Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Divergence, gene flow and the origin of leapfrog geographic distributions: The history of color pattern variation in Phyllobates poison-dart frogs

The geographic distribution of phenotypic variation among closely related populations is a valuable source of information about the evolutionary processes that generate and maintain biodiversity. Leapfrog distributions, in which phenotypically similar populations are disjunctly distributed and separated by one or more phenotypically distinct populations, represent geographic replicates for the existence of a phenotype, and are therefore especially informative. These geographic patterns have mostly been studied from phylogenetic perspectives to understand how common ancestry and divergent evolution drive their formation. Other processes, such as gene flow between populations, have not received as much attention. Here we investigate the roles of divergence and gene flow between populations in the origin and maintenance of a leapfrog distribution in Phyllobates poison frogs. We found evidence for high levels of gene flow between neighboring populations but not over long distances, indicating that gene flow between populations exhibiting the central phenotype may have a homogenizing effect that maintains their similarity, and that introgression between “leapfroging” taxa has not played a prominent role as a driver of phenotypic diversity in Phyllobates. Although phylogenetic analyses suggest that the leapfrog distribution was formed through independent evolution of the peripheral (i.e. leapfrogging) populations, the elevated levels of gene flow between geographically close populations poise alternative scenarios, such as the history of phenotypic change becoming decoupled from genome-averaged patterns of divergence, which we cannot rule out. These results highlight the importance of incorporating gene flow between populations into the study of geographic variation in phenotypes, both as a driver of phenotypic diversity and as a confounding factor of phylogeographic inferences.
Harvesting energy via stimuli‐free water/moisture dissociation by mesoporous SnO2–based hydroelectric cell and CuO as a pump for atmospheric moisture

Water dissociation, in general, requires external stimuli such as light energy or electricity. Here, we present a stimuli‐free water dissociation using mesoporous SnO2–based hydroelectric cell that can directly be exploited to generate electric power for portable applications. The device configuration is almost identical to metal‐air batteries but follows altogether a different reaction pathway. The mesoporous SnO2–based hydroelectric cell dissociates water molecule into hydroxyl ions (OH‐) and hydronium ion without any stimuli, transports hydronium ions to the opposite end, and simultaneously acts as the separator. The OH‐ react with Al electrode to release the electrons, whereas hydronium ions get reduced at the Ag electrode to produce a potential difference as high as ~1000 ± 20 mV between the electrodes that is stable over 3500 hours. The device also shows its potential toward electric power generation from atmospheric moisture with the help of CuO layer that acts as moisture pump.
Determinants of performance of new ventures located in Portuguese incubators and science parks with a focus on institutional factors: do rural and urban new ventures differ?

ABSTRACT The literature focusing on rural and urban entrepreneurship has so far overlooked the conditions in which different institutional contexts can affect firms’ performance. The present study addressed this gap by investigating the extent to which institutional factors impact distinctively the performance of rural and urban newly created ventures. Based on data gathered through a direct questionnaire, we obtained 408 responses from newly created ventures located in Portuguese business incubators and science parks. Resorting to econometric binary (logit) models, we found that certain institutional factors, namely EU policy support, financial support from other sources than not banks, business advice for starting up/ ongoing activities, and collaboration to access new markets, are critical for new venture export performance, particularly those located in rural settings. To a larger extent than for urban, rural new venture economic-related performance positive and significantly depend on central government policy support, close relatives’ role models, and technological support at the R&D collaboration level. Given the relevance of embeddedness-related factors in rural municipalities, public authorities should follow strategies that involve a growing connection between rural entrepreneurs and a variety of actors from industry, academia and the public and private sectors in order to foster newly created venture performance.
Stakeholders Perspectives on Unaccompanied Minors

Abstract In 2017 it was estimated that there were more than 60 million refugees worldwide, half of whom were children, including unaccompanied minors. The characteristics of unaccompanied minors have been relatively understudied, and it is recognized that there is the need for systematic knowledge to support the intervention being carried out with this group at an European level. This article presents the results of a research project aimed to characterize the reception and host contexts of unaccompanied minors in Portugal. Twenty semi-structured interviews with stakeholders were conducted regarding their understanding of who unaccompanied minors are and what is the type of adequate intervention with this group. The interviews revealed three main perspectives: a) the vulnerability of young asylum seekers; b) the agency within the migratory project; c) the non-differentiation from other children and young people at risk. These findings are important to systematize and share knowledge for the improvement and optimization of public policies regarding unaccompanied minors.
Research on the characteristics of generations of subway vehicles based on artificial neural networks

Urban rail transit vehicles have become an important part of public transport due to the outstanding advantages: high speed, large traffic volume, low energy consumption and less land occupation. Metro vehicles have been developed for over one hundred years and there are obvious generational characteristics. In this paper, the generational characteristics of metro vehicles are studied from the top index of metro vehicles. First, the paper synthetically analyses 45 specific indicators of four categories: vehicle transport capacity, safety, comfort and environmental friendliness. And then 14 core indicators are extracted via employing the complex network method. Secondly, the first- and second-generation metro vehicles are analysed based on the 14 core indicators. By employing the artificial neural networks, the relationship between the performance and indicators of metro vehicles is obtained. And then the performance of the next generation metro vehicles can be predicted. Finally, the characteristics of the next generation of metro vehicles are predicted based on the performance of the next generation of metro vehicles and the latest technology. The future developing direction of metro vehicles is pointed and the theoretical basis for the next generation of metro vehicle manufacturing is provided in this paper.
Semantic congruence in arithmetic: A new conceptual model for word problem solving

Abstract Arithmetic problem solving is a crucial part of mathematics education. However, existing problem solving theories do not fully account for the semantic constraints partaking in the encoding and recoding of arithmetic word problems. In this respect, the limitations of the main existing models in the literature are discussed. We then introduce the Semantic Congruence (SECO) model, a theoretical model depicting how world and mathematical semantics interact in the encoding, recoding, and solving of arithmetic word problems. The SECO model’s ability to account for emblematic results in educational psychology is scrutinized through six case studies encompassing a wide range of effects observed in previous works. The influence of world semantics on learners’ problem representations and solving strategies is put forward, as well as the difficulties arising from semantic incongruence between representations and algorithms. Special attention is given to the recoding of semantically incongruent representations, a crucial step that learners struggle with.
Do the chronically poor have more interrupted spells of poverty in transition economies? Evidence from Kazakhstan

Given the lack of longitudinal data for transition countries, and specifically for Central Asia, research on poverty has largely ignored the time dimension. This study uses panel data constructed from the rotating cross-sectional Kazakhstan Household Budget Survey for the 2001-2009 period. The panel data provides an opportunity to measure chronic poverty levels and poverty transitions for the first time in Kazakhstan. We find that, despite the rapid and substantial reduction in poverty in the country since the turn of the century, and depending on the measure of chronic poverty employed, as much as a quarter of the population has experienced persistent poverty. However, the majority of chronically poor experience interrupted poverty spells. We apply the multiple-spell hazard model analysis to shed light on factors that impact on poverty exit and re-entry. The results of these estimates confirm that families with children under age six are experiencing higher probability of entry into poverty and lower probability of exit from poverty. Policy interventions are needed to improve the situation by providing an affordable state child care system in Kazakhstan.
Influence of Disorder in Scintillating Solid Solutions on Thermalization and Recombination of Electronic Excitations

The spatial distribution of components of substitutional solid solution is nonuniform. This disorder influences optical properties, migration, localization, and recombination of secondary electrons and holes created by high‐energy excitation. The scintillation properties in such systems are studied in terms of fluctuations of the bottom of the conduction band due to the disorder of the substitutional solid solution AxB1 − xC. The simulation of the spatial distribution of the components is performed for different affinities of the components. If the creation of AA (BB) pairs is preferable (high AA affinity), the fluctuations of the bottom of the conduction band can result even in the creation of clusters enriched by AC or BC components. The scattering of hot electrons by the fluctuations of the spatial structure of solid solution at the thermalization stage is discussed. The role of clustering of solid solution in the restriction of migration and recombination of thermalized carriers is analyzed using the model of the geminate recombination of electron–hole pairs. The change of properties of some scintillators (YAG‐LuAG, CeF3‐LaF3, etc.) with concentrations of components is explained on the basis of the considered models.
Specialization and KIBS in the Euro area: a vertically integrated sector perspective

ABSTRACT The imbalances among countries belonging to the European Monetary Union (EMU) have been analysed under several angles in recent years, but often neglecting the evolution of economic and productive structures. In this work, we aim to fill this gap analyzing the countries specialization through the differences in the inter-industrial linkages that affect economic systems competitiveness and production processes. We use the input-output subsystem approach exploiting the latest WIOD release (2018) to investigate the role of business services, with a special focus on KIBS, in shaping the EMU countries productive structures through their integration in the manufacturing sectors. The results show that disparities are growing in the composition of productive structure and they are even more pronounced when we consider intersectoral dynamics; in particular, when KIBS are addressed to satisfy the manufacturing final demand and when we control for manufacturing subsystem technological intensity.
Performance of SMES system with non‐linear dynamic evolution control approach for pulsed power load compensation

Superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) system is one of the efficient pulsed power compensators. Its response to the load fluctuations is faster and competent. This study proposes a non-linear dynamic evolution control (NDEC) approach for SMES system. The control approach is implemented to regulate the error of three-phase compensating current and DC-link voltage. The control functions required for voltage source inverter (VSI) and bi-directional DC-DC converter of the SMES system are derived using the NDEC control approach. A proportional-integral (PI) controller is replaced by the NDEC in the inner loop of a traditional pulse-width-modulation control strategy of VSI for the quick response and effective energy exchange. The elementary idea of implementing NDEC is to govern the system dynamics by maintaining a zero-error state irrespective of load uncertainties quickly. Detrimental high rating stress on the system due to pulsed power load is substantially reduced with the proposed NDEC strategy. Source current is maintained almost balanced and harmonic-free in order to ensure a quality and reliable supply to surrounding loads. The variation in source current is drastically reduced from 260 to 6% using the proposed system. Moreover, a comparative study between PI and NDEC-based control scheme is presented using MATLAB simulation and experimental results.
Recent advances on notch effects in metal fatigue: A review

School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China Center for System Reliability & Safety, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China INEGI, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
Environmental variables do not explain the high size fluctuations in Rhinolophus euryale pre-hibernating aggregation

The Mediterranean horseshoe bat, Rhinolophus euryale, creates in the pre-hibernation period an aggregation in the Domica cave (Slovakia) and despite the harsh winter conditions displays a certain amount of flying activity. The goal of the study was to find out whether some environmental factors influence these conspicuous aggregation dynamics. We used image and statistical analysis of pictures of the aggregation taken automatically in the cave along with atmospheric pressure, humidity, outside and inside cave temperature and oxygen and carbon dioxide contents in the cave. These environmental variables were assumed to explain the observed activity. We hypothesised that the number of bats in particular time periods would correlate with some of these variables, but this was not confirmed. The only significant relations confirmed were those between bat numbers and humidity and carbon dioxide values in the cave. No trend in the spatial positioning of the bats was observed, and no environmental factors influenced the numbers, movements or groupings of bats. On the contrary, bats by their presence (breathing), activity and production of excrements may significantly influence the microclimate of the cave environment.
Spectral Representation of Behaviour Primitives for Depression Analysis

Depression is a serious mental disorder affecting millions of people all over the world. Traditional clinical diagnosis methods are subjective, complicated and require extensive participation of clinicians. Recent advances in automatic depression analysis systems promise a future where these shortcomings are addressed by objective, repeatable, and readily available diagnostic tools to aid health professionals in their work. Yet there remain a number of barriers to the development of such tools. One barrier is that existing automatic depression analysis algorithms base their predictions on very brief sequential segments, sometimes as little as one frame. Another barrier is that existing methods do not take into account what the context of the measured behaviour is. In this article, we extract multi-scale video-level features for video-based automatic depression analysis. We propose to use automatically detected human behaviour primitives as the low-dimensional descriptor for each frame. We also propose two novel spectral representations, i.e., spectral heatmaps and spectral vectors, to represent video-level multi-scale temporal dynamics of expressive behaviour. Constructed spectral representations are fed to Convolution Neural Networks (CNNs) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) for depression analysis. We conducted experiments on the AVEC 2013 and AVEC 2014 benchmark datasets to investigate the influence of interview tasks on depression analysis. In addition to achieving state of the art accuracy in severity of depression estimation, we show that the task conducted by the user matters, that fusion of a combination of tasks reaches highest accuracy, and that longer tasks are more informative than shorter tasks, up to a point.
Tuning epsilon-near-zero wavelength of indium tin oxide film via annealing

Indium tin oxide (ITO) has a wide range of applications at its epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) wavelength due to its unique optical properties. Post-annealing is a simple way to tune the ENZ wavelength. We show that the ENZ wavelength of ITO films could be red-shifted over a wide range from 1200 nm to 1550 nm by thermal annealing in air for durations up to 130 min at 330 °. Optical transmittance and reflectance spectra were measured for these ITO samples, along with electron densities, to extract the Drude model parameters of plasma frequency, damping factor, electron mobility and effective mass. The results show that the changes in electron density and effective mass collectively cause the red-shift in the plasma frequency and ENZ wavelength. The oxygen uptake and crystallite size increase during the annealing in the air are the main reasons for the change in electronic properties. This versatile method of tuning the ITO’s ENZ wavelength can expand the wavelength range for applications and adapt it to working at wavelengths of plasmonic devices in the telecommunication wavebands.
Erosion of rocky shore platforms by block detachment from layered stratigraphy

The majority of shore platforms form in rocks that are characterised by layered stratigraphy and pervasive jointing. Plucking of weathered, joint and bed bounded blocks is an important erosion process that existing models of platform development do not represent. Globally, measuring platform erosion rates have focused on microscale (< 1 mm) surface lowering rather than mesoscale (0.1‐1 m) block detachment, yet the latter appears to dominate the morphological development of discontinuity rich platforms. Given the sporadic nature of block detachment on platforms, observations of erosion from storm event to multi‐decadal timescales (and beyond) are required to quantify shore platform erosion rates. To this end, we collected aerial photography using an unmanned aerial vehicle to produce structure‐from‐motion‐derived digital elevation models and orthophotos. These were combined with historical aerial photographs to characterise and quantify the erosion of two actively eroding stratigraphic layers on a shore platform in Glamorgan, south Wales, UK, over 78‐years. We find that volumetric erosion rates vary over two orders of magnitude (0.1‐10 m3 yr‐1) and do not scale with the length of the record. Average rates over the full 78‐year record are 2‐5 m3 yr‐1. These rates are equivalent to 1.2‐5.3 mm yr‐1 surface lowering rates, an order of magnitude faster than previously published, both at our site and around the world in similar rock types. We show that meso‐scale platform erosion via block detachment processes is a dominant erosion process on shore platforms across seasonal to multi‐decadal timescales that have been hitherto under‐investigated. © 2019 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Barriers to Physical Activity in Adolescents

Physical activity is an important component to living a healthy lifestyle; however, adolescents’ physical activity levels are often very low. Thus, the purpose of this synthesis was to examine barriers adolescents face when it comes to being physically active and find out how they can be prevented or overcome. The critical mass revealed several internal and external barriers that adolescents face. These include lack of motivation/interest, lack of resources, and increased screen time. Since the research is examining adolescents, parents also played a large role in the studies. In order to address some of the barriers, strategies focused on increasing motivation, providing adequate social support, and redirecting screen time should be implemented. Future research should look further into trying to prevent barriers, especially internal ones that adolescents have more control over. If barriers are prevented, then adolescents will hopefully be more physically active and live a healthy lifestyle.
FUNCTIONAL ROLE OF THE TRPV4 CATION CHANNEL IN STRETCH-EVOKED Ca2+ INFLUX AND ATP RELEASE IN MOUSE UROHELIAL PRIMARY CULTURES

Hypothesis / aims of study In the urinary bladder, it has been suggested that non-neuronal cells within the bladder wall which is notably the transitional epithelial cells (urothelial cells) not only function as a barrier against ions, solutes, and infection, but also participate in detection of physical and chemical stimuli. Some recent reports showed that the transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4) which has been proposed to be a mechanoreceptor is expressed in the urothelium and urinary bladder smooth muscle cells, and activation of the channel by specific ligands leads to augmentation of bladder contraction amplitude in cystometry and induction or bladder over activity in vivo. TRPV4 activation induced ATP release, which has been thought to be important for signal transmission to primary afferent nerves that control voiding reflex. Furthermore, another cystometry analysis and behavioral experiments revealed that intermicturitional interval was elongated and storage urine volume was increased in TRPV4-deficient (TRPV4KO) mice compared with wild-type (WT) mice. Thus, TRPV4 may contribute to bladder function, especially in mediating bladder distention signal to primary afferent nerves during urine storage phase. However, whether urothelial TRPV4 is required for sensing mechanical stretch, or to what extent urothelial TRPV4 contributes to stretch-evoked ATP release, has not been precisely determined. In the present study, we examined the functional contribution of TRPV4 to stretch-dependent urothelial cell responses and to stretch-evoked adenosine triphosphate (ATP) release in vitro. We first established primary cell culture from mouse urothelium and expression of TRPV4 was confirmed. Because urothelial cells are physically extended on urine storage phase in vivo, we reproduced this phenomenon in an in vitro experiment using a uni-axial cell stretch system.