Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sequence Learning in an Online Serial Reaction Time Task: The Effect of Task Instructions

The serial reaction time task (SRTT) is commonly used to study motor learning and memory. The task is traditionally administered in a lab setting with participants responding via button box or keyboard to targets on a screen. By comparing response times of sequential versus random trials and accuracy across sequential trials, different forms of learning can be studied. The present study utilized an online version of the SRTT to study the effects of instructions on learning. Participants were randomly assigned to an explicit learning condition (with instructions to learn the visual sequence and associated tone) or an implicit learning condition (without instructions). Stimuli in both learning conditions were presented in two phases: auditory and visual (training phase), followed by auditory only (testing phase). Results indicated that learning occurred in both training and testing phases, as shown by a significant decrease in response times. There was no significant main effect of learning condition (explicit or implicit) on sequence learning. This suggests that providing explicit instructions does not seem to influence sequence learning in the SRTT learning paradigm. Future online studies utilizing the SRTT should explore varying task instructions in a parametric manner to better understand cognitive processes that underlie sequence learning.
Impacts of postpartum length at the initiation of the fixed-time artificial insemination protocol on pregnancy rates of Bos indicus beef cows

Abstract The shortest interval between calving and initiation of fixed-time artificial insemination (FTAI) protocols recommended in Brazilian cow–calf systems is 30 d, based on research that characterized uterine involution and incidence of uterine disorders in Bos taurus females. Prevalence of uterine disorders such as subclinical endometritis is limited in Nelore (B. indicus) cows as early as 28 d after calving. We hypothesized that Nelore cows can receive an FTAI protocol as early as 20 d postpartum (DPP) and still experience satisfactory reproductive results. This study evaluated pregnancy rates in 5,258 Nelore cows (n = 1,703 primiparous and 3,555 multiparous) according to DPP at the initiation of the FTAI protocol. Cow body condition score (BCS) was recorded at FTAI, and pregnancy diagnosis was performed ~30 d after FTAI. Cows were ranked within parity by DPP at the initiation of the FTAI protocol and classified according to 5-d intervals (e.g., ≤15 DPP, 16 to 20 DPP, 21 to 26 DPP, until cows with ≥76 DPP). Data were analyzed within parity, using cow as experimental unit and orthogonal polynomial contrasts (linear, quadratic, or cubic) generated using the mean DPP of each DPP class. In both parities, cow BCS at FTAI decreased linearly (P ≤ 0.01) with the advance of DPP (e.g., 4.79, 4.00, and 3.73 in primiparous, and 4.95, 3.70, and 3.23 in multiparous cows classified as ≤15 DPP, 36 to 40 DPP, ≥76 DPP, respectively). The pregnancy rate to FTAI was affected quadratically (P < 0.01) by DPP for both parities. In primiparous cows, the pregnancy rate increased until 36 to 40 DPP (60%), remained near this level until 51 to 60 DPP, and then decreased with the advance of DPP, whereas cows classified as 21 to 25 DPP expressed satisfactory results (41.5%). In multiparous cows, the pregnancy rate increased until 46 to 50 DPP (70.8%), remained near this level until 56 to 60 DPP, and then decreased with the advance of DPP, whereas cows classified as 21 to 25 DPP also expressed satisfactory results (63.6%). Collectively, primiparous and multiparous Nelore cows evaluated herein experienced optimal pregnancy rates when the FTAI protocol was initiated within 30 to 60 DPP, although reasonable outcomes were observed when the FTAI protocol was initiated as early as 21 DPP. Hence, the interval between calving and initiation of the FTAI protocol can be shortened by 10 d in Nelore females and still yield acceptable pregnancy rates, which can be of great value to cows that calve immediately prior to or during the annual breeding season.
Baseline Susceptibility and Cross-Resistance of HearNPV in Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Brazil

Simple Summary Helicoverpa armigera nucleopolyhedrovirus (HearNPV: Baculoviridae: Alphabaculovirus (Armigen®)) is a registered insecticide for the management of cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Brazil. We conducted studies of baseline susceptibility of Brazilian populations of H. armigera to HearNPV (Armigen®, AgBiTech, Fort Worth, TX, USA) and cross-resistance between HearNPV and insecticides as valuable knowledge in support of integrated pest management and insect resistance management programs. Abstract The marked adoption of bioinsecticides in Brazilian agriculture in recent years is, at least partially, explained by the increasingly higher levels of insect pest resistance to synthetic insecticides. In particular, several baculovirus-based products have been registered in the last 5 years, including Helicoverpa armigera nucleopolyhedrovirus (HearNPV: Baculoviridae: Alphabaculovirus (Armigen®)). Understanding the susceptibility of Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) to HearNPV is an important step toward development of robust Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Insect Resistance Management programs (IRM) aimed at managing this serious insect pest. In this study, droplet feeding bioassays were used to characterize the baseline susceptibility to HearNPV (Armigen®) in H. armigera populations collected from major soybean and cotton-growing regions in Brazil. We defined and validated a diagnostic concentration for susceptibility monitoring of H. armigera populations to HearNPV. Additionally, cross-resistance between HearNPV and the insecticides flubendiamide and indoxacarb was evaluated by testing HearNPV in a susceptible strain and in resistant strains of H. armigera to these insecticides. A low interpopulation variation of H. armigera to HearNPV was detected. The LC50 values ranged from 1.5 × 105 to 1.1 × 106 occlusion bodies (OBs) per mL (7.3-fold variation). The mortality rate at the identified diagnostic concentration of 6.3 × 108 OBs/mL, based on the calculated LC99, ranged from 98.6 to 100% in populations of H. armigera collected from 2018 to 2020. No cross-resistance was detected between HearNPV and flubendiamide or indoxacarb. These results suggest that HearNPV (Armigen®) can be an effective tool in IPM and IRM programs to control H. armigera in Brazil.
A JOINT PORTMANTEAU TEST FOR CONDITIONAL MEAN AND VARIANCE TIME‐SERIES MODELS

In this article, we propose a new joint portmanteau test for checking the specification of parametric conditional mean and variance functions of linear and nonlinear time‐series models. The use of a joint test is motivated for complete control of the asymptotic size since marginal tests for the conditional variance may lead to misleading conclusions when the conditional mean is misspecified. The new test is based on an asymptotically distribution‐free transformation on the sample autocorrelations of both normalized residuals and squared normalized residuals. This makes it unnecessary to full detail the asymptotic properties of the estimates used to obtain residuals, which could be inefficient two‐step ones, avoiding also choices of maximum lag parameters increasing with sample length to control asymptotic size. The robust versions of the new test also properly account for higher‐order moment dependence at a reduced cost. The finite‐sample performance of the new test is compared with that of well‐known tests through simulations.
An Assessment and Comparison of the Efficacy of Two Licensed Tetravalent Leptospira Vaccines for Dogs Using an Improved Challenge Model

An objective of the present studies was to compare the protective effects of two European licensed canine tetravalent leptospirosis vaccines, Nobivac L4 and Versican Plus L4. Four similar challenge studies in beagle dogs were performed. In each study the dogs were assigned to one of three treatment groups as follows: group 1, Nobivac L4; group 2, Versican Plus L4; group 3, non-vaccinated control group. Two vaccinations were followed by a Leptospira challenge. Strains of the following serogroups were used for challenge: study 1, Grippotyphosa; study 2, Icterohaemorrhagiae; study 3, Canicola; study 4, Australis. Parameters of efficacy were antibody titres; body temperature; clinical signs; cultures of Leptospira bacteria from the blood, urine, kidney and liver; rapid urinalysis; macroscopic and histopathological examination at necropsy. It was concluded that compared to vaccination with Versican Plus L4, vaccination with Nobivac L4 resulted in generally better control of leptospirosis disease parameters after the challenge including a complete prevention of the clinical signs following a Grippotyphosa and Icterohaemorrhagiae challenge. In contrast, vaccination with Versican Plus L4 only prevented infection by Australis and shedding by Grippotyphosa and Australis but it did not lead to any statistically significant reduction of either infection or shedding following an Icterohaemorrhagiae challenge.
Consumption analysis of two-component fixed combinations of medicines for arterial hypertension treatment in Ukraine as one of the stages for evaluation of their reimbursement prospects

The aim was to conduct a retrospective consumption analysis of 4 groups of single pill combinations for hypertension treatment and identify potential candidates for future inclusion in the reimbursement list in Ukraine, based on retrospective consumption patterns. Materials and methods: The objects of the study were retail sales data in pharmaceutical market in Ukraine of four groups of single pill combinations used for arterial hypertension treatment. Data was provided by the marker research system “Pharmstandard” of the company of “Morion”. Analytic-comparative, systematic, logical, and mathematical-statistical methods were used. Results: Single pill combinations of ACE inhibitors with diuretics were the most consumed among other combinations on 2018-2020. Retrospective evaluation of consumption patterns in period of 2018-2020 showed that combinations of captopril and hydrochlorothiazide (HCTD) 50 mg/25 mg, enalapril and HCTD 10 mg/25 mg, lisinopril and HCTD 10 mg/12.5 mg were the most consumed. Among ARB and diuretics combinations valsartan and HTCD (160 mg/12.5 mg and 80 mg/12.5 mg) and losartan and HTCD (50 mg /12.5 mg) were the most consumed among ARB and diuretics combinations. Within ACE inhibitors and calcium channel blockers (CCB) combinations the most consumed were lisinopril/amlodipine 10 mg/5 mg and a perindopril arginine/amlodipine 5 mg/5 mg. Valsartan and amlodipine holds the majority among ARC and CCB combinations, consumed in period of 2018-2020. Conclusion: Apart from the single pill combinations, enlisted in the WHO Essential medicines list, eight more single pill combination were identified, based on retrospective consumption patterns, as potential candidates for further inclusion in the reimbursement list in Ukraine
Folding on the chaotic Cartesian product of manifolds and their fundamental group

In this paper we introduce the chaotic fundamental group of foldings of the chaotic Cartesian product of manifolds into itself. Also the fundamental group of the limit of foldings of the chaotic Cartesian product of manifolds into itself are deduced. The effect of folding on the wedge sum of chaotic manifolds and their chaotic fundamental group will be achieved. Some types of conditional foldings restricted on the elements of a free chaotic group and their chaotic fundamental groups are presented. Theorems governing these relations are obtained.
Coupled Inductor Based Voltage Balancing in Dual-Output CLL Resonant Converter for Bipolar DC Distribution System

Bipolar dc distribution systems face imbalances in voltages when unbalanced loads are connected at the outputs. To address imbalances in bipolar voltage levels, dedicated voltage balancers are required. However, they add extra active and/or passive components; including, magnetics, capacitors, etc. This increases the cost, reduces the conversion efficiency, and power density of dual-output converters. Therefore, to tackle the imbalances in output voltages without adding any extra active and/or passive components, this article presents coupled inductor (CI) based voltage balancing in dual-output CLL resonant converter. The main features of the proposed method are as follows: since CI is the result of already present resonant inductors of CLL tank circuit, therefore, it does not require extra magnetic components to balance the output voltages; with no additional components, it does not increase the magnetic volume, component count, cost, and complexity of the converter; due to the direct coupling, a half of circuit inductances are integrated to achieve the respective resonant inductance of the tank circuit; and it can also avoid complex control schemes applied to voltage balancing. Besides, with the proposed CI, the CLL converter maintains all of its good features including; zero-voltage and zero-current-switching (ZVZCS). The detailed analysis of the proposed CI with different load conditions is discussed. Moreover, LLC or Type-12 resonant tank circuit is presented to validate ZVZCS operation in the reverse power flow condition. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed CI based voltage balancing, a 3.6-kW hardware prototype has been built and tested.
epidemiological study on common mental disorders among married women in rural puducherry

Context/Background: Common Mental Disorders, are non psychotic affective disorders (depressive and anxiety disorders). These disorders predominantly occur in women, is a serious public health problem. Majority of these are either undiagnosed or not satisfactorily treated. In most of the low- and middle-income countries, the idea of primary care for mental health is yet to be understood. Aims/Objectives: We undertook this study to estimate the prevalence of common mental disorders among ever married women in rural Puducherry, and to assess the associated risk factors Methodology: This cross-sectional study included 900 ever- married women in Bahour - a rural Puducherry between March 2015 and May 2016. Subjects were interviewed with semi-structured questionnaire & General health Questionnaire-12 using Bimodal scoring. Chi-square test and multiple logistic regression was done. p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Prevalence of common mental disorders was 11.4%. Age < 20 years, being Widowed/divorced/separated, being Pre obese women/obese, having adverse pregnancy outcome and physical abuse were identified as risk factors. Conclusions: The preliminary estimate prevalence of this disorder which was found to be high. Further research is needed to identify various other factors that influence the mental health of women.
Innovations in retail operations: Thirty years of lessons from Production and Operations Management

We review papers published in POM during its thirty‐year history that deal with retail operations issues with an empirical approach. The papers span a range of issues, from traditional ones like forecasting and inventory planning, to new technologies, like radio frequency identification (RFID) and e‐commerce, and strategic, like links between retailing and stock market performance.
Dynamic analysis of torsional discrete-continuous systems with position-dependent variable inertia

In the paper, dynamic investigations of multi-mass discrete-continuous systems torsionally deformed are performed taking into account the position-dependent mass moment of inertia of one of rigid bodies. It is assumed that the rigid body representing a motor moves with a variable velocity. An originally nonlinear problem is linearized; and the wave approach leading to solving equations with a retarded argument having variable coefficients is used for the solution. Exemplary numerical calculations are done for a three-mass system.
Multiscale Sampling for the Inverse Modeling of Partial Differential Equations

We are concerned with a novel Bayesian statistical framework for the characterization of natural subsurface formations, a very challenging task. Because of the large dimension of the stochastic space of the prior distribution in the framework, typically a dimensional reduction method, such as a Karhunen-Leove expansion (KLE), needs to be applied to the prior distribution to make the characterization computationally tractable. Due to the large variability of properties of subsurface formations (such as permeability and porosity) it may be of value to localize the sampling strategy so that it can better adapt to large local variability of rock properties. In this paper, we introduce the concept of multiscale sampling to localize the search in the stochastic space. We combine the simplicity of a preconditioned Markov Chain Monte Carlo method with a new algorithm to decompose the stochastic space into orthogonal subspaces, through a one-to-one mapping of the subspaces to subdomains of a non-overlapping domain decomposition of the region of interest. The localization of the search is performed by a multiscale blocking strategy within Gibbs sampling: we apply a KL expansion locally, at the subdomain level. Within each subdomain, blocking is applied again, for the sampling of the KLE random coefficients. The effectiveness of the proposed framework is tested in the solution of inverse problems related to elliptic partial differential equations arising in porous media flows. We use multi-chain studies in a multi-GPU cluster to show that the new algorithm clearly improves the convergence rate of the preconditioned MCMC method. Moreover, we illustrate the importance of a few conditioning points to further improve the convergence of the proposed method.
Sustainable humanitarian operations: An integrated perspective

The immediate response to disasters, while well intended, sometimes causes avoidable humanitarian challenges later on. Drinking water may be essential, but it is not necessary to provide it in small plastic bottles. Injections may save lives, but inappropriately discarded syringes are hazardous. Can humanitarian relief be made more sustainable? This paper summarizes a 1‐day workshop on this topic, held at INSEAD in 2019 in connection with Luk Van Wassenhove's transition to emeritus professor. This workshop involved over 100 academics and practitioners. Five areas were discussed in detail: material convergence, coordination between humanitarian organizations (HOs), logistics, partnerships with industry, and health. The discussions demonstrate the possibility of better integrating sustainability with humanitarian operations despite the inherent tension between the immediate need to save lives and the longer term perspective associated with sustainability. This requires that various stakeholders, including HOs, donors, and watchdog organizations, think differently about the balance between short‐term and long‐term interventions, the metrics and incentives they apply, and the role of local versus global organizations. Leading practitioners and scholars in humanitarian operations are well aware of these challenges and opportunities in each domain separately; this paper aims to introduce these issues to a broader audience in a single more integrated overview, based on the themes that were discussed at the workshop.
Generation and Manipulation of Multi-Color Stationary Light Field Using Electromagnetically Induced Transperancy

Dynamic control of a weak quantum probe light pulse for the generation and quantum manipulations of a stationary multi-color (MC-) light field in a resonant coherent atomic medium using electromagnetically induced transparency is proposed. The manipulations have been analyzed based on the analytical solution of the adiabatic limit in the evolution of MC-light fields resulting from interaction of the slow probe light with the new fields generated in the nondegenerate multi-wave mixing scheme. We have found a critical stopping condition for the MC-light fields where the group velocity of light should reduce down to zero. Semiclassical dynamics and behavior of specific quantum correlations of the MC-light fields have been studied in detail for particular initial quantum states of the probe pulse. The stationary MC-field dynamics are treated in terms of dark MC-polariton states constructed for the studied multi-wave mixing processes. We have found the conditions for optimal manipulation of the MC-light while preserving the delicate quantum correlations of the initial probe light pulse. The quantum manipulations leading to the frequency and direction switching of the initial probe light pulse as well as to the quantum swapping of probe light into the new multi-frequency light fields have been proposed. The possibilities of the interaction time lengthening and enhancement of the electric field amplitudes of the stationary MC-light are also discussed for enhancement of the interactions with weak quantum fields in the spatially limited media.
Protect Incomes or Protect Jobs? The Role of Social Policies in Post-Pandemic Recovery

The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent. This paper examines the effectiveness of income protection and job protection policies for the post-pandemic economic recovery of the second half of 2020 through 2021. The paper is based on a new data set of the budgets of social protection programs implemented as a part of the pandemic stimulus package in 154 countries. The empirical analysis shows that, in the short run, higher expenditure on job protection measures is associated with more robust gross domestic product growth, increased employment, and decreased inactivity and poverty rates compared to the expansion of income protection programs. Both policies had a significant economic impact only in countries with weaker pre-pandemic social insurance systems. In countries broader coverage of the social insurance system, the income and job protection programs appear to have had a limited impact on post-pandemic recovery. Because the structural economic changes induced by the pandemic are expected to materialize fully in several years, more research is needed to understand the longer-term effects of job protection and income protection policies on labor markets and economic recovery. This paper is a product the the a research a development policy discussions around the Research Working Papers