Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Grassmannian reduction of Cucker-Smale systems and application to opinion dynamics

In this note we study a new class of alignment models with self-propulsion and Rayleigh-type friction forces, which describes the collective behavior of agents with individual characteristic parameters. We describe the long time dynamics of solutions via a new reduction method allows reduce analysis from the multidimensional system to a family of simpler 2 dimensional systems parametrized by the proper Grassmannian. We prove exponential alignment of solutions with velocity field confined to a sector of opening less than $\pi$, extending the results of \cite{Ha-friction}. In the case when characteristic parameters remain frozen, the system represents dynamics of opinions of agents with constant conviction values. We prove uniqueness and stability of "agreement" equilibrium for any given set of convictions, and demonstrate convergence of any initial set of opinions to that unique agreement.
Predicting the genetic loci of past evolution

Repetitions in the mutations found to be responsible for independent evolution of similar phenotypes in various taxa have led some biologists to propose that for certain evolutionary changes the causal mutations are predictable. We examine here the nature of the predictions that have been made and their associated arguments. Predictions about the loci of past evolution are retrodictions, i.e. inferences about events that occurred in the past. They are not based on elaborate models and they derive mainly from the observation of repeated cases of genetic evolution. Predictions at the nucleotide level or at the gene level have a higher inference gain than those for broader categories of genetic changes such as cis-regulatory mutations.
A primer on metabolic memory: why existing diabesity treatments fail

Abstract Despite massive government and private sector investments into prevention of cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus and obesity, efforts have largely failed, and the burden of cost remains in the treatment of downstream morbidity and mortality, with overall stagnating outcomes. A new paradigm shift in the approach to these patients may explain why existing treatment strategies fail, and offer new treatment targets. This review aims to provide a clinician-centred primer on metabolic memory, defined as the sum of irreversible genetic, epigenetic, cellular and tissue-level alterations that occur with long-time exposure to metabolic derangements.
Significance of Feeding Practices for Small Ruminants: A Reveiw

Current study was carried in order to understand the significance of feeding practices for small ruminants. In this regards a detailed review of already conducted researches was performance, whereby obtained facts were found to be much interesting and valuable. It was indicated that the profitable small ruminants farming depends upon feeding practices because the feed cost about 70% in farming. Small ruminants are often offered grazing on summer and winter fodders for maintenance and production requirements. However, commercial production demands a change in feeding practice with a trend for more efficient utilization of scarce feed resources. It was further stated that goats spent more time on eating than sheep, while ruminating time remain higher in sheep than goats. Drinking time appears different among these species. Goats spent more time on playing and resting than sheep. Moreover, in extensive, semi-intensive and intensive feeding systems, dry matter intake was noticed higher in sheep than goats. Crude protein intake was reported significantly higher in sheep than goats fed intensively. NDF and ADF intake was higher in goats than sheep. Average daily weight gain was higher in sheep than goats on the extensive system followed by the semi-intensive system. Feed efficiency was similar in both species, while the cost of gain per kg was more economical in goats compared sheep. In conclusion both species performed better on extensive feeding system than the other systems. It might be because of natural grazing behavior.
Diversification and Speciation Across Sundaland and the Philippines: The Effects of 30 Million Years of Eustatic Flux

Diversification and Speciation Across Sundaland and the Philippines: The Effects of 30 Million Years of Eustatic Flux Luke J. Welton Department of Biology, BYU Doctor of Philosophy I highlight two squamate lineages endemic to Southeast Asia, the Asian water monitors (Varanus salvator Complex) and the Angle-headed lizards (Agamidae: Gonocephalus), and elucidate their systematic affinities and historical biogeography. My results represent novel phylogenetic inferences, with biogeographic histories and diversification events corresponding to major climatic fluctuations over the past 30 million years. Additionally, I solidify the taxonomy and systematics of the Varanus salvator Complex, and enumerate more than a dozen Gonocephalus lineages as candidate species in need of taxonomic scrutiny. Lastly, I investigate contemporary and historical patterns of dispersal throughout Sundaland, and between Sundaland and the Philippines.
In-depth investigation on abiotic stress-responsive differentially expressed genes in Arabidopsis roots through GEO database

ABSTRACT Abiotic stresses limit the plant growth and productivity. Plants have developed various responsive mechanisms to survive these adverse environmental conditions. To better understand plants how to adapt environmental stress, we retrieved the Arabidopsis root responsive genes related to eight abiotic stresses (salt, cold, drought, osmotic, UV, wounding, heat, and heavy metal stresses) from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. After quantile normalization of microarray data, a robust rank aggregation (RRA) algorithm was applied to determine the differentially expressed genes (DEGs). The resultant 213 DEGs, including 139 up-regulated and 74 down-regulated genes out of more than 20,000 genes, were further analyzed by the integrated bioinformatics approaches of PUBMED, PANTHER, DAVID, and STRING. The results indicated that the up-regulated DEGs were more positively involved in response to oxidative stress, regulation of transcription, and structure organization than the down-regulated DEGs. The former also had more complicated PPI interactions than the latter. Furthermore, qRT-PCR and enzyme activity have been done to validate the outcome of integrated bioinformatics analysis. Our work will facilitate to demonstrate the common molecular mechanisms responsive to differential abiotic stresses and these DEGs might be potential biomarkers for future abiotic stress-resistance studies.
Anatomopathological pneumonic aspects associated with highly pathogenic Pasteurella multocida in finishing pigs

Paladino E.S. , Gabardo M.P., Lunardi P.N. , Morés N. & Guedes R.M. C. 2017. Anatomopathological pneumonic aspects associated with highly pathogenic Pasteurella multocida in finishing pigs. Pesquisa Veterinária Brasileira 37(10):1091-1100. Departamento de Clinica e Cirurgia Veterinária, Escola de Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Av. Antônio Carlos 6627, Belo Horizonte, MG 31270-901, Brazil. E-mail: guedesufmg@gmail.com The bacterium Pasteurella multocida is a frequent cause of porcine respiratory disease complex in finishing pigs. Historically, the bacterium is recognized as an opportunistic agent, causing secondary bacterial pneumonia in pigs. Several Brazilian reports have suggested the ability of P. multocida to cause primary pulmonary infection that leads to the death of finishing pigs prior to slaughter. The aim of this study was to evaluate anatomopathological pulmonary findings associated with P. multocida infection that were obtained from animals with clinical respiratory disease and from animals at slaughter. Twenty-five lung samples from 14 herds of finishing pigs with acute clinical respiratory disease and 19 lungs collected at slaughter from a different set of 14 herds were studied. In all lung samples, bacterial isolation was performed, and only samples with pure P. multocida growth were included in the study. Gross and histopathological lesions were evaluated, as well as Influenza A, porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) and Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae co-infections. Pleuritis and pericarditis were more often observed in clinical samples (P<0.05). Moreover, there was a numerical trend indicating that pericarditis, lymphadenomegaly and cavity exudates were more often present in clinical samples. Thirteen lung samples were negative to M. hyopneumoniae, Influenza A and PCV2 by immunohistochemistry (IHC), with only P. multocida identified. In these cases, gross lesions such as pleuritis, pericarditis and lymphadenomegaly were always present, and no histologic lesions indicative of other agents such as Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, Actinobacillus suis or Haemophilus parasuis were observed. These findings suggest the ability of some P. multocida isolates to cause primary respiratory and systemic infection. However, in this study, it was not possible to determine specific virulence markers to explain these findings.
Integral barrier Lyapunov function‐based adaptive fuzzy output feedback control for nonlinear delayed systems with time‐varying full‐state constraints

In this article, an adaptive fuzzy output feedback control method is presented for nonlinear time‐delay systems with time‐varying full state constraints and input saturation. To overcome the problem of time‐varying constraints, the integral barrier Lyapunov functions (IBLFs) integrating with dynamic surface control (DSC) are applied for the first time to keep the state from violating constraints. The effects of unknown time delays can be removed by using designed Lyapunov‐Krasovskii functions (LKFs). An auxiliary design system is introduced to solve the problem of input saturation. The unknown nonlinear functions are approximated by the fuzzy logic systems (FLS), and the unmeasured states are estimated by a designed fuzzy observer. The novel controller can guarantee that all signals remain semiglobally uniformly ultimately bounded and satisfactory tracking performance is achieved. Finally, two simulation examples illustrate the effectiveness of the presented control methods.
Molecular biological studies of transposable elements and genome organization in Lucilia cuprina

A cross-species hybridization approach has been used to identify and clone transposable elements from the Australian sheep blowfly, Lucilia cuprina. Subclones from various transposable elements of the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster (including the retrotransposons 297, BI 04, mdg3, gypsy and copia, the I element retroposon, and the P element and hobo transposons) were nick-translated and used to probe Southern blots of Lucilia genomic DNA at low stringency (54°C, 3xSSC). Weak hybridization signals were obtained with all of the retroelement-derived probes, but the P element and hobo probes failed to produce detectable hybridization signals. A genomic DNA library was made from Lucilia embryos (SWT strain) and screened at low stringency (54°C, 3xSSC) with the 297, B 104, I element, P element, and hobo probes. Positively hybridizing plaques were detected in all cases, the numbers of which indicated copy-numbers of approximately 150-200 hybridizable sequences per genome for the 297 and B 104 probes, and approximately 30-50 hybridizable sequences per genome for the I element, P element, and hobo probes. Six of the 297-hybridizing clones were selected for characterization by means of various restriction and hybridization analyses; extensive sequence information was determined from one of these clones (A-Elsie-13), limited sequence information was obtained from three others. Hybridization and sequence data indicate that four distinct subfamilies of related retrotransposon-like elements are represented by these six clones. The Elsie-13 element is :::::9 kb in length and has many features characteristic of retrotransposons, including :::::500-bp L TRs, and an internal sequence with homology to the protease, reverse transcriptase, RN ase H, and integrase genes of retroviruses and other retrotransposons. All four of the elements for which sequence information was obtained are defective, as evidenced by the presence of small deletions, insertions, duplications and stop codons which destroy the open reading frames of the various genes. Five of the P element-hybridizing clones were also selected for characterization by restriction and hybridization analysis, and sequence information was obtained from two of them (Lu-Pl and Lu-P2). Hybridization and sequence data indicate that three distinct -. --::;:. subfamilies of related P-like elements are represented by the five clones. The Lu-Pl element shows a high degree of structural similarity, and a moderate degree of nucleotide sequence similarity ( :::::57o/o) to the P element, but appears to lack terminal inverted repeats
The Islamic Banking Sector Of Pakistan: The Impact Of Leadership Opportunities, Gender Differences, Working Conditions And Employee Performance On Job Satisfaction Of Female Employees Of The Industry

The findings of this research study is constructed depending the role of women in Islamic Banking industry of Pakistan. It has been conducted with an objective to determine the contrast of leadership opportunities, gender differences, working condition, employee performance with Job Satisfaction. The data has been collected from 200 male and female participants, representing the Islamic Banking Sector of Pakistan (Meezan Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank and Bank Islami). The result of the research shows a positive association in the selected dependent and independent variables. The study result further supports that in the current scenario the male gender participation for authoritative and leadership position is comparatively high as paralleled to female in the Pakistani Islamic Banking Sector of Pakistan. Further, it reveals that male working employees in the Islamic banking sector of Pakistan are far more satisfied as compared to female working participants. The result has reflected that the constructed model is significant (at the p < 0.001 level). The findings of this particular study possibly may assist the upper management to revisit their working environment policies and practices to consider females as equally responsible for challenging leadership roles, providing career path opportunities, and to promote Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) in organizations.
Fabrication of chromium-imprinted polymer: a real magneto-selective sorbent for the removal of Cr(vi) ions in real water samples

In this research work, we report a novel chromium-based magnetic ion-imprinted polymer for the selective and sensitive detoxification of hexavalent chromium ions from aqueous systems. A simple and facile co-precipitation method was applied for the fabrication of an amine-functionalized silica-capped iron oxide nanoparticle-based ion-imprinted polymer using dichromate (Cr2O7)2− ions as a template, 4-vinylpyradine as a ligand, methyl methacrylate as a functional monomer, ethylene glycol methacrylate (EGDMA) as a crosslinker, and α-α′-azoisobisbutyronitrile (AIBN) as an initiator. Different analytical techniques were used for the characterization of the synthesized materials, including SEM, XRD EDX, and FTIR. To achieve the maximum adsorption capacity, different parameters were optimized during the adsorption and desorption study including pH, adsorbent dose, temperature, analyte concentration, and shaking speed. According to the results, the data follows the Langmuir isotherm model, while the kinetic study was well described by the pseudo-second-order model. The maximum adsorption capability of Cr-MIIP was determined to be 169.49 mg g−1. The relative standard deviation and limit of detection and quantification were found to be 0.81 μg L−1 and 2.7 μg L−1 for this method. Thus, the high adsorption capacity, selectivity, ease of separation, and time-saving property of the Cr(VI)-imprinted silica-amine-functionalized magnetic polymer make it an efficient adsorbent for the selective remediation of hexavalent chromium ions from water bodies.
Factors Influencing The Breeding Success of White Storks Ciconia ciconia in Eastern Romania

Summary. The White Stork is a farmland and wetland bird that has become part of village communities by nesting in urban areas. Despite breeding close to people, allowing easy access for monitoring, its population in Eastern Europe is poorly studied. This paper presents the breeding success and habitat selection of a White Stork population from Eastern Romania. During the 2016 breeding season their breeding performance was poor compared to other European countries; on average only 2.25 nestlings fledged per nest. With respect to their habitat selection, the Eastern Romanian population uses similar habitats to storks elsewhere in Europe. Parameters influencing their breeding success could include weather conditions, geomorphology, habitat, landscape and intraspecific variables. To find those variables involved in the fluctuation of chick numbers General Linear Model (GLM) analyses, with a step procedure selection, were used. These analyses covered 55 variables. The best model of breeding success included altitude (P = 0.001); a higher elevation is associated with a lower number of chicks per nest. The number of river sectors (P = 0.045) and the distance to the nearest empty nest (P = 0.001) also have a positive influence on breeding success. These two variables could relate to the food availability in the study area. —Fasolă-Mătăsaru, L. , Baltag, E. Ş. , Ichim, P. & Cojocaru, D. (2018). Factors influencing the breeding success of White Storks Ciconia ciconia in Eastern Romania. Ardeola, 65: 271–282.
An Investigation of Factors Causing ESL Learning Anxiety in Classroom: A Case Study of ESL Learners at Shah Abdul Latif University Khairpur

English language plays crucial role as an official language of Pakistan and it is applied normally as a medium of instructions crossway over instructional institutions and business organizations. Since anxiety hinders the studying and learning techniques, in this way it's been widely inquired approximately the world and indicates to be underneath seemed into Pakistani context. As a result the important aim of this research is to investigating factors causing language anxiety in learning to speak English in classroom among undergraduate students of Shah Abdul Latif University Khairpur, Sindh, Pakistan. This Study followed a case study with mixed method approach using both quantitative and qualitative tactics. The population of this research study was 214 learners of English from Faculty of social sciences, Departments of Economics, International Relations and Media Studies. In this research study sampling size of 150 students was taken randomly who participated. Questionnaire used “to know students’ level of anxiety was adopted from FLCAS scale, developed by Horwitz et al (1986)”. Qualitative data was also obtained by conducting semi-structured interviews from 15 students randomly from three departments, 5 from each, and classroom observation was also carried out for three weeks. The results showed that anxiety of English classes is high rated Mean=31.98, Secondly fear of negative evaluation Mean=30.62, thirdly communicative apprehension Mean= 25.01 and fourthly test anxiety Mean= 13.89. It indicated that students have problem of anxiety. The statistics was analyzed in element eventually each quantitative and qualitative findings have been mixed to attain the end result of the study. The Findings of study mostly shown anxiety factors in classroom and are prominent such as fear of teacher, other student’s fear of being mocked, fear of making mistakes, lack of confidence, peer pressure, anxious personality, unsure about their abilities, fear of negative evaluation, worry of failing in examination tests, low proficiency, lack of vocabulary. Therefore results are significant that students have problem of anxiety while learning to speak English in classroom.
Common pool water resources management considering a regulator interference: A game theory approach to derive managerial policies for Urmia lake, Iran

An increased need for water, combined with a scarcity of water resources, has resulted in serious challenges regarding water resource management. Those issues have always been a major concern of most research regarding the management and operation of water resources. Various qualitative and quantitative methods, Game Theory (GT) being an example, have been proposed for managing common pool water resources. This study adopts GT to address a case of common pool water resource management, including consideration of the interference of a regulator. Urmia lake in north-western Iran was chosen as an illustration of a common source of water shared between two provinces acting as littoral stakeholders to the lake. Due to a non-cooperative behaviour of the stakeholders, the lake is most likely to dry up. To change the game situation, a regulator was inserted into the game as a third player. The game among players is investigated in terms of two static and dynamic game methods. Two strategies are defined for each player. The equilibrium point will be achieved according to the strategies adopted by the players. For static games, a low-level equilibrium under non-cooperation conditions is obtained. Dynamic games among players are more likely to occur, rather than static games. The equilibrium of high-level productivity will be obtained under cooperative conditions among the players.
Inter-Schools Collaboration and Information Management System: A Case of KISII County Secondary Schools, Kenya

: Inter-Schools Collaboration and Information Management System are technologies that support Knowledge Management (KM) in organizations, specifically - knowledge generation, codification, and transfer. The use of KM in organizations is now widely recognized and expected to be an important part of organizational practices. The study focused on establishing an Inter-Schools Collaboration and Information Management System that captures various aspects of school operations for Kisii County secondary schools. A KM system was designed, tested and implemented. The key areas of the Inter-Schools Collaboration and Information Management System that arose from the analysis done include; academics, student admissions, accounts, examinations and sports that encompass the bulk of the information critical for Inter-Schools Collaboration and Information Management System for school management. The researcher employed UML (unified Modeling language) in presenting the Inter-Schools Collaboration and Information Management System at the design stage. The results of the design phase were translated into program Codes using PHP, javascript, HTML, MySql and the wamp server as the implementation environment. The study provided platform that has made it easier, faster, and cheaper to access schools data from the same access point for many secondary schools in Kisii County.
Deep Attention Network for RGB-Infrared Cross-Modality Person Re-Identification

RGB-Infrared cross-modality person re-identification is an important task for 24hour full-time intelligent video surveillance, the task is challenging because of cross modal heterogeneity and intra modal variation. A novel deep attention network is proposed in this paper to handle these challenges by increasing the discriminability of the learned person features. The method includes three elements: (1) dual-path CNN to extract the feature maps of the RGB images and infrared images respectively, (2) dual-attention mechanism combining spatial attention and channel attention to enhance the discriminability of extracted features, and (3) joint loss function joining bi-directional ranking loss and identity loss to constraint the training process to further increase the accuracy. Extensive experiments on two public datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed method because the method achieves higher performance than state-of-the-arts methods.