Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bill morphology and biometrics of three sibling woodpecker species from sympatric populations

ABSTRACT Capsule Different methods of comparing bill morphology between woodpecker species show different, but not contradictory results. Aims Differences among similar, closely related species which co-occur are still highly debated. In such a scenario, species should diverge morphologically to reduce competition. We studied this phenomenon, in three closely related woodpecker species that co-occur in eastern Slovakia: Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major, Syrian Woodpecker Dendrocopos syriacus and White-backed Woodpecker Dendrocopos leucotos. The Great Spotted Woodpecker has the widest niche and lives sympatrically with both Syrian and White-backed Woodpeckers, while the distributions of the latter two species do not overlap because of their use of different habitats. We predicted that Great Spotted Woodpeckers should differ morphologically from both sympatric species: Syrian and White-backed Woodpeckers. Methods Comparisons were made between species, based on dorsal and lateral views of maxilla using both geometric morphometric techniques and traditional measurements. Results We confirmed our hypothesis, and found significant differences in bill shape between Great Spotted Woodpecker and both congeners. This is in contrast to the observed higher similarity of Great Spotted Woodpecker and Syrian Woodpecker in traditional body measurements. However, surprisingly, Syrian Woodpecker and White-backed Woodpecker do not differ significantly in bill shape. Conclusions This work indicates that geometric morphometry appears to be a promising tool for the investigation of how interspecific competition influences the shape of the bill between co-occurring species.
Efficient transformation of cereals mediated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens

Seeds from wheat were tested for their aptitude to be transformed at early stages of germination by Agrobacterium tumefaciens, which promotes singular integration patterns, entailing lower mutational consequences for the transgenic plant and limited transgene silencing. Seeds were processed at different stages of germination by a cassette containing the GUS reporter gene under the control of a high molecular weight glutenin subunit promoter. Transgene integration and expression into the host organism were followed by PCR and by histological staining. Results showed that the cereals used could be effectively transformed by this method and that the foreign gene behaviour in the progenies was similar to that reported from the standard method, which uses explants and tissue culture. This simplified protocol is easy to use and allows savings in time and reagents. Moreover, it avoids the complex stages of tissue culture and plant regeneration. Because seeds are the main form of planting material for crop production, this technique can be extended to virtually any plant carrying orthodox seeds. Keywords: Agrobacterium tumefaciens; Cereals; Monocotyledons; Transgenic; Transformation; Wheat.
Effects of different concept map activities on chemistry learning

Abstract There is widespread evidence showing that concept maps are effective for learning. However, little is known about the effects of various concept map activities. We conducted an experiment to examine the comparative effectiveness of three concept map activities: (i) translating a complete map to a paragraph format, (ii) filling in concepts in a partial map, and (iii) filling in labels in a partial map. Undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory general chemistry course were randomly assigned to the three groups. Each concept map depicted the relationships between concepts on the topic of reaction enthalpy. Results showed that the map-translation group significantly outperformed the fill-in-concepts and fill-in-labels groups in conceptual understanding indicated by open-ended questions while there were no significant differences among the three groups in conceptual understanding indicated by multiple-choice questions.
Behavioural Responses of African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus) Exposed to Different Chemicals

The African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus) was exposed to different toxicant concentrations of 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 mg/L using a static nonrenewable bioassay method. Another set up without the toxicant was set up to serve as control. Two replicate concentrations for the different toxicants used in thirty (30 L) litres rectangular tanks were also set up. The aquariums were filled to fifteen-liter mark, loaded with ten fishes and properly labelled. Parameters such as cumulative average value of operculum movement; tail beat frequency, cumulative number of discoloration, erratic swimming, and mortality were monitored in-situ. The results showed that the lethal effect of the toxicants on the fishes depends on concentration and duration of exposure to the toxicant. Also in-situ observation showed that the cumulative average number of discoloration, erratic swimming, and mortality increased with increase in concentration and exposure time, while the cumulative average of operculum movement and tail beat frequency decreased with increase concentration and exposure time.
Efficient High Step-Up Operation in Boost Converters Based on Impulse Rectification

Conventional boost converters, while having a high level of simplicity and robustness, are known to have a poor efficiency at high step-up regimes. More complicated topologies have been extensively explored to increase the step-up ratio while keeping a high efficiency; however, an efficient regulated dc–dc power conversion at high step-up regimes still remains a challenge. In this letter, we demonstrate fully soft-switched operation of boost converters based on impulse rectification, which results in an efficient power conversion at very high step-up regimes. Contrary to the conventional analysis of boost converters which seeks to minimize conduction and switching losses, our approach considers reactive power as the key parameter limiting the efficiency. A theoretical basis enabled an appropriate design resulting in power conversion efficiencies above 90% for voltage gain values of 5, 10, 25, and 50, with a peak efficiency of 97%. The guidelines to design boost converters based on the proposed approach are discussed. The simplicity and high performance of this approach opens new avenues in designing regulated dc–dc converters with a high step-up.
A Longitudinal Investigation of Muscle Injuries in an Elite Spanish Male Academy Soccer Club: A Hamstring Injuries Approach

The aims of this study were to analyze the muscle injury incidence in an elite Spanish soccer academy during three consecutive seasons attending to different chronological age groups (i.e., U14, U16, U19 and senior) and to examine the hamstring injury incidence in this elite soccer academy. Elite male youth soccer players (227) participated in this study. A total of 207 time-loss injuries (i.e., injuries that involve at least one absence day) were observed during this study period. The overall incidence rate of muscle injury was 1.74 muscle injuries/1000 h. In addition, higher muscle injury incidence was observed during match play in comparison to training sessions (6.78 vs. 3.20 muscle injuries/1000 h, p < 0.05). The oldest age group presented the highest injury rate (2.73 muscle injuries/1000 h, p < 0.05), with the burden (i.e., number of absence days per 1000 h of exposure) peak values recorded in the U16 age group (26.45 absence days/1000 h). In addition, muscle tears accounted for the greatest percentage of muscle injuries (43.5%), and the most frequent anatomical site of injury was the hamstring (30.4%). Muscle tear was the most common type of hamstring injury (49.2%), with the biceps femoris the most commonly injured muscle of the hamstring complex (39.7%). Fullbacks (FB), wide midfielders (WM) and forwards (F) suffered a greater number of hamstring injuries. Hamstring injury incidence showed a seasonal variation, as indicated by peaks in August and October. Specifically, the highest injury incidence was observed in the final part of each period during match play. These results reinforce the necessity to implement individual preventive strategies according to each specific injury profile across the youth soccer development phase.
Vision‐aided intelligent vehicle sideslip angle estimation based on a dynamic model

The vehicle sideslip angle is an important state for vehicle dynamic control, which needs to be estimated as it could not be obtained directly by the vehicle. To improve the estimation accuracy of the sideslip angle based on the intelligent vehicle platform, this study proposes a novel vehicle sideslip angle estimation algorithm with the fusion of dynamic model and vision information. Firstly, to further improve the model accuracy of the vehicle during lateral acceleration conditions, a vehicle dynamic model is established considering the acceleration error compensation with the assistance of attitude information. In addition, based on the lane line information obtained from the equipped camera in intelligent vehicles, a visual geometric model is established. Owing to the measurement delay and low sampling frequency of the camera, a multi-rate sideslip angle observer with delay compensation is designed to coordinate with the inter-frequency signal of the vehicle chassis. Finally, the effectiveness of the algorithm is verified by the slalom test.
A simplified model of energy performance indicators for sustainable energy management

In international management, ISO 50001 has been widely applied in organisations across the world, including Thailand. The main objective of this standard is to continuously and sustainably improve the energy performance of the organisation in order to reduce energy consumption and costs, including alleviating environmental climate change impacts. This standard stipulates the measurement of energy performance improvement using energy performance indicators (EnPIs) and the energy baseline (EnB). This study proposes a simplified model of energy performance indicators ( EnPIs), effective for ISO 50001 energy management at organisational level. Appropriate internal benchmarking is proposed for measuring three levels of energy performance, namely organisational, process, and main machine, through energy consumption, intensity, and efficiency. Multiple linear regression was selected to develop energy equations to express the relationship between energy consumption and significantly related variables such as service usage, operating hour, and CDD for business buildings, etc. The proposed EnPIs are applied to measure the energy performance of the case study of business buildings in Thailand complying with ISO 50001. This method can be effectively used to measure changes in the energy performance of the organisation as well as the processes and considered as a comparative alternative to public benchmarking, such as kWh/m2. The findings of this study are considered to be beneficial for every organisation adopting the ISO 50001 system. This proposed method can be effectively used to monitor and measure the organisation’s energy performance towards sustainable energy management. However, it still has certain limitations. In the case of energy consumption models that are related to non-linear related variables, it is necessary to conduct further studies to determine more appropriate EnPIs.
Evaluation of Feasible Interlinking Converters in a Bipolar Hybrid Microgrid

A bipolar hybrid microgrid is a new topology which benefits from the advantages of both alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) microgrids. Interlinking AC/DC converter is the key of this topology which has the following characteristics: being able to provide two equal pole voltages in DC side; complying with the standards of current quality at AC side; being able to control active and reactive power independently in AC side, and transmitting bidirectional power. In this paper, two categories of power converters including single-stage and two-stage converters are proposed for this topology. A new cost-effective control strategy is added to the control of general grid-connected converter for each interlinking converter, and the control of autonomous DC-link pole voltage for both candidates is achieved. Detailed simulations based on the designed control strategies are conducted to validate the function of control strategies under the operation conditions of different DC sides. The performances of two selected interlinking converters with balanced and unbalanced DC loads are analyzed. Suggested power quality of microgrid and total harmonic distortion (THD) analysis are demonstrated in grid-tied and islanded modes. Eventually, semiconductor power loss simulations based on a closed-loop thermal network simulation are conducted. Thereby, the mutual effects of power loss and initial junction temperature are investigated.
Hierodoris (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Gelechioidea: Oecophoridae)

An overview of New Zealand Oecophoridae is presented, and a new genus-group, the ‘ Hierodoris group’, is defined. The systematic placement of this group is discussed. New Zealand oecophorid genera not assigned to the Hierodoris group are assigned to the Wingia , Chezala , and Barea groups of Common. Stathmopodinae are excluded from Oecophoridae. The endemic New Zealand genus Hierodoris Meyrick is revised. The genus is fully redescribed, and 18 species are recognised, including 8 new species: H. gerontion , H. huia , H. pachystegiae , H. polita , H. sesioides , H. s-fractum , H. torrida , and H. tygris . Gymnobathra squamea Philpott is transferred to Hierodoris . Coridomorpha Meyrick is sunk as a junior subjective synonym of Hierodoris , and H. chlorobela Meyrick as a junior subjective synonym of H. illita (Felder & Rogenhofer). All species are fully described and adults illustrated in colour; male genitalia are illustrated for all species and female genitalia for all except H. sesioides . Larvae and pupae are described for the species in which they are known. Information is given on biology, distribution, and conservation status, with 5 species considered potentially threatened at the national level: H. huia , H. polita , H. sesioides , H. stella , and H. tygris . Two species-groups are recognised: the Hierodoris iophanes group including H. iophanes , H. frigida , H. polita , H. torrida , and H. huia , and the Hierodoris illita group including all the remaining species. Checklist of taxa Genus Hierodoris Meyrick, 1912 Coridomorpha Meyrick, 1914, new synonymy Taoscelis Meyrick, 1938 iophanes Meyrick, 1912 frigida Philpott, 1923 crocostoma Meyrick, 1938, Taoscelis polita new species torrida new species huia new species atychioides (Butler, 1877) gregalis Philpott, 1928, Heliostibes barbarica Philpott, 1930a, Heliostibes bilineata (Salmon, 1948) callispora (Meyrick, 1912) eremita Philpott, 1930b gerontion new species illita (Felder & Rogenhofer, 1875) chlorobela Meyrick, 1921, Heliostibes, new synonymy sesioides new species squamea (Philpott, 1915), new combination nigra Philpott, 1930a, Gymnobathra stella (Meyrick, 1914), new combination electrica (Meyrick, 1889) s-fractum new species pachystegiae new species tygris new species
Multicriteria Decision Making Model with Z-Numbers Based on FUCOM and MABAC model

In the paper is presented a model for selecting a location for a brigade command post during combat operations. Considering that this is a very complex model, which can be approached from several aspects, this paper is limited only to the criteria related to the construction or arrangement of the command post, respectively, the engineering aspect. The selection process is conducted using hybrid FUCOM – Z-number – MABAC model. The FUCOM method is used to define the weight coefficients of criteria based on which the selection is made. The MABAC method, modified by applying Z-number, is used to rank alternatives. The end results indicate that the application of Z-number in decision making includes broader set of uncertainties than standard fuzzy numbers, which is very important for deciding in combat situations.
New species of Sericini from Sri Lanka (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae)

In a recent project, extensive fieldwork was carried out in several parts of Sri Lanka to investigate scarab biodiversity. Here we present the first results of this survey and describe four new Sericini species: Selaserica athukoralai sp. nov., Neoserica dharmapriyai sp. nov., Maladera cervicornis sp. nov., M. galdaththana sp. nov. Further, new locality records for 20 already known species are given. The genitalia and the habitus of all new species are illustrated and photos of the habitats of the new species are given.
Adaptive synchronization of two different uncertain chaotic systems with unknown dead-zone input nonlinearities

The present work addresses chaos synchronization between two different general chaotic systems with parametric and structural uncertainties, subject to external disturbances and input dead-zone nonlinearities. In this regard, a novel robust controller has been designed that guarantees asymptotic stability of synchronization errors and boundedness of all closed-loop signals. One advantage of the proposed controller over the existing control algorithms is using only one update law for estimating the structural uncertainties, external disturbances, and unknown characteristics of the dead-zone nonlinearities, which reduces the computational burden considerably. The designed controller is singularity free, and a smooth projection algorithm has been used to make the controller more robust. In addition, a finite-time controller has been designed and its performance has been compared with the robustly designed controller.
Impact of Varying Load Conditions and Cooling Energy Comparison of a Double-Inlet Pulse Tube Refrigerator

Modeling and optimization of a double-inlet pulse tube refrigerator (DIPTR) is very difficult due to its geometry and nature. The objective of this paper was to optimize-DIPTR through experiments with the cold heat exchanger (CHX) along the comparison of cooling load with experimental data using different boundary conditions. To predict its performance, a detailed two-dimensional DIPTR model was developed. A double-drop pulse pipe cooler was used for solving continuity, dynamic and power calculations. External conditions for applicable boundaries include sinusoidal pressure from an end of the tube from a user-defined function and constant temperature or limitations of thermal flux within the outer walls of exchanger walls under colder conditions. The results of the system’s cooling behavior were reported, along with the connection between the mass flow rates, heat distribution along pulse tube and cold-end pressure, the cooler load’s wall temp profile and cooler loads with varied boundary conditions i.e. opening of 20% double-inlet and 40-60% orifice valves, respectively. Different loading conditions of 1 and 5 W were applied on the CHX. At 150 K temperature of the cold-end heat exchanger, a maximum load of 3.7 W was achieved. The results also reveal a strong correlation between computational fluid dynamics modeling results and experimental results of the DIPTR.
Moving forward: business model solutions for amateur sport clubs

ABSTRACT Rationale/Purpose: The survival of New Zealand’s amateur sport clubs is threatened by a range of factors. This study investigated how club partnerships may address sustainability concerns brought about through sport environmental changes. Design/Methodology/Approach: Semi-structured interviews with representatives from five sport clubs explored how partnerships could alter sport clubs’ business models for long-term viability. Findings: Partnerships enabled clubs’ governing bodies to appeal to a wider cross-section of society through improved strategic focus, direction and resource use. This led to membership growth and diversity, enhanced financial viability, improved governance, greater community connection and improved HRM functions. Practical Implications: The study suggests the RCOV model and RDT helped clubs’ pre-partnership sustainability issues. Partnerships created larger clubs, enabling financial stability, retention of members, and resource management to overcome environmental challenges. Research Contribution: This study offers perceptions of club partnership outcomes. Critical success factors are presented as a guide of best practice.
Optimizing acquisition parameters in diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy of soils

School of Environment and Natural Resources, Ohio State Univ., 414A, Kottman Hall, 2021 Coffey Road, Columbus, OH 43210 Crop Sciences Dep. , Univ. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 1201 S Dorner Dr, Urbana, IL 61801 School of Environment and Natural Resources, Ohio State Univ., 1680, Madison Ave, Wooster, Ohio 44691 School of Environment and Natural Resources, Ohio State Univ., 408B, Kottman Hall, 2021 Coffey Road, Columbus, OH 43210.
Recovering Forecast Distributions of Crop Composition: Method and Application to Kentucky Agriculture

This paper proposes a novel application of the multinomial logit (MNL) model using Cropland Data Layer and field-level boundaries to estimate crop transition probabilities, which are used to generate forecast distributions of total acreage for five major crops produced in the state of Kentucky. These forecasts distributions have a wide range of applications that, besides providing interim acreage estimates ahead of the June Acreage Survey, can inform the ability of producers to incorporate new crops in the land-use rotation, investments in location-specific capital and input distribution as well informing the likelihood of adverse water quality events from nutrient run-off.
Effect of inorganic-to-organic mass ratio on the heterogeneous OH reaction rates of erythritol: implications for atmospheric chemical stability of 2-methyltetrols

Abstract. The 2-methyltetrols have been widely chosen as chemical tracers for isoprene-derived secondary organic aerosols. While they are often assumed to be relatively unreactive, a laboratory study reported that pure erythritol particles (an analog of 2-methyltetrols) can be heterogeneously oxidized by gas-phase OH radicals at a significant rate. This might question the efficacy of these compounds as tracers in aerosol source-apportionment studies. Additional uncertainty could arise as organic compounds and inorganic salts often coexist in atmospheric particles. To gain more insights into the chemical stability of 2-methyltetrols in atmospheric particles, this study investigates the heterogeneous OH oxidation of pure erythritol particles and particles containing erythritol and ammonium sulfate (AS) at different dry inorganic-to-organic mass ratios (IOR) in an aerosol flow tube reactor at a high relative humidity of 85 %. The same reaction products are formed upon heterogenous OH oxidation of erythritol and erythritol–AS particles, suggesting that the reaction pathways are not strongly affected by the presence and amount of AS. On the other hand, the effective OH uptake coefficient, γeff, is found to decrease by about a factor of ∼20 from 0.45±0.025 to 0.02±0.001 when the relative abundance of AS increases and the IOR increases from 0.0 to 5.0. One likely explanation is the presence of dissolved ions slows down the reaction rates by decreasing the surface concentration of erythritol and reducing the frequency of collision between erythritol and gas-phase OH radicals at the particle surface. Hence, the heterogeneous OH reactivity of erythritol and likely 2-methyltetrols in atmospheric particles would be slower than previously thought when the salts are present. Given 2-methyltetrols often coexist with a significant amount of AS in many environments, where ambient IOR can vary from ∼1.89 to ∼250, our kinetic data would suggest that 2-methyltetrols in atmospheric particles are likely chemically stable against heterogeneous OH oxidation under humid conditions.