Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
SPATIAL VARIATION IN BAT SPECIES RICHNESS IN A FOREST-GRASSLAND TRANSITIONAL REGION OF SOUTHEASTERN SOUTH AMERICA

The latitudinal diversity gradient is the most well-known ecological pattern. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain this biodiversity gradient. However, the predictors of species richness at continental scales may have different effects at regional scales, and even lose importance. Here we tested the effects of climate, energy, and habitat heterogeneity on the spatial variation of bat species richness in a forest-grassland transitional region, in southeastern South America. Our main goals were to assess which variables better explain bat species richness, and to analyze redundancy and complementarity among hypotheses. We generated three regression models, being each model related to a hypothesis, and compared R-squared among models. Then, we estimated redundancy and complementarity among hypotheses by partitioning the variation in species richness into unique and shared effects among hypotheses. Climate explained a larger proportion of the spatial variation of bat species (RÂ² = 0.97, p < 0.0001), followed by heterogeneity (RÂ² = 0.94, p < 0.0001), and energy (RÂ² = 0.93, p < 0.0001), respectively. Variation partitioning analysis showed that climate explained the largest proportion of richness variation (83%). Energy and heterogeneity explained 55% and 51% of bat richness, respectively. The amount of variation explained uniquely by climate and heterogeneity were identical (RÂ² = 0.09) whereas energy explained a small fraction of the variation (RÂ² < 0.01). We conclude that climatic conditions coupled with habitat heterogeneity were the main predictors of bat richness in a forest-grassland transitional region and that the variables explaining regional richness gradient were the same at continental scale.
Selection of Influential Microfabric Properties of Anisotropic Amphibolite Rocks on Its Uniaxial Compressive Strength (UCS): A Comprehensive Statistical Study

Occasionally, in complex inherent characteristics of certain rocks, especially anisotropic rocks it may be difficult to measure the uniaxial compressive strength UCS. However, the use of empirical relationships to evaluate the UCS of rock can be more practical and economical. Consequently, this study carried out to predict UCS from microfabrics properties of banded amphibolite rocks using multiple regression analysis. Based on statistical results, rock microfabric parameters, which adequately represent the UCS of a given rock type have been selected. The results show that grain size, shape factor and quartz content have high significant correlation with UCS at 95% confidence level. From multiple regression model, approximately 84% of the variance of the UCS can be estimated by the linear combination of these three parameters. However, according to model performance criteria: correlation coefficient (R = 0.919), variance account for (VAF = 97%) and root mean square error (RMSE = 4.16) the study clearly indicates that the developed model is reliable to predict the UCS. Finally, this approach can be easily extended to the modeling of rock strength in the absence of adequate geological information or abundant data.
Optical excitation thermography with VCSEL-array source

A novel VCSEL array combines the high temporal flexibility of a laser source with the full field radiation characteristics of an array and yields a new optical excitation source for active thermography that can merge the two regimes of flash and lock-in thermography. Among others, we investigate the possibility of multiplex photothermics for two-dimensional material characterization, e. g. thickness mapping. Several first test results will be presented that demonstrate possibilities and capabilities of this new optical excitation source and compare it to conventional sources.
Optimization of Ultrasound-assisted Extraction of Phenolic Compounds from Salicornia herbacea Powder

Salicornia herbacea is rich in natural minerals, dietary fibers, and potentially health-promoting phenolic compounds. In this paper, an experimental design was applied for the optimization of the ultrasound-assisted extraction of phenolic compounds from lyophilized Salicornia herbacea powder. The experiments were conducted in accordance with a five-level, three-variable central composite rotatable design (CCRD), and the effects of solvent concentration, extraction time, and extraction temperature were evaluated via response surface methodology (RSM). The optimal extraction conditions were as follows: ethanol concentration, 76.80%; extraction time, 20 min; and extraction temperature, 33.21℃; and the solvent concentration was the most significant parameter in this process, under which the predicted total phenolic content was 49.91 ㎎ GAE/g sample.
An exploratory study of the perspectives of clinical preceptors about difficult student situations during clinical teaching of final year undergraduate nursing students

The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions of clinical preceptors (CPs) about difficult student situations during clinical teaching and the strategies they use to deal with such situations in the clinical setting. The participants were nurses who perform the role of clinical preceptor for senior nursing students at a University Hospital. The study used a descriptive qualitative approach to collect data through focus group discussions (FGD). Transcribed FGD data were content analyzed and coded to generate categories of difficult student situations in the clinical setting. The findings show that the CPs perceptions about difficult student situations in the clinical setting fall under four major categories of slothfulness, obstinateness, attentiveness and selfishness. The CPs also identified some of the strategies they use to manage these difficult student situations. In conclusion, it seems that during clinical teaching CPs experience challenging difficult student situations some of which can be considered as incivility and have significant implications for clinical teaching or learning and patient care outcomes. There is need for further studies about difficult student situations and incivility in the clinical setting and the effect it has on clinical student teaching, learning outcomes, and patient safety.
Adaptive neural output feedback control of stochastic nonlinear systems with unmodeled dynamics

An adaptive neural output feedback control scheme is investigated for a class of stochastic nonlinear systems with unmodeled dynamics and unmeasured states. The unmeasured states are estimated by K-filters, and unmodeled dynamics is dealt with by introducing a novel description based on Lyapunov function. The neural networks weight vector used to approximate the black box function is adjusted online. The unknown nonlinear system functions are handled together with some functions resulting from theoretical deduction, and such method effectively reduces the number of adaptive tuning parameters. Using dynamic surface control (DSC) technique, Ito formula, and Chebyshev’s inequality, the designed controller can guarantee that all the signals in the closed-loop system are bounded in probability, and the error signals are semiglobally uniformly ultimately bounded in mean square or the sense of four-moment. Simulation results are provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Controlling Antibody Immobilization by Laser Micro-processing

Understanding the state of an individual’s health is a complex procedure that requires simultaneous measurement of several markers. The enzyme-linked immunoSorbent assay (ELISA) method generally used to perform blood tests requires many samples, and antigen-antibody reactions take a long time. We have developed a plastic chip that simultaneously achieves sandwich ELISA protocols of multiple targets in one channel. This chip leads to a reduction in both the sample quantity and the in reaction time.
A physiological comparison between idiopathic and post-hysterectomy constipation

SUMMARY In order to gain more insight into the pathophysiology of severe constipation, anorectal manometry, sphincter electromyography, whole gut tansit time and a test of defaecation of a simulated stool were carried out in 22 female patients with severe idiopathic constipation, 14 patients with severe constipation after hysterectomy and 20 female normal controls. Only 1/23 patient with idiopathic constipation compared with 6/14 patients with post hysterectomy constipation showed normal transit time (p<0.01). In those with abnormal transit, the markers were in the distal colon in patients with post hysterectomy constipation but were likely to be spread along the colon in patients with idiopathic constipation. Seven patients with post hysterectomy constipation showed abnormal anal pressure oscillations [amplitude: 10-50cmH2O (median=25cmH2O); frequency: 4-10min-1 (median=8min-1)] during basal recordings, compared with only 1 patient with idiopathic constipation (p<0.01). There were no significant differences in basal and squeeze anal pressures between any of the groups, but similar percentages of patients in each constipated group showed paradoxical increases in the electrical activity of the EAS when they strained to pass a simulated stool. The lowest rectal volumes required to induce initial and sustained anal relaxation and to elicit sensations of desire to defaecate and discomfort were significantly higher (p<0.05) in both groups of patients with constipation compared with normal controls. In conclusion, though the two groups of constipation share some similarities, the defect is more localized in the anorectum in patients with post hysterectomy constipation. Key words: Post-hysterectomy, idiopathic, constipation inhibition in 50%
Calcification in Smaller and Larger Infrarenal Aneurysmatic Abdominal Aortas- Differences in Plaque Patterns -

Introduction: Multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) has established concerning analysis and quantification of vascular calcification in various vessels. We used MDCT for assessment of plaque architecture in smaller (<50 mm) and larger (≥50 mm) infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA). Material & Methods: Study included 42 patients (<50 mm: n=20; ≥50 mm: n=22), who all underwent MDCT. Two readers performed quantitative and qualitative analysis, including calculation of calcium scores and measurement of plaque size and thickness. Calcium scores were calculated; t-tests were done to look for statistical differences between calcium scores and density ratios (=calcium score/aortic cross-sectional area). Cardiovascular risk factors were compared in patients with smaller and larger aneurysms. Results: Calcium scores significantly rose with AAA diameter (mean value in smaller aneurysms: 488.8±375.7; in larger aneurysms: 1,687 ± 923; p< 0.001), but no considerable difference was seen in density ratios. Plaque architecture changed: while larger aneurysms mainly contained thin (1 or 2 mm) or intermediate (3 or 4 mm) plaques in circular or mixed grouped-circular arrangement, smaller aneurysms had thicker (≥5 mm) plaques that covered less than half of vessel circumference. On average, subjects had more than 2 cardiovascular risk factors with hypertension being the most frequent one. Number of cardiovascular risk factors present increased with AAA size, in larger aneurysms patients had 3.0 ± 1.2 risk factors compared to a mean of 1.8 ± 1.1 in smaller aneurysms (p=0.001). Conclusion: Plaque pattern is different in smaller and larger AAA with thicker and more grouped plaques present in smaller AAA, which might have a stabilizing function on vessel wall.
Fuzzy Clustering For Speaker Identification MFCC + Neural Network

Speaker identification is a biometric system. In speaker identification the task is to determine the unknown speaker identity by selecting one from the whole population. The key idea is that it uses fuzzy clustering, to partition the original large population into subgroups. Clustering is done based on some features of the speeches. For a speaker under test, first conduct the fuzzy clustering based classification. Then apply MFCC + Neural network identification approach to the selected leaf node to determine the unknown speaker.
An energy expedition: experiences of a Dutch collective of house owners aiming for energy neutrality

The municipality of Apeldoorn had polled the interest among its private home-owners to turn their homes energy neutral. Based on the enthusiastic response, Apeldoorn saw the launch of the Energy Apeldoorn (#ENEXAP) in 2011. Its goal was to convert to it technically and financially possible for privately owned homes to be refurbished and to energy neutral, taking the residential needs and wishes from occupants as the starting point. The project was called an Expedition, because although the goal was clear, the road to get there wasn’t. The Expedition team comprised businesses, civil-society organisations, the local university of applied sciences, the municipality of Apeldoorn, and of course, residents in a central role. The project was supported by Platform31, as part of the Dutch government’s Energy Leap programme. The #ENEXAP involved 38 homes, spread out through Apeldoorn and surrounding villages. Even though the houses were very diverse, the group of residents was quite similar: mostly middle- aged, affluent people who highly value the environment and sustainability. An important aspect of the project was the independent and active role residents played. In collaboration with businesses and professionals, through meetings, excursions, workshops and by filling in a step- by-step plan on the website, the residents gathered information about their personal situation, the energy performance of their home and the possibilities available for them to save and generate energy themselves. Businesses were encouraged to develop an integrated approach for home-owners, and consortia were set up by businesses to develop the strategy, products and services needed to meet this demand. On top of making minimal twenty from the thirty-eight houses in the project energy neutral, the ultimate goal was to boost the local demand for energy- neutral refurbishment and encourage an appropriate supply of services, opening up the (local) market for energy neutral refurbishment. This paper will reflect on the outcomes of this collective in the period 2011-2015.
Adaptive Fusion Color and Haar-like Feature Object Tracking Based on Particle Filter

The conventional kernel color histogram based particle filter (CHGPF) object tracking algorithm suffers from cluttered backgrounds and illumination changes and results in tracking lost easily. In this paper, a particle filter based object tracking algorithm fusing color and haar-like feature (CHAPF) is proposed. As haar-like features descript the object structure in multi-scale model, the haar- like feature based Semi-Supervised On-line Boosting (HSEMOB) tracking algorithm can well distinguish between the object and background, and be adaptive to changes of the object and environment by updating haar-like features. In our proposed algorithm, the results of HSEMOB and CHGPF are weighted adaptively to obtain a new particle filter weights. So, the color-based and haar-like based observations are fused into the framework of particle filter to make it adapt to the change of scene. Algorithm performance is tested with the environment complex videos. Experimental results show that the algorithm has better accuracy compared to CHGPF and HSEMOBPF for the scene of an object has similar appearance to the background or changes of illumination.
Variation in dung beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) assemblages with altitude in the Bulgarian Rhodopes Mountains: A comparison

Variation with altitude in the composition of dung beetle assemblages and species richness was measured by sampling in spring, summer and autumn, both manually and with pitfall traps at twelve localities in the western Rhodopes Mountains. Non- parametric estimates indicate that most of the regional species pool was collected, some 73% of all taxa previously recorded in the entire region. The rate of species richness decrease with altitude is around 11 species per km, with an evident altitudinal change in the incidence of two main dung beetle functional groups in which Aphodiinae species begin to dominate Rhodopes assemblages at around 1400-1500 m. Species richness of dung pats is dominated by Scarabaeinae in spite of the fact that the number of Aphodiinae species is highest at each locality. Thus, Aphodiinae species are the main contributors to both local and regional pool richness and to species turnover between localities. These characteristics are similar to those observed in the assemblages from another European mountain range, also located near the Mediterranean-Eurosiberian boundary, the Iberian Central System. These results suggest that eastern European dung beetle assemblages are similar in compositional turnover and species richness variation with altitude to that observed in western Europe and North America.
Rate of returns to education for secondary school techers in Bangladesh with bootstrap sampling

Rate of returns to education is very important for policy makers and investors. Numerous works have been done regarding this but very few are available in the context of Bangladesh, specially addressing the teachers in Bangladesh. This paper investigates the labour market returns to education for the secondary school teachers of Bangladesh with the help of a nationwide survey. Different returns to different aspects of the determinants of labour market including teacher quality and school quality were perceived. Also bootstrap sampling method was utilized to ensure the accuracy of the results. The results may assist, in different ways, to understand the wage-education mechanism for the teachers in Bangladesh.
Advancing the Next Generation of Higher Education Scholars: An Examination of One Doctoral Classroom

Course content in graduate school is especially important in terms of helping students make progress toward a doctorate. However, content is merely one aspect of developing successful students. This article highlights the value of creating an affirming learning environment by discussing one graduate class on Qualitative Policy Research. The majority of student participants were graduate students of color. The authors discuss the pedagogical approaches guiding this course and outline ways in which the instructor served to create safe spaces that invited as well as validated diverse perspectives and made the research process transparent. These efforts resulted in the production of high quality research used as pilot studies for successful dissertation defenses, accepted presentations at scholarly conferences, and published articles in peer-reviewed journals. Throughout this article, suggestions for replicating a similar course environment are discussed.
Modelling household electricity consumption in eThekwini municipality

South African municipalities are faced with the challenges of growing demand for services. This study models the energy consumption estimation practice within the Durban municipal area. It was found that an estimation technique that accounts for the seasonal and monthly effects, as well as residential type, predicts monthly individual household electricity consumption with minimum error. Models that were developed may be used to estimate electricity consumption for household billings within a municipality.
INORGANIC ANALYSIS OF SOLIDS BY LASER ABLATION INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA-COURCE MASS SPECTROMETRY

Use of a laser for solid sample introduction to an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) mass spectrometry is described. The effect of free-running laser pulses on metals, as revealed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), is outlined. System optimization is sketched, and the use of the technique illustrated by the analysis of four nickel-base alloys.
Outcome Of Subsequent Ivf Cycles Following Antibiotic Therapy After Primary Or Multiple Previously Failed Ivf Cycles

Objective: To determine whether broad spectrum antibiotic therapy given to couples following a failed IVF cycle will improve the chance of achieving a successful pregnancy in the subsequent IVF cycle. Design: In an academically affiliated private infertility center retrospective analysis of clinical data of 52 couples who previously failed one or multiple IVF cycles and subsequently was treated with broad spectrum antibiotics was carried out. All females were treated with intravenous Clindamycin combined with intrauterine lavages using a broad spectrum antibiotic combination. 26 males received intravenous Clindamycin and for those who declined, Augmentin 875 mgs twice daily for fourteen days was substituted. For both males and females theses regimens were followed by oral doxicycline, 100 mgs twice daily for three weeks. Results: There was a significantly improved chance for the couples to achieve a successful pregnancy following antibiotic therapy when compared with historical controls in conventional repeat IVF cycles. Except for one case of preeclampsia, there was no other pregnancy-related complication. Cesarean section was performed on an elective basis, none of the newborns suffered from IUGR. For the 19 deliveries there were 24 neonatal ICU days, all but four for the twins' and triplets' deliveries. For singleton pregnancies, there were no perinatal maternal or fetal complications. Conclusion: These findings suggest that a certain number of failures during IVF cycles are due to an intrauterine infection that could affect the course of the pregnancy, the mode of delivery and cause maternal and fetal complications.
Using nano-LC-MS/MS to investigate the toxicity of outbreak E. coli O104:H4 strain

The deadliest E. coli outbreak recorded worldwide began in Germany on May 1, 2011 with a trickle of patients presenting bloody diarrhea1. By May’s end, the number of reported cases surged to 1240, including cases reported in eight other European countries2. The source for the epidemic was first associated with cucumbers from Spain3, but then subsequent investigation revised that conclusion in June to beansprout seeds from a farm in Egypt4. The whole outbreak resulted in more than 4000 reported cases, 50 deaths5, and strained hospital dialysis and plasmapheresis resources6.
Business Processes Modelling with DSM Platform at Integrated Systems Development

The first and most labor-consuming stage of information systems development is an analysis stage. At this stage the set of different formal models describing systems domains, different aspects of the created system functioning is created. The model-centric approach focuses attention on the models at the each stage of the development process. Modelling tools are used by developers and experts in specific domains. These tools must be affordable for different specialists. Created models must be clarity and understandable for all developers and domain experts. This feature is supported with domain-specific modelling tools. Language workbenches include means for domain-specific languages creation. Modelling with DSM platform is more suitable for the domain experts, system and business analysts. Different tasks of the system design and development request specific formalizing means needed for modeling. Different modelling languages and tools are used by analysts. They need to support continuity of development stages, reusability of created models for the solution of different tasks. DSM platforms provide model transformations, translation of models from one modelling language to another. These tasks are important for large projects of complex information systems development. The basis of language toolkits creation is metamodeling. The tools of MetaLanguage DSM platform, allowing designing domain specific languages and models for different domains, to transform models at systems integration, are described. Examples of metamodels and models, transformation rules are presented.