Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Estimation of (co) variance components and genetic parameters for growth traits in Arman sheep

Co) variance components and genetic parameters for growth traits in Arman sheep were estimated, using data collected during an 11-year period (1999-2010), by applying the restricted maximum likelihood (REML) procedure under univariate and bivariate animal models. The studied traits were body weight of lamb at birth (BW), body weight at 3 months of age as weaning weight (WW), body weight at 6 months (6MW), body weight at 9 months (9MW), yearling weight (YW), average daily gain from birth to weaning (ADG) and the Kleiber ratio (KR) from birth to weaning. Significant random effects for each trait were determined by AIC test fitting the additive direct genetic effect, additive maternal effect, covariance between additive direct and additive maternal effect, maternal permanent environmental and maternal temporary environmental (common litter) effects under nine animal models. Univariate analyses were carried out under the most appropriate model, determined by AIC test. Direct heritability estimates for BW, WW, ADG, KR, 6MW, 9MW and YW were 0.03 ± 0.02, 0.15 ± 0.02, 0.16 ± 0.02, 0.04 ± 0.03, 0.15 ± 0.04, 0.08 ± 0.04 and 0.16 ± 0.02, respectively. Maternal additive genetic effect was fitted only for BW, WW and ADG; corresponding estimates of 0.20 ± 0.02, 0.13 ± 0.01 and 0.07 ± 0.03 were obtained for maternal heritability of BW, WW and ADG, respectively. Maternal permanent environmental effects had a small contribution in expression of pre-weaning growth traits and 6MW, and led to estimates of 0.05 ± 0.02, 0.06 ± 0.04, 0.12 ± 0.03, 0.07 ± 0.02 and 0.06 ± 0.03 for maternal permanent environmental variance as a proportion of phenotypic variance (c 2 ) of BW, WW, ADG, KR and 6MW, respectively. The magnitude of ratio of common litter variance to phenotypic variance (l 2 ) was 0.07 ± 0.02 and 0.09 ± 0.02 for BW and WW, respectively. Direct genetic correlations were positive and ranged from 0.08 for KR-YW to 0.83 for WW-ADG; the phenotypic ones ranged from 0.19 for KR-9MW to 0.96 for WW-ADG. The results showed that the inclusion of maternal effects in genetic evaluation of early growth traits in Arman sheep is of crucial importance.
PROTEIN 2 GENES AND THEIR ASSOCATIONS WITH MEASURES OF PERFORMANCE AND CARCASS MERIT IN BEEF CATTLE

GenBank Accession No. AY643807 GI 49354915 Jul. 3, 2004. * Adkins, Ronald et al. Molecular evolution of growth hormone and receptor in the guinea pig a mammal unresponsive to growth hor mone. 2000 Gene vol. 246 pp. 357-363. * Sorensen, Petal. Polymorphism in the bovine growth hormone gene affects endocrine release in dairy cows. 2002 Americn Dairy Science Assoication. vol. 85 pp. 1887-1893. * Buchanan et al., Association of a missense mutation in the bovine leptin gene with carcass fat content and leptin mRNA levels. Genet Sel Evol. Jan.-Feb. 2002:34(1): 105-16. Lagonigro et al. A new mutation in the coding region of the bovine leptin gene associated with feed intake. Anim Genet. Oct. 2003:34(5):371-4. Liefers et al., Associations between leptin gene polymorphisms and production, live weight, energy balance, feed intake, and fertility in Holstein heifers. J Dairy Sci. Jun. 2002:85(6):1633-8. Liefers et al., Association of leptin gene polymorphisms with serum leptin concentration in dairy cows. Mamm Genome. Sep. 2003; 14(9):657-63. Nkrumah et al., Polymorphisms in the bovine leptin promoter asso ciated with serum leptin concentration, growth, feed intake, feeding behavior, and measures of carcass merit. J Anim Sci. Jan. 2005:83(1):20-8. Schenkel et al., Association of single nucleotide polymorphisms in the leptin gene with carcass and meat quality traits of beef cattle. J Anim Sci. Sep. 2005;83(9): 2009-20. Maj. A. etal. Polymorphism in the 5'-noncoding region of the bovine growth.hormone receptor gene and its association with meat produc tion traits in cattle. Animal Research. Nov. 2004, vol.53 pp. 503-5 14. GenBank Accession AY643807. Bos taurus growth hormone recep tor gene, exon 4 and partial cds. Jul. 2004. Sherman et al. Polymorphisms in the GHR, NPY. Ghrelin, and UCP2 Genes and their Associations With Measures of Perfonnance and Carcass Merit in Beef Cattle. Plant and Animal Genomes XIV Con ference Jan. 14, 2006 (Poster). Nkrumah et al. Polymorphisms in the leptiu gene and their associa tions with performnance, feed efficiency, and carcass merit ofbeef cattle. Proceedings of the 8th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production online). Aug. 2006 retrieved on Jan.5, 2008). Maj A. et al. Molecular evolution of coding and non-coding sequences of the growth Hormone Receptor (GHR) gene in the family Bovidae. Folia biologica. Jun. 2006, vol. 54 pp. 31-36.
Age and performance at fledging are a cause and consequence of juvenile mortality between life stages

Age and wing development at fledging balances mortality in and out of the nest in a compromise between parents and offspring. Should they stay or should they leave? The age at which young transition between life stages, such as living in a nest versus leaving it, differs among species and the reasons why are unclear. We show that offspring of songbird species that leave the nest at a younger age have less developed wings that cause poorer flight performance and greater mortality after fledging. Experimentally delayed fledging verified that older age and better developed wings provide benefits of reduced juvenile mortality. Young are differentially constrained in the age that they can stay in the nest and enjoy these fitness benefits because of differences among species in opposing predation costs while in the nest. This tension between mortality in versus outside of the nest influences offspring traits and performance and creates an unrecognized conflict between parents and offspring that determines the optimal age to fledge.
Adaptive Polarization-Difference Transient Imaging for Depth Estimation in Scattering Media

1University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China 2Department of Automation, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China 3Key Lab of Intelligent Information Processing of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Institute of Computing Technology, CAS, Beijing 100190, China 4Universidad de Zaragoza I3A, Spain 5Beijing Key Laboratory of Multi-dimension & Multi-scale Computational Photography(MMCP), Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China *Corresponding author: jlsuo@tsinghua.edu. cn
Comparative outcomes of laparoscopy-assisted and open Ivor Lewis esophagectomy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma : experience at a single , high-volume center

This study compared the oncologic outcomes of Ivor Lewis esophagectomy in laparoscopy-assisted surgery versus open surgery for resectable middle and lower thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Shortterm and long-term data for 685 consecutive patients who underwent Ivor Lewis esophagectomy for resectable middle and lower thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma via laparoscopy-assisted surgery or open surgery between January 2010 and November 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. The primary study endpoints were overall survival and disease-free survival. A total of 685 Ivor Lewis esophagectomies for resectable middle and lower thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma were performed, with 432 esophagectomies performed using laparoscopy-assisted surgery and 253 esophagectomies performed using open surgery. Patient demographic data, tumor pathological stage, and residual tumor remaining were similar in both groups. Blood loss, postoperative analgesia requirement, and length of hospital stay were all less with laparoscopy-assisted surgery than with open surgery. Overall morbidity was similar in the two groups. However, the rate of major complications was higher after open surgery than after laparoscopy-assisted surgery. There were no 30-day mortalities, and both overall and disease-free survival were comparable between the two surgical groups. From this study, laparoscopy-assisted Ivor Lewis esophagectomy performed by dedicated thoracic surgeons is safe and can achieve long-term survival similar to an open approach.
Functional Anatomy of Trigeminovascular Pain

Thetrigeminal system, consisting of afferent nerve fibersmostly arising from the trigeminal ganglion, conveys sensory information from extraand intracranial structures to the central nervous system via the fifth cranial nerve. The term “trigeminovascular system” has been formed to describe the close morpho-functional relationship of trigeminal afferents with intracranial blood vessels, originally in the context of vascular headaches (Moskowitz, 1984). Nowadays, the termmay be extended to extracranial tissues, as well as to the central projections of trigeminal afferents into the trigeminal nuclear brainstem complex, as specified below.
Effects of biochars and hydrochars produced from lignocellulosic and animal manure on fertility of a Mollisol and Entisol

Biochar and hydrochars (HC) are emerging soil fertility amendments; however, their ability to improve fertility levels in soils possessing vastly different pedogenic characteristics has not been well investigated. In this study, several plant and manure biochars and two blended HC applied at 3.84 g/kg (ca.10 t/ha) were incubated in pots containing a highly fertile‐Mollisol (Waukegan series; Sandy‐skeletal, mixed, superactive, mesic Typic Hapludoll) and an infertile Entisol (Margate series; Siliceous, hyperthermic, Mollic Psammaquent). During the 124–125 day laboratory incubations, pots were leached four times with deionized H2O with the leachates analysed for the concentrations of dissolved phosphorus (DP) and potassium (DK). After the incubations, both soils were analysed for fertility characteristics (i.e. pH, cation‐exchange capacity (CEC), and extractable P and K). In both soils after biochar additions, there were mixed pH and CEC responses. Both the Mollisol and Entisol treated with swine solid biochar had greater plant extractable P and K contents, which was reflective of the elevated P and K contents in the swine solid biochar. However, most biochars and HC additions to the Mollisol and Entisol had minimal impact on soil fertility characteristics indicating a low direct fertilization potential. These nutrient contents could be altered through feedstock blending to target a particular fertilizer requirement.
A Neuropsychological Model of Free-Drawing from Memory in Constructional Apraxia: A Theoretical Review

Constructional apraxia is an impairment in synthetic activities or abilities such as building, assembling and drawing and it is a major reason for functional disability and for neuropsychological or neurological patients inability to return to work. In this theoretical review a survey of the development of cognitive neuropsychological models of constructional apraxia will be discussed as these relate specifically to drawing abilities. Persons with schizophrenia, somatoform disorders, eating disorders, anosagnosia and right hemisphere disease conditions often present with impairments in the representations or drawings of the body. A plausible cognitive neuropsychological model of constructional apraxia was developed by extracting useful features of previous models and integrating common elements. It is hypothesized that given the relation of the integrity of body-specific representations in the drawings of these neuropsychiatric groups a better understanding of the association between constructional apraxia and free-drawing will provide insights into future clinical and applied neuroscience research.
Towards agile cross-platform application development with Smalltalk and Model Driven Engineering

Nowadays, general public applications or specific infor-mation systems must be able to run on mobile platforms as well as on conventional platforms. Because developers have to deal with mobile platform specificities, this constraint si-gnificantly lessen the benefits of agile methods and as a consequence impacts on the application development cost. Many research works aim at reducing the development cost. Prototyping as well as automatic code generation have been investigated by the community. In this article, we present Dali, a framework that uses both Smalltalk and Model Dri-ven Engineering. With Dali, an application model can be de-signed for multiple platforms and interpreted before code generation. An execution platform is modelled as a set of constraints over a context. These constraints can affect the presentation of the Graphical User-Interface (GUI) but also the overall behaviour of an application.
AT TWO C LASS II LOCI ( DQA-DQB ) IN S OTALIA FLUVIATILIS AND S OTALIA GUIANENSIS

1 Laboratory of Molecular Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand 2 Laboratorio de Ecología Molecular de Vertebrados Acuáticos, Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de los Andes, Carrera 1 # 18 A-10, Bogotá, Colombia 3 Fundación Omacha, Diagonal 86A # 30-38, Bogotá, Colombia 4 Laboratório de Biodiversidade e Evolução Molecular, Departamento de Biologia Geral, ICB, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antonio Carlos, 6627 C.P. 486, 31270-010 Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil 5 Departamento de Ecosistemas y Médio Ambiente, Facultad de Agronomía e Ingeniería Forestal, Pontifícia Universidad Católica de Chile, Av. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, San Joaquin, Santiago, Chile 6 Laboratorio de Ecología General, Facultad Experimental de Ciencias, Universidad del Zulia, Av. Universidad con prolongación Av. 5 de Julio. Sector Grano de Oro, Maracaibo, Venezuela 7 Laboratorio de Ecología y Genética de Poblaciones, Centro de Ecología, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas, San Antonio de los Altos, Carretera Panamericana km 11, Altos de Pipe, Estado Miranda, Venezuela 8 Laboratório de Zoologia, Coleção Zoológica Paulo Burheim, Centro Universitario Luterano de Manaus, Manaus, AM, Brazil 9 Instituto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Mamirauá, Estrada do Bexiga 2584, Bairro Fonte Boa, 69470-000 Tefé, AM, Brazil 10 Laboratório de Biologia da Conservação de Cetáceos, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zoologia, Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista ‘Júlio de Mesquita Filho’, Campus Rio Claro, Av. 24-A, 1515, Bela Vista, Rio Claro, SP, Brasil, 13506-900 11 Instituto Baleia Jubarte, Rua Barão do Rio Branco 26, 45900-000 Caravelas, BA, Brazil 12 Marine Mammal Institute and Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Hatfield Marine Science Center, Oregon State University, 2030 SE Marine Science Drive, Newport, Oregon 97365, USA * Corresponding author, e-mail: sj.caballero26@uniandes.edu. co http://dx.doi. org/10.5597/lajam00156
The Questionnaire Big Six in 26 Nations: Developing Cross–Culturally Applicable Big Six, Big Five and Big Two Inventories

The Big Five is a useful model of attributes now commonly used in cross–cultural research, but without the support of strong measurement invariance (MI) evidence. The Big Six has been proposed as a cross–culturally informed update, and the broader Big Two (Social Self–Regulation and Dynamism) draws on even more cross–cultural evidence. However, neither has been rigorously tested for cross–cultural MI. Here a Big Six inventory (36QB6) and measures of the Big Five and Big Two derived from it were tested and refined for cross–cultural usability in samples from 26 nations, divided into three subsets. Confirmatory factor analysis of the models in the first subset of nations demonstrated fit as strong in translation as typical personality measures achieve in their nation of origin (although poor per standard benchmarks). Items that performed inconsistently across cultures were removed, and alternates considered in a second subset of nations. Fit and invariance were improved for refined 30–item QB6, 25–item Big Five and 14–item Big Two measures in the third subset of nations. For all models, decrease in comparative fit index between MI levels was larger than . 01, indicating lack of support for higher levels. Configural and factorial invariance were relatively stronger, compared to scalar and full. Copyright © 2014 European Association of Personality Psychology
Small-scale albedo-temperature relationship contrast with large-scale relations in Alaskan acidic tussock tundra

Arctic tundra vegetation is characterized by an extreme heterogeneity at a small spatial scale. Optimizing the parameterization of tundra ecosystems in climate models requires detailed knowledge and understanding of soil vegetation- atmosphere feedback mechanisms at different spatial scales. We used a mobile multi-sensor platform for observing variable spectral and thermal responses of different representative vegetation communities within two 50 m long transects in August 2010. The observations sites are located on the North Slope of Alaska. The sensor platform was attached to a cable set up at a height of ~1 m above ground. The data were aggregated to distance increments of 45 cm along the transects and standardized (mean-centered) to account for observation date-specific offsets in measurements that were related to specific light and weather conditions but not to the local vegetation surface. A relative increase in the albedo of 0.01 (1%) was related to an increase in radiometric surface temperatures of 0.1 to 1 K, which is the inverse of the generally accepted surface temperature-albedo relationship observed at larger spatial scales. We explain this finding with cooling effects of the albedo-influencing surface wetness which primarily results from moss and soil evaporation. This cooling effect dominates over other more general heating effects that can be expected over surfaces with lower albedo under absence or near-absence of evaporation. Our findings are also supported by NDVI measurements. These locally inverted temperature-albedo feedbacks need to be considered in climate models that resolve Arctic environments with a high abundance of moss covers. Our results show that frequent observations of different tundra ecosystems using mobile multi-sensor platforms can provide data critical for understanding the land-atmosphere-interactions for the Arctic and the global system.
Association between Psoriasis and Helicobacter pylori Infection: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Background/Purpose: Helicobacter pylori infection has been suggested as a culprit of various extragastrointestinal (GI) disorders. It is debatable whether H. pylori infection exacerbates or triggers the pathogenesis of psoriasis. This meta-analysis aimed to explore the association between psoriasis and H. pylori infection. Materials and Methods: A comprehensive search of the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases was performed from inception through October 2017. The inclusion criterion was observational studies evaluating the association between psoriasis and H. pylori infection. The pooled odds ratio (OR) of H. pylori infection and their 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated using a random-effects meta-analysis to compare risk between psoriasis patients and controls. The between-study heterogeneity of effect-size was quantified using the Q statistic and I2. Results: Data were extracted from nine observational studies involving 1546 individuals. Pooled result demonstrated an increased H. pylori infection in psoriasis compared with controls (OR=1.58; 95% CI: 1.02–2.46, P=0.04, I2=64%). Subgroup analysis showed an increased risk of H. pylori infection in psoriasis measured with H. pylori IgG enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (OR=3.11; 95% CI: 1.85–5.20, P<0.01, I2=10%) but not active infection measured with urea breath test (OR=0.88; 95% CI: 0.61–1.27, P=0.49, I2=0%). Conclusion: This meta-analysis has shown an increased H. pylori infection in patients with psoriasis. H. pylori infection in the past could play a role in the abnormal immunological cascade in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Further studies to elucidate the inflammatory response in the pathogenesis of psoriasis are warranted.
Species distribution models of an endangered rodent offer conflicting measures of habitat quality at multiple scales

Summary 1. The high cost of directly measuring habitat quality has led ecologists to test alternate methods for estimating and predicting this critically important ecological variable. In particular, it is frequently assumed but rarely tested that models of habitat suitability (‘species distribution models’, SDMs) may provide useful indices of habitat quality, either from an individual animal or manager’s perspective. Critically, SDMs are increasingly used to estimate species’ ranges, with an implicit assumption that areas of high suitability will result in higher probability of persistence. This assumption underlies efforts to use SDMs to design protected areas, assess the status of cryptic species or manage responses to climate change. Recent tests of this relationship have provided mixed results, suggesting SDMs may predict abundance but not other measures of high-quality habitat (e.g. survival, persistence). 2. In this study, we created a suite of SDMs for the endangered giant kangaroo rat Dipodomys ingens at three distinct scales using the machine-learning method Maxent. We compared these models with three measures of habitat quality: survival, abundance and body condition. 3. Species distribution models were not correlated with survival, while models at all scales were positively correlated with abundance. Finer-scale models were more closely correlated with abundance than the largest scale. Body condition was not correlated with habitat suitability at any scale. The inability of models to predict survival may be due to a lack of information in environmental covariates; unmeasured community processes or stochastic events; or the inadequacy of using models that predict species presence to also predict demography. 4. Synthesis and applications. Species distribution models (SDMs), especially fine scale ones, may be useful for longer-term management goals, such as identifying high-quality habitat for protection. However, short-term management decisions should be based only on models that use covariates appropriate for the necessary temporal and spatial scales. Assumptions about the relationship between habitat suitability and habitat quality must be made explicit. Even then, care should be taken in inferring multiple types of habitat quality from SDMs.