Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Machinery Cost Prediction Based on a New Neural Network Method

Artificial neural networks are mathematical models that have been inspired by the human nervous system and brain. In this study, the purpose is establishing a method to predict the cost of tractor repair and maintenance more accurately. In this paper, the multi-layer neural network with Feed Forward Backpropagation training algorithm (FFBP) has been used to predict repair and maintenance costs of tractor. In addition, 60 real data from two-wheel drive tractors existing in Razavi agro-industry in Iran have been used to train and test the network. The appropriate parameters for network training have been selected through error test on data. In this study, the performance of Backpropagate Declining Learning Rate Factor algorithm (BDLRF) has been compared with Feed-Forward Backpropagation algorithm (FFBP), with error criteria (MAPE, MSE, and RMSE) and the result shows that training Feed Forward Backpropagation algorithm (FFBP) surpasses the (BDLRF) algorithm in predicting tractor repair and maintenance costs by using separate networks rather than a single network.
MX-TCP and HS-TCP as Possible Options to Overcome TCP Limitations in Multi-Hop Ad-Hoc Networks

The Transmission Control Protocol is the most widely-used protocol on the internet and the rapidly growing wireless networks. However, it raises a number of issues within an ad-hoc network. It has to deal with new tough challenges such as disconnection and route failures due to mobility congestion and channel loss. In order to adapt TCP to this demanding paradigm, some improvements have been made. These challenges led to the development of High Speed Transmission Control Protocol (HS-TCP) and the Maximum Transmission Control Protocol (MX-TCP).
Effect of Gastrointestinal Microbiota on Growth in Mangrove Killifish (Kryptolebias marmoratus) and Atlantic Cod (Gadus morhua)

All animals live in symbiosis with complex microbial communities. The gastrointestinal system in vertebrates is a natural environment for microbes, and this leads to a complex and numerous microbiota. The gastrointestinal (GI) microbiota has several functions of importance to the host, and the development of molecular biological methods for investigation of microbial communities has lead to a new understanding of this environment. The hypothesis of this thesis was that growth rate in larval fish is partly explained by the composition of the GI microbiota. This was tested by comparing the GI microbiota of slow and fast growing Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) and mangrove killifish (Kryptolebias marmoratus) of the same age. The GI microbiota was characterized by PCR/DGGE (denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis) and sequencing of bands from the DGGE gels. There was a significant difference between the GI microbiota in fast and slow growing individuals from cod and the mangrove killifish strain DAN. The mangrove killifish strain PAN-RS also showed differences, but these findings were only marginally significant. This can partially be explained by the low number of samples analyzed. The GI microbiota of the PAN-RS juveniles had similarities with the microbial composition of both the feed and water, and showed that the GI microbiota is affected by both. In an experimental test it was attempted to examine if exposure to the culturable microbiota from either slow or fast growing individuals could reproduce size differences. However, the cultured bacteria from fast and slow growing mangrove killifish PAN-RS larvae were not significantly different in composition. Thus it was not expected to find any size difference between the fish larvae supplied with the different cultured bacteria. This was confirmed analytically, but the fish larvae supplied with the bacteria had a larger variation in size than the control group. The results in this thesis indicate a difference in the composition of the GI microbiota between fast and slow growing fish in the early stages of development. Further studies are required to verify if this is a causal relationship where differences in the GI microbiota of individuals results in differences in somatic growth.
QSAR rationales for the 5-HT6 antagonistic activity of Epiminocyclohepta[b]indoles

The 5-HT6 receptor binding affinities of the epiminocyclohepta[b]indole derivatives have been quantitatively expressed in terms of topological and molecular features. The analysis revealed that more number of rings (nBnz, nCIC and nR05) and lesser number of rotatable bonds (RBN) in molecular structure are advantageous to improve 5-HT6 receptor binding affinity. A higher value of the molecular topology and symmetry accounting parameters (SIC4, structural information content of 3-order neighborhood symmetry and IC5, information content index of 5- order neighborhood symmetry) is favorable to the activity. A lower value of atomic polarizabilities associated to path length 8 of the Geary autocorrelation (GATS8p) and more hydrophobicity of molecule (MLOGP) are favorable to activity. Presence or absence of certain structural fragments X- -CH.X (descriptor C-033), R- - N- -R or R- -N- - X (descriptor N-075) and more number of hydrogen atoms attached to sp or sp2 or sp3 hybridized carbon atoms (H- 047) in a molecular structure are also relevant for the binding affinity. The derived models and participating descriptors in them have suggested that the substituents of epiminocyclohepta[b]indole moiety have sufficient scope for further modification.
Fighting child sexual abuse: prevention policies for offenders.

11! 1. INTRODUCTION 13! 2. METHODOLOGY 15! 2.1. $DESK$RESEARCH$AND$LITERATURE$REVIEW$ 15! 2.2. $EU$MEMBER$STATES$INITIATIVES$UNDER$THE$DIRECTIVE$2011/93/EU$ 16! 2.3. $JRC$EUROPEAN$MEDIA$MONITOR$ 16! 3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 17! 3.1. $CHILD$SEXUAL$ABUSE$ 17! 3.1. 1. WHAT! IS! CHILD! SEXUAL! ABUSE? 17! 3.1. 2. HOW! DO! WE! DEFINE! A! CHILD? 17! 3.1. 3. WHO! CAN! BE! DEFINED! AS! AN! (POTENTIAL)! OFFENDER? 18! 3.2. STRATEGIES$TO$PREVENT$CHILD$MOLESTATION,$SEXUAL$ABUSE$OF$CHILDREN$AND$PEDOPHILIA$ 21! 3.2.1. A! PUBLIC! HEALTH! APPROACH! 21! 3.2.2. A! SOCIAL=ECOLOGICAL! MODEL! 23! 4. REPORTING ON PREVENTION INITIATIVES ADDRESSED TO SEX OFFENDERS – SETTING THE SCENE 25! 4.1. $THE$INTERNATIONAL$LANDSCAPE$ 25! 4.2. $INITIATIVES$AT$EUROPEAN$UNION$LEVEL$ 25! 4.3. $INITIATIVES$AT$EU$MEMBER$STATES$LEVEL$ 26! 4.4. $COMPLEMENTARY$RESEARCH$THROUGH$EMM$ 28! 4.5. $GATHERING$MEASURES$AND$STRATEGIES$TOGETHER$ 29! 5. EVALUATION ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PREVENTION INITIATIVES FOR (POTENTIAL) OFFENDERS 31! 6. DISCUSSION AND FUTURE RESEARCH 33!
Optimal Policy for Deteriorating Items Ramp Type Demand with Shelf Life

In this article, we have studied the inventory and pricing strategies for deteriorating items with ramp type demand and shelf life. In practice, there are many commodity such as food, medication exist the shelf life expiration date. Therefore the shelf life expiration date has become an important research topic in inventory management. The objective is to find the optimal inventory maximizing the net present value of total profit over the infinite horizon. We will discuss two cases. We assume that the inventory objective is to minimize the total cost per unit time of the system.
The relationship between implicit theories of intelligence, attainment and socio‐demographic factors in a
 UK
 sample of primary school children

Research emerging from the United States suggests that holding an incremental theory of intelligence (Growth Mindset) has a positive impact on academic success. However, limited empirical work has explored this relationship in a UK sample, and there has been a lack of research into the antecedents which might influence the development of certain intelligence beliefs. This study aimed to explore these gaps in existing literature. Data was collected from 710 nine-year-old pupils (UK Year 5). Participants completed attainment tests in Maths and English, and a questionnaire to assess their implicit theories of intelligence (Mindset). Socio-demographic information, including gender, ethnicity, Free School Meal status and Special Educational Needs status was also collected. Results showed that pupils eligible for Free School Meals or Special Educational Needs endorsed more of an entity theory of intelligence than pupils not eligible for either. Analysis of the whole sample showed that attainment significantly correlated with implicit theories of intelligence, however, this relationship did not exist for children with Free School Meal status or Special Educational Needs. These findings help to elucidate the relationship between implicit theories of intelligence and attainment in the UK, but also suggest the importance of external support in potentially facilitating pupils’ belief systems. Results are discussed in relation to avenues for targeted intervention.
The Developing Framework On The Relationship Between Market Orientation And Entrepreneurial Orientation To The Firm Performance Through Strategic Flexibility: A Literature Perspective

This paper develops a conceptual framework for an intended study which will examine the relationship between market orientation and entrepreneurial orientation on the firm performance. Previous study has shown that market orientation and entrepreneurial orientation is directly related to organizational performance. However, another studies indicate that the significance of the relationship between variables must be mediated by other variables. Some authors argue that environmental dynamics play a important role in the achievement of the firm performance. Therefore, this article try to fills a gap that exists on the relationship between market orientation and entrepreneurial orientation on the firm performance. In developing framework, we integrate strategic flexibility as a variables which mediates that relationship. This paper provide recommendations for entrepreneurs of how their market orientation and entrepreneurial orientation related with firm performance through strategic flexibility. The limitations and implications are discussed.
Kelantan Peranakan Chinese Language and Marker of Group Identity

Although the status of the national language of Malaysia has been consolidated in the Constitution, the Malay language remains commonly associated with a specific segment of Malaysian society, i.e., the Malays. The language is often seen as a distinct marker for Malayness whereas the non-Malay ethnic groups, particularly in Peninsular Malaysia, are not widely associated with the language. The Chinese as the largest minority ethnic group in the Peninsular, are often stereotypically depicted as relatively less fluent or knowledgeable in Malay language, at times not beyond the colloquial ‘bahasa pasar’ . Such a scenario suggests that language-wise, Malaysian society remains divided along ethnic lines. This paper seeks to highlight Malay language use among Peranakan Chinese youth in Kelantan. While their higher level of Malay language proficiency vis-a-vis mainstream Chinese is readily acknowledged, findings from content analyses of qualitative data collected in a focus group discussion also suggest that such proficiency in Malay language is achieved due to it being pivotal to the continuity of their identity as both Kelantan Peranakan Chinese and Kelantanese. In short, the Kelantan Peranakan Chinese community is a good example that proficiency in Malay language as national language can exist in tandem with the group’s mother tongue language, and thus should be celebrated and supported towards building a common identity as part of nation-building in Malaysia.
Large marine protected areas – advantages and challenges of going big

The Aichi Biodiversity Targets were designed to promote and implement the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) by providing a framework for action to save biodiversity and enhance its benefits for people. Specifically, Target 11 aims to protect 10% of all seas by 2020. The percentage of the world's oceans that are protected has increased steadily in recent years, mainly due to very large marine protected areas (MPAs). The issue of making major gains in achieving protection targets through ‘going big’ has brought added scrutiny to the subject of MPAs. There is economy in scale, but several people have called into question whether going large will protect representative habitat and result in true protection, or whether it is merely a politically expedient way for some nations to attain targets by creating paper parks, while avoiding tough conservation decisions. The recent creation of large MPAs has greatly enhanced the chance of achieving global protection targets. Large areas typically contain several ecosystems and habitats that interact ecologically, and allow for more holistic conservation. The interactions between ecosystems in large MPAs occur without many of the problems associated with networks of smaller MPAs, where the connectivity between sites is often affected by human activities. The disadvantages of large MPAs include difficulties of surveillance, enforcement and monitoring of vast offshore areas, as well as high total costs. While the cost per unit area may be lower for large MPAs, conducting surveillance and monitoring in such vast areas requires much more expensive technologies. Large MPAs complement and add to existing management and conservation measures. Decision makers should consider designating them as one of a suite of possible protection measures. Besides greatly enhancing the chance of reaching agreed biodiversity targets, large MPAs improve the quality of conservation. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE RATIONAL URBAN ENGINEERING SYSTEMS FOR THE SURFACE WASTEWATER TREATMENT

The results of studies and seasonal observations of the surface wastewater quality that generated in the territory of a modern large city are presented. The dependence of the surface runoff quality on the year season and the kind of urban development is shown. The eff ect of anti-ice reagents on the meltwater quality is noted. The article suggests a new approach to the making of a technological scheme for surface wastewater treatment. Based on the obtained data, a technological block-scheme of a local Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) intending for surface wastewater treatment and operating in an automatic mode is proposed. The proposed technological solution takes into account seasonal changes in the surface wastewater quality in urbanized areas.
Photoplethysmographic assessment of the pulse wave: a blunted response to salbutamol in arterial hypertension and coronary artery disease

Summary Objectives: A systemic vascular effect of beta2-adrenergic agonist salbutamol is partially mediated through the L-arginine‐NO pathway. Therefore, the attenuation of photoplethysmographic digital volume pulse parameters under salbutamol inhalation could be used for the evaluation of endothelial function. The aim of the study was to estimate the vascular response to salbutamol in patients with arterial hypertension (AH) and coronary heart disease (CHD). Design and Methods: Totally 71 subjects were studied: 30 patients with AH, 26 patients with CHD and 15 healthy controls (C). All the subjects underwent the detailed clinical assessment and photoplethysmographic evaluation of the pulse wave response to 400 µg salbutamol inhalation. A portable photoplethysmograph Micro Medical MP2000 (Gillingham, Kent, United Kingdom) was used for digital volume pulse analysis. The assessment was performed according to the modified protocol of Chowienczyk et al. Results: Characteristic change in the pulse wave curve after salbutamol inhalation was observed in the controls: a decrease in the height of the inflection point (IP) (∆IP 18.24 ± 16.42, p 0.05). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that impaired vasomotor endothelial function could be responsible for a blunted response of the pulse wave parameters to salbutamol in hypertensive and coronary patients. Seminars in Cardiology 2004; 10(2): 83–90
Biologic cycling of silica across a grassland bioclimosequence

The dynamics of biologic Si cycling in grassland ecosystems are largely unknown and likely to impact mineral weathering rates regionally and diatom productivity globally; key regulatory processes in the global Si cycle are closely tied to the global carbon cycle. Across a bioclimatic sequence spanning major grassland ecosystems in the Great Plains, soil biogenic silica depth distributions are similar to that of soil organic carbon; however, unlike soil organic carbon, quantities of soil biogenic silica decrease with increasing precipitation, despite an increase in annual biogenic inputs through litterfall across the same gradient. Though comprising only 1–3% of the total Si pool, faster turnover of biogenic Si and annual cycling by grasses should positively impact mineral dissolution. Our results suggest that the largest reservoir of biogenic Si in terrestrial ecosystems resides in soils, and emphasize the potential significance of grasslands in the global biogeochemical cycle of Si.
MEASUREMENT SCALE OF SUBJECTIVE QUALITY OF LIFE IN CROSS-BORDER REGIONS

Summary The article presents the proposal of the measurement scale of subjective quality of life of the inhabitants living in cross-border regions. In the design of the measurement tool the exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used. The exploratory analysis was based on principal components analysis with VARIMAX rotation. In the evaluation of the model fitting the method that was used is the estimation one which combines the generalized least squares method with the maximum likelihood method. Three potential factor models differing in the number of subscales were analysed. The article includes the results of the survey conducted in 2012 within the Polish-German project: “The quality of life in the border area – strengthening of cross-border flows for the common sustainable development and regional planning”.
A Review of Fine Registration for 3D Point Clouds

D registration is an essential step in 3D reconstruction of real objects. In this paper, the fine registration methods for point clouds are classified systematically and analyzed theoretically. For several typical fine registration algorithms, experimental comparisons are also carried out on the effect of sampling parameters, iterations, iterative threshold and random noise. Furthermore, the stability and efficiency of the algorithms are tested. Based on the experimental results, the problems in current registration methods and the prospects of future research directions are also presented.
Market development for fixed income securities: The role of socio-economic and institutional factors

It is well understood that bond markets play an important role in the development of the overall financial sector. Bond markets also help to make efficient investment and financing decisions, to improve efficiency in the design and implementation of monetary policy, provide financial stability by mitigating rollover risk and interest rate risk for the borrowers, provide an alternative source of finance to firms and thus reduce the monopoly of the banking sector. Given the importance of this market, this paper aims to investigate the factors that may be important for developing a market for domestic bonds. First, we discuss the importance of macroand microeconomic factors in the development of a government bond market. We focus on the role of socio-economic and institutional factors in a country’s bond market development. For empirical purposes, we extend the model used by Claessens, Klingebiel, and Schmukler (2003) by including a number of socio-economic and institutional variables and see if they are important in influencing the size of the domestic bond market. For empirical estimation, we use data on macroeconomic indicators and a set of social and institutional indices for a panel of deve loped and emerging markets. The empirical findings of this paper suggest that socio-economic and institutional factors play an important role in determining the size of the market for local currency bonds. Acknowledgement: We thank the participants of the EAEA and ESAM conferences for their valuable comments and suggestions. Valuable suggestions by Peter Kennedy are appreciated. We acknowledge partial funding support from Bond University. Melissa Bond provided assistance in data collection and compilation. The usual disclaimer applies. Affiliation of both authors: School of Business and Globalisation and Development Centre, Bond University, Gold Coast, QLD 4229, Australia. Correspondence to Ahmed M. Khalid, e-mail akhalid@bond.edu. au
Assessment of an outsourced agricultural extension service in the Mutasa district of Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe has a pluralistic agricultural extension system. In addition to the public extension service, donors contract private service providers to deliver extension services in specific project areas. This study assesses the impact of an outsourced extension service on rural households in the Mutasa district of Zimbabwe’s Manicaland Province, and examines the financial cost and benefit of this service. The extension service was delivered by a local agribusiness firm and funded by USAID. The study analyses survey data gathered from 94 client and 90 non-client rural households. Propensity score matching was used to identify a subset of comparable clients and non-clients. Descriptive statistics were compared across these groups, and the impact of the extension service on each of several outcome variables was estimated using two-stage least squares regression with instrumental variables to account for selection bias. The results show that the outsourced extension service contributed significantly to household crop income, net crop income and expenditure on farm inputs and services. In addition, clients perceived a range of socio-economic benefits such as better diets and health, improved product quality and job creation. An analysis of the financial cost and benefit of the extension service suggests an annual net incremental benefit of US$11,587, representing a 30% return on the investment made by the donor to finance the service. This estimate excludes socio-economic benefits attributed to the extension service. Key words: Smallholder extension service, impact assessment, net incremental benefit, Zimbabwe.
Service Quality Expectation and Perception in Life Insurance Services: A Marketer’s Viewpoint

Abstratct – In India, the potential for significant life insurance market expansion is in tandem with higher disposable income and a relatively young population will drive sales for both savings and protection products in the years to come. But in the recent years, despite of strong market fundamentals, private sector life insurance companies are struggling hard in maintaining a regular growth of business. Besides, the life insurance sector needs to continue on the path of innovation by designing new products suitable for the market and make use of innovative distribution channels to reach a broader range of the population. Thus it’s imperative to analyze the present marketing practices of service providers. Many a time, marketers are found to be myopic about the customers’ expectations and service quality delivered. In the light of observed facts, presented study made an attempt to identify the perception of marketers regarding level of expectation as well as perception of service quality in Indian life insurance industry by using service quality model suggested by Sureshchandar et al. (2001). The findings suggest that there exist a significant negative gap in service quality expected and perceived by the customers of life insurance services.