Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Appraisal of the Selection Plan for Scrapie resistance in the Sarda dairy sheep breed

The Sarda is the largest Italian dairy sheep breed. Selection tools are applied in the high genetic merit flocks (HGMF) to generate genetic progress to be disseminated to the commercial population by natural mating rams. The aim of this paper is presenting results and prospects of the breeding plan for Scrapie resistance implemented in Sardinia on the Sarda sheep breed. The breeding plan for Scrapie resistance started in Sardinia in 2005. The plan aimed at reducing the risk of Scrapie by increasing the ARR allele frequency. Two steps were planned: in the first, genotyping and selection of rams were applied mainly in HGMF to increase the availability of ARR carrier rams while preserving the genetic merit for production traits. In the second step, genotyping was extended to the whole population while making compulsory the use of ARR carrier rams. The implementation of this “two-step” plan led to the increase of ARR frequency in HGMF of 28% in 8 years. In the same time no decline of genetic progress for production trait was observed. Furthermore, ARR frequency trend in the commercial population was steady before the start of the second step and increased since its application. The “two-step” plan combined with rules for preserving genetic merit for production traits and facilitate the use of ARR/ARR rams has produced good results in the Sarda breed population. However, further tools to precisely monitor the ram flow from high genetic merit flocks to commercial population should be implemented. Results of selection for Scrapie resistance are more efficient at early stages of the plan whereas subsequently results tend to become more and more negligible. Thus, it is crucial to establish ARR frequency at which the genotyping of all male replacement is still economically suitable.
Beyond Technical Solutions: A Dynamic Approach to Problem Solving in an Era of Multifunctional Agriculture and Post-modern Extension Work

In the post modern world, solutions to many problems in Extension and agriculture demand formulations that go beyond the obvious technical solutions, i.e., solutions that depend solely on the prescriptions of the disciplines that support practice in the particular area where the problem is manifested. Formulating a solution is further complicated because there are several stakeholders with a vested interest in these issues and problems; they, along with scientists and professionals from disparate disciplines, bring differing views and competing interests to the problem solving effort. The challenge for Extension will be to assist stakeholders use problem structuring techniques to work with these differing views to define the “right problem. ” In this paper, we propose a problem formulation model that Extension staff could adopt to collect, analyze, and interpret situation data at county/multicounty/state levels in a critical manner and more precisely formulate “real” problems that need to be addressed in the complex, dynamic environment that prevails today.
Energy Behavior in Ad Hoc Network Minimizing the Number of Hops and Maintaining Connectivity of Mobile Terminals Which Move from One to the Others

Wireless ad-hoc network is a special kind of network, where all of the nodes move in time. The topology of the network changes as the nodes are in the proximity of each other. Ad-hoc networks are generally self-configuring no stable infrastructure takes a place. In this network, each node should help relaying packets of neighboring nodes using multi-hop routing mechanism. This mechanism is needed to reach far destination nodes to solve problem of dead communication. This multiple traffic hops within a wireless ad-hoc network caused dilemma. Wireless ad-hoc network that contain multiple hops become increasingly vulnerable to problems such as energy degradation and rapid increasing of overhead packets. This paper provides a generic routing framework that balances energy efficient broadcast schemes in Wireless Ad-Hoc Network and maintaining connectivity of nodes (mobile terminals). Typically, each node’s activities will consume energy, either for sending packets, receiving or preparing/processing packets. Number of hops, distance of nodes, and size of packet will determine the consumption of energy. The framework is based on the principle that additional relay nodes with appropriate energy and routing metric between source and final destination significantly reduces the energy consumption necessary to deliver packets in Wireless Ad-Hoc Network while keep the connectivity of dynamic nodes. Using the framework, the average network connectivity is kept 18% higher and the lifetime of network lasting more than 2.38% compared with network with Link State Routing mechanism. The simulation notes that the end-to-end delay may increase rapidly if relay nodes are more than five.
Reliability Improvement in Logic Circuit Stochastic Computation

Defects and faults arise from physical imperfections and noise susceptibility of the analog circuit components used to create digital circuits resulting in computational errors. A probabilistic computational model is needed to quantify and analyze the effect of noisy signals on computational accuracy in digital circuits. This model computes the reliability of digital circuits meaning that the inputs and outputs and their implemented logic function need to be calculated probabilistically. The purpose of this paper is to present a new architecture for designing noise-tolerant digital circuits. The approach we propose is to use a class of singleinput, single-output circuits called Reliability Enhancement Network Chain (RENC). A RENC is a concatenation of n simple logic circuits called Reliability Enhancement Network (REN). Each REN can increase the reliability of a digital circuit to a higher level. Reliability of the circuit can approach any desirable level when a RENC composed of a sufficient number of RENs is employed. Moreover, the proposed approach is applicable to the design of any logic circuit implemented with any logic technology.
Malware Analysis and Mitigation in Information Preservation AruOkerekeEze

: Malware, also known as malicious software affects the user’s computer system or mobile devices by exploiting the system’s vulnerabilities. It is the major threat to the security of information in the computer systems. Some of the types of malware that are most commonly used are viruses, worms, Trojans, etc. Nowadays, there is a widespread use of malware which allows malware author to get sensitive information like bank details, contact information, which is a serious threat in the world. Most of the malwares are spread through internet because of its frequent use which can destroy large information in any system. Malwares from their early designs which were just for propagation have now developed into more advanced form, stealing sensitive and private information. Hence, this work focuses on analyzing the malware in a restricted environment and how information can be preserved. So, in other to address the negative effects of malicious software, we discussed some of the malware analysis methods which was used to analyze the software in an effective manner and helped us to controlthem. Various malware detection coupled with malware propagation techniques were also highlighted. This work was concluded by examining malware mitigation strategies which can help us protect our system’s information.
Usability evaluation of a haptic-based clinical skills training system

Simulated medical environments allow clinical staff to practice clinical procedures for longer than traditional training methods without endangering patients, with resulting skill improvements. Haptic devices are a key technology in such systems allowing healthcare practitioners to practice and test their clinical skills in life-like situations. The potentially diverse population of users for such clinical training systems have varying demands on usability but it is unclear how usability can be successfully evaluated in the context of haptic-based systems. In order to justify deployment costs and any pedagogical aims, such systems require appropriate evaluation. This paper describes the evaluation of a commercial haptic-based clinical training system. A user study has been performed with 3rd-year medical students using three complementary evaluation methods. The aim is to evaluate haptic technology using first time users from a target deployment environment and gather both qualitative and quantitative data to support usability analysis. In contrast to evaluating visually-based systems, with haptic-based systems the evaluator does not share the haptic feedback with the participant. It was found that this can be problematic in shaping questions during an evaluation session and interpreting the collected data.
Using student-generated content to engage students in upper-division quantum mechanics

Peerwise is an online peer learning community in which students can author, answer, and give feedback on each other’s multiple-choice questions. We describe the implementation of Peerwise in a junior-level quantum mechanics course over seven iterations, with 1369 student-generated questions in total. We describe measures of student engagement in terms of answering questions to prepare for course assessments and the improvement of questions. We discuss factors in the implementation that may have impacted engagement, including the timing of submissions, support for authoring high-quality questions, instructions on commenting and minimal requirements on authoring and commenting.
Possible development paths taken by global economies post-financial crisis

We examine 75 economies that have displayed remarkable changes in the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) scores. Additionally, the paper explores relationship between increase in their competitiveness over a period of eleven years (from 200708 to 2017-18) and the development pathways followed by them. While East Asian growth accelerations were driven by rapid industrialization (Rodrik & Diao, The recent growth boom in developing economies: A structural perspective, 2017) highlighting the linear route to structural transformation followed by most developed economies; we find that during the specified period of our analysis, certain developed and emerging economies have increased their competitiveness by following a different route. This paper closely examines the paths followed by these economies by identifying the factors attributing to maximum growth in competitiveness. Also, it highlights the pillars moving simultaneously and contributing the most to the GCI Score.
Gender Recognition Using Facial Images

In this study, gender classification is performed based on front façade photos of 100 male and 100 female. In order to demonstrate the internal face images are aligned and cropped. Even though some images are cropped about ears and hairs with the expense of the information loss about gender information at those parts, the main aim is achieving gender classification on internal face of the human body. It has been generated that 7 x 200 matrix which obtained from images that include 3 statistical values (average, standard deviation and entropy) and 4 parameters of GLCM (Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix). 60% gender classification accuracy rate is achieved based on the generated frontal face image data set . As a secondary method, features are extracted by means of GLCM method, followed by application of 2D DWT (The Discrete wavelet transform) technique on the original images. it has been established attribute of original images by respectively DWT (The Discrete wavelet transform) and GLCM (Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix). When first method is used for 7 photos (7 attitude) which are output 2D DWT, set volume is 49 x 200. Used to 5 different wavelets of relatives and the highest achievement is found at Coiflets Wavelets Filter by 88%. Second method increases to first method's achievement by %46.
Longitudinal and Lateral Sliding Mode Control of Vehicle Platoon in Intelligent Transportation System

Abstract : By the design method of finite time sliding mode reaching law, study the longitudinal and lateral control for vehicle following and lane changing in intelligent transportation system. Based on coupled longitudinal and lateral model of vehicle, by using front and rear wheel steering technology, the coupled control laws for vehicle following and lane changing were designed. The stability of control systems was analyzed by using Lyapunov function method. The simulation was done applying Matlab toolbox, and the simulation results indicate that the longitudinal and lateral control performance was good by using the control laws designed in this paper.
Factors Influencing Student Satisfaction of Support Services At Thai Nguyen University

Nowadays, higher education in the world as well as in Vietnamis being regarded as a kind of service, of which the institutions of higher education act as the providers for the customers who are the students. As a result, higher education institutions bear the pressure of working in compliance with the accomplishment of modern quality management with a great focus on the students. This study was carried out with a survey of students from 7 member universities of Thai Nguyen University and employed Cronbach's Alpha Coefficients Analysis and Exploratory Factor Analysis to find out factors influencing the student satisfaction of the support services at Thai Nguyen University. The measurement tool implemented is the SI index. Basing on the research outcomes, member universities of Thai Nguyen University are supposed to have an overall plan for the enhancement of student services in order to better meet the students’ demands and improve their satisfaction.
Electron interference in ionization of H2: Frequency parameter for first and second order process

Coherent electron emission in ionization of a twocentre homonuclear molecule reveals Young type interference in electron emission spectrum [1-11]. The information on interference can be obtained through the observed oscillations in the electron double differential spectrum. This phenomenon has been studied in collisions of charged particles or photons with diatomic molecules, such as, H2 and N2. Here we report on the electron DDCS measurements from H2 in collisions with fast (4-5 MeV/amu) heavy ion beams of F 9+ ions obtained from the Pelletron accelerator at TIFR, Mumbai. We focus on two features: i) the dependence of frequency of oscillations on emission angle and ii) the doubling of the frequency due a second order scattering process. Besides comparing the DDCS data (obtained at 5 MeV/amu collision energy) with a molecular CDW-EIS calculation, Cohen-Fano function was used to to derive the frequency parameter. The angular distribution of the derived frequency parameter for a wide range of angles (between 30 0 -150 0 ), shows a dip at 90 0 . Also the frequency in the backward angles is almost a factor of 2.0 larger than that for the forward angles. The observed trends [6] are different than to that predicted theoretically but similar to that observed earlier for GeV energy heavier ions. The spectrum of the forward backward angular asymmetry parameter shows a clear signature of the oscillation. Frequency doubling is also observed in the interference oscillations in 4 MeV/amu F 9+ -ion-induced electron emission spectrum from H2. Experimentally observed oscillatory structure is well explained by a model calculation based on rescattering of the emitted electron from the second H center. In earlier work the second order effect was about 4% which was, however, observed at GeV energy collisions. Such a twoscattering model was not supported by the some of the theoretical models. In that sense the present measurement was crucial to settle the issue. The present measurements were performed carefully in order to have very less statistical errors. In all the three angles studied the double frequency was clearly observed. The secondorder contribution is found to be as large as 10%[12]. This was found to be almost independent of emission angle. This strongly supports the second scattering model to explain the double frequency component.
Brain Tumor Segmentation and Volume Estimation from T1- Contrasted and T2 MRIs

Amid the variations of the cancer disease, brain tumors account for the majority deaths among young people. To diagnose and treat this deadly disease effectively, analysis of hundreds of medical images such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans is usually performed. However, the analyses of these scans are still mainly performed manually, making the procedure not only very tedious and time-consuming for doctors, but also error prone and non-repeatable. Attempts have been made to automate this procedure by performing image processing techniques such as thresholding, region-growing, unsupervised learning (e.g. k-means, fuzzy cmeans clustering), and supervised learning (e.g. support vector machines). Some require human interaction. The techniques may be applied on one or more MRI sequence scans. Unfortunately, these automated attempts still result in a high level of error, and more computationally complex algorithms do not guarantee an increase in accuracy. This paper presents a novel, fully automatic brain tumor segmentation and volume estimation method using simple techniques on T1contrasted and T2 MRIs. This new approach implemented five main steps: preprocessing using anisotropic diffusion, segmentation of tumor regions using k-means clustering, region combination using logical and Morphological operations, error checking using temporal smoothing, and volumetric measurement. When compared with five state-of-the-art algorithms, the proposed algorithm outperformed those in past works. Advances were seen by its noise reduction, increase in accuracy and closeness to actual tumor volume.
Science And Technology Education: A Veritable Tool For Peace, Conflict Resolution And National Development

Many African countries are troubled with one form of conflict or the other resulting in national insecurity of all sorts. Nigeria, a typical African country, is a case in point. With the threats of Boko Haram, militancy and cession, all fueled by ignorance, mutual suspicion, lack of survival skills and hopelessness of the youths on one hand and on the other, repeated saga of bad governance, all have added up to make the people extremely poor and vulnerable. Consequently, there is no peace and security in the country. Many peace actions have already been taken by the government, private organizations and individuals. However, these actions are in the regular conflict resolution programs. This paper followed UNESCO’s recommendation to adopt innovative actions exemplified in the engagement of science and technology education, and so focused attention on the youth of school age. The paper thus highlighted school related violence and conflicts that eventually escalate into national dimensions. The paper then discussed ways in which science and technology education could be harnessed to eradicate ignorance and establish youth empowerment strategies through curricula enrichments: These include outright debunking of falsehood and superstitions by scientific facts, holistic approach to the study of science as well as mandatory entrepreneurial school brands and compulsory school based environmental challenge resolution projects. It is hoped that such will disseminate scientific literacy beyond school boarders leading to enlightened, positively engaged and consequently empowered youths and their communities. National security in all arrears, peace and development will be the eventual result.
A NEAR-REAL TIME OIL SLICK MONITORING DEMONSTRATOR FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN

A demonstration service has been set up which provides near-real time information on oil slicks in support of national coast guards surveillance. From a 2-year continuous monitoring of busy ship route locations in the Mediterranean, it has been found that every fifth ERS-SAR image contains at least one man-made slick of several kilometers length. At night, the percentage of images showing slicks, increases to about 22%. Due to the many features visible on SAR images from sea areas the correct attribution of dark patches to oil slicks is not easy and needs considerable experience. Useful assistance is provided by semi-automatic image processing tools, those, based on neural network techniques, assess the probability of an operatorproposed object to be an oil slick.
Adopting Mobile Money: Evidence from an Experiment in Rural Africa

Who uses mobile money, and what do people do with it? This paper describes mobile money adoption patterns following the experimental introduction of mobile money for the first time in rural areas of Southern Mozambique. We use administrative and household survey data to characterize adopters as well as their mobile money usage patterns over three years. Adopters of mobile money (and early adopters in particular) are more educated than nonadopters, and they are also more likely to already hold a bank account. Positive self-selection of adopters should be considered when introducing mobile money as a tool for rapid financial inclusion.
WOMEN PARTICIPATION IN NIGERIAN POLITICS AND ITS CHALLENGES FOR NIGERIAS CENTENARY

Nigerian women have encountered a number of problems while venturing into politics. There is large scale discrimination from the men folk, both in voting for candidates and in allocating political offices. This paper examines women political participation in Nigeria and the challenges facing them. Descriptive survey was used to illustrate how women were involved in politics and decision-making in Nigeria. The paper observes some of the challenges facing women in politics; lack of resources or finance, large scale discrimination from men folks, conflict in multiple roles of women. The paper submits that the prospects of Nigerian women in politics are bright; if women are adequately empowered, if women could fight against discrimination from the men folk, and if there would be internal democracy in the political parties. It concluded that the government should establish a women’s political institute and promote girl-child education in Nigeria.
Performance Analysis of Edge Computing in IoT

Upcoming 5G technology and the demand for near real-time response services raise the need for optimizing current IoT solutions. The aim of this paper is to model and execute the performance analysis of network structures suitable for Edge Computing in IoT. The prior research into different topology and parameter sets have not provided sufficient clarity, on which parameters had a considerable impact on overall system performance; therefore, repetitive simulations were performed to express dispersion of alternating values, as well as determining its confidence intervals. The paper presents Edge Computing service simulation setup on known and newly derived network topologies with different complexity varying network bandwidth and network delay parameters. The experimental investigation has revealed that the IoT configuration network is more sensitive to network topology, while the Internet configuration is more sensitive to network parameters. The discussion on the results received debates possible causes of performance differences in network parameters and device configurations, the comparison to similar state-of-the-art research results has also been presented. Finally, conclusions with recommendations based on the results acquired have been provided.