Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Balkan marsh frogs Pelophylax kurtmuelleri (Gayda, 1940) introduced in the Aspromonte National Park, southern Italy

Alien marsh frogs were found during bioacoustic surveys in the Aspromonte National Park, southern Italy, during spring 2015. This is to date the southernmost finding of non-native water frogs in the Italian Peninsula. Subsequent genetic characterization clearly identified these non-native frogs as belonging to Pelophylax kurtmuelleri, a species of the Pelophylax ridibundus species group. Phylogenetic comparisons with previously published sequence data placed the collected samples in a cluster of P. kurtmuelleri individuals from southwest coastal areas of the Balkans. We collected further information on this introduction by interviewing local people, and by extending bioacoustic and genetic surveys to all the potential breeding sites in the area during springtime, from 2016 to 2018. Interviews revealed that a small group of Balkan people established in the area in the early ‘80s, suggesting that marsh frogs were introduced as a food source (frog leg consumption). We found non-native frogs at eight sites, located 10 km at most from the supposed area of introduction. Considering i) the invasive potential of marsh frogs, and the associated threats to native species, ii) their still limited spread in the study area, and iii) the presence in this area of a unique evolutionary lineage of native water frogs, P. lessonae, we urge for timely management and eradication actions of this alien frog in the area, aimed at preventing its further spread and consequent negative impact on native frogs and other components of the biological community.
Developmemt of High Speed High Dynamic Range Videography

High speed video has been a significant tool for unraveling the quantitative and qualitative assessment of phenomena that is too fast to readily observe. It was first used in 1852 by William Henry Fox Talbot to settle a dispute with reference to the synchronous position of a horse’s hooves while galloping. Since that time private industry, government, and enthusiasts have been measuring dynamic scenarios with high speed video. One challenge that faces the high speed video community is the dynamic range of the sensors. The dynamic range of the sensor is constrained to the bit depth of the analog to digital converter, the deep well capacity of the sensor site, and baseline noise. A typical high speed camera can span a 60 dB dynamic range, 1000:1, natively. More recently the dynamic range has been extended to about 80 dB utilizing different pixel acquisition methods. In this dissertation a method to extend the dynamic range will be presented and demonstrated to extend the dynamic range of a high speed camera system to over 170 dB, about 31,000,000:1. The proposed formation methodology is adaptable to any camera combination, and almost any needed dynamic range. The dramatic increase in the dynamic range is made possible through an adaptation of the current high dynamic range image formation methodologies. Due to the high cost of a high speed camera, a minimum number of cameras are desired to form a high dynamic range high speed video system. With a reduced number of cameras spanning a significant range, the errors on the formation process compound significantly relative to a normal high dynamic range image. The increase in uncertainty is created from the lack of relevant correlated information for final image formation, necessitating the development of a new formation methodology. In the proceeding text the problem statement and background information will be reviewed in depth. The development of a new weighting function, stochastic image formation process, tone map methodology, and optimized multi camera design will be presented. The proposed methodologies’ effectiveness will be compared to current methods throughout the text and a final demonstration will be presented. Observations will be discussed indicating some of the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed solution. Development of High Speed High Dynamic Range Videography
RESEARCH OF PARAMETERS OF FIBER-OPTICAL MEASURING SYSTEMS

At present there exist a lot of technical devices, the failure of which can be connected not only with huge financial losses, but with the treat to the environment as well. Therefore, an important problem is the effective devices conditions diagnostics, including electronic components and check of their operation. Timely faults detecting allows introducing the prevention measures and avoiding serious consequences. Fiber-optic sensors have several advantages, more important of which include the immunity to electromagnetic disturbances, little weight and possibility to be included into the structure being measured. The most perspective are the sensors based on the Bragg fiber gratings. Bragg fiber gratings have several advantages, for instance, they allow creating the distributed measuring massifs, which contain several sensors. As well, they are insensitive to the optic power source vibrations. Variety of using the fiber sensors based on the Bragg fiber gratings has led to producing the Bragg fiber gratings with different spectral characteristics. Homogeneous Bragg fiber gratings have the spectra with solid side lobes, which can influence at the temperature sensor processing characteristics. To level the side lobes there is applied the apodization method, which is one of the means to affect the spectral form. The article herein considers the issues of the Bragg fiber gratings mathematical and computer modeling using the transfer matrix method. Transfer matrix method allows defining the optical components spectral characteristics based on the bound modes theory and description of electromagnetic wave, passing through an optic fiber. In the article there have been analyzed the Bragg fiber gratings in compliance with spectral features, such as transmission and reflectance spectra. As well, there has been carried out the experiment with influence of various parameters at the Bragg fiber gratings spectral characteristics. There have been studied the Bragg fiber gratings spectral features and selected the grating optimal parameters for designing the fiber-optic sensors based on the Bragg fiber gratings.
Monotonicity and Implementability : Beyond Convex Domains

We use insights from combinatorial Hodge theory and algebraic topology to analyze how incentive compatibility constraints shape the set of implementable deterministic allocation rules. For simply-connected domains, we show that 2-cyclic monotonicity is su¢ cient for implementability under an additional condition on an allocation rule. The additional condition ensures that local incentive compatibility implies global incentive compatibility. The additional condition is redundant for convex and single-peaked preferences domains.
From EFL to ESL

This chapter revisits the dichotomy that is traditionally made in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research between English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and English as a Second Language (ESL) and argues, on the basis of data from the International Corpus of Learner English , that it should be viewed as a continuum instead, with many in-between categories corresponding to a variety of learning contexts. Using the case of the preposition into as an illustration, we show that the different environments in which Spanish-, French-, Dutch- and Tswana-speaking students learn English are reflected in their syntactic, semantic and lexical use of the preposition. More precisely, it appears that the Spanish-, French- and Dutch-speaking learners, who represent a cline in terms of exposure to the target language, from little exposure for the Spanish learners to considerable exposure for the Dutch learners, also form a cline in their use of into , from most distant to most similar to native (British) English. As for the Tswana variety, which clearly displays characteristics of both EFL and ESL, it occupies different positions along the cline, being sometimes closest to native English and sometimes most dissimilar, depending on the features of the use of into that are considered.
SNR Enhancement of Ultrasonic Pulse-Echo Signals using 1-D Anisotropic Diffusion Filter

Ultrasonic pulse-echo techniques for flaw/defect detection have been widely used for the industrial non-destructive evaluation (NDE). The backscattering noise of the highly scattering materials and/or instrumentation system noise may cause peak value of ultrasonic signal higher than the inspected flaw echoes. Thus, it is essential to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for proper detection of flaw signals by utilizing efficient noise filtering algorithm. In this paper, we have presented the one-dimensional (1-D) anisotropic diffusion filtering technique for the SNR enhancement and echo detection of the ultrasonic amplitude based pulse-echo signal. The anisotropic diffusion filtering algorithm has been examined, evaluated and developed for the filtering of 1-D ultrasonic signals. Thestopping criterion for the iteration has been proposed for the efficient echo detection. For the experiment, a single channel ultrasonic pulseecho measurement system has been developed. The capability of de-noising filtering method is evaluated in terms of SNR improvement. The results show that this approach is more applicable to the processing of noisy ultrasonic signals.
The role of body undulation in centipede locomotion in a geometric mechanics perspective

Centipedes, class Chilopoda, have wide distribution over all continents except Antarctica [4]. Their habitats include leaf litter, soil, stones, forests, desert, caves, and the littoral zone [9]. The class Chilopoda can further devide into two subclasses, Anamorpha and Epimorpha [3]. In the subclass Anamorpha, the young centipedes (after hatching) do not possess the same number of legs as adult centipedes, All adult Anamorphic centipedes have 15 pairs of legs [4]. The subclass Anamorpha includes two orders: Scutigeromorpha and Lithobiomorpha. On the other hand, in the subclass Epimorpha, all centipedes on hatch have the full number of legs as adult centipdes. The number of leg pairs in subclass Epimorpha vary from 21 to 181. The subclass Epimorpha includes two orders: Scolopendromorpha and Geophilomorpha. Note that there is a Chilopoda order, Craterostigmomorpha, considered as the intermediate stage of the switch from an anamorphic developmental mode to an epimorphic one in the course of centipede phylogeny. Centipedes in this order have some features of both subclasses. Due to the lack of data, the models in this paper does not include Craterostigmomorpha. The centipedes in subclass Anamorpha have the characteristic direct wave locomotion pattern. That is, the leg wave of anamorphic centipedes propengate from tail to head [7]. The body undulation in anamorphic centipedes are rare. Body undulation in Anamorpha is only observed in Lithobiomorpha at high speed. Furthermore, the body undulations in Lithobiomorpha at high speed have limited amplitude and are believed to be passive[9]. Anamorphic centipedes have successful locomotive performance on solid substrate. Their speed can be as large as 19 body length per second. However, anamorphic centipedes have poor performance during swimming motion. The centipedes in subclass Epimorpha have the characteristic retrograde wave locomotion pattern. That is, the leg wave of epimorphic centipedes propengate from head to tail [7]. The body undulation are common in anamorphic centipedes[9]. Besides, Anderson et al. [2] recorded EMG of body segments during epimorphic centipedes locomotion; the analysis of epimorphic centipedes body segments EMG indicates that the body undulation is active in epimorphic centipedes locomotion, partially to assist locomotion. Epimorphic centipedes have great locomotive performance on solid substrate and in water (swimming), partially because their body undulation. This locomotive feature allow epimorFigure 1. a. image of an epimorphic centipede (by the courtesy of Prof. Robert Full). b. image of an anamorphic centipede
Long-term behavior of mortars produced with sulfide-bearing aggregates

The variety of sulfides (inorganic compounds formed by combining sulfur with a metal element) presented in earth crust is not small, which makes it difficult to avoid the use of sulfide-bearing aggregates in the concrete, especially in places where another source of material is non-existent or economically impracticable, as is the case of dams. Within this scenario, this work presents an evaluation of the long-term behavior of mortar produced with aggregates containing pyrite and pyrrhotite. For the study, rock samples from the Irape Hydroelectric Power Plant area in Minas Gerais were used. This plant was built in a geological site where the rock presented sulfide levels of at least 3%. These rock samples were first ground and then used as aggregates in mortars, which were, during almost 1300 days, subjected to three different exposed conditions: 1-temperature of 23° ± 2°C and relative humidity of 95 to 100%; 2- submerged in calcium hydroxide solution diluted in water during almost 850 days and then kept in water up to 1300 days, both at room temperature; 3- submerged in calcium hydroxide solution diluted in water at 50° C during almost 850 days and then kept in water (50° C) up to 1300 days. The expansion caused by the iron sulfide oxidation as well as the content of each sulfide were evaluated over time. The presence and amount of pyrrhotite were obtained from a leaching process of the material (aggregate or mortar) in a solution of hydrochloric acid. This procedure allowed also the evaluation of the pyrite content over time. The results showed that the calcium hydroxide solution speeds up the expansion just like the temperature. It was also observed that the amount of pyrite has remained virtually constant over time in the three exposure situations. This finding indicates that sulfur limits in aggregates should be set according to the type of iron sulfide presented and not only by the total amount of sulfur. Keywords: sulfide-bearing aggregates, mortar, long-term behavior, dams.
An algorithm of load space sharing based on ant colony system

An improved ant colony system was presented,which aimed at the drawback of ant colony system in network load space sharing.The algorithm used multiple ant colony to tag in same network and ectohormone of different ant colony restrain each other however which of same ant colony promote.This algorithm carry out the load space sharing by decreasing the number of ant colony's ectohormone in shortest path.The feasibility of the algorithm is proved by experiment and the results are given.
Towards Automated Smart Mobile Crowdsensing for Tinnitus Research

Tinnitus is a disorder that is not entirely understood, and many of its correlations are still unknown. On the other hand, smartphones became ubiquitous. Their modern versions provide high computational capabilities, reasonable battery size, and a bunch of embedded high-quality sensors, combined with an accepted user interface and an application ecosystem. For tinnitus, as for many other health problems, there are a number of apps trying to help patients, therapists, and researchers to get insights into personal characteristics but also into scientific correlations as such. In this paper, we present the first approach to an app in this context, called TinnituSense that does automatic sensing of related characteristics and enables correlations to the current condition of the patient by a combined participatory sensing, e.g., a questionnaire. For tinnitus, there is a strong hypothesis that weather conditions have some influence. Our proof-of-concept implementation records weather-related sensor data and correlates them to the standard Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) questionnaire. Thus, TinnituSense enables therapists and researchers to collect evidence for unknown facts, as this is the first opportunity to correlate weather to patient conditions on a larger scale. Our concept as such is limited neither to tinnitus nor to built-in sensors, e.g., in the tinnitus domain, we are experimenting with mobile EEG sensors. TinnituSense is faced with several challenges of which we already solved principle architecture, sensor management, and energy consumption.
Algebraic Distance on Graphs | SIAM Journal on Scientific Computing | Vol. 33, No. 6 | Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics

Measuring the connection strength between a pair of vertices in a graph is one of the most important concerns in many graph applications. Simple measures such as edge weights may not be sufficient for capturing the effects associated with short paths of lengths greater than one. In this paper, we consider an iterative process that smooths an associated value for nearby vertices, and we present a measure of the local connection strength (called the algebraic distance; see [D. Ron, I. Safro, and A. Brandt, Multiscale Model. Simul., 9 (2011), pp. 407–423]) based on this process. The proposed measure is attractive in that the process is simple, linear, and easily parallelized. An analysis of the convergence property of the process reveals that the local neighborhoods play an important role in determining the connectivity between vertices. We demonstrate the practical effectiveness of the proposed measure through several combinatorial optimization problems on graphs and hypergraphs.
Resource Allocation for Optimizing Energy Efficiency in NOMA-based Fog UAV Wireless Networks

Due to their advantages in rapid deployment and miniaturization, UAVs have been widely used in various fields, especially for disaster scenarios which require emergency communications. This article considers a fog UAV wireless network and focuses on improving energy efficiency through subchannel assignment and power allocation. Specifically, in order to make better use of limited spectrum resources, this article considers integrating NOMA which is widely recognized as an emerging transmission technology into UAV wireless networks. On the basis of the proposed UAV network architecture, a two-sided matching and swapping algorithm is proposed to optimize subchannel assignment. We provide a power allocation method to maximize energy efficiency. Simulation results show that the proposed UAV system architecture, as well as the resource allocation method, can prominently improve the energy efficiency of fog UAV wireless networks.
Design of Logic Gates Using CNTFETs

Carbon Nanotube (CNT) is one of the emerging nano technology, which is showing high efficiency and it has wide range of applications in many different streams. The properties of Carbon Nano Tube Field Effect Transistors (CNTFETs) have been studied and are observed to be the promising candidate for the integrated circuit (IC) devices. These are widely studied as possible successors to silicon MOSFETs. In this paper the standard model has been designed for, MOSFET-like CNTFET devices. Various logic gates were designed using CNTFETs their delays are obtained and compared with CMOS. Hspice simulations have been performed on various logic gates that are designed using the modeled CNTFET.
Cloning and functional characterization of epidermis-speci fi c promoter MtML 1 from Medicago truncatula

Epidermis-specific promoters are necessary for ectopic expression of specific functional genes such as the cuticlerelated genes. Previous studies indicated that both ECERIFERUM 6 (AtCER6) and MERISTEM L1 LAYER (ATML1) promoters from Arabidopsis thaliana can drive gene expression specifically in the epidermis of shoot apical meristems (SAMs) and leaves. However, the epidermis-specific promoters from legume plants have not been reported. Here, we cloned a 5′ flanking sequence from the upstream -2150 bp to the translational start ATG codon of MtML1 gene of legume model plant Medicago truncatula. PlantCARE analysis indicated that this sequence matches the characteristics of a promoter, having TATA box and CAAT box, as well as contains some conserved elements of epidermis-specific promoters like AtCER6 and ATML1 promoters. The β-glucuronidase (GUS) histochemical analysis showed that MtML1 promoter can drive GUS gene expression in transiently transformed Nicotiana tabacum leaves under non-inducing condition. Furthermore, it can also control GUS expression in leaves and siliques rather than roots of the stably transformed Arabidopsis. More importantly, the leaf cross-section observations indicated that MtML1 exclusively expressed in the epidermis of leaves. These results suggested that MtML1 promoter performed the epidermis-specific in plant shoot. Our study establishes the foundation for driving the cuticle-related gene to express in epidermis, which may be very useful in genetic engineering of legume plants.
Examining Volatility of Interbank Rate in Nepal 1

This paper attempts to examine volatility pattern of interbank rate of Nepal using daily and monthly data. The empirical results show significant variation in volatility during the period of study. It depicts the clustering of large and small variances of interbank rate. Moreover, as the sum of ARCH and GARCH coefficients are greater than unity in the daily interbank rate, shocks are highly persistent in the interbank market. However, the SLF of NRB has been observed to lower the persistence of shocks, as the sum of ARCH and GARCH coefficients decreases when effect of SLF and repo are introduced in the model. It depicts that SLF and repo of NRB has been effective to lower the persistence of shocks on daily interbank market, but it increased the mean of conditional volatility. The other important finding of the study is that mean conditional volatility is highest in February and lowest in August.
Tracking Foreign Capital: The Effect of Capital Inflows on Bank Lending in the UK

This paper examines how UK banks channel capital inflows to the individual sectors of the domestic economy and to overseas residents. Information on the source country of foreign capital deposited with UK banks allows us to construct a novel Bartik instrument for capital inflows. Our results suggest that foreign funds boost bank lending to the domestic economy. This result is due to the positive effect of capital inflows on bank lending to non-financial firms and to other domestic financial institutions. Banks do not channel capital inflows directly to households or the public sector. Much of the foreign capital is also channeled back abroad, reflecting the role of the UK as a global financial center.
A Review Paper on the Impact of Income Tax and Inflation on Salary

This research explores impact of income tax and rate of inflation on the salary and the extent of economic erosion in the salary because of these two macro-economic factors. It shows that both income tax and inflation rate have positive relationship with Salary. This implies that higher the inflation and income tax, higher will be the economic erosion in salary. The loss in Salary due to Income tax and Inflation is expected to be much more than annual increment in salary. Thus, it is pertinent that annual increase in salary should be such a percentage of salary that can cover the loss in salary because of the said two factors. Objectives: The objective of this study is:  To find the relationship of Salary and Income Tax.  To find the relationship of Salary and Inflation.  To find the impact of both, Inflation rate & Income tax Rate, on the salary of employee.