Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Semi-analytic modeling of the EBL and consequences for extragalactic gamma-ray spectra

Attenuation of high-energy gamma rays by pair-production with UV, optical and IR extragalactic background light (EBL) photons provides a link between the history of galaxy formation and high-energy astrophysics. We present results from our latest semi-analytic models (SAMs), which employ the main ingredients thought to be important to galaxy formation and evolution, as well as an improved model for reprocessing of starlight by dust to mid- and far-IR wavelengths. These SAMs are based upon a Lambda-CDM hierarchical structural formation scenario, and are successful in reproducing a large variety of observational constraints such as number counts, luminosity and mass functions, and color bimodality. Our fiducial model is based upon a WMAP5 cosmology, and treats dust emission using empirical templates. This model predicts a background flux considerably lower than optical and near-IR measurements that rely on subtraction of zodiacal and galactic foregrounds, and near the lower bounds set by number counts of resolvable sources at a large number of wavelengths. We also show the results of varying cosmological parameters and dust attenuation model used in our SAM. For each EBL prediction, we show how the optical depth due to electron-positron pair-production is affected by redshift and gamma-ray energy, and the effect of gamma-ray absorption on the spectra of a variety of extragalactic sources. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our work, comparisons to other models and key measurements of the EBL and a discussion of how the burgeoning science of gamma-ray astronomy will continue to help constrain cosmology. The low EBL flux predicted by our fiducial model suggests an optimistic future for further studies of distant gamma-ray sources.
Public preferences for different practices in large carnivore management – a multidimensional approach

In a representative national survey of the adult population of Norway, public preferences for different management practices were influenced by a large number of different variables. Results are largely consistent with known influences on public acceptance of the large carnivores. Management preferences are subject to a number of different influences. The interpretation of this complexity may be facilitated by viewing the variables as interrelated parts of a coherent system. The present analysis supports a multidimensional model, involving the predictors: 5. Two main perspectives on the carnivores (threat and non-threat), 6. two groups of species (minor and major carnivores), 7. respondents’ degree of carnivore acceptance in five situations, and 8. a set of respondent characteristics. Carnivores posing a threat and “Major carnivores” (wolf and bear) are associated with preferences for more severe management than others. Respondents’ acceptance of carnivores also is a major predictor. In addition, a number of respondent characteristics are significantly related to the management preferences. Part of this influence may be indirect, mediated through carnivore acceptance. The complexity of the multidimensional model implies that simpler perspectives may limit our comprehension in this field of research. In popular debate on large carnivores, some participants argue simply for or against maintaining carnivore populations. The present results suggest that the general population hold more complex views, possibly more consistent with a policy of both accepting the carnivore populations and taking severe management measures when animals prove threatening.
Battery cell balance of electric vehicles under fast-DC charging

Electric vehicle (EV) range, recharge opportunities and time to recharge are major barriers to mainstream acceptance. Fast-DC charging has the potential to overcome these barriers. This research investigates the impact of fast-DC charging on battery cell balance, charge capacity and range for an EV travelling long distances on an 'electric-highway'. Two commercially available EVs were exposed to a series of discharge and fast-DC charge cycles to measure cell balance and charge capacity. The vehicles' battery management systems (BMS) were capable of successfully balancing individual cells and hence maintaining the batteries' charge capacity. Although fast-DC charge levels and discharge safety margins significantly reduced the vehicles' charge capacity and range as stated by the manufacturer, these values remained stable for the test period. In regards to cell balance and charge capacity, our research suggests that fast-DC charging technology is a feasible option for EVs to travel large distances in a day.
Travel behaviour: a study of older Malaysians

The worldwide demographic shift towards population ageing has made older adults an attractive market segment not only for developed countries but also for developing countries such as Malaysia. This study explores travel behaviour among older adults living in Malaysia. Using non-probability quota sampling, 1356 older adults responded to the personal interviews carried out in Peninsular Malaysia. The main travel motivations were ‘to spend time with friends or family’ and ‘relaxation’, and the most preferred destinations were big cities. The majority of the respondents preferred to travel in tour groups. Their decision to travel was largely influenced by cost and recommendations from their family. During their holiday, common problems faced by them were tiredness, health problems and worries over safety and security. There were significant differences with respect to their travel behaviour, among the different ethnic groups and religions. Based on the results, this paper provides some management implications to marketers and other tourism organisations.
Evaluation of In vitro anticancer activity of Tarenna asiatica (L.) fruits ethanolic extract against human breast cancer

Tarenna asiatica (L.) is a medicinal plant from Kolli hills, Eastern Ghats, India. Fruit the Tarenna asiatica is an edible one and it has been used traditionally for treatment of a number of diseases. In the present study the ethanol extract of the edible fruit of the plant have been tested for anticancer activity. The extract was prepared by soxhlet separation and vacuum evaporator method. The in-vitro anticancer studies were performed against human breast cancer cell line and Eagles Minimum Essential Medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) was used to analyze the cell growth inhibition. The results showed that the ethanol extract of wild edible fruit Tarenna asiatica (L.) possessed a high amount of anticancer activity and the IC50 value also high as 237.08 μg/ml. The plant investigated possesses remarkable anticancer activity and hence isolation of the compound contributing to the activity may lead to develop at a novel and natural phytomedicine for the disease.
Reading corpora as an instrument for studying a relevance-based account of language processing. A case study using a reading corpus of German jurisdictional texts

Reading corpora are text collections that are enriched with processing data. From a corpus linguist’s perspective, they can be seen as an extension of classical linguistic corpora with human language processing behavior. From a psycholinguist’s perspective, reading corpora allow to test psycholinguistic hypotheses on subsets of language and language processing as it is ‘in the wild’ – in contrast to strictly controlled language material in isolated sentences, as used in most psycholinguistic experiments. In this paper, we will investigate a relevance-based account of language processing which states that linguistic structures, that are embedded deeper syntactically, are read faster because readers allocate less attention to these structures.
Synthesis of polyaniline grafted cellulose suitable for humidity sensing

Polyaniline-grafted-cellulose (PANi-cellulose) copolymer is prepared by a chemical method using cupric sulphate as initiator. The representative PANi-cellulose samples are characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermal gravimetric differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. The data reveal the formation of electrically conducting and hydrophillc copolymer. The film of PANi-cellulose is casted on a glass slide by spin coating technique and used for humidity sensing of a controlled humid environment by monitoring electrical resistance. The resistance continuously decreased from ~ 32 MΩ to 10.0 MΩ with increase in relative humidity in the range of 590%. The observed sensing parameters are sensitivity 0.22, response time 40 s, recover time 60 s and stability for more than 60 days.
An Analysis of Factors in Professional growth of Young Academic Leaders in Universities

Professional growth of young academic leaders is the process in which young academic leaders continuously upgrade and improve themselves based on their personal experience and according to the occupational development rule to comply with the requirement of occupational development in their occupational career. Among the factors that affect the professional growth of young academic leaders, there are both objective environmental factors and subjective factors of young academic leaders, the latter of which are the critical factors.
A Review of Cretaceous dipnoans from Argentina (Sarcopterygii Dipnoi) with Descriptions of New Species

In this paper we review the fossil ceratodontiform record from the Cretaceous of Argentina. We report the oldest dipnoan record from Argentina, coming from the Cenomanian of Northwestern Patagonia, Rio Negro province. The species «†Ceratodus» iheringi is reassigned. Additionally, four new species are described. Ceratodontiforms were considered extinct in Laurasia after the mid-Cretaceous, with a brief «reappearance» dur-ing the Maastrichtian before their definitive extinction from South America and most of the world by K/P bound-ary. Based on our phylogenetic analysis, using characters derived primarily from tooth plates, we propose that the genus †Metaceratodus is more closely related to Neoceratodus than either is to †Ceratodus or †Ptychoceratodus, supporting prior hypotheses. In two most parsimonious trees, the two new genera here described are basal, being one of them sister taxa to Ceratodontoidea nov. and the other unresolved with respect to Protopterus.
REVIEW: Identifying links between vital rates and environment: a toolbox for the applied ecologist

Summary 1. In a rapidly changing world, understanding and predicting population change is a central aim of applied ecologists, and this involves studying the links between environmental variation and vital rates (survival, fecundity, etc.). Demographic analysis and modelling can be daunting for practicing ecologists, and here we provide an overview of some of the most important issues and methods. 2. Collection of demographic data should follow standardized protocols and the statistical power to detect links with environment is critically dependent on long time-series. Candidate environmental covariates should be carefully selected with a view to reducing the risk of spurious correlations. The relevant sample size for environment–demography links is typically the number of years and mixed models with random year effects offer a powerful framework to enforce this. 3. Data on individually marked animals are the best source of information on demography. These data can be analysed and demographic parameters estimated using a wide variety of capture–mark–recapture models, available in standard software packages. 4. Population models integrate all demographic variables and provide estimates of population growth rate. Two common classes of models are matrix models and integrated population models, where the latter combine parameter estimation and dynamic modelling. 5. Synthesis and applications. Careful demographic analysis and modelling has provided solutions for many real-world problems in population management, as well as assisting the development of general principles. The tools currently available are flexible and powerful, and the main limitations to their more general use are data availability and
Eutrophication of Chesapeake Bay: historical trends and ecological interactions

This review provides an integrated synthesis with timelines and evaluations of ecological responses to eutrophi- cation in Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the USA. Analyses of dated sediment cores reveal initial evidence of organic enrichment in ~200 yr old strata, while signs of increased phytoplankton and decreased water clarity first appeared ~100 yr ago. Severe, recurring deep-water hypoxia and loss of diverse submersed vascular plants were first evident in the 1950s and 1960s, respectively. The degradation of these benthic habitats has contributed to declines in benthic macro- infauna in deep mesohaline regions of the Bay and blue crabs in shallow polyhaline areas. In contrast, copepods, which are heavily consumed in pelagic food chains, are relatively un- affected by nutrient-induced changes in phytoplankton. Intense mortality associated with fisheries and disease have caused a dramatic decline in eastern oyster stocks and associated Bay water filtration, which may have exacerbated eutrophication effects on phytoplankton and water clarity. Extensive tidal marshes, which have served as effective nutrient buffers along the Bay margins, are now being lost with rising sea level. Although the Bay's overall fisheries production has probably not been affected by eutrophication, decreases in the relative contribution of demersal fish and in the efficiency with which primary production is transferred to harvest suggest funda- mental shifts in trophic and habitat structures. Bay ecosystem responses to changes in nutrient loading are complicated by non-linear feedback mechanisms, including particle trapping and binding by benthic plants that increase water clarity, and by oxygen effects on benthic nutrient recycling efficiency. Observations in Bay tributaries undergoing recent reductions in nutrient input indicate relatively rapid recovery of some ecosystem functions but lags in the response of others.
The Effect of Blood and Seminal Plasma Heavy Metal and Trace Element Levels on Sperm Quality

Objective: Infertility is shown in approximately 10-15% of the couples. Male infertility is responsible for at least 50% of them. In these infertile couples, male is responsible alone in 30% while male and female are responsible together in 20%. The semen analysis is the first laboratory test which should be done to evaluate the male infertility. Heavy metals and trace elements affect sperm production, motility and morphology. The aim of this study is to determine zinc, copper, lead and cadmium levels in blood and seminal samples of men and to evaluate their relationship with sperm quality parameters. Material and Methods: Forty-two men with abnormal sperm quality parameters and 10 control subjects were included in the study. Zinc, copper, cadmium and lead levels were measured in blood and semen. The results were compared. Results: Lead levels in blood, cadmium levels both in blood and seminal plasma were significantly higher in men with abnormal sperm analyses (p<0.05). There was a positive correlation between seminal plasma zinc level and sperm count, motility and morphology (p<0.001) and between seminal plasma copper level and sperm count and morphology (p<0.05). There was a negative correlation between lead level and sperm count, motility and morphology (p<0.001). Likewise, there was a negative correlation between blood cadmium level and sperm motility and morphology (p<0.05) and between seminal plasma cadmium level and sperm motility (p<0.05). Conclusion: Zinc and copper affect sperm quality positively whereas lead and cadmium shows a negative effect. Exposure to heavy metals is an important etiology in the male infertility problem and should be treated seriously.
Single-stage vibratory gyroscope control methods for direct angle measurements

This paper presents a control algorithm that can compensate for imperfect dynamics of vibrating gyroscopes. The compensated gyroscope dynamics can directly measure the rotation angle without integrating the angular rate. The direct angle measurement approach is promising because it is exempt from the error accumulation problem. However, using control methods to compensate for imperfect dynamics for the direct angle measurement is very challenging work, and very few control algorithms were reported to achieve that. Different from existing approaches, the proposed method has the following advantages: it requires the measurements of either the proof mass velocity or position, it does not require a calibration phase prior to normal use, and it compensates different types of imperfection even when the proof mass of a gyroscope is unknown. In a demonstration case, imperfections cause system parameters 20% deviated from their designated values; the measured signals are the proof mass velocities and contaminated by zero-mean white noise with a noise level of 0.1% full scale output (FSO); the angular rate to be measured is 200sin (2π × 10t) deg s−1. The proposed algorithm can compensate for those imperfections and achieve an angle measurement accuracy of 0.23°.
A note on the relationship of mainstream and art house movie theaters

We use a set of German micro data to study the relationship between mainstream and art house movie theaters. We find that both types of cinema have a significant price effect within their own group, but there is no significant price effect between the two types. Furthermore, we provide an example for the biased results that occur, if both types of movie theaters are pooled into one regression. Doing so, we demonstrate that it is important, to carefully distinguish mainstream and art house facilities in empirical studies of the movie theater industry.
Type Ic core-collapse supernova explosions evolved from very massive stars

We investigate the possibility of a super-luminous Type Ic core-collapse supernovae producing a large amount of 56Ni. Very massive stars with a main-sequence mass larger than 100 Msun and a metallicity 0.001 < Z < 0.004 are expected to explode as super-luminous Type Ic supernovae. Stars with ~ 110 - 150 Msun and Z < 0.001 would explode as Type Ic pulsational pair-instability supernovae if the whole H and He layers has been lost by the mass loss during pulsational pair-instability. We evaluate the total ejecta mass and the yields of 56Ni, O, and Si in core-collapse supernovae evolved from very massive stars. We adopt 43.1 and 61.1 Msun WO stars with Z=0.004 as supernova progenitors expected to explode as Type Ic core-collapse supernovae. These progenitors have masses of 110 and 250 Msun at the zero-age main sequence. Spherical explosions with an explosion energy larger than 2e52 erg produce more than 3.5 Msun 56Ni, enough to reproduce the light curve of SN 2007bi. Asphericity of the explosion affects the total ejecta mass as well as the yields of 56Ni, O, and Si. Aspherical explosions of the 110 and 250 Msun models reproduce the 56Ni yield of SN 2007bi. These explosions will also show large velocity dispersion. An aspherical core-collapse supernova evolved from a very massive star is a possibility of the explosion of SN 2007bi.
Hypoglycemic Activity of Psidium guajava Linn. Leaf Extract

Objective: To evaluate the hypoglycemic activity of ethanol extract of Psidium guajava leaves. Materials and methods: The ethanol extract of leaves of Psidium guajava was tested for its hypoglycemic activity in alloxan-induced hyperglycemic Wistar rats. Results: In both acute and sub-acute tests, the ethanol extract, at an oral dose of 250 mg/kg, showed statistically significant and considerable hypoglycemic activity. Conclusion: Psidium guajava leaves possess statistically significant hypoglycemic activity.
The Determinants of New Product Performance in Malaysian Industry

The literature on new product development is growing but Malaysia manufacturing industry often lacks these discussions. Therefore, this paper focuses on linking the determinants of an effective product development process and new product performance within manufacturing companies across industries in Malaysia that have certain level of new product development activities taking in their organization. Further, the paper organises the burgeoning new product development literature into four main determinants: customer orientation, cross-functional team, new product development team proficiency and management support. The selection of determinants to the theoretical framework is adjusting for manufacturing industry origins in previous written research material. The literature review focuses on the product development process and builds the framework of conceptual model detailing the initialization and implementation stage in the product development process. Two theoretical perspectives have guided the conceptual framework which is the resource-based view and organizational theories. The proposal is to give an increased understanding of the changed new product process in Malaysian industry and its implication on activities concerning organisation and management of the new product development process. This framework reflects a growing interest in extending new product development paradigms to emerging in ASEAN countries, thus contributing to a wider body of knowledge.
Assessing farmers’ willingness to accept ‘greening’: insights from a discrete choice experiment in Germany

type="main" xml:id="jage12044-abs-0001"> This paper explores farmers' prospective responses to the “greening” of the Common Agricultural Policy. The analysis is based on discrete choice experiments with 128 German farmers. Participants were asked to choose between a “greening” option with a given set of management prescriptions and an “opt-out” alternative with a stipulated cut of the single direct payment. A binary logit model is used to identify the variables affecting the likelihood of “greening” being chosen. In addition, latent class estimations are carried out to group respondents into latent classes of “compliers” and “non-compliers”. We find that farmers' choices are driven by “greening” policy attributes, personal and farm characteristics, and interactions between these two groups of variables. Farmers perceive “greening” as a costly constraint, but not all farmers are equally affected and not all “greening” provisions are regarded as equally demanding. Specialised arable farms on highly productive land and intensive dairy farms are most likely to opt out of “greening” and voluntarily forgo part of their single payment entitlements. The paper concludes with a set of recommendations for improving the design of a second-best policy.