Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The metabolic power requirements of flight and estimations of flight muscle efficiency in the cockatiel (Nymphicus hollandicus)

SUMMARY Little is known about how in vivo muscle efficiency, that is the ratio of mechanical and metabolic power, is affected by changes in locomotory tasks. One of the main problems with determining in vivo muscle efficiency is the large number of muscles generally used to produce mechanical power. Animal flight provides a unique model for determining muscle efficiency because only one muscle, the pectoralis muscle, produces nearly all of the mechanical power required for flight. In order to estimate in vivo flight muscle efficiency, we measured the metabolic cost of flight across a range of flight speeds (6–13 m s−1) using masked respirometry in the cockatiel (Nymphicus hollandicus) and compared it with measurements of mechanical power determined in the same wind tunnel. Similar to measurements of the mechanical power–speed relationship, the metabolic power–speed relationship had a U-shape, with a minimum at 10 m s−1. Although the mechanical and metabolic power–speed relationships had similar minimum power speeds, the metabolic power requirements are not a simple multiple of the mechanical power requirements across a range of flight speeds. The pectoralis muscle efficiency (estimated from mechanical and metabolic power, basal metabolism and an assumed value for the ‘postural costs’ of flight) increased with flight speed and ranged from 6.9% to 11.2%. However, it is probable that previous estimates of the postural costs of flight have been too low and that the pectoralis muscle efficiency is higher.
Integrated Reading and Writing Interventions for Students with Learning Disabilities: A Review of the Literature

In this systematic review of literature that spans 1975–2015, integrated reading and writing interventions for students with learning disabilities (LD) or students with academic difficulties were evaluated to understand the extant research, identify encouraging practices, and guide future research. Ten studies met inclusion criteria and each study was evaluated according to the relevant What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) design standards. Eight of the 10 investigations were conducted with students in grades 4–8. While only 4 of the 10 studies met WWC design with or without reservations, results from these studies are encouraging. Study findings suggest several areas for immediate future research relating to methodological and treatment variables and considerations for classroom instruction in order to respond to advanced expectations for the successful integration of reading and writing across subjects. In addition to employing stronger experimental designs and additional replications of encouraging studies, future research should explore the utility of integrated reading and writing interventions with secondary students with who have academic difficulties.
Simultaneous high-strength organic and nitrogen removal with combined anaerobic upflow bed filter and aerobic membrane bioreactor

Biological treatment of high-strength nitrogen wastewater by a combined anaerobic (upflow sludge bed filter, UBF)/aerobic (membrane bioreactor, MBR) system has been studied. This system exhibited high performance on the removal of organic matter and nitrogen simultaneously. Organic and nitrogen concentrations increased from 6,000 to 14,500 mg/L and 300 to 1,000 mg/L, respectively. At the internal recycle ratio of Q (Q is the influent flow rate), average removal efficiencies of organic and total nitrogen were found to be 99 and 46%, respectively with the relatively short HRT of 24 h. When operated with the insufficient alkalinity supply, the organic removal efficiency in anaerobic reactor reduced from 98 to 82%. At high influent ammonia concentration, ammonification which is the dissimilatory nitrate reduction to NH4 + was observed. In case of membrane fouling, transmembrane pressure (TMP) of the combined process was about 9 times higher than that of a unit MBR under same operation conditions. The reason of severe fouling in the combined system might be caused by increased extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) and *Corresponding author. Desalination 202 (2007) 114–121 0011-9164/06/$– See front matter © 2006 Published by Elsevier B.V. doi:10.1016/j.desal. 2005.12. 046
Crop discrimination using remote sensing data in a region of high marginalization

This work was realized in the state of Guerrero, Mexico considered a high marginalization region in the country. The aim of this work was to generate the agricultural frontier and to determine the spatial distribution of maize and beans from satellite images using two classification algorithms. Of the entire state area (6,357, 781 hectares), 15.6% is occupied by agriculture. Of this, 244,585 hectares are occupied with corn and 18,034 with beans. The kappa coefficient indicates that the classification performed for Maxlike and MinDist is 91% and 89 % respectively. The results can support the design of strategies to address climate change concerns in the producing areas of corn and beans, with new varieties adaptable to current weather conditions for the benefit of farmers, particularly those located in areas of high marginality and vulnerability.
3.5.4 A COTS‐Aware Requirements Engineering Process: a Goal‐ and Agent‐oriented Approach

The goals of developing systems better, faster, and cheaper continue to drive software engineering practitioners and researchers to investigate software engineering methodologies. In requirements engineering, the focus has been on modeling the software engineering process and products for systems that are being built from scratch. As the size and complexity of systems continues to grow the use of commercial off the shelf (COTS) components is being viewed as a solution. Effective use of COTS components, however, requires a systematic approach that provides both a set of concepts for modeling the subject matter and a set of guidelines for using such concepts. In particular, the process needs to recognize and address the people oriented problems including the identification and resolution of conflicting goals, bridging the gaps between stated requirements and ‘approximately fitting’ components while still satisfying the customer. In this paper, we present a goal and agent oriented requirements engineering process model that explicitly addresses the use of COTS components. More specifically, we present (part of) our model for a COTS‐Aware Requirements Engineering (CARE) process and illustrate it using a Digital Library System.
Positive Results on the LIMSI Broadcast News Data

We describe a language model based on a precise, linguistically motivated grammar (a hand-crafted Head-driven Phrase Structure Grammar) and a statistical model estimating the probability of a parse tree. The language model is applied by means of an N-best rescoring step, which allows to directly measure the performance gains relative to the baseline system without rescoring. To demonstrate that our approach is feasible and ben-eﬁcial for non-trivial broad-domain speech recognition tasks, we applied it to a simpliﬁed German broadcast-news transcription task. We report a signiﬁcant reduction in word error rate compared to a state-of-the-art baseline system.
An electromagnetic basis for inertia and gravitation: What are the implications for 21st century physics and technology?

The basis of most modern technology is the manipulation of electromagnetic phenomena. Haisch, Rueda and Puthofi (1994a) published a controversial but substantive formulation of a concept proposing an explanation of inertia of matter as an electromagnetic phenomenon originating in the zero-point fleld (ZPF) of the quantum vacuum. This suggests that Newton’s equation of motion can be derived from Maxwell’s equations of electrodynamics, in that inertial mass is postulated to be not an intrinsic property of matter but rather a kind of electromagnetic drag force (which temporarily is a place holder for a more general quantum vacuum reaction efiect) that proves to be acceleration dependent by virtue of the spectral characteristics of the ZPF. Moreover the principle of equivalence implies that in this view gravitation would also be electromagnetic in origin along the lines proposed by Sakharov (1968). A NASA-funded research efiort has been underway at the Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center in Palo Alto and at California State University in Long Beach to develop and test these ideas. An efiort to generalize the 1994 ZPF-inertia concept into a proper relativistic formulation has been successful. With regard to the goals of the NASA Breakthrough Propulsion Physics Program we can, on the basis of the ZPF-inertia concept, deflnitively rule out one speculatively hypothesized propulsion mechanism: matter possessing negative inertial mass, a concept originated by Bondi (1957). The existence of this is shown to be logically impossible. On the other hand, the linked ZPF-inertia and ZPF-gravity concepts open the conceptual possibility of manipulation of inertia and gravitation, since both are postulated to be electromagnetic phenomena. Whether this will translate into actual technological potential, especially with respect to spacecraft propulsion and future interstellar travel capability, is an open question. The (possibly comparable) time scale for translation of Einstein’s E = mc 2 mass-energy relation into nuclear technology was approximately four decades. A key question is whether the proposed ZPF-matter interactions generating the phenomenon of mass might involve one or more resonances. This is presently under investigation.
Easing Cross-Border Communication: MOBILE-mediated Communication and Its Framework

Communication is probably the most critical component of an organization engaged in a crossborder collaboration. Today’s smart devices substantially contribute to such communication. Combined with social media, mobile communication technologies are becoming the main platform for many core functions within organizations. In this paper, we identified seven media identifiable attributes: synchronicity (SYN), de-individuation and co-presence (DCP), accessibility readiness (ARD), cognizance of environment change (CEC), wearability-portability (WRB) modality-select (MDS) and visibility (VSB). These seven attributes significantly impact the course of mobile-mediated communication. We believe that development of a theoretical perspective that embraces the complexity of mobile-mediated communication is due in order to fully comprehend the mobile ecosystem
Kognitiewe Vermoëns Van Persone met Regterhemisferiese Taalverteenwoordiging

Cognitive abilities of persons with right hemispheric language representation. It is well known that language functions are mostly mediated by the left cerebral hemisphere. Approximately 4% of the population (mostly left-handed people), however, have right hemispheric language representation. Theories which predict the outcome of right hemispheric language representation on cognitive abilities are contradictory and divergent. Some researchers postulate differences in cognitive abilities between persons with right hemispheric and left hemispheric language representation, whereas other researchers postulate similar cognitive abilities for the two groups. The present study indicates that there are no differences in cognitive ability between normal persons with right and with left hemispheric language representation. In the light of this finding it is postulated that people with right hemispheric language representation possibly have a crossed cerebral organization which does not lead to any cognitive deficit or advantage.
Nedd4 Controls Animal Growth by Regulating IGF-1 Signaling

Nedd4 acts through Grb10 to enhance insulin-like growth factor signaling and control animal growth. A Growth-Promoting Ubiquitin Ligase Genetic knockout of the ubiquitin ligase Nedd4 decreases insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and insulin signaling and causes delayed embryonic development, reduced growth and body weight, and neonatal lethality. Elevated Grb10 in the Nedd4-deficient cells appears to cause mislocalization of the IGF-1 receptor and prevent receptor signaling at the plasma membrane. Thus, by regulating the abundance of Grb10, a negative regulator of IGF-1 and insulin signaling, Nedd4 positively influences growth. The ubiquitin ligase Nedd4 has been proposed to regulate a number of signaling pathways, but its physiological role in mammals has not been characterized. Here we present an analysis of Nedd4-null mice to show that loss of Nedd4 results in reduced insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and insulin signaling, delayed embryonic development, reduced growth and body weight, and neonatal lethality. In mouse embryonic fibroblasts, mitogenic activity was reduced, the abundance of the adaptor protein Grb10 was increased, and the IGF-1 receptor, which is normally present on the plasma membrane, was mislocalized. However, surface expression of IGF-1 receptor was restored in homozygous mutant mouse embryonic fibroblasts after knockdown of Grb10, and Nedd4−/− lethality was rescued by maternal inheritance of a disrupted Grb10 allele. Thus, in vivo, Nedd4 appears to positively control IGF-1 and insulin signaling partly through the regulation of Grb10 function.
Open-minded discussion in interdepartmental collaboration : contribution of goal interdependence and social motives

Open-Minded Discussion in Interdepartmental Collaboration: Contribution of Goal Interdependence and Social Motives by Lu Jiewei Antonia Master of Philosophy Combining theories of social motives, goal interdependence, and conflict management, this study theorized a model in which interdepartmental goal interdependence affects conflict outcomes between different departments through open-minded discussion dynamics adopted by employees from different departments in the organization. This study also proposes that social motives moderate the link between interdepartmental goal interdependence and open-minded discussion. A sample of 133 employees from different business organizations in China were interviewed to recall a critical incident when they had a conflict with their coworker from different departments. SEM results and other analysis results support the hypotheses that cooperative interdepartmental goal interdependence and competitive goal interdependence are antecedents to employees engaging in open-minded discussion in the context of interdepartmental collaboration, and that open-minded discussion in turn influences conflict outcomes, i.e. task accomplishment, relationship strengthening, and future collaboration. Results further suggest that employee’s prosocial motive moderates the relationship between competitive goal interdependence and open-minded discussion, and that proself motive moderates the relationship between cooperative goal interdependence and open-minded discussion. Findings also suggest that practitioners promote effective interdepartmental collaboration by strengthening their prosocial motive when perceiving competitive goal and proself motive when perceiving cooperative goal, setting cooperative interdepartmental goal interdependence, and handling conflict through open-minded discussion. The study contributes to conflict management literature as well as the goal interdependence theory in the organizational behavior literatures.
Sacred violence or strategic faith? Disentangling the relationship between religion and violence in armed conflict

Why are religious conflicts more violent than non-religious conflicts? Research has argued that religion pushes partisans toward violence. However, existing research suffers from widespread problems of measurement validity and fails to confront the possibility of endogeneity in the relationship between religion and violence. This article develops a more precise measure of the relevance of religion to conflict based on the use of religious rhetoric by political organizations. With this approach in mind, this article disentangles the causal sequence linking religious rhetoric and violence using annually coded data on the rhetoric of 495 organizations worldwide from 1970 through 2012. The analysis finds a strong general correlation between religious rhetoric and violence. However, past use of religious rhetoric does not increase the likelihood that an organization will participate in violence or the overall intensity of conflict. On the contrary, previous participation in violence makes an organization more likely to adopt religious rhetoric for mobilization. Indeed, religious rhetoric becomes more likely as violence increases in intensity and conflict continues for longer periods of time. These findings suggest that violent actors adopt religious rhetoric to solve the logistical challenges associated with violence, including access to mobilizing resources and recruitment and retention of members. This article contributes to the study of religious conflict by providing evidence of endogeneity in the relationship between religion and violence and highlighting the need for temporally sensitive measures of religious mobilization.
Convention and Meaning: Derrida and Austin*

IN THE Saussurian perspective, meaning is the product of linguistic conventions, the effect of a system of differences. To account for meaning is to set forth the relations of contrast and the possibilities of combination that constitute a language. However, as many have observed, a theory that derives meaning from linguistic conventions does not account for it completely. If one conceives of meaning as the effect of linguistic relations manifested in an utterance, then one must contend with the fact that, as we say, a speaker can mean different things by the same linguistic sequence on different occasions. "Could you move that box? " may be a request, or a question about one's interlocutor's strength, or even, as rhetorical question, the resigned indication of an impossibility. Such examples seem to reinstate a model in which the subject-the consciousness of the speaker-is made the source of meaning: despite the contribution of linguistic structure, the meaning of the utterance varies from case to case; its meaning is what the speaker means by it. Confronted with such a model, the partisan of structural explanation will ask what makes it possible for the speaker to mean these several things by the one utterance. Just as we account for the meaning of sentences by analyzing the linguistic system, so we should account for the meaning of utterances (or as Austin calls it, their illocutionary
Recognizing Multitasked Activities using Stochastic Context-Free Grammar

In this paper, we present techniques for characterizing complex, multi-tasked activities that require both exemplars and models. Exemplars are used to represent object context, image features, and motion appearances to label domainspecific events. Then, by representing each event with a unique symbol, a sequence of interactions can be described as an ordered symbolic string. A model of stochastic contextfree grammar, which is developed using underlying rules of an activity, provides the structure for recognizing semantically meaningful behavior over extended periods. Symbolic strings are parsed using the Earley-Stolcke algorithm to determine the most likely semantic derivation for recognition. Parsing substrings allows us to recognize patterns that describe high-level, complex events taking place over segments of the video sequence. We introduce new parsing strategies to enable error detection and recovery in stochastic context-free grammar and methods of quantifying group and individual behavior in activities with separable roles. We show through experiments with a popular card game how high-level narratives of multi-player games as well as identification of player strategies and behavior can be extracted in real-time using vision.
ATTITUDES OF CANADIANS TOWARD THE CONTROL OF RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS

INTRODUCTION Each year across Canada, millions of dollars of damage to agricultural crops can be attributed to vertebrate pests. Estimates for 1975 indicated that approximately $240,000,000 damage was incurred by agricultural pests (Solman et al. 1975). Worldwide impact of these pests must certainly be staggering, especially during the current trend of rising production costs and demand for food. In Canada and the United States, pest control programs may be attacked by increase-ingly active and vocal environmental groups. Recently, the killing of blackbirds (Icteridae) and starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) in Kentucky and Tennessee evoked strong objection (Graham 1976, 1978; Jackson 1976). As a result, politically sensitive civil servants may feel justified in avoiding programs which involve the killing of vertebrate pests. While decision-making within the government is subject to public scrutiny and criticism, prior knowledge of public attitudes toward potential policies may enable public servants to make acceptable decisions regarding wildlife management (Hendee and Potter 1973) Unfortunately, there is a paucity of sociological research addressing the question of public attitudes toward pest control. Arthur et al. (1977) assessed the attitudes of Americans toward the conflict between environmentalists and livestock ranchers regarding the killing of coyotes (Canis Iatrans), and Buys (1975) examined the attitudes of New Mexico ranchers toward coyotes and coyote control. From these studies it was found that ranchers harbor attitudes which are resistant to the implementation of non-lethal control techniques, and that, in general, the public was more concerned about the humaneness and species specificity of control than cost effectiveness. These facts are particularly relevant to the controversy concerning red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phaeniceus) damage to corn (Zea mays) in southwestern Quebec, where members of the agricultural communities have encouraged the use of lethal control measures to decrease blackbird populations (Weatherhead et al. these proceedings). The objectives of this paper are to examine and assess the attitudes of Canadians visa -vis agricultural pest control and to include Quebec farmers' evaulations of the blackbird population, crop damage and control techniques. To achieve these objectives, the results from 3 surveys conducted during the period 1975-1978 were examined. The first was a study of the attitudes of Quebeckers toward environmentally-related outdoor activities and agricultural pest control (Clark 1979). Next, a survey of Quebec farmers was used to locate roosts, obtain crop-damage estimates and assess attitudes toward blackbirds and their control. And third, a random survey of Canadians examined attitudes toward the control of red-winged …