Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Variation in immune function in relation to sun exp osure and vitamin D

Although much is known about the relationship between UVR, vitamin D status and immune function, it is not yet understood whether immune markers vary with season as a result of seasonal changes in UVR and v itamin D levels. The purpose of this project was to determ ine if, and to what extent antibodies to common viruses var y seasonally, and whether UVR dose and vitamin D status are contributing factors to this pattern.
Challenges Analyzing RNA-Seq Gene Expression Data

The analysis of messenger Ribonucleic acid obtained through sequencing techniques (RNA-se- quencing) data is very challenging. Once technical difficulties have been sorted, an important choice has to be made during pre-processing: Two different paths can be chosen: Transform RNA- sequencing count data to a continuous variable or continue to work with count data. For each data type, analysis tools have been developed and seem appropriate at first sight, but a deeper analysis of data distribution and structure, are a discussion worth. In this review, open questions regarding RNA-sequencing data nature are discussed and highlighted, indicating important future research topics in statistics that should be addressed for a better analysis of already available and new appearing gene expression data. Moreover, a comparative analysis of RNAseq count and transformed data is presented. This comparison indicates that transforming RNA-seq count data seems appropriate, at least for differential expression detection.
Epidemiology and economic importance of fascio-losis of domestic ruminants in selected districts of Tigray Region , Ethiopia

An epidemiological study on fasciolosis of domestic ruminants was conducted in four Districts of Tigray Regional State to determine prevalence, identify Fasciola species, assess risk factors and evaluate economic loss. A total of 1708 domestic ruminants were sampled for coprological investigation; in addition 236 slaughtered ruminants were examined at post mortem. The overall prevalence of fasciolosis in domestic ruminants was 21.2% (95% CI: 15.8-26.9%) and 32.6% (95% CI: 29.7–35.6%) based on coprology and post mortem examinations, respectively. The prevalence in cattle, sheep and goats was 25.3%, 35.7% and 11.4% respectively, based on coprology. The highest prevalence was recorded in Ofla District (41.9%) and the lowest in Alamata District (10.8%). The prevalence was higher in the highland (67.9%) than the midland (17.4%) and the lowland (14.4%); aged animals, and in poor than good body condition in all species. The prevalence of F. hepatica was 73.1% and 62.7%, and F. gigantica 26.9% and 37.3% by egg and fluke examination, respectively. Statistically significant difference was observed in prevalence among districts, animal agro-ecology, age, and Fasciola species (p<0.05); while no significant association was observed between sexes in animal species (p>0.05). The odd of having fasciolosis in the highland than the lowland was more than 4 times higher (OR= 4.77), similarly the risk in sheep compared with goats was higher by more than 4 times (OR=4.33). During the five years period, out of 11,966 inspected livers, 22.62% were condemned due to fasciolosis. The annual direct and indirect economic loss incurred due to fasciolosis in the study area was estimated to be 286,536.21 Ethiopian Birr (31837.36 USD). Out of the total losses 80.9% was from cattle. The present study revealed a high infection of domestic ruminants by Fasciola species especially in the highland resulting in huge economic losses, hence, intervention to mitigate fasciolosis is required.
Flow cytometric evaluation of apoptosis on the effect of mirazid on gentamicin-induced renal damage in rats

The present study evaluates the effect of mirazid (mz) cd95 and cell cycle in rats of gentamicin (gm) induced renal damage for the detection of apoptosis. Albino male rats (rattus norvegicus), weighing 40â€“50 g were divided into 6 groups; normal saline, orally treated mirazid 10 mg/kg, gm i.p) for 10 days, mz at 2.5, 5, and 10 mg/kg, per oral for 10 days with the same concentration of gm, mz administered concurrently with gm for 10 days. Gm treatment caused nephrotoxicity as evidenced by marked elevation in serum creatinine and urea (152.3 Â± 8.6 mg/dl, 1.6 Â± 0.12 mg/dl resp) when compared to the saline treated group. Gm cause significant increase in both sub g1 (apoptosis) and cd95, marker of apoptosis, when compared to saline control whereas mz give significant decrease in cd95 (fas and fas ligand detection) and sub g1 (apoptosis).
Data assimilation with the weighted ensemble Kalman filter

Abstract In this paper, two data assimilation methods based on sequential Monte Carlo sampling are studied and compared: the ensemble Kalman filter and the particle filter. Each of these techniques has its own advantages and drawbacks. In this work, we try to get the best of each method by combining them. The proposed algorithm, called the weighted ensemble Kalman filter, consists to rely on the EnsembleKalman Filter updates of samples in order to define a proposal distribution for the particle filter that depends on the history of measurement. The corresponding particle filter reveals to be efficient with a small number of samples and does not rely anymore on the Gaussian approximations of the ensemble Kalman filter. The efficiency of the new algorithm is demonstrated both in terms of accuracy and computational load. This latter aspect is of the utmost importance in meteorology or in oceanography since in these domains, data assimilation processes involve a huge number of state variables driven by highly non-linear dynamical models. Numerical experiments have been performed on different dynamical scenarios. The performances of the proposed technique have been compared to the ensemble Kalman filter procedure, which has demonstrated to provide meaningful results in geophysical sciences.
A Process for Assessing Wooded Plant Cover by Remote Sensing

Abstract The ability to map the extent of wooded vegetation cover over large areas using remote sensing is important for managing and assessing rangelands. Currently, applied techniques are inadequate because they 1) do not directly measure the amount of land covered by woody plants and rely on low-resolution images, 2) require considerable training-area data to train a classifier, and 3) describe only a limited number of land cover types. This paper presents an innovative methodology for creating a land-cover map that requires little to no traditional, training-area data collection before classification. The procedure combines both high-resolution aerial photography (resampled to 2.5-m pixels) and lower-resolution satellite imagery (30-m pixels) to produce a detailed and easily producible data set. The resulting data set also categorizes regions into a wide variety of land cover types in addition to differing levels of wooded cover. This new methodology was applied to the Upper Guadalupe River watershed in Texas, which is composed of varying amounts of brush cover between herbaceous range and dense cover. Validation by comparison to aerial imagery demonstrated a 74.4% success rate for all land cover classes. Validation was also performed by ground survey for several brush-covered points and showed a 90.0% success rate. As a result of the ground survey, modifications to the methodology were recommended to reduce classification errors and improve the process.
Leakage Current Waveforms and Arcing Characteristics of Epoxy Resin for Outdoor Insulators under Clean and Salt Fogs

Ceramic outdoor insulators have been used in high voltage transmission lines since long time ago. Due to superiority in their resistance to pollution, recently, polymeric outdoor insulators are widely used. Epoxy resin is one polymer which shows good properties for outdoor insulation. During service, outdoor insulators may severe a certain degree of pollution which may reduce their surface resistance. Leakage current (LC) usually increase and degradation may take place. This paper reports experimental results on the leakage current waveforms and arcing characteristics of epoxy resin under clean and salt fog. The samples used are blocks of epoxy resin with dimension of 250 x 50 x 20 mm 3 . The samples were put in a test chamber with dimension of 900x900x1200 mm 3 with controllable humidity and pollution conditions. Clean and salt fog were generated according to IEC 60-1 and 507. The arcing experiment was done with incline plane test in accordance with IEC 587. AC voltage in the range from 5 kV to 50 kV with frequency of 50 Hz was applied. The LC waveforms up to flash over were measured. The magnitudes as well as harmonic content of the LC were analyzed. The correlation between LC waveforms and dry band arching phenomenon was elaborated. Visual observation of the arc on the sample surfaces was observed using a video camera. Experimental results indicated that LC magnitude on clean samples was slightly affected by humidity (RH). However, under salt fog, RH greatly affected the LC magnitude. The flashover voltage of clean samples under salt fog reduced significantly for fog conductivity of more than 1.2 mS/cm. Kaolin-polluted samples under salt fog showed an Ohmic behaviour. The LC magnitude was high and a large discrepancy of LC magnitude was observed for high applied voltage of larger than 25 kV. The largest LC magnitude was observed on salt-kaolin polluted samples under clean fog at high RH. LC waveforms analysis indicated that in general LC waveforms were distorted from sinusoidal. For clean samples under clean fog, THD of LC decreased with RH but slightly increased with the applied voltage. Large distortion at the peak of LC waveform was observed on kaolin polluted sample under salt fog of 3.6 mS/cm and high RH and high applied voltage. This correlates with corona arc on the sample surface. Similar behaviour was observed on kaolin-salt polluted samples under clean fog. Tracking arc experiment indicated that arc length LC magnitude and arc intensity increased with the pollutant conductivity. The THD also significantly increased with pollutant conductivity. At conductivity of less than 0.6 mS/cm the unsymmetrical LC waveforms were obtained. However, symmetrical LC waveforms were observed for conductivity of 0.9 and 1.2 mS/cm. The change of LC magnitude and waveform at different condition of samples may be useful for the diagnostics of insulator condition.
Cichorium intybus l . ) variety selection for the Chilean entral area icardo

In the Chilean market there are hybrid varieties of radicchio (Cichorium intybus L.) with high yield and homogeneity, where its main limitation is the high cost of the seed. The most important variety is ‘Leonardo’, which represents 90% of the market. Moreover, it is believed that there are open-pollinated varieties that could be used as an alternative to hybrids at lower cost. The study aim was to select openpollinated varieties with equal or better exportable yield than ‘Leonardo’, in order to establish bases on the recommendation of cultivars for the Chilean central area. Eleven varieties of radicchio were evaluated in a randomized complete block design with five replications. The trial was conducted in four locations of Chilean central area, during seasons 2007–2008. At each site, three planting dates were evaluated. The combination of locality × transplant date generated 12 environments. Exportable yield, head weight, percentage of sick plants, early flowering bolting and exportable color were evaluated. Combined analyzes of variance, stability, additive main effects and multiplicative interaction model (AMMI), sites regression analysis (SREG) and principal components were made. The exportable yield of the varieties ranged from 23.34 t ha−1 (‘Leonardo’) to 6.84 t ha−1 (‘CH121’), and the environments ranged between 25.89 and 8.18 t ha−1. The analysis of the exportable yield variance showed significant G × E effect. The type of radicchio (Treviso or Chioggia) was the main cause of interaction for exportable yield. In terms of exportable yield, ‘Ciro’ (Chioggia) could be considered as a good alternative to ‘Leonardo’ in the mega environment formed by the three planting dates of Polpaico, Santo Domingo and Lampa, while ‘Tullio’ (Treviso) could be an alternative in the three planting dates of Padre Hurtado. ‘Ciro’ yield 18.7% less than ‘Leonardo’ (P < 0.05) but showed better stability than ‘Leonardo’; and ‘Tullio’ yield 24% more than ‘Leonardo’ in the three planting dates of Padre Hurtado (P < 0.05). Exportable yield reduction is mainly due to diseases. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Synthesis of Amorphous Er 3+ -Yb 3+ Co-doped TiO 2 and Its Application as a Scattering Layer for Dye-sensitized Solar Cells

, (ii) inefficient light absorption by dyes in the near infra-red region, (iii) sub-optimum photo-voltage output, (iv) resistance losses, (v) light intensity de-pendant recombination, (vi) and non-ideal diode dark currents among others. Efforts have led to maximum power con-version under full sunlight to about 10% for a cell with an ac-tive area of 0.25 cm
THE TWO FACES OF IMPULSIVITY IN THE HYPERBOLIC DISCOUNTING FUNCTION

ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.iii TABLE OF CONTENTS.iii LIST OF TABLES.iv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.v INTRODUCTION.1 EXPERIMENT.6 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION.13 CONCLUSION.19 REFERENCES.22 APPENDICES.24
Multi-agent Systems to Help Managing Air Traffic Structure

Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) aims at structuring traffic in order to reduce congestion in airspace. Congestion being linked to aircraft located at the same position at the same time, ATFM organizes traffic in the spatial dimension (e.g. route network) and in the time dimension (e.g. sequencing and merging of aircraft flows taking off or landing at airports). The objective of this paper is to develop a methodology that allows the traffic to self-organize in the time and space dimensions when demand is high. This structure disappears when the demand diminishes. In order to reach this goal, a multi-agent system has been developed, in which aircraft cooperate to structure traffic. Multi-agent systems have several advantages, including a good resilience when confronted with disruptive events. In this system, three algorithms have been implemented, aiming at reducing traffic complexity in three different ways. The first algorithm allows aircraft agents flying on a route network to regulate speed in order to reduce the number of conflicts, a conflict occurring when two aircraft do not respect separation norms. The second algorithm allows aircraft to solve conflicts when the traffic is not structured by a route network. The third algorithm creates temporary local route networks allowing to structure traffic. The three algorithms implemented in this multi-agent system allow to decrease overall traffic complexity, which becomes easier to manage by air traffic controllers. This algorithm was applied on realistic examples and was able to structure traffic in a resilient way.
Development of Self-Organizing Maps Neural Networks Based Control System for a Boat Model

This paper describes the development of a controller system for a developed double-propeller boat model using the unsupervised learning neural networks, namely the Self-Organizing Maps (SOM). The performance characteristics of the proposed SOM-based controller are then compared with that of the well-known Back-propagation Neural Networks (BPNN)-based controller through a direct inverse control scheme. Experimental results showed that the SOM-based controller can produce a low error, even lower than that of the widely used BPNN-based controller. Furthermore, the computational cost of the SOM-based controller is found to be more than 700 times faster than that of the BPNN-based controller. These findings suggest that the utilization of the proposed SOM-based controller for the control of a boat is highly effective.
Test for age-specificity in survival of the common tern

Much effort in life-history theory has been addressed to the dependence of life-history traits on age, especially the phenomenon of senescence and its evolution. Although senescent declines in survival are well documented in humans and in domestic and laboratory animals, evidence for their occurrence and importance in wild animal species remains limited and equivocal. Several recent papers have suggested that methodological issues may contribute to this problem, and have encouraged investigators to improve sampling designs and to analyse their data using recently developed approaches to modelling of capture-mark-recapture data. Here we report on a three-year, two-site, mark-recapture study of known-aged common terns (Sterna hirundo) in the north-eastern USA. The study was nested within a long-term ecological study in which large numbers of chicks had been banded in each year for > 25 years. We used a range of models to test the hypothesis of an influence of age on survival probability. We also tested for a possible influence of sex on survival. The cross-sectional design of the study (one year's parameter estimates) avoided the possible confounding of effects of age and time. The study was conducted at a time when one of the study sites was being colonized and numbers were increasing rapidly. We detected two-way movements between the sites and estimated movement probabilities in the year for which they could be modelled. We also obtained limited data on emigration from our study area to more distant sites. We found no evidence that survival depended on either sex or age, except that survival was lower among the youngest birds (ages 2-3 years). Despite the large number of birds included in the study (1599 known-aged birds, 2367 total), confidence limits on estimates of survival probability were wide, especially for the oldest age-classes, so that a slight decline in survival late in life could not have been detected. In addition, the cross-sectional design of this study meant that a decline in survival probability within individuals (actuarial senescence) could have been masked by heterogeneity in survival probability among individuals (mortality selection). This emphasizes the need for the development of modelling tools permitting separation of these two phenomena, valid under field conditions in which the recapture probabilities are less than one.
Performance analysis of radial and axial ux PMSM based on 3D FEM modeling

: The objective of this paper is presenting a comparative performance analysis between axial (cid:13)ux and radial (cid:13)ux permanent magnet synchronous machines (PMSMs) dedicated to a 550-W wind turbine application. The outer diameter is (cid:12)xed for both structures and the modeling is carried out in 3D by means of the (cid:12)nite element method (FEM) using the Multiphysics program ANSYS. The performances of the axial (cid:13)ux and radial (cid:13)ux machines for the same output power and at the same rotor speed are evaluated by comparing their eﬃciency regarding the material consumption of the active parts and eventually predicting their costs. The obtained results promote the axial (cid:13)ux topology as the best solution for small-scale wind turbine applications.
Prestellar core modeling in the presence of a filament - The dense heart of L1689B

Short version: We apply a new synergetic radiative transfer method: the derived 1D density profiles are both consistent with a cut through the Herschel PACS/SPIRE and JCMT SCUBA-2 continuum maps of L1689B and with a derived local interstellar radiation field. Choosing an appropriate cut along the filament major axis, we minimize the impact of the filament emission on the modeling. For the bulk of the core (5000-20000 au) an isothermal sphere model with a temperature of around 10 K provides the best fits. We show that the power law index of the density profile, as well as the constant temperature can be derived directly from the radial surface brightness profiles. For the inner region (< 5000 au), we find a range of densities and temperatures that are consistent with the surface brightness profiles and the local interstellar radiation field. Based on our core models, we find that pixel-by-pixel single temperature spectral energy distribution fits are incapable of determining dense core properties. We conclude that, to derive physical core properties, it is important to avoid an azimuthal average of core and filament. Correspondingly, derived core masses are too high since they include some mass of the filament, and might introduce errors when determining core mass functions. The forward radiative transfer methods also avoids the loss of information owing to smearing of all maps to the coarsest spatial resolution. We find the central core region to be colder and denser than estimated in recent inverse radiative transfer modeling, possibly indicating the start of star formation in L1689B.
U.S. Army Reenlistment and Extension by Occupation: A Reduced-Form Trinomial Probit Approach

Abstract : This report presents estimates to the Lakhani-Gilroy model of the extension and reenlistment choices of first-term Army enlistees, using the reduced-form trinomial probit approach developed by Terza (1985). The principal advantage of the probit framework over the multinomial logit estimator used by Lakani and Gilroy (1984) is that the former does not impose the theoretically restrictive assumption of the independence from irrelevant alternatives (IIA). The IIA assumption is especially troublesome in the context of the present study, since it is likely that the extension and reenlistment alternatives are perceived to be closer substitutes than either extension and separation or reenlistment and separation. Consequently, the multinomial logit model would almost surely predict too high a joint probability of extending or reenlisting. The probit estimates were compared with those obtained with the multinomial logit estimator and a variant of the latter, which poses the constraints on the reduced-form coefficients that are implied by the structure of the underlying utility equations. Unfortunately, the model performed poorly across all three estimation techniques, so it was difficult to evaluate them unambiguously. Consequently, further development of the theoretical model and an investigation into the computational feasibility of a constrained probit estimator would seem to be warranted. Keywords: Mathematical models; Mathematical predictions; Reenlistment.
Chemotaxis and collective cell migration

Fundamental biological processes in vivo including morphogenesis, wound healing and tumour metastasis require collective cell motions. To drive these motions chemotaxis is an important ingredient. Here we focus on 2D migration and present a continuous model, the mixture model which has been developped a lot for tumour modelisation We also consider its limit as a sharp interface model. Both include chemotaxis, also mechanical forces at the origin of migration and biological processes like cell mitosis. The derived free-boundary problem allows to reach analytical predictions concerning front shapes, dynamics and stability. Mots clefs : chemotaxis ; mixture model ; free-boundary problem
Influence of dietary supplementation on biotransformation of locust beans (Parkia biglobosa) to condiment.

Influence of four types of dietary supplements namely; cooked onion extract (COE), Iru water extract (IWE), glucose solution (GLS) and asparagine solution (ASS) on biotransformation of locust beans to condiment was studied. Assessment of biotransformation markers: free amino acids, free total sugar and total titratable acidity showed that supplementation enhanced biotransformation comparatively to sample without supplement (COS). Biotransformation was most enhanced at Day 2 in COE and IWE in comparison to GLS, ASS and COS. Assessment of selected dietary elements revealed that some elements (P, Fe and Mg) decreased during biotraformation. The change may be associated with the necessity of the dietary elements for accomplishment of biotransformation. Analysis of sensory scores (P=0.05) indicated that supplementation (COE, IWE) conferred no adverse influence on organoleptic characteristics of the condiment.