Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Novel Hybrid MCDM Procedure for Achieving Aspired Earned Value Project Performance

A better-performing project gains more subsequent businesses. Many organizations worldwide apply an earned value management (EVM) system to monitor and control their projects’ performance. However, a successful EVM application requires handling multiple interinfluenced criteria with feedback effects for decision-making and continuous improvements throughout the application life cycle. The conventional decision approaches assume that preferences between criteria are independent and put their focuses on decision-making. This study employs a hybrid multiple criteria decision-making (HMCDM) method to devise a novel procedure to fulfil the deficiencies. The proposed procedure enables us to evaluate interinfluence effects and gap indices among criteria/dimensions/alternatives and then systemize the evaluation results in a context of influential network relation map (INRM). The INRM provides managers with visual information to find a route in making application decisions, while identifying critical gaps for continuous improvements. A numerical example is presented to illustrate the applicability of the proposed procedure. The results show that, by employing the HMCDM method, the proposed procedure can provide organizations with a foundation to ensure that the aspired EVM application outcomes are achieved at different levels within an organization.
Influence of Gender and Attitude of Pre-Service Teachers towards On-Line Instruction in a Selected University in South-western Nigeria

The study examined the influence of gender and attitude of pre-service teachers on habitual use of online instruction in Faculty of Education at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Nigeria. The sample size of 300 part two Education students (150 males and 150 females) was used as sample for the study. Data were collected using 12 items structured questionnaire. The reliability of the questionnaire was determined using Cronbach Alpha and a reliability coefficient of 0.86 was obtained. The results showed that gender was a significantly factor in the usage of online learning. It was also revealed that female Education students showed higher habitual use of online learning than the male student’s teachers. The results also showed that gender significantly influenced attitudinal constructs. Female pre-service teachers were found to have higher habitual use. It was therefore concluded that gender was a determinant factor in the use of online instruction. Not only this, student’s actual usage was determined by their perceived ease of use and usefulness.
Effect of Nanoporosity on the Thermal Conductivity of Amorphous Carbon

The thermal conductivity of nanoporous amorphous carbon at 300 K was predicted using equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations based on the Green-Kubo method. The adaptive intermolecular reactive empirical bond order (AIREBO) potential was used to model carbon-carbon atomic interactions. Nanoporous amorphous carbon was simulated by removing a spherical region of atoms from the amorphous carbon matrix. Pore diameter varied between 9.76 and 26.0 A and porosity ranged from 5 to 40%. The predicted effective thermal conductivity of nanoporous amorphous carbon was in good agreement with the Maxwell Garnett effective medium approximation (EMA) for porosity between 0 and 40%. Furthermore, the effective thermal conductivity was found to be proportional to reff 1.2 where reff is the effective density.
On the balance between syn- and anticlinicity in smectic phases formed by achiral hockey-stick mesogens with and without chiral dopants

A series of achiral hockey-stick-shaped mesogens forming tilted smectic liquid crystal phases of synclinic SmC- as well as anticlinic SmCa-type was prepared and characterized. While all homologues exhibit both phases, the balance shifts from anticlinic to synclinic order upon elongation of the terminal chain at the meta- position, defining the hockey-stick shape. The elongation also leads to an increased kinetic hindrance of the transition between syn- and anticlinic phases and a decreased transition enthalpy. These observations indicate that a well-defined kink (short meta-substituted chain) promotes the anticlinic structure while a higher flexibility between kinked and rod-shape (long meta-substituted chain) promotes synclinic order. An intermediate chain-length homologue was selected as host material for doping with syn- and anticlinic rod-shaped chiral dopants, respectively, at varying concentrations. Opposite of what might be expected the balance between syn- and anticlinic order was not simply dictated by the choice of dopant. Instead, both types of tilting order prevailed with roughly the same strength as in the achiral host regardless of which chiral material was added, up to concentrations well beyond normal doping conditions. Thus, at least with hockey-stick-shaped achiral hosts, syn- as well as anticlinic chiral compounds can be used effectively as chiral dopants without necessarily having an important impact on the clinicity of the resulting mixture. The hockey-stick design concept should be useful in producing achiral anticlinic-forming mesogens for low-polarization, long-pitch antiferroelectric liquid crystal mixtures. Finally, we point out that a mixture study like the one carried out here yields a conclusive means of establishing the clinicity of achiral tilted smectics, an endeavour that can sometimes be far from trivial.
Predilections for Attitude and Gender of the Dentist and the Clinic Environment by Children

First impression of the dentist and dental office can leave an ever lasting impression on the child. In order to build better relations with the child it is beneficial to provide him an environment which is friendly and does not elicit anxiety in him. Therefore, it is important to know the choices, likes and dislikes of child while designing a dental set up. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the preferences of children regarding the surroundings and the dental surgeon at a dental office. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 120 children aged 9 to 15 years. To determine their preferences, children were asked to choose between the pictures to specify their choice by pointing their finger on the particular figure and the answers were noted in the questionnaire by the examiner. The highest preferences were chosen as the final responses. Chi-squared test was used to check the frequencies of their responses. Results: Formally dressed doctors wearing white coat and smiling expression were preferred amongst the participants. Female dentists were favored more than the males. Pedodontic dental chair and colourful bibs appeared more pleasing than their conventional counterparts. Most children had no preference for waiting area. Conclusion: The results drawn from this study can be used as a behaviour management technique and further improve the dental experience of the child.
The Value of Independent Directors: Evidence from Sudden Deaths

We investigate contributions of independent directors to shareholder value by examining stock price reactions to sudden deaths in the US from 1994 to 2007. We find, first, that following director death stock prices drop by 0.85% on average. Second, the degree of independence and board structure determine the marginal value of independent directors. Third, independence is more valuable in crucial board functions. Finally, controlling for director-invariant heterogeneity using a fixed effect approach, we identify the value of independence over and above the value of individual skills and competences. Overall, our results suggest that independent directors provide a valuable service to shareholders.
Safety and Microbiological Quality of Frozen Dairy Desserts sold in Alexandria City

This study aimed to evaluate the safety and quality of frozen dairy desserts sold in different shops and supermarkets in Alexandria city. Eighty samples of ice cream of 4 different flavours (Vanilla, Chocolate, Mango and Strawberry) 20 of each as well as 20 samples of frozen yoghurt were collected randomly from Alexandria city. All samples were subjected to sanitary and microbiological evaluation. Results showed that samples subjected to Methylene Blue Reduction test revealed that 15(75%), 10(50%), 7(35%), 2(10%) of examined of ice cream samples (Vanilla, Chocolate, Mango and Strawberry) were qualified as Grade (1), respectively. While samples with Grade (2) were 2(1%), 1(5%), 0(0%), 1(5%) of examined samples, respectively. While 2(10%), 2(10%), 6(30%), 2(10%) of the four different flavours were Grade (3) with poor quality respectively. Also 1(5%), 7(35%),7(35%) and 15(75%), of samples were grade (4), respectively. 17(85%) frozen yoghurt samples were categorized as Grade (4) and 3(15%) showed grade(3) for methylene blue reduction test; mean values of aerobic mesophilic count (cfu/g) in examined flavoured ice cream (Vanilla, Chocolate, Mango and Strawberry) were 1.5x 105 ± 6.1x104, 9.5x〖10〗^6±6.4x〖10〗^5, 4.8x 106 ± 2.4x106 and 5.1x 107 ± 1.8x 107, respectively. Also, mean values of coliforms count (MPN/g) were 2.5x102 ±7.1x10, 6.6x〖10〗^2±2,5x〖10〗^2, 9.9x103 ± 6.3x103, 4x103 ±1.4x103 and 1.5x〖10〗^2±2.9x1 , respectively; mean values of Staph.aureus count (cfu/g) were 1.6x 102 ±7.0x 10, 3.4x102±9.4x102, 1.9x103±1.5x103, 7.4x102±2.9x102 and 3.33x〖10〗^2±1.2x〖10〗^2, respectively. Finally, mean values of mold count(cfu/g) were 2.2x102 ± 8.4x10, 9.6x〖10〗^2±4.4x〖10〗^2, 3.2x103±1.3x103, 3.7x103±1x 103and 1.3x〖10〗^4±6.4x〖10〗^3in examined Vanilla, chocolate, Mango, Strawberry ice cream samples and frozen yoghurt respectively.
From Sequence to Attention; Search for a Compositional Bias in Sequence-to-Sequence Models

Recent progress in deep learning has sparked a great, renewed interest in the field of artificial intelligence. This is in part because of achieved superhuman performance on several problems, and great versatility. A trained deep learning model, however, can typically only be applied in a very narrow domain as they only excel on test data that is drawn from the same distribution as the training data. This is exemplified by research on adversarial examples that shows how deep learning models respond on valid and perturbed data. However, even when test data comes from a significantly different distribution than the train data, it may be valid in a compositional sense. Recent research on systematic compositionality has provided evidence that deep learning models generally lack a compositional understanding of the domains that they are trained on. Compositionality is a feat that is often attributed to humans that allows quick few-shot learning and easy generalization to new domains and problem instances. Such an understanding is also crucial in natural language. In short, the principle of semantic compositionality means that the semantic meaning of a complex expression can be explained by the meaning of its constituents and the manner in which they are combined. In this thesis we show that although deep learning models are potentially capable of having such an understanding, they typically do not converge on such an solution with regular training techniques. We propose two new techniques that aim to induce compositional understanding in sequence-to-sequence networks with attention mechanisms. Both are founded on the hypothesis that a salient, informative attention pattern helps in finding such a bias and in countering the use of spurious patterns in the data. The first of these methods, Attentive Guidance, guides a model in finding correct alignments between input and output sequences. It is a minor extension to existing sequence-to-sequence models and is intended to confirm the aforementioned hypothesis. The second method, the sequence-to-attention architecture, involves a more rigorous overhaul of the sequence-to-sequence model with the intention to further explore and exploit this hypothesis. We use existing data sets to show that both methods perform better on tasks that are assumed to correlate with systematic compositionality.
Sedimentation and new operational curves for Mosul Dam, Iraq

Abstract Mosul Dam is one of the biggest hydraulic structures in Iraq. Its storage capacity is 11.11 × 109 m3 at a maximum operation level of 330 m a.s. l. The dam became operational in 1986 and no survey has been conducted to determine its storage capacity and establish new operational curves since this date. A topographic map of scale 1:50 000 dated 1983 was converted into triangulated irregular network (TIN) format using the ArcGIS program to evaluate the operational curves. Then the reservoir was surveyed in 2011 to establish the reduction in its storage capacity and to develop new operational curves. The results indicated that the reduction in the storage capacity of the reservoir was 14.73%. This implies that the rate of sedimentation within the reservoir was 45.72 × 106 m3 year−1. These results indicate that most of the sediment was deposited within the upper zone of the reservoir where the River Tigris enters the reservoir. Editor D. Koutsoyiannis Citation Issa, E.I. , Al-Ansari, N. , and Knutsson, S. , 2013. Sedimentation and new operational curves for Mosul Dam, Iraq. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 58 (7), 1456–1466.
Testing for Frequency and Structural Effects in an English Stress Shift

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt: This paper considers the English diatonic stress shift (DSS). We examine the role of frequency and phonological structure as conditioning factors for which of a set of noun/verb pairs have undergone the DSS between 1700 and the present. Previous work by Phillips (1984) has shown a role of frequency: on average, words which have undergone the DSS have lower frequency than those which have not. Using a new dataset, we show via multiple logistic regression that there is a signiﬁcant effect of frequency in the direction shown by Phillips, as well as effects of phonological structure; for example, a closed initial syllable makes change more likely. There is also a strong interaction between the effects of frequency and structure; in particular, structure modulates the strength and direction of the frequency effect. Our use of multiple regression follows its widespread use in sociolinguistics (e.g., Labov 1994) for quantifying the relative effects of different conditioning factors in cases of language change.
The Orange River avifauna: abundance, richness and comparisons

Like many other southern African rivers, the avifaunal richness and abundance of the Orange River, southern Africa's longest, remains virtually unknown. Given that the Orange River runs through hyper-arid regions in its lower reaches, its linear oasis effect and its role as a reservoir for Red Data bird species is likely but has not been quantified. Two surveys either side of the border town of Noordoewer, in the rainy and dry seasons of 1996 and 1997 deter-mined that species richness was higher in riverine habitat (71 species) than in the surrounding Nama Karoo (46 species) confirming the linear oasis effect. Surveys revealed five Namibian Red Data species. Peregrine Falcons, Falco peregrinus, and African Fish Eagles, Haliaeetus vocifer, were relatively common while the endangered Cape Eagle Owl, Bubo capensis, occurred sporadically. Among wetland Red Data bird species, Black Storks, Ciconia nigra, occurred in less disturbed areas, and White-backed Night Herons, Gorsachius leuconotus, were an unexpected species at this locality. The overall species richness of 103 birds and a density of riparian birds of 31 -3 4 birds/10 km, makes the lower Orange River avifauna similar to the Cunene River but tenfold less abundant than Namibia's other perennial rivers. Despite the low diversity, the arid habitats of the lower Orange River support greater diversity than more easterly regions when all current surveys of richness and abundance from Lesotho to the mouth on the Namib coast are combined. This east-west trend may be explained by the slower flow and warmer water of the lower Orange River but natural turbidity and regulation may explain the generally low diversity and abundance indices. Major rivers in southern Africa appear to have been over-looked as wetland habitats, and further avifaunal surveys of all of them are recommended.
Early Initiation of Breastfeeding Related to Exclusive Breastfeeding and Breastfeeding Duration in Rural and Urban Areas in Subang, West Java, Indonesia

Background: Reports suggest that early initiation of breastfeeding can reduce infant mortality rates by around 22%. Infants who are given early initiation of breastfeeding will obtain colostrum that contains immunoglobul in to improve infants’ immunity. Early initiation of breastfeeding within twenty four hours of birth can determine exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) and breastfeeding duration. However, in Indonesia, the rate of breastfeeding initiation was only 34.5%, and exclusive breastfeeding was about 54.3% in 2014. West Java is one of the provinces with the lowest exclusive breastfeeding rate, as low as 35%. The objective of this study was to analyze the relationship between early initiation of breastfeeding with exclusive breastfeeding and with breastfeeding duration in rural and urban areas in Subang, West Java-Indonesia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to June2013 to analyze the relationship between early initiation of breastfeeding with EBF and breastfeeding duration. A total of 243 mothers who had babies aged between 12-24 months were interviewed using the questionnaire. The inclusion criteria are mothers aged ≤40 years who have spontaneous birth, singleton birth, baby’s birth weight ≥2500 grams, not disabled, and been willing to participate in this study. 107 mothers who live in Pagaden sub-district (a rural area), and 136 mothers in Subang sub-district (an urban area) have completed the social and demographic data questionnaire. The participants were recruited using cluster random sampling technique. Results: The overall early initiation of breastfeeding was seen in 33.7% of mothers (from the total of 243 mothers), and the rate of exclusive breastfeeding was about 38.6%. A total of 42.0% of the babies have beenbreastfed for more than 12 months. The mothers in the urban area are more likely to initiate early breastfeeding (about 39.7% in ≥1-2 hours and 52.9% <1 hour) and perform exclusive breastfeeeding (45.6%) than mothers in the rural area. The multiple logistic regression analysis showed that early initiation of breastfeeding has statictically significant positive relationship with exclusive breastfeeding and breastfeeding duration. The most significant relationship is on exclusive breastfeeding (OR: 2.14,95% CI1.19 to 4.18) Conclusions: Early initiation of breastfeeding is related to exclusive breastfeeding and breastfeeding duration, with the most significant relationship on exclusive breastfeeding. Educational strategies need to improveand to increase the knowledge of breastfeeding mothers who livein urban and rural areas, which in turn can gradually increase the rate of early initiation of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding in Subang District, West Java-Indonesia.
Electron Beam Processing of Ethylene-Propylene-Terpolymer-Based Rubber Mixtures

The goal of the paper is to present the results regarding the influence of the irradiation dose and amount of multifunctional monomer trimethylol-propane trimethacrylate (TMPT) on ethylene-propylene-diene terpolymer rubber (EPDM) mixtures irradiated in electron beam. Blends, molded on an electrically heated laboratory roller mill and compressed in an electrically heated hydraulic press, were irradiated using the ALID 7 of 5.5 MeV linear accelerator in the dose range of 22.6 kGy to 56.5 kGy in atmospheric conditions and at room temperature of 25 °C. The share of cross-linking and degradation reactions was evaluated by means of sol-gel analysis, cross-linking density measurements, FTIR studies and Charlesby-Pinner parameter (p0/q0) calculations. The blends containing different concentrations of TMPT (3 phr and 9 phr) and irradiated with doses in the mentioned range have present the increasing of gel content and cross-linking density. Modified and new bands in FTIR spectra have appeared, because of both crosslinking and chain scission reactions. Keywords—Electron beam irradiation, EPDM rubber, crosslinking density, gel fraction.
A multi-population survey on swine feeding behavior with electronicfeeding devices

Abstract. In this study, we used electronic feeding station observations of pigs to investigate their growth performance and feeding behavior. These pigs were raised in Xinda Livestock Company Ltd. in Henan, China, and followed the Chinese directive for the protection of farm animals. Electronic feeding stations are often used in pig breeding and for identifying loci associated with feed consumption. Moreover, they can also provide much valuable information on pig behavior that could be directly used to improve production efficiency. This study involves three different pig population feeding-intake data from 383 Yorkshire, 243 Landrace and 197 Duroc breeds to investigate their growth performance and feeding behavior. Similar patterns of growth performance (slow–fast–slow) were observed in the three breeds, while the Duroc have a slightly faster average growth rate throughout the whole test period. Study of the number of visits to the feeding station over 24 h detected two peaks of feeding intake activity at 08:00–09:00 and 14:00–15:00. During these two peak feeding times, lower feed intake and less occupation time were observed, implicating fiercer competition at these time periods. The effective intake time for Duroc, Landrace and Yorkshire populations was 19, 16 and 19 min, respectively, suggesting that the ultimate feed intake time for each individual can be set up to 20 min for each visit. Studies on the ADFI (average daily feed intake) showed a significant difference (P value = 0.000009) between seasons and consistent patterns for these three breeds. The present study provides a detailed survey on pig feed intake behaviors across different populations and feeding seasons.
Prevention of Cadmium Toxicity by Ceftriaxone plus Sulbactam withVRP1034 in Rats

The aim of this study was to determine the prevention of cadmium toxicity by ceftriaxone plus sulbactam with VRP1034 drug on hematological, biochemical, lipid per-oxidation, antioxidant enzymatic activities and Cd, Zn and Fe levels in the blood and tissues of cadmium exposed rats. Twenty four male rats were divided into three groups of eight rats each. Control group received distilled water where as group II received CdCl2 (1.5 mg/4 ml body weight) through gastric gavages for 21 days. Group III was received CdCl2 plus treated with ceftriaxone plus sulbactam with VRP1034 for 21 days. These parameters were measured in plasma and tissues (brain, liver and kidney) of all groups. Our findings showed that a significantly decreased cadmium (p<0.001), malonaldialdehyde (p<0.001), MPO levels along with significant increased hemoglobin (p<0.01), red blood cell (p<0.05), hematocript(p<0.05) levels and all antioxidant enzymatic activities in plasma and tissues of ceftriaxone plus sulbactam with VRP1034 treated group as compared to cadmium exposed group. δ -aminolevulinic acid dehydratase activity was significantly (p<0.001) increased in the blood of ceftriaxone plus sulbactam with VRP1034 treated group as compared to cadmium exposed group. The levels of hepatic and renal parameters were significantly (p<0.001) decreased in ceftriaxone plus sulbactam with VRP1034 treated group as compared to cadmium exposed group. So these finding concluded that ceftriaxone plus sulbactam with VRP1034 act as potent free radical scavenger and metal chelating properties that reduces free radical mediated tissue injury and prevent hepatic and renal organs dysfunction during cadmium intoxication.