Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The dilemma of dealing with complexity in animal breeding choice making

Developments in animal breeding, genetic, genomic and data recording technologies in recent decades has allowed for the evaluation of larger numbers of animal traits than ever before. This should help make selection and breeding decision more informed. However, it also makes selection and breeding decisions far more complex, and this complexity has the potential to overwhelm end-users (farmers). This paper aims to review the theoretical principles of complex decisions, contextualize the findings to the field of animal breeding, analyse how farmers and the animal breeding industry is dealing with complexity, and provide research options to increase the level of knowledge on this issue. The four most important sources of complexity in breeding decision making are the number of breeding animals available to choose from, the amount of information (e.g. phenotypes, EBVs and indexes) used to describe those animals, the heterogeneity of weighting units across animal descriptors, and the format in which all this information is provided to farmers. The complexity of selection and breeding decisions can have two main negative consequences: a) farmers make non-optimal decisions, and b) farmers use (consciously or unconsciously) simplifying strategies (i.e. heuristics) to cope with such complexity. Finally, the methods to analyse the undesired effect of complexity in the selection of breeding animals are discussed.
The Role of Dendritic Cells During HCV Infection

Hepatitis C virus is a highly mutable RNA virus that exists in patient blood as quasispecies, a population of dynamic strains closely related to each other. It is primarily transmitted by contaminated blood, and the major host cell supporting HCV replication is the human hepatocyte. In the natural course of HCV infection, more than 75% of patients develop chronic hepatitis after acute infection. Strong, multi-faceted and sustained T-cell responses are essential for HCV clearance. However, HCV is mutable and could develop multiple mechanisms to evade patient immune response. T-cell responses are regulated by antigen-presenting cells among which dendritic cells (DCs) are the most potent ones. In this review, the important immune molecules expressed on myeloid DCs (mDCs) and T-cells are discussed. T-cells and mDCs could interact by molecules expressed on the cell surface. DCs can express activating molecules, which facilitate T-cell proliferation and activation, which are beneficial for virus clearance. T-cells and mDCs can also express up-regulated levels of inhibitory molecules and downregulated levels of activating molecules, which facilitate T-cell apoptosis and anergy, and finally lead to persistent infection. During chronic HCV infection, patient T cells express up-regulated level of programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1). Compared to healthy mDCs, patients mDCs express higher levels of inhibitory molecules, the ligand 2 of PD-1 (PD-L2) and Fas ligand (FasL), and lower levels of activating molecules, human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR and CD86. The altered expression of these immune molecules during HCV infection plays a crucial role in determining the infection outcome. With the outcome of HCV infection depends on the interaction of HCV and host immune response, HCV has evolved multiple mechanisms to evade host immune responses. This review indicates the significance of developing immune therapy for HCV infection. 1. General background of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) After World War II (1939-1945), transfusion-associated hepatitis became one of the major hazards of blood transfusion. Most of the transfusion-associated hepatitis cases were not caused by hepatitis A virus (HAV) or hepatitis B virus (HBV), which were the only identified hepatitis virus at that time [1-3]. Thus, the new form of blood transfusionassociated hepatitis caused by the unknown infectious agent was named the non-A, non-B hepatitis (NANBH) until hepatitis C virus (HCV) was identified by the research in 1989 [4, 5, 6]. HCV is a positive-stranded RNA virus. The HCV particle consists of an RNA genome in a nucleocapsid, which is surrounded by a lipid bilayer. The lipid bilayer is of cellular
Genetic diversity and sexual reproduction in relict populations of Betula nana

In the present study, the impact of geographical isolation and habitat conditions on genetic diversity and sexual reproduction was tested in four relict populations of dwarf birch Betula nana L. in Poland and Belarus. Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) method revealed that the endangered central European stands were not genetically extirpated compared with the widespread localities from Finland and Russia, which can result from infrequent outcrossing events in long-living clonal populations. However, genetic clustering methods indicated significant differentiation of the Polish populations because of their small sizes and long-term geographical isolation. Considerable numbers of empty seeds were observed in both relict and central locations, although fully developed seeds germinated better in widespread populations. Analysis of groundwater chemical parameters indicated that two relict populations were significantly different from the remaining samples with respect to pH, electrical conductivity and concentrations of phosphorus ions, which can also influence the efficiency of sexual reproduction. In the light of results obtained it seems that endangered B. nana localities are relatively stable.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE BASED DIGITAL FORENSICS FRAMEWORK

With increase in number of Internet and smartphone users, cyber crimes are equally increased. Current resources including man power are not sufficient to investigate and solve cyber crimes with the pace they are committed. Present tools and technology require human interaction at large scale, which slows down the process. There is acute need to optimize speed and performance of Digital Forensic Tools to keep pace with the reported cyber crimes. An Artificial Intelligence Based Digital Forensics Framework is proposed in this paper to overcome above issues. The framework proposed in this paper require minimum user interaction and does majority of routine operations by intelligence acquired from training. Outcome of the work is mentioned in the form of proposed framework to optimize digital forensics process.
High-Resolution Age Model Based on AMS Radiocarbon Ages for Kettle Lake, North Dakota, USA

A high-resolution age model was developed for Kettle Lake, North Dakota, USA, from a series of 53 accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon ages calibrated with Bayesian statistical methods, which provide a monotonically increasing series of calibrated ages with depth. Evident in the sediment are several slumps, debris flows, or landslides, which are confirmed by 14C dating. Removal of these facies produces a continuous sedimentary sequence for the past 13,000 yr with exception of one ≃260-yr hiatus associated with a 1.5-m-thick slump deposit. All ages except one are on terrestrial macrofossils and charcoal. A test age on aquatic organic detritus shows a hardwater effect of 600 yr at ≃2000 cal BP. Two ages from the same level on herbaceous charcoal and Chenopodium seeds are statistically the same, which further demonstrates the suitability of charcoal from grassland environments for AMS 14C age control. However, 2 specimens of wood charcoal are too old relative to bracketing ages and glacial geologic history. These ages confirm the sedimentary interpretation of redeposition and provide a caution about the longevity of wood charcoal in the environment and its suitability for age control in lacustrine sediments.
Drugs Trapping by natural matrices, observation of the environment and leaching experiment

Pharmaceutical products (PPs) represent nowadays a common pollution in aquatic environments. The PPs consumption have increased decade after decade all over the world leading to a pollution of numerous water compartments whereas no efficient water treatment has been done. Indeed, actual Waste-Water Treatment Plants (WWTPs) show limited solution in the removal of emerging organic micro-pollutants. A complete improvement of water treatment could be realistic if the associated treatment costs are controlled, Results of such unsuitable treatment drives to a constant overflow of numerous micro-pollutants, including PPs in natural waters. Today, this spillage has well-documented consequences on the biota, the human health, various ecosystems and shows a severe environment impact in general (Fent et al., 2006). Drugs concentrations vary between µg. L-1 and some ng.L-1. The entire aqueous environments are actually contaminated as shown by the abundant and various scientific publications on this subject. Namely, effluents of WWTP's (Kostich et al., 2014), river waters (Loos et al., 2009), groundwater (Lapworth et al., 2012), marine waters (McEneff et al., 2014) and sediments (Petrovic et al., 2001). The ability of sediments and more particularly organic matter (OM) and the clay fraction to trap some drugs has been highlighted with the warning study on hormones. From the numerous studies led on this environmental problematic, mineralogy of clay and the nature of organic matter are the main actors for the sequestration/adsorption of emerging organic pollutants(Stein et al., 2008). Therefore, two different natural matrices were chosen in this study: sewage sludge of a rural phytoplanted filter and natural sediments in an urban system.
Power System Based Simulation Study ofUPFC in a Single Transmission Line System

As the complexity of the power system increases the necessity for carefully designed devices becomes a requirement to monitor and control the changes in the transmission line power flow. Unified Power Flow Controller (UPFC) is used in regulating the transmission line power flow by controlling impedance, voltage magnitude and phase angle. The working region of UPFC forms a locus within which it could be operated at any point to control the power flow in the system. This paper discusses the concept of operation of UPFC based on the above mentioned techniques distinctively. The locus of operation of UPFC is found to understand the region of operation for the connected load. The simulations are performed in MATLAB Simulink.
Anomalie chromosomowe w diagnostyce nowotworów jajnika

Nowotwór jajnika jest trzecim pod wzgl ́dem cz ́stoÊci wyst ́powania nowotworem dróg rodnych kobiety i stanowi najcz ́stszà przyczyn ́ zgonów z powodu nowotworów z∏oÊliwych narzàdu rodnego. Przyczynà tego jest wykrywanie guzów b ́dàcych w wysokim stopniu zaawansowania klinicznego, co jest spowodowane brakiem charakterystycznych objawów klinicznych we wczesnym stadium rozwoju choroby. Wczesna diagnoza jest szczególnie wa ̋na, ale jak dotàd nie ma wiarygodnej metody wczesnego wykrywania tego typu nowotworu, dlatego zdobywanie informacji o biologicznym zachowaniu guzów i ich onkogenezie mo ̋e znaczàco pomóc w rozwoju nowych metod leczenia. Obecnie przeprowadza si ́ coraz wi ́cej badaƒ majàcych na celu okreÊlenie aberracji chromosomowych, a co za tym idzie zmian genetycznych, istotnych w onkogenezie, prognozowaniu i sposobie leczenia nowotworów jajnika. Dzi ́ki wykorzystaniu cytogenetyki klasycznej wspomaganej technikami cytogenetyki molekularnej i biologii molekularnej zaobserwowano, i ̋ najcz ́stszymi aberracjami chromosomowymi jest pojawienie si ́ dodatkowych kopii chromosomów: 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 12 i 20 oraz utrata chromosomów 4, 8, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17 i 22. Spotykane w komórkach guzów strukturalne aberracje to g∏ownie delecje lub niezrównowa ̋one translokacje, a dotyczà one najcz ́Êciej regionów 1p, 1q, 3p, 3q, 6q, 7p, 10q, 11p, 11q i 12q. Cz ́Êç z wykrywanych aberracji jest ju ̋ korelowana z prognozà prze ̋ycia pacjentki, opornoÊcià na stosowane leki czy te ̋ prawdopodobieƒstwem nawrotu choroby. Niezb ́dne jest jednak przebadanie du ̋ych grup pacjentek i obj ́cie ich programami monitoringu terapii, podobnie jak w przypadku programów dla bia∏aczek i im podobnych chorób rozrostowych, aby okreÊliç, które z tych aberracji majà bezpoÊrednie znaczenie kliniczne, a które sà nast ́pstwem zaburzeƒ kontroli podzia∏ów i niestabilnoÊci chromosomowej.
Transport Phenomena in Nanofluidic Channels

Ion transport in nanoscale channels has recently received increasing attention. Much of that has resulted from experiments that report modulation of ion transport through the protein ion channel, α-hemolysin, due to passage of single biomolecules of DNA or proteins [1]. This has prompted research towards fabricating synthetic nanopores out of inorganic materials and studying biomolecular transport through them [2]. Recently, the synthesis of arrays of silica nanotubes with internal diameters in the range of 5–100 nm and with lengths 1–20 μm was reported [3]. These tubes could potentially allow new ways of detecting and manipulating single biomolecules and new types of devices to control ion transport. Theoretical modeling of ionic distribution and transport in silica nanotubes, 30 nm in diameter and 5 μm long, suggest that when the diameter is smaller than the Debye length, a unipolar solution of counterions is created within the nanotube and the coions are electrostatically repelled [4]. We proposed two different types of devices to use this unipolar nature of solution, i.e. ‘transistor’ and ‘battery’. When the electric potential bias is applied at two ends of a nanotube, ionic current is generated. By locally modifying the surface charge density through a gate electrode, the concentration of counterions can be depleted under the gate and the ionic current can be significantly suppressed. This could form the basis of a unipolar ionic field-effect transistor. By applying the pressure bias instead of electric potential bias, the fluid flow is generated. Because only the counterions are located inside the channel, the streaming current and streaming potential are generated. This could form the basis of an electro-chemo-mechanical battery. In the present study, transport phenomena in nanofluidic channels were investigated and the performance characteristics were evaluated using continuum dynamics.Copyright © 2004 by ASME
Maize Production under No-Tillage System in Nepal

Maize (Zea mays L.) is the second most important staple food crop after rice in Nepal. In Nepal, maize is grown under intensive tillage ssystem of 2-3 ploughings for land preparation and atleast two intercultural operations for weeding and earthling-up operation. Alternative to conventional tillage system, no-till system is a specialized type of conservation tillage consisting of a one-pass planting and fertilizer operation in which the soil and the surface residues are minimally disturbed. No-tillage maize production conserves soil and water and reduces capital investment in machinery for land preparations and intercultural operations, but most important to many producers, no-tillage can improve maize yields. However, very limited works have been done so far in Nepal. Therefore, an attempt has been made in this article to highlight the importance of no till in maize in the hills of Nepal and some of the practical tips to adopt the no- till maize production system in Nepal.
Outcome-Based Program Quality Assurance Accreditation Survey Instrument: Its Development and Validation

In the Philippines, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has recognized the need to realign the academic program offerings of 112 state colleges and universities thereby raising the standards of quality assurance. The Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities in the Philippines (AACCUP), aimed to develop a new outcomes-based quality assurance (OBQA) instrument using both quantitative and qualitative approaches of a multi-method design. There are three phases of this study: 1) consideration of benchmark data; 2) development and validation of instrument; and 3) pilot testing. The first phase generated ten areas of the instrument with 700 Likert-type benchmark statements. The second phase led to the trimming of the item pool to 672. The last phase revealed that all 672 item pool identified benchmark indicators passed both the content validationas well as reliability test. It is recommended that the instrument be used and revalidated for further improvement.
γ-H2AX as protein biomarker for radiation exposure

For large scale exposures of the human population to ionising radiation, there is a need for cost-effective high throughput assessment of radiation exposure levels from biological samples to allow triage decisions to be made. Here we discuss the usefulness of the DNA damage marker γ-H2AX for this purpose. Foci of γ-H2AX form in response to radiation-induced DNA doublestrand breaks and can be quantified by immunofluorescence microscopy or flow cytometry. Several studies have analysed this marker in patients’ blood samples to determine radiation exposures during various diagnostic or therapeutic radiation treatments. Such planned exposures involve only a moderate number of samples which can be obtained at a prearranged time following exposure. In contrast, application of this method as a triage tool in large scale radiological emergencies demands high throughput sample processing and analysis. The rapid kinetics of γ-H2AX induction and loss presents a major challenge to its successful application as a triage tool. These and other as yet unresolved questions are discussed.
Supporting personalization in a web-based course through the definition of role-based access policies

Role-based access policies model the users domain by means of complex structures where roles, which represent jobs or responsibilities assumed by users, are specialized into more concrete subroles which inherit properties and authorizations from their parents. Such an approach can be applied within the context of educational applications, where different roles are easily identified each of which has different views of the same information items and different capabilities to modify them. Moreover, even though this approach, has only been oriented towards modeling security requirements, it can be extended to support personalized access to the information. In this paper, we describe how to combine the basic principles of RBAC policies and adaptation with a view of providing personalized access to the different types of users of a web-based course. Moreover, we also present Courba, a platform to generate personalized web-based courses using XML to support the definition of access policies.
Using Searchable Encryption to Protect Privacy in Connected Cars

Providing vehicles with extended connectivity introduces new opportunities for services, and also security applications such as misbehavior detection. However, for many applications, personal data needs to be processed by the system providers, which impairs the privacy of the vehicle users. While focusing our research on new possibilities of connected car security, we follow privacy by design principles. We explore the utilisation of various privacy-enhancing technologies (PET) in order to provide advanced connected car applications, while preserving the personal data of the vehicle users. Specifically, we aim to develop practical schemes that utilise Searchable Encryption to provide a framework for secure and privacypreserving connected car applications.
Effect of aircraft self-merging in sequence on an airborne collision avoidance system

This air traffic management research study analysed the interaction between a potential future airborne spacing application and an existing Airborne Collision Avoidance System (ACAS). The time-based airborne spacing application ‘merge behind’ was simulated in fasttime for a range of merge angles (45°, 90°, 135° and 180°), target spacing times (60 and 90 s) and altitudes (6,000 and 11,000 feet) under turbulent wind and extreme entry conditions. Trajectory pairs were analysed for potential collision alerting conditions using an ACAS simulator based on Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) II version 7 logic. Results show how, with realistic turn anticipation, the TCAS estimated time to go to Closest Point of Approach (CPA) decreased as merge angle was increased and as target spacing was reduced, but still remained above the Traffic Advisory (TA) and Resolution Advisory (RA) thresholds for the duration of all trials.
Dutch Disease in Former Soviet Union: Witch-Hunting?

This study seeks to determine the extent to which countries of the former Soviet Union are “infected” by the Dutch Disease. We take a detailed look at the functioning of the trans-mission mechanism of the Dutch Disease, i.e. the chains that run from commodity prices to real output in manufacturing. We complement this with two econometric exercises. First, we estimate nominal and real exchange rate models to see whether commodity prices are correlated with the exchange rate. Second, we run growth equations to analyse the possible effects of commodity prices and the dependency of economic growth on natural resources.
Selected Issues of Sharing Process Knowledge in Modern Organizations

In times of increasing competition and the need for greater agility, organizations are taking up the “process approach” to running a business. Applying the process approach in organizations implies changes in knowledge management. The article discusses the specifics and role of process knowledge which consists of information resources about process flows, entities engaged in the processes, key performance indicators, etc. Business Process Models have the potential to be important tools for knowledge management because they allow the transformation of informal into formal knowledge and facilitate knowledge sharing. The aim of this paper is to present the concept of process knowledge and review selected issues of process knowledge sharing by extension of modeling languages.
It’s not yen, euro or koala bloc: Greenback is still dominant in East Asia

Given the nature of East Asia’s economic structure, interregional exchange rate stability is an essential requirement for regional economic integration. One way to achieve exchange rate stability is for the region to adopt an anchor currency. However, the choice of a potential anchor is an important question for policy planners. This paper examines the role of 5 major currencies as candidates for an anchor currency in the East Asian region. In particular, the paper examines the dynamic linkages between a selected sample of East Asian currencies with each potential anchor currency, the Australian dollar, Japanese yen, euro, US dollar and Chinese renminbi. Utilizing a recently developed test procedure which distinguishes the long-run Granger non-causality from that in the short-run, this paper does not find any support to the much debated emergence of a yen bloc, euro bloc, or koala bloc. The empirical evidence brought forward in this paper suggests that the US dollar is still a dominant currency in the East Asian region.