Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genetic analysis of productive life length in Holstein dairy cowsusing Weibull proportional risk model

Abstract. In recent decades, there has been a downward trend in length of productive life (LPL) in Holstein cows across industrial dairy herds. This study examined the factors that might influence LPL and estimated the genetic parameters of LPL in Holstein dairy herds in Isfahan province, Iran. LPL is defined as the number of days between the first calving and the end of recording. Data consisted of 35 137 records of productive life from registered cows that started first calving between 1991 and 2012. Cows that remained alive at the end of the study were considered right-censored. The average lifetime for culled and censored cows was 938 and 1003 days, respectively. A survival analysis was applied using a proportional risk model with a Weibull distribution. Milk production was divided into five groups, where the culling risk of cows with a milk yield of less than 1.5 standard deviations (SD) of the mean was 3.5 times greater than the culling risk of high-producing cows producing more than 1.5 SD above the mean. Results showed that culling risk increased almost linearly beyond the milk production groups. Furthermore, somatic cell count and age at first calving significantly increased the culling risk across the herds. The results for the combined effect of parity × stage of lactation showed a decrease in culling risk during the first calving, and an increase during the further parities. Moreover, a higher age at first calving was observed, reflecting a lower risk of culling. Estimated heritability were 0.074 and 0.18 based on a logarithmic scale and original scale, respectively. According to the results, use of Weibull models showed that the proportional culling risk was higher in low-production cows, but a higher risk ratio was revealed in high-milk-production cows. However, there were some fluctuations in genetic trends, but an overall increase was observed in LPL which will lead to a longer LPL of Holstein cows in Isfahan province.
Phylogenetic paleobiogeography of Late Ordovician Laurentian brachiopods

Phylogenetic biogeographic analysis of four brachiopod genera was used to uncover large-scale geologic drivers of Late Ordovician biogeographic differentiation in Laurentia. Previously generated phylogenetic hypotheses were converted into area cladograms, ancestral geographic ranges were optimized and speciation events characterized as via dispersal or vicariance, when possible. Area relationships were reconstructed using Lieberman-modified Brooks Parsimony Analysis. The resulting area cladograms indicate tectonic and oceanographic changes were the primary geologic drivers of biogeographic patterns within the focal taxa. The Taconic tectophase contributed to the separation of the Appalachian and Central basins as well as the two midcontinent basins, whereas sea level rise following the Boda Event promoted interbasinal dispersal. Three migration pathways into the Cincinnati Basin were recognized, which supports the multiple pathway hypothesis for the Richmondian Invasion.
A PROCESS MODEL OF WORK SATISFACTION THAT HIGHLIGHTS THEORIZED INTERRELATIONS AMONG PERSONALITY , COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES Source

The study used the partial least squares (PLS) tool to examine job-related factors influencing protean career behaviour among employees. It also measures the impact of career strategies as a moderator in protean career relationships. Quantitative data was collected from 306 full time employees in the Malaysia. Statistical results confirm that job autonomy and job feedback (i.e., job-related factor) have significant impact on protean career. Job-related variables are viewed as potential predictors of protean career. However, there is no significant moderating effect of career strategies on the relationship between job autonomy and job feedback and protean career. Findings are useful for HRD practitioners to develop relevant HRD interventions to assist individuals and organisations towards protean career behaviour development. Limitations and suggestions for future research are also included.
The Interval-Valued Intuitionistic Fuzzy MULTIMOORA Method for Group Decision Making in Engineering

Multiple criteria decision making methods have received different extensions under the uncertain environment in recent years. The aim of the current research is to extend the application of the MULTIMOORA method (Multiobjective Optimization by Ratio Analysis plus Full Multiplicative Form) for group decision making in the uncertain environment. Taking into account the advantages of IVIFS (interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy sets) in handling the problem of uncertainty, the development of the interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy MULTIMOORA (IVIF-MULTIMOORA) method for group decision making is considered in the paper. Two numerical examples of real-world civil engineering problems are presented, and ranking of the alternatives based on the suggested method is described. The results are then compared to the rankings yielded by some other methods of decision making with IVIF information. The comparison has shown the conformity of the proposed IVIF-MULTIMOORA method with other approaches. The proposed algorithm is favorable because of the abilities of IVIFS to be used for imagination of uncertainty and the MULTIMOORA method to consider three different viewpoints in analyzing engineering decision alternatives.
Reflections on the Relationship Between Mentoring, Female Development and Career Progression: Investment Management VersusHuman Resource Management

This paper explores the effect of mentoring on women’s career progression in occupationally segregated sectors of employment. Specifically, it examines two professions which are polarized in their gender distribution, namely Human Resource Management (HRM), traditionally a female dominated profession and Investment Management, a male dominated profession. Utilizing an interpretative research approach and employing the use of semi-structured in-depth interviews as the research tool, thirty-two female participants were interviewed, twenty-one of whom were from HRM and eleven from Investment Management. The findings from the study indicated that for women in HRM mentoring as a resource was seen as an enabler to career progression and a means of learning their role. Within Investment Management mentoring was considered a limited support unless it was informal and voluntary on the part of the mentor. To those who did cite it as important, it was seen from the perspective of its absence being a deterrent rather than its presence an enabler. This study contributes to our understanding concerning the role and effectiveness of mentoring in such sectors and its use as a tool to aid the development and career progression of women. It is the first study of its kind within an Irish context.
Experimental Investigation of Human Gait Recognition Database using Wearable Sensors

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T Article history: Received: 01 July, 2018 Accepted: 26 July, 2018 Online: 30 July, 2018 In this research human gait database is collected using different possible methods such as Wearable sensors, Smartphone and Cameras. For a gait recognition accelerometer data from wearable shimmer modules and smartphone are used. Data from different sensors location is compared to know which sensor location have better recognition rate. Different walking scenarios like slow, normal and fast walk were investigated. Wearable sensors and smartphone data are compared to know whether mobile phones can be used for gait recognition or not. Also effects of age, height, weight on gait recognition are also studied. The obtained results of gait biometric matrices like Genuine Recognition Rate (GRR), Total Recognition Rate (TRR) and Equal Error Rate (EER) showed better results. EER in different walking scenarios ranged from 0.17% to 2.27% for the five wearable sensors at different locations, whereas EER results of smartphone data ranged from 1.23% to 4.07%. For sensors located at leg, pocket and hand the average GRR value falls with increase in age group, while for sensors located at upper pocket and bag, the GRR value doesn't follow any trend. Moreover GRR results on all sensors show no significance regarding height or weight variations.
Zhaoqing: A Study-Case of Energy-Saving Urban Design

The guidelines of many international organizations (such as the European Commission) and contemporary scientific studies have called attention to the importance of city-scale planning with regard to energy-saving and environmental responsibility. The urban shape, as attested by the history of town planning, collaborates in reaching these goals: Scholars have shown how settlement morphology is related to environmental comfort and the city’s energy urban balance via important ‘physical’ relationships (H/W ratio). In this way, architects and planners have improved both environmental behaviour and urban quality of living standards via typo-morphological solutions and the use of environmental data from the beginning of the urban design process. In order to verify this theoretical approach, a case study from China has been used herein as a starting point. One of several projects for an academic course involving the development of a new train station area of Zhaoqing (P.R.C.) has been analysed and then modified through a three-step process. This modification has focused on the relationship between the original morphology and the corresponding urban microclimate, altering initial spatial and typological configurations to improve environmental performance. The outcomes, shown via the software used, have confirmed the prominent role of good urban form in enhancing comfort standards and reducing energy needs of settlements. In addition, as many international organizations have advised, urban design must be considered a useful tool in planning the ‘sustainable’ city of the future, overthrowing the energy-related ‘hidden costs’ of bad design which can affect environmental and energy performance of buildings after their construction. The Asian Conference on Sustainability, Energy & the Environment Official Conference Proceedings 2012 Osaka, Japan
Usage and Limitation of Standard Mobility Models for TCAD Simulation of Nanoscaled FD-SOI MOSFETs

TCAD tools have been largely improved in the last decades in order to support both process and device complementary simulations which are usually based on continuously developed models following the technology progress. In this paper, we compare between experimental and TCAD simulated results of two kinds of nanoscale devices: ultrathin body (UTB) and nanoscale Body (NSB) SOI-MOSFET devices, sharing the same W/L ratio but having a channel thickness ratio of 10 : 1 (46 nm and 4.6 nm, resp.). The experimental transfer I-V characteristics were found to be surprisingly different by several orders of magnitude. We analyzed this result by considering the severe mobility degradation and the influence of a large gate voltage dependent series resistance (). TCAD tools do not usually consider to be either channel thickness or gate voltage dependent. After observing a clear discrepancy between the mobility values extracted from our measurements and those modeled by the available TCAD models, we propose a new semiempirical approach to model the transfer characteristics.
Spatial distribution and biomass assessment of fish in the channel connecting the Lake Poyang and the Yangtze River

Channels between lakes and rivers play a crucial role in maintaining fish population dynamics and their diversity in floodplains. In order to better understand the spatial distribution and the biomass of fish in the channel connecting the Lake Poyang and the Yangtze River, a mobile hydroacoustic survey was conducted in September 2014, using Simrad EY60 split⁃beam echo sounder (200 kHz) . The spatial distribution of fish density and biomass for each cell of the studied region was derived from the spa⁃ tial interpolation with geostatistics of ArcGIS. The results showed that the mean target strength (TS) in the investigated areas is -56.4±6.4 dB and the mean total length is about 7.6 cm, ranging from 1.2 to 98.0 cm. Average fish density in the channel was 53.7 ind. / 1000 m3, ranging from 0-441.7 ind. / 1000 m3 . Horizontally, fish assemblages were unevenly distributed in the investi⁃ gated areas and concentrated mainly in three areas, that is, the section near Hukou Country, Xieshan and Pingfeng Hill, respec⁃ tively. The most striking feature in fish density was the concave⁃shaped distribution in the channel along the water flow direction ( from lake to river) . The fish size ( total length) in the area near Lake Poyang (Area III) was significantly smaller than that in the waters near Yangtze River (Area I) and the transition zones (Area II). One possible reason for this might be a large number of young⁃of⁃the⁃year fish emerged after spawning period. Fish density increased vertically from the upper layer of the water to the lower layers. Meanwhile, our results supported the generality of the phenomenon of increasing fish size with increasing depth ( i.e., big⁃ ger⁃deeper phenomenon) . In addition, the total amount of fish biomass in the investigated area was estimated to be 6.2×107 ind. , up to 620 tons. Our findings suggested the need to enhance the protection for these essential fish habitats. This study also contrib⁃ utes to the knowledge of the current state of fish resources and can be useful for proper resources conservation and effective ecosys⁃
Nonlinear Unknown Input Observability: The Analytic Solution in the case of a Single Unknown Input

This work presents the analytic solution of a fundamental open problem in the framework of nonlinear observability, which is the unknown input observability problem (UIO problem). The solution here provided holds in the case of a single unknown input. The first part of the work presents this analytic solution, namely the analytic criterion that allows us to obtain the observability of a nonlinear system in presence of a single unknown input and multiple known inputs. As for the observability rank condition, the proposed analytic criterion is based on the computation of the observable codistribution. Similarly to the case of only known inputs, the observable codistribution is obtained by recursively computing the Lie derivatives of the outputs along the vector fields that characterize the dynamics. However, in correspondence of the unknown input, the corresponding vector field must be suitably rescaled. Additionally, the Lie derivatives of the outputs must also be computed along a new set of vector fields that are obtained by recursively performing suitable Lie bracketing of the vector fields that define the dynamics. In practice, the entire observable codistribution is obtained by a very simple recursive algorithm. Finally, it is shown that the recursive algorithm converges in a finite number of steps and the criterion to establish that the convergence has been reached is provided. The proposed analytic extension of the observability rank condition is illustrated by checking the weak local observability of several nonlinear systems driven by multiple known inputs and a single unknown input. For these systems, extensive simulations are also provided. It is shown that, a simple estimator based on an Extended Kalman Filter, provides results that agree with what we could expect from the observability analysis. Finally, it is shown that the analytic criterion introduced in this work is not only a key analytical tool to automatically obtain the state observability but it can be also a fundamental tool to design an appropriate estimator.
Design of Multimodal Transit Services with Stochastic Demand

The main challenges faced by public transport planners are low passenger loads and variations in demand. Local authorities aim to provide sustainable public transit systems that can accommodate variations in demand. Our aim in this study was to design a multimodal service that combines fixed-route services with flexible transit systems under stochastic demand. In previous work, the design of only one type of service was considered, while the design of other services was not considered or approximated. We took the perspectives of both operators and users into account when designing two services accurately in our model. Our results show that the total costs can be reduced for both the operator and passengers by implementing a multimodal service. We also highlight the effect of considering the accurate design of both services on the optimal combination and associated total costs.
Fumigant activity of Elsholtzia stauntonii extract against Lasioderma serricorne

The repeated use of phosphine over decades for the control of the cigarette beetle ( Lasioderma serricorne ), a significant stored-product insect worldwide, has led to serious negative effects, including strong insecticide resistance, disruption of biological control by natural enemies, and environmental and human health concerns. As an environmentally friendly alternative to synthetic pesticides, plant-derived pesticides have been the focus of much research. We investigated the fumigant activity of whole plant extracts of Elsholtzia stauntonii , a Chinese mint shrub, against the adult, larval, pupal and egg stages of L. serricorne. E. stauntonii extracts exhibited strong fumigant toxicity against L. serricorne ; larvae and adults were more susceptible to this toxicity than were eggs and pupae. The toxicity significantly increased with increasing dosage. The corrected mortality of larvae, adults, pupae and eggs reached 99.32%, 97.97%, 44.67% and 33.33%, respectively, at a dosage of 40 µL/L air after 48 h of exposure. The declining order of susceptibility of different developmental stages of L. serricorne to E. stauntonii extracts, as indicated by the concentration at which 50% of the insects died (LC50), was as follows: larvae (LC50= 8.82 µL/L air), adults (LC50= 10.99 µL/L air), pupae (LC50= 45.96 µL/L air) and eggs (LC50= 84.57 µL/L air). The results suggest that E. stauntonii extracts show promise as a fumigant for the control of L. serricorne .
Distinct assemblage of planktonic ciliates dominates both photic and deep waters on the New England shelf

Microbes are critical members of marine ecosystems, given their roles as both primary producers and consumers in food webs. Despite their importance, data on biogeographical patterns of microbial eukaryotes are limited. Past studies have generally targeted either all eukaryotes or broad clades like Rhizaria and Alveolata. For this study, we focus more narrowly on oligotrich and choreotrich ciliates (both members of the class Spirotrichea) as these lineages play major roles in marine food webs. We assess distribution patterns of abundant ciliate community members along a 163 km transect off the coast of New England, USA. Over 3 d, we sampled ciliates at 23 stations from shallow waters ( 800 m). We used a community DNA fingerprinting technique, denaturing gradient gel electropho resis (DGGE), to assess patterns for abundant community members and found 2 overlapping assemblages of ciliates: one common in samples from inshore to offshore (up to 180 km from the coast) and from the surface to 850 m deep; and a second that is generally restricted to offshore waters. The distributions of these 2 assemblages correspond with distance from the coast but not with the environmental factors that we measured, including depth, temperature, degree of stratification, phytoplankton fluorescence and accessory pigment composition (a proxy for phytoplankton composition). The presence of these ciliate assemblages as deep as 850 m suggests they may have a broader impact on marine food webs than just photic zone herbivory.
Allelopathic interactions between the bacillariophyte Skeletonema costatum and the raphidophyte Heterosigma akashiwo

We investigated growth interactions between Skeletonema costatum (Greville) Cleve and Heterosigma akashiwo (Hada) Hada ex Hara et Chihara using bi-algal cultures under axenic conditions. When inoculated at high cell densities, growth of both species was coincidentally sup- pressed. In other combinations of inoculation density, the species first reaching stationary phase sub- stantially reduced maximum cell densities of the other species. When cultured together under condi- tions without cell contact, growth of S. costatum and H. akashiwo were both suppressed. Furthermore, despite re-enrichment with nutrients, filtrates from dense cultures of S. costatum and H. akashiwo reciprocally reduced their maximum cell densities. In additional experiments, growth of Chaetoceros muelleri was also suppressed with filtrates from the above cultures, but growth of Pro- rocentrum minimum was not. Therefore, growth interactions between these species strongly suggest the involvement of allelopathic substances secreted by both species. Finally, growth and interaction of S. costatum and H. akashiwo in bi-algal cultures were simulated using a mathematical model. This model indicated that S. costatum and H. akashiwo steadily approach a stable equilibrium point of about 3.4 × 10 5 cells ml -1 and 4.8 × 10 5 cells ml -1 , respectively, when the 2 species coexist.
Temperature dependence of polarization mode dispersion in tight-buffered optical fibers

Experiments and theoretical analysis of influence of temperature on polarization mode dispersion (PMD) in single mode optical fibers and cables are presented. Forces generated by contracting buffer create optical birefringence and increase fiber PMD at low temperatures. Single mode fiber (SMF) in 0.9 mm polymeric tight-buffer can exhibit an extra component of PMD exceeding 0.3 ps/ √ km in such conditions. On the other hand, tight-buffered spun nonzero dispersionshifted fibers (NZDSF) and optical units with stranded single mode fibers have showed good stability of PMD over wide range of temperatures. This is due to presence of circular strain in the core, blocking accumulation of mechanically induced birefringence. Keywords— single mode optical fiber, polarization mode dispersion, birefringence, environmental testing, tight-buffered fiber, optical fiber cable, optical ground wire, temperature cycling, polymer.
Origin of kamacite, schreibersite, and perryite in metal‐sulfide nodules of the enstatite chondrite Sahara 97072 (EH3)

Abstract– Perryite [(Fe,Ni)x(Si,P)y], schreibersite [(Fe,Ni)3P], and kamacite (αFeNi) are constituent minerals of the metal‐sulfide nodules in the Sahara 97072 (EH3) enstatite chondrite meteorite. We have measured concentrations of Ni, Cu, Ga, Au, Ir, Ru, and Pd in these minerals with laser ablation, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS). We also measured their Fe, Ni, P, Si, and Co concentrations with electron microprobe. In kamacite, ratios of Ru/Ir, Pd/Ir, and Pd/Ru cluster around their respective CI values and all elements analyzed plot near the intersection of the equilibrium condensation trajectory versus Ni and the respective CI ratios. In schreibersite, the Pd/Ru ratio is near the CI value and perryite contains significant Cu, Ga, and Pd. We propose that schreibersite and perryite formed separately near the condensation temperatures of P and Si in a reduced gas and were incorporated into Fe‐Ni alloy. Upon further cooling, sulfidation of Fe in kamacite resulted in the formation of additional perryite at the sulfide interface. Still later, transient heating re‐melted this perryite near the Fe‐FeS eutectic temperature during partial melting of the metal‐sulfide nodules. The metal‐sulfide nodules are pre‐accretionary objects that retain CI ratios of most siderophile elements, although they have experienced transient heating events.