Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of Planning Decisions during the Activity-Scheduling Process

This paper focuses on studying the incidence of different types of activity-scheduling decisions, using data from a computerized activity-scheduling survey (CHASE) conducted in Toronto, Canada. Several decisions are studied: with whom the activity takes place, location of the activity, the time planning horizon, and modification or deletion of activities during the scheduling process. The results from a multivariate probit model show that several characteristics of the planned schedule and planned activities are most important in explaining the decisions made during the scheduling process. Individual and household characteristics also play an important role. Significant correlations among the planning decisions suggest that the process of activity scheduling occurs with a high degree of endogeneity.
Application of CROPGRO-Cotton model to optimize irrigation scheduling in Bt cotton on alfisols of Southern Telangana

Crop models are being extensively used by researchers and policy makers as important decision making tools for studying the impacts of climate change, management practices, and irrigation strategies on crop yields across the globe (Thorp et al., 2014a). Field experiments in these research areas are resource-intensive and challenging to implement. Under these circumstances, calibrated and validated crop models offer alternative solutions with comparable outcomes. The Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) (Hoogenboom et al., 2012) crop models are complex, as they require many input parameters to provide in-depth assessments of crop growth and development and water and nutrient dynamics. The Cropping System Model (CSM) CROPGRO-Cotton model simulates crop growth and development in response to weather conditions, soil properties, cultivar characteristics, and crop management practices.
Factors influencing the density and compressive strength of aerated concrete

Aerated concrete is a relatively homogeneous material as compared with conventional concrete since it is devoid of the coarse aggregate phase, yet it exhibits vast variation in its properties. Most of the investigations in the past have been confined to autoclaved products. This paper reports the results of a systematic study conducted to ascertain the influence of the lime–cement ratio, fly ash as a partial/complete replacement of sand, the particle size of sand and the dosage of aerating agent on the density and compressive strength of moist-cured and autoclaved aerated concrete. This study establishes that from the viewpoint of density reduction, fly ash can play a pivotal role in aerated concrete, without much compromise on strength. An increased lime–cement ratio is observed to affect adversely the strength, whereas a reduction in the particle size of the sand below a certain level is not justified in the case of non-autoclaved aerated concrete.
Toxoplasma ERK7 defends the apical complex from premature degradation

Accurate cellular replication balances the biogenesis and turnover of complex structures. In the apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, daughter cells form within an intact mother cell, creating additional challenges to ensuring fidelity of division. The apical complex is critical to parasite infectivity and consists of apical secretory organelles and specialized cytoskeletal structures. We previously identified the kinase ERK7 as required for maturation of the apical complex in Toxoplasma. Here we define the Toxoplasma ERK7 interactome, including a putative E3 ligase, CSAR1. Genetic disruption of CSAR1 fully suppresses loss of the apical complex upon ERK7 knockdown. Furthermore, we show that CSAR1 is normally responsible for turnover of maternal cytoskeleton during cytokinesis, and that its aberrant function is driven by mislocalization from the parasite residual body to the apical complex. These data identify a protein homeostasis pathway critical for Toxoplasma replication and fitness and suggest an unappreciated role for the parasite residual body in compartmentalizing processes that threaten the fidelity of parasite development.
Water access and household economic insecurity: conceptual framework and econometric analysis applied to rural Nepal

ABSTRACT We develop a conceptual framework to understand linkages between water access and livelihood outcomes. We apply the framework to assess factors altering the likelihood of household indebtedness in rural Nepal, using survey data and probit statistical models. Controlling for different household characteristics, results show that in Nepal’s Kamala basin, an additional month of water adequate to sustain crops decreases by 5% the likelihood that an average household in our sample reports high indebtedness. We complement our findings by discussing interacting drivers of agricultural livelihood outcomes; options to improve water availability and access; and geographical targeting of investment in water access.
Analysis and optimization of shielded RLC global interconnects for gigascale integration

Compact physical models are presented for on-chip double-sided shielded transmission lines, which are mainly used for long global interconnects where inductance effects should not be ignored. The models are then used to optimize the width and spacing of long global interconnects with repeater insertion. The impacts of increasing line width and spacing on various performance parameters such as delay, data-flux density, power dissipation and total repeater area are analysed. The product of data-flux density and reciprocal delay per unit length are defined as a figure of merit (FOM). By maximizing the FOM, the optimal width and spacing of shielded RLC global interconnects are obtained for various international technology roadmap for semiconductors (ITRS) technology nodes.
Conceptual designs of hybrid locomotives for application as heavy haul trains on typical track lines

A computer simulation technique has been used to study and evaluate the potential for the application of hybrid locomotives to heavy haul operations on two typical track routes in Australia. The study envisages typical pit-to-port operations with large altitude changes. The train energy usage and the energy created by dynamic braking are analysed based on the simulation results. It is shown that the locomotives operate at an average power that is much less than full power. It is found that there is potential for hybrid heavy haul locomotive applications. Suggested methods and concept designs are proposed. Sizing of the energy storage system when it contained batteries, super-capacitors and flywheels was carried out for comparison purposes. The merits and problems with each concept are discussed.
Protein Organization with Manifold Exploration and Spectral Clustering

We present a method to provide a biologically meaningful representation of the space of protein sequences. While billions of protein sequences are available, organizing this vast amount of information into functional categories is daunting, time-consuming and incomplete. We present our unsupervised approach that combines Transformer protein language models, UMAP graphs, and spectral clustering to create meaningful clusters in the protein spaces. To demonstrate the meaningfulness of the clusters, we show that they preserve most of the signal present in a dataset of manually curated enzyme protein families.
Syntactic Complexity of Different Text Types: From the Perspective of Dependency Distance Both Linearly and Hierarchically

ABSTRACT Dependency distance (DD) is a well-established measure of syntactic complexity. Previous studies largely focused on the linear dimension, mostly by mean of dependency distance (MDD). In the present study, a new quantitative indicator –mean hierarchical dependency distance (MHDD), is proposed to discuss DD-related issues. Combining MHDD and MDD, the study investigates syntactic complexity of different texts, using strictly length-controlled sentences of 12 text types from the Freiburg-Brown corpus of American English. Correlations of MHDD and MDD have been identified, and possible reasons are discussed from the mathematical and theoretical perspectives. Mathematically, one is that the numerator of MHDD overlaps with the denominator of MDD, both being (n-1) where n is the number of words in the sentence. The other is that the denominator of MHDD (maximum hierarchical layer: MAXHL) and the numerator of MDD (sum of DD: SOD), are positively correlated. We believe that it is the positive correlation of SOD and MAXHL that ensures the change of MDD and MHDD in the same direction. It is also worth noting that both MAXHL and SOD seem to be minimized at their respective data spectrum, which foreshadows the dependency distance minimization (DDM) tendency on the hierarchical dimension.
Human tactile perception of screen-printed surfaces: Self-report and contact mechanics experiments

Abstract Polyester sheets were screen-printed with 16 different patterns formed from one of two different types of polymer-based ink. The patterns were arrays of bumps or pockets with different pitch and per cent coverage of ink. People stroked their fingers over the sheets and reported their resulting feelings in terms of 15 prechosen word pairs, ranging from the psycho-physical smooth-coarse to the more impressionable or affective artificial-natural and happy-sad. It has been possible partially to relate feelings to the printed surfaces' roughnesses and sliding friction coefficients against a fingertip. But the measure of roughness is resolvability of the bumps or pockets by a fingertip and that of friction coefficient is maximum value of the coefficient, on surfaces of mixed materials that showed different coefficients for each material. However, because not all aspects of the results have been explained, these conclusions are tentative. Apparent and real contact areas were observed between both static and sliding fingertips and smooth and printed surfaces. Simple contact and sliding friction models were introduced to explain observed friction coefficients between a sliding fingertip and the printed surfaces and, from comparison with experiments, to derive fingertip skin elastic moduli for future contact mechanics simulations. These moduli are so highly dependent on assumed skin thickness that it is argued that calibration of simulations against experiment will always be essential. A simple test is proposed.
High temperature performance of self-organised quantum dot laser with stacked p-doped active region

A stacked p-doped quantum dot active region is used to obtain a high characteristic temperature in GaAs-based 1.3 /spl mu/m lasers. A characteristic temperature of 232 K (213 K) is obtained between 0 and 81/spl deg/C for pulsed (continuous-wave) operation for lasers with 0.97 mm cavity length and five stacks of quantum dot layers. The room-temperature continuous-wave output power for a 0.65 mm cavity length reaches 27 mW with a 5.7 mA threshold.
Investigating competitive advantage in industrial networks

The present paper illustrates the importance of inter-firm relations in innovation oriented networks of OEMs and semi-finished product suppliers. Particularly in the automotive industry, companies tend to reduce the number of their suppliers and bundle them into hierarchical supplier pyramids characterised by low trust. However, establishing knowledge-transfer routines regarding production processes within the network can stabilise buyer-supplier cooperation and counterbalance the power embodied by the central buyer. Beside (1) inter-firm knowledge-sharing routines, this case study also analyses another potential source of inter-organisational competitive advantages: (2) partner-specific absorptive capacity. Both can form the basis for firms to loosen the classical supplier pyramids, to collaborate as partners and share mutual product development processes.
Improving operational performance through knowledge exchange with customers

Drawing upon a knowledge-based view of the supply chain, this study analyses the antecedents and consequences of tacit and explicit knowledge transfer, from the supplier's standpoint. The proposed conceptual model is tested using survey data from a sample of 218 Canadian manufacturers. Results show that the exchange of tacit and explicit knowledge in the context of a relationship between a supplier and a customer has a positive impact on the supplier's operational performance. As expected, tacit knowledge exchange appears to have a stronger impact on performance than explicit knowledge exchange. Results also confirm the importance of the level of integration and inter-firm trust for the exchange of both types of knowledge. Although many studies of knowledge transfer in the supply chain have been published to date, no empirical study has specifically examined the simultaneous effect of both types of knowledge.
DATA DIVISION FOR DEVELOPING NEURAL NETWORKS APPLIED TO GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING

In recent years, artificial neural networks (ANNs) have been applied to many geotechnical engineering problems with some degree of success. In the majority of these applications, data division is carried out on an arbitrary basis. However, the way the data are divided can have a significant effect on model performance. In this paper, the issue of data division and its impact on ANN model performance is investigated for a case study of predicting the settlement of shallow foundations on granular soils. Four data division methods are investigated: (1) random data division; (2) data division to ensure statistical consistency of the subsets needed for ANN model development; (3) data division using self-organizing maps (SOMs); and (4) a new data division method using fuzzy clustering. The results indicate that the statistical properties of the data in the training, testing, and validation sets need to be taken into account to ensure that optimal model performance is achieved. It is also apparent from the results that the SOM and fuzzy clustering methods are suitable approaches for data division.
Quantitative evaluation of the SPICE, CMM, ISO 9000 and BOOTSTRAP

This paper comparatively analyses the current models for software process assessment and improvement (SPA/SPI) e.g., SPICE, CMM, ISO 9000 and BOOTSTRAP. The configuration of the sample spaces and the partially overlapped fundamental process activities defined in the four models are quantitatively analysed and contrasted. The features, orientation, profile and correlation in the software process capability determination frameworks of the current models are comparatively evaluated. The analysis results provide the software development organisations with a complete and objective view of the strengths, weaknesses and interrelationships of these four SPA/SPI models, so the most appropriate models can be chosen for their crucial long-term SPA/SPI pursuit.
The effects of partial order release and component reservation on inventory and customer service performance in an MRP environment

The review and evaluation of orders is one of the three major activities of the order review/release (ORR) function. Review and evaluation of orders has the objective of identifying and holding back the release of problem orders. This paper investigates whether partial order release and component reservation provide reasonable short-term options for managers to consider when addressing problem orders related to material availability. These procedures are examined within the context of a simulated multistage production-inventory system using MRP for planning. The results indicate that partial order release provides a more attractive option than component reservation.
Regional Obstetric Anesthesia and Newborn Behavior: Effect Over the First Ten Days of Life

This study examined the effects of carefully controlled amounts of analgesic premedications and anesthetics administered to mothers during delivery on the behavior of the newborn over the first ten days of life. The subjects were selected to minimize the synergistic effects of medication and other stress factors, such as abnormalities of pregnancy, labor, or delivery. The effects of these drugs on the behavior of these infants was small. The data provide a picture of the behavioral recovery of a group of minimally stressed newborns.
A NEW METHOLOGY FOR PREDICTING THE ROLLOVER LIMIT OF BUSES

The safety of a motor vehicle driving on a curve depends on many design parameters related to the vehicle, driving conditions and roadway geometry. All of them are represented in one parameter: the rollover limit that a vehicle can reach without rolling. In this paper a new methodology for predicting the rollover limit of buses is presented. This method is based on a theoretical model and dynamics test. The equations of the model represent the vehicle dynamical behaviour when the bus is being driven on a curve. The rollover limit is calculated after some dynamic tests. The results of the tests allow to characterise the behaviour, for real conditions on a turn, of many parameters involved in the model. The dynamic tests on the road and the mathematical model predict a reliable rollover limit of a bus. The knowledge of this value will increase the safety of these vehicles.
CsAGA1 and CsAGA2 Mediate RFO Hydrolysis in Partially Distinct Manner in Cucumber Fruits

A Raffinose family oligosaccharides (RFOs) is one of the major translocated sugars in the vascular bundle of cucumber, but little RFOs can be detected in fruits. Alpha-galactosidases (α-Gals) catalyze the first catabolism step of RFOs. Six α-Gal genes exist in a cucumber genome, but their spatial functions in fruits remain unclear. Here, we found that RFOs were highly accumulated in vascular tissues. In phloem sap, the stachyose and raffinose content was gradually decreased, whereas the content of sucrose, glucose and fructose was increased from pedicel to fruit top. Three alkaline forms instead of acid forms of α-Gals were preferentially expressed in fruit vascular tissues and alkaline forms have stronger RFO-hydrolysing activity than acid forms. By inducible gene silencing of three alkaline forms of α-Gals, stachyose was highly accumulated in RNAi-CsAGA2 plants, while raffinose and stachyose were highly accumulated in RNAi-CsAGA1 plants. The content of sucrose, glucose and fructose was decreased in both RNAi-CsAGA1 and RNAi-CsAGA2 plants after β-estradiol treatment. In addition, the fresh- and dry-weight of fruits were significantly decreased in RNAi-CsAGA1 and RNAi-CsAGA2 plants. In cucurbitaceous plants, the non-sweet motif within the promoter of ClAGA2 is widely distributed in the promoter of its homologous genes. Taken together, we found RFOs hydrolysis occurred in the vascular tissues of fruits. CsAGA1 and CsAGA2 played key but partly distinct roles in the hydrolysis of RFOs.
Notification of STI test results by text messaging: Why do patients refuse? Cross-sectional study in a Parisian sexual health centre

Text messaging has been used to notify patients of results after sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing. This study aimed to characterise the population who refused notification of results by short message services (SMS) and to explore their reasons for refusing. From January to August 2018, 1180 patients coming for STI testing in a Parisian sexual health centre were offered SMS notification of their results, completed a self-administered questionnaire and were included in the study. Factors associated with refusal of SMS notification were explored using logistic regression models. Reasons for refusal were analysed following a qualitative content analysis methodology. In the study population, 7.3% [95% CI 5.8–8.8] of patients refused SMS notification. In the multivariate logistic regression model, male gender and older age were associated with refusal, as were non-French nationality, having forgone health care for economic reasons and being unemployed. Qualitative analysis showed that preferring face-to-face medical contact (32%) and anxiety about the test result (29%) were the main reasons given by patients for refusal. Socially disadvantaged patients may have more limited access to technology and be less at ease using it in a health context. Preference for face-to-face medical contact may reflect the need for human support in vulnerable populations.
Series resonant ZCS-PFM DC-DC converter with multistage rectified voltage multiplier and dual-mode PFM control scheme for medical-use high-voltage X-ray power generator

In general, high-voltage DC power supplies employing a variety of high-frequency inverters are implemented for constant value control schemes. In particular, their good transient and steady state performances cannot be achieved under wide load variations for a medical-use high-voltage X-ray generator, ranging from 20 kV to 150 kV in the output voltage and from 0.5 mA to 1250 mA, respectively. A high-voltage DC power supply designed for X-ray power generator applications is considered, which uses a series resonant inverter-linked multistage DC voltage multiplier instead of a conventional high-voltage diode module rectifier connected to the secondary side of a high-voltage transformer. A constant on-time/variable frequency control scheme of this converter operating at zero-current soft switching mode is described. Introducing the capacitor-diode cascaded multistage voltage multiplier, the secondary turn numbers and secondary-side stray capacitance of the high-voltage, high-frequency transformer, as well as the rectifier diode voltage ratings, can be greatly reduced. It is shown that the proposed converter control scheme of the two-step selective changed frequency selection switching is more effective for improving the output voltage responses. The series resonant high frequency transformer-linked voltage-multiplying rectifier is evaluated for an X-ray high-voltage generator on the basis of simulation analysis and observed data in experiment.
TS Fuzzy Robust Sampled-Data Control for Nonlinear Systems with Bounded Disturbances

We investigate robust fault-tolerant control pertaining to Takagi–Sugeno (TS) fuzzy nonlinear systems with bounded disturbances, actuator failures, and time delays. A new fault model based on a sampled-data scheme that is able to satisfy certain criteria in relation to actuator fault matrix is introduced. Specifically, we formulate a reliable controller with state feedback, such that the resulting closed-loop-fuzzy system is robust, asymptotically stable, and able to satisfy a prescribed H∞ performance constraint. Linear matrix inequality (LMI) together with a proper construction of the Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional is leveraged to derive delay-dependent sufficient conditions with respect to the existence of robust H∞ controller. It is straightforward to obtain the solution by using the MATLAB LMI toolbox. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the control law and less conservativeness of the results through two numerical simulations.