Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genetic evaluation for calving ease trait using linear and threshold models in first parity dairy cows

Calving ease (CE) is a categorical trait which can be analyzed by both linear and threshold models. Though it has been assumed that threshold models qualify to be the best procedure for analyzing categorical traits, its efficiency with field data has not been clearly confirmed. This study was aimed at comparing linear and threshold models for estimation of CE genetic parameters. Data consisted of 10,575 first parturition CE records collected from 1985 to 2006 in Isfahan, Iran. CE scores were classified into 5 categories depending upon parturition situation. A sire-maternal grand sire model, consisting of birth herd-year-season and sex-age as fixed effects and parturition herd-season, sire and maternal grand sire additive genetic values as random effects, was applied in MATVEC software. Mean, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, skewness, and kurtosis for first parity CE records were 0.233, 0.644, 276.640, 2.950, and 8.097, respectively. CE scores varied from 0 (86%) to 4 (0.1%). CE means for males (0.285) and female calves (0.190) were significantly different. Parturitions during winter and summer were associated with the highest and lowest calving difficulties, respectively. Estimations for direct and maternal heritability were 0.1082, 0.0486 using linear model and 0.0689, 0.0100 using threshold model, respectively. Even though departure from normal distribution was expected to favour the threshold model, implementation of this model in field data analysis did not eventuate to better genetic estimations. Key words: Calving ease, Holstein, Sire-MGS, threshold, genetic parameters.
Optimization of persistent land coverage by swarm of drones

Drones, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), due to miniaturization have increasingly important role in the military operations as a swarm of drones. In this work we present an innovative optimization algorithm for the loitering pattern of the swarm of drones in order to maximize the persistent coverage of a given terrain. This algorithm, named Opt Land Cov, relies on three transformations on graph G that preserve the assignments of drones to cycles in G. Computational results confirm the viability of Opt Land Cov. So, this work should have high relevance to persistent surveillance of a given area of interest as well as to collaborative engagement of multiple targets by swarm of weaponized drones. Mathematics Subject Classification: 05C20, 05C38, 05C85
The effect of emotional intelligence awareness-raising activities on L2 motivation

This article reports a study investigating the effect of emotional intelligence (EI) awareness-raising on Iranian university students’ overall as well as variable-specific L2 motivation. The 136 participants (107 males, 29 females) were divided into a control group and an experimental group, both of which completed the same motivation questionnaire at the beginning and end of the study, with the latter receiving EI awareness-raising in seven sessions over a seven-week period. The results of paired and independent sample t tests showed that EI awareness-raising did not have any statistically significant positive effect on Iranian university students’ overall L2 motivation, but they had a statistically significant positive effect on the Instrumentality- prevention aspect of L2 motivation. The study highlights the importance of becoming familiar with and applying three motivational strategies which may be considered as universal motivational strategies.
Syddansk Universitet Long-term outcome of bodily distress syndrome in primary care : a follow-up study on healthcare costs , work disability , and self-rated health

Objective: The upcoming International Classification of Diseases, 11th Revision for primary care use suggests inclusion of a new diagnostic construct, bodily (di)stress syndrome (BDS), for individuals with medically unexplained symptoms. We aimed to explore the long-term outcome of BDS in health care costs, work disability, and self-rated health. Methods:Consecutive patients consulting their family physician for a new health problemwere screened for physical andmental symptoms by questionnaires (n = 1785). A stratified subsample was examinedwith a standardized diagnostic interview (n = 701). Patients with single-organ BDS (n = 124) and multiorgan BDS (n = 35), and a reference group with a family physician–verified medical condition (n = 880) were included. All included patients completed a questionnaire at 3, 12, and 24months of follow-up. Register data on health care costs and work disability were obtained after 2 and 10 years of follow-up, respectively. Results: Patients with BDS displayed poorer self-rated health and higher illness worry at index consultation and throughout follow-up than the reference group (p ≤ .001). The annual health care costs were higher in the BDS groups (2270 USD and 4066 USD) than in the reference group (1392 USD) (achieved significance level (ASL) ≤ 0.001). Both BDS groups had higher risk of sick leave during the first 2 years of follow-up (RRsingle-organ BDS = 3.0; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.8–5.0; RRmultiorgan BDS = 3.4; 95% CI = 1.5–7.5) and substantially higher risk of newly awarded disability pension than the reference group (HRsingle-organ BDS = 4.9; 95% CI = 2.8–8.4; HRmultiorgan BDS = 8.7; 95% CI = 3.7–20.7). Conclusions: Patients with BDS have poor long-term outcome of health care costs, work disability, and subjective suffering. These findings stress the need for adequate recognition and management of BDS.
A Dwarf Planet Class Object in the 21:5 Resonance with Neptune

We report the discovery of an Hr = 3.4 ± 0.1 dwarf planet candidate by the Pan-STARRS Outer Solar System Survey. 2010 JO179 is red with (g − r) = 0.88 ± 0.21, roughly round, and slowly rotating, with a period of 30.6 hr. Estimates of its albedo imply a diameter of 600–900 km. Observations sampling the span between 2005 and 2016 provide an exceptionally well determined orbit for 2010 JO179, with a semimajor axis of 78.307 ± 0.009 au; distant orbits known to this precision are rare. We find that 2010 JO179 librates securely within the 21:5 mean-motion resonance with Neptune on 100 Myr timescales, joining the small but growing set of known distant dwarf planets on metastable resonant orbits. These imply a substantial trans-Neptunian population that shifts between stability in high-order resonances, the detached population, and the eroding population of the scattering disk.
Synchrony and asynchrony: observations and hypotheses for the flowering wave in a long‐lived semelparous bamboo

Aim (1) To describe the spatio‐temporal patterns of mass‐flowering and die‐off in a long‐lived, semelparous, clumping bamboo, Bambusa arnhemica, at landscape and local scales. (2) To discuss causal processes in the flowering patterns of semelparous bamboos.
The Role of Dialogue-Based Ethical Inquiry in Educating for a Just Democracy: An Intervention Study

This paper describes the implementation of a study designed to assess the effectiveness of a dialogue-based Community of Inquiry approach in developing the skills and dispositions requisite for engaging in the processes of rational ethical justification. The intervention study involved approximately 250 South Australian students from a diverse range of social and educational backgrounds. Findings indicate that the program trialled is effective in developing students’ abilities and readiness to engage in the processes of rational ethical justification, and functional, in that it worked well within the constraints of prevailing educational structures.
Parameter estimation of structural commodity price models

Commodity price modeling is normally approached in terms of structural time-series models, in which the different components (states) have a financial interpretation. The parameters of these models can be estimated using maximum likelihood. This approach results in a non-linear parameter estimation problem and thus a key issue is how to obtain reliable initial estimates. In this paper, we focus on the initial parameter estimation problem for the Schwartz-Smith two-factor model commonly used in asset valuation. We propose the use of a two-step method. The first step considers a univariate model based only on the spot price and uses a transfer function model to obtain initial estimates of the fundamental parameters. The second step uses the estimates obtained in the first step to initialize a re-parameterized state-space-innovations based estimator, which includes information related to future prices. The second step refines the estimates obtained in the first step and also gives estimates of the remaining parameters in the model. This paper is part tutorial in nature and gives an introduction to aspects of commodity price modeling and the associated parameter estimation problem.
A Method to Estimate Vertically Integrated Amounts of Cloud Ice and Liquid and Mean Rain Rate in Stratiform Precipitation from Radar and Auxiliary Data

Abstract A method to retrieve total vertical amounts of cloud liquid and ice in stratiform precipitating systems is described. The retrievals use measurements from the vertically pointing Ka- and W-band cloud radars operated by the U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program and auxiliary measurements from a scanning National Weather Service radar and a ground-based disdrometer. Separation between the cloud liquid and rain is based on estimations of the total attenuation of millimeter-wavelength radar signals in the liquid hydrometeor layer. Disdrometer measurements are used for the retrieval constraints. Because the liquid phase hydrometeor retrievals use only differential measurements, they are immune to the absolute radar calibration uncertainties. Estimates of the ice cloud phase are performed using empirical relations between absolute radar reflectivity and ice water content. Data from the nearby scanning weather-service radar, which operates at a lower frequency, are us.
Postglacial dispersal of freshwater fishes in the Québec peninsula

The possible postglacial dispersal of freshwater fishes in the Quebec peninsula is described. We tested the hypothesis that fish dispersal was controlled more efficiently by movements of the earth crust and by morphological peculiarities of the peninsula than by upland divides presently found between river basins. Based on the actual distributions of 109 species of freshwater fishes, the presence and absence of these species was noted for each of 289 one-degree-square pixels of the peninsula. A geographical intermediate-linkage clustering was run with a spatial constraint, that is, only neighbouring pixels were allowed to cluster. Five main ichthyogeographic regions and 21 subregions were thus defined. The regional limits seem to be highly correlated with climatic, vegetational, and geomorphological limits or gradients. Knowing the fish species present in each subregion made it possible to deduce their pattern of postglacial dispersal, after computing a coefficient of dispersal direction between neighbour.
CORRELATION OF CERVICAL DYSPLASIA WITH SEROLOGICAL AND MICROBIOLOGICAL TESTS FOR GENITAL INFECTIONS

AIMS: Prevalence of Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) tends to be high which constitutes an important public health problem at present worldwide and in India, being associated with Human Immunodeficiency virus and predisposing to cervical dysplasia and cancer. There is a need to overcome the STI infections throughout the nation by cytological and microbiological screening. SETTING AND DESIGN: The present study was undertaken to investigate the association of Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), Herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV 2), Cytomegalovirus (CMV), Hepatitis B (HBV), Hepatitis C virus (HCV), Trichomonas vaginalis (TV) and Candidiasis with cervical cytological changes in symptomatic female in West Bengal. METHODS: Sera and vaginal samples from 431 syndromic female patients with cervico-vaginal discharge were tested for detection of STIs. The study period extended over two years. Concomitantly, study of cervical cytology on Papanicolaou stained smears was performed in all cases. ELISA was performed for detection of CT IgM, HSV2 IgM, CMV IgM, HBsAg and HCV IgM in sera. Candida spp. and TV were identified by culture of vaginal samples. Cytological findings were interpreted according to Bethesda 2001 classification. Statistical analysis was performed using MedCalc for Windows, version 13.3. 1.0 (MedCalc Software, Ostend, Belgium). RESULTS: Out of 431 samples, majority of the patients belonged to the age group of 29 to 42 years, however the mean age of patients presenting with HSIL on PAP was 45+ 7.93 years. CT, HSV2, TV and Candida spp. were associated with cervical cytological changes of ASCUS or worse. Age greater than 40 years and infection with CT emerged independent risk factors associated with cervical dysplasia on univariate and multivariate analysis with p <0.05 in both. CONCLUSION: C. trachomatis is a risk factor for cervical dysplasia. Early detection and treatment will prevent progression of STIs and development of cervical dysplasia and neoplasia.
THE WORKING CONDITIONS AND ORGANISM STRAIN AT THE CONTROL PANEL

The present study was carried out in the chemical industry, at the control panel (CP), in order to highlight the working conditions and the organism strain, to establish interventions for optimizing the work. Research methodology included: work and equipment analysis, working environment characterization, assessment of some of the organism’s indicators and investigating the health status in 50 subjects, electronic processing the resulted data. The CP runs in a separate room, with air-conditioning. On the large surface of the CP information devices are placed, regarding the technological process evolution, mostly visual information. The operators watch permanently that information in order to quickly detect the parameters’ deviation from normal. The physical effort is low, the neuropsychic strain predominates: sensorial (especially visual), mental (attention, memory, technical thinking participation), the work responsibility and monotony increase the strain. The performance of the organism’s indicators decrease at the end of the work program for most or for all subjects. The content of the work, but other factors also, can cause strain, with the onset of fatigue. Complex interventions are necessary to prevent overstrain.
A Modified Architecture for Radix-4 Booth Multiplier with Adaptive Hold Logic

High speed digital multipliers are most efficiently used in many applications such as Fourier transform, discrete cosine transforms, and digital filtering. The throughput of the multipliers is based on speed of the multiplier, and then the entire performance of the circuit depends on it. The pMOS transistor in negative bias cause negative bias temperature instability (NBTI), which increases the threshold voltage of the transistor and reduces the multiplier speed. Similarly, the nMOS transistor in positive bias cause positive bias temperature instability (PBTI). These effects reduce the transistor speed and the system may fail due to timing violations. So here a new multiplier was designed with novel adaptive hold logic (AHL) using Radix-4 Modified Booth Multiplier. By using Radix-4 Modified Booth Encoding (MBE), we can reduce the number of partial products by half. Modified booth multiplier helps to provide higher throughput with low power consumption. This can adjust the AHL circuit to reduce the performance degradation. The expected result will be reduce threshold voltage, increase throughput and speed and also reduce power. This modified multiplier design is coded by Verilog and simulated using Xilinx ISE 12.1 and implemented in Spartan 3E FPGA kit.
Charter School Leadership: The Leadership Affects of the Transition from Public School Administration to Charter School Administration

Charter schools have emerged as a viable option for parents and students who seek educational options. Currently there are approximately 5,000 charter schools nationally, which serve more than 1.5 million students. As charter schools continue to enroll students, there are increased leadership opportunities within charter school organizations. Presently, there is a limited body of research that analyzes the leadership affect of charter school leaders who have transitioned from public school leadership positions. This study analyzed this growing population of charter school leaders to ascertain factors associated with the high attrition rate of charter school leaders. In addition, the study sought to determine if transformational and/or transactional leadership styles were evidenced as characteristics of these charter school leaders. This qualitative research study used data solicited from interviews of five charter school leaders. The data was analyzed to identify factors that contributed to the high attrition rate of charter school leaders. The data uncovered factors such as principal burnout due to the many responsibilities required of charter school leadership and the lack of sufficient entrepreneurial training as a rationale to explain this trend. In addition, evidence of transformational and/or transactional leadership styles was identified. However, transactional leadership style was the dominant style for these leaders as a significant amount of their leadership responsibilities hinged on the concept of rewards and punishment. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Education (EdD) Department Executive Leadership Subject Categories Education This dissertation is available at Fisher Digital Publications: http://fisherpub.sjfc. edu/education_etd/161 Charter School Leadership: The Leadership Affects of the Transition from Public School Administration to Charter School Administration
Can Long-term Antifungal Therapy Be an Alternative to Surgery in Pulmonary Aspergilloma?

Pulmoner aspergilloma (PA), immunsuprese hastalarda yuksek mortalite ve morbiditeli klinik durumlardandir. Tedavide siklikla cerrahi rezeksiyon tercih edilir; fakat cerrahide lokal ve sistemik yayilim riski mevcuttur ve ayrica cerrahi tedaviye fonksiyonel olarak uygun olmayan hastalar da vardir. Bu calismada cerrahi ve antifungal tedavi uygulanmis olan bilateral PA’li iki hastayi sunmaktayiz. Vorikonazol ile yapilan ve iki hastamizda da basarili olan antifungal tedavi, cerrahiye uygun olmayan bir grup PA hastasi icin umit verici bir yaklasim olabilir.
Sex reversed chicks (Gallus domesticus) hatched from eggs treated with aromatase inhibitor YM511

The objectives of this work were to assess post-hatch development of chickens treated in ovo with the aromatase inhibitor. A total of 137 eggs coming from artificially inseminated hens were at first injected in the albumen with either DMSO alone (54 eggs injected, control group) or with DMSO + aromatase inhibitor (aromatase inhibitor1mg/egg, 83 eggs injected, treated group) and then incubated under standard conditions. Out of the 24 chicks hatched in the treated group, 16 were genetic males (ZZ) and 8 were genetic females (ZW). By 26 weeks of age, secondary sex characteristics of 8 females (cloaca, comb, wattles, song, feathers of hackle and tail) progressively transformed into a male phenotype. __________________________________________________________________________________
Is Green Growth Good for the Poor?

The developing world is experiencing substantial environmental change, and climate change is likely to accelerate these processes in the coming decades. Due to their initial poverty and their relatively high dependence on environmental capital for their livelihoods, the poor are likely to suffer most due to their low resources for mitigation and investment in adaptation. Economic growth is essential for any large-scale poverty reduction. Green growth, a growth process that is sensitive to environmental and climate change concerns, can be particularly helpful in this respect. The paper focuses on the possible trade-offs between the greening of growth and poverty reduction, and it highlights the sectoral and spatial processes behind effective poverty reduction. High labor intensity, declining shares of agriculture in GDP and employment, migration, and urbanization are essential features of poverty-reducing growth. The paper contrasts some common and stylized green-sensitive growth ideas related to agriculture, trade, technology, infrastructure, and urban development with the requirements of poverty-sensitive growth. It finds that these ideas may cause a slowdown in the effectiveness of growth to reduce poverty. The main lesson is that trade-offs are bound to exist; they increase the social costs of green growth and should be explicitly addressed. If they are not addressed, green growth may not be good for the poor, and the poor should not be asked to pay the price for sustaining growth while greening the planet.
Bimodality of the Distribution of Central Surface Brightnesses1

The Ursa Major Cluster appears to be unevolved and made up of HIrich spiral galaxies like one finds in the field. B;R; I ;K photometry has been obtained for 79 galaxies, including 62 in a complete sample with M B < −16:5m (with a distance to the cluster of 15.5 Mpc). The K information is particularly important for the present discussion because it is not seriously affected by obscuration. There is reasonably convincing evidence that the distribution of exponential disk central surface brightnesses is bimodal. There is roughly an order of magnitude difference in the mean luminosity densities of high and low surface brightness disks. Disks avoidthe domain between the high and low surface brightness zones. The few intermediate surface brightness examples in the sample all have significant neighbors within a projected distance of 80 kpc. The high surface brightness galaxies exhibit a range −21m<M B < −17 m while the low surface brightness galaxies are found with −19m< M B down to the completion limit. High and low surface brightness galaxies in the overlap regime −19m < M B < −17 m that are indistinguishable in luminosity–line width plots have very distinct locations in surface brightness–scale length plots. The existence of separate high and low surface brightness families suggests that there are discrete radial configurations that are stable. Galaxies are driven into one of these regimes. The high surface brightness state has a lower luminosity cutoff. It is likely that the high surface brightness galaxies are dominated by dissipational matter at their centers while the low surface brightness galaxies are dark matter dominated. The high surface brightness family subdivides into those with, and without, substantial bulges. In either case, these galaxies have essentially the same exponential disk central surface brightnesses. Evidently, there are two thresholds probably controlled by angular momentum content or transfer. Passing from high to low specific angular momentum, there is first the transition from low surface brightness to high surface brightness regimes, then the transition from exponential disk to disk plus bulge regimes.