Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Are precipitation anomalies associated with aerosol variations over eastern China

Abstract. In eastern China (EC), the strong anthropogenic emissions deteriorate the atmospheric environment, building a south–north zonal distribution of high aerosols harbored by the upstream Tibetan and Loess plateaus in China. This study climatologically analyzed the interannual variability in precipitation with different intensities in association with aerosol variations over the EC region from 1961 to 2010 by using precipitation and visibility data from more than 50 years and aircraft and surface aerosol data from recent years in China, and the impacts of aerosol variations on interannual variability in the intensity of precipitation events and their physical causes are investigated. We found that the frequency of light rain has significantly decreased and the occurrence of rainstorms, especially severe rainstorms, has significantly increased over recent decades. The extreme precipitation events presented an interannual variability pattern similar to that of the frequent haze events over EC. Accompanied by the frequent haze events in EC, light rain frequency significantly decreased and extremely heavy precipitation events have occurred more frequently. During the 1980s, the regional precipitation trends in EC showed an obvious transform from more light rain to more extreme rainstorms. The running correlation analysis of interdecadal variation further verified that the correlation between the increasing aerosols and frequencies of abnormal precipitation events tended to be more significant in EC. The correlation between atmospheric visibility and low cloud amounts, which are both closely related to aerosol concentrations, was positive in the north and negative in the south, and the spatial distribution of the variability in regional rainstorm frequency was positive in the south and negative in the north. After the 1990s, the visibility in summer season deteriorated more remarkably, light rain frequency decreased noticeably, and rainstorms and extraordinarily heavy rainfall occurred more frequently. There were significant differences in the interdecadal variation trends in light rain and rainstorm events between the highly aerosol-polluted area in EC and the relatively clean area on the western plateaus of China. The aircraft measurements over EC confirmed that the diameters of cloud droplets decreased under high aerosol concentration conditions, thereby inhibiting weak precipitation process.
The Examination of the Mentoring Relationship between the Head Coach and Assistant Coaches of Women's Basketball Teams

A number of studies have examined the decreasing number of female head coaches of women's teams. Researchers have consistently demonstrated the mentoring relationship has provided substantial benefits in helping women advance within leadership positions within the sport industry. The purpose of this study was to examine the mentoring relationship between the head coach and female assistant coach of women's basketball teams who aspire to become a head coach. More specifically, the mentoring characteristics and advancement techniques were two areas of focus. Findings suggested mentoring characteristics and advancement techniques may provide recommendations on mentoring women who aspire to become head coaches.
Soil Contamination Mapping with Hyperspectral Imagery: Pre- Dnieper Chemical Plant (Ukraine) Case Study

Radioactive contamination of soils is an issue of severe importance for Ukraine remain- ing with a significant post-Soviet baggage of not settled problems regarding radioactive waste. Regular radioecological observations and up-to-date contamination mapping based on advanced geoinformation techniques give an ability to prepare for, respond to, and manage potential adverse effects from pollution with radionuclides and heavy metals. Hyperspectral satellite imagery provides potentially powerful tool for soil contamination detection and mapping. An intention to find a relation between remotely sensed hyper - spectral and ground-based measured soil contamination fractions in area of the uranium mill tailings deposits near Kamianske city was made. An advanced algorithm based on known TCMI (target-constrained minimal interference)-matched filter with a nonnega tive constraint was applied to determine the soil contamination fractions by hyperspectral imagery. The time series maps of spatial distribution of the soil contamination fractions within study area around the Sukhachevske tailings dump are presented. Time series analysis of the map resulted in two independent parameters: the average value for the entire observation period and the daily mean increment of the soil contamination fractions.
A Usability Study of Social Media Credentials As A Single-Sign-On Mechanism: Student Access to Online Teaching Materials

Web single-sign-on (SSO) is a mechanism that enables a user to login to the systems once and allows the user to access all authorized computer resources without the need to reenter the authentication information in each application. One example of web SSO mechanism is through the use of social media credentials. This paper presents an experimental study that aimed to investigate whether the SSO mechanism provides better usability compared to traditional authentication method. This study revealed significant results where web SSO through social media credentials had better usability compared to traditional login for accessing teaching materials. It demonstrates the evidence to guide future web development particularly for designing authentication in a course web site. 
Response of Broiler Chickens to Triticale-Based Diets Supplemented with Microbial Enzymes (2. Microbial Profiles and Activities)

The microbial profiles and activities of microbes in the digesta from chickens on diets containing Bogong or Canobolas with or without inclusion of microbial enzymes were investigated on the 384 day-old male Ross 308 broiler chickens. There was a reduction in population of C. perfringens (P < 0.01) of the ileum as a result of interaction between cultivar and xylanase. On the other hand, in the ceca, the population of entero bacteria were reduced (P < 0.01) by the interaction between grain and phytase, as well as the interaction between grain, xylanase and phytase. Also, the inclusion of xylanase reduced the population of C. perfringensin the ceca. The cecal concentration of acetic acid (P < 0.05) and butyric plus isobutyric acid (P <0.01) was increased in birds received Bogong and Canobolas diets. Supplementation of xylanase in Bogong diets increased (grain x xylanase, P< 0.05) the acetic acid and lactic acid concentration in ceca while the reversed was the case for Canobolas diets. The ileal and cecal pH was not affected by grain, the inclusion of xylanase and phytase or interactions between these factors. It can be concluded that diets containing Bogong or Canobolas diets supplemented with phytase and xylanase influenced the microbial profile and their activities in gastrointestinal tract which may be due to the variation in nutrient content of these two cultivars.
A Cross Platform Framework for Software Defined Radio

Software defined radios (SDRs) implement in software those parts of a radio which have traditionally been implemented in analogue hardware. We explain the importance of this definition and introduce reconfigurability and portability as two further goals. Reconfigurabilty is a property of the SDR platform, which may be a microprocessor, configurable hardware device, or combination of the two. We demonstrate that the field-programmable gate array is sufficient for the implementation of practical SDR systems. Portability, on the other hand, is a property of the modulation and demodulation software, also known as waveform specification software. We evaluate techniques for achieving portability and show that waveforms can be specified in a generic form suitable for the autogeneration of implementations targetting both microprocessorand FPGA-based architectures. The generated code is in C++ and VHDL respectively, and the tools used include formal models of computation and the XSLT language. i Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za
A new approach of determining gillnet selectivity based on the relationship between fish length and girth to estimate the length distribution of fish encountering a net

A method of estimating the length distribution of fish that encounter a gillnet based on selectivity curve using the lengthgirth relationship of the target fish was proposed for use in fish surveys. This method was verified in a tank experiment using gillnets for rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) of known size composition. Data from one body part of fish caught, near the dorsal fin, were used to estimate the selectivity curve. The curves, expressed as a normal curve, of each mesh size had the same shape, even though each was estimated individually. Additionally, there was a complete linear relationship between the mean of the curves regarded as the optimal girth and the mesh size. The estimated length distribution of the fish population corresponded to the length distribution of fish used in the tank experiment. These results confined the the efficacy of proposed method.
Effects of feeding different levels of corn dried distillers grains with solubles on growth performance, carcass yield and meat fatty acid composition in broiler chickens

A randomized complete design with 6 replicates of 10 birds per treatment (n = 60) was utilized to evaluate the effects of feeding corn dried distillers grains with solubles (CDGS) on growth performance, carcass yield and breast muscle fatty acid composition of chickens. A total of 300 male broilers (Cobb 500) were fed with different levels of CDGS (0% - control, 5, 10, 15 and 20%) in starter (age 0 to 21 day) and grower (age 21 to 42 day) diets, and weight gains and feed intakes were recorded. All diets were formulated isocaloric and isonitrogenous which met or exceeded the NRC requirements. At the end of the experiment (42 day) eight birds from each treatment were slaughtered to measure the dressing percentage, carcass parts yield and fatty acid profile of breast meat (from the left carcass side). Birds fed 5% CDGS had better (p 0.05) from control. There were no differences (p>0.05) in overall weight gain, feed intake, dressing percentages and carcass parts yields (% of carcass weight) among treatments. There were greater (p 0.05) the growth performance and carcass yield. However, increasing the dietary CDGS increased (p<0.05) the percentage of linoleic acid and polyunsaturated to saturated fatty acid ratio in chicken breast meat.
Adaptive and Robust Lung Cancer Screening Using Memory-Augmented Recurrent Networks

In this paper, we investigate the effectiveness of deep learning techniques for lung nodule classification in computed tomography scans. Using less than 10,000 training examples, deep networks perform 4.8 times better than a standard radiology software under the cross-error measure. For the first time, we provide a systematic comparison between deep networks and radiologists for CT lung nodule data. This includes asking radiologists to examine important networks’ features and perform blind relabeling of networks’ mistakes. Visualization of the networks’ neurons reveals semantically meaningful features that are consistent with the clinical knowledge and radiologists’ perception. Our paper also proposes a novel framework for rapidly adapting deep networks to the radiologists’ feedback, or change in the data due to the shift in sensor’s resolution or patient population. The classification accuracy of our approach remains above 80% while popular deep networks’ accuracy is around chance. Finally, we propose using inconsistency density function, computed by a recurrent network, as a way to discover potentially noisy labels in lung data. Experimental results show that our method can remove 95% of incorrect labels in a synthetic case, and filter out meaningful lung nodule images for relabeling.
Interaction between the atmosphere and the underlying surface

This chapter includes investigations of processes of the atmospheric boundary layer and the interaction between the atmosphere and the underlying surface land and water surfaces. Most of the investigations were not made in a climatological context, but they are highly relevant for climate modelling and understanding of climatological processes. After an introduction of the terminus Boundary-Layer climate, relevant studies of this topic in the former GDR are presented.
Pronominal objects in English?Italian and Spanish?Italian bilingual children

This study investigated the role of typological relatedness, language of the community, and age, in predicting similarities and differences between English–Italian, Spanish–Italian bilingual children and their monolingual child and adult counterparts in the acceptability of pre- and postverbal object pronouns in [±focus] contexts in Italian and in English. Cross-linguistic influence occurred in [−focus] contexts as a function of typological relatedness and language of the community. English–Italian bilinguals in the UK accepted pragmatically inappropriate postverbal pronouns in [−focus] contexts in Italian twice as often as all the other groups. Cross-linguistic influence was unidirectional from English to Italian as shown by the categorical rejection of preverbal pronouns in [−focus] contexts in English. In [+focus] contexts, in English no significant differences existed between the monolinguals and the bilinguals in the low accuracy with which they chose pragmatically appropriate stressed pronouns. Similarly, the choice of appropriate pronouns in [+focus] contexts in Italian was problematic for monolingual and bilingual children irrespective of the language of the community and of the bilinguals’ other language. Age was a factor only for the Italian children who approached adultlike performance in [+focus] contexts only by the age of 10. These findings point to the need for a multifaceted approach to account for similarities and differences between the linguistic behavior of bilingual and monolingual children.
Rebranding Ukrainian Generations and Generation Y through the Prism of Modern Views

The article offers a short survey of the Ukrainian generations of 1900 through 2000. It details on the main features of the epoch and the environment in which generation Y was formed. The author specifies on the generation born in 1983 – 2003 and connects it with the peculiar features of the “millennials”’ entry into higher education.
Seasonal Variations in the Nutritional Compositions and Heavy Metals in Two Demersal Fish, Liparis tessellatus (Cubed Snailfish) and Hemitripterus villosus (Shaggy Sea Raven)

Two species of demersal fish, Liparis tessellates (cubed snailfish) and Hemitripterus villosus (shaggy sea raven), were investigated in relation to seasonal chemical composition. Total fat contents of the two fish were very low and were not appreciably different throughout the year, whereas their fatty acid compositions were significantly different depending on season. Noticeable changes in the moisture and protein contents in the two fishes were observed before and after spawning. Cubed snailfish showed relatively high amounts of total amino acids and free amino acids during summer months, whereas the levels of those in shaggy sea raven remained relatively unchanged throughout the year. Regardless of season, the major fatty acid of the two fishes was palmitic acid and most of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) were n-3 PUFAs. Lead was over the legislative limit in some samples of the two fishes.
The Transformation of Municipal Services: towards Quality in the Public Sector

The development of the public service modernization seeks to facilitate services delivery to citizens, when and where they need them. For it, management and utilization of service quality have special relevancy. In this paper, we are trying to contribute for improving the relations between the small public local administrations and citizens across analysis of the link between quality and satisfaction, beside of analyzing how they relate to citizen’s credibility on institutions. By means of opinions spilt by citizens, obtained results allow us to raise a series of public policies and offers for the improvement of administration service quality, which end up as directly satisfaction and credibility.
ISOLATION, CHARACTERISATION, AND SELECTION OF WINE YEAST STRAINS IN ETYEK-BUDA WINE DISTRICT, HUNGARY

Initiated by the Association “Wine Route of Etyek Wine District”, the objectives of this study were to isolate and identify autochthonous yeast strains from local wines and to determine their oenologically important properties. The first aim of this work was to characterize the taxonomic and phenotypic diversity of the representative Saccharomyces yeast strains that dominate the spontaneous fermentations in this wine district. The results obtained by molecular ribotyping (ARDRA) revealed a strong dominance of S. cerevisiae, but S. bayanus var. uvarum was also present sporadically. Some of the natural isolates exhibited high volatile acid production or poor fermentation capacity, which imply a quality risk in spontaneous fermentations. Most of the isolates, however, displayed good oenological features during lab scale fermentations. As the second aim of this work, the most promising, selected strains were further tested for oenological properties in microvinification scale and, finally, in large scale fermentations. The analytical and sensory analysis proved that selected strains, including S. bayanus var. uvarum, can be used as local starter cultures, which may contribute to the typicality of the local wines in comparison with commercial starters.
Using Augmented Reality to Enhance and Engage Students in Learning Mathematics

The study shall apply Augmented Reality (AR) technique to develop Math learning App. The learners shall apply the mobile device to scan the cards and convert the 2D floor plan into 3D objects. By manipulating virtual 3D objects, students can understand the 3D composition from different perspectives. By applying the decomposition or combinated functions of the Math learning App, students can further understand the calculation way of Volume. The study confers the learning outcomes of the school children before and after applying AR Math App through the introduction and experiment design of the teaching site, and discusses the difference between Math high-accomplished school children and ordinary children by way of digital learning. Through the ways of achievement tests, questionnaire and teachers’ and childrents’ interviews, the study understands the learning effects and experiencing of AR Math App. The experiment’s result indicates that students can accept the AR Math learning App developed by the institute and it can also initiate their interests in learning. The result before and after studying indicates that the learning effects have significantly promoted. The result of teachers’ interviews indicate that the application of this digital teaching materials and interactive experience model has effectively enhanced the students understanding the concept of Volume and 3D composition.
Sociogenetic structure in nests of the mud dauber wasp Trypoxylon (Trypargilum) albitarse (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae)

Trypargilum is a subgenus of solitary spider-hunting wasps whose males guard the nest, an unusual behaviour for male wasps. A male pairs with a female and copulates repeatedly with her during the nesting process, although females regularly copulate with satellite males, which employ an alternative reproductive strategy. The purpose of this paper was to determine the sociogenetic structure in twenty-nine nests of Trypoxylon albitarse sampled at six sites in Brazil. A total of 367 wasps were genotyped for eight species-specific polymorphic microsatellite loci. Genotypic segregation analyses were conducted to test whether the nests sampled were monogamic family groups. The results indicated that all the offspring in 12 of the 29 nests could be attributed to a single couple (genetic monogamy). Approximately 9% of the offspring probably resulted from extra-pair copulations and 3% of the total offspring were attributed to a second mother (usurpation by conspecific females, a form of intraspecific parasitism). The sequential replacement of parents throughout the nesting process indicates that the 29 nests analyzed included 35 family groups. Thus, our findings indicate that Trypoxylon albitarse has a predominantly monogamous genetic mating system, despite the social polygamy reported in previous studies.
Author ' s personal copy Accurate minimum capital risk requirements : A comparison of several approaches q

In this paper we estimate, for several investment horizons, minimum capital risk requirements for short and long positions, using the unconditional distribution of three daily indexes futures returns and a set of short and long memory stochastic volatility and GARCH-type models. We consider the possibility that errors follow a t-Student distribution in order to capture the kurtosis of the returns’ series. The results suggest that accurate modelling of extreme observations obtained for long and short trading investment positions is possible with an autoregressive stochastic volatility model. Moreover, modelling futures returns with a long memory stochastic volatility model produces, in general, excessive volatility persistence, and consequently, leads to large minimum capital risk requirement estimates. Finally, the models’ predictive ability is assessed with the help of out-of-sample conditional tests. 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
How to make a flying squirrel: Glaucomys Anatomy in Phylogenetic Perspective

Abstract Molecular evidence strongly supports the derivation of flying squirrels from tree squirrels, with the sister group being the Holarctic tree squirrels (Sciurus) and their close relatives. We present a rationale for the hypothesis that the transition occurred among small squirrels, and we propose using the northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus) and the southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans) as models. Thus, we compare their morphologies with similar-sized tree squirrels (the Central American dwarf squirrel [Microsciurus alfari] and the western dwarf squirrel [M. mimulus]). We compare body proportions of Glaucomys with those of Microsciurus, considering differences as potential adaptations for gliding associated with wing loading, aspect ratio, and parasitic drag. We use the following measurements: lengths of the centra of the thoracic, lumbar, sacral, and caudal vertebrae; and lengths of the long bones (humerus, radius, femur, and tibia), metacarpals, metatarsals, and proximal phalanges of the hands and feet. We then compare these proportions of Microsciurus with those of other species of Sciurini, and the proportions of Glaucomys with other species of Pteromyini, to determine if each is representative or derived within its clade. Members of the genus Glaucomys exhibit relative elongation of the lumbar vertebrae and the forearm, relevant to wing loading and aspect ratio, relative lengthening of the midcaudal vertebrae, and relative shortening of the more distal caudal vertebrae, perhaps of importance for stability and control. Members of the genus Glaucomys also have shorter hands and feet, but these appeared to be elongated in Microsciurus, rather than shortened in Glaucomys, leaving the issue of parasitic drag moot. Finally, we speculate on the genetic changes that have produced these morphological modifications and may facilitate the evolution of gliding flight.