Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Isolated Bacteria from the Uteri of Camels with Different Reproductive Backgrounds: A Study on Sampling Methodology, Prevalence, and Clinical Significance

Simple Summary The mammalian uterus has been shown to host a range of microorganisms with or without potential pathogenic capacity. In camels, microorganisms from infertile subjects have been isolated using various sampling methodologies, but not much is known about the range of expected microbes that can be harbored in the uteri of camels without a complicated reproductive performance. The current results indicated up to 66% of camels yield bacteria from uterine samples with a higher frequency among sub-fertile subjects; yet, uterine bacterial burden does not necessarily indicate uterine pathology in otherwise reproductively asymptomatic animals. The application of small-volume lavage for uterine sampling might change our understanding about the range of uterine isolates in camels. Abstract The objectives of this study were to comparatively identify the common bacterial isolates from the uteri of camels coming from different reproductive backgrounds after standardizing the sampling method and to investigate the association of clinically measurable parameters with uterine colonization by these isolates. The uterine samples from 856 dromedary camels yielded a total of 17 different bacterial species with a higher proportion of sub-fertile camel uteri being colonized by bacteria (66.6%) as compared to nulliparous, recently calved, and those with unknown reproductive history combined (44.2%; p < 0.05). Camels with body condition scoring < 3 and those with a consistently echogenic appearance of the uterine lumen by sonography were more likely to be positive on uterine culture, while the presence of pus in uterine discharge was not associated with the odds of bacterial isolation (p > 0.05). While certain strains were more likely to be obtained from the uteri of the sub-fertile group (p < 0.05), embryo transfer to camels with a positive uterine culture in the absence of other gross reproductive pathologies did not necessarily affect the overall pregnancy rate compared to recipients with a negative uterine culture (p > 0.05). In conclusion, a relatively high bacterial load can be identified from the uteri of both sub-fertile and normal dromedary camels, with a higher frequency among the former. The uterine ultrasonography and evaluation of the body condition score can help in identifying the camels in which uterus is contaminated by bacteria.
Analysis of optical communications through the random air-water interface: feasibility for under-water communications

New results for investigating optical propagation through the random wavy air-water interface relevant to underwater optical communications are presented. A laser beam propagating through the air-water interface reaching a receiver below the water surface, as well as propagated through the water towards an airborne receiver, is significantly distorted due to the high geometric phase aberrations introduced by the random motion of the water surface waves. This causes a significant reduction in the received communications signal resulting in limiting the data transfer capability and the transmitting and receiving data rates. This research develops probabilistic models for optical propagation at the random air-water interface for both reflection and transmission cases under various wind speed conditions. Preliminary results from a laboratory water tank experiment provide information about histograms or the probability density functions of intensity fluctuations measured by a CCD camera for both reflection and transmission cases. Angular displacements of the centroid of the fluctuating laser beam generates the beam wander effects. Finally preliminary results for BER estimates for an on-off keying (OOK) for air-water interface only are presented for a communication system where random air-water interface is a part of communication channel.
Exchange bias controlled antisymmetric-symmetric magnetoresistances in Fe3GeTe2/graphite/Fe3GeTe2 trilayer

The magnetoresistance (MR) of spin values usually displays a symmetric dependence on the magnetic field. An antisymmetric MR phenomenon has been discovered recently that breaks the field symmetry and has the potential to realize multi-bit memory. In this work, we report a controllable switch between the antisymmetric and symmetric MRs and propose a multi-bit memory performance in Fe3GeTe2 (FGT)/graphite/FGT trilayer with modified vertical geometry. Via investigating the evolution of the antisymmetric MR depending on the spatial distribution, current direction, and magnetization configuration, we demonstrate that the antisymmetric MR results from the local nonequilibrium current through the trilayer. Furthermore, an exchange bias effect is induced which modifies the antisymmetric MR. A stable multi-bit memory is presented in the heterostructure. Such architecture for multi-state memory provides insights into other spin-valve structures to improve storage density.
Insurance pricing in an equilibrium model

We develop a dynamic equilibrium model of insurance pricing in a competitive market consisting of heterogeneous insurance companies. The insurers have different beliefs on expected loss rate of an underlying risk process and the belief divergences are stochastic. The insurers select optimal insurance market shares to maximize their individual utilities. The equilibrium insurance price is formulated when the insurance market is cleared. We provide a general equilibrium framework with a continuum of insurers in the market and then solve for the equilibrium insurance price explicitly in the case of N insurers. We find that the stochastic heterogeneity brings extra volatility to insurance price and makes it dynamic. The mean-reverting divergences of insurers may explain cycles of insurance business documented by empirical studies. Compared to the previous literature of optimal insurance, this paper introduces an asset pricing framework of general equilibrium to the research of insurance pricing.
Numerical Simulation of a Subtropical Squall Line over the Taiwan Strait

Abstract A two-dimensional, time-dependent, and nonhydrostatic numerical cloud model is used to study the development and structure of a subtropical squall line that occurred during TAMEX (Taiwan Area Mesoscale Experiment). The model includes a parameterized ice-phase microphysical scheme and long- and shortwave radiative transfer processes, as well as heat and moisture fluxes from the ocean surface. It was found that dynamic and kinematic structures of this simulated subtropical squall line are quite similar to its counterparts observed in the tropics and midlatitudes. For example, the squall line has a quasi-steady structure with a successive generation of cells at the gust front that propagate rearward relative to the front, the precipitation, and an evaporatively cooled downdraft at low and midlevels. This particular subtropical squall line is also shown to have a distinct midtropospheric rear inflow and a moderate anvil component of the total precipitation. The vertical transport of horizontal moment.
Life on the bubble: Who’s in and who’s out of March Madness?

Abstract Yearly, the top National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Division I, men’s basketball teams compete for the national championship, in what is commonly referred to as “March Madness. ” Teams are eligible for the tournament when they either win their conference tournament or are invited by a NCAA selection committee. Various factors influence the committee’s decision. Of primary importance is the perceived strength of a team; however, the possible measures used to assess a team’s strength can vary widely. These metrics are of particular interest for teams on the borderline or “on the bubble” of tournament inclusion. Using historical data, we assess which metrics play the most substantial roles in predicting tournament inclusion. Additionally, we determine guidelines for constructing a team’s schedule that are based on these metrics to enhance the chance of being selected for the tournament.
Dietary addition of Humulus scandens improved the intestinal barrier in rabbits

ABSTRACT This study was conducted to investigate the effect of Humulus scandens (HS) in diet on the production performance and intestinal barrier of rabbits. One hundred and sixty Laiwu black rabbits at 35 days of age with body weight of 692.5 ± 48.3 g were divided into four groups (five replicates per group and eight rabbits per replicate): fed on a basal diet free of HS (control), 4%, 8% or 12% HS powder supplement. The results showed that the dietary addition of HS decreased the ADFI, F/G, diarrhoea ratio and mortality ratio. Besides, the final body weight and ADG (P < .05) increased with the level of HS. Rabbits in 12% HS group had a higher sIgA and IgG concentration in serum and ileum than control, while lower TNFα, IFN-γ and IL-6 concentration (P < .05). Compared with the control, the HS supplementation groups for 12% level could decrease the mRNA expression of ZO-1, JAM3 and mucin1 (P < .05). In conclusion, dietary supplement of HS modulates immune responses and enhances intestinal barrier, meanwhile inhibits the synthesis of cytokine. Besides, our experiment offers positive evidence in improving rabbit health of HS as rabbit feed resource.
Optimal Strategies for Second Guessers

Abstract A model is given for a class of contests in which the participants try to guess (or estimate) unknown quantities, and the objective of each player is to come closer to the unknown quantities than an adversary. A general optimality result is proved that gives the best guessing rules for the second guesser. These rules are first calculated exactly in a certain hierarchical linear model, and then simpler approximate rules are given.
Ebanking - measuring attributes of banking new technologies adoption in developing economy countries

This study intended to develop, explore and validate a new measurement scale for the attributes of eBanking adoption dedicated to developing economy countries. It gathered items from previously validated instruments underlying eight banking customers' characteristics, performance expectations, effort expectations, perceived ease of use, social influence, perceived digital banking services quality, hedonic motivation and customer experience to form the initial measurement scale. Once, data was collected using convenience sampling, they were analysed through factor analysis procedures. At the exploratory phase, five components were retained and while four have been labelled according to some initial dimensions, one was renamed "perceived performance of digital banking". Furthermore, one item was removed from each reorganised component to increase internal consistency. At confirmatory factor stage, all remaining items were allowed to be incorporated in the final measurement scale, though, reaching an overall good fit model index necessitated the technique of correlating error terms for two measurement models: perceived performance of digital banking and social influence. Recommendations were made to extend the study kind investigation to gather data from much more developing economy countries as well as integrating other components that were not considered.
Investigating the Origin and Evolution of Polyploid Trifolium medium L. Karyotype by Comparative Cytogenomic Methods

Trifolium medium L. is a wild polyploid relative of the agriculturally important red clover that possesses traits promising for breeding purposes. To date, T. medium also remains the only clover species with which agriculturally important red clover has successfully been hybridized. Even though allopolyploid origin has previously been suggested, little has in fact been known about the T. medium karyotype and its origin. We researched T. medium and related karyotypes using comparative cytogenomic methods, such as fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and RepeatExplorer cluster analysis. The results indicate an exceptional karyotype diversity regarding numbers and mutual positions of 5S and 26S rDNA loci and centromeric repeats in populations of T. medium ecotypes and varieties. The observed variability among T. medium ecotypes and varieties suggests current karyotype instability that can be attributed to ever-ongoing battle between satellite DNA together with genomic changes and rearrangements enhanced by post-hybridization events. Comparative cytogenomic analyses of a T. medium hexaploid variety and diploid relatives revealed stable karyotypes with a possible case of chromosomal rearrangement. Moreover, the results provided evidence of T. medium having autopolyploid origin.
Integrating Common Risk Factors with Polygenic Scores Improves the Prediction of Type 2 Diabetes

We tested associations between 13 established genetic variants and type 2 diabetes (T2D) in 1371 study participants from the Volga-Ural region of the Eurasian continent, and evaluated the predictive ability of the model containing polygenic scores for the variants associated with T2D in our dataset, alone and in combination with other risk factors such as age and sex. Using logistic regression analysis, we found associations with T2D for the CCL20 rs6749704 (OR = 1.68, PFDR = 3.40 × 10−5), CCR5 rs333 (OR = 1.99, PFDR = 0.033), ADIPOQ rs17366743 (OR = 3.17, PFDR = 2.64 × 10−4), TCF7L2 rs114758349 (OR = 1.77, PFDR = 9.37 × 10−5), and CCL2 rs1024611 (OR = 1.38, PFDR = 0.033) polymorphisms. We showed that the most informative prognostic model included weighted polygenic scores for these five loci, and non-genetic factors such as age and sex (AUC 85.8%, 95%CI 83.7–87.8%). Compared to the model containing only non-genetic parameters, adding the polygenic score for the five T2D-associated loci showed improved net reclassification (NRI = 37.62%, 1.39 × 10−6). Inclusion of all 13 tested SNPs to the model with age and sex did not improve the predictive ability compared to the model containing five T2D-associated variants (NRI = −17.86, p = 0.093). The five variants associated with T2D in people from the Volga-Ural region are linked to inflammation (CCR5, CCL2, CCL20) and glucose metabolism regulation (TCF7L, ADIPOQ2). Further studies in independent groups of T2D patients should validate the prognostic value of the model and elucidate the molecular mechanisms of the disease development.
High-stable and reconfigurable photonic generation of radio-frequency arbitrary waveforms with multi-tone inputs

Abstract. Conventional temporal pulse shaping (TPS) for radio frequency (RF) arbitrary waveform generation (RF AWG) based on the Fourier transform relation between the input–output waveform pair requires the electronic AWG to generate RF input signal, which greatly limits the output waveform diversity due to the relative low sampling rate and bit resolution of electronic AWG, i.e., high-fidelity square waveforms are hard to be achieved since high-resolution broadband Sinc input signals are difficult to be generated by current commercial electronic AWGs. The approaches based on TPS with phase modulation incorporating with iterative algorithms can relatively improve the waveform diversity by applying the optimal phase information. However, time-consuming iterative algorithms significantly restrict the waveform reconfigurability, i.e., desired RF waveforms cannot be generated in real-time. We propose a novel high-stable and reconfigurable RF AWG scheme with multi-tone inputs, which aims to improve the output waveform diversity with simple manipulation and high stability. In our design, any desired RF waveform can be achieved in real-time by simply adjusting the power values of multi-tone inputs. A proof-of-concept experiment was implemented, which fully verified the feasibility of the approach. The system performance in terms of output waveform stability was investigated in detail. As no electronic AWG is employed and no iterative algorithms are required, the proposed design provides a promising solution for high-performance reconfigurable photonic-based RF arbitrary waveforms generation.
Comparison of weight captured via electronic health record and cellular scales to the gold‐standard clinical method

Abstract Introduction Obtaining body weights remotely could improve feasibility of pragmatic trials. This investigation examined whether weights collected via cellular scale or electronic health record (EHR) correspond to gold standard in‐person study weights. Methods The agreement of paired weight measurements from cellular scales were compared to study scales from a weight loss intervention and EHR‐collected weights were compared to study scales from a weight loss maintenance intervention. Differential weight change estimates between intervention and control groups using both pragmatic methods were compared to study collected weight. In the Log2Lose feasibility weight loss trial, in‐person weights were collected bi‐weekly and compared to weights collected via cellular scales throughout the study period. In the MAINTAIN weight loss maintenance trial, in‐person weights were collected at baseline, 14, 26, 42 and 56 weeks. All available weights from the EHR during the study period were obtained. Results On average, in Log2Lose cellular scale weights were 0.6 kg (95% CI: −2.9, 2.2) lower than in‐person weights; in MAINTAIN, EHR weights were 2.8 kg (SE: −0.5, 6.0) higher than in‐person weights. Estimated weight change using pragmatic methods and study scales in both studies were in the same direction and of similar magnitude. Conclusion Both methods can be used as cost‐effective and real‐world surrogates within a tolerable variability for the gold‐standard. Trial registration NCT02691260; NCT01357551.
Spatial Distribution of Spiral Galaxies in the Virgo Cluster from the Tully-Fisher Relation

A Tully-Fisher analysis is carried out for a complete sample of spiral galaxies in the Virgo Cluster with the use of newly obtained accurate photometry data. We present the evidence that spiral galaxies in the Virgo Cluster are distributed in an elongated region, like a filament, which extends from 13 to 30 Mpc almost along the line of sight (offset 6° toward SSW) with the maximum of the density distribution at around 15 Mpc. This explains the discrepancy in the distance modulus and the dispersion among various authors who carried out Tully-Fisher analyses for the Virgo Cluster
Construction of Symmetry‐Adapted Functions in the Many‐Particle Problem

A new method is presented for obtaining many‐particle angular momentum eigenfunctions and matrix elements of an invariant Hamiltonian. The same technique can be used to construct symmetry‐adapted functions for any group of operators that commute with the Hamiltonian, and to simplify the evaluation of matrix elements in the symmetry‐adapted basis. Applied to an arbitrary configuration, the method produces orthonormal functions identical with those that would be obtained by Schmidt orthogonalization of the projections of the original basis functions of the configuration. Because of this relationship, matrix elements of the Hamiltonian are greatly simplified, but the functions are obtained without explicitly constructing the projection operators or their matrix representations. To illustrate the method, it is applied to the spin coupling of configurations with three, four, and five particles outside closed shells, and to the two 2D functions of the atomic configuration d3, in Russell‐Saunders coupling. Table.
Receding Horizon Guidance Laws with No Information on the Time-to-Go

In this paper a modie ed optimal guidance law is proposed that does not use information on the time-to-go. The proposed receding horizon guidance law (RHG) is based on the receding horizon strategy and optimal control theory. In the presence of arbitrary target maneuvers and an initial lateral miss distance (MD) rate between the target and the missile, the proposed RHG is shown to guarantee to keep the lateral MD less than the given value, within which the warhead of the missile is detonated, from the appropriately selected time to the intercept time. Through threesimulation examples theability oftheRHGto interceptthetarget isillustrated. The performanceof theRHGiscompared with theoptimalguidancelawin termsoftheterminal MDwhen thetime-to-goisinaccurate, and in terms of the lateral MD and the missile acceleration when the time-to-go is accurate.
Vehicle Classification Using Deep Feature Fusion and Genetic Algorithms

Vehicle classification is a challenging task in the area of image processing. It involves the classification of various vehicles based on their color, model, and make. A distinctive variety of vehicles belonging to various model categories have been developed in the automobile industry, which has made it necessary to establish a compact system that can classify vehicles within a complex model group. A well-established vehicle classification system has applications in security, vehicle monitoring in traffic cameras, route analysis in autonomous vehicles, and traffic control systems. In this paper, a hybrid model based on the integration of a pre-trained Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and an evolutionary feature selection model is proposed for vehicle classification. The proposed model performs classification of eight different vehicle categories including sports cars, luxury cars and hybrid power-house SUVs. The used in this work is derived from Stanford car dataset that contains almost 196 cars and vehicle classes. After performing appropriate data preparation and preprocessing steps, feature learning and extraction is carried out using pre-trained VGG16 first that learns and extracts deep features from the set of input images. These features are then taken out of the last fully connected layer of VGG16, and feature optimization phase is carried out using evolution-based nature-inspired optimization model Genetic Algorithm (GA). The classification is performed using numerous SVM kernels where Cubic SVM achieves an accuracy of 99.7% and outperforms other kernels as well as excels in terns of performance as compared to the existing works.
Effectiveness and efficiency of three-dimensional shape retrieval

The effectiveness and efficiency of a content-based three-dimensional shape search system are investigated for supporting the re-use of engineering designs. Search effectiveness is characterized by precision and recall values from repeated search experiments. We extract four feature vectors from each three-dimensional shape and compare them for effectiveness. The performance of an R-tree-based index structure is also evaluated to characterize search efficiency. Search efficiency is evaluated by the ratio of the number of visited nodes in a search operation to the number of nodes in a database index. A multi-step refinement approach is proposed to improve search effectiveness. Based on the results of the experiments with a database of real models, the effectiveness of using multi-step refinement is predicted to be 51% higher than that of one-shot search using a single feature vector, although the difference becomes smaller when the number of retrieved shapes is larger. The R-tree index significantly improves the efficiency of our search system. Search efficiency decreases with the dimensionality of the data records and the capacity of database nodes. Based on our experiments with the synthetic database, the efficiency is predicted to be stable when the size of a database increases.