Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Use Of Taxonomy Methods For Clustering European Union Countries Due To The Standard Of Living

This paper proposes the application of taxonomic tools to study the differentiation of standard of living in the European Union countries. The aggregate distance between given countries is the basis for grouping member states in terms of their internal structure of the studied characteristics. The analysis is based on two chosen methods–the Ward’s and k-means method. The study included 24 member states of the European Union in 1995-2010. Depending on the distance between the object, the countries were divided into two or four clusters. Similar configuration of each group obtained using both methods has led to the conclusion that these methods can be used both complementarily and separately.
Habitat Mapping in the Farasan Islands (Saudi Arabia) Using CASI and QuickBird Imagery

Map products derived from remote sensing technology increase our understanding and ability to manage tropical marine environments. The enhanced mapping capabilities of hyperspectral sensors are well understood; yet technology uptake, particularly for large scale tasks, has been slow. The study presented represents one of the largest hyperspectral projects to date, and paves the way towards increased use of this technology. Hyperspectral CASI-550 imagery and multispectral QuickBird imagery, was acquired over 3,168 km of the Farasan Islands. In addition to the typical image processing steps, inopportune water condensation in the CASI sensors lens necessitated further processing to remove an across-track artifact. We present a simple protocol for correcting this abnormality, utilizing an abundance of optically deep water to model and correct the error. Investment in optical, bathymetric, and other supporting field data, along with the acquisition of the QuickBird imagery was vital. Data pre-processing facilitated thematic mapping with accuracy comparable to other studies, while allowing the use of spectral unmixing to discriminate coral from within algae dominated patches in shallow water (0-5 m) environments. The unmixing model proved robust, was readily adaptable to the CASI sensor and provides additional habitat information beyond the level of thematic mapping alone.
Passive RFID Rotation Dimension Reduction via Aggregation

Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) has applications in object identification, position, and orientation tracking. RFID technology can be applied in hospitals for patient and equipment tracking, stores and warehouses for product tracking, robots for self-localisation, tracking hazardous materials, or locating any other desired object. Efficient and accurate algorithms that perform localisation are required to extract meaningful data beyond simple identification. A Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) is the strength of a received radio frequency signal used to localise passive and active RFID tags. Many factors affect RSSI such as reflections, tag rotation in 3D space, and obstacles blocking line-of-sight. LANDMARC is a statistical method for estimating tag location based on a target tag’s similarity to surrounding reference tags. LANDMARC does not take into account the rotation of the target tag. By either aggregating multiple reference tag positions at various rotations, or by determining a rotation value for a newly read tag, we can perform an expected value calculation based on a comparison to the k-most similar training samples via an algorithm called K-Nearest Neighbours (KNN) more accurately. By choosing the average as the aggregation function, we improve the relative accuracy of single-rotation LANDMARC localisation by 10%, and any-rotation localisation by 20%.
Prediction of wheat and flour Zeleny sedimentation value using NIR technique.

Analytical quality parameters of wheat flour prepared from variety and commercial wheat samples (wheat harvest 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001) were assessed by means of filter spectrograph Inframatic 8620 ASH (moisture and protein content) and Sedi-tester (Zeleny sedimentation value). The spectra of all samples were measured on spectrograph NIRSystem 6500. Calibration equations with cross and independent validation for all analytical characteristics were computed by NIR Software ISI Present WINISI II using MPLS and PLS method. The quality of prediction was evaluated by SEP and r parameters between the measured and the predicted values from cross and independent validation. In case of Inframatic 8620 ASH, validation was realised by NIRPRG software. A statistically significant dependence between the predicted and the measured values of protein content and Zeleny sedimentation (with probability P < 0.01) was determined in both variety and commercial flour sets in the case of cross and independent validation. Better accuracy of prediction was found with NIRSystem 6500. Both important parameters of wheat were successfully predicted by independent validation with nearly the same accuracy.
Enquête 2017 auprès des coordinateurs des Infrastructures de Données Géographiques en France. Rapport intermédiaire du projet de recherche GEOBS

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. Enquête 2017 auprès des coordinateurs des Infrastructures de Données Géographiques en France. Rapport intermédiaire du projet de recherche GEOBS Adeline Maulpoix, Matthieu Noucher, Olivier Pissoat, Grégoire Le Campion, Françoise Gourmelon, Pierre Gautreau
Explicating Performance Impacts of IT Governance and Data Governance in Multi-Business Organisations

Achieving regulatory compliance, a 360 degree view on customer data, and an effective and efficient reporting are critical business requirements that can be traced back to a high quality of IT and data resources. Addressing these requirements, the regulation of decision rights and accountabilities for organisational decision-making about IT and data assets has become a key success factor for organisations. The aim of this paper is to analyse the performance impact of a combined IT and data governance concept. The study uses the resource-based perspective and integrates the theory of complementarities and the concept of relatedness. The proposed increase in business process performance is grounded in the generation of sustainable competitive advantages. The framework is developed by using nine exploratory case studies in multi-business organisations. The results suggest that IT and data governance are positively related with business process performance through the mediators of IT relatedness and data relatedness.
Recovery of Nano-Sized Cobalt Powder from Cemented Carbide Scrap

A process is developed to recover nano-sized cobalt from cemented carbide scrap (WC-Co) by nitric acid leaching and finally obtaining a nano-sized spherical pure cobalt powder by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis (USP). The optimization of the leaching and preparation of cobalt powders by USP are conducted within the framework of an environment-friendly and economical process, enabling reduced waste streams. According to the results obtained, it is possible to dissolve cobalt with high efficiencies (91.5%) via HNO3 leaching of cemented carbide scrap. The optimum leaching conditions were 90 m m, 25 °C, 2 h, 0.5 M HNO3, 900 rpm, and 1/10 solid/liquid ratio. The leach residue (WC-TiC) has a BET specific surface area of 1.08 m2/g and finds has a wide range of applications in key technologies, varying from mechanical to chemical industries. After leaching, nano-sized cobalt powder (300-700 nm) can be produced from Co(NO3)2 by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis with hydrogen reduction. The nano-sized powders can be used for the production of new nano-structured thermoelectric materials, nanomagnets, nanosensors and nano-structured tungsten carbide-cobalt powders.
Latin Hypercube Sampling and Partial Rank Correlation Coefficient Analysis Applied to an Optimal Control Problem

Latin Hypercube Sampling/Partial Rank Correlation Coefficient (LHS/PRCC) sensitivity analysis is an efficient tool often employed in uncertainty analysis to explore the entire parameter space of a model. Despite the usefulness of LHS/PRCC sensitivity analysis in studying the sensitivity of a model to the parameter values used in the model, no study has been done that fully integrates Latin Hypercube sampling with optimal control analysis. In this thesis, we couple the optimal control numerical procedure to the LHS/PRCC procedure and perform a simultaneous examination of the effects of all the LHS parameter on the objective functional value. To test the effectiveness of our procedure, we examine the sensitive parameters in a deterministic ordinary differential equations cholera model having seven human compartments and two bacterial compartments. Our procedure cuts down on simulation time and helps us perform a more comprehensive analysis of the influential parameters in the cholera model, than would be possible otherwise.
Feeding ecology of Konik horses and donkeys in Belgian coastal dunes and its implications for nature management

Foraging behaviour and diet selection of Koniks and donkeys were studied in order to estimate their possible impact on vegetation development and hence their appropriateness as nature management tools. Koniks show a larger intake rate and quantity than do donkeys. Koniks do not show significant seasonal dif- ferences in biomass intake, whereas donkeys consume significantly more in winter. Both animal species feed mainly on graminoids. The Konik diet is composed of 86% of graminoids with an additional 12% of herbs. The donkey diet consists of 69 % of graminoids, which are mainly supplemented with browsing (18 %), e.g. twigs and leaves of Ligustrum vulgare and Rubus caesius. Calamagrostis epigejos, Rosa pimpinellifolia (fruits), Carex arenaria and Arrhenatherum elatius are the most important plant species eaten by donkeys (based on number of bites and biomass). Koniks eat Calamagrostis epigejos significantly more, qualitatively (number of bites) as well as quantitatively (biomass intake), than any other plant species, but Cirsium arvense, Calamagrostis canescens, Juncus subnodulosus, Holcus lanatus and Claytonia perfoliata are also frequently consumed. Koniks as well as donkeys do eat plant species that nature managers would like to see decline in dominance, e.g. Calamagrostis epigejos, but browsing on scrub species is insufficient to decrease the area occupied by shrubs.
ASSESSMENT OF INHERITANCE PATTERN OF THE TWO MORPHOLOGICAL MARKERS IN INTRASPECIFIC HYBRIDIZATION OF BRASSICA NAPUS L.

F1 and F2 generations of crosses involving four parents i.e Con-1, 399596, Salam and Rainbow of Brassica napus and their two intraspecific hybrids i.e Con-I × 399596 and Salam × Rainbow were grown at the New Development Farm, NWFP Agricultural University, Peshawar during Rabi 2006-07 to study inheritance of two morphological qualitative traits i.e. plant colour and flower colour. In F1 generation dark green plant colour and dark yellow flower colour expressed as dominant traits. In F2 generation both hybrids were grown at Miandam (District Swat) during Kharif 2007, The hybrids segregated and were classified in to their respective phenotypic classes. Genetic linkage was observed between plant colour and flower colour in F2 generation. The F2 population deviated segregation from 9:3:3:1 ratio that did not fit for goodness by ÷ 2 method. It is suggested to establish the constancy of detected QTLs, and to locate exact
Evaluation in Practice : UML / RUP & Inspired Method

A study by postgraduate students at the University of Cape Town compared the UML and Rational Unified Process (RUP) combination to the Inspired Method with respect to complexity, quality and efficacy using the Castellani and Method Points; Krogstie and colleagues; and NIMSAD approaches respectively. This paper summarises the findings, learnings and areas for future research from the earlier report. The results indicate that the UML is lacking in the area of business analysis, especially strategic alignment of information systems with business goals and business process modeling. The Inspired method offers improved business analysis support and a wider planning perspective, but does not provide as much detail in expressing software design as does the UML/RUP. The Inspired method provides a more economical notation, but is not well supported in third party tools. Observations are made regarding challenges of applying the methods evaluation approaches and areas for future research are suggested.
Effects of Biocom as a Replacement of Glutamine on Performance and Blood Biochemical Indexes of Early Weaned Piglets

The objective of this study was to evaluate Biocom (a protein source containing a high level of glutamine and alanyl- glutamine) as a replacement for glutamine (Gln) in nursery pig diets. Forty-two pigs (fourteen pigs per treatment) weaned at 28 d of age were used in a 28-d performance trial using three dietary treatments: control (no Gln), control supplemented with Gln or Biocom. The control diet was composed of corn, soybean meal, whey and fish meal. Individual body weight, pen feed disappearance and diarrhea were monitored. On d 0, 2, 7 and 14 postweaning, respectively, five pigs per treatment were selected and bled from the anterior vena cava to obtain five replicate samples of blood on each dietary treatment for determination of blood biochemical index. Dietary supplementation of Gln and Biocom did not influence performance, plasma Gln and total serum protein concentration (p>0.05). However, the addition of Gln and Biocom could prevent serum urea nitrogen and serum cortisol from increasing on d 2 postweaning (p 0.05) in any of the examined parameters between Gln- and Biocom-supplemented diets. In conclusion, dietary Gln did not influence the performance of early-weaned piglets owing to the complex diet containing whey, but could prevent the increase of serum urea and cortisol. Biocom could be used as a replacement for free pure Gln without any negative effect on early-weaned piglets. (Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci. 2006. Vol 19, No. 6 : 872-876)
Variation at high latitudes: the geography of body size and cranial morphology of the muskox, Ovibos moschatus

Abstract Aim Bergmann's rule, one of the most studied and controversial ecogeographical generalizations, has rarely been tested with observations from high latitudes. We tested the rule using cranial measurements of the muskox [Ovibos moschatus (Zimmerman)], a homeotherm with an extremely northern distribution. We also used these data to describe geographical patterns in the species' dental architecture, an extension of the framework developed from interspecific comparisons.
Primary production sensitivity to phytoplankton light attenuation parameter increases with transient forcing

Abstract. Treatment of the underwater light field in ocean biogeochemical models has been attracting increasing interest, with some models moving towards more complex parameterisations. We conduct a simple sensitivity study of a typical, highly simplified parameterisation. In our study, we vary the phytoplankton light attenuation parameter over a range constrained by data during both pre-industrial equilibrated and future climate scenario RCP8.5. In equilibrium, lower light attenuation parameters (weaker self-shading) shift net primary production (NPP) towards the high latitudes, while higher values of light attenuation (stronger shelf-shading) shift NPP towards the low latitudes. Climate forcing magnifies this relationship through changes in the distribution of nutrients both within and between ocean regions. Where and how NPP responds to climate forcing can determine the magnitude and sign of global NPP trends in this high CO2 future scenario. Ocean oxygen is particularly sensitive to parameter choice. Under higher CO2 concentrations, two simulations establish a strong biogeochemical feedback between the Southern Ocean and low-latitude Pacific that highlights the potential for regional teleconnection. Our simulations serve as a reminder that shifts in fundamental properties (e.g. light attenuation by phytoplankton) over deep time have the potential to alter global biogeochemistry.
How do Taxes Affect Investment and Productivity?: An Industry-Level Analysis of OECD Countries

This paper analyses how different tax policies can affect investment and productivity. To address this question the paper uses industry-level data from a set of OECD countries and examines whether different industries are affected differently by taxation. Investment is shown to respond negatively to an increase in the corporate tax rate and a decrease in capital depreciation allowances through changes in the user cost of capital. The analysis of potential links between taxes and productivity tests the hypothesis that taxes affect productivity through different channels and that due to some salient industry characteristics some industries are inherently more affected than others by certain taxes. The paper finds evidence that corporate and top personal income taxes have a negative effect on productivity. In contrast, tax incentives for research and development (R&D) are found to have a positive effect on productivity. These effects are stronger in those industries that are inherently more profitable, have more entrepreneurial activity and are more R&D intensive, respectively. L'effet des politiques de taxation sur les investissements and la productivite dans les pays de l'OCDE : Une analyse sectorielle Cette etude vise a etudier l’effet des politiques de taxation sur les investissements et la productivite des entreprises. Nous utilisons des donnees sectorielles pour un ensemble de pays de l’OCDE et analysons dans quelle mesure l’impact de la taxation differe selon les secteurs. Selon nos resultats, une hausse de l’impot sur les societes ou une baisse des provisions pour amortissement du capital provenant de variations du cout d’usage du capital induisent une baisse de l’investissement des entreprises. Nous analysons les mecanismes de l’impact de la taxation des entreprises sur leur productivite et nous testons si certains secteurs y sont plus sensibles que d’autres. Selon nos estimations, l’impot sur les societes, mais aussi les dernieres tranches de l’impot sur le revenu, ont un impact negatif sur la productivite. En revanche, les avantages fiscaux visant a promouvoir la recherche et developpement semblent avoir un effet benefique sur la productivite. Ces effets sont plus forts dans les secteurs plus rentables, dans les secteurs caracterises par un niveau plus eleve d’activite entrepreneuriale, et dans les secteurs caracterises par un niveau plus eleve de recherche et developpement.
Efficacy of two anthelmintics against gastrointestinal nematodes in naturally infected goats in a pastoral Karamoja region, Uganda

A study was conducted to determine the efficacy of albendazole (ABZ) and ivermectin (IVM) against gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) in naturally infected goats in the pastoral region of Karamoja, Uganda. Fifty four (54) small East African goats (female = 36, male = 18), of 4-6 months and from 18 flocks, were allocated to treatment groups (albendazole, ivermectin and untreated control), by a randomized complete block design. Each group included 18 goats and treatments were administered according to weight of each goat, with 5 Mg/Mg bw albendazole and 0.2Mg/Kg bw ivermectin. Fecal egg counts (FEC), expressed as eggs per gram and larval cultures were done on day zero before treatment and on day 13 post-treatment. Anthelmintic efficacy was determined by the Fecal Egg Count Reduction Test (FECRT). ABZ and IVM reduced FEC by 81.03 and 96.55%, respectively. The results indicated that nematode resistance was present in the ABZ group. Coproculture results following albendazole treatment showed that only Haemonchus spp . survived treatment. Information from 60 pastoralists indicated that reduced efficacy of the drugs could be due to prolonged and frequent use of the same anthelmintic and under dosing. Steps should be taken to limit the spread of resistant nematodes and to restore anthelmintic efficacy. Key words : Anthelmintic resistance, albendazole, goats, ivermectin, pastoralists
Low-latency Bass Separation using Harmonic-Percussion Decomposition

Many recent approaches to musical source separation rely on modelbased inference methods that take into account the signal’s harmonic structure. To address the particular case of low-latency bass separation, we propose a method that combines harmonic decomposition using a Tikhonov regularization-based algorithm, with the peak contrast analysis of the pitch likelihood function. Our experiment compares the separation performance of this method to a naive low-pass filter, a state-of-the-art NMF-based method and a near-optimal binary mask. The proposed low-latency method achieves results similar to the NMF-based high-latency approach at a lower computational cost. Therefore the method is valid for real-time implementations.
Camera calibration from road lane markings

Three-dimensional computer vision techniques have been ac- tively studied for the purpose of visual traffic surveillance. To determine the 3-D environment, camera calibration is a crucial step to resolve the relationship between the 3-D world coordinates and their corresponding image coordinates. A novel camera calibration using the geometry prop- erties of road lane markings is proposed. A set of equations that com- putes the camera parameters from the image coordinates of the road lane markings and lane width is derived. The camera parameters include pan angle, tilt angle, swing angle, focal length, and camera distance. Our results show that the proposed method outperforms the others in terms of accuracy and noise sensitivity. The proposed method accurately de- termines camera parameters using the appropriate camera model and it is insensitive to perturbation of noise on the calibration pattern. © 2003
On the Determinacy of Monetary Policy Under Expectational Errors

Forward looking agents with expectational errors provide a problem for monetary policy. We show that under such conditions a standard interest rate rule may not achieve determinacy. We suggest a modification to the standard policy rule that guarantees determinacy in this setting, which involves the policy maker co-ordinating inflation dynamics by responding to each of past, current and expected inflation. We show that this solution maps directly into Woodford's (2000) timeless perspective. We trace the responses in an artificial economy and illustrate the extent to which macroeconomic persistence is reduced following the adoption of this rule.
State and Parameter Estimation for a Grinding Mill Circuit from Operational Input-Output Data

The states and unknown parameters of a simplified non-linear grinding mill circuit model for process control was estimated from real plant data by means of an Extended Kalman Filter. The output of the model as calculated from the states and parameters estimated by the Extended Kalman Filter closely follow the actual output of the plant. The continuous estimate of states and parameters from plant data allows for the continuous update of a process model used for process control. This limits model-plant mismatch which deteriorates controller performance.