Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Molecular confirmation of the North American leech Placobdella ornata (Verrill, 1872) (Hirudinida: Glossiphoniidae) in Europe.

Specimens of the North American leech, Placobdella ornata (Verrill, 1872) were confirmed from the Donkmeer, a freshwater lake in the province of East Flanders, Belgium, by morphological and molecular analysis. Leech specimens from Belgium were morphologically consistent with the syntype series and description of P. ornata by Verrill (1872). Molecular comparison of the Belgian specimens to specimens of P. ornata from the type locality (New Haven, Connecticut, USA) using the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene revealed a similarity of 99.5%. Placobdella ornata from Belgium is the first documentation of a second species of the genus Placobdella in
Sexual Hormones Influence Gray＇s Theory of Personality

Personality is believed to be stable throughout adulthood. However, many personality theories are based on the construct of measuring subjectively reported reactions of a person during specific, mostly emotional situations. Thus, the component “emotion” plays a cr ucial role in determining personality traits, especially within the BIS (behavioral inhibition system)/BAS (behavioral activation system) questionnaire. Sexual hormones, in terms of the menstrual cycle, are found to be influential on emo tional processing (e.g., emotion recognition, mood, and emotional evaluations). As a consequence, we hypothesized that personality measured with the BIS/BAS shows menstrual cycle effects and thus gender differences dependent of the menstrual cycle phase. In Study I, we collected BIS/BAS data from female subjects (n = 48) in different menstrual cycle phases (23 follicular/25 luteal). Comparing both phases, we found significant values within the BAS-dimension for the follicular women with medium effect sizes. In Study II, we collected additionally BIS/BAS data from men (n = 22). Comparing them to the female data, we found significant higher BIS values for women in genera l and especially for luteal women. These differences are discussed to be estrogen and progesterone mediated.
Maternal schooling and children’s relative inequalities in developmental outcomes: evidence from the 1947 school leaving age reform in Britain

This paper investigates whether mothers’ participation in post‐compulsory education impacts on children’s relative inequalities across four developmental outcomes. The empirical analysis uses information from children born in 1958 in Britain. Mothers of the 1958 British cohort were affected by the 1947 school leaving age reform, which increased the age of compulsory schooling from 14 to 15 years. We selected the first‐born cohort members whose mothers were born in 1933 and 1934 and whose mothers completed compulsory schooling only. We found that the additional year of maternal schooling was significantly associated with relative improvements in mathematics attainment for their children, but no significant differences for reading or behavioural outcomes. The impact on mathematics was mainly for boys. These results suggest wider dispersion in mathematics attainment between sons whose mothers benefited from the additional year of schooling in 1947 and those whose mothers did not.
NEW HIGH PERFORMANCE REALIZATIONS FOR CURRENT-CONTROLLED CONVEYOR ( CCCII )

In this paper two new realizations, one CMOS and one bipolar, for current-controlled conveyor (CCCII) are proposed. The proposed circuits provide a good linearity, very high input impedance at port-y, high output impedance at port-z and good output/input current gain. SPICE simulation results using TUBITAK 3μ CMOS process model are included to verify the expected values.
Work involvement and the quality of two-career marital relationships – the mediating role of stress and role conflicts

A two-career marriage is a modern family model, within which both partners pursue a career as employees, often in leadership positions, but also a career associated with holding specific roles in the family, marriage and the household. The aim of this study was to verify the relationship between the level of work engagement and the subjective quality of marital relationships. Moreover, the research attempted to find variables which may mediate the relationship, such as levels of occupational stress experienced, conflict / facilitation of occupational and personal roles and gender. The study was conducted among 150 two-career married couples, with both partners working actively on the competitive labour market, often holding leadership positions and balancing their professional and family roles. All of the participants, aged 28 to 40, had completed higher education and had at least 1 child. The study used the Work-related Behaviour and Experience Pattern Test (AVEM), Well-Matched Marriage Questionnaire (KDM-2), Stress Questionnaire and the Questionnaire of Work and Family Balance. Statistical analysis indicated that work involvement of two-career couples positively contributes to increasing the subjectively perceived quality of their marital relationships. The level of occupational commitment also has a positive relationship with the level of stress experienced and work – family conflicts. Such stress and conflicts are important mediators in the positive relationship between work involvement and the quality of marital relationship. Therefore, if the partners’ work is linked to significant stress, generating additional work-family conflicts, it may consequently negatively affect the quality of marital relations of the dyads.
Social Support and Coping Styles in Predicting Suicide Probability among Turkish Adolescents.

This study aims to investigate whether the perceived social support and coping styles are predictors of suicide probability by gender. The study was conducted with 445 high schools students, 227 girls, and 218 boys. The participants were aged between 14 and 18, and their average age was 15.90. Data were collected through the 'Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support', the 'Ways of Coping Questionnaire', and the 'Suicide Probability Scale'. Data were analyzed using MANOVA, Pearson correlation test and regression analysis. Results showed that suicide probability, perceived support from friends and significant others and helpless approach scores of the girls were significantly higher than the boys. Besides, significant relationships were found between suicide probability and perceived social support and coping styles. Regression analyses were performed for girls and boys separately. Perceived social support from family, helpless and optimistic styles were found to predict female adolescents' suicide probability significantly. As for male adolescents, in addition to perceived social support from family, helpless and optimistic styles, seeking social support was also found to be a significant predictor of suicide probability. Findings were discussed in line with the related literature, and recommendations were made.
Interactions between biological and environmental structures along the coast of northern Norway

Spatial and temporal variability in physical conditions off the northern coast of Norway may affect the 3D distribution of mesozooplankton and capelin larvae (Mallotus villosus Muller) dur- ing the early capelin recruitment period. To monitor distribution patterns, we sampled the water masses down to 100 m on 3 successive occasions in May 2001 with a SCANFISH-OPC-CTD-F plat- form. We found distinct differences between coastal and oceanic waters in the study area. The water masses were most clearly distinguished by salinity and there was a tendency for higher zooplankton abundance and biomass in water of oceanic origin. Our study area was characterised by mesoscale eddies, translating in an easterly direction which follow the Norwegian Coastal Current. Cyclonic eddies contained oceanic water, high zooplankton abundance and biomass, whereas anti-cyclonic eddies contained water masses of coastal origin and low abundance of zooplankton. The eddies found in the spawning and hatching habitat of capelin were relatively small and of short duration; however, their impact on the biological community in terms of mediating exchange of biotas across the shelf can be significant.
On the relationship between polarimetric parameters

SAR polarimetry has been used to extract both electrical and geometrical properties of an area of scientific interest. For example, polarimetric SAR signatures are used to estimate biomass and soil moisture. Since an electromagnetic interaction with natural objects is complex, it is not easy to derive accurate inversion algorithms to estimate physical properties from polarimetric SAR signatures. The most important part of the algorithm derivation is to identify the most sensitive polarimetric parameters for the desired geophysical information. The authors present the relationship between physical properties and polarimetric parameters using NASA/JPL AIRSAR data. The sensitivity of a polarimetric parameter to the variation of physical properties was evaluated by the polarimetric parameter sensitivity factor at all three AIRSAR frequencies.
Influence of Ocular Morphology on Mating Speed and Duration of Copulation in Drosophila Melanogaster

The possible effects on the sexual behaviour of D. melanogaster of mutants in which sensory organs needed for mating are affected were studied. Four ocular mutants were used and two parameters of sexual behaviour were measured: mating speed and duration of copulation. A clear influence of the mutants was observed on mating speed but not on duration of copulation. The influence on mating speed was greater for the mutants with more severe morphological phenotypes.
Dynamic Analysis of Planetary Gear Train Based on ADAMS

Automatic pin machine is a kind of typical equipment widely used in mechanical and electronic industry, which is mainly used for automatic assembly of pinhole parts. In order to improve the efficiency and stability of the transmission system, the dynamic performance of planetary gears is studied. This paper uses UG to establish the dynamic model of planetary gears. Dynamic simulation and its motion law are obtained using Adams. The contact force between the planet gear and the center gear fluctuates around 5000N, and increases with the load. The results show that Adams can provide an effective prediction of the dynamic characteristics of planetary gear trains, and have a certain reference value for future structural improvements.
Synthesis and Characterization of Lactone Functional Macromonomers by End Group Deactivation and Their Use in Miktoarm Star Polymer

Newly designed miktoarm star-shaped copolymers made of poly[(benzyl methacrylate(BMA)-co-(e-caprolacton)(CL)] and poly[(BMA-b-MMA-b-BMA)-co-e-caprolacton)(CL)] were synthesized by combining ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of e-caprolactone (CL) and poly(BMA) five membered lacton fuctionalized prepared via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of BMA, and e-CL and P(BMA-b-MMA-b-BMA) dual functionalized diblock copolymer, in the presence of tin(II) bis(2-ethylhexanoate) (Sn(Oct)2). Although lactone ended poly(benzyl methacrylate) with e-caprolactone monomer gave ring open polymerization by Sn(Oct)2, the macromonomer itself did not give any poly- merization The macromonomers, and the miktoarm star-shaped copolymers were analyzed by FT-IR and 1H-NMR spectroscopies and GPC (gel permeation chromatograph), Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC-50) and termo- gravimetric analysis (TGA-50). These copolymers exhibited the expected structure. The crystallization of star-shaped copolymers was studied by DSC. The results show that when the content of the BMA block increased, the Tm of the star-shaped block copolymer increased.
Effect of milk fat (white butter) and vegetable fat (Shortening) on the sensory, colour and textural attributes of Eggless muffins

Muffins are sweet bakery products characterised by good taste and soft spongy texture which was attributed to the function of fat in combination with emulsifier and egg. Fat play most important role in the flavour and texture of the muffins. Fat from either milk origin (butter) or vegetable origin (shortening) or both in combinations were used for the study. Samples were evaluated for sensory, instrumental colour and textural attributes. It was observed that the best muffins were prepared by using 16% shortening alone in combination with other ingredients. Although the difference was not significant (p>0.05) compared to control but the samples prepared with shortening scored maximum for sensory attributes as well as desired colour and textural attributes values.
Exploring the quality of mobile shopping system and its link to the organizational performance

Increasing adoption of a mobile shopping (m-shopping) system leads to expectations of substantial benefits from a dynamically changing mobile environment, and it is the subject of whether or not there is a need to adapt to this change. The utility of m-shopping improves performance, and retailers realize the potential benefits of this value-added channel as it can be tailored to customers’ satisfaction and to their ultimate purchase intentions. This study intends to explore the effect of mobile shopping system on organizational performance. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the relationship between the quality of m-shopping system and organisational performance by adopting an extended IS success model. The proposed model was tested using a survey of 217 marketers from mobile retailers in Taiwan. The Partial Least Squares (PLS) were used to test the proposed model. The results showed that all developed hypotheses are supported for the study. The implications and directions of this study for future research were discussed.
On the microscopic parameters at a moving contact line during wetting process

The velocity of wetting a droplet on solid surface is a function of dynamic contact angle formed at a point on the contact line of solid and liquid phases. In this paper, the velocity of wetting obtained using the Arrhenius empirical equation is related to that of the dynamic contact angle. The resulting relationship, however, introduces two microscopic parameters, namely microscopic displacement frequency and length, which are not known as a priori and are usually obtained using a curve-fitting of the measured data. A general correlation for the microscopic displacement frequency which has a wide range of variations is developed that is only a function of the known values of a wetting process. This correlation is presented by improving the available correlation for the surface component of the specific activation free energy of a wetting process using a curve-fitting of a wide range of experimental data. The predicted values from the correlation are in good agreement with those of the reported experiments even when a rough estimate value for the microscopic displacement length is used.
The evolution of cluster initiatives in Russia: the impacts of policy, life-time, proximity and innovative environment

Purpose This paper aims at assessing the impacts of the national cluster policy, cluster age, cluster development benchmarks of neighbouring regions and the cumulative level of regional innovative capacity on the quantity and quality of cluster initiatives in Russia. Design/methodology/approach Hypotheses’ testing was carried out by a series of calculations comparing the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of cluster initiatives; the number of new cluster initiatives to the number of neighbouring regions, where cluster initiatives had begun to develop earlier; and ranks of regions within the Russian regional innovation scoreboard to the quantity and quality characteristics of cluster initiatives therein. Findings The results of the study empirically confirm that the national cluster policy significantly influenced the emergence and advancement of cluster initiatives in Russia. The proximity to the regions, having previously launched cluster support programmes, also had an impact on the emergence of new cluster initiatives. The cluster initiatives’ age had an ambiguous effect on their performance. Finally, the level of regional innovative capacity was correlated only with the number of cluster initiatives localised therein. Practical implications The findings show that along with the direct effects of the national cluster policy for the government-supported clusters, there are positive externalities, e.g. the emergence of new cluster initiatives throughout the country. Originality/value The research database of 277 cluster initiatives has been drawn up as a part of the first national cluster mapping and covers almost a decade of clustering activity in Russia. The study analyses not only the cluster initiatives supported by the federal government but also those developed independently.
Basaltic asteroids in the Near-Earth Objects population: a mineralogical analysis

Aims. We present reflectance spectra of three V-type Near-Earth Objects obtained at the 3.6 m Telescopio Nazionale Galileo and at the 2.5 m Nordic Optical Telescope covering the near-infrared and visible range, respectively. The range from 0.5 to 2.5 µm, encompassing the 1 and 2 µm pyroxene features, allows a mineralogical characterization of these asteroids. Methods. A preliminary analysis using the classical methods has been applied to establish some constraints on the surface mineralogy of these objects. Then, the Modified Gaussian Method was applied to gain further insight on the possible mineral components present in the surface of the objects. Results. The comparison between these basaltic asteroids in near Earth orbits and the achondrite basaltic meteorites shows a quite clear mineralogical link, corroborating the long-standing hypothesis of the Near-Earth Objects population as the immediate source of these meteorites.
Retrieving biomedical images through content-based learning from examples using fine granularity

Traditional content-based image retrieval methods based on learning from examples analyze and attempt to understand high-level semantics of an image as a whole. They typically apply certain case-based reasoning technique to interpret and retrieve images through measuring the semantic similarity or relatedness between example images and search candidate images. The drawback of such a traditional content-based image retrieval paradigm is that the summation of imagery contents in an image tends to lead to tremendous variation from image to image. Hence, semantically related images may only exhibit a small pocket of common elements, if at all. Such variability in image visual composition poses great challenges to content-based image retrieval methods that operate at the granularity of entire images. In this study, we explore a new content-based image retrieval algorithm that mines visual patterns of finer granularities inside a whole image to identify visual instances which can more reliably and generically represent a given search concept. We performed preliminary experiments to validate our new idea for content-based image retrieval and obtained very encouraging results.
Chronic Rhinosinusitis as a Risk Factor for Snoring and Sleep-Disorders Breathing

Patients and Methods: The study sample included 52 patients (34 men and 18 women) aged between 28 and 65 years who showed symptoms of chronic nasal obstruction due to of nasal polypos. All patients underwent functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS). In post-surgery period, after 4 weeks of FESS 28 patients received topical corticosteroids for 2 months and anti-inflammatory or antiallergic treatment (Group 1). The remaining 24 patients took no additional post-surgical treatment (Group 2). All of the preoperative examinations and the measurements including VAS scoring for snoring, excessive daytime sleepiness using the Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS), nasal airflow, and apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) examination during sleep were repeated 3 months after the surgery.
General Equilibrium Effects of Targeted Transfers: The case of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)

Transfers have recently become the most important fiscal policy tool of the U.S. Government. Moreover, within the transfer category, refundable tax credits have reached the same magnitude as unemployment insurance, yet little research documents the macroeconomic implications of tax credits. The existing literature on the effect of tax credits, abstract from behavioral responses to policy changes and are silent on potential general equilibrium effects. This paper fills this gap by addressing these two shortcomings of the existing literature, by modeling the Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC) in an infinite horizon economy with exogenously incomplete asset markets and heterogeneous agents. In particular, we assess the welfare effects of the EITC and analyze how effective targeted transfers are in alleviating distortions arising from incomplete financial markets, and contribute to the debate on labor supply responses to EITC. We also conduct two policy exercises. First, we evaluate the impact of a more generous targeted transfer program on welfare and aggregate outcomes, and thereby uncover the distributional properties of this fiscal policy tool. Secondly, we assess whether targeted transfers are a better policy tool than lump sum transfers and show that targeted transfers are indeed welfare enhancing as they achieve more redistribution at lower tax rates, but that they lead to a less efficient production at the aggregate level.
Estimation of longitudinal speed robust to road conditions for ground vehicles

ABSTRACT This article seeks to develop a longitudinal vehicle velocity estimator robust to road conditions by employing a tyre model at each corner. Combining the lumped LuGre tyre model and the vehicle kinematics, the tyres internal deflection state is used to gain an accurate estimation. Conventional kinematic-based velocity estimators use acceleration measurements, without correction with the tyre forces. However, this results in inaccurate velocity estimation because of sensor uncertainties which should be handled with another measurement such as tyre forces that depend on unknown road friction. The new Kalman-based observer in this paper addresses this issue by considering tyre nonlinearities with a minimum number of required tyre parameters and the road condition as uncertainty. Longitudinal forces obtained by the unscented Kalman filter on the wheel dynamics is employed as an observation for the Kalman-based velocity estimator at each corner. The stability of the proposed time-varying estimator is investigated and its performance is examined experimentally in several tests and on different road surface frictions. Road experiments and simulation results show the accuracy and robustness of the proposed approach in estimating longitudinal speed for ground vehicles.