Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Does translocation affect short‐term survival in a long‐lived species, the Spanish imperial eagle?

In long‐lived species, usually with deferred maturity and low release numbers, the success of conservation translocations is especially sensitive to survival and site fidelity during the prolonged establishment phase. Concurrent management actions usually implemented in threatened populations may also influence translocation‐related responses. Therefore, the specific performance of translocations should be ideally assessed on vital rates of comparable management groups while accounting for other conservation actions. In this study, we analysed the impact of translocation on the short‐term survival and the relative contribution of electrocution on power pylons by comparing translocated and wild‐reared radio‐tracked juvenile Spanish imperial eagles Aquila adalberti before and after the implementation of further long‐term conservation actions of the species and other generic measures in southern Spain. A multi‐event multi‐state capture–recapture approach accounting for tag retention was applied on a long‐term dataset of resightings and dead recoveries throughout the first 2 years after fledging. Survival probability was similar in translocated and contemporary non‐translocated eagles, but higher than in wild‐reared birds before the generalization of multi‐action plans from the 1980s. It was also higher during early dispersal than in the post‐fledging dependence period. Although mortality due to electrocution decreased in absolute terms after implementing anti‐electrocution measures, its relative contribution as the main mortality source did not differ between translocated and wild‐reared birds or between periods (65%). Our results show that when translocations are properly implemented, observed vital rates of released animals can be comparable to those of wild‐reared individuals subjected to similar generic management addressing mortality sources. As for any management action, post‐release monitoring should play a key role in translocation programmes, with emphasis on comparative studies analysing potential factors affecting survival under active management contexts.
Molecular evidence of parallel origins of two different parthenosporic lineages directly from heterothallic lineages in the Closterium moniliferum–ehrenbergii (Charophyceae, Chlorophyta) species complex

Abstract Culture strains of the Closterium moniliferum-ehrenbergii species complex were classified on the basis of three types of dormant spores: zygospores formed by homothallic and heterothallic conjugation and parthenospores formed without conjugation. Two parthenosporic strains of C. moniliferum from Hiroshima, Japan, and Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, and two parthenosporic strains of C. ehrenbergii from Okinawa, Japan, and Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, were used in the present study. Morphological observations on the process of parthenospore formation and germination were made using light and fluorescence microscopy. Parthenosporic strains of the two species essentially shared the same manner of parthenospore formation. Germination of parthenospores in C. moniliferum produced one germling without any meiotic event. The phylogenetic relationship between parthenosporic strains of the two species and among homothallic, heterothallic and parthenosporic strains were analysed on the basis of joint sequences of the 1506 group I intron and internal transcribed spacer-2 (ITS-2) regions of nuclear ribosomal DNA, using maximum likelihood. Phylogenetic analysis showed that parthenosporic strains of C. moniliferum and C. ehrenbergii were not monophyletic. Parthenosporic strains of C. ehrenbergii were in the same clade with heterothallic mating group K of the same species, whereas parthenosporic strains of C. moniliferum were sister to heterothallic mating group M of C. ehrenbergii. Inferred secondary-structure models of ITS-2 showed some common features among the three reproductive systems. The present study confirmed the hypothesis that parthenosporic populations have been derived from heterothallic populations in the C. moniliferum–ehrenbergii complex.
Free Shipping Promotions and Product Returns

Free shipping promotions have become popular among online retailers. However, little is known about their influence on consumers’ purchases, return behavior, and, ultimately, firm profit. The authors propose that free shipping promotions encourage customers to make riskier purchases, leading to more product returns. They estimate the impact of these promotions on purchase incidence, high-risk and low-risk spend, and return share. The results show that free shipping promotions increase expenditure for high-risk products, expanding their share of the consumer’s market basket and thus increasing the overall return rate. This is validated in a field experiment. A field test and an online lab experiment analyze the mechanism linking free shipping and returns. The results suggest that the free shipping effect occurs through consumers’ perceptions that free shipping serves as a risk premium compensating them for potential returns and through positive affect generated by the promotion. A simulation shows that for the focal firm, free shipping promotions increase net sales volume, but higher product returns and lost shipping revenue render these promotions unprofitable.
Water Status of Rhizobia in Relation to their Susceptibility to Desiccation and to their Protection by Montmorillonite

SUMMARY: The greater susceptibility to desiccation of the Rhizobium leguminosarum group of rhizobia compared with the slow-growing rhizobia is related to the different amounts of water retained by these groups of bacteria at any relative vapour pressure, rather than differences in rates of water movement into or out of the bacteria. The higher retention of water by the R. leguminosarum group at any relative vapour pressure is related to greater availability of adsorptive surface area, and to higher surface energies resulting in a greater affinity for water. Although the internal osmotic pressure is greater in the slow-growing group than in the R. leguminosarum group, it is concluded that differences in internal solute concentrations cannot account for the different adsorption isotherms found for these groups. Montmorillonitic clay protects the fast-growing R. leguminosarum group from the effects of desiccation, but not the slow-growing group. Ca-montmorillonite retains greater quantities of water at any relative vapour pressure than either group of bacteria. Possible mechanisms of protection of the bacteria by the clay are discussed in terms of relative affinities for water under desiccation conditions.
Factors affecting clover root weevil (Sitona lepidus) numbers and clover production

Abstract The impact of a range of simulated pasture management options on damage to white clover resulting from the presence of the clover root weevil was evaluated in a glasshouse experiment. Pasture management options included were irrigation, cutting regime, cultivar, soil fertility (Olsen P) level, and nitrogen application. Two different soil types were used. White clover growth was significantly enhanced by moist soil conditions, as were clover root weevil (CRW) larval numbers recovered per plot. Few (<1%) CRW larvae developed from the eggs (applied at 4000/m2) under dry soil conditions. Dry soil conditions dominated any effect that could be attributed to other treatments. More (c. 10.5%) CRW larvae developed under moist soil conditions, but clover plants tolerated this without significant losses to shoot production, although it did significantly (P = 0.01) affect shoot/ root ratio (on average 50% lower when CRW larvae were present). More clover dry matter was produced on mineral soil (P < 0.05), when nitrogen was applied (P < 0.05) and when the cultivar ‘Challenge’ was used instead of ‘Prop’ (P < 0.001). Cutting regime had a minor influence (P < 0.10) on clover production but the influence of Olsen‐P level was not significant.
Species of Bursaphelenchus Fuchs, 1937 (Nematoda: Parasitaphelenchidae) associated with maritime pine in Portugal

Species of Bursaphelenchus associated with maritime pine, Pinus pinaster, from Portugal – within and outside the quarantine restricted demarcated zone of B. xylophilus – are described and characterised both morphologically (LM and SEM) and with the use of molecular biology (ITS-RFLP). A new staining method for spicules is proposed. Species include B. hellenicus, B. hylobianum, B. leoni, B. pinophilus, B. sexdentati, B. tusciae, B. teratospicularis, B. xylophilus and Bursaphelenchus sp. 1. Bursaphelenchus hylobianum was collected from the insect Hylobius sp. The most frequent species in the demarcated zone, besides B. xylophilus, was Bursaphelenchus sp. 1. Morphological characterisation is compared with the original descriptions and discussed. The differentiation between B. pinophilus and B. sexdentati is not clear in the literature and is discussed. Since differentiation of B. xylophilus (mucronate form) from B. mucronatus, and B. pinophilus from B. sexdentati, as well as their juvenile forms, is almost im possible on the basis of morphological features, a molecular approach based on ITS-RFLPs was used. Ribosomal DNA containing the 5.8S gene, the internal transcribed spacer region 1 and 2, and partial regions of 18S and 28S gene were amplified by PCR. Restriction profiles of the amplified products generated species-specific differences, leading to the unambiguous identification of isolates belonging to B. xylophilus, B. mucronatus, B. sexdentati, B. tusciae and B. hylobianum.
Stability and Stabilization for T–S Fuzzy Large-Scale Interconnected Power System With Wind Farm via Sampled-Data Control

This article focuses on the stability and stabilization analysis of large-scale multiarea interconnected power systems (LSMAIPSs) involving the wind farm through the Lyapunov stability theory. Instead of linearizing the nonlinear model at a certain operating point the Takagi–Sugeno (T–S) fuzzy model is able to achieve better performance. In this article, a doubly fed induction generator (DFIG)-based wind turbine systems (WTSs) are integrated into each area of the power system. The main reason behind the integration is because the power factor has the ability to destabilize the performance of the power supply. To ensure the stability of the LSMAIPS, a decentralized sampled-data feedback load frequency control is designed. The stability and stabilization conditions are derived through constructing suitable Lyapunov function which contains the sampling information and the solvable linear matrix inequalities (LMIs) along with an evaluation of $H_{\infty }$ performance. To an evident, the simulation results are performed based on experimental values of two-area large-scale interconnected power system with DFIG-based wind farm, which guarantees the asymptotic stability of the proposed T–S fuzzy system under the sampled-data controller.
Evaluation of faba bean for resistance to Ascochyta fabae and development of host differentials for race identification.

A total of 372 populations of fava bean (Vicia faba) were evaluated for resistance to Ascochyta fabae under field and growth room conditions. In the field, fava bean populations varied considerably in reaction to two isolates of A. fabae. After three cycles of testing and mass selection, the level of heterogeneity was reduced, but no population was homogeneous for resistance. A total of 18 and 11 populations were identified with >80% plants resistant to isolates A and Y 1 , respectively, and two populations had >80% plants resistant to both isolates (.)
Changes in the floristic composition of cerrado sensu stricto in Brazil over a nine-year period

Changes in floristic composition and structure in a cerrado sensu stricto area were studied over a 9-y period. A sample of 19 (20-m × 50-m) permanent plots was assessed at 3-y intervals from 1985 to 1994, when all stems ≥ 5 cm at 0.30 m above the ground level were measured. There was little change in species composition over the period. Changes in density and basal area of the whole community were in the range of 5% over the 9 y. These parameters fluctuated over the years with the greatest differences found in the comparisons of 1991, 2 y after an accidental fire reached the site, with other years. The changes in density and basal area were greater than in several tropical forests, probably due to disturbances such as fire occurring at 3 to 5-y intervals. The nearly constant density and basal area suggested a highly resilient community.
Variability of mango accessions resistance to dieback disease caused by Lasiodiplodia theobromae and Neofusicoccum parvum

Mango growing is one of the main agricultural activities in the fruit sector in Brazil for the internal and export market. The crop is subject to damage caused by the fungi Lasiodiplodia theobromae and Neofusicoccum parvum, especially mango dieback disease, which limits the yield and longevity of the mango tree. In spite of the importance of these pathogens, studies regarding sources of resistance in mango are rare. The aim of this study was to evaluate 75 accessions of mango available in the germplasm bank regarding resistance to the fungi L. theobromae and N. parvum to support breeding programs for mango growing. Evaluations were carried out from Apr 2016 to Mar 2018. Conidia suspensions of 10 conidia mL of L. theobromae or N. parvum were applied with a manual sprayer on young branches. Accessions were considered resistant when disease symptoms were absent on more than 90% of the branches at three different periods of inoculation. Thirty-three accessions showed resistance to L. theobromae and 19 accessions showed resistance to N. parvum. Six accessions were most susceptible (<50%) to L. theobromae, whereas 25 accessions were most susceptible to N. parvum. The accessions ‘Apple DCG’, ‘Ataulfo’, ‘Da porta’, ‘Dashehari’, ‘Espada’, ‘Haden’, ‘Haden 2H’, ‘Heidi’, ‘Irwin’, ‘Keitt’, ‘Kent’, ‘Néldica’, ‘Recife’, and ‘Smith’ showed resistance to the two pathogens and can be used as sources of resistance to the two fungi in mango breeding studies, or these accessions can even be recommended for use as commercial cultivars. Key-words: Mangifera indica, Botryosphaeriaceae, Germplasm
Automatic State Machine Reconstruction From Legacy Programmable Logic Controller Using Data Collection and SAT Solver

Nowadays an increasing number of industries are considering moving toward being Industry 4.0 compliant. But this transition is not straightforward: transfer to new system can lead to significant production downtime, resulting in delays and cost overruns. The best way is systematic seamless transition to newer and advanced technologies that Industry 4.0 offers. This article proposes a framework based on automatic synthesis methods that learns the behavior of an existing legacy programmable logic controller (PLC) and generates state machines that can be incorporated into IEC 61499 function blocks. Proposed algorithms are based on Boolean satisfiability (SAT) solvers. The first algorithm accepts a set of noisy PLC traces and produces a set of candidate state machines that satisfy the traces. The second algorithm accepts error-free traces and synthesizes a modular controller that may be distributed across several physical devices. The toolchain architecture is exemplified on a laboratory scale Festo mechatronic system.
Automatic Building Extraction via Adaptive Iterative Segmentation With LiDAR Data and High Spatial Resolution Imagery Fusion

Extracting buildings from remotely sensed data is a fundamental task in many geospatial applications. However, this task is resistant to automation due to variability in building shapes and the environmental complexity surrounding buildings. To solve this problem, this article introduces a novel automatic building extraction method that integrates LiDAR data and high spatial resolution imagery using adaptive iterative segmentation and hierarchical overlay analysis based on data fusion. An adaptive iterative segmentation method overcomes over- and undersegmentation based on the globalized probability of boundary contour detection algorithm. A data-fusion-based hierarchical overlay analysis extracts building candidate regions based on segmentation results. A morphological operation optimizes a building candidate region to obtain final building results. Experiments were conducted on the international society for photogrammetry and remote sensing (ISPRS) Vaihingen benchmark dataset. The extracted building footprints were compared with those extracted using the state-of-the-art methods. Evaluation results show that the proposed method achieved the highest area-based quality compared to results from the other tested methods on the ISPRS website. A detailed comparison with four state-of-the-art methods shows that the proposed method requiring no samples achieves competitive extraction results. Furthermore, the proposed method achieved a completeness of 94.1%, a correctness of 90.3%, and a quality of 85.5% over the whole Vaihingen dataset, indicating that the method is robust, with great potential in practical applications.
Seasonal growth patterns of southern rata (Metrosideros umbellata), Camp Creek, Westland, New Zealand

Abstract Shoot and diameter growth of southern rata (Metrosideros umbellata Cav.) were measured at four south-aspect sites (1982–1983 and 1983–1984) covering the altitudinal range of the species in Camp Creek, and at two higher altitude north-aspect sites (1981–1982 to 1983–1984). Shoot growth in canopy trees at all sites was limited to the expansion of leaf primordia present in the overwintering bud. Where vigorous seedlings retained an apical meristem over winter, shoots grew continuously throughout the next growing season. Rata seedlings began growth earlier, grew more rapidly, and completed extension growth ahead of canopy foliage in mature trees. Shoot extension followed the pattern of prevailing temperature, with bud growth starting when mean weekly temperatures reached 5–6°C. The start of growth in spring was delayed by 3.5 to 4.0 days for each 100 m increase in altitude. Cooler temperatures in spring 1982 delayed bud break at high altitude sites by about 4 weeks, but had little effect at the lowes.
GeoNat v1.0: A dataset for natural feature mapping with artificial intelligence and supervised learning

Machine learning allows “the machine” to deduce the complex and sometimes unrecognized rules governing spatial systems, particularly topographic mapping, by exposing it to the end product. Often, the obstacle to this approach is the acquisition of many good and labeled training examples of the desired result. Such is the case with most types of natural features. To address such limitations, this research introduces GeoNat v1.0, a natural feature dataset, used to support artificial intelligence‐based mapping and automated detection of natural features under a supervised learning paradigm. The dataset was created by randomly selecting points from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Geographic Names Information System and includes approximately 200 examples each of 10 classes of natural features. Resulting data were tested in an object‐detection problem using a region‐based convolutional neural network. The object‐detection tests resulted in a 62% mean average precision as baseline results. Major challenges in developing training data in the geospatial domain, such as scale and geographical representativeness, are addressed in this article. We hope that the resulting dataset will be useful for a variety of applications and shed light on training data collection and labeling in the geospatial artificial intelligence domain.
Correlation of thrombosed vessel location and clot burden score with severity of disease and risk stratification in patients with acute pulmonary embolism

Objective: Computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) is used for the main diagnosis in acute pulmonary embolism (APE). Determining the thrombus location in the pulmonary vascular tree is also important for predicting disease severity. This study aimed to analyze the correlation of the thrombus location and the clot burden with the disease severity and the risk stratification in patients with APE. Methods: The study included patients with APE diagnosed by CTPA who were admitted to the hospital between January 28, 2016, and July 1, 2019. Data collected were markers of severity in APE, including patient demographics, comorbidities, length of hospital stay, pulmonary embolism severity index (PESI) score, modified PESI score, Wells score, risk stratification according to the American Heart Association, systolic blood pressure (SBP), right ventricle diameter to left ventricle diameter ratio, pulmonary arterial pressure, brain natriuretic peptide, troponin, D-dimer, and plasma lactate levels, and vessel location of the thrombus, clot burden score, ratio of the pulmonary artery trunk diameter/aortic diameter, superior vena cava diameter (SVC) by CTPA, and survival. All parameters were analyzed in correlation with clot load and vessel location. Results: Thrombus vascular location was found to be correlated with risk stratification and negatively correlated with SBP. Simplified Mastora score was correlated with risk stratification, SVC diameter, and D-dimer and negatively correlated with SBP. Occlusion of both the pulmonary artery trunk and any pulmonary artery with thrombus was associated with massive APE. Conclusion: The level of the occluded vessel on CTPA may provide the ability to risk-stratify, and the clot burden score may be used for assessing both risk stratification and cardiac strain.
Streamflow Alterations, Attributions, and Implications in Extended East Rapti Watershed, Central-Southern Nepal

Streamflow alteration and subsequent change in long-term average, seasonality, and extremes (e.g., floods and droughts) may affect water security, which is a major concern in many watersheds across the globe. Both climatic and anthropogenic activities may contribute to such changes. Therefore, this study assesses: (i) Streamflow and precipitation trends to identify streamflow alterations in the Extended East Rapti (EER) watershed in central-southern Nepal; (ii) relationship of the alterations to climatic and anthropogenic sources; and (iii) implications of streamflow changes to the socio-environmental system. The trends in streamflow were analyzed for pre-and post-1990 periods considering the abrupt shift in temperature trend in 1990. Results showed a general decreasing trends in discharge post-1990 in the EER watershed. Human activities have significantly contributed in altering streamflow in the EER. Human-induced streamflow alterations have affected the water availability, food security, river health, aquatic biodiversity, and groundwater abstraction in the EER watershed.