Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Estimation of Genetic Parameters for Calving Ease by Heifers and Cows Using Multi-trait Threshold Animal Models with Bayesian Approach

Genetic parameters for birth weights (BWT), calving ease scores observed from calves born by heifers (CEH), and calving ease scores observed from calves born by cows (CEC) were estimated using Bayesian methodology with Gibbs sampling in different threshold animal models. Data consisted of 77,458 records for calving ease scores and birth weights in Gelbvieh cattle. Gibbs samplers were used to obtain the parameters of interest for the categorical traits in two univariate threshold animal models, a bivariate threshold animal model, and a three-trait linear-threshold animal model. Samples of heritabilities and genetic correlations were calculated from the posterior means of dispersion parameters. In a univariate threshold animal model with CEH (model 1), the posterior means of heritabilities for calving ease was 0.35 for direct genetic effects and 0.18 for maternal genetic effects. In the other univariate threshold model with CEC (model 2), the posterior means of heritabilities of CEC was 0.28 for direct genetic effects and 0.18 for maternal genetic effects. In a bivariate threshold model with CEH and CEC (model 3), heritability estimates were similar to those in unvariate threshold models. In this model, genetic correlation between heifer calving ease and cow calving ease was 0.89 and 0.87 for direct genetic effect and maternal genetic effects, respectively. In a three-trait animal model, which contained two categorical traits (CEH and CEC) and one continuous trait (BWT) (model 4), heritability estimates of CEH and CEC for direct (maternal) genetic effects were 0.40 (0.23) and 0.23 (0.13), respectively. In this model, genetic correlation estimates between CEH and CEC were 0.89 and 0.66 for direct genetic effects and maternal effects, respectively. These estimates were greater than estimates between BWT and CEH (0.82 and 0.34) or BWT and CEC (0.85 and 0.26). This result indicates that CEH and CEC should be high correlated rather than estimates between calving ease and birth weight. Genetic correlation estimates between direct genetic effects and maternal effects were -0.29, -0.31 and 0.15 for BWT, CEH and CEC, respectively. Correlation for permanent environmental effects between BWT and CEC was -0.83 in model 4. This study can provide genetic evaluation for calving ease with other continuous traits jointly with assuming that calving ease from first calving was a same trait to calving ease from later parities calving. Further researches for reliability of dispersion parameters would be needed even if the more correlated traits would be concerned in the model, the higher reliability could be obtained, especially on threshold model with property that categorical traits have little information.
Global clinical dementia rating of 0.5 in MCI masks variability related to level of function

Objective: To evaluate whether ratings on Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) items related to instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) are associated with cognitive or brain morphometric characteristics of participants with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and global CDR scores of 0.5. Methods: Baseline cognitive and morphometric data were analyzed for 283 individuals with MCI who were divided into 2 groups (impaired and intact) based on their scores on the 3 CDR categories assessing IADL. Rates of progression to Alzheimer disease (AD) over 2 years were also compared in the 2 groups. Results: The impaired IADL MCI group showed a more widespread pattern of gray matter loss involving frontal and parietal regions, worse episodic memory and executive functions, and a higher percentage of individuals progressing to AD than the relatively intact IADL MCI group. Conclusions: The results demonstrate the importance of considering functional information captured by the CDR when evaluating individuals with MCI, even though it is not given equal weight in the assignment of the global CDR score. Worse impairment on IADL items was associated with greater involvement of brain regions beyond the mesial temporal lobe. The conventional practice of relying on the global CDR score as currently computed underutilizes valuable IADL information available in the scale, and may delay identification of an important subset of individuals with MCI who are at higher risk of clinical decline.
Role of Protein Kinase Cζ and Calcium Entry in KCl-Induced Vascular Smooth Muscle Calcium Sensitization and Feedback Control of Cellular Calcium Levels

The degree of tonic force (F) maintenance induced in vascular smooth muscle upon K+ depolarization with 110 mM KCl can be greatly reduced by inhibition of rhoA kinase (ROCK). We explored the possibility that a protein kinase C (PKC) isotype may also play a role in causing KCl-induced Ca2+ sensitization. In isometric rings of rabbit artery, the PKC inhibitors, Go-6983 (3-[1-[3-(dimethylamino)propyl]-5-methoxy-1H-indol-3-yl]-4-(1H-indol-3-yl)-1H-pyrrole-2,5-dione), GF-109203X (2-[1-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)indol-3-yl]-3-(indol-3-yl) maleimide), and a cell-permeable (myristoylated) pseudosubstrate inhibitor of PKCζ (PIPKCζ) inhibited KCl-induced tonic F. A myristoylated pseudosubstrate inhibitor of PKCα/β that inhibited phorbol dibutyrate-induced F slightly potentiated KCl-induced tonic F and attenuated 30 mM KCl-induced F. Although the ROCK inhibitor, H-1152 [(S)-(+)-2-methyl-1-[(4-methyl-5-isoquinolinyl)-sulfonyl]-hexahydro-1H-1,4-diazepine dihydrochloride], reduced basal phosphorylation of myosin light-chain phosphatase-targeting subunit at Thr853 (MYPT1-pT853), 3 and 10 μM GF-109203X inhibited only KCl-stimulated phosphorylation, not basal MYPT1-pT853. In fura-2-loaded tissues, GF-109203X and PIPKCζ elevated basal [Ca2+]i (calcium) and potentiated KCl-induced tonic increases in calcium while reducing KCl-induced tonic increases in F. Blockade by nifedipine of Ca2+ entry through voltage-operated Ca2+ channels reduced KCl-induced Ca2+ sensitization and KCl-stimulated but not basal MYPT1-pT853. These data together support a model in which ROCK and PKCζ are constitutively active and function in “resting” muscle to regulate the basal levels of MYPT1-pT853 and calcium, respectively. In this model, KCl-induced increases in calcium activate PKCζ to feed forward and cause additional MYPT1-pT853 above that induced by constitutive ROCK, permitting Ca2+ sensitization and strong F maintenance. Active PKCζ also feeds back to attenuate the degree of KCl-induced increases in calcium.
Which Corporate Sustainability Activities are Associated with Greater Financial Payoffs

While many company managers and academic researchers have argued that businesses which develop a sustainability focus also may improve their financial performance, little information is known about whether firms’ different types of sustainability activities are related to varying degrees of financial gain. This paper assesses the economic relationship between two types of sustainability activities – lower- and higher-order – derived from Hart & Milstein’s (2003) sustainability value framework. Our analysis reveals that both types of sustainability activities are similarly associated with firms’ financial performance in terms of direction and trend. However, the average level of financial benefits related to firms’ higher-order sustainability activities (which develop new products and processes) is greater than the average level of financial benefits related with firms’ lower-order sustainability activities (which modify existing products and processes). These findings offer initial evidence that companies which reach further by developing higher-order sustainability activities may reap greater financial benefits, while improving the natural environment to a greater degree.
COLLISION AVOIDANCE BASED ON ELASTIC BANDS

Collision-free path planning will be an essential feature of future automotive collision avoidance systems (CAS). One of the most promising approaches uses so-called elastic bands in generating emergency trajectories. For the automotive application of this approach, moving obstacles and the borders of the road are modeled by virtual potential fields. To find solutions even in complex driving situations, the concept of computing several possible trajectories instead of just one is introduced. The stability of a vehicle traveling along these trajectories is estimated based on a model. A suitable estimation method and sample simulation results are given. Copyright © 2005 IFAC
Influence of cardiac resynchronization therapy on oxidative stress markers in patients with chronic heart failure.

BACKGROUND The aim of the study was to assess changes of substances of oxidative stress in patients treated with cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). METHODS The study comprised 51 patients with median age of 66 years. The presence, severity, and changes of oxidative stress during CRT were assessed and expressed as malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration in plasma or in red blood cells. Antioxidant activity was assessed by the activity of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in red blood cells. The concentration and activities were analyzed directly prior to implantation, 2-5 days after the procedure and after 6 months. Follow-up (6 months) included clinical, echocardiographic and implanted device assessments. RESULTS During the follow-up, 14% patients died. The median percentage of biventricular pacing was 99.29%. After 6 months 88% of patients improved NYHA, 12% remained as non-responders. Left ventricular ejection fraction increased from median 21.5% to 29% (p < 0.05). Left ventricular end-diastolic diameter decreased significantly from a median of 69.5 mm to 63 mm (p < 0.05). After a 6-month study, MDA plasma concentration and the activity levels of each antioxidant enzymes (CAT, SOD, GPx) showed a statistically significant reduction (p < 0.05). Changes concerning MDA concentrations in red blood cells remained statistically insignificant. CONCLUSIONS Resynchronization effect oxidative stress by reducing plasma concentration of MDA, CAT, SOD and GPX.
Maintenance performance assessment (MPA) framework for engineering asset

Assessing performance is a necessity for any industry today even in its simplest form. Performance assessment of maintenance process is a complex issue as it involves various inputs, outputs and stakeholders. Therefore, it is essential to consider all the relevant issues and factors for the maintenance performance assessment (MPA). The stakeholders¿ needs are required to be considered from different organizational hierarchical levels. In this paper, the author has tried to discuss the MPA framework from multi-criteria and hierarchical level, which needs to be holistic and balanced for the industrial application.
A Workload-aware Resources Scheduling Method for Virtual Machine

Virtualization-based cloud computing platforms allow multiple virtual machines (VMs) running on the same physical machine. Efficient allocation of limited underlying resources has been a key issue. In order to improve the CPU resources utilization, this paper presents a workload-aware CPU resources scheduling method (WARS). WARS uses the allocated credits and consumed credits to diagnose the CPU resources requirements of VMs and dynamically adjusts CPU resources according to the requirements of VMs. The adjustment of CPU resources is converted into increased or decreased weights of VMs. The implementation of WARS is confined to the VMM layer, without VM dependency. Our evaluation shows that WARS can improve the overall utilization of CPU resources.
Complexity Of The Single Vehicle Scheduling Problem On Graphs

AbstractLet G = (V, E) be a graph. The travel times w(u, v) and w(v, u) are associated with each edge {u, v)} ∈ E, and a job, which is also denoted as v, is located at each vertex v ∈ V. Each job v has release time r(v) and handling time h(v). A start vertex s ∈ V and a set Q ⊆ V of goal vertices are specified. The VSP (vehicle scheduling problem) asks to find a routing schedule of the single vehicle that starts from vertex s at time 0 and reaches one of the goal vertices in Q after visiting all jobs v ∈ V for processing. The processing of a job v cannot be started before its release time t = r(v) (hence the vehicle has to wait if it arrives at v before r(v) for processing) and takes h(v) time units once its processing has started (no interruption is allowed). The objective is to find a schedule that minimizes the completion time (i.e., the time to process all jobs). We first establish a dynamic programming algorithm for solving VSP on a general graph, and show that VSP can be solved in O(nb) time when G .
Non-Intrusive Documentation-Driven Integration Testing

Powerful development frameworks and adoption of agile development methods are continuously increasing release frequency, thus compress test cycles. Test automation, often relying on model based approaches, helps to reduce test time, however the introduction of related heavy weight processes is often quite challenging. In order to tackle this problem, we propose a bottom up testing approach, which in a nutshell, in the initial phase supports the integration tester in creating a semi-formal test case description and report. The approach, a textual domain specific framework, will guide the test expert in evolving the base language, in order to be tailored for a domain language of an organization. The evolved language can be linked to executable code, which enables in the long run (semi-)automated model based regression testing.
Long term accelerated aging investigation of an epoxy/silica nanocomposite for high voltage insulation

Abstract An epoxy/silica nanocomposite loading was subjected to a multistress environment along with neat epoxy (NEP) in a specially fabricated chamber at 2.5 kV for 9000 h. For aging investigation of the samples, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), leakage current monitoring and Swedish Transmission Research Institute hydrophobicity classification were used with constant visual inspection. Both samples were found to be adequate and suitable for insulation at the end of the aging period. However, the epoxy nanocomposite (EPNC) performed better in comparison to NEP. FTIR spectrographs showed that a reduction in important hydrocarbon groups was less in the EPNC. The leakage current was higher in the case of the neat sample and accompanied by a higher loss of hydrophobicity. Similarly, in the nanocomposite, no significant change in surface topography at micro level was recorded from the SEM analysis.
Peer-to-peer Computing

" Indeed, I believe that virtually every important aspect of programming arises somewhere in the context of [sorting and] searching! " – Donald E. Knuth, The Art of Computer Programming 13.1 Introduction Unfortunately, the term peer-to-peer (P2P) is ambiguous, used in a variety of different contexts, such as: • In popular media coverage, P2P is often synonymous to software or protocols that allow users to " share " files, often of dubious origin. In the early days, P2P users mostly shared music, pictures, and software; nowadays books, movies or tv shows have caught on. P2P file sharing is immensely popular, currently at least half of the total Internet traffic is due to P2P! • In academia, the term P2P is used mostly in two ways. A narrow view essentially defines P2P as the " theory behind file sharing protocols ". In other words, how do Internet hosts need to be organized in order to deliver a search engine to find (file sharing) content efficiently? A popular term is " distributed hash table " (DHT), a distributed data structure that implements such a content search engine. A DHT should support at least a search (for a key) and an insert (key, object) operation. A DHT has many applications beyond file sharing, e.g., the Internet domain name system (DNS). • A broader view generalizes P2P beyond file sharing: Indeed, there is a growing number of applications operating outside the juridical gray area, e.g., P2P Internet telephonyà la Skype, P2P mass player games on video consoles connected to the Internet, P2P live video streaming as in Zattoo or StreamForge, or P2P social storage such as Wuala. So, again, what is P2P? Still not an easy question. Trying to account for the new applications beyond file sharing, one might define P2P as a large-scale distributed system that operates without a central server bottleneck. However, with 135
In-vitro chromosomal radiosensitivity in Fanconi's anemia

Peripheral blood samples and fibroblast cultures from 5 children with Fanconi's anemia and 5 contorl were irradiated with 10 and 100 rads; other controls were non-irradiated with 10 and 100 rads; other controls were non-irradiated duplicate cultures. Blood cultures were harvested at 52 and 72 hours. Fibroblast cultures were irradiated 24 hours before fixation. Radiation break frequencies were calcultaed by subtracting figures for non-irradiated samples from those fro irradiated samples. The number of chromosome-type breaks per cell per rad in irradiated controls was 0.0025 ± 0.0005 (52 hour cultures) and 0.0017 ± 0.005 (72 hours cultures) in lymphocytes, and 0.0059 ± 0.0016 in fibroblasts, and in irradiated cells from Fanconi's anemia was 0.0103 ± 0.0016 (52 hour cultures) and 0.0074 ± 0.0036 (72 hour cultures) in lymphocytes, and 0.0103 ± 0.0034 in fibroblasts. The number of dicentrics and rings per cell was significantly greater in the Fanconi's anemia samples than controls at 100 rads. We concluded that, in-vitro, chromosomes of cells from children with Fanconi's anemia were significantly more radiosensitive than those of controls (P < 0.01).
Lambda : the ultimate syntax-semantics interface ?

Spreadsheets in accounting and Matlab in engineering are immensely popular because these glorified calculators let domain experts play : write down a problem in familiar terms and quickly try a number of solutions. Natural-language semanticists have a better tool. Not only does it compute grammar yields and truth values, it also infers types, normalizes terms, and displays truth conditions as formulas. Its modularity facilities make it easy to try fragments out, scale them up, and abstract encoding details out of semantic theories. This tool is a combination of techniques created by functional programmers, who are as unaware of its application to semantics as most semanticists. This paper breaks the barrier. We express extensible interpreters of naturaland formal-language fragments as functional programs. Specifically, we work our way from the simply-typed lambda calculus and a context-free grammar to a dynamic treatment of quantification and anaphora. We strive to be comprehensible and informative to both linguists and programmers.
Representing and querying XML with incomplete information

We study the representation and querying of XML with incomplete information. We consider a simple model for XML data and their DTDs, a very simple query language, and a representation system for incomplete information in the spirit of the representations systems developed by Imielinski and Lipski for relational databases. In the scenario we consider, the incomplete information about an XML document is continuously enriched by successive queries to the document. We show that our representation system can represent partial information about the source document acquired by successive queries, and that it can be used to intelligently answer new queries. We also consider the impact on complexity of enriching our representation system or query language with additional features. The results suggest that our approach achieves a practically appealing balance between expressiveness and tractability. The research presented here was motivated by the Xyleme project at INRIA, whose objective it to develop a data warehouse for Web XML documents.
Health Effects of Fine Particulate Air Pollution: Lines that Connect

Efforts to understand and mitigate the health effects of particulate matter (PM) air pollution have a rich and interesting history. This review focuses on six substantial lines of research that have been pursued since 1997 that have helped elucidate our understanding about the effects of PM on human health. There has been substantial progress in the evaluation of PM health effects at different time~scales of exposure and in the exploration of the shape of the concentration-response function. There has also been emerging evidence of PM-related cardiovascular health effects and grOWing knOWledge regarding intercon nected general pathophysiological pathways that link PM exposure with cardiopulmonary morbidity and mortality. Despite important gaps in scientific knowledge and con tinued reasons for some skepticism, a comprehensive evaluation of the research findings proVides persuasive evidence that exposure to fine particulate air pollution has adverse effects on cardiopulmonary health. Although much of this research has been motivated by environ mental public health policy, these results have important scientific, medical, and public health implications that are broader than debates over legally mandated air quality 'itandards.
The Power of Negative Thinking: Exploiting Label Disagreement in the Min-cut Classification Framework

Treating classification as seeking minimum cuts in the appropriate graph has proven effective in a number of applications. The power of this approach lies in its ability to incorporate label-agreement preferences among pairs of instances in a provably tractable way. Label disagreement preferences are another potentially rich source of information, but prior NLP work within the minimum-cut paradigm has not explicitly incorporated it. Here, we report on work in progress that examines several novel heuristics for incorporating such information. Our results, produced within the context of a politically-oriented sentiment-classification task, demonstrate that these heuristics allow for the addition of label-disagreement information in a way that improves classification accuracy while preserving the efficiency guarantees of the minimum-cut framework.