Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Habitat and Competition on Niche Partitioning and Community Structure in Neotropical Ants

Competition for limited resources can yield two contrasting outcomes in community structure, namely, either (i) dominance of most competitive species (with functional convergence of the traits conferring this ability), or (ii) niche partitioning of species using distinct resources. In addition, varying resource availability in different environmental contexts is expected to yield varying community dynamics and composition between the contexts (habitat filtering). We addressed resource-based ant community structure in a tropical ecosystem. We expected ant species to display varying trophic preferences and foraging behaviors, allowing habitat selection and niche differentiation in ant assemblages. Furthermore, we expected habitat filtering to occur between open and forested areas in the landscape mosaic, and competition to further influence local species co-occurrence. We assessed resource use in nine ant assemblages distributed in two habitats (i.e., forests and croplands), devising two separate experiments using bait-traps to characterize ant species’ trophic preference (e.g., eating prey, seeds, sugars) and their ability to obtain a same resource in heterogeneous forms (e.g., on vegetation, litter, with variable amounts…). The majority of baits offered were rapidly exploited in the two habitats suggesting important resource limitations. Forest and cropland ant communities differed, however, in the proportions of resources exploited, suggesting different competitive pressures toward specific resources between habitats. Within each habitat, ants preferentially exploited the same resources, suggesting habitat filtering, but locally, interspecific resource partitioning resulted in a reduction of resource overlap compared to habitat scale. Our study provides evidence of the effects of habitat filtering and competition for resource in tropical ant community structure. Our findings also suggest that niche filtering and niche partitioning are co-variant forces determining the identity of the species present in local assemblages.
Less Field-Level Insecticides, But Not Fungicides, in Small Perennial Crop Fields and Landscapes with Woodlands and Organic Farming

CONTEXT: A large body of evidence suggests that landscape management may limit the use of pesticides in agricultural systems. However, this hypothesis is largely based on studies about biological pest control service, and the effects of landscape context on pesticide use remain poorly investigated. OBJECTIVE: Here, we investigated how the proportion of host crops and semi-natural habitats affected the local use of fungicides and insecticides in the most treated crops in France, i
Impact of Sociodemographic factors on prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescents of urban Meerut

Background: Adolescent obesity is becoming a major public health problem in urban areas of India and its prevalence is increasing in all socioeconomic groups irrespective of religion, region and caste. Aims & Objectives: To find out prevalence of overweight & obesity among adolescents and to study its association with sociodemographic factors. Material & Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in the area covered by Urban Health and Training Centre of Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Medical College, Meerut. Sample size was estimated by keeping the prevalence as 10% with 95% confidence interval and relative precision of 20%. A total of 872 adolescents were selected randomly using proportional allocation method. Results: The prevalence of overweight was found to be 17.4% and obesity 6.9%. The prevalence was significantly higher among females and in those belonging to nuclear families as well as higher socioeconomic status. Conclusion: The prevalence of overweight and obesity is quite high in the urban area and there is a need to develop an effective programme for the prevention of obesity in these areas.
Fully-Integrated Timers for Ultra-Low-Power Internet-of-Things Nodes – Fundamentals and Design Techniques

Driven by the momentum toward compact and low-power Internet-of-Things (IoT) systems, the research on fully-integrated and energy-efficient kHz-to-MHz timers increased explosively. This article examines recent publications on timers and classifies them into two major categories: open-loop-based and close-loop-based timers. Upon introducing the basic parameters for characterizing a timer, we perform an extensive investigation to gain insights into recent state-of-the-art works. We also discuss in detail the comparison between the two classes of timers. With the aid of the state-of-the-art, we present a comprehensive review from multiple perspectives, such as Energy Efficiency, Temperature Coefficient, Temperature Range, Figure-of-Merit, etc.
Clients in Simulated Teletherapy via Videoconference Compensate for Altered Eye Contact When Evaluating Therapist Empathy

Eye contact is frequently associated with an increased perception of empathy and telepresence, but the currently used videoconferencing (VC) technologies diminish the possibility of naturally conveying eye contact. This study compared the empathy, telepresence, and eye gaze patterns of clients in simulated VC teletherapy sessions where eye contact was altered or facilitated. Forty-two would-be clients met with one of four therapists in training for one 20-min simulated teletherapy session taking place via VC. The session either altered or facilitated eye contact perception by manipulating the positioning of the webcams and of the clients in their chair. Eye-tracking data focusing on the eyes, face, and general body regions of interest were obtained for 25 clients. The results show that facilitating eye contact in VC did not increase the clients’ perceptions of empathy or telepresence. However, empathy was associated with greater time spent looking at the eyes and faces of the therapists, but only in the sessions facilitating eye contact. We suggest that clients successfully rely on other verbal and nonverbal cues to detect therapist empathy when eye contact is altered in teletherapy sessions.
Leader-following consensus of multi-agent systems via event-based impulsive control

Leader-following consensus of multi-agent systems with general linear models is investigated via event-based impulsive control approach. Event-based impulsive controller and state-dependent triggering function are designed. Impulsive instants are determined by certain triggering events, that is, impulsive effect performs only at the instants when events occur, and so as controller update. Sufficient conditions on leader-following consensus are proposed by using stability theory of impulsive differential equations, matrix theory, and inequality technique. Zeno-behavior is also excluded for the concerned closed-loop system. Besides, a technique that used the state information of agents only at event instants is proposed to avoid continuous communication among agents. Finally, an example is presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the obtained theoretical results.
Analysis of the Impact of Equity Incentive on Performance Management Based on Balanced Integral Method

Improving the equity incentive system has a certain role in promoting the development of the company, but at present, there are relatively few studies on the equity incentive methods of listed companies under the balanced scorecard theory. This paper analyzes the role of equity incentive method of D listed company in enterprise performance management through the balanced scorecard theory and constructs an enterprise financial management evaluation system with qualitative and quantitative characteristics. The evaluation system includes five target layers, two dimensions, and 27 evaluation indicators. The results show that the number of researchers, the number of graduate students, market share, management fee rate, the number of chip patent applications and other internal business processes, customers, and learning and growth are better. Before the implementation of equity incentive method, the evaluation value range of primary indicators is 6–8 points. After the implementation of equity incentive method, the evaluation value range of primary indicators is 2–6 points. This study analyzes the impact of equity incentive methods on performance management through the balanced integral method, which has high application value in subsequent enterprise financial management and risk assessment.
Aboveground Biomass of Wetland Vegetation Under Climate Change in the Western Songnen Plain

Understanding the spatiotemporal dynamics of aboveground biomass (AGB) is crucial for investigating the wetland ecosystem carbon cycle. In this paper, we explored the spatiotemporal change of aboveground biomass and its response to climate change in a marsh wetland of western Songen Plain by using field measured AGB data and vegetation index derived from MODIS datasets. The results showed that the AGB could be established by the power function between measured AGB density and the annual maximum NDVI (NDVImax) of marsh: Y = 302.06 × NDVImax1.9817. The averaged AGB of marshes showed a significant increase of 2.04 g⋅C/m2/a, with an average AGB value of about 111.01 g⋅C/m2 over the entire western Songnen Plain. For the influence of precipitation and temperature, we found that the annual mean temperature had a smaller effect on the distribution of marsh AGB than that of the total precipitation in the western Songnen Plain. Increased precipitation in summer and autumn would increase AGB by promoting marshes’ vegetation growth. In addition, we found that the minimum temperature (Tmin) and maximum temperatures (Tmax) have an asymmetric effect on marsh AGB on the western Songnen Plain: warming Tmax has a significant impact on AGB of marsh vegetation, while warming at night can non-significantly increase the AGB of marsh wetland. This research is expected to provide theoretical guidance for the restoration, protection, and adaptive management of wetland vegetation in the western Songnen Plain.
Data-Driven Probabilistic Voltage Risk Assessment of MiniWECC System With Uncertain PVs and Wind Generations Using Realistic Data

It is found from actual data that due to generation dispatch and uncertain renewable generations and loads with complicated correlations, inferring the probabilistic distributions for uncertain inputs is challenging. Many probabilistic power flow approaches have been developed in the literature but their validations using realistic systems and data are lacking. This paper proposes a data-driven probabilistic analysis approach for system risk assessment of the miniWECC system using actual data. The sparse Gaussian process (SGP) is advocated to quantify the impacts of uncertain inputs on voltage security. SGP does not need the probability distribution function of uncertain inputs, can handle correlations and is highly computationally efficient. Results on the miniWECC system using realistic data show that SGP outperforms existing approaches and is able to quantify the voltage violation risks.
H3K4me3 CUT&Tag and Transcriptome Analysis Reveal the Epigenetic Regulatory Landscape in Gill Tissue of Large Yellow Croaker (Larimichthys crocea) Under Low Salinity Stress

H3K4me3 is an important histone modification that could influence DNA replication and RNA translation in response to abiotic stress. Here, RNA-seq analyses were conducted in gill tissues of large yellow croaker to identify the function of H3K4me3 under low salinity stress. Additionally, CUT&Tag analyses were performed to identify the genome-wide dynamic changes in H3K4me3 and explore the mechanisms by which H3K4me3 regulates gene expression. A total of 201 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified between the 5‰ low salinity group (S-group) and 25‰ normal salinity group (C-group), among which 23 DEGs (11 up-regulated H3K4me3 targets and 12 down-regulated targets) were directly regulated by H3K4me3. Our findings thus describe the epigenetic regulatory landscape of H3K4me3 in gill of large yellow croaker during low salinity stress, and provide novel insights into the regulation mechanisms of H3K4me3 mediating the responses of aquatic animals to abiotic stress.
Endosomally Localized RGLG-Type E3 RING-Finger Ligases Modulate Sorting of Ubiquitylation-Mimic PIN2

Intracellular sorting and the abundance of sessile plant plasma membrane proteins are imperative for sensing and responding to environmental inputs. A key determinant for inducing adjustments in protein localization and hence functionality is their reversible covalent modification by the small protein modifier ubiquitin, which is for example responsible for guiding proteins from the plasma membrane to endosomal compartments. This mode of membrane protein sorting control requires the catalytic activity of E3 ubiquitin ligases, amongst which members of the RING DOMAIN LIGASE (RGLG) family have been implicated in the formation of lysine 63-linked polyubiquitin chains, serving as a prime signal for endocytic vacuolar cargo sorting. Nevertheless, except from some indirect implications for such RGLG activity, no further evidence for their role in plasma membrane protein sorting has been provided so far. Here, by employing RGLG1 reporter proteins combined with assessment of plasma membrane protein localization in a rglg1 rglg2 loss-of-function mutant, we demonstrate a role for RGLGs in cargo trafficking between plasma membrane and endosomal compartments. Specifically, our findings unveil a requirement for RGLG1 association with endosomal sorting compartments for fundamental aspects of plant morphogenesis, underlining a vital importance for ubiquitylation-controlled intracellular sorting processes.
The Association of Dietary Fiber Intake in Three Meals with All-Cause and Disease-Specific Mortality among Adults: The U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2003–2014

The timing of food intake can significantly alter the body’s metabolism of nutrient intake and affect the occurrence of chronic diseases. However, whether and how the intake time of dietary fiber could influence mortality risks is largely unknown. This study aims to reveal the association between total dietary fiber intake and fiber intake at different times with all-cause, cancer, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality rates. A total of 31,164 adults who enrolled in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2003 to 2014 are included in this study. Dietary fiber intake was measured using 2-day, 24 h dietary recall. The main exposures in this study were the intake of dietary fiber at breakfast, lunch, and dinner via regression analysis of the residual method. The main outcomes were the all-cause, cancer, and CVD mortality rates. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to evaluate the survival relationship between dietary fiber intake at different times and mortality rates. Among the 31,164 adults, 2915 deaths, including 631 deaths due to cancer and 836 deaths due to CVD, were documented. Firstly, after adjusting for potential confounders, compared to the participants in the lowest quintile of total dietary fiber intake, the participants in the highest quintile of fiber intake had lower all-cause (HR = 0.686, 95% CI: 0.589–0.799, p for trend <0.001) and cancer (HR = 0.606, 95% CI: 0.446–0.824, p for trend = 0.015) mortality risks. Secondly, compared to the participants in the lowest quintile of dietary fiber intake at dinner, the participants in the highest quintile of fiber intake had lower all-cause (HR = 0.796, 95% CI: 0.668–0.949, p for trend = 0.009) and cancer (HR = 0.564, 95% CI: 0.388–0.822, p for trend = 0.005) mortality risks. Furthermore, equivalently replacing each standard deviation of dietary fiber consumed at breakfast with that at dinner was associated with lower cancer mortality risks (HR = 0.846, 95% CI: 0.747–0.958). In conclusion, this study demonstrates that, in the NHANES (2003–2014) cohort, to reduce all-cause and cancer mortality risks, the optimal dietary fiber intake time is in the evening.
Digital Elevation Model‐Assisted Aerial Triangulation Method On An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Sweeping Camera System

The sweeping camera systems in the surveying and mapping industry are usually efficient in image acquisition, for the photography coverage of a single strip is relatively large. The triangulation angle of correspondence is overly tiny to adopt traditional block adjustment (BA). This study analysed the imaging principle of the Chinese APS7K comprehensive camera system and proposed an aerial triangulation method for the data this system acquired. The proposed method first determines the adjacent matrix from the POS data and trajectory information. The other part of the method is to overcome the weak relative geometry in a single strip by introducing the digital elevation model (DEM) data into the block adjustment scheme. The optimal solution of adjustment is obtained by iteratively solving the problem. We verified the optimisation's effectiveness by checking stitched orthophoto and check points from Google Earth. The results show that mosaic discrepancy is eliminated, the reprojection error is reduced to subpixel level, and positioning accuracy is better than 0.4 meter (ground sample distance is 0.2 meter) after adjustment with ground control points. Finally, the method’s shortcomings and prospects are summarized.
Assessing the Diagnostic Accuracy of Physicians for Home Death Certification in Shanghai: Application of SmartVA

Approximately 30% of deaths in Shanghai either occur at home or are not medically attended. The recorded cause of death (COD) in these cases may not be reliable. We applied the Smart Verbal Autopsy (VA) tool to assign the COD for a representative sample of home deaths certified by 16 community health centers (CHCs) from three districts in Shanghai, from December 2017 to June 2018. The results were compared with diagnoses from routine practice to ascertain the added value of using SmartVA. Overall, cause-specific mortality fraction (CSMF) accuracy improved from 0.93 (93%) to 0.96 after the application of SmartVA. A comparison with a “gold standard (GS)” diagnoses obtained from a parallel medical record review investigation found that 86.3% of the initial diagnoses made by the CHCs were assigned the correct COD, increasing to 90.5% after the application of SmartVA. We conclude that routine application of SmartVA is not indicated for general use in CHCs, although the tool did improve diagnostic accuracy for residual causes, such as other or ill-defined cancers and non-communicable diseases.
Reduction in controlled power switches for a single-phase novel multilevel inverter

ABSTRACT Multilevel inverter (MLI) generates stepped voltage with appropriate switching combination of power devices, thus restraining the requirement of filter circuit for an efficient power conversion. MLIs are attracting due to some of the major features like economic cost, installation space, bulkiness, complexity along with its enormous applications in industries like cement factory, ceramic industry, aerospace applications etc. In this paper, a single-phase generalised inverter based on five different algorithms is proposed that uses the minimum of overall power components. The presented topology can be used in low and medium voltage applications. To verify the simulation results obtained by MATLAB/Simulink, DS1103 controller is used to generate the corresponding experimental results by developing a prototype model in the laboratory. Nevertheless, a comparative assessment for the different required components of the proposed topology is carried out with some recently developed topologies. Reduction in power switches, driver circuits and DC voltage sources reduces the size, cost, complexity and enhances the overall performance. In addition, level per switch ratio is added in this paper to decide the effectiveness of the proposed topology.
Study of the semileptonic charm decays D0→π-e+νe, D+→π0e+νe, D0→K-e+νe, and D+→K̄0e+νe

Using a sample of 1.8 million $D\overline{D}$ mesons collected at the $\ensuremath{\psi}(3770)$ with the CLEO-c detector, we study the semileptonic decays ${D}^{0}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{\ensuremath{\pi}}^{\ensuremath{-}}{e}^{+}{\ensuremath{\nu}}_{e}$, ${D}^{+}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{\ensuremath{\pi}}^{0}{e}^{+}{\ensuremath{\nu}}_{e}$, ${D}^{0}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{K}^{\ensuremath{-}}{e}^{+}{\ensuremath{\nu}}_{e}$, and ${D}^{+}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{\overline{K}}^{0}{e}^{+}{\ensuremath{\nu}}_{e}$. For the total branching fractions we find $\mathcal{B}({D}^{0}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{\ensuremath{\pi}}^{\ensuremath{-}}{e}^{+}{\ensuremath{\nu}}_{e})=0.299(11)(9)%$, $\mathcal{B}({D}^{+}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{\ensuremath{\pi}}^{0}{e}^{+}{\ensuremath{\nu}}_{e})=0.373(22)(13)%$, $\mathcal{B}({D}^{0}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{K}^{\ensuremath{-}}{e}^{+}{\ensuremath{\nu}}_{e})=3.56(3)(9)%$, and $\mathcal{B}({D}^{+}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{\overline{K}}^{0}{e}^{+}{\ensuremath{\nu}}_{e})=8.53(13)(23)%$, where the first error is statistical and the second systematic. In addition, form factors are studied through fits to the partial branching fractions obtained in five ${q}^{2}$ ranges. By combining our results with recent unquenched lattice calculations, we obtain $|{V}_{cd}|=0.217(9)(4)(23)$ and $|{V}_{cs}|=1.015(10)(11)(106)$, where the final error is theoretical.
Robot Arm Imitating Human Upper Arm: The Design and Stress Analysis

113 Abstract—In previous work, a developed four degree of freedom (DoF) arm failed to move in actual experiment due to the vibration that occurred at the first joint which carries the heaviest payload of the arm. It indicates the importance of analysing robot design before a prototype can be built for real motion. A new robotic arm that was designed to imitate a human upper arm has four joints which rotate around x, y, and z-axis to move its four links to the required posture of the wrist. The work demonstrates the use of a design software to confirms feasibility of the joints for motion and finite element analysis (FEA) to predict the behaviour of the structure when under force. FEA results showed that most of the links have experienced lower stress levels than of the tensile yield strength of alloy steel material which proved the strength of the structure to sustain the applied 15Nm stress test. Hence, with minor adjustments to match with the size of the existing robot hand, the design is ready for fabrication process in the next study.