Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The origin and evolution of birds

This text is a comprehensive and illustrated discussion of the origin of birds and of avian flight. Ornithologist and evolutionary biologist Alan Feduccia, author of "Age of Birds," here draws on fossil evidence and studies of the structure and biochemistry of living birds to present knowledge and data on avian evolution and propose a model of this evolutionary process. Feduccia begins with an overview of bird evolution, giving his opinions about the controversial problem in verte-brate paleontology: whether birds evolved directly from bipedal, terrestrial dinosaurs (the ground-up theory) or from the precursors of dinosaurs - perhaps small arboreal thecodonts (the trees-down theory). He then provides information about the origin of avian flight and feathers and discusses the most dramatic discoveries in avian paleontolgy of the past few decades - the "opposite birds" that were the dominant landbirds of the Mesozoic. Feduccia next offers a theory of avian evolution during the Tertiary, arguing that the evolution of birds follows a pattern similar to that of mammals, with an explosive (rather than gradual) evolution lasting only 5 to 10 million years. In the second half of the book he summarizes the evolution of all the modern orders of birds, discussing such subjects as the evolution of filter-feeding in ducks and flamingos, the evolution of flightlessness, the evolution of birds of prey and the rise of landbirds. The book also includes reconstructions of ancient fossil birds that have been prepared by bird artist John O'Neill.
Numerical Simulation and Validation in Scrubber Wash Water Discharge from Ships

A regulation on the sulfur emissions of ships sailing in global sea areas has been enforced since 1 January 2020. In this new regulation, ships are required to use low-sulfur fuel oils or to install an after-treatment equipment, such as a scrubber. Open and hybrid scrubbers wash the exhaust gas using seawater and then discharge the wash water overboard. According to the regulation promulgated by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), the wash water must have a pH of 6.5 or higher at 4 m from the discharge point. Wash water is generally acidic, with a pH of 2.5–3.5, whereas seawater is alkaline, with a pH of approximately 8.2. The wash water is dispersed after being discharged overboard through a nozzle, and its pH is restored through dilution with the surrounding seawater. In this study, the pH was calculated by using a theoretical chemical reaction model, and then the dispersion of wash water was analyzed using CFD simulation. This study describes the process of selecting the appropriate turbulent Schmidt number in a wide range of nozzle diameters. Finally, the appropriate nozzle diameter was determined based on the initial pH of the discharged scrubber wash.
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TAX PAYER'S ACCEPTANCE
TO USE THE E-FILING SYSTEM

Development inequality in terms of culture, economy, and technology in Indonesia affects the quality of human resources, can affect the system of e-filing in tax reporting which is still 70 percent in 2017. The implementation of e-filing is still related to using e-filing in tax reporting. Thus this study will examine the difference in taxpayer acceptance of the factors that influence the personal taxpayer's behavioral intentions to report tax using E-filing based on the basic theory developed by Vencatesh et al. (2003), namely the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). Thus this study aims to differences analysis taxpayer acceptance to use e-filing systems on Java and outside Java. This study analysis with T test, SPSS 25. The results state that there is no significant difference between taxpayers in Java and outside Java in accepting efiling as an online tax reporting system from performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, and behavioral intention. Thus, inequality of development and internet services can be felt by all taxpayers throughout Indonesia.
EVALUATION OF SOME TRACE ELEMENTS AND PARATHYROID HORMONE LEVELS IN CHILDREN WITH CHRONIC RENAL FAILURE ON REGULAR HEMODIALYSIS

Background: Secondary hyperparathyroidism and trace elements metabolism disturbance are common, important and treatable complications of CRF. Both parathyroid hormone (PTH) and trace elements disturbances lead to bone disease and affect the growth of the children on regular hemodialysis (HD). Objectives: To measure the serum levels of the following trace elements (zinc –cupper manganese) and parathormone in children with end stage renal disease (ESRD) on regular hemodialysis and their relation to the duration of dialysis. In addition to, study the effect of trace elements dysequilibrium on the mental status in these children. Patients and Methods: This is a prospective case control study was done on thirty cases with ESRD on regular hemodialysis. Also twenty of apparently healthy children age and sex matched with cases were included as a control group. After complete clinical evaluation of cases and controls including weight, height, body mass index, blood pressure and all body systems, serum zinc (Zn), cupper (Cu), manganese and parathyroid hormone was measured. Also, Cognitive and behavioural assessment using Stanford-Binet intelligence score was done. Results: There was a significant decrease in serum zinc and copper in patients when compared to controls. On the other hand, no significant changes in serum manganese in all patients relative to controls. Also, there was a significant increase in PTH in patients relative to controls. There was a significant inverse correlation between serum PTH and both of zinc and copper, with insignificant correlation between PTH and manganese. Patients on HD were significantly associated with more severe decreased intelligence according to Stanford Binet Score when compared to control group. Conclusion: Majority of patients with ESRD on regular hemodialysis showed decreased Zn & Cu and elevated PTH level with inverse correlation between duration of dialysis and serum levels of Zn and Cu and direct correlation with PTH level. Al-Azhar Journal of Ped. Vol. 23 No. 47 Jan 2020 630
Design of a Novel Modular Axial-Flux Double Rotor Switched Reluctance Drive

Nowadays, there is a renewed interest in switched reluctance machines and especially in axial-flux switched reluctance machines (AFSRM). This paper presents a comprehensive design procedure for modular AFSRM with an inner stator and two exterior rotors that have a new distribution of the stator and rotor poles, resulting in short magnetic paths with no flux reversal. After a description of the proposed machine, the output torque equation is derived from a simplified non-linear energy conversion loop and guidelines for its design are given. Once the preliminary sizing has been carried out the different modules of the AFSRM, the magnetically active parts made with SMC, are reshaped or refined using 3D printing and 3D electromagnetic finite element analysis until they reach their definitive shape and dimensions. Finally, an AFSRM has been built following the proposed design procedure and has been validated by experimental measurements.
The Effect of Financial Literacy on Investment Decision Making in Southern Lebanon

This study examines the effect of financial Literacy on investment decision making among investors in South Lebanon. Financial literacy is expressed in terms of knowledge and awareness while investors’ decision-making is described as the act of investors and the way they interpret, anticipate, investigate, and assess the steps and transaction for decision making. This includes investment risk, investment decision model and process. To achieve the research objective, a quantitative approach was applied in which 150 self-administered questionnaires were collected using convenience sampling. The sample includes customers of four different Banks in South Lebanon. The data was analyzed using SPSS software. Descriptive statistics were identified and proposed hypotheses were tested using Pearson correlation and multi-regression analysis. Results showed a positive significant relationship between financial literacy and investment decision making. Future studies are encouraged to expand the research to other regions in Lebanon over a longer time horizon in addition to applying other variables.
Engaged, but with what? Objects of engagement in technology-aided B2B customer interactions

ABSTRACT Using new technologies in customer interactions is a popular way of trying to increase customer engagement. It is, however, unknown how such efforts by marketers’ affect engagement, and particularly to what that engagement relates to. By analysing interview and observation data, the engagement manifestations of customers of a B2B company using virtual-reality technology were studied. The results show that customer engagement can be targeted at not only brands or firms but also the service the firm offers or the technology that enables the service. It is argued that the different objects of engagement can coexist and support each other but engagement with the firm is less susceptible to fluctuations. Marketers should be aware of what triggers customer engagement and what it is targeted at.
Light Shock Stress after Outdoor Sunlight Exposure in Seedlings of Picea abies (L.) Karst. and Pinus sylvestris L. Pre-Cultivated under LEDs—Possible Mitigation Treatments and Their Energy Consumption

Year-round cultivation under light emitting diodes (LEDs) has gained interest in boreal forest regions like Fenno-Scandinavia. This concept offers forest nurseries an option to increase seedling production normally restricted by the short vegetation period and the climate conditions. In contrast to some horticultural crops which can be cultivated entirely under LEDs without sunlight, forest seedlings need to be transplanted outdoors in the nursery at a very young age before being outplanted in the field. Juvenile plants are less efficient using absorbed light and dissipating excess energy making them prone to photoinhibition at conditions that usually do not harm mature plants. The outdoor transfer can cause stress in the seedlings due to high sunlight intensity and exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation not typically present in the spectra of LED lamps. This study tested possible treatments for mitigating light shock stress in seedlings of Picea abies (L.) Karst. and Pinus sylvestris L. transplanted from indoor cultivation under LEDs to outdoor sunlight exposure. Three sowings were carried out in 2014 (May and June) and 2015 (May) cultivating the seedlings during five weeks under LED lights only. Afterwards, higher light intensity or UV radiation treatments were applied during one week in order to adapt the seedlings to natural outdoor conditions. After transplanting a transition phase was introduced using shading cloths for one or three weeks as outdoor treatments for light shock mitigation. Chlorophyll fluorescence (ChlF) levels and CO2 assimilation rates were measured before transplanting and followed outdoors during 5 weeks. The ChlF results revealed stress symptoms in the photoreceptors during the first days after transplanting. After five weeks outdoors the ChlF levels had recovered and the light saturation points had shifted, allowing higher CO2 assimilation rates. By the end of the vegetation period the morphological attributes showed no major differences between treatments.
Artificial Pollination in Tree Crop Production

Pollination is the transfer of pollen grains from the anthers of one flower to the stigma of the same or different flower. This is an essential process for the fertilization of the flowers and for the development of seeds and fruits. The dependability that reproduction of most fruit crops has from pollination makes it of paramount importance in agricultural production. With the notable exception of parthenocarpic species, such
A Cross-sectional Study on Hepatitis B Immune Status among Vaccinated Healthcare Workers in Khartoum, Sudan

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection can lead to chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC). Vaccination against the virus plays an important role in its prevention. Health personnel at risk of infection are recommended to receive the vaccine and to check their immune status thereafterObjective: To determine Hepatitis B Immune status among vaccinated health personnel in Khartoum state, Sudan.A total of 106 health personnel from different hospitals and doctors’mess in Khartoum and from different jobs were surveyed and their HBV surface antibodies levels were determined by HBsAb (Quantitative) ELISA Kits.Methods: Of the 106 participants in this study, the majority were females 72.6%. The mean age of those involved was 27.69 years, and nurses made for more than 50% of those surveyed. About 56.6% (60) of the health personnel involved took three or more doses of HBV vaccine while the rest received one or two doses. The results of the participants who received three or more doses of the vaccine represented immunity by 70%. In general, about 47.2% (50) of the participants in this study did show excellent immune response (> 100 mIU/mL) and 18.9% (20) had weak protective levels (between 10 and 100 mIU/mL)So, we concluded that HBV post-vaccination immunity status of health personnel in Khartoum state is lower than post-vaccination HBV immunity in other parts of the world. There is an urgent need for a national protocol of HBV vaccination to improve the immunization status of health personnel with a regular checkup of HBV immunity and easy access to a good-quality vaccine. Keywords: hepatitis B vaccines; healthcare workers; immune response
The Anatomy of Block Accumulations by Activist Shareholders

We conduct a large-sample analysis of investor activism in the US based on all 13D filings from 2001 to 2016. While hedge funds represent the largest filer group, the sample contains a diverse set of other activist shareholders. This raises the question to what extent other investors perform a governance role similar to hedge funds. Based on target firms' outcome variables, like announcement returns of activist campaigns and changes in operating performance measures, we find surprisingly few differences. However, hedge funds play a special role when it comes towards takeovers. They stimulate monitoring activities among relatively larger firms and they help to set payout policies.
Evaluating Pre- and Post-Coagulation Configuration of Dissolved Air Flotation Using Response Surface Methodology

The effects of coagulation-dissolved air flotation (DAF) process configuration was studied on oil refinery wastewater. The configuration was done in two ways: acid-coagulation-DAF (pre-treatment) and acid-DAF-coagulation (post-treatment). Two different cationic and polymeric organic coagulants were employed in this study to compare their treatability performance with the two aforementioned configurations. All the coagulants applied before the DAF were found to be effective, with over 85% more contaminant removal efficiency than their post-treatment. Alum, being the most cost-effective coagulant, was then employed with response surface methodology (RSM) to obtain the optimum conditions. These include a coagulant dosage of 100 mg/L, air saturator pressure of 375 kPa and air–water ratio of 10% vol/vol corresponding to a desirability of 92% for the removal of oily pollutants from a local South Africa oil refinery’s wastewater. With the response quadratic models that were developed, the optimum conditions were tested experimentally, which were consistent with the models predicted results at a 95% confidence level.
Physiological Stress Levels in the Endemic and Endangered Udzungwa Red Colobus Vary with Elevation

Habitat loss and fragmentation inevitably cause biodiversity decline, a major concern for the conservation of endangered species. Primates are of particular interest, because they are highly vulnerable to forest fragmentation. In this study, we investigated faecal glucocorticoid measurements (FGCM), an indicator of physiological stress, in an endemic and IUCN-endangered monkey species inhabiting forest blocks in the Udzungwa Mountains in south-central Tanzania. The Udzungwa red colobus (Procolobus gordonorum) is threatened by hunting, and habitat degradation and loss due to agricultural expansion. They are highly folivorous, more abundant at lower elevations, but able to persist in extremely small forest blocks. We collected faecal samples in four forest blocks that differed in size, level of human impact (hunting and past logging activities) and ecological factors to examine the potential influence on stress hormone output. Across all four forests, we did not find any clear effect on FGCM levels of the variables considered, apart from elevation. Red colobus had higher FGCM levels at lower elevations, where their seemingly optimal habitat occurs, but concomitantly where greater human disturbance is found. Although our results should be interpreted with caution and confirmed with further study, we suggest that this species is not negatively influenced by a moderate level of human activity, consistent with ecological modelling data.
The contribution of invertebrate taxa to moorland bird diets and the potential implications of land‐use management

We reviewed the literature to determine the importance of invertebrates for moorland-breeding birds and considered our findings with respect to the conservation of such species in the UK. The diets of many moorland birds consist predominantly of invertebrates, with a wide range of taxa recorded in the diets of moorland birds during the breeding season. Relatively few taxa (Arachnida, Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera and Oligochaeta) were widely taken, with Diptera and Coleoptera being the most important. Among these latter two insect orders, Carabidae, Curculionidae, Elateridae and Tipulidae were the most important families. Comparisons of the diets of bird families, treated separately according to whether data were derived from adults or chicks, showed that waders take more interstitial invertebrates than passerines, which themselves take more foliage invertebrates. Although we lack detailed experimental data with which to demonstrate the direct effect of particular moorland management prescriptions on some of these key invertebrate taxa for breeding birds, available data suggest that management regimes that create a mosaic of habitats are likely to be most beneficial. In particular, heterogeneity in vegetation structure and species composition, and the presence of wet flushes associated with the synchronized spring emergence of adults of certain insect species, are likely to increase invertebrate food resources for birds.
Design and analysis microstrip antenna with reflector to enhancement gain for wireless communication

In this paper is presented the good solution to enhancement gain by using physical plane plate reflector with optimum distance by a reflector was used with the antenna and using a sweep parameter for the distance at which the reflector was placed at (, we found the best distance is when selected the bandwidth is 28GHz where . The gain at the bandwidth in 28GHz was improved from (5.48, 6.78, and 7.83) dB to 11.53 dB, while the gain without a reflector is 7.1 dB. The simulation results were obtained using CST which was more consistent with the practical results.
Overall status of naturalized plants in Korea.

Until 2001, 471 plant species belonging to 64 families had been naturalized to Korea. Among them, 20 species were highly abundant everywhere, 8 species were also highly abundant but locally, 63 species were common (moderately abundant) everywhere, and 31 species were common in certain regions locally. One hundred species were rare but observed everywhere with low frequency. The others, 249 species, were rare and observed locally. The 95.8% (451 species) of the total naturalized plants were xeric, which prefer relatively dry soil like pasture, set-aside fields, roadsides, and upland fields. Only 4.2% (20 species) of naturalized plants occurred on wet or swamp like watercourses and paddy fields. A large number (189 species) of the naturalized plants were perennial comprising 40.1% of the total 471 species, one hundred forty species (29.7%) were winter annual or biennial, one hundred forty two species (30.2%) were annual. The prominent naturalized species in upland crop fields were Amaranthus patulus, Erigeron annuus, Senecio vulgaris, Solanum nigrum, Thlaspi arvense, Erigeron canadensis, Avena fatua, Bidens frondosa, Panicum dichotomiflorum, Galinsoga parviflora, Abutilon theophrasti, Chenopodium ficifolium, Amaranthus viridis, Erigeron sumatrensis, Galinsoga ciliata, and Chenopodium album. Paddy fields, the most popular type of land use for producing staple crop (rice) in Korea, were the habitat of some naturalized plants known as hydrophyte such as Diplachne fusca, Lindernia dubia var. anagallidea, Leptochloa chinensis, Gratiola officinalis, Lindernia attenuata, Catapodium rigidum, Alopecurus japonicus, Paspalum distichum, and Paspalum distichum var. indutum
Effect of aminotriazole on antioxidant defense system of tasar silkworm Antheraea mylitta

This study was designed to find out the metabolic consequences of H2O2 following catalase inhibition by aminotriazole in the fat body of an Antheraea mylitta pupa. H2O2 content in the pupal fat body exhibited a decreasing trend over the experimental period (up to 48 h). However, a substantial decrease in its level was marked after 12, 24 and 48 h of treatment. The level of lipid peroxidation was elevated within 4 h of aminotriazole injection. Nevertheless, its level significantly decreased after 12, 24 and 48 h of treatment. Superoxide dismutase activity was elevated within 4 h, followed by a transient decrease in its activity at 12 h of treatment and again increased over the experimental period. Catalase activity was found to decline in the fat body within 4 h of aminotriazole treatment compared to the control. However, it was surprising to observe that there was a two‐fold increase in catalase activity compared to its previous experimental group after 12 h, followed by a rapid decline in its activity at 24 h of aminotriazole injection and non‐detectable catalase activity at 48 h. Ascorbic acid content was found to be elevated after 12 h of injection and maintained an increasing trend over the rest of the experimental period compared to the respective control. Despite the progressive inhibition of catalase activity beyond 12 h of treatment, H2O2 accumulation was not observed as a consequence of catalase inhibition. Hence, catalase depletion by aminotriazole involves compensatory changes in other components of the antioxidant system for the efficient removal of H2O2.
Olfactory response of Typhlodromus pyri (Acari: Phytoseiidae) to synthetic methyl salicylate in laboratory bioassays

The herbivore‐induced plant volatile (HIPV) methyl salicylate (MeSA) is widely present in the chemical profile of several plant species and is known to attract natural enemies, including predatory mites. In this study, the response of Typhlodromus pyri, a key predator of pest mites in west coast vineyards, to synthetically produced MeSA was tested using a Y‐tube olfactometer in laboratory bioassays. Six doses ranging from 0.002 to 200 μg of MeSA diluted in 0.1 ml hexane were tested. Significantly higher proportions of T. pyri preferred MeSA at doses 0.02, 0.2 and 20 μg. No differences in response to MeSA were detected at the highest (200 μg), intermediate (2 μg) and lowest (0.002 μg) doses. Mite response to MeSA was a function of dose when fitting polynomial and logistic regression models using dose and square of the log dose prediction factors. Results indicate that synthetic MeSA may be applied to attract predatory arthropod populations in vineyards to enhance biological control of pest mites.