addition to their comments, I would also like to thank these professors for their excellent courses in signal and image processing. ABSTRACT High-resolution images are valuable in many applications such as medical imaging, satellite imaging or video surveillance. One way to increase the resolution of an imaging sensor is to decrease the size of pixels while increasing their number. However, decreasing the size of pixels results in increased shot noise. An alternative to modifying the hardware is to improve the resolution of images by means of signal processing. This is often referred to as superresolution image reconstruction. Superresolution from a single image relies on exploiting specific characteristics of the image, and is very difficult for general imagery. An alternative is superresolution from multiple images that are mutually offset by subpixel shifts (" shaky video "). By combining multiple images together, some of the frequency content lost in the imaging process can be recovered. Superresolution reconstruction exploits this property to obtain a high-resolution image. There are two key steps in superresolution reconstruction, motion estimation and image restoration. In order to combine the low-resolution images, so that additional spectral content can be recovered, the low-resolution images must be aligned, resulting in an irregular set of samples. Once the locations of pixels are known, the high-resolution image can be estimated through image restoration. In this thesis, we focus on the image restoration step. To date, image restoration for superresolution has been studied in the context of iterative back-projection, projection onto convex sets, maximum a posteriori probability estimation, etc. The fundamental difference between different superresolution methods lies in the underlying continuous image model. One of the more recent and effective super-resolution methods uses bi-cubic splines as the underlying image model, and 2-D spline fitting under thin-plate regularization. The thin-plate model applies isotropic smoothing v regardless of local image content, thus smoothing across intensity boundaries and limiting the performance. In this …
Religious Coping and Spiritual Struggle Among Emergency Room Patients With Suicidal Intent

Previous literature has shown religion and spirituality to be protective factors for depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation, and that spiritual struggle is associated with increases in suicidal ideation. However, in some cases, positive religious coping may also be associated with risk factors for suicidality. The present study explored aspects of spiritual struggle or religious coping that were spontaneously offered and noted in a medical record during a standard emergency room risk assessment involving the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS). Among 839 archival records from emergency department settings in Yamhill County, Oregon, in 2015 and 2016, only 36 interviews met criteria. It was hypothesized that those with expressed spiritual or religious struggle would indicate a higher risk for suicide through self-report compared with those who express positive religious coping. The current study found no association between self-report of suicidal intent severity and style of spiritual or religious coping, perhaps in part because the number of interviews that met criteria were far fewer than expected. Several possible explanations are considered.
Multilayer network decoding versatility and trust

In the recent years, the multilayer networks have increasingly been realized as a more realistic framework to understand emergent physical phenomena in complex real-world systems. We analyze massive time-varying social data drawn from the largest film industry of the world under a multilayer network framework. The framework enables us to evaluate the versatility of actors, which turns out to be an intrinsic property of lead actors. Versatility in dimers suggests that working with different types of nodes are more beneficial than with similar ones. However, the triangles yield a different relation between type of co-actor and the success of lead nodes indicating the importance of higher-order motifs in understanding the properties of the underlying system. Furthermore, despite the degree-degree correlations of entire networks being neutral, multilayering picks up different values of correlation indicating positive connotations like trust, in the recent years. The analysis of weak ties of the industry uncovers nodes from a lower-degree regime being important in linking Bollywood clusters. The framework and the tools used herein may be used for unraveling the complexity of other real-world systems.
Factors that predict pre-service teachers’ teaching performance

Abstract Understanding the factors that contribute to an effective teacher has the potential to influence selection and preparation of pre-service teachers and may influence student outcomes. Prior research suggests a relationship between teacher characteristics (academic achievement, verbal ability, gender) and teacher effectiveness, however, these factors explain only a fraction of the overall variance in the effectiveness of teachers. Guided by the What Works Clearinghouse protocol for Teacher Training, Evaluation and Compensation, this study involving pre-service teachers (N = 400) used teacher performance rankings resulting from classroom observations and explored factors that may contribute to varying levels of teacher performance. Pre-service teachers’ prior teaching performance, personality characteristics and previous academic achievement were assessed as predictive factors of teacher performance. Results indicate that no significant relationship was identified between personality traits and the outcome variable teaching performance in this study. However, previous teaching performance in addition to academic achievement scores emerged as significant predictors of teaching performance.
Continuous attractors of recurrent neural networks with complex-valued weights

The global exponential stability (GAS), global asymptotic stability (GES) and multi-stability (MS) continuous attractors of recurrent neural networks (RNN) with complex-valued weights are studied in this paper. As a continuous attractor is the infinite equilibria, the connected matrix needs to be nonsingular. Therefore, RNN is transformed into a lower dimensional RNN using elementary operation. Firstly, based on the foregoing results some continuous attractors of RNN with real-valued weights are obtained. Secondly, continuous attractors of RNN with complex-valued weights are obtained by studying the corresponding RNN with real-valued weights. Some simulations are finally carried out to illustrate the theory.
A User Study of a Mobile Robot Teleoperation

In this paper several interfaces for teleoperation of a mobile robot are described and analyzed. We consider teleoperation of a wheeled mobile robot when control commands are given by human operator through a haptic master device. Described human-robot teleoperation interfaces were tested by performing experiments. Main objective was to verify the role of different types of feedback information and command strategies for improving the performance of the system. Position-speed and position-position command strategies were used for mobile robot teleoperation. In position-position strategy desired speed of a mobile robot is defined by a master manipulator's position. In position-speed command strategy robot's position is controlled by position of master device. Hybrid command strategy, combining position-speed and position-position strategy, was introduced and used also. First, unilateral teleoperation was studied. Experiments with position-speed, position-position and hybrid command strategies were evaluated. Second, bilateral teleoperation of a mobile robot was studied using two types of force feedback: force feedback related to obstacle range information and force feedback including information about the state of the robot. For experiments with bilateral teleoperation different command strategies were applied. Advantages and disadvantages of each type of human-robot interaction interface were described.
Machine translation of Japanese-Chinese for conditional sentences based on templates

For the Japanese Conditional Sentences, especially the sentences with conjunctions: ba, tara, to and nara, machine translation based on template method is used. By analyzing the sentence characteristics, the translation templates are abstracted, the Japanese sentences are translated to Chinese sentences. The small-scale experimental results for several kinds of Japanese conditional statement show the translation accuracy rate is 80%, template coverage rate reach 83.3%.
Dual camera motion capture for serious games in stroke rehabilitation

Typically, stroke upper limb rehabilitation exercises consist of repeated movements, which when tracked can form the basis of inputs to games. Markerless motion capture technologies can be used to enable such serious game control. This has the advantage that patients do not need to hold or wear any controls or devices, which may be difficult and restrictive for them. This research introduces a set of 3D games which require the sorts of repeated movements considered effective in the reacquisition of post-stroke motor skills. A system that uses markerless motion capture technologies to track and identify human low-level motion, i.e. the movement of hands and hand gesture to control the games, is described. The system uses dual cameras, an optical camera and a thermal camera which measures skin temperature, to obtain robust tracking performance. Moreover, the temperature features can also be used to monitor patients' physical status when they play games. Evaluation of the system is discussed.
An Examination of the Association between 5-HTTLPR, Combat Exposure, and PTSD Diagnosis among U.S. Veterans

Objective To examine the association between the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism of the serotonin transporter (SLC6A4) gene, combat exposure, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis and among two samples of combat-exposed veterans. Method The first sample included 550 non-Hispanic Black (NHB) combat-exposed veterans. The second sample included 555 non-Hispanic White (NHW) combat-exposed veterans. Participants were genotyped for the 5-HTTLPR/rs25531 variants of the SLC6A4 gene. A structured clinical interview was used to diagnose PTSD. Combat and civilian trauma exposure were assessed with validated self-report instruments. Logistic regression was used to test for main effects of 5-HTTLPR on PTSD diagnosis as well as gene x environment (GxE) interactions after adjusting for sex, ancestry proportion scores, civilian trauma exposure, and combat exposure. Results Within the NHB sample, a significant additive effect was observed for 5-HTTLPR (OR = 1.502, p = .0025), such that the odds of having a current diagnosis of PTSD increased by 1.502 for each additional S’ allele. No evidence for an association between 5-HTTLPR and PTSD was observed in the NHW sample. In addition, no evidence for combat x 5-HTTLPR effects were observed in either sample. Conclusion The present study suggests that there may be an association between 5-HTTLPR genotype and PTSD diagnosis among NHB veterans; however, no evidence for the hypothesized 5-HTTLPR x combat interaction was found.