Comparative analyses suggest that a variety of ecological and behavioural factors contribute to the tremendous variability in extrapair mating among birds. In an analysis of 1010 species of birds, we examined several ecological and behavioural factors in relation to testes size; an index of sperm competition and the extent of extrapair mating. In univariate and multivariate analyses, testes siz...

This paper investigates the influence the decline in the family size on household size through a Chinese family planning policy, the One-Child Policy (OCP). I find the evidence of the negative effect at the micro level using Chinese household survey data. I also study the aggregated effect using Chinese provincial level data. With the concern of endogeneity, I use a two-stage least square regre...

This work focuses on the size distribution of sneeze droplets exhaled immediately at mouth. Twenty healthy subjects participated in the experiment and 44 sneezes were measured by using a laser particle size analyser. Two types of distributions are observed: unimodal and bimodal. For each sneeze, the droplets exhaled at different time in the sneeze duration have the same distribution characteris...

We report the draft genome sequence of Lactobacillus fermentum BFE 6620 from fermented cassava used as a potential starter culture for African vegetable fermentation. Sequence analysis showed the assembled genome size to be 1,982,893 bp, encoding a predicted total of 2,003 protein-coding genes, 14 rRNAs, 54 tRNAs, and 3 noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs).

Particle size distribution (PSD) affects properties of particulate materials and is used for denoting their quality and performance. Among many techniques available to measure PSD, many are quite often offline methods and are time consuming. Also methods like sieving involve, handling of the material physically and electromagnetically, which is healthy, if avoided for certain materials. Thus th...

Mediation analysis is used to review the comparative change in the amount of strength of association of the primary predictor with the outcome after adjustment for the mediator. Mediation models are very widely used in social sciences and biomedical sciences. Before conducting mediation studies, researchers want to know the sample size (i.e. number of subjects) required for achieving the adequa...

R(2) effect-size measures are presented to assess variance accounted for in mediation models. The measures offer a means to evaluate both component paths and the overall mediated effect in mediation models. Statistical simulation results indicate acceptable bias across varying parameter and sample-size combinations. The measures are applied to a real-world example using data from a team-based h...

Imagine that I give you a matchbox and a ruler and ask you to tell me the size of it. You may reply saying that the matchbox is 20 x 10 x 5mm. You cannot correctly say "the matchbox is 20mm" as this is only one aspect of its size. So it is not possible for you to describe the 3-dimensional matchbox with one unique number. Obviously the situation is more difficult for a complex shape like a grai...

In designing educational tests, instructors often have access to a question bank that contains a large number of questions that test knowledge on the concepts underlying a given course. In this setup, a natural way to design tests is to simply ask learners to respond to the entire set of available questions. This approach, however, is clearly not practical since it involves a significant time c...

A correctly set up dry powder measurement using a laser diffraction particle size analyser is much easier to perform than measurement of wet suspensions. However, incorrect measurement set-up can lead to errors and inconsistencies. This article examines the key steps achieving successful dry to powder measurement. Issues examined include powder flowability and sampling, air pressure and sample ...