Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Chronic Poverty Report 2014-2015 : The road to zero extreme poverty Overview

All three are necessary if we are to have any chance of ‘getting to zero’ – the new goal for poverty reduction – while ensuring that we ‘leave no one behind’. The specific targets to be achieved under each heading need to be set by each country, because the relationships between these three trajectories are context-specific – some countries need to place more emphasis on stopping impoverishment, for example, and these relationships may change over time. The Chronic Poverty Report is divided into two parts: Part A, which examines improving poverty dynamics; and Part B, which assesses whether or not the zero poverty target is achievable by 2030, and what it will take to get there.
A Numerical Approach for Local Fatigue Analysis of Bridge Details: Analysis of Two Portuguese Case Studies

A numerical approach for the stress analysis concerning the application of the local fatigue approach to representative details from two Portuguese railway bridge details is presented in this paper. Two types of joints are modelled using the finite element method – riveted and welded joints. The first case study consists on a riveted connection from the Trezói Bridge. The boundary conditions applied to the local finite element model of the joint are provided by a global beam finite element model of the bridge. Damage analysis is performed using the Basquin relation. The other case study is the Alcácer do Sal bridge. Three representative welded details are modelled and used to perform a fatigue damage analysis taking into account distinct dynamic train models. For these models, a submodelling process was used to provide the necessary boundary conditions representing several train crossings. Structural stresses are evaluated at welds using a stress-linearization procedure across the thickness.
THE EFFECTS OF TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT ON THE EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE IN MALAYSIAN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a management philosophy and operating approach that aims to consistently exceed the current and future expectations of all stakeholders, based on continuous improvement in all processes, goods and services. To survive in today rapidly changing global business, TQM is very important to the organization. The main objective of this study is to analyse the relationship between TQM and employee performance. A total of 350 questionnaires have been distributed to 10 manufacturing companies in Malaysia and effective sample of 294 usable completed surveys (84.0 percent usable response rate). Reliability testing was conducted to test the questionnaire before pilot test was done. Statistical analysis and regression were used to predict and estimate the relationship. The model was assessed using Analysis of Moment Structure (AMOS) based Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The findings showed that TQM practices have a significant impact on employee performance.
DEVELOPMENT OF OPTIMIZED VOLTAGE LEVEL SHIFTER FOR NANOSCALE APPLICATIONS

Multi voltage clustered systems are the basic and vital power decrease techniques, these approaches employs Level shifters to interconnect “Multiple voltage domains” to reduce power in core/module level. The Level Shifter may considered as area, power and delay overheads when its own power, delays are high. We proposed a circuit technique with broad shifting range for Nanoscale applications. In this brief, for minimization of current contention to attain both efficient and robust level shifting, we introduced new LS with series of Diode current limiters, which minimizes the dynamic power and propagation delay. Implementation of the LS in 130nm technology makes the proposed LS in accomplishing both efficient and robust level shifting from deep sub-threshold voltage 0.15V to supply voltage 1.25V. The developed LS have attained an average propagation delay of 6.20ns, Energy efficiency of 26.5fJ.
Musical Agreement via Social Dynamics Can Self-Organize a Closed Community of Music: A Computational Model

This study aims to model social dynamics of an idealized closed musical society to investigate whether a musical agreement in terms of shared musical expectations can be attained without external intervention or centralized control. Our model implements a multi-agent simulation, where identical agents, which have their own private two dimensional transition matrix that defines their expectations on all possible bi-gram note transitions, are involved in round-based pairwise interactions. Throughout an interaction two agents are randomly chosen from the population, one as the performer and the other as the listener. Performers compose a fixed length melodic line by successively appending their most expected note sequences recursively by using sounds from a finite inventory. Listeners assess this melody to determine the success of the interaction by evaluating how familiar they are to the bi-gram transitions that they hear. According to success the interacting parties perform updates on their transition matrices. All agents start with a flat transition matrix, and the simulation ends when they converge on a state of agreement. We have found that 30 out of 144 possible bi-grams, 74 out of 1728 possible tri-grams, and 7 out of 20736 four-grams emerged as agreements, although only bi-grams are communicated. The findings signify that melodic building blocks for the modeled society are self-organizing, given the limited bi-gram expectations of individuals, and that convergence trends are dependent on simulation parameters.
Optimal Battery Storage Sizing for Residential Buildings with Photovoltaic Systems under Consideration of Generic Load and Feed-In Time Series

—Battery energy storage systems (BESS) can be used in electrical distribution grids to avoid violations of grid’s operational limits and to reduce residual photovoltaic (PV) peaks. For customers such as households with PV systems, the use of BESS is particularly interesting, as they can increase their electrical self-sufficiency degree (SSD) and reduce the costs of their electricity purchasing. This paper deals with the optimal sizing of BESS for residential buildings with PV. The analysis considers 175 buildings located in a real suburban neighborhood, consisting mainly of detached and semi-detached houses.
A Survey on Challenges and Analysis of Sentimental Approaches using Data Mining

: Sentiment Analysis (SA) is an ongoing field of research in text mining field. SA is the computational treatment of opinions, sentiments and subjectivity of text. This survey paper tackles a comprehensive overview of the last update in this field. Many recently proposed algorithms' enhancements and various SA applications are investigated and presented briefly in this survey. These articles are categorized according to their contributions in the various SA techniques. The related fields to SA (transfer learning, emotion detection, and building resources) that attracted researchers recently are discussed. The main target of this survey is to give nearly full image of SA techniques and the related fields with brief details. The main contributions of this paper include the sophisticated categorizations of a large number of recent articles and the illustration of the recent trend of research in the sentiment analysis and its related areas.
Plant composition associated with environmental gradients in tropical montane forests (Cueva de Los Guacharos National Park, Huila, Colombia)

Niche differentiation among tropical forest plants can generate species turnover along gradients of soil, topography, climate, and land use history. In this study we explore the relative importance of these variables as drivers of floristic composition in Cueva de Los Guacharos National Park. We established twenty 0.1‐ha plots, within which trees, lianas, and shrubs (diameter ≥ 2.5 cm) were censused. We selected plot locations in primary and disturbed forests, and we measured topography and soil variables. Despite their structural similarity, primary and disturbed forests differed floristically, and also differed in environmental variables measured. A NMDS ordination showed that variation in the floristic composition across plots is highly correlated to the exchangeable acidity, elevation, temperature, and magnesium availability. Variance partitioning analysis shows that together spatial and environmental variables explain 24.2 percent of the variation in species composition. ‘Pure environmental’ variables were more important in explaining compositional variability than ‘pure spatial’ processes (9.8% and 1.4%, respectively). Residual variance may be attributed to stochastic process or non‐measured biotic effects.
Adaptive thinning for bivariate scattered data

This paper studies adaptive thinning strategies for approximating a large set of scattered data by piecewise linear functions over triangulated subsets. Our strategies depend on both the locations of the data points in the plane, and the values of the sampled function at these points—adaptive thinning. All our thinning strategies remove data points one by one, so as to minimize an estimate of the error that results by the removal of a point from the current set of points (this estimate is termed “anticipated error”). The thinning process generates subsets of “most signi5cant” points, such that the piecewise linear interpolants over the Delaunay triangulations of these subsets approximate progressively the function values sampled at the original scattered points, and such that the approximation errors are small relative to the number of points in the subsets. We design various methods for computing the anticipated error at reasonable cost, and compare and test the performance of the methods. It is proved that for data sampled from a convex function, with the strategy of convex triangulation, the actual error is minimized by minimizing the best performing measure of anticipated error. It is also shown that for data sampled from certain quadratic polynomials, adaptive thinning is equivalent to thinning which depends only on the locations of the data points—nonadaptive thinning. Based on our numerical tests and comparisons, two practical adaptive thinning algorithms are proposed for thinning large data sets, one which is more accurate and another which is faster. c © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Meishan pig (Sus Scrofa) and a phylogenetic study

Abstract In this study, we cloned and sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome DNA of Chinese pig, the Meishan pig. The sample was taken from Yencheng City, Jiangsu province in China. The complete genome DNA is 16 708 bp in length. We also performed a comparative analysis of the Meishan pig mitochondrial to the mitogenome sequences of 21 pig breeds which have been deposited in GenBank. Phylogenetic analysis using neighbour-joining computational algorithms showed that the analyzed species are divided into four major clades; the results can be subsequently used to provide information for pig phylogenetic and insights into the evolution of genomes.
Optimal method to Detect Pneumonia in Chest X-Rays using deep learning Framework

Physicians often use chest X-rays to quickly and cheaply diagnose disease associated with the area. However, it is much more difficult to make clinical diagnoses with chest X-rays than with other imaging modalities such as CT or MRI. With computer-aided diagnosis, physicians can make chest X-ray diagnoses more quickly and accurately. Pneumonia is often diagnosed with chest X-Rays and Kills around 50,000 people each year. With computer aided diagnosis of pneumonia specifically, physicians can more accurately and efficiently diagnose the disease. In this project, we hope to train a model using the dataset described below to help physicians in making diagnoses of pneumonia in chest X-Rays. Our problem is thus a binary classification where the inputs are chest X-ray images and the output is one of two classes: pneumonia or non-pneumonia.
Survey of Software Interception Techniques in the Context of Cloud Applications

—Complex computational systems need to be carefully studied so as to understand their behavior. Emulation is one way of achieving this goal. In this paper, we present our attempt at intercepting a large-scale cloud application, namely Ceph, using SimGrid as a simulation backend. We focus our efforts on intercepting execution events at a high level, by directly altering the application’s source code. This enables us to reﬁne existing interception techniques and apply them in the context of production-ready cloud applications.
Structural changes in the demand for food in Asia: empirical evidence from Taiwan

Many Asian countries are expected to undergo structural transformations in their economies and rapid urbanization over the next 25 years. The changes in tastes and lifestyles engendered by urban living are likely to have significant influences on food demand. Changes in marketing systems and occupational changes, closely linked with increasing GNP per capita, also may influence the demand for food. In this paper, estimates presented for Taiwan demonstrate that structural changes in food demand (as distinguished from changes due to income and price effects) have been significant factors driving the rapid changes in dietary patterns seen in East Asia over the past three decades. Because most previous demand studies have ignored the possible influence of structural shifts which are highly correlated with increases in per capita income over time, the effects of income on food demand have been overestimated. © 200 1 Elsevier Science B. V. All rights reserved.
Changes in seagrass leaf reddening and morphology in response to emersion

Abstract Intertidal seagrasses often cope with a complex combination of stresses during low tide, especially light, temperature, and desiccation, which influence seagrass survival mechanisms, consequently forming zonation patterns along the shore. To investigate whether seagrass pigment and leaf morphological characteristics change in response to emersion, we sampled three intertidal seagrass species (Halophila ovalis, Cymodocea rotundata, and Thalassia hemprichii) in Laem Yong Lam, Haad Chao Mai National Park, Trang, Thailand. Using transplantation methods across the upper and lower intertidal zones, where emersion times differ, we found that these three seagrass species have different adaptive strategies to grow under stresses in the intertidal zone. All three seagrass species responded to decreasing emersion times by decreasing leaf length and width. The leaf sheath of C. rotundata increased in length with decreasing emersion times. Our research provides a characterization of different seagrass strategies, which involve differential changes in leaf pigmentation and morphological adjustments to survive under stresses during emersion in the intertidal zone.
Effects and mechanisms of compound G004 on experimental thrombosis

AIM:To study the effects and mechanisms of a novel sulfonylureous compound 1 ｛4 [2 (4 bromobenzenesulfonaminoethyl)phenylsufonyl｝ 3 (trans 4 methylcyclohexyl) urea, G004, on antithrombosis. METHODS: The influence of compound G004 on the vasoconstrictor action, platelet aggregation and thrombosis formation was studied. The effects of compound G004 on the tail vein bleeding time in mice was examined. The influence of compound G004 on the release of prostanglandin I 2 and thromboxan A 2 from ECV304 cells was investigated. The measurement of cytosolic free Ca 2+ in attached ECV304 cells loaded with Fluo3/AM was carried out. RESULTS: Compound G004 did not inhibit the contraction of rat aorta rings induced by norepinephrine or potassium chloride, but potently inhibit human platelet aggregation challenged by arachidonic acid and adenosine diphosphate. Compound G004 significantly prolonged the tail vein bleeding time in mice and occlusion time of carotid artery in experimentally thrombotic rats. Compound G004 reduced mice mortality induced by the collagen plus epinephrine in a dose dependent manner. Compound G004 enhanced PGI 2 release and reduced TXA 2 secretion from ECV304 cells. G004 had no effect on the increase of cytosolic free Ca 2+ induced by patassium chloride. CONCLUSION: The compound G004 has a remarkable antithrombotic effect in vivo. Its active mechanism may be attributed to inhibition of platelet aggregation, enhancing PGI 2 generation and decreasing TXA 2 secretion from human umbilical vein endothelium.
Mutual Information Based Analysis and Prediction of Speech Intelligibility

: Speech is the normal type of communication and is the most fundamental and usually utilized communication by all the individuals. Henceforth, the expectation of speech understand ability (intelligibility) is the essential functionality. There are diverse methods for describing the correspondences capability of speech. One profoundly quantitative methodology is information theory. As per information theory, speech can be represented to regarding its message substance or data. Another method for describing speech is as far as the signal conveying the message data is the acoustic waveform. The paper manages the issue of anticipating the speech intelligibility. The proposed model comprises of a clean speech signal and a processed signal. The proposed comprehensibility expectation model makes utilization of essential hypothetical tools like entropy and mutual information. The speech understand ability is monotonically identified with the mutual information. What's more, the mutual information is the function of critical band sufficiency envelopes of clean signal and processed signal.
Türkiye'de Bulunan Bazi Yerli Siğir Irklarinin STR Markörler ile Genetik Karakterizasyonu

Changing environmental conditions have affecting the world's fauna and flora irreversibly. Objective was genetic characterization and determination of phylogenetic relationship of native cattle breeds in Turkey using microsatellite DNA markers as part of a national project titled "In vitro Conservation and Preliminary Molecular Identification of Some Turkish Domestic Animal Genetic Resources-I (TURKHAYGEN-I)". Blood samples were collected from Anatolian Black (YK), Anatolian Grey (BI), South Anatolian Red (GAK), Native Southern Anatolian Yellow (YGS), East Anatolian Red (DAK) and Zavot (ZAV) cattle. DNA samples were isolated using a standard phenol/chloroform method. A total of 20 microsatellite loci were selected from a list suggested by FAO and International Society of Genetics (ISAG). PCR products were separated by capiller electrophoresis on Beckman Coulter CEQ-8000 Genetic Analysis System, and marker genotypes were determined. In statistical analyses, numbers of alleles, deviation from Hardy-Weingberg Equilibrium parameters were calculated and phylogenetic trees were drawn. A total of 274 alleles were observed. The lowest allele number (8) was observed at INRA005 and BM1824 loci and the highest allele number (23) was calculated for TGLA122. YGS, YK, GAK and DAK populations were closely localized than BI and ZAV in factorial correspondence analysis. The resulting genetic parameters and phylogenetic relationship of breeds analyzed are consistent with their today's geographical locations.
Elements of Mathematical Ecology: Contents

Preface Part I. Unstructured Population Models Section A. Single Species Models: 1. Exponential, logistic and Gompertz growth 2. Harvest models - bifurcations and breakpoints 3. Stochastic birth and death processes 4. Discrete-time models 5. Delay models 6. Branching processes Section B. Interacting Populations: 7. A classical predator-prey model 8. To cycle or not to cycle 9. Global bifurcations in predator-prey models 10. Chemosts models 11. Discrete-time predator-prey models 12. Competition models 13. Mutualism models Section C. Dynamics of Exploited Populations: 14. Harvest models and optimal control theory Part II. Structured Population Models Section D. Spatially-Structured Models: 15. Spatially-structured models 16. Spatial steady states: linear problems 17. Spatial steady states: nonlinear problems 18. Models of spread Section E. Age-Structured Models: 19. An overview of linear age-structured models 20. The Lokta integral equation 21. The difference equation 22. The Leslie matrix 23. The McKendrick-von Foerster PDE 24. Some simple nonlinear models Section F. Gender-Structured Models: 25. Two-sex models References Index.
Acylglucoses from Wild Tomatoes Alter Behavior and Reduce Growth and Survival of Helicoverpa zea and Spodoptera exigua (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

2,3,4-Tri-O-acylated glucoses (acylglucoses), exuded by the trichomes of the wild tomato species Lycopersicon pennellii (Corr.) D’Arcy, are feeding or oviposition deterrents, or both, for a wide range of insect pests of cultivated tomatoes. We conducted this investigation to ascertain the effect of acylglucoses on Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) and Spodoptera exigua (Hubner), major pests of cultivated tomatoes. Findings indicated that the acylglucoses reduce growth and development of larvae of both species. Exposure to the compounds, in artificial diet and applied with spray to cultivated tomato leaves, resulted in retarded growth rates, extended duration of the life cycle, and reduced survival. In behavioral bioassays, acylglucoses were observed to deter host selection and feeding by neonates and third instars of both insect species. S. exigua consistently exhibited greater sensitivity to the presence of the compounds than H. zea . A simulation of the cumulative effects of the compounds on population development of both species in a field of acylglucose-producing tomato plants projected a decrease in the number of generations per season and dramatic reductions in population size, relative to the control field of standard tomato varieties. Acylglucoses also were found to stimulate H. zea oviposition behavior, which may be attributed to activity of the fatty acid moieties of these molecules. The threshold level for response by moths to these compounds was below 50µg/cm2. These compounds affect H. zea and S. exigua growth and survival at levels that reasonably might be attained in a breeding program to develop acylsugar-synthesizing tomato cultivars. Implications of these results for the deployment of acylsugar-producing plants and assessment of their potential pest resistance are discussed.
Salt Marsh Detritus: An Alternative Interpretation of Stable Carbon Isotope Ratios and the Fate of Spartina alterniflora

Spartina alterniflora Loisel is the dominant primary producer in salt marshes of the eastern U.S. The role of Spartina in the production of detritus found in marsh soils and waters has been questioned because the carbon isotope ratio of marsh detritus is different from that of living Spartina. We present a hypothesis to explain this paradox. Anaerobic decomposition of Spartina and organic matter from other sources results in the production of energy-rich reduced inorganic sulfur compounds. Bacteria use the energy of these inorganic compounds to fix CO2 from marsh waters. Thus the bacteria obtain their energy but not their carbon from Spartina. In consequence their 8 13C value does not reflect Spartina but is similar to or lower than the values for plankton. Based on energy flow considerations, these bacteria are potentially important contributors to salt marsh detritus and food webs.