Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Condition of large brood in Bonelli's Eagle Hieraaetus fasciatus

Capsule Young body condition is affected by the interaction of environment (rainfall) and brood size. Aims To investigate factors affecting offspring condition using levels of urea in plasma. Methods We used generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) with the levels of urea in plasma as the dependent variable and laying date, brood size, sex and year as the explanatory ones. Results Brood size had a significant effect on offspring condition only during a year of adverse weather (heavy rainfall). During this period, young from broods of two were in poor condition compared with single broods. Conversely, brood size had no effect in the other two years analysed. Neither sex nor laying date had a significant effect on young condition. Offspring condition was not related to first-year survival. Conclusion There is a trade-off between reproduction (brood size) and offspring condition only in years of adverse environmental conditions.
Double Deep Q-Network with a Dual-Agent for Traffic Signal Control

Adaptive traffic signal control (ATSC) based on deep reinforcement learning (DRL) has shown promising prospects to reduce traffic congestion. Most existing methods keeping traffic signal phases fixed adopt two agent actions to match a four-phase suffering unstable performance and undesirable operation in a four-phase signalized intersection. In this paper, a Double Deep Q-Network (DDQN) with a dual-agent algorithm is proposed to obtain a stable traffic signal control policy. Specifically, two agents are denoted by two different states and shift the control of green lights to make the phase sequence fixed and control process stable. State representations and reward functions are presented by improving the observability and reducing the leaning difficulty of two agents. To enhance the feasibility and reliability of two agents in the traffic control of the four-phase signalized intersection, a network structure incorporating DDQN is proposed to map states to rewards. Experiments under Simulation of Urban Mobility (SUMO) are carried out, and results show that the proposed traffic signal control algorithm is effective in improving traffic capacity.
Biomarkers and their application to the study of pigments in the fossil record

The idea of studying the colour of organisms in the fossil record has for a long timeseemed nothing more than the far flung dreams of a few idealistic palaeontologists.The last 5 years however have brought sweeping advances in this area, such that theidea is no longer hypothetical but an actual possibilty. Recent studies on the preserva-tion of fossilised pigment containing organelles, melanosomes, have hailed a new eraof palaeontological study and reconstruction. In this work geochemical techniques areapplied to study such structures in fossil feathers and an amphibian, to determine thenecessary level of confidence that these structures are not bacterial, discuss the relativeadvantages and disadvantages of the techniques used in the study of fossil melanin, andextend the study of fossil colour to other pigments in fossil algae. Fourier transforminfrared spectroscopy (FTIR) data is shown to provide some of the most consistentevidence of the presence of melanin, however it does not enable us to adequately dis-tinguish between the two major types, eu- and pheomelanin. Determining the presenceof bacteria in fossil stromatolites is shown to be most effective by using tetra-methylammonium hydroxide assisted pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectrometry (Py-GCMS) to look for the distribution pattern of fatty acid methyl esters. Such analysisshows that samples identified as bacterial have identical patterns that differ signifi-cantly from those of fossil plants and animals. Such a biomarker is shown to be morereliable than hopanes, further commonly used bacterial biomarkers. The combination of FTIR and Py-GCMS suggest the presence of the red algal pigment phycoerythrin inthe Jurassic fossil Solenopora jurassica, strengthening its identification as a calcareousalga.
SSR Analysis of the Chloroplast and Mitochondrial Genomes of Cultivar Lines and Wild Types of the Sunflower (Helianthus L.)

SSR analysis of chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes of cultivar lines and wild species of sunflower (Helianthus L.) were completed. The polymorphism of 18 microsatellite loci of the chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes was investigated. Based on the obtained data was constructed dendrogram showing the genetic diversity of chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes of sunflowers. The studied species were clustered into annual and perennial. This set of novel polymorphic SSR markers can be useful for breeders and molecular biologists for the genetic diversity analysis, lines identification and improve breeding.
Comprehensive comparisons between frequency‐domain analysis and time‐domain analysis for LLC resonant converter

LLC resonant converter has been widely used in many applications due to its characteristics of high efficiency and high frequency characteristics. Analysis method plays great role in converter design and operation performance. For LLC resonant converter, the most frequently used analysis methods are frequency-domain analysis (FDA) and time-domain analysis (TDA). FDA assumes that only fundamental harmonics can deliver energy in the system, while TDA is obtained by solving circuit state equations. In this study, comprehensive and complete comparisons between FDA and TDA in terms of analysis methodology, parameter design, analysis accuracy, conduction loss, other power losses, and system efficiency are implemented. The analysis and comparison results show that under the same system specifications, by adopting TDA, a larger magnetising inductance value can be used when compared with FDA, which will reduce the resonant tank circulating current and increase the system efficiency. The comprehensive analysis can provide guidance for engineers when analysing and designing LLC resonant converter. Finally, a 200 W experimental prototype was built and tested to verify the theoretical analysis.
Environmental effects on growth of early life history stages of rockfishes (Sebastes) off Central California based on analysis of otolith growth patterns

ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . iv TABLE OF CONTENTS . v LIST OF TABLES . viii LIST OF FIGURES . x INTRODUCTION . 1 Growth and Survival During Early Life . 1 Oceanographic Influence on Growth . 3 Estimating Daily Growth History . 7 Winter-Spawning Rockfishes . 8 Research Question and Context . 10 MATERIALS AND METHODS . 11 Otolith Archive: Collection and Preparation . 11 Otolith Increment Analysis . 14 Historical Otolith Data . 18 Estimating Age-Independent Growth . 18 Environmental Time Series . 22 Regional sea surface temperature (rSST). 25 Upwelling index (UI) . 25 Coastal sea level anomaly (SLa) . 26 Solar illumination index (IL) . 26 vi Wind speed (WS) and micro-scale turbulence (ξ) . 27 Modeling Environmental-Otolith Growth . 27 RESULTS . 30 Summary of Otolith Collection . 30 Ageand Date-Specific Otolith Growth Rates . 33 Growth Comparisons Among Species . 38 Summary of Environmental Time Series . 43 Regional sea surface temperature (rSST). 43 Upwelling index (UWI_8) . 46 Coastal sea level anomaly (SLa) . 49 Solar illumination index . 51 Wind speed (WS) and micro-scale turbulence (ξ) . 53 Environment-Otolith Growth Relationships . 53 Chilipepper . 55 Widow . 61 Yellowtail . 67 DISCUSSION . 74 Comparison to Previous Larval Rockfish Environment-Growth Analysis . 75 Accounting for Ontogenetic Effects on Growth . 76 Environmental Effects on Larval Growth . 76 Temperature . 77 Upwelling . 78 Sea level anomaly . 79
SOCIAL NETWORKS AS A POLITICAL RESOURCE: REVISITING THE KOREAN DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION

Abstract In this paper, we study how political parties react to democratic transitions. We find that the structure of legislators’ social networks plays a critical role in shaping their political interactions during the transition period, and consequently, the post-transition party systems that emerge. We focus on the Korean case, where the incumbent authoritarian party merged with one of its pro-democracy opponents to create a powerful and enduring conservative party under democratic rule. Using a novel individual-level dataset on all legislative members during the transition, we find that the merger was facilitated by dense social networks linking members of the merged parties, which increased trust across the parties and reduced the difficulty of a merger. Conversely, we find that the paucity of ties linking pro-democracy parties hindered their long-term cooperation, despite their shared ideologies and policy goals. The study complements existing theories by providing a network-based explanation for the weakly institutionalized political party system that has characterized Korean politics since democratization.
Biological activities of Bonsupari (Caryota urens L.) fruits

In Asian subcontinent, Caryota urens L. plant is well known. Its leaf has antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. The work aims to analyze the composition of the plant’s fruit extract and its aqueous and organic soluble fractions for its cytotoxic, thrombolytic, antioxidant, membrane stabilizing and antimicrobial properties. 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging activity assay, phosphomolybdenum total antioxidant assay and total phenolic content were used to evaluate the antioxidant activity. Brine shrimp lethality bioassay was used to determine the cytotoxic property. In thrombolytic activity assay, streptokinase was the standard. The samples were exposed to membrane stabilizing activity assay under heat and hypotonic solution-induced conditions. The samples’ antimicrobial potential was evaluated with Disc diffusion assay. The crude methanol extract showed the highest free radical scavenging activity (IC50 = 62.74±0.16 μg/mL) that can correlate with its total phenolic content of 106.88±0.19 mg of GAE / g of sample. The crude methanol extract showed the highest cytotoxic potential (LC50 = 0.59±0.34 μg/mL). The carbon tetrachloride soluble materials revealed 20.48±0.44% of clot lysis in the assay for thrombolytic activity. The crude methanol extract prevented haemolysis of human erythrocytes in hypotonic solution-induced condition by 64.17±0.26%. Key words: Caryota urens L. , free radical scavenging activity, brine shrimp lethality, thrombolysis, membrane stabilization.
Study on Different Peeling Techniques and Its Effect on Nutritional Components of Potato Peel

Present study focused on the determination of nutrient content in potato peels by abrasive and steam peeling method. It was observed that type of peeling can significantly affect the nutrient content. In the present study steam peeling resulted in lower amount of starch content compared to abrasive peeling. Similarly, phytochemical components such as Total phenols, Tannins, Flavonoids and Alkaloid content were found to be higher in abrasive peeling, this can be attributed to the high temperature losses incurred in steam peeling leading to their thermal degradation. Hence it was concluded that abrasive peeling can be more suitable for using the peels flour as a food component in developing various food products.
Perbandingan Metode MPPT Incremental Conductance Incremental Resistance dan Hill Climbing dengan PSIM

Increasing energy requirements require us to create renewable energy that is e nvironmentally friendly such as utilizing sunlight. By using tracking techniques such as Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) will produce maximum power so that the solar cell works efficiently. The MPPT method which is simulated in this PSIM software is Incremental Conductance, Incrementa l Resistance and Hill Climbing. By implanting the MPPT Incremental Conductane Method in the solar cell, a maximum power of 91,47 Watt will be generated with a time of 0.018 seconds, whereas if implanting the MPPT Incremental Resistance method in a solar cell will get a maximum power of 90.35 watt, a faster time than the previous method, and if implanting the MPPT Hill Climbing method to make the solar cell efficient it is necessary to add the KMPP value equal to 5 to get the maximum MPP value and not oscillate. So the Incremental Conductance method by adding a variable step size should be use to search the maximum power from all three methods . Kebutuhan energi yang semakin tinggi mengharuskan kita untuk menciptakan energi terbarukan yang ramah lingkungan seperti memanfaatkan cahaya matahari. Dengan menggunakan Teknik tracking seperti Maximum Power Point Tracking MPPT (MPPT) akan menghasilkan daya yang maksimal sehingga solar cell bekerja secara efesien. Metode MPPT yang disimulasikan di software PSIM ini adalah Incremental Conductance, Incremental Resistance dan Hill Climbing. Dengan menanamkan Metode MPPT Incremental Conductane pada solar cell maka akan dihasilkan daya maksimum sebesar 91, 47 Watt dengan waktu 0,018 detik, sedangkan jika menanamkan metode MPPT Incremental Resistance pada solar cell akan di dapatkan daya maksimum sebesar 9 0 ,3 5 watt dengan waktu yang lebih cepat dari metode sebelumnya, dan jika menanamkan metode MPPT Hill Climbing untuk mengefisienkan solar cell diharuskan menambahkan nilai KMPP sama dengan 5 untuk mendapatkan nilai MPP yang maksimal dan tidak berosilasi. Jadi jika untuk mencari daya yang sangat maksimal dari ketiga metode sebaiknya menggunakan metode Incremental Conductance dengan menambahkan variable step size.
Comparative cytotoxic analysis of extracts obtained from leaves and roots of sweet flag (Acorus Calamus L.) on rat bone marrow cells in vitro

The aim of this study was to identify cytotoxic activity and to compare severity of cytotoxic activity of de-alcoholized alcohol-water extracts obtained from the leaves and roots of Sweet Flag (Acorus Calamus L.) on rat bone marrow cells in vitro.Rat bone marrow cells were isolated from the femoral diaphysis of the animals under cold temperatures.To obtain various concentrations of extract from the leaves (LEA) and roots REA, the initial extracts (concentration 1.0 g/mL) were immunologically titrated by rolling method. A quantitative assessment of cytotoxicity was made by testing plasma membrane damage in the Trypan Blue dye exclusion test.It was found that the cytotoxicity of a substance obtained from the roots of Sweet Flag (REA) depends on the dose and time of contact with rat bone marrow. REA has a cytotoxic effect at concentrations of 0.03-1.65 g/mL. When in contact with rat bone marrow cells for 15 minutes it causes an increase in the number of dead cells by 0.48–1.56×106 per milliliter (pl0.05). For REA in all studied concentrations, an increase in the effect of cytotoxicity is shown as the time of contact of cells with the active substance increases from 15 to 90 minutes (pl0.05). The substance obtained from the leaves of Sweet Flag (LEA) does not cause cell membrane destruction and does not have a significant effect on the viability of rat bone marrow cells in all studied concentrations
Nutritional value of BRS capiaçu grass (Pennisetum purpureum) silage associated with cactus pear.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the best level of inclusion of cactus pear in the ensiling of elephant grass Brazil seeds (BRS) capiacu (Pennisetum purpureum), its effects on fermentative characteristics; and nutritional value. Experimental treatments consisted of BRS capiacu grass silage with five levels of inclusion of cactus pear (0, 5, 10, 15 and 20% inclusion as fresh basis) during ensiling. A completely randomized design with five treatments and six replicates was used. The inclusion of cactus pear in BRS capiacu grass silage did not alter the pH of the ensiled mass (P=0.18), mean of 3.8. The marginal variation between the highest cactus pear inclusion dose and the control group (without cactus pear) for effluent was 50.33%, mean of 1.06% for each percentage unit of cactus pear inclusion. The ash content (P=0.79), total carbohydrates (P=0.30), total digestible nutrients (P=0.79), neutral detergent insoluble protein (P=0.66) and ether extract (P=0.42) did not change with the inclusion of cactus pear, being the averages of 8.01, 2.53, 3.14, 11.74, 80.88 and 44.69%, respectively. In vitro digestibility of dry matter (P<0.01) and neutral detergent fiber (P<0.01) increased linearly with the inclusion of cactus pear. The inclusion of up to 5% of cactus pear in silage BRS capiacu grass improves the fermentation characteristics and the nutritional value of silage.
Public Values and Attitudes toward Marine Reserves and Marine Wilderness

Abstract This article examines public values and attitudes associated with the current marine reserves (MRs) in Oregon (United States), and how attitudes might change if these areas were to be designated as marine wilderness. Data were obtained from a representative survey of 530 residents of the most heavily populated region in Oregon. Twenty-one assigned values for Oregon’s MRs were statistically grouped into three broader categories of values (environmental protection, emotional well-being, recreation) with respondents clearly preferring that these areas provide values fostering environmental protection over those providing for human emotional or recreational well-being. Respondents who considered environmental protection values to be important were likely to have more positive attitudes (e.g., like, good) about these MRs in general and also feel more positively about these areas if they were to be designated as marine wilderness in particular. Attitudes toward these MRs in general were also positively related to changes in specific attitudes with potential marine wilderness designation. Conversely, those who considered recreation values to be important were likely to have more negative attitudes about these MRs in general and the attitudes for these respondents would become even more negative if these areas were to be designated as marine wilderness.
ECOLOGICAL DISINFESTATION: PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF FILTRATION SUBSTRATES FOR REMOVING ZOOSPORES OF PHYTOPHTHORA NICOTIANAE FROM WATER

70 Introduction 72 Methods and Materials 76 Phytophthora nicotianae 76 Water collection 76 Columns and substrates 77 Experimental design 78 Substrate characteristics 79 Water quality 79 Injection and filtration of zoospores 80 Microbe enumeration 81 Bacterium identification 82 Statistical analysis 82 Results 83 Water quality 83 Zoospore removal efficacy 84 Microbe growth 86 Identification of bacteria 88
Empleo del Vitrofural en la esterilización química del endospermo artificial de los embriones somáticos encapsulados de Saccharum spp. híbrido var Cuba 87- 51

The effect of the Vitrofural in the control of pollutants in the capsule study was carried out, as well as its toxic effect on the somatic embryos of sugar cane. Different dose of this compound was used (20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 mg l-1), these they were applied to the cultivation medium with nudes somatic embryos, which was used previously autoclaved and without autoclaved, later these same doses were added to the synthetic endosperm. The Vitrofural can be employed in the chemical sterilization of the cultivation medium for the germination in vitro of the somatic embryos, as well as in the chemical protection of the synthetic endosperm, that which allowed to eliminate the autoclaved of the encapsulation medium, as well as to reduce the concentration of the agents gelificantes in 33% and to carry out all the operations under non sterile conditions. Key words: Encapsulation, sugarcane, synthetic seed
Swiss German dialects spoken by second-generation immigrants: bilingual speech and dialect transformation

German-speaking Switzerland is characterised by a type of diglossia where the ‘low variety’ is used in almost all domains of everyday communication. For children of immigrant workers, a Swiss German dialect normally constitutes one of their two first languages. Nevertheless, one can observe two different scenarios how the dialect enters the repertoire of these multilingual subjects. The first scenario entails the combined use of a heritage language (e.g. Italian) and a Swiss German dialect. Code-switching among peers of the same ethnic group serves a wide array of discourse and social functions, above all the expression of a composite bicultural identity, but the employed varieties do not differ structurally from those of monolingual speakers. The second scenario, instead, gives rise to a structural transformation of the traditional dialects. For instance, an individual speaker may be perceived as originating from a particular region of Switzerland on the basis of his or her vowel qualities, whereas at the same time the voicing of (normally unvoiced) plosives makes him or her recognisable as a person with an immigrant background. Our analysis focuses on these linguistic transformations of dialects into ‘(multi-)ethnolectal’ dialects, whose social function seem to lie in the signalling of an allochthonous (‘non-Swiss’) identity.
Threat Perception and Democratic Support in Post-Arab Spring Egypt

The article examines the reasons why Egyptian elites and masses withdrew their support for democracy only two years after they staged mass protests calling for regime change in 2011. I draw on basic tenets of bounded rationality and recent advances within the field of cognitive heuristics to demonstrate how cues generated from domestic and regional developments triggered stronger demands for security and stability. Drawing on elite interviews and public opinion surveys, I show how both elites and the masses paid special attention to intense and vivid events which then prompted a demand for the strong man model. Fears of Islamists pushed both elites and masses to update their preferences, seek refuge in old regime bargains, and reinstate authoritarianism.