Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS IN COMPOSITIONAL ANALYSIS OF RAPESEED MEAL FROM NIRS - ASSESSMENT OF APPLICABILITY *

Ab s t r a c t . Near Infra-Red Spectroscopy (NIRS) is a r apid and cost-effective method widely used for the determination of chemical composition of agricultural products. Reflectance spectra recorded i n near infra-red region for a set of samples of known composition are used for establishing calibration model by use of one of standard multivariate calibr ation methods, like MLR (multiple linear regression ), PCR (principal component regression) or PLS (partial least squares). Multivariate calibration is a tas k that can be tried to be solved with artificial neural ne tworks (ANNs) as well. The present paper is aimed at assessing the applicability of artificial neural ne tworks as a tool for the determination of the conte nt of main nutritional components of rapeseed meal: protein, dry mass, fibre and oil, on the basis of NIRS measurements. To the knowledge of the authors, no paper has been published on modelling of the dependence of chemical composition of rapeseed meal and NIR spectra with ANNs. Two most popular types of ANNs are tried in this work: multi-layer p erceptron (MLP) and radial basis function (RBF). The obtained results show that chosen types of ANNs can provide models of performance comparable to that characterizing models built with MLR. K e y w o r d s : rapeseed meal, artificial neural networks , near infrared spectroscopy
Applicability of Brand Personality Scale in the Indian Context

In today’s competitive market, brands have to strive to create a distinct differentiation for the competitive edge and survival. As the functional differentiation tends to lose the novelty for the consumers, marketers resort to symbolic differences. Brand addresses the symbolic function and symbolic benefit of the brand. Jennifer Aaker in her seminal research work constructed the brand personality scale which has been widely adopted for measuring brand personality. Although the scale developed b (1997) is most widely adapted scale in the brand personality research, the critical issue with the scale is the applicability in different cultural contexts. This paper investigates the applicability of the Brand Personality scale developed by Aaker in the Indian context. To test the applicability of the scale in entirety, 460 respondents were asked to measure the brand personality of their existing car and the preferred car by using the five-dimension Brand Personality Scale developed by Aaker (199 framework. In the existing car brand personality, a 2 factor structure with 13 item scale resulted, and in the preferred car, a 3-factor structure with 12 item scale resulted.
The effect of NMDA receptor antagonism on cortical gamma power and synchronization in vivo

Acute administration of NMDA receptor antagonists such as PCP and ketamine are accepted models of schizophrenia in rats. Oscillatory activity in the gamma range (30-120 Hz) is known to be increased in schizophrenia and by NMDA receptor antagonism. Putative links have been made between abnormal gamma activity and cognitive deficits that are known in schizophrenia. However, the site of action of these antagonists and how they modulate gamma \(in\) \(vivo\) remains unclear. In this study PCP was systemically injected into freely moving rats and ketamine systemically injected into terminally anaesthetised rats, whilst recording intracranial EEG activity in the prefrontal cortex, visual cortex and hippocampus. Ketamine was also administered locally into these same areas in anaesthetised rats and EEG activity recorded. 1 mg/kg PCP significantly decreased performance in an associative learning task, significantly increased gamma power in all recording areas and decreased inter-area gamma synchronisation. 4 mg/kg ketamine also significantly increased gamma power and decreased inter-area synchronisation. Local injection of 5 μg/μl ketamine caused no significant changes to gamma power or inter-area synchronisation. The data presented in this study suggests that local NMDA receptor antagonism may not be the primary cause of changes to gamma activity that occurs following systemic treatments.
Consumer Conformity and Vanity in Vertically Differentiated Markets

Consumers' choice of a good may be motivated by the wish to belong to some group or the search for exclusiveness. Such behavior gives rise to either positive or negative consumption externalities. Although, these externalities are very important in several markets, their impact on firms' quality choice in vertically differentiated markets has not been yet explored. We study firms' decisions in terms of prices and qualities when consumers' utility is affected by the number of consumers who buy the same quality and also partially affected by the number of consumers who buy close qualities. The market outcomes are significantly affected as the low quality firm may prefer to stay out of the market when the consumption externality is strong. Moreover, under some conditions on the strength of the consumption externality and on consumers' sensitivity to firms' quality difference, we prove that product differentiation may not be maximal as in the standard model.
Calculation aspects of the European Rebalanced Basket Option using Monte Carlo methods

Life insurance and pension funds offer a wide range of products that are invested in a mix of assets. These portfolios (Π), underlying the products, are rebalanced back to predetermined fixed proportions on a regular basis. This is done by selling the better performing assets and buying the worse performing assets. Life insurance or pension fund contracts can offer the client a minimum payout guarantee on the contract by charging them an extra premium (α). This problem can be changed to that of the pricing of a put option with underlying Π. It forms a liability for the insurance firm, and therefore needs to be managed in terms of risks as well. This can be done by studying the option’s sensitivities. In this thesis the premium and sensitivities of this put option are calculated, using different Monte Carlo methods, in order to find the most efficient method. Using general Monte Carlo methods, a simplistic pricing method is found which is refined by applying mathematical techniques so that the computational time is reduced significantly. After considering Antithetic Variables, Control Variates and Latin Hypercube Sampling as variance reduction techniques, option prices as Control Variates prove to reduce the error of the refined method most efficiently. This is improved by considering different Quasi-Monte Carlo techniques, namely Halton, Faure, normal Sobol’ and other randomised Sobol’ sequences. Owen and Faure-Tezuke type randomised Sobol’ sequences improved the convergence of the estimator the most efficiently. Furthermore, the best methods between Pathwise Derivatives Estimates and Finite Difference Approximations for estimating sensitivities of this option are found. Therefore by using the refined pricing method with option prices as Control Variates together with Owen and Faure-Tezuke type randomised Sobol’ sequences as a Quasi-Monte Carlo method, more efficient methods to price this option (compared to simplistic Monte Carlo methods) are obtained. In addition, more efficient sensitivity estimators are obtained to help manage risks.
The uncertain nature of absences and their importance in species distribution modelling

Species distribution models (SDM) are commonly used to obtain hypotheses on either the realized or the potential distribution of species. The reliability and meaning of these hypotheses depends on the kind of absences included in the training data, the variables used as predictors and the methods employed to parameterize the models. Information about the absence of species from certain localities is usually lacking, so pseudo-absences are often incorporated to the training data. We explore the effect of using different kinds of pseudo-absences on SDM results. To do this, we use presence information on Aphodius bonvouloiri, a dung beetle species of well-known distribution. We incorporate different types of pseudo-absences to create different sets of training data that account for absences of methodological (i.e. false absences), contingent and environmental origin. We used these datasets to calibrate SDMs with GAMs as modelling technique and climatic variables as predictors, and compare these results with geographical representations of the potential and realized distribution of the species created independently. Our results confirm the importance of the kind of absences in determining the aspect of species distribution identified through SDM. Estimations of the potential distribution require absences located farther apart in the geographic and/or environmental space than estimations of the realized distribution. Methodological absences produce overall bad models, and absences that are too far from the presence points in either the environmental or the geographic space may not be informative, yielding important overestimations. GLMs and Artificial Neural Networks yielded similar results. Synthetic discrimination measures such as the Area Under the Receiver Characteristic Curve (AUC) must be interpreted with caution, as they can produce misleading comparative results. Instead, the joint examination of ommission and comission errors provides a better understanding of the reliability of SDM results.
PHOENICS: A universal deep Bayesian optimizer

In this work we introduce PHOENICS, a probabilistic global optimization algorithm combining ideas from Bayesian optimization with concepts from Bayesian kernel density estimation. We propose an inexpensive acquisition function balancing the explorative and exploitative behavior of the algorithm. This acquisition function enables intuitive sampling strategies for an efficient parallel search of global minima. The performance of PHOENICS is assessed via an exhaustive benchmark study on a set of 15 discrete, quasi-discrete and continuous multidimensional functions. Unlike optimization methods based on Gaussian processes (GP) and random forests (RF), we show that PHOENICS is less sensitive to the nature of the co-domain, and outperforms GP and RF optimizations. We illustrate the performance of PHOENICS on the Oregonator, a difficult case-study describing a complex chemical reaction network. We demonstrate that only PHOENICS was able to reproduce qualitatively and quantitatively the target dynamic behavior of this nonlinear reaction dynamics. We recommend PHOENICS for rapid optimization of scalar, possibly non-convex, black-box unknown objective functions.
Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging and PET-CT as prognostic factors to neoadjuvant therapy response in rectal cancer: preliminary results

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Reevaluation of the reconstruction of summer temperatures from melt features in Belukha ice cores, Siberian Altai

[1] In a previous study, past summer temperatures were reconstructed from melt features in the Belukha ice core, Siberian Altai. We evaluated the climatic representativeness of net accumulation and melt features by comparing two Belukha ice cores retrieved at neighboring sites by different institutions and dated by different methods. Melt features in both cores showed a significant correlation, but the trends of net accumulation were different between the cores. Melt features corresponded to the retreat rate of a glacier terminus in a neighboring mountain range. These findings demonstrate the spatial representativeness of melt features in the ice cores. We reevaluated an equation formulated for reconstructions of summer temperature, as used in a previous study, and found that it underestimates temperature. We propose an alternative equation to obtain more reliable summer temperatures from melt features and net accumulation records for the period from 1914 to 2003.
Probiotics as a Strategy to Improve Overall Human Health in Developing Countries

Probiotic strains can be successfully incorporated and manufactured into highly acceptable food products while retaining their viability and functionality. The development of successful probiotic products depends on the selection of probiotic strains for human consumption, proof of a therapeutic effect, strain survival, viability at the time of consumption and storage requirements. Dairy products have proven to be an excellent vehicle for the delivery of probiotics. Developing countries are reeling under the problems of acute and antibiotic associated diarrhea, HIV/ AIDS and poor nutritional status due to improper hygiene, sanitation, unavailability of safe drinking water and lack of awareness. Results of this review suggest a promising role of probiotic products in the inhibition of pathogenic microorganisms, reduction of antibiotic-associated diarrhea, alleviation of acute diarrheal diseases especially in infants and children, protection against HIV/AIDS, management of lactose intolerance, lowering blood cholesterol levels, improving the nutritional status of the population, allergy prevention and as a vaccine adjuvant in developing countries. Educational campaigns to inform the population and policy makers about the health benefits of probiotics could help alleviate these problems in a safe way without great effort and with minimal increase in the cost of such probiotic products.
POWER CONSUMPTION OF PIEZOELECTRIC ACTUATORS DRIVING A SIMPLY SUPPORTED BEAM CONSIDERING FLUID COUPLING

An electromechanical impedance model is applied to the case of a simply supported beam in an infinite rigid baffle with a fluid medium on one side. The effects of the fluid medium are included in the impedance analysis by considering fluid–structure interaction. The use of static and impedance model for structural acoustic analysis is discussed. Various power consumptions of PZT actuator‐driven underwater beam structures will be quantified. The analysis discussed in this paper will be used to determine radiated structural acoustic power without using microphones. This work is the first step toward the determination of power requirements for underwater active structural acoustic control.
On the edge of the world: examining pro-environmental outcomes of last chance tourism in Kaktovik, Alaska

Abstract Travel to impact-sensitive destinations has been on the rise in recent years. Coined “last chance tourism” (LCT), visitors are increasingly coming to these destinations to see them before they are gone. To offset their presence, which ultimately contributes to site degradation, a possible positive outcome of these LCT experiences is the creation of environmental ambassadors. Utilizing data collected from 189 visitor surveys, the purpose of this study is to provide a basis for understanding the visitor experience and outcomes of boat-based polar bear viewing in the Kaktovik area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. A typology of visitors was created based on importance of various trip elements, and demographic and trip characteristics were examined by resulting groups. Analyses show that the polar bear viewing experience does have the potential to increase visitors’ pro-environmental and ambassadorship behavioral intentions. Regression analyses revealed, for the sample population, that total minutes educated and the occurrence of an epiphany had a positive impact on visitors’ reported pro-environmental behavior and ambassadorship intentions. Surprisingly, seeing more polar bears was negatively related to these same intentions. Implications for the management of similar experiences are discussed.
What controls liana success in Neotropical forests

Aim We seek to determine the factors which control the success of lianas across macroecological gradients. Lianas have a strong impact on the growth, mortality and biomass of tropical trees, and are reported to be increasing in dominance, so understanding their behaviour is important from the perspectives of both ecological and global change. Location Lowland and montane Neotropical forests. Methods Using 65 standardized samples of lianas ( ≥ 2.5 cm diameter) from across the Neotropics, we attempted to account for characteristics of both the environment and the forest in explaining macroecological variation in liana success in Neotropical forests, using regression analyses and structural equation modelling. Results We found that both liana density and basal area were unrelated to mean annual precipitation, dry season length or soil variables, except for a weak effect of mean annual precipitation on liana basal area. Structural characteristics of the forest explained more of the variation in liana density and basal area than the physical environment. More disturbed forests generally tended to have a higher liana density. Liana basal area, however, was highest in undisturbed forests. Main conclusions The availability of host trees and their characteristics may be more important than the direct effects of the physical environment in controlling the success of lianas in Neotropical forests. Changes to the tropical climate in the coming century may not strongly affect lianas directly, but could have very substantial indirect effects via changes in tree community structure and dynamics.
Special Education Teachers’ Knowledge and Experience of IEPs in the Education of Students with Special Educational Needs

ABSTRACT Special education teachers’ knowledge and experience of IEP development, implementation and evaluation in Kuwaiti public inclusive elementary schools was investigated. Two hundred and twenty special education teachers drawn from all 24 inclusive elementary schools in Kuwait took part in the study. Differences were found between IEP development and nationality, IEP development and education district, IEP development and special education teachers’ majors (Arabic, Islamic and mathematics), as well as IEP implementation and special education teachers’ majors. The results are discussed in terms of the needs of special education teachers’ knowledge and experience of the IEP processes of development, implementation and evaluation and recommendations are provided.
Resistance to water stress in seedlings of eight European provenances of Pinus halepensis Mill.

In this study, pressure/volume curves were performed on 24-week-old seedlings of eight European provenances of Pinus ha- lepensis Mill. subsp. halepensis after one week of water stress (-0.033, -0.4, -0.8, -1.2, -1.6 MPa). P. halepensis showed osmotic ad- justments as a response to water stress, although the response varied between the provenances. Apoplastic water remained relatively constant. The elasticity module did not differ significantly. Water deficit at incipient plasmolysis and water content decreased as the stress increased. Water potential was markedly negative, even in seedlings not subjected to stress. The provenances from less xeric sites behaved similarly to species from non-arid sites, while those from more xeric sites displayed the strategy typical of drought-tolerant spe- cies. The impact on all provenances of one week of low-intensity water stress (-0.4 MPa) was slight. As the stress increased, the response varied between the provenances: N-Eubea > Kassandra > Litorale tarantino ≅ Guardiola > Otricoli ≅ E-Bouches du Rhone ≥ Herault ≅ N-Vaucluse (in decreasing order). Aleppo pine / drought resistance / geographic variation / pressure-volume curves / provenances
Reassessing Water Allocation Strategies and Conjunctive Use to Reduce Water Scarcity and Scarcity Costs for Irrigated Agriculture in Southern Brazil

The lack of adequate management programs alongside water resources overexploitation have led to undesirable effects such as water shortages and economic losses in several regions. Optimized water allocation strategies using groundwater and surface water resources could reduce water scarcity and scarcity costs by exploring the advantages and peculiarities of each source, thus reducing the effect of variability and uncertainties on water availability. The aim of this study is to assess economic water allocation and the potential of conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater operations using a hydro-economic model to evaluate scarcity and scarcity cost at an irrigated agricultural region in Southern Brazil. Results indicated the possibility to reduce but not entirely eliminate, water scarcity and scarcity cost based solely on the reallocation of water among users and crops, without generating water deficit to users downstream. Results also pointed to the elevated potential of groundwater use as a component to reduce scarcity and its costs, mainly through economic optimized strategies integrated with surface water.
An Analysis of the CSI Efiect on the U.S. Trade (Draft)

This paper studies the efiect of Container Security Initiative (CSI), a maritime trade security measure, on the U.S. trade. The CSI procedures imply a complex of security measures to the U.S.-bound containerized cargo in the foreign ports of loading. The program may cause a decrease in trade because of its nature of non-tarifi barrier. The purpose of this paper is to estimate empirically this efiect, and discuss relevant econometric issues. The assessment of the CSI impact is realized using a dataset on waterborne imports from 159 countries, the information on port of transshipment and the CSI status of the port over 2000-2008 time period. The issue of endogeneity of trade ∞ows and security measures is stressed in the analysis. A flxed-efiect instrumental variable estimation reveals a negative and statistically signiflcant impact of CSI on import trade ∞ows. The main results are robust across various industrial sectors. The sensitivity of the results to the functional form of the estimation model and excess of zero-valued trade ∞ows is documented in the supplementary estimations. The face value of the efiect taken cautiously, the main concern raised by the analysis is that the cost of additional container security may be disproportionately higher for the flrms trading small consignments with the U.S. than for the bigger flrms.