Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Novel Rear-End Collision Detection Algorithm Based on GNSS Fusion and ANFIS

Rear-end collisions are one of the most common types of accidents on roads. Global Satellite Navigation Systems (GNSS) have recently become sufficiently flexible and cost-effective in order to have great potential for use in rear-end collision avoidance systems (CAS). Nevertheless, there are two main issues associated with current vehicle rear-end CAS: achieving relative vehicle positioning and dynamic parameters with sufficiently high accuracy and a reliable method to extract the car-following status from such information. This paper introduces a novel integrated algorithm for rear-end collision detection. Access to high accuracy positioning is enabled by GNSS, electronic compass, and lane information fusion with Cubature Kalman Filter (CKF). The judgment of the car-following status is based on the application of the Adaptive Neurofuzzy Inference System (ANFIS). The field test results show that the designed algorithm could effectively detect rear-end collisions with an accuracy of 99.61% and a false alarm rate of 5.26% in the 10 Hz output rate.
Factor Demand And Returns To Scale In Milk Production: Effects Of Price, Substiution And Technology

A translog cost function was estimated using pooled time series-cross section data from five Northeastern States to study structural changes in the dairy industry. The approach given in the duality theory was found useful in estimating the input demand structure under changing input prices and technology conditions. The estimated Allen partial elasticities of substitution show the existence of substitution between energy and non-energy inputs in dairy farming. Despite input price increases the dairy industry maintained competitiveness as seen by the returns to scale parameters.
An SIRS Epidemic Model with Vital Dynamics and a Ratio-Dependent Saturation Incidence Rate

This paper presents an investigation on the dynamics of an epidemic model with vital dynamics and a nonlinear incidence rate of saturated mass action as a function of the ratio of the number of the infectives to that of the susceptibles. The stabilities of the disease-free equilibrium and the endemic equilibrium are first studied. Under the assumption of nonexistence of periodic solution, the global dynamics of the model is established: either the number of infective individuals tends to zero as time evolves or it produces bistability in which there is a region such that the disease will persist if the initial position lies in the region and disappears if the initial position lies outside this region. Computer simulation shows such results.
Formation of a semi-insulating layer in n-type 4H-SiC by electron irradiation

Electron irradiation has been applied to the formation of a semi-insulating 4H-SiC(0001) layer. The resistivity of the semi-insulating layer, which was irradiated with a fluence of 1.9 × 1018 cm−2 at 400 keV, exceeded 1010 Ω cm at room temperature. From capacitance-voltage characteristics of Schottky structure, the depth of the semi-insulating layer was estimated to be 10 μm, indicating that the whole region of lightly-doped n-type epilayer was converted to the semi-insulating layer by electron irradiation. The semi-insulating property can be ascribed to electron trapping at the Z1/2 and EH6/7 centers generated by electron irradiation. The threshold energy for the generation of Z1/2 center was about 100 keV.
The Mediating Role of Risk Perception among Cognitive Biases towards Decision to Start A New Venture

The Objective of the study is to investigate the relationship of overconfidence bias and illusion of control bias towards the start of new venture, with the mediating role of risk perception in context of Pakistan. To understand the relationship, this study developed and tested hypothesis by correlation and regression analysis. This study’s sample consisted of 170 students pursuing a Masters of Business Administration. The students’ responses to a survey based on a case study regarding a decision to start a venture were examined. This study found illusion of control and risk perceptions have significant effect on decision to start new venture. Conversely, overconfidence bias has insignificant relationship with decision to start new venture. The positive and negative impact of biases and perceiving low levels of risk suggest the importance of exploring the area of venture formation. As this study has incorporated two biases but many other biases should also be considered that effect human decision making process like self-efficacy, availability heuristics, law of small numbers and escalation of commitment.
Effects of Drought Stress and Different Nitrogen Levels on Morphological Traits of Proline in Leaf and Protein of Corn Seed (Zea mays L.)

This experiment was set up to understand the mechanisms causing yield limitations on crops subjected to water deficiency. The units were set out as a randomized complete block design with a split-plot arrangement with 4 repetitions at Azad Islamic University Research Center-Varamin-Pishva during the growing seasons of 2008 and 2009. The main factors tested drought stress at four stages (50, 100, 150 and 200 mm evaporation from the evaporation pan) and the sub factors were applications of nitrogen fertilizer at 3 levels (80,130,180 kg/ha). The experiment demonstrated that with increasing severity of drought stress, grain yield decreased sharply but increased with nitrogen fertilizer, the time taken for pollination, grain weight and total number of grains/ear were also affected. Results for plant height and diameter of first internode and total number of leaves above the ear (201.8 cm) were most affected by nitrogen fertilizer application of 180 kg/ha and 50 mm evaporation. Proline also increased significantly under drought stress conditions showing that osmotic adjustment mechanism had been activated. The highest level of leaf proline (180.2 µmol/g NT) was achieved with 200 mm evaporation and 80 kg/ha of nitrogen fertilizer. Grain protein content was undesirably affected under extreme drought stress and fertilizer treatment.
Functional Dehydrated Foods for Health Preservation

The market of functional foods has experienced a huge growth in the last decades due to the increased consumers’ awareness in a healthy lifestyle. Dried fruits constitute good snacks, in alternative to salty or sweet ones, and food ingredients due to their taste and nutritional/health benefits. Bioactive molecules are interesting sources to develop functional foods, as they play a major role in improving the health status and minimizing disease risks. The bioactive compounds most widely discussed in literature are presented in this review, for example, polyphenols, phytosterols, and prebiotics. Different technologies to dry bioproducts for producing functional foods or ingredients are presented. New drying techniques for the preservation of bioactive compounds are proposed, focusing more specifically on dielectric drying. A discussion on the techniques that can be used to optimize drying processes is performed. An overview on dehydrated plant based foods with probiotics is provided. The microorganisms used, impregnation procedures, drying methods, and evaluated parameters are presented and discussed. The principal bioactive compounds responsible for nutritional and health benefits of plant derived dried food products—fruits and vegetables, fruits and vegetables by-products, grains, nuts, and algae—are presented. Phytochemical losses occurring during pretreatments and/or drying processes are also discussed.
Utility of Musculoskeletal Ultrasound in the Diagnosis and Treatment ofSuprapatellar Fat Pad Impingement: A Case Report

We report a case of suprapatellar fat pad impingement diagnosed and treated using musculoskeletal ultrasound. This report describes the utility of musculoskeletal ultrasound in making the diagnosis of suprapatellar fat pad impingement, which may potentially present as anterior knee pain, and more specifically, anterior superior knee pain. The importance of recognizing this entity on musculoskeletal ultrasound, especially when the imaging findings are subtle on prior MR imaging, is emphasized. Unconvincing suprapatellar fat pad edema on MR imaging, for example, should not preclude consideration of this entity at targeted ultrasound of the anterior knee in a patient with anterior knee pain. Furthermore, once the diagnosis is made using ultrasound, the suprapatellar fat pad impingement can be immediately and effectively treated with ultrasound-guided injection of steroid and anesthetic.
Teaching Quality and Performance Among Experienced Teachers in Malaysia

The role of teachers has evolved from merely being teacher-centered to one that is student centered and the skills required for a quality teacher are changing too. Assessing teachers’ effectiveness is not just examining students’ achievements or students’ perceptions of their teachers’ attributes but it includes a host of other contributing factors. A careful examination of the teaching concepts, one as a form of “labor and profession” (Firestone & Bader, 1991); or the other as a “craft and art” (Grimmett & MacKinnon, 1992) indicated that it largely involves teachers’ cognitive ability and interpersonal skills (soft skills) which enhance teachers’ performance in the classroom. Furthermore, the National Framework for Professional Standards (MCEETYA, 2003) has outlined that teachers’ professional value (quality and professional knowledge and skills) will impact students’ learning. Based on these concepts, this study investigated a teacher effectiveness model. The study also measured the teachers’ cognitive ability (skills of assessment and evaluation, Information Technology (IT) skills, and co-curricular knowledge) and the teachers’ personality or interpersonal skills (soft skills). The respondents were experienced teachers working in Malaysia. A set of questionnaires with 120 questions were constructed by the researchers and were administered among 2000 school teachers from different types of schools. However, only 1366 completed questionnaires were analyzed while 634 responses were removed due to incomplete data. Utilizing the structural equation model (SEM), this study attempted to ascertain the validity of the structural model where teachers’ cognitive abilities and personalities predict teachers’ performances. The results indicated a model fit with both teachers’ cognitive abilities and personality predicting effective classroom management. Sound personality alone is insufficient in terms of enhancing the teachers’ commitment and responsibilities towards their students unless it is complemented by the teachers’ cognitive competency (cognitive abilities). Key words: teacher effectiveness, teacher quality, structural equation model (SEM)
Variability of thermosphere and ionosphere responses to solar flares

[1] We investigated how the rise rate and decay rate of solar flares affect the thermosphere and ionosphere responses to them. Model simulations and data analysis were conducted for two flares of similar magnitude (X6.2 and X5.4) that had the same location on the solar limb, but the X6.2 flare had longer rise and decay times. Simulated total electron content (TEC) enhancements from the X6.2 and X5.4 flares were ∼6 total electron content units (TECU) and ∼2 TECU, and the simulated neutral density enhancements were ∼15%–20% and ∼5%, respectively, in reasonable agreement with observations. Additional model simulations showed that for idealized flares with the same magnitude and location, the thermosphere and ionosphere responses changed significantly as a function of rise and decay rates. The “Neupert Effect,” which predicts that a faster flare rise rate leads to a larger EUV enhancement during the impulsive phase, caused a larger maximum ion production enhancement. In addition, model simulations showed that increased E × B plasma transport due to conductivity increases during the flares caused a significant equatorial anomaly feature in the electron density enhancement in the F region but a relatively weaker equatorial anomaly feature in TEC enhancement, owing to dominant contributions by photochemical production and loss processes. The latitude dependence of the thermosphere response correlated well with the solar zenith angle effect, whereas the latitude dependence of the ionosphere response was more complex, owing to plasma transport and the winter anomaly.
The Effect of Understanding Codes of Ethics and Independence upon the Ethical Judgement and Personal Value as an Intervening Variable

This research aims to examine the effect of understanding codes of ethics (uce) and independence (i) upon the ethical judgement (ej) thru the personal value (pv) of the public accountant. Data collected using purposive sampling and total of the samples is 301 respondents of accountants in Indonesia. The constructs which have been directly affected one to another in this research is uce and i upon pv; uce, i and pv upon ej. However, there has been any direct effect of the accountants in Indonesia occurred upon their pv against ej accordingly. The model offered has indicated the impact of uce, i, pv and ej. Accountants in Indonesia might have made more discreet decision thru the ethical judgement based on the actual facts. The resulted a direct effect of uce and i upon pv; uce, i and pv upon ej, however, there are direct effect of the understanding codes of ethics and independence has happened to the personal value upon the ethical judgement.
Identification of Coxiella burnetii by Touch-Down PCR assay in unpasteurized milk and dairy products

Coxiella burnetii is the causative agent of the zoonotic disease Q fever, and ruminants being considered as the main source for human infection. Although the main route of infection in human is inhalation of contaminated aerosols, oral transmission by contaminated raw milk or unpasteurized dairy products is also a possible route of infection. Raw milk or dairy products produced from unpasteurized milk may contain virulent C. burnetii. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to determine the contamination rate of milk and unpasteurized dairy products with C. burnetii. METHODS: Touch-down PCR was used to examine the presence of C. burnetii on 147 dairy product samples collected from local traditional and commercial markets in Mashhad-Khorasan Razavi province- Iran. RESULTS: 2 of 28 (7.14%) cheese samples, 2 of 26 (7.69%) yoghurt samples, 8 of 23 (34.78%) sheep milk samples, and 2 of 60 (3.33%) cow milk samples were found to be positive for C. burnetii DNA. However, 10 goat milk samples were found to be negative. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicate that the clinically healthy dairy livestock and their dairy products are important sources of C. burnetii infection.
HEALTH RELATED COMPLICATIONS IN MENOPAUSAL WOMEN OF NORTH KARNATAKA

Age at natural menopause may not be same for the entire region. An attempt has been made to define the mean age at natural menopause and heath complications during menopause. Cross-sectional study by random sampling conducted at S.D. M. Medical College and Hospital, Dharwad. Data was collected by random sampling, 115 women aged 51 to 55 years were included in the study group. In depth interview was conducted for collecting information about their sociodemographic information, anthropometry, health problems and symptoms perceived by them. Statistical analysis by SPSS ver. 16.0. The mean age at natural menopause among Karnataka women was 45±9.12year. The incidence of obesity was 43.5%, followed by hypertension -33.0%; type-II diabetes19.1% among the study group.The prominent symptoms reported by post menopause women were vasomotor symptoms, psychiatric symptoms, bladder problems and other somatic symptoms. Age at natural menopause in women of North Karnataka is early and the health complications resulted may be the result of hormonal imbalance.
ISO 9001 certification pay‐off: myth versus reality

Purpose – Despite all the studies carried out in order to analyze the impact of quality management systems' implementation and certification on companies' financial performance, conclusions reached so far have a contradictory nature. Some authors conclude that there is a positive relationship between ISO 9001 certification and companies' financial improvement, while others do not find evidence to support such a relationship. The purpose of this paper is to present the main results derived from a research project developed in order to analyze the economical impact of quality management system implementation and certification on companies' performance.Design/methodology/approach – This paper describes the results obtained from studying the economic impact of quality management systems, based on the adoption of a case study methodology. The authors' goal was to reconstruct the companies' financial history with the aim of identifying the benefits and costs directly related to their quality management systems.
FIRM-SIZE ELASTICITY OF TOP MANAGEMENT TEAM COMPENSATION IN SAUDI ARABIAN LISTED FIRMS

We evaluate the firm-size elasticity of top management team (TMT) compensation with a sample of 80 firms listed in Saudi Arabian stock market. We find that the TMT compensation increases with firm size. The results are found to be robust when the total assets as the firm size measure is altered with other proxies, sales and market value of the firm. We show that the firm size and TMT compensation relationship is same as in the case of all firms sample when the firms are grouped into family firms and nonfamily firms. This finding is in line with the results of the previous studies that analyze the link between CEO compensation and firm size. We conclude that the large firms are willing to pay high compensation not just to their CEOs but also to the entire team at the top.
A review on Pithecellobium dulce: A potential medicinal tree

Pithecellobium dulce a plant of many uses which has versatile role in traditional system of medicine. Several studies are being conducted regarding the efficacy of whole plant or its parts for treatment of different diseases and aliments. The active compound of the plant includes flavonoids, sterols, tannins, triterpenoids etc. The health promoting properties due to the presence of proteins, carbohydrates, steroids etc. and diseases preventing properties such as antioxidant, antifungal, antiviral, antibacterial, antidiabetic, diastolic, diuretic, anthlmintic effects antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, hypoglycemic and sedative activities which has been investigated and verified by modern scientific research. The various properties of therapeutic properties of Pithecellobium dulce have been discussed in the present paper.
Who wants to be a mentor? An examination of attitudinal, instrumental, and social motivational components

Purpose – This study investigates the influence of affective organizational commitment, career aspirations, and networking activities on propensity to mentor (serving as a mentor and desiring to become a mentor). Design/methodology/approach – Data from websurveys of 262 managerial employees of a Dutch bank are analyzed using logistic regression.Findings – Results indicate that affective organizational commitment is unrelated to propensity to mentor, whereas career aspirations are positively related, and networking activities are negatively related to serving as a mentor, but not desiring to be a mentor.Research limitations/implications – The study is limited by its reliance on self‐report data and the Dutch culture may have influenced the results of the study to an unknown degree.Practical implications – Results of this study suggest that employees volunteering to be a mentor are clearly ambitious in terms of their own career, but are not necessarily highly committed to their organization nor do they perfo.
On the Development Gap between Latin America and East Asia: Welfare, Efficiency, and Misallocation

Both long economic stagnation in Latin America and sustained growth and in East Asia imply a rapidly raising development gap between the two regions. Using a series of numerical decompositions, this article documents three facts about this gap. First, differences in welfare-adjusted development are larger than those predicted by per-capita GDP. Second, differences in labor productivity account for most of the differences in both production and welfare-adjusted development. Third, inefficient production is the main factor holding down labor productivity. Furthermore, detailed analysis of the sectorial dynamics suggests that labor misallocation across sectors had been reducing economy-wide efficiency in Latin America. In particular, premature deindustrialization (i.e., workers moving from manufacturing into services) and falling productivity in the service sector had potentially large negative effects on efficiency, productivity, and welfare-adjusted development.
Generalizing Graph Matching beyond Quadratic Assignment Model

Graph matching has received persistent attention over decades, which can be formulated as a quadratic assignment problem (QAP). We show that a large family of functions, which we define as Separable Functions, can approximate discrete graph matching in the continuous domain asymptotically by varying the approximation controlling parameters. We also study the properties of global optimality and devise convex/concave-preserving extensions to the widely used Lawler's QAP form. Our theoretical findings show the potential for deriving new algorithms and techniques for graph matching. We deliver solvers based on two specific instances of Separable Functions, and the state-of-the-art performance of our method is verified on popular benchmarks.
Economic Growth with Imperfect Protection of Intellectual Property Rights

This paper examines the growth effects of intellectual property right (IPR) protection in a quality-ladder model of endogenous growth. Stronger IPR protection, which reduces the imitation probability, increases the reward for innovation. However, stronger protection also gradually reduces the number of competitive sectors, in which innovation is easier than in monopolistic sectors. With free entry to R&D, the number of researchers in each remaining competitive sector increases, but the concentration of R&D activity raises the possibility of unnecessary duplication of innovation, thereby hindering growth. Consequently, imperfect rather than perfect protection maximizes growth. Welfare and scale effects are also examined.
Molecular cloning and characterization of glucose transporter 1 ( glut 1 ) and citrate synthase cDNA in buffalo ( Bubalus bubalis )

Glucose transporter type-1 (glut1) and citrate synthase plays crucial role in glucose transport and regulation of tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA) cycle in mammalian energy metabolism. The present study was aimed to clone and characterize glut1 and citrate synthase cDNA in water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis). Total of 90 cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) were used for mRNA isolation and reverse transcribed to cDNA, which was further used in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of glut1 and citrate synthase. PCR products of glut1 and citrate synthase were cloned by T/A cloning using pGEM-T easy vector and further sequenced. Gene sequence analysis of glut1 and citrate synthase revealed that they have open reading frame of 1479 (encoding 492 aa) and 1401 bp (encoding 466 aa), respectively. Further phylogenic analysis of gene and deduced amino acid sequences suggests that bubaline glut1 shares ∼ 89 to 98% and ∼ 97 to 99% similarity at nucleotide and amino acid level respectively whereas citrate synthase shared ∼ 89 to 99% at nucleotide and ∼ 96 to 99% at amino acid level respectively with other domestic species and human. Predicted protein structures of buffalo glut1 protein accentuate the presence of crucial amino acids involved in glucose transport moreover the essential catalytic residues are highly conserved in buffalo citrate synthase.