Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Splinters and Schisms: Rebel Group Fragmentation and the Durability of Insurgencies

ABSTRACT Insurgent organizations often experience internal fragmentation when a faction breaks away to form a separate group with independent leadership. Following a split, what factors influence the relative durability and status of groups within larger nationalist movements? Existing theory attributes variation in groups’ performance after a division to rebel strategy. Specifically, some work argues that extremist groups using violence will outbid more moderate competitors; however, alternate research contends organizations using strategic non-violence will have more success. Contrary to previous work, this inquiry argues that in many instances rebel strategy following a split has little influence on the duration and status of groups. Instead, organizations’ relative membership size at the time of a division is the most important factor influencing their subsequent performance. That is, after a split larger core groups are more likely to survive for longer periods and to advance within their broader nationalist movements than splinter groups. However, in cases when divisions result in groups of similar size and strength, strategy may still play a significant role in rebel organizations’ comparative longevity and status.
Biogeographic patterns of tenebrionid beetles (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae) on four island groups in the south Aegean Sea

New records on Tenebrionidae from four island groups of the southern Aegean (Santorini, Astypalaia, Nisyros and Kalymnos, with their satellite islets – 26 islands in total) allowed investigation of the biogeography of the taxon in the area. All tenebrionid records from small islets are new, with the exception of those from Pserimos and the satellite islets of Santorini. Chorological and nestedness analyses, species‐area relationships and various measures of faunal similarity based on binary and quantitative data matrices were applied in order to explore biogeographic patterns. The Anatolian and east Mediterranean faunal elements dominate on the island groups of Kalymnos and Nisyros, with a considerable decrease on Astypalaia and Santorini, where circum‐Mediterranean elements prevail. Analyses of faunal similarities clustered together the well defined island groups of Santorini and Astypalaia, while Kalymnos and Nisyros groups were clustered together rather vaguely. Astypalaia and Santorini were also the most nested island groups in the studied area. The biogeographic position of Astypalaia within the central Aegean islands is well supported by the data.
Influence of CaF2 on the preparation of ZnO via SHS method

Abstract A closing synthesis device with special structure was designed to effectively collect the ZnO synthesized via self-propagating high temperature synthesis (SHS) method. With this device, the influence of CaF2 on products was investigated. Products were characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Results showed that with the increase of CaF2, there is a trend of first increase and following decrease in the yield of products and there appears increasing amount of one-dimensional ZnO nanostructures and there are no obvious changes on the structure of products. Possible mechanisms of the influence of CaF2 on products were discussed.
Religion, Law, and Identity: Contending Authorities on Interfaith Marriage in Lombok, Indonesia

ABSTRACT This study examines interreligious marriage from a legal perspective and analyses the historical and empirical evidence for it from the eastern Indonesian island of Lombok. It situates interfaith marriage at the centre of a discursive battle between religion, law, and custom (adat) and as a locus of contestation and negotiation between state, community, and religious leaders, as well as the couples involved and their extended families and communities. Building on Charles Collier's theory of ‘institutional authority’ and Saba Mahmood's ‘personal autonomy’, the article argues that issues related to interfaith marriage can be resolved through institutional authority and personal autonomy. Institutional authority constitutes an established structure of power and representation created by the state to manage its people and to serve their interests. Such authority works for, and is contested in, resolving tensions over interreligious interactions, including traditional interfaith marital elopement practised by Muslim and Hindu communities. Although Muslim–Christian relations have occasionally been unstable, interfaith unions rarely become an issue since those marriages reflect more interpersonal than intercommunal relationships, whose settlement is contingent upon personal autonomy.
A Novel Estimated Wideband Geometry-Based Vehicle-to-Vehicle Channel Model Using an AoD and AoA Estimation Algorithm

In this paper, we propose an estimated wideband geometry-based channel model for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication environments, which is based on an angle of departure (AoD) and angle of arrival (AoA) estimation algorithm, to determine the ellipse scattering region and to efficiently study the V2V channel characteristics for different propagation delays, i.e., per-tap channel statistics. In the first stage, we estimate the AoD and AoA for the first tap. In this case, the ellipse-scattering region for the first tap can be determined. Then, we estimate the ellipse channel models for other taps based on the estimated model parameters for the first tap. Furthermore, the spatial cross-correlation functions (CCFs) are derived and thoroughly investigated for different propagation delays. The excellent agreement is achieved between the proposed channel statistics and prior results and measurements.
Size Selective Predation of Fish by Hydrophilis triangularis (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae) and Lethocerus americanus (Hemiptera: Belostomatidae)

Abstract Investigation of predator-prey relationships that involve aquatic insects has received little attention, and aspects including feeding rates and prey selection of many predators are poorly understood. Adult giant water-bugs, Lethocerus americanus, and larval giant water scavenger beetles, Hydrophilis triangularis, are large predatory aquatic insects that typically inhabit pools or ponds with little to no flow. Both insect predators are known to prey on a variety of aquatic organisms including invertebrates and vertebrates. Laboratory trials were conducted to determine feeding rates and prey selection of fish by adult giant water-bugs and larval giant water scavenger beetles. Six western mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis, of two size classes, juvenile (<20 mm) and adult (>20 mm), were placed in aquaria with a single predator. Once per 24 hour period, predator survival was recorded along with the quantity and size of fish consumed. Each of the insect predators consumed a significantly greater number of mosquitofish from the adult size class with giant water-bugs consuming 0.13 fish per day and water scavenger beetles consuming 0.46 fish per day. Insect predation of small fish species could be substantial and because size selective pressures exist, population structure of fish populations may be affected.
Fossil Musk Turtles (Kinosternidae, Sternotherus) from the Late Miocene—Early Pliocene (Hemphillian) of Tennessee and Florida

ABSTRACT The oldest fossil musk turtles, genus Sternotherus, are reported from the Hemphillian of eastern Tennessee and central Florida. Sternotherus palaeodorus, n. sp. , is known from five partial shells discovered at the late Miocene—early Pliocene (7–4.5 Ma; late Hemphillian) Gray Fossil Site in Washington County, Tennessee. Sternotherus palaeodorus possesses an enlarged intergular scute, wide first vertebral scute that overlaps peripheral set 1, posteriorly extensive hypoplastron to peripheral 7 contact, and a posteriorly situated inguinal musk duct pore (characteristics more typically seen in Kinosternon). A cladistic analysis recovered S. palaeodorus within crown group Sternotherus in the strict consensus and on the stem of Sternotherus in the majority rule consensus. Sternotherus bonevalleyensis, n. sp. , from the Palmetto Fauna (5.5–5 Ma; late Hemphillian) of central Florida was perhaps contemporaneous with S. palaeodorus and is known only from isolated shell fragments. It is morphologically most similar to the Sternotherus minor complex and Sternotherus depressus. Subsequent Blancan fossils from the Suwannee River of Florida represent aff. S. minor peltifer. Additionally, a fragmentary left hyoplastron of cf. Sternotherus from Haile 19A, Alachua County, Florida, could be the oldest record for the genus (ca. 9–8.5 Ma; early Hemphillian). These accounts reveal that Sternotherus was diverse and moderately well distributed geographically by its first known fossil occurrences and support previous hypotheses that the Sternotherus minor complex evolved in the Gulf coastal plain and dispersed throughout that region since at least the latest Miocene-earliest Pliocene.
Estimation of biomass from body length and width for tropical rainforest canopy invertebrates

Accurate estimates of invertebrate biomass are essential for quantifying community structure, food web dynamics and energy flow in terrestrial ecosystems. In this paper, length-mass and length × width-mass regressions were carried out for 18 invertebrate taxonomic groups collected from the canopy of an Australian tropical rainforest. In an additional analysis, invertebrates were divided among seven body shape categories based on the ratio of body length to body width (from short and squat to long and thin) in an attempt to develop accurate equations for estimating biomass that can be applied to any taxonomic group in any locality. For most groups, the inclusion of body width to the predictor variable improved the model, confirming that body shape is an important factor in the accuracy of biomass estimations. The most accurate method for estimating invertebrate biomass was the use of taxon-specific equations, followed by equations based on body shape. Single whole-fauna equations were very inaccurate for estimating biomass, especially for insects that are either very squat or very long and thin. In accordance with previous studies, it was concluded that the most accurate method for estimating invertebrate biomass from proxy body measurements is the use of taxon-specific regression equations, especially those that incorporate body width in the model. However, equations based on body shape categories may be useful for estimating the biomass of groups for which no length-mass relationship has been determined, while single, whole-fauna equations should be avoided.
Accumulation and phosphatase-lability of organic phosphorus in fertilised pasture soils

The accumulation and phosphatase-lability of organic P was investigated in soil taken from 3 pastures that had received contrasting fertiliser management over 8 years. The soils were either unfertilised or had received superphosphate either from 1994 to 1997 or applied annually to 2002. P-fertilisation led to an increase in both the inorganic and organic P content of the soils, but with differences in the distribution of organic P in various extractable pools. Fertilisation also affected the amount of organic P that was amenable to hydrolysis by a non-specific phosphatase. In particular, the amount of water-extractable organic P that was phosphatase-labile was greatest in soil that had received continuous fertiliser application. Despite improved phosphatase-lability of different organic P pools in the fertilised soils, transgenic Trifolium subterraneum L. , which releases extracellular phytase, showed no consistent advantage in growth and P nutrition compared with either wild-type or azygous controls when grown in intact cores of soil. This indicates that organic P that accumulates with P-fertilisation is either not an effective substrate for transgenic plants that exude phytase or is equally available to transgenic and control plants.
Explaining the variability of adjective comparatives and superlatives: entering the twenty-first century

There has been no lack of research on the variation of comparative adjective forms in contemporary English, but our understanding of comparison strategies is still limited, with respect to individual patterns of adjectives, as well as sociolinguistic factors (e.g. formality). This article presents a quantitative investigation of selected disyllabic adjectives in comparison (i.e. ample, bitter, common, complete, costly, deadly, empty, friendly, kindly, likely, obscure, remote, robust, severe, simple, sober, wealthy), based on the 2001–2005 issues of two different types of newspapers in British English (i.e. Daily Mail and The Independent). Our analysis reveals that, although previous studies have shown that some factors have an effect on the comparative alternation between the inflectional and periphrastic forms (e.g. costlier and more costly, respectively), these factors do not affect all adjectives equally. We also found that, for many adjectives, periphrastic comparison is more likely to be preferred in the less formal newspaper (i.e. Daily Mail). The present study also explores the strategies employed when selecting comparative forms for superlative adjectives and shows that factors which are influential on the comparative formation are not always effective on the superlative comparison.
Regionalism in Crisis: GCC Integration without Democracy

ABSTRACT At the core of “disembedded regionalism” in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is an incapacity to foster more representative forms of politics that are responsive to citizens. Instead, elite-to-elite relations are a salient feature that characterises Gulf politics. A radical re-reading of Jürgen Habermas and John Rawls, applied to the GCC in the first two decades of the 21st century, confirms that top-down management of politics is conducive to conflict and disintegration as against integration, marginalising the agenda of multi-level governance within the subregion. Set against the backdrop of the current blockade/crisis, this critical rendition throws into sharp relief the non-democratic brand of GCC regionalism.
Personalized learning in iSTART: Past modifications and future design

Abstract Computer-based learning environments (CBLEs) provide unprecedented opportunities for personalized learning at scale. One such system, iSTART (Interactive Strategy Training for Active Reading and Thinking) is an adaptive, game-based tutoring system for reading comprehension. This paper describes how efforts to increase personalized learning have improved the system. It also provides results of a recent implementation of an adaptive logic that increases or decreases text difficulty based on students’ performance rather than presenting texts randomly. High school students who received adaptive text selection showed increased sense of learning. Adaptive text selection also resulted in greater pre-training to post-training comprehension test gains, especially for less-skilled readers. The findings demonstrate that system-driven, just-in-time support consistent with the goals of personalized learning benefit the efficacy of computer-based learning environments.
Matting model guided variational pansharpening with fractional order gradient transferring

ABSTRACT In this letter, we proposed a matting model guided variational pansharpening method with fractional order gradient transferring constraint to fuse a low-resolution (LR) multispectral (MS) and a high-resolution (HR) panchromatic (Pan) image to an HR-MS image. Specifically for the proposed model, we not only used the commonly local spectral fidelity constraint for spectral information preserving, but also applied the famous matting model fusion method to further enforce a spatial-spectral fidelity constraint, and particularly proposed a fractional-order gradient transferring constraint to transfer the spatial information of Pan image to the desired HR-MS image. Then, we designed an optimization algorithm to solve the proposed model efficiently. Finally, the experimental results showed the superiority of the proposed method to various methods subjectively and objectively.
An Examination of Ethnic-Racial Identity and U.S. American Identity among Black, Latino, and White Adolescents

ABSTRACT In the United States (U.S.), adolescent identity development occurs within a socio-historical context characterized by an ethnic-racial hierarchy, as well as an unequal distribution of power and privilege. The current study examined the associations among two ethnic-racial identity components (i.e., exploration, resolution), perceived ethnic-racial discrimination, and U.S. American identity among White, Black, and Latino adolescents in the U.S. A cross-sectional sample of self-identified White, Black, and Latino adolescents (N = 1,378) completed self-administered surveys (M age = 16.16 years; SD = 1.12, 52.8% female). A sequential model-building approach using multiple-group path analysis revealed that both exploration and resolution were positively associated with U.S. American for White and Black adolescents, but no association emerged for Latino adolescents. Furthermore, among Black adolescents, the association between exploration and U.S. American identity was moderated by perceived ethnic-racial discrimination, such that these two identity dimensions were positively associated only among those who reported higher levels of discrimination. Overall, ethnic-racial identity and U.S. American identity were more strongly associated among White and Black adolescents compared to Latino adolescents. Future research is needed to better understand the intersections between ethnic-racial identity and U.S. American identity.
The use of infrared spectroscopy and thermal analysis for the quick detection of adulterated beeswax

Beeswax samples of different origins were evaluated for their authenticity by infrared spectroscopy and thermal analysis. The Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) method was used for the genuineness assessment and the melting process was examined using the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) method. Eight suspicious beeswax samples delivered by local beekeepers were examined. As reference standards, pure authentic beeswax standards, pure paraffin, and wax-paraffin blends were used. The comparison of the infrared spectra of tested wax samples and references allowed the identification of adulterated wax samples based on the differences in the spectra fingerprint region (700 to 1800 cm−1), especially 1170 and 1735 cm−1 bands. Moreover, the ratio of the 1735 and 2850 cm−1 band area (lower than 0.5) was used as an indicator of wax adulteration. Among the 8 samples studied, 3 were found to have been falsified with paraffin. The thermal analysis confirmed the adulteration of the same wax samples. The melting temperatures determined in these cases were lower (52.3 to 57.7) as compared to other samples (63.1 to 65.9), identified as real beeswax by comparison to standards (63.8 to 64.7). A similar tendency during the re-heating of cooled wax samples was observed, which suggested the addition of paraffin or another substance with a lower melting point to adulterated waxes. The methods used in this research (FT-IR and DSC) allowed for a relatively quick, easy, and inexpensive verification of the authenticity of the beeswax. Such a method can be used as a screening step before a comprehensive GC analysis of beeswax.
Implications of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Global Trade Networks

ABSTRACT This article measures the trade interconnectedness among countries before and after the COVID-19 outbreak, and forecasts the future direction of trade. Using Trade Network Analysis and Artificial Neural Networks, our findings show that: (1) There is a drastic reduction in trade interconnectedness, connectivity, and density among countries after the COVID-19 outbreak. (2) There is a visible change in the structure of trade-network (3) China’s ‘center’ position in the trade network is not affected by the pandemic. (4) There will be a drastic decline in trade of most of the economies until December 2020.
Discrete Fourier transform-based method for analysis of a vibrato tone

Vibrato is one of the most common musical techniques used for the enrichment of vocal and musical instrument sounds. We propose a method that can analyse the intonation, vibrato rate, and vibrato extent of a vibrato tone as a function of time, which is based on the discrete Fourier transform of its fundamental frequency trajectory. According to experimental results, the proposed method is robust to the irregularities in the fundamental frequency trajectory. In addition, the proposed method provides different results for intonation and vibrato extent from those of Prame’s method when the fundamental frequency trajectory is not perfectly sinusoidal.
Relationships between reproductive output and shell morphometrics of the pill clam, Pisidium casertanum (Bivalvia: Sphaeriidae)

Specimens of Pisidium casertanum were collected from 15 locations across southern, central, and eastern Ontario to determine if variation in the numbers of shelled larvae produced by adults was related to variation in shell morphometrics. More than 90% of the variability in shell morphometrics was related to shell length and site of origin. Approximately 40% of the variation in numbers of shelled larvae produced by adults was not related to shell length and site of origin. Results showed that individuals that are lower, wider, and have a more rounded anterior end produce more shelled larvae than individuals that are higher, narrower, and have an elongated anteroventral margin. Low correlation coefficients for the model describing the relationship between the number of shelled larvae and shell morphometrics suggests that it would be difficult to use shell measurements to predict the production of shelled larvae by adults.
A molecular phylogeny of the genus Laubuka (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) in Sri Lanka reveals multiple origins and a cryptic species

The freshwater-fish genus Laubuka contains ∼13 species distributed through the lowlands of tropical South and South-east Asia. Four of these species (Laubuka lankensis, L. varuna, L. ruhuna, and L. insularis) are reported as endemic to Sri Lanka, a remarkable datum given the island’s small size. We sampled populations of Laubuka at 56 locations in 14 of the island’s principal river basins and analysed their morphological, meristic, phylogenetic, and phylogeographic relationships using the mitochondrial genes cytochrome b and cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 and the nuclear recombination activating protein 1. We investigated the geographic structure, and delineated species using molecular species delimitation methods and morphological analysis within the general lineage concept of species. Molecular and morphological analyses failed to identify L. ruhuna and L. insularis as distinct species; we show them to be synonyms of L. varuna and L. lankensis, respectively. Taxonomic inflation in previous literature is attributed as a result of limited sampling and negligence of size allometry. Additionally, a third, cryptic species discovered in this study is described as L. hema sp. nov. which is evidently confined to the headwaters of the Gal basin in eastern Sri Lanka. Phylogenetic and haplotype network analyses suggest phylogeographic structure within both the southwest-endemic L. varuna and the dry-zone endemic L. lankensis, but the former shows strong phylogeographic structure between adjacent basins. The Sri Lankan species of Laubuka do not form a monophyletic group: they stem from two dispersal or vicariance events, one involving the lineage that led to L. varuna in south-western Sri Lanka, and the other, of [L. lankensis + L. hema] in the dry zone. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:D2A29329-E0E7-447E-B316-81049212CCCB http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:920E5DC0-CEDC-4243-98C7-12CCF829CBCD