Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The content of cis-9, trans-11 CLA isomer determined by two methods in ewe's milk fat.

The content of cis-9, trans-11 CLA isomer determined by two methods in ewe’s milk fat. The aim of this study was the quantitive determination of cis-9, trans-11 isomer by two methods: gas chromatography (GC) and silver-ion high performance liquid chromatography (Ag+HPLC) in ewes milk fat. The study was carried out on 20 ewes of Wrzosowka and elazne ska sheep, which were mantained at the same environmental and nutritional conditions. The milk samples have been collected from ewes at the age of 3–4 years and in the 4th week of lactation. The chemical composition, as well as fat content, was similar in both studied breeds. The amount of C18 fatty acids connected with the major CLA isomer did not show statistical differences between breeds, besides of C18:3, which was higher (P 0.03) for Wrzosowka. The activity of 9 desaturase, the enzyme responsible for endogenous synthesis, was also higher (P 0.01) for Wrzosowka ewes. The content of cis-9, trans-11 C18:2 isomer in milk fat of studied ewes determinated by GC method did not differ with this obtained by Ag+HPLC. The difference has not been noted also within studied breeds. Obtained results suggest, that major CLA isomer in milk could be sensitively identi ed what allow to precisely determining its amount both by classic GC method and Ag+HPLC method.
Li, Rui and Xu, Lie and Yao, Liangzhong and Williams, Barry (2016) Active control of DC fault currents in DC solid-state transformers during ride-through operation of multi-terminal HVDC systems. IEEE Transactions

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Data-Driven Iterative Vibration Signal Enhancement Strategy Using Alpha Stable Distribution

The authors propose a novel procedure for enhancement of the signal to noise ratio in vibration data acquired from machines working in mining industry environment. Proposed method allows performing data-driven reduction of the deterministic, high energy, and low frequency components. Furthermore, it provides a way to enhance signal of interest. Procedure incorporates application of the time-frequency decomposition, -stable distribution based signal modeling, and stability parameter in the time domain as a stoppage criterion for iterative part of the procedure. An advantage of the proposed algorithm is data-driven, automative detection of the informative frequency band as well as band with high energy due to the properties of the used distribution. Furthermore, there is no need to have knowledge regarding kinematics, speed, and so on. The proposed algorithm is applied towards real data acquired from the belt conveyor pulley drive’s gearbox.
High School Science Experiences Associated to Mastery Orientation Towards Learning

An individual’s motivational orientation can influence their views on their academic potential and the actions they take to achieve it. In particular, a mastery orientation towards learning has been shown to positively influence the scientific productivity of career scientists and is associated to desirable learning outcomes. This study examines which high school physics experiences (including teacher practices and other classroom experiences) are associated to changes in students’ mastery orientation using exploratory factor analysis and regression on nationally-representative survey data taken from students enrolled in introductory English courses in the U.S. during the Fall of 2011. The implications of these findings for the improvement of the teaching of physics will be discussed.
Technical Efficiency in Public and Private Sectors in India: Evidence from the Post-Reform Years

While India’s state-owned enterprises are widely believed to be inefficient, there is a dearth of studies that document such inefficiency on any rigorous basis. Yet, since improvement in firm efficiency is one of the basic objectives of privatization, it is important to assess whether efficiency is indeed lower in the public sector than in the private sector. This paper compares the performance of state-owned enterprises with those of private sector firms in respect of technical efficiency. The comparison is made in eight different sectors over the period 1991-92 to 1998-99. We measure technical efficiency using the method of Data Envelopment Analysis. Judging by the average levels of technical efficiency, no conclusive evidence of superior performance on the part of the private sector is found.
UGANDAN DAMBO WETLAND CLASSIFICATION USING MULTISPECTRAL AND TOPOGRAPHIC REMOTE SENSING DATA

The seasonally saturated dambo wetlands of Central and Southeastern Africa are likely a substantial source of methane (CH4), an important greenhouse gas. Dambo soil, vegetative, and hydrologic characteristics vary along a gradual topographic gradient; from relatively dry uplands, to occasionally inundated margins, to more frequently inundated floors, to perennially inundated bottoms. CH4 production presumably also varies along the gradient from uplands to bottoms, making mapping dambo topography an important first step in determining regional dambo methane production. Multispectral remote sensing data and topographic attributes were used to map upland, margin, floor, and bottom classes of dambo wetlands in a 2,200 square kilometer study area located in central Uganda. Two Systeme Pour l’Observacion de la Terre (SPOT) 4 multispectral scenes were acquired to coincide with the beginning and end of the January-to-March dry season in the study area. Spectral indices and spectral mixture modeling fractions were calculated for both SPOT scenes. Phenological changes occurring within each dambo class were quantified by comparing remote sensing metrics in each SPOT scene. Multispectral metrics were combined with topographic data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) using a binary decision tree (BDT) to classify the study area into upland, margin, floor, and bottom classes. Field data were used for training the classifier and assessing the accuracy of the final classification. This classification will be used to locate methane emission sampling sites within the study area as part of the first region-scale dambo methane emissions modeling project.
The Socio-Economic Marine Research Unit ( SEMRU ) National University of Ireland , Galway Working Paper Series Working Paper 14-WP-SEMRU-04 Modelling Fishers ’ preferences for alternative management options under the Common Fisheries Policy

Failure to understand the potential responses of fishers to new management measures creates a significant risk of revisiting the familiar scenario of perverse and unintended consequences. This paper reports on a Choice Experiment survey to evaluate fishermen’s preferences for new management measures proposed under the recent EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) reform process. The survey was conducted with fishermen involved in mixed pelagic and demersal fisheries in Ireland, pelagic fisheries in Denmark and demersal fisheries in Greece. Fisheries management policies were characterised by five attributes designed both to cover the principal CFP reform proposals and to integrate ecological, social, economic and institutional factors. The paper uses a Random Utility Modelling framework to reveal the preferences of the fishermen for the alternative policy attributes and to analyse how respondents make trade-offs. Results show that while there are broad preferences both for healthy stocks and for maintaining the importance of fishing to the local community strong inter-fishery preference differences exist, most notably in relation to a discard ban, to the use of individual transferable fishing rights and to a certain extent to the prioritising of healthy fish stocks.
DISCORDANT PATTERNS OF MORPHOLOGICAL VARIATION IN GENETICALLY DIVERGENT POPULATIONS OF ORNATE SHREWS (SOREX ORNATUS)

Abstract Although the ornate shrew (Sorex ornatus) is widely distributed throughout California and northern Baja California, genetic analyses have shown that it is phylogeographically structured into 3 genetically differentiated regions (southern, central, and northern) within its distribution. These genetic groups might have been separated for more than a million years. In the northern region, ornate shrews cannot be genetically differentiated from their sister taxon, the wandering shrew (S. vagrans). Therefore it has been suggested that northern ornate shrews might have been misclassified. However, by analyzing skull morphology we show that ornate and wandering shrews, as well as the closely related montane shrew (S. monticolus), are well differentiated. Shrews from the northern region have a morphology similar to ornate shrews and not to wandering or montane shrews. Within the ornate shrews, populations across the range differ in morphology. However, morphological differentiation is not concordant with the deep tripartite pattern of genetic differentiation. Our results imply that skull shape differences among populations could be the result of local adaptation, whereas the long history of isolation might have contributed little to morphological differences between species. In addition, these results suggest that wandering shrews might be derived from the postglacial northward expansion of an ancestral population of northern ornate shrews.
Retrieval of Labeled Shape Classes in Binary Images Using Standardized Granulometric Intervals

This work proposes an empirical non-interactive method to identify and retrieve Labeled Shape Classes from binary images. The method bases on granulometries extraction from connected components resized by standardized ratios. The extraction procedure is used to compound an array of representative granulometric intervals on setup phase, as well as to test the connected components on retrieval phase. The use of symmetrical convex structuring elements for granulometry is intended to provide rotation invariance for angles multiples of 90 ◦ while the standardized resizing is preconceived to provide scale invariance. The corresponding algorithms are presented, along with their results and proposed extensions.
RP-HPLC Method Development and Validation for Simultaneous Estimation of Lopinavir and Ritonavir in Dosage form and in Plasma

A simple, selective, rapid, precise and economical reverse phase high performance liquid chromatographic (RP- HPLC) method has been developed for the simultaneous estimation of Ritonavir and Lopinavir in pharmaceutical dosage form and in plasma. The method was carried out on reversephase C18 column, with mixture of methanol: water (85:15v/v) was used as a mobile phase and the pH was adjusted to 3.5 by using O- phosphoric acid, at 1ml/min flow rate. Different analytical parameters such as linearity, precision, accuracy, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), robustness were determined according to International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines. The linear regression analysis data for the linearity plot showed good linear relationship with correlation coefficient value for Ritonavir and Lopinavir were r 2 =0.9998 and r 2 =0.9994 in the concentration range of 5-50 µg/ml, 20-200 µg/ ml respectively. Retention times of Ritonavir and Lopinavir were 4.8min and 5.9min. The described HPLC method showed to be sensitive for simultaneous determination of Ritonavir and Lopinavir with regard to the LOD and LOQ values. This method had been extensively validated. These methods allow a number of cost and time saving benefits. The described methods can be readily utilized for the analysis of pharmaceutical preparations.
Improving Electricity Access in Ghana Challenges and the Way Forward

Growth in demographic requirements, increased urbanization and rural electrification coupled with an ever-increasing technological demand, and the aspiration to transform into a middle-income country have led to a fast growth in energy demand in the past two decades in Ghana. Yet there is a huge deficit in supply and this has become a major limitation to growth and quality of life. As Ghana has devoted itself to universal access to electricity by 2020, the real challenge is in reaching the capacity to meet this goal; and most importantly, ensuring that supply is adequate and reliable. With access to electricity in Ghana been low for some time now with no improvement in sight, there is the need for a study such as this. The paper sought to examine the challenges preventing the progress of accessible electricity in Ghana. The paper adopted a systematic review approach and used publications that focused on or related to the subject understudy. Key findings identified in the paper include; poor pricing, increasing demand and supply shortfalls coupled with irregularities, institutional restrictions, lack of credible off-taker and lack of policy and project continuity. To address these challenges, suggested recommendations include; exploring all means of getting power source, including LNG, Solar, landfill gas and nuclear power, establishing a vibrant and robust power ministry that can help reform and also help in revenue collection.
Pay inequality and firm performance: evidence from matched employer–employee data

A large matched employer–employee data set for Sweden is used to test several predictions from tournament theory. For white-collar workers a positive and significant effect of intra-firm wage dispersion on profits and average pay is found, using various measures of wage dispersion. This result is robust for controlling for firm differences in human capital and firm fixed-effects as well as for instrumenting the wage dispersion variable to take into account endogeneity of wage dispersion. Using data on around 10 000 managers, a positive and significant association between pay dispersion and profits is also found for executives. Further results include a positive relationship between market demand volatility and wage dispersion, measured as coefficient of variation in managerial pay, and a negative effect of the number of managers (contestants) on managerial pay spread. The first two results are in accordance with predictions from tournament theory, while the last one is not.
Genetic diversity in European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) seed stands in the Romanian Carpathians

In Romania, European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) is the most important broadleaved tree species. The goal of the present study was to determine the genetic diversity and differentiation in and between natural beech populations from the Romanian Carpathians and the transmission of the genetic diversity to the next generation. The populations analyzed were registered as seed stands. Genetic analysis was based on ten nuclear microsatellites. The highest amount of genetic variation was within populations, whereas genetic differentiation between populations was low. In the adult populations the mean number of alleles per locus varied from 8.0 to 10.9, the effective number from 8.3 to 9.6. Heterozygosity ranged from 0.637 to 0.750 with the mean of 0.681(±0.018). The overall genetic differentiation FST between populations averaged 0.014. Geographic patterns within this region were not detected. Regenerating these stands naturally has not implied a reduction in the genetic variation in the following generation. Allelic richness, genetic diversity and heterozygosity in adult stands and their natural regeneration is not significantly different. Inbreeding effects were not observed (F between -0.032 and 0.061). The results complete the knowledge on genetic variation of beech in Romania and give insides into the genetic diversity of beech seed stands. They can be helpful too for the delineation of provenance regions in the Romanian Carpathians.
Carpel - fruit in a coniferous genus Araucaria and the enigma of angiosperm origin

Reproductive morphology of araucarian samara is revised revealing a carpellate structure of the stone. In A. columnaris it is formed by a supercoiled spermophyll (‘seed scale’), with a stigmatic apical lobe. This structure is analogous to the ‘classical’ peltate carpel of flowering plants. Stone opens with two apical pores. Pollen germinates on the apical stigmatic crest, with extracellular matter exuded from a stigmatic gland and its opposite on the bract apophysis. Ovulate structures are of the same basic type in the allied genera Wollemia and Pararaucaria. Neither of these genera is morphologically ‘transitional’ at the generic as well as familial levels thus setting araucarians apart from the rest of conifers no longer conceivable as a uniquely derived clade of gymnospermous plants. Araucarians thus deserve the status of a separate order anticipating the major evolutionary advancements of angiospermy in flowering plants.
Influence of Organic Mulches on Growth and Yield Components of Pea's Cultivars

To study the influence of organic mulches on growth and yield components of pea’s cultivars, an experiment was conducted at the Horticulture farm, Department of Horticulture, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Agricultural University, Peshawar, in 2008. Different pea cultivars (Climax, Green feast and Peshawar local) were allotted to main plot and various mulching materials (sawdust, sugarcane leaves, persimmon leaves, wheat straw and weed check as control) were allotted to subplot. Different growth and yield parameters (% germination, number of pods, plant height (cm), pods yield kg ha -1 and fresh weed biomass) were significantly affected by different pea cultivars. In case of different mulching material showed significance for fresh weed biomass, number of pods, plant height and pods yield kg ha -1 . The interaction of organic mulches and pea’s cultivars significantly influenced the % germination, plant height (cm), number of pods and pods yield kg ha -1 but showed a non-significant response to fresh weed biomass (kg ha- 1 ). The pea cultivar Greenfeast showed more % germination (96.07), number of pods (16.50), plant height (102.5 cm), pods yield kgha -1 (10497.80 kg) and less fresh weed biomass (289 kg ha -1 ). Similarly among different mulching material the maximum number of pods (16.80) and pods yield (10638.67 kg ha -1 ) were obtained in plants grown under the mulch of sawdust. Hence it is concluded that pea
Synchronization analysis of Kuramoto oscillators

Abstract. In this paper, we study the original Kuramoto oscillators and the generalized Kuramoto oscillators with directed coupling topology. For the original Kuramoto model with identical oscillators, we obtain that frequency synchronization can occur for all initial phase configurations distributed over the whole circle, which is proved by means of a new method based on the Lojasiewicz inequality for gradient systems of analytic functions. This improves the corresponding result in [S. -Y. Ha, T. Ha, and J.-H. Kim, Physica D 239, 1692–1700, 2010], where the authors only considered initial phase configurations distributed over the open half circle. For the generalized Kuramoto model with directed coupling topology, we show that when the phases of oscillators are distributed over the half circle and the coupling strength is sufficiently large, frequency synchronization is guaranteed. This improves and extends the previous results in [N. Chopra and M. W. Spong, IEEE Trans. Automat. Control 54, 353–357, 2009], [S.Y. Ha, T. Ha, and J.H. Kim, Physica D 239, 1692–1700, 2010], and [Y.P. Choi, S.Y. Ha, S. Jung, and Y. Kim, Physica D 241, 735–754, 2012], where the corresponding results hold in the original Kuramoto model for initial phase configurations whose diameters are smaller than π 2 or π. Finally, we extend the result to the case of switching topology.
Critical factors for quality management initiatives in small- and medium-sized enterprises

This paper identifies the critical factors for quality management (QM) initiatives in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The factors are grouped into six categories: contextualisation; gradual implementation using realistic goals; involvement and training of employees; involvement of external support; management involvement; and fact-based follow-up. A further analysis of the literature indicates that well-recognised ideas for improvement in large companies are useful for SMEs as well. However, compared to large companies, more focus is needed on acquiring external support, planning for a QM initiative in line with characteristics of the specific SME, and planning for a gradual implementation of the QM initiative that is followed up by realistic goals.
Stability of Rehydrated Mycoplasma gallisepticum Vaccine Homogeneity over Time

Proper vaccine application is required to maximize the results of the vaccination, while maintenance of a homogenous vaccine solution is critical to obtain uniform results. This study was designed to analyze the need for continuous mixing of rehydrated Mycoplasma gallisepticum vaccine solution in order to maintain a homogeneous solution during vaccine application. Commercial F-strain vaccine (AviPro MG ® F) was rehydrated and diluted in phosphate buffered saline in accordance with field practices. Dextrose was added to the solution to maintain M. gallisepticum viability without growth during the experiment. The vaccine solution was poured into columns and samples from the static solution were taken from 1, 25 and 50 cm above the base of the column. Samples were taken at 15, 30, 60 and 120 min and compared to a control that was mixed prior to sampling. The results indicate that no significant change in vaccine concentration occurred over the course of the experiment when comparing the mixed control to any of the samples. These results suggest that there is no need for continuous M. gallisepticum vaccine mixing if vaccine is applied within 2 h.
Thermal Annealing in Hydrogen for 3-D Profile Transformation on Silicon-on-Insulator and Sidewall Roughness Reduction

A fast, effective process using hydrogen annealing is introduced to perform profile transformation on silicon-oninsulator (SOI) and to reduce sidewall roughness on silicon surfaces. By controlling the dimensions of as-etched structures, microspheres with 1 m radii, submicron wires with 0.5 m radii, and a microdisk toroid with 0.2 m toroidal radius have been successfully demonstrated on SOI substrates. Utilizing this technique, we also observe the root-mean-square (rms) sidewall roughness dramatically reduced from 20 to 0.26 nm. A theoretical model is presented to analyze the profile transformation, and experimental results show this process can be engineered by several parameters including temperature, pressure, and time. [1580]