Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
MICROSATELLITE MARKERS FOR PEDIGREE VЕRIFICATION IN CATTLE

In order to achieve efficient implementation of the breeding programs that include selective reproduction, correct pedigree information and relationships between the animals is the basic condition. Breeding strategies in domesticated livestock are based on animal model evaluations, which include all known genetic relationships between the animals in the calculations. However, as demonstrated in some studies, the main assumption of this model for achieving unbiased evaluations – that all pedigrees and relationships are correctly recorded, is not always fulfilled. Misidentified animals are expected to bias the estimation of genetic parameters and breeding values and can lead to loss in selection response and reduced genetic progress as they are a function of the number of misidentified progeny. Errors in pedigrees could also result in incorrect decisions about selective mating of the animals, which could increase the inbreeding depression. In the past, parentage/paternity testing in cattle has been carried out through the blood group and the protein polymorphism analysis, but because of some drawbacks, these tests have been replaced with new ones that are based on detection of certain "genetic markers". Most informative and most commonly used are the microsatellite markers (Short Tandem Repeats) which are highly polymorphic and are located on the noncoding intron regions of the bovine genome. The advantage of microsatellite based tests is that theoretically any sample containing nuclear DNA can be used for analysis, and when genotyping recommended set of markers, the accuracy of the test is much higher as the probability of detecting mistaken parentage is a direct function of the polymorphism of the markers used. The research of the cattle genome conducted in the past resulted in identification of several thousand microsatellite loci, among which nine most informative are recognized by the International Society for Animal Genetics (ISAG) as "international marker set" and are recommended as a minimal panel to be included in cattle pedigree verification in order to facilitate the record exchange between laboratories.
Elevated Blood Pressure in Pregnancy and Subsequent Chronic Disease Risk

Background— Preeclampsia, a new-onset hypertensive disorder of pregnancy, is associated with lifetime cardiovascular disease risk, but less is known about risk after other pregnancy-related hypertension. Methods and Results— The Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 included all expected births from 1 year (N=12 055 women). Blood pressure measurements and other prospective data were determined from prenatal care records and questionnaires for 10 314 women. Subsequent diagnoses were ascertained from Finnish registries (average follow-up, 39.4 years). Adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) estimate risks in hypertensive women compared with normotensive women. Hypertension during pregnancy was associated with increased risk of subsequent cardiovascular disease and arterial hypertension. Women with chronic hypertension and superimposed preeclampsia/eclampsia had high risk for future diseases. Gestational hypertension was associated with increased risk of ischemic heart disease (HR, 1.44 [95% CI, 1.24–1.68]), myocardial infarcts (HR, 1.75 [95% CI, 1.40–2.19]), myocardial infarct death (HR, 3.00 [95% CI, 1.98–4.55]), heart failure (HR, 1.78 [95% CI, 1.43–2.21]), ischemic stroke (HR, 1.59 [95% CI, 1.24–2.04]), kidney disease (HR, 1.91 [95% CI, 1.18–3.09]), and diabetes mellitus (HR, 1.52 [95% CI, 1.21–1.89]). Isolated systolic hypertension was associated with increased risk of myocardial infarct death (HR, 2.15 [95% CI, 1.35–3.41]), heart failure (HR, 1.43 [95% CI, 1.13–1.82]), and diabetes mellitus (HR, 1.42 [95% CI, 1.13–1.78]), whereas isolated diastolic hypertension was associated with increased risk of ischemic heart disease (HR, 1.26 [95% CI, 1.05–1.50]). Results were similar in nonsmoking women aged <35 years with normal weight and no diabetes mellitus during pregnancy. Conclusions— Elevated blood pressure during pregnancy, regardless of type and even without known risk factors, signals high risk of later cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes mellitus. Clinical monitoring, risk factor evaluation, and early intervention could benefit women with hypertension in pregnancy.
Retrospective Analysis of Prevalence of High-risk and Low-risk Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Genotypes in Iranian Women During 2013-2016

Objective: Considering the importance of HPV in cancer etiology, awareness of HPV prevalence and frequency of high risk genotypes could help to improve health care system management. We analyzed HPV prevalence in women form different provinces of Iran that is the largest number of studied samples till now. Methods: In this retrospective cross-sectional study, 2969 outpatient and suspicious women aged of 17- 78 were referred to Noor pathobiology laboratory from 24 provinces of Iran. DNA extraction and PCR were performed on samples and then HPV genotypes were also determined using hybridization kit. Results: Our results indicated that HPV DNA was detected in 29.3% of valid liquid-based samples. Among HPV positive cases, 67.2% and 52.0% accounted for high-risk and low-risk HPV subtypes, respectively. In patients with high risk HPV types, HPV16 was confirmed as predominate type (30.5%) followed by HPV53 (17.3%) and HPV39 (13.3 %). HPV6 was found as the most common low risk HPV type with 60.6% frequency rate followed by HPV11 (17.9%) and HPV81 (8.6%) in this group. It was apparent that age group >25 accounted the highest frequency of HPV positivity. The prevalence of HPV was significantly different in the age groups (p<0.0001). Conclusions: It can be concluded that HPV infection is currently at a considerable high level in Iran. Looking at the high risk and oncogenic HPV subtypes frequency especially in younger age groups, it could be noticed to be concern about HPV relevant cancers which can be prevented by commercial and approved HPV vaccines.
Boron-doped a-Si:H∕c-Si interface passivation: Degradation mechanism

The authors report that for a-Si:H∕c-Si heterostructure solar cell fabrication the presence of a boron-doped a-Si:H(p+) overlayer may cause H2 effusion from a (few nanometers) thin underlying intrinsic a-Si:H(i) film at moderate temperatures. This phenomenon is in agreement with losses in the electronic passivation quality of c-Si∕a-Si:H(i)∕a-Si:H(p+) structures occurring during low temperature (⩽260°C) postdeposition annealing. Consequently, it is argued that such passivation degradation is due to Si–H rupture in the a-Si:H(i) film, likely resulting in Si dangling bond defects, mediated by the presence of the doped layer.
New Empirical Earthquake Source-Scaling Laws by Kiran

We develop new empirical scaling laws for rupture width W, rupture length L, rupture area A, and average slip D, based on a large database of rupture models. The database incorporates recent earthquake source models in a wide magnitude range (Mw 5.4–9.2) and events of various faulting styles. We apply general orthogonal regression, instead of ordinary least-squares regression, to account for measurement errors of all variables and to obtain mutually self-consistent relationships. We observe that L grows more rapidly with Mw compared to W. The fault-aspect ratio (L=W) tends to increase with fault dip, which generally increases from reversefaulting, to normal-faulting, to strike-slip events. At the same time, subduction-interface earthquakes have significantly higherW (hence a larger rupture area A) compared to other faulting regimes. For strike-slip events, the growth of W with Mw is strongly inhibited, whereas the scaling of L agrees with the L-model behavior (D correlated with L). However, at a regional scale for which seismogenic depth is essentially fixed, the scaling behavior corresponds to the W model (D not correlated with L). Selfsimilar scaling behavior with Mw − log10 A is observed to be consistent for all the cases, except for normal-faulting events. Interestingly, the ratio D=W (a proxy for average stress drop) tends to increase with Mw, except for shallow crustal reversefaulting events, suggesting the possibility of scale-dependent stress drop. The observed variations in source-scaling properties for different faulting regimes can be interpreted in terms of geological and seismological factors. We find substantial differences between our new scaling relationships and those of previous studies. Therefore, our study provides critical updates on source-scaling relations needed in seismic–tsunami-hazard analysis and engineering applications. Electronic Supplement: Figures depicting regression analysis, normality probability plots, and comparisons between different source-scaling relationships; and tables listing rupture models and different earthquake source-scaling relationships.
Predictors of Adherence in the Women's Health Initiative Calcium and Vitamin D Trial

The authors analyzed data from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) Calcium and Vitamin D Supplementation Trial (CaD) to learn more about factors affecting adherence to clinical trial study pills (both active and placebo). Most participants (36,282 postmenopausal women aged 50-79 years) enrolled in CaD 1 year after joining either a hormone trial or the dietary modification trial of WHI. The WHI researchers measured adherence to study pills by weighing the amount of remaining pills at an annual study visit; adherence was primarily defined as taking ≥ 80% of the pills. The authors in this study examined a number of behavioral, demographic, procedural, and treatment variables for association with study pill adherence. They found that relatively simple procedures (ie, phone contact early in the study [4 weeks post randomization] and direct social contact) later in the trial may improve adherence. Also, at baseline, past pill-use experiences, personal supplement use, and relevant symptoms may be predictive of adherence in a supplement trial.
Decentering as a potential common mechanism across two therapies for generalized anxiety disorder.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to examine decentering as a potential mechanism of action across 2 treatments for generalized anxiety disorder: an acceptance-based behavioral therapy (ABBT) and applied relaxation (AR). METHOD Sixty-four individuals who completed at least half of the 16 total sessions of either ABBT or AR (65.6% female; 79.7% identified as White; average age = 34.41 years) completed measures of decentering (Experiences Questionnaire) and of symptoms of anxiety (Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-Stress subscale) at 5 time points over the course of therapy, and a measure of worry (Penn State Worry Questionnaire) at pre- and posttreatment. RESULTS Initial growth curve models showed that decentering increased significantly over therapy (z = 7.09), and this increase was associated with a decrease in worry symptoms (Penn State Worry Questionnaire) at posttreatment (z = -8.51). The rate of change did not significantly vary across treatments, Δχ2/Δdf = 0.16/1, p = . 69. Further, a series of bivariate latent difference score models indicated that the best-fitting model was one in which decentering was a leading indicator of change in symptoms (DASS-Stress). Allowing this coupling to vary across treatments did not significantly improve the fit of the model, Δχ2/Δdf = 0.71/1, p = . 40. CONCLUSIONS In this sample, results suggest that increased decentering was associated with decreases in anxiety and that changes in decentering appear to precede changes in symptoms within both ABBT and AR, indicating that decentering may be an important common mechanism of action. (PsycINFO Database Record
Hybrid wavelet packet-support vector classification of atrial activation patterns

The discrimination of ventricular tachycardia (VT) with 1:1 retrograde conduction from sinus tachycardia often remains a challenge for rate-based arrhythmia recognition algorithms commonly used in dual-chamber implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs). In this study, we propose hybrid wavelet packet-support vector classifiers for the recognition of atrial activation patterns as rate independent approach. Consecutive beats representing antegrade (AA) and retrograde atrial (RA) activation patterns within data segments of 10s duration were supplied to a binary hybrid wavelet packet-support vector classifier with radial kernel and morphologically adapted wavelet packets followed by a regularization scheme to exclude ectopic beats and artifacts. This system utilizes an optimal representation of the EE waveforms and inherently minimizes an upper bound on the generalization error All data segments of an independent test set with AA and RA sequences Were classified correctly by the proposed scheme. The possible use of this scheme in dual-chamber ICDs may increase the specificity of the VT detection by these devices.
Pointwise Regularity Exponents and Well-Behaved Residuals in Stock Markets

The article deals with a class of stochastic processes, the Multifractional Processes with Random Exponent (MPRE), recently introduced to gain flexibility in modeling many complex phenomena. We claim that MPRE can capture in a very parsimonious way most of the well known financial stylized facts. In particular, we prove that the process unconditional distributions are fat-tailed and high-peaked and show that, as it occurs for asset returns, the empirical autocorrelation functions of the process increments are close to zero whereas significant values are exhibited by squared (or absolute) increments. Furthermore, we provide evidence that the sole knowledge of functional parameter of the MPRE allows to calculate residuals that perform much better than those obtained by other discrete models such as the GARCH family.
Rapid induction of transcriptional and post-transcriptional gene silencing using a novel Cucumber mosaic virus vector

We developed a novel RNA virus vector based on the Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), which is able to efficiently induce gene silencing in plants. We manipulated the RNA 2 of the CMV Y strain, whose genome consists of tripartite components, and introduced restriction sites for cloning a foreign sequence into the vector. To evaluate the vector (designated CMV2-A1) in terms of the ability to induce gene silencing, we cloned portions of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) cDNA or Cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter sequences into the vector and inoculated the infectious transcripts into Nicotiana benthamiana plants that express the GFP gene under the control of the CaMV 35S promoter. In both cases, a loss of GFP fluorescence accompanying a reduction in the level of GFP mRNA was induced. The short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) harboring the sequences inserted in the CMV2-A1 vector were detected in the silenced plants. When plants were infected with the virus containing the CaMV 35S promoter sequence, the CaMV 35S promoter sequence in the genomic DNA was heavily methylated. A reduction in the mRNA level of the GFP gene and loss of GFP fluorescence were induced as early as 6 and 12 days post-inoculation, respectively, earlier than the 20 days previously achieved with a Potato virus X vector. These results suggest that the CMV2-A1 vector is suitable for the rapid induction of both transcriptional and post-transcriptional gene silencing.
Investigations concerning the role of Chalara fraxinea in declining Fraxinus excelsior

A study was carried out to clarify the role of the fungus Chalara fraxinea in decline of Fraxinus excelsior , which is observed on a large scale in central and northern Europe with high incidence of tree mortality. The aims of this work were: (i) to check for the presence of C. fraxinea in various tissues of declining F. excelsior by agar culture isolations and by direct analysis of plant tissues using molecular techniques (DNA extraction, ITS-PCR, cloning, ITS sequencing and T-RFLP); (ii) to study fungal communities inhabiting tissues with symptoms; and (iii) to test the pathogenicity of C. fraxinea to F. excelsior . Chalara fraxinea was isolated from 93% of stem cankers, 91% of necrotic leaf stalks, 27‐28% of bark wounds and 30% of visually healthy leaf stalks. Molecular analyses of necrotic leaves, leaf stalks and bark revealed the presence of 25 different fungal taxa, 14 of which were detected in all three types of tissue sample. Chalara fraxinea was the second most common species (61% of samples), and only Cryptococcus foliicola occurred more often (70%). All eight of the tested C. fraxinea isolates induced necroses in bark and cambium on each of 86 inoculated trees, and all controls remained healthy. Average length of necroses caused by different C. fraxinea strains varied from 4·2 to 8·9 cm, but the differences were statistically insignificant. Instead, differences in resistance of individual trees to C. fraxinea were observed.
A Comparison Study of Sino-American Parenting Education from the Perspective of Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions

Parenting education is an indispensable part for the education. Parenting education reflects the value and culture. This paper first explores the relationship between culture and parenting education and divides parenting into four dimensions, namely, harsh parenting, tiger parenting, easy-going parenting, and supportive parenting whose characteristics are discussed in details. Then measurements of education are discussed and there are five first-layer measurements and fifteen second-layer measurements. Finally, differences and diversification of Sino-American parenting education are discussed in accordance with Hofstede‟s cultural dimensions.
Productive Performance Evaluation of Dorper Sheep and Its F1 at Areka Agriculyural Research Centre Mente Dubo Breed Evaluation and Distribution Site Southern Ethiopia

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the growth performance of purebred Dorper sheep and its F1 crossbred (50%, upgraded 75%), lamb following crossing pure imported Dorper with local ewe under BED site at the same rearing condition. For these study for crossing purpose Locally reared SNNPR regional native sheep, (Doygena n=74 ewe,Dawro,n=14 ewe, and and Bonga n=14 ewe were used. Local ewe was crossed with South African Dorper ram following station natural controlled breeding system. Data were collected during 2012-2015. For this study Productive data of four consecutive year data were analyzed. Blood level, lamb sex, birth season, birth year, birth type and ewes’ parity were considered as fixed effects. Data analyses were performed using general linear model procedures of SPSS Version 20. Breed was a significant source of variation .This study confirms Dorper sheep can adapt and had performed better in the study BED site and Crossing with local and up grading could gain heaver birth weight than lower blood level. 75 percent F1 progeny was significantly better weight gain than 50 percent under station rearing condition. The birth weight of Dorper x doygena,Dorper X Bonga and Dorper X Dawro were 2.58±0.59,2.62±0.19,2.42±0.25k.gespectively . Birth weight for pure Dorper lambs born on BED site, for 50 percent, and 75% percent were3.6±0.158 kg, 2.58±0.59 kg respectively. Singles born lamb were significantly (P<0.01) heavier than twins and triplet with an average 3.036±0.680kg, 2.355±0.104 kg and 2.3±0.33kg respectively, but sex did not affect birth weight. The present results suggested that under better management and right breeding program Dorper sheep could improve the productivity of the local sheep.it can be conclude that Dorper and its F1 cross with Doygena,Bonga and Dawro sheep were adaptable and perform well at station rearing condition level.it is recommended that indigenous sheep genetic improvement via exotic Dorper sheep crossbreeding X local and production of F1 could be one option of breeding sheep source in side of community based sheep breed genetic improvement. It is also suggested that for better evaluation of the breed further study at farmer level in different agroecology is required. Keywords : Dorper ; performance evaluation; crossing, southern native sheep.
Patient Specific Numerical Simulation of Flow in the Human Upper Airways for Assessing the Effect of Nasal Surgery

The study is looking into the potential of using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) as a tool for predicting the outcome of surgery for alleviation of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). From pre- and post-operative computed tomography (CT) of an OSAS patient, the pre- and post-operative geometries of the patient's upper airways were generated. CFD simulations of laminar flow in the patient's upper airway show that after nasal surgery the mass flow is more evenly distributed between the two nasal cavities and the pressure drop over the nasal cavity has increased. The pressure change is contrary to clinical measurements that the CFD results have been compared with, and this is most likely related to the earlier steps of modelling - CT acquisition and geometry retrieval.
Comparing The Predictive Power Of Risk Elicitation Instruments: Experimental Evidence From German Farmers

Farmers face many risks in economic decision-making. Therefore, understanding farmers’ risk attitudes is important to support decision-making and policy. Economic experiments have become popular to elicit farmers’ risk preferences. However, previous research is inconclusive about the power of simple lotteries or survey questions to predict actual behavior of farmers. In this paper, we experimentally compare the predictive power of four different lottery tasks. In a 2 x 2 full factorial experimental design, we compare the effect of framing the task in an agricultural context vs. an abstract task, as well as the effect of incentivizing the lottery vs. not using monetary incentives. We also introduce three survey items that ask respondents to rank their risk attitude in different domains. We compare these measures against a benchmark of actual risk management instruments farmers are using. An incentivized lottery without contextual framing triggers most risk-seeking behavior among farmers. However, all four lotteries and three survey-based measures correlate only poorly with the use of actual risk management instruments such as hail insurance. Our findings cast doubt on the predictive power of commonly used risk elicitation instruments. Additional methods are necessary to establish greater external validity in the elicitation of farmers’ risk attitudes.