The effects of course format, sex, semester, and institution on student performance in an undergraduate animal science course

The transition of courses from in-person to an online format due to the COVID-19 pandemic could have potentially affected overall student performance in lecture-based courses. The objective of this case study was to determine the impact of course format, as well as the effects of student sex, time of year at which the course was taken, and the institution it was taken at on student performance in an undergraduate animal science course. The course used for this study was taught at two institutions (University of Florida; UF and University of Nevada, Reno; UNR) over seven years (2014-2017 at UNR and 2018-2021 at UF). Student performance (n = 911) was evaluated using both quizzes and exams from 2014 through the spring semester 2020 and only exams were used for summer and fall semesters of 2020 and the spring and summer semesters of 2021. The final score (out of 100%) for each student was used to evaluate student performance. In addition, students were classified as high performing students if they scored ≥ 95% and low performing students if they scored ≤ 70%. The variables that were evaluated were the effects of semester (spring, summer, or fall), institution (UF or UNR), sex (male or female), number of teaching assistants (TAs; 0 to 13), and course format (online or in-person). The course was taught in-person at UNR and in-person and online at UF. The spring semester of 2020 was taught in-person until March but was switched to online approximately nine weeks after the semester started and was considered an online semester for this analysis. As the course was only taught online at UF, the variable course format was assessed using UF records only. Data was analyzed using both linear models and logistic regressions. The probability that students were high performing was not affected by sex or institution. Interestingly, both fall semester, and the online format had a positive, desirable effect on the probability that students were high performing. The probability that students were low performing was not affected by sex. However, if a student performed poorly in the class, they were more likely to have taken the course at UNR, or at UF with many TAs. Thus, student performance was impacted by changing the course format, as well as institution, the number of TAs, and the semester in which the course was taken.

Adherence to a Mediterranean Diet Is Associated with Lower Depressive Symptoms among U.S. Adults

Depression is a leading cause of disability, yet current prevention and treatment approaches have only had modest effects. It is important to better understand the role of dietary patterns on depressive symptoms, which may help prevent depression or complement current treatments. This study examined whether adherence to a Mediterranean diet (Med Diet), determined by the Alternate Med Diet score (aMED), was associated with depressive symptoms in a representative sample of U.S. adults. The aMED score (range 0–9) was calculated from a 24-h diet recall with gender-specific quartiles (Q) estimated. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was used to define depressive symptoms, which was dichotomized as no to mild (0–9) versus moderate to severe symptoms (10–27). Logistic regression was used to investigate the association between quartiles of aMED and depressive symptoms when controlling for sociodemographics, total calories, and the time of year of diet recall; 7.9% of the sample had moderate to severe depressive symptoms. Compared to individuals with the lowest aMED (Q1), individuals in Q3 and Q4 had 40% and 45% lower odds of moderate to severe depressive symptoms (odds ratio [OR] = 0.60, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.50, 0.74; OR = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.36, 0.84, respectively). This study provides modest support of Med Diet’s role in supporting positive mental health.

Effect of different date of transplanting for off-season onion production in Central Uttar Pradesh

Off-season onion production of is an important issue to challenge the price fluctuation during different time of year and in different location of the country. The present experiment was conducted at sub-tropical region of central Uttar Pradesh (Lucknow) during kharif, late kharif season of 2018-20 to find out the optimum date of transplanting and choice of suitable cultivar of onion for off-season production. The experiment consisted of eight dates of transplanting (30th August, 10, 20, 30th September, 10, 20, 30th October and 10th November) and two cultivars (Agrifound Dark Red and L-883) which was laid out in factorial randomized block design with three replications. Transplanting on 30th September showed maximum vegetative growth in terms of plant height (66.93 cm), number of leaves per plant (14.99), maxi-mum length of leaf (47.60 cm), neck thickness (23.19 mm) at 120 days after transplanting as well as highest average bulb weight (79.53 g) and bulb yield ( 10.02kg/plot and 382.68 q/ha). Among the two varieties L-883 showed the better performance in respect of growth and yield in off season production. Therefore, it may be concluded that the cultivation of L-883 variety and transplanting on 30th September was found best for off –season production in the sub –tropical agro- climatic region of Center Uttar Pradesh (Lucknow) which may be beneficial for increasing farmers’ income as well as for benefit of costumers keeping the balance between demand and supply.

Deep Neural Networks for Aerosol Optical Depth Retrieval

Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) is a measure of the extinction of solar radiation by aerosols in the atmosphere. Understanding the variations of global AOD is necessary for precisely determining the role of aerosols. Arctic warming is partially caused by aerosols transported from vast distances, including those released during biomass burning events (BBEs). However, measuring AODs is challenging, typically requiring active LIDAR systems or passive sun photometers. Both are limited to cloud-free conditions; sun photometers provide only point measurements, thus requiring more spatial coverage. A more viable method to obtain accurate AOD may be found through machine learning. This study uses DNNs to estimate Svalbard’s AODs using a minimal set of meteorological parameters (temperature, air mass, water vapor, wind speed, latitude, longitude, and time of year). The mean absolute error (MAE) between predicted and true data was 0.00401 for the entire set and 0.0079 for the validation set. It was then shown that the inclusion of BBE data improves predictions by 42.167%. It was demonstrated that AODs may be accurately estimated without the use of expensive instrumentation, using machine learning and minimal data. Similar models may be developed for other regions, allowing immediate improvement of current meteorological models.

Hormonal biochemical monitoring at bull-producers of different breeds in the conditions of the Central Black Economic District

Purpose: To conduct a comprehensive monitoring of bulls of different breeds in the summer in a comparative perspective to the study of protein-lipid and mineral metabolism, as well as to determine hormonal status on the content of endogenous hormones: testosterone, estradiol, cortisol and serum thyroxine per day taking seed.Materials and methods. For the first time in a Chernozem region of the Russian Federation (Voronezh region) was carried out comprehensive monitoring of bulls of red-motley Holstein (n = 16), Red-and-White (n = 8) and Simmental (n = 6) rocks in the same time of year (summer) of the protein-lipid and mineral metabolism, as well as the level of endogenous hormone (testosterone, estradiol, cortisol, thyroxine) and their cholesterol precursor in comparative aspect, immediately after taking the seed. Age range bulls ranged from 2 to 11 years. General monitoring was conducted on 23 indices of blood serum 3 rocks. The studies were conducted by modern methods, using modern equipment and reagents.Results. At Red Pied Holsteins an increase of total protein 100.45 g / L versus 92 g / l in normal (above the norm of 9.2%, as compared with red and White breed at the level of 11.3%). A similar increase in concentration in the blood of Holstein bulls red-White breed recorded on globulins, 68.87 g / l to 63 g / l in normal (above the norm of 9.3%), and with respect to the red-and-White breed 17, 6%. Also notes the high content of AST bulls red-motley Holstein against the red-and-White 18%, but within the reference range. Condition protein and lipid metabolism in sires only differed in content of creatinine, which amounted to 165.04 micromol / l against 163 mmol / l in normal, 1.6% higher as compared to the red and white breed this index was higher 18.7%. According to the content of testosterone highest rate was observed in bulls red-White breed 54.73 ± 9.51 nmol / l, is 10.2% more than in bulls red checkered-Holstein and 12.45% compared with Simmental breed. Similarly, in terms of serum cortisol - 355.60 ± 39.2 nmol / l in the red-bulls White breed that more than 2-fold compared with bulls Red Pied Holstein and Simmental. The difference is statistically significant at P ≤ 0,01. According to the content of estradiol relatively low levels recorded in the bulls of red-motley breed - 0.265 nmol / L vs. 0.301 nmol / L in red bulls-motley Holstein, and 0.332 nmol / L - Simmental, is lower by 13.6% and 25 , 3%, respectively.Conclusion. It was found that substantially all of the studied parameters in bulls 3 breeds are at reference values, and this gives grounds to assume that all of these breeds are well adapted to the conditions of Black Soil.

Epidemiological study of Colletotrichum spp. associated with Enterolobium cyclocarpum (Jacq.) Griseb. and Platymiscium pinnatum (Jacq.) Dugand in the Colombian Caribbean Region

Epidemiological analyzes of foliar diseases associated with Colletotrichum spp. in Enterolobium cyclocarpum and Platymiscium pinnatum were performed under field conditions and without any type of intervention. At the Universidad del Magdalena (Santa Marta, Colombia), four trees for each species and four equidistant monitoring sites per tree were established. The incidence and severity were recorded for 33 weeks (March to November 2016), including two follow-up periods: dry and rainy season. Disease development curves were elaborated. Moreover, the development rate (r) and the area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC) were calculated for each follow-up period. The effect of the meteorological variables was statistically analyzed by correlation and multiple regression. In E. cyclocarpum, the highest incidence and severity were recorded between September and November with 100 and 19.6%, respectively, showing a positive correlation with relative humidity and negative with average temperature, solar radiation and wind speed. In P. pinnatum, the maximum values of incidence and severity were observed between March and April with 68.9 and 1.3%, respectively. However, correlation analyzes did not support their relationship with the environmental factors. The r values during the dry months were 0.136 and 0.107 units week-1 and the AUDPCs were calculated at 51 and 4 units week-1 for E. cyclocarpum and P. pinnatum, respectively. In the rainy months, the r values were 0.187 and 0.016 units week-1 and the AUDPCs were 186 and 2 units week-1, respectively. In conclusion, the development of the disease varies according to the forest species, time of year and some meteorological variables.

Suspected Labour as a Reason for Emergency Medical Services Team Interventions in Poland—A Retrospective Analysis

The purpose of this study was to present the characteristics of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) team responses to calls regarding suspected labour in out-of-hospital settings in Poland. We performed a retrospective analysis of EMS team interventions in cases of suspected onset of labour outside a hospital setting. The analysis included 12,816 EMS team responses to calls regarding women in suspected labour in the period between January 2018 and December 2019. The mean age of the patients studied was 28.24 years (SD = 6.47). The majority of patients were at term (76.36%) and in their second pregnancy (29.96%). EMS teams were most often dispatched in the summer (25.95%) and in urban areas (63.26%). Most EMS teams were basic (68.99%) and interventions most often took place between 19:00 and 06:59 (63.14%). Significant differences were observed between preterm and term pregnant women attended by EMS teams in terms of variables such as the age of the patient, number of previous labours, history of miscarriage, presence of vaginal bleeding, time of year, location of call, type and composition of EMS team dispatched, urgency code and time of call, duration of intervention, selected emergency medical procedures performed and test results.

Energy Acquisition of Solar-Powered Joint-Wing Aircraft Considering Mismatch Power Loss

Solar-powered aircraft can perform long-term flights with clean solar energy. However, the energy derived from solar irradiation is influenced by the time of year and latitude, which limits the energy acquisition ability of solar aircraft with a straight-wing configuration. Hence, unconventional configurations based on increasing wing dihedral to track the sun are proposed to improve energy acquisition at high-latitude regions in winter, which may involve power loss caused by mismatch in the photovoltaic system. However, mismatch loss is seldom considered and may cause energy to be overestimated. In this paper, the energy acquisition characteristics of a joint-wing configuration are presented based on the simulation of an energy system to investigate the mismatch power loss. The results indicate a 4~15% deviation from the frequently used estimation method and show that the mismatch loss is influenced by the curved upper surface, the severity of shading and the circuit configuration. Then, the configuration energy acquisition factor is proposed to represent the energy acquisition ability of the joint-wing configuration. Finally, the matching between the aircraft configuration and flight trajectory is analyzed, demonstrating that the solar-powered aircraft with an unconventional wing configuration is more sensitive to the coupling between configuration and trajectory.

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Impact of seasonality on the inbound and outbound freight of a global fertilizer company

The growing importance of agriculture in the Brazilian economy makes it essential that agricultural companies seek to increase their logistics competitiveness. This study aimed to compare and analyze the impact of seasonality of grain harvest and specific events, such as the 2018 Brazil truck drivers’ strike, on the prices of inbound and outbound freight in a multinational company located in several Brazilian states. It focused on the CIF (Cost, Insurance, and Freight) routes of the company between 2015 and 2019 in Brazil, and the relationship between time of year and cost of transportation. These data were analyzed in a descriptive level after being treated by statistical analysis. This study showed that the costs of outbound freight suffered greater increases compared to the inbound freight due to the seasonality of grain harvest and the 2018 Brazil truck drivers’ strike.