Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dispersal and the metapopulation paradigm in amphibian ecology and conservation : are all amphibian populations metapopulations?

Amphibians are frequently characterized as having limited dispersal abilities, strong site fidelity and spatially disjunct breeding habitat. As such, pond-breeding species are often alleged to form metapopulations. Amphibian species worldwide appear to be suffering population level declines caused, at least in part, by the degradation and fragmentation of habitat and the intervening areas between habitat patches. If the simplification of amphibians occupying metapopulations is accurate, then a regionally based conservation strategy, informed by metapopulation theory, is a powerful tool to estimate the isolation and extinction risk of ponds or populations. However, to date no attempt to assess the class-wide generalization of amphibian populations as metapopulations has been made. We reviewed the literature on amphibians as metapopulations (53 journal articles or theses) and amphibian dispersal (166 journal articles or theses for 53 anuran species and 37 salamander species) to evaluate whether the conditions for metapopulation structure had been tested, whether pond isolation was based only on the assumption of limited dispersal, and whether amphibian dispersal was uniformly limited. We found that in the majority of cases (74%) the assumptions of the metapopulation paradigm were not tested. Breeding patch isolation via limited dispersal and/or strong site fidelity was the most frequently implicated or tested metapopulation condition, however we found strong evidence that amphibian dispersal is not as uniformly limited as is often thought. The frequency distribution of maximum movements for anurans and salamanders was well described by an inverse power law. This relationship predicts that distances beneath 11–13 and 8–9 km, respectively, are in a range that they may receive one emigrating individual. Populations isolated by distances approaching this range are perhaps more likely to exhibit metapopulation structure than less isolated populations. Those studies that covered larger areas also tended to report longer maximum movement distances – a pattern with implications for the design of mark-recapture studies. Caution should be exercised in the application of the metapopulation approach to amphibian population conservation. Some amphibian populations are structured as metapopulations – but not all.
Can you swim? An exploration of measuring real and perceived water competency.

Little is known about the relationship between real and perceived water competence among youth in the context of drowning prevention or of their perceptions of their risk of drowning. This study reports the findings of an international project entitled Can You Swim? Collegiate physical education students (n = 373) were assessed in a two-part study using an initial questionnaire survey to provide self-estimates of water competency and risk perception, followed by six practical tests in the water. Correlation coefficients between perceived and real swimming (r s = 0.369) and floating (r s = 0.583) skills were significant but only moderate in strength. No significant gender differences in real or perceived water competency were found. Significantly more males than females estimated lower risk of drowning associated with a series of aquatic scenarios (p = 0.016). The implications of these findings on drowning prevention and the need for further investigation are discussed. While the role of swimming proficiency in drowning prevention may appear axiomatic, its protective capacity is not well understood. Brenner, Saluja, and Smith (2003) have argued that increased swimming competency is almost certain to be protective in a drowning situation and, if so, then differences in swimming competency may help explain why some are at greater risk of drowning than others. The relationship between swimming competency, swimming lessons, and the risk of drowning for young children has been the subject of some inquiry (Brenner, Moran, Stallman, Gilchrist, & McVan, 2006), but little is known about this relationship with respect to young adults, one of the most at-risk groups of drowning in most developed countries. A systematic, large-scale review of childhood and youth drowning noted that even though studies have shown that swimming lessons improved the ability to dive,
Pluto's kinetic interaction with the solar wind

Pluto's interaction with the solar wind is determined by photoionization of escaping neutrals, the spatial extent of which depends on the magnitude of the atmospheric escape, and is characterized as Venus‐like to comet‐like for small to large escape rates. The weak magnetic field at >30 AU means that ion kinetic effects play a crucial role at Pluto given both large ion gyroradii and upstream ion inertial lengths that are comparable to the size of the obstacle (2–4 RP). The nature of this highly kinetic interaction has been studied using a three‐dimensional hybrid code (particle ions, fluid electrons). For small, but plausible, neutral escape rates we find that a bow shock structure forms with considerable upstream asymmetry and the velocity distribution of heated protons in the shock region is characterized as a partial ring beam. The downstream wake is highly structured with a density enhanced “arm” of deflected solar wind protons.
Growing season length and rainfall extremes analysis in Malawi

Malawi's agro-based economy, based largely on rain fed agriculture production, renders the country highly vulnerable to impacts of climate change and variability. Changes in the seasonal rainfall distribution can be used to predict the impacts of climate change and variability on agricultural productivity. In this study, extreme rainfall indices were analysed at 43 stations and a methodology was proposed for detecting rainfall onset, cessation and length of the growing season at 26 stations in Malawi. These indices were derived from daily rainfall records from 1961 to 2009. Geostatistical techniques and parametric and non-parametric statistics were applied to understand the levels of change in these indices and their distribution functions. The results show a countrywide shift in rainfall onset and cessation, but without significant changes in the length of the growing season; a decrease in total annual rainfall, annual maximum 1-day and 5-day rainfall amount, number of heavy and extreme rainfall days. However, there was an increase in the consecutive number of wet and dry days. Most indices analysed did not show any regionally consistent pattern and were not statistically significant at α = 0.05 level.
Hydrodynamic dispersion of a neutral non-reacting solute in electroosmotic flow

Analytical methods are employed to determine the axial dispersion of a neutral non-reacting solute in an incompressible electroosmotic flow. In contrast to previous approaches, the dispersion is obtained here by solving the time-dependent diffusion-advection equation in transformed spatial and temporal coordinates to obtain the two-dimensional late-time concentration field. The coefficient of dispersion arises as a separation eigenvalue, and its value is obtained as a necessary condition for satisfying all of the required boundary conditions. Solutions based on the Debye-Huckel approximation are presented for both a circular tube and a channel of infinite width. These results recover the well-known solutions for dispersion in pressure-driven flows when the Debye length is very large. In this limit, the axial dispersion is proportional to the square of the Peclet number based on the characteristic transverse dimension of the tube or channel. In the tilt of very small Debye lengths, the authors find that the dispersion varies as the square of the Peclet number based on the Debye length. Simple approximations to the coefficient of dispersion as a function of the Debye length and Peclet number are also presented.
Markov processes with Lipschitz semigroups

For f a function on a metric space, let Lip f = sup J f(x) -f(y) / d(x, y), x#y and say that a semigroup Pt is Lipschitz if Lip(Ptf) < e ' Lipf for allf, t, where K is a constant. If one has two Lipschitz semigroups, then, with some additional assumptions, the sum of their infinitesimal generators will also generate a Lipschitz semigroup. Furthermore a sequence of uniformly Lipschitz semigroups has a subsequence which converges in the strong operator topology. Examples of Markov processes with Lipschitz semigroups include all diffusions on the real line which are on natural scale whose speed measures satisfy mild conditions, as well as some jump processes. One thus gets Markov processes whose generators are certain integro-differential operators. One can also interpret the results as giving some smoothness conditions for the solutions of certain parabolic partial differential equations.
Towards a reduction of greenhouse gas emission from wastewater treatment plants: a new plant wide experimental and modelling approach

The increasing interest in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) has led to the development of new tools for their design and management. Studies about gas emissions show that the sewer collection and the wastewater treatment plant are anthropogenic GHG potential sources, so they contribute to the climate change and air pollution. A wastewater treatment plant receives wastewater from sewers and, while produces treated water for discharge into surface water, emits the three major greenhouse gases, CO2, CH4, and N2O, during the treatment processes, and additional amounts of CO2 and CH4 from the energy demands (Bani Shahabadi et al., 2009). Indeed, energy consumption can be considered as an indirect source of GHGs. Greenhouse-gas emissions are generated by water-line and sludgeline processes and by the on-site combustion of biogas and fossil fuels for energy generation. GHGs may also be produced during sludge disposal or reuse (transportation and degradation of remaining biosolids off-site), off-site energy production and off-site chemicals production. In recent years, increasing attention is given to the assessment of N2O emissions from WWTPs. N2O is a powerful greenhouse gas that is almost 300 times stronger than CO2. Nevertheless, the source and magnitude of N2O are relatively unknown and the knowledge is still incomplete. This paper presents the first results of an ongoing research project aiming at setting-up an innovative mathematical model platform (Decision Support System—DSS) for the design and management of WWTPs. The project is constituted by four research units (UOs) and its final goal is to minimize, by means of this platform, the environmental impact of WWTPs through their optimization in terms of energy consumptions and pollutants, sludge and GHG emissions.
Molecular Characterization of Fusarium Oxysporum F. Sp. Cubense of Banana

Problem statement: Morphological characterization of Fusarium species which emphasize on microscopic and cultural characteristics are not sufficient to characterize Fusarium Oxysporum F. sp. Cubense (FOC) from banana as these characteristics could easily influence by environmental factors. As an alternative molecular methods were used to characterize and to assess genetic variation of FOC from different banana cultivars. Knowledge on the genetic variation is important to determine the genetic relationship between FOC isolates from different banana cultivars. Approach: Two PCR-based methods, Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus-PCR (ERIC-PCR) and restriction analysis of the Internal Transcribed Spacer and 5.8S regions (ITS+5.8S regions) were used to characterize Fusarium Oxysporum F. sp. Cubense (FOC) isolates from different banana cultivars. The genetic relationship of the FOC isolates were analyzed using Un-weighted Pair-Group Method with Arithmetic Averages (UPGMA) cluster analysis based on Jaccard Similarity Coefficient. Results: Restriction patterns of the ITS+5.8S regions using nine restriction enzymes namely, Alu I, Eco RI, Eco 88I, Bsu RI, Bsu 15I, Hin fI, Hin 6I, Msp I and Taq I and ERIC-PCR showed low variation among the FOC isolates studied, indicating close relationship among the isolates. Un-weighted Pair-group Method with Arithmetic Averages (UPGMA) cluster analysis based on Jaccard Similarity Coefficient showed that the FOC isolates were grouped into two main clusters with similarity value of 41.4-100% in PCR-RFLP of ITS + 5.8S and 45-100% similarity based on ERIC-PCR analysis, respectively. Cluster analysis of the combined data also showed that the FOC isolates were grouped into two clusters, sharing 42.9-100% similarity. Conclusion/Recommendations: The results of the present study indicate that the FOC isolates were closely related regardless of banana cultivars and location.
Prelude : multiple ‘ turns ’ in economic geography ?

In this paper, we argue that a paradigmatic shift is occurring in economic geography toward a relational economic geography.This rests on three propositions. First, from a structural perspective economic actors are situated in contexts of social and institutional relations. Second, in dynamic perspective economic processes are path-dependent, constrained by history. Third, economic processes are contingent in that the agents’ strategies and actions are open-ended. Drawing on Storper’s holy trinity, we define four ions as the basis for analysis in economic geography: organization, evolution, innovation, and interaction.Therein,we employ a particular spatial perspective of economic processes using a geographical lens.
How Does Triple Bottom Line Reporting Influence Financial Performance? (Evidence from the LQ45 Companies Listed in the Indonesia Stock Exchange)

Abstract The objectives of this study are to investigate the extent of triple bottom line (TBL) reporting in the annual reports of companies listed in the Indonesia Stock Exchange, and to test for the influence of corporate characteristics and the level of TBL reporting on financial performance. The population is the LQ45 group of companies listed in the Indonesia Stock Exchange. The study considers the corporate annual reports issued during the period 2011 to 2013. The results show that Indonesian listed companies provided an average of 932 sentences of TBL reporting in their annual reports during the period 2011 to 2013. There is a significant positive influence of the levels of TBL reporting and the type of industry on corporate financial performance. Among previous studies on corporate social responsibility reporting in Indonesia, this study is the first to investigate TBL reporting by Indonesian listed companies. Key Words: Triple Bottom Line reporting, LQ45, financial performance, and the Indonesia Stock Exchange
Bioactives Concentrate from Commercial Indian Niger ( Guizotia Abyssinica ( L . f . ) Cass . ) Seed and its Antioxidant and Antiradical activity

The antioxidant and antiradical activities of bioactives rich niger seed oil (BRNSO) and bioactives concentrate from niger seed oilcake (BCNSOc) were evaluated. BRNSO and BCNSOc contained glycolipids; phospholipids; unsaponifiable matter to the extent of 24.6 and 35.8 g/100g; 9.5 and 23.6 g/100g; 4.3 and 5.5 g/100g, respectively. BRNSO and BCNSOc contained vitamin K1 (1689.5 and 3225.3 ppm), tocopherols (345.8 and 405.5 ppm), phenolics (2266.2 and 2545.5 ppm), phytosterols (6309.3 and 6834.5 ppm) and carotenoids (181.0 and 301.6 ppm), respectively. BRNSO and BCNSOc also showed strong IC50 values of 9.2 and 5.7 mg/mL, respectively. BRNSO (at two different ratios i.e. 1:1 and 1:3) and BCNSOc (at three different levels i.e. 1%, 5% and 10%) were incorporated into commercial refined sunflower oil (SFO) with the aim of improving its oxidative stability (OS) and radical scavenging activity (RSA). Peroxide value (PV) of SFO increased rapidly from 1.2 to 98.2 meq O2/kg during 45 days of incubation at 37°C while the SFO mixtures with BRNSO and BCNSOc showed better stability as their PV was below 20.0 meq O2/kg till 30 th day of incubation. SFO mixtures with BRNSO and BCNSOc also showed better RSA than SFO. This is probably the first report on bioactives of niger seeds being evaluated for its efficacy in improving the OS and RSA in a bulk oil model system.
Influence of initial tissue nutrient status of tropical marine algae on response to nitrogen and phosphorus additions

We conducted a 3-factor nutrient-enrichment experiment (factors: N, P, initial tissue- nutrient status) on common species of macroalgae collected from 2 sites along SW Puerto Rico. Our objective was to determine the relative importance of N- or P-limitation among species and sites and to investigate the role of tissue-nutrient status in the response to increased nutrient supply. Acan- thophora spicifera, Dictyota cervicornis, and Hypnea musciformis initially depleted in tissue nutrients responded strongly to either +N or +P alone and both nutrients together by increasing growth. In con- trast, growth of these macroalgae with enriched internal stores of nutrients was generally not as nutrient-limited. In our 3 d experiments, the calcified alga Halimeda incrassata never showed a growth response, perhaps due to the short duration or adaptation to sediment nutrient supply. Tissue N-stores in all algae with low internal nutrient concentrations increased in response to +N, whereas initially higher N-stores were diluted to support growth during the experiment. In addition, all algae depleted the added N and P from the water over the course of the experiment, regardless of tissue- nutrient status. Depleted algae also took up dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) as a secondary source of N, either directly or after mineralization, whereas enriched algae may have 'leaked' NH4. Our results demonstrated that prior storage of nutrients strongly influenced the response of a number of tropical algal species to increased nutrient supply. This variable response to nutrients within and among algae from 3 major algal divisions over small geographical scales may partially explain the mixed results in previous studies of N- and P-limitation.
Evolutionary optimization techniques to enhance deep learning

The target of my research program is to find new approaches to train Neural Networks (NN), in particular using Evolutionary Algorithms (EA). This area of research, called Neuroevolution, studies the optimization of topology and weights of neural networks. The EAs are meta-algorithms, which have many advantages with respect to classical optimization techniques based on gradient descent (GD): (i) the loss function does not need to be differentiable, (ii) they do less likely get stuck in local minima, (iii) they are easy to parallelize. The first approach was the application of Differential Evolution (DE) to NNs for supervised problems, and the results were promising. Moreover, the advantages abovementioned are the reasons why the EAs are largely used in other machine learning task, like Reinforcement Learning. Consequently, the application of EAs as NNs optimizer for Reinforcement Learning will be my future research subject.
La traducción en el aula de lenguas para fines específicos: antiguas herramientas en nuevos contextos

Translation has been excluded from the language classroom for many years due to the fact that new methodologies helped avoid the use of the mother tongue in the classroom at levels other than the initial stages of learning. This study is based on the assumption that the pedagogical use of translation L1-L2 in an LSP (Language for Specific Purposes) course can have a relevant role in L2 learning. The analysis examines to what extent translation activities consisting of short sentences designed by the teacher can be a valid tool to improve the writing skills of two LSP groups of upper-intermediate level students: English native speakers who study Spanish as a second language and Spanish learners of English. These short sentences are aimed at learning the use of the article for generic reference and technical vocabulary in the field of computer science, which generally poses problems for this type of learners. An initial writing test and a final one together with an initial and final questionnaire designed accordingly show that translation can be a perfect tool to improve writing skills and that current LSP students value these tasks very positively. The comparison of the two groups of learners highlights the syntactic and lexical interferences each group experiences depending on their L1.
The HI/OH/Recombination line survey of the inner Milky Way (THOR). Survey overview and data release 1

Context. The past decade has witnessed a large number of Galactic plane surveys at angular resolutions below 20 `'. However, no comparable high-resolution survey exists at long radio wavelengths around 21 cm in line and continuum emission. Aims. We remedy this situation by studying the northern Galactic plane at similar to 20 `' resolution in emission of atomic, molecular, and ionized gas. Methods. Employing the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) in the C-array configuration and a large program, we observe the HI 21 cm line, four OH lines, nineteen Hn alpha radio recombination lines as well as the continuum emission from 1 to 2 GHz in full polarization over a large part of the first Galactic quadrant. Results. Covering Galactic longitudes from 14.5 to 67.4 deg and latitudes between +/- 1.25 deg, we image all of these lines and the continuum at similar to 20 `' resolution. These data allow us to study the various components of the interstellar medium (ISM): from the atomic phase, traced by the HI line, to the molecular phase, observed by the OH transitions, to the ionized medium, revealed by the cm continuum and the Hn alpha radio recombination lines. Furthermore, the polarized continuum emission enables magnetic field studies. In this overview paper, we discuss the survey outline and present the first data release as well as early results from the different datasets. We now release the first half of the survey; the second half will follow later after the ongoing data processing has been completed. The data in fits format (continuum images and line data cubes) can be accessed through the project web-page. Conclusions. The HI/OH/Recombination line survey of the Milky Way (THOR) opens a new window to the different parts of the ISM. It enables detailed studies of molecular cloud formation, conversion of atomic to molecular gas, and feedback from HII regions as well as the magnetic field in the Milky Way. It is highly complementary to other surveys of our Galaxy, and comparing the different datasets will allow us to address many open questions.