Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mechanisms underlying lack of functional compensation by insect grazers after tadpole declines in a Neotropical stream

Resilience of ecosystems to the sudden decline of large‐bodied species is dependent on characteristics of surviving guild members. However, that response may also be mediated by local habitat conditions. Here, we examine the mechanisms behind the observed lack of functional compensation in the algal‐grazing guild by insect grazers following the decline of tadpole grazers in a forested Panamanian stream. We examined: (1) shifts to the individual size distribution of insect grazers between pre‐ and post‐tadpole declines in pool and riffle habitats; (2) tadpole and insect preferences for small‐, medium‐, and large‐sized diatoms; and (3) a causal explanation for why insects did not functionally compensate for tadpole declines. The size distribution of insect grazers following tadpole declines differed between habitats, becoming uniform in pools and more right skewed toward a smaller size class in riffles. In both habitats, tadpoles selectively consumed medium‐sized diatoms but avoided the largest‐sized diatoms. In contrast, grazing insects selectively consumed small‐sized diatoms, but switched to medium‐sized diatoms after tadpole declines. Tadpole declines led to the loss of the strongest interactions between consumers and diatoms. Smaller‐bodied grazing insects could not duplicate these interactions, even with a shift in resource use, providing an explanation for the lack of functional compensation. Furthermore, tadpole declines led to different community structures in each habitat indicating that local habitat conditions mediated the response of surviving guild members. This suggests that the sudden decline of a large‐bodied species does not lead to a singular outcome for the surviving community.
Can ‘On-Farm’ Seed Priming and Chitosan Seed Treatments Induce Host Defences in Winter Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) under Field Conditions?

Enhancing host defences through induced resistance, disease tolerance, and/or escape, in combination with current disease management regimes may be a valuable strategy to reduce pesticide use. Since both ‘on-farm’ seed priming (OSP) and chitosan priming (CHP) have been reported to confer varying levels of host defence, this study sought to investigate their potential to deliver disease control as a strategy for sustainable management of foliar pathogens in winter barley. Field experiments were conducted to determine the effects of OSP and CHP at two different field sites using three different cultivars under fungicide/non-fungicide regimes. Overall, no evidence was found to suggest that CHP or OSP can induce effective resistance in temperate field conditions. However, these field trials enabled the identification of candidate traits to deliver disease tolerance (and escape) for the primary and secondary spread of powdery mildew, i.e., large canopies and rapid stem elongation respectively. Thus, these seed treatments may deliver disease tolerance and escape traits, but these benefits are dependent upon successful establishment and vigour first. The integration of seed treatments into sustainable crop protection may be better undertaken with spring crops or in semi-arid agriculture where the added vigour at emergence can help compensate for negative environmental interactions.
Enhanced Enzymatic Synthesis of Nicotinamide in Laminar Flow Intensified Microreactors: Models and Simulations

The intracellular level of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) decreases with age, and this depletion seems to worsen during complex SARS-CoV-2 infections. Increasing the level of NAD+ via nicotinamide and nicotinamide riboside kinase routes may re-establish the antiviral poly-ADP-ribose polymerase functions of infected elderly persons and may potentially restrict SARS-CoV-2 infection by boosting innate immunity. In this work, we simulated nicotinamide synthesis in laminar flow microreactors with nitrile hydratase enzyme uniformly attached on the microchannel wall and/or immobilized on the surface of microparticles dispersed in the liquid phase. Hydrodynamic/diffusional limitations of laminar flow microreactors are greatly alleviated in intensified flow microreactors and microreactors with an enhanced enzymatic process, which greatly improves when nitrile hydratase loading on the surface of microparticles increases (more enzyme works as a free solution-phase enzyme). Enhanced nicotinamide synthesis in intensified flow microreactors generates high conversions even if an enzymatic module (attached enzyme on the channel wall or microparticle surface) does no work at optimal parameters. ©
Early Statehood and Support for Autocratic Rule in Africa

Recent work highlights the importance of pre-modern political practices for explaining persistent institutional features, including representative democracy. Typically, this argument is institutional in nature—pre-industrial practices are hypothesized to either bolster or retard the transmission of democratic institutions. This article proposes a separate channel through which legacies of early statehood continue to impact the prospects of democratic governance. Using survey data from Africa, we document a positive relationship between early statehood development and support for autocratic rule among ordinary Africans. This finding is robust to a wide range of pre- and post-treatment covariates, country and survey round fixed effects, as well as an instrumental-variable design. The identified relationship is particularly prominent in respondents from precolonially centralized ethnic groups in former British colonies, suggesting the importance of locally surviving traditional institutions for propagation of norms that owe their origins to precolonial autocratic socialization.
Classification of electroencephalogram records related to cursor movements with a hybrid method based on deep learning

In brain computer interface (BCI), many transformation methods are used when processing electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. Thus, the EEG can be represented in different domains. However, designing an EEG‐based BCI system without any transformation technique is a challenge. For this purpose, in this study, a BCI model is proposed without any transformation. The classification of cursor down and cursor up movements using the EEG signals received from the brain is aimed at in the proposed model. The EEG patterns were classified using two methods. Firstly, EEG signals were classified by classic convolutional neural network (CNN). Secondly, proposed hybrid structure obtained the EEG features, which were classified by k‐NN and SVM, using CNN. Classification with CNN architecture gave a result of 68.15% while the hybrid method using k‐NN and SVM classifiers yielded 97.55% and 97.61% respectively. The hybrid proposed method were more successful than the studies in the literature.
A simple triple‐band coupled line filtering power divider design

In this letter, a triple‐band filtering power divider (FPD) is proposed for passive circuit implementation with a good isolation. The proposed triple‐band FPD is composed of coupled microstrip lines by applying a comprehensive design method. Based on the design method and developed topology, the employed coupled microstrip resonators, the input/output feedlines as well as isolated resistor are properly arranged to achieve a desired triple‐band filtering and isolation response. To validate our design concept and method, a triple‐band FPD operating at 2.3–2.33, 2.39–2.42, and 2.5–2.53 GHz is implemented with good return loss and isolation. Measured and simulated results are in good agreement.
Nutrient Dynamics in Sandy Soil and Leaf Lettuce Following the Application of Urea and Urea-Hydrogen Peroxide Impregnated Co-Pyrolyzed Animal Manure and Bone Meal

There is a paucity of data regarding the effect of nutrient-enriched biochar amendments on nutrient dynamics in both soil and crops. This is important because unlike pristine biochar, nutrient-enriched biochar is applied to the soil in minute quantities as large amounts may led to over application of the nutrients loaded in it. The current study examined the effects of both phosphorus- and nitrogen-enriched biochars on the dynamics of both macro and micronutrients in the sandy soil and leaf lettuce grown thereon. The phosphorus enrichment followed co-pyrolysis of animal manure (cow dung) with 25% and 50% bone meal (w/w), while the nitrogen enrichment was achieved by soaking the co-pyrolyzed biochar into urea and urea-hydrogen peroxide. The performances of the nutrient-enriched biochar were compared with the conventional amendment of urea and triple superphosphate (TSP) in the production of leaf lettuce over a period of two seasons in a pot experiment. The nutrient-enriched biochar amendments resulted into higher microbial biomass carbon and carbon to nitrogen ratios than the conventional amendment. The conventional amendment caused more phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium accumulations in the leaf lettuce than the nutrient-enriched biochar amendments. The nutrient-enriched biochar amendments led to more accumulations of nitrogen, calcium, and micronutrient elements in the leaf lettuce and availabilities of all the nutrient elements in the soil and thus, nutrient-enriched biochar acted as a reservoir that could provide nutrients to the growing lettuce beyond a single growing season.
Train Time Delay Prediction for High-Speed Train Dispatching Based on Spatio-Temporal Graph Convolutional Network

Train delay prediction can improve the quality of train dispatching, which helps the dispatcher to estimate the running state of the train more accurately and make reasonable dispatching decision. The delay of one train is affected by many factors, such as passenger flow, fault, extreme weather, dispatching strategy. The departure time of one train is generally determined by dispatchers, which is limited by their strategy and knowledge. The existing train delay prediction methods cannot comprehensively consider the temporal and spatial dependence between the multiple trains and routes. In this paper, we don’t try to predict the specific delay time of one train, but predict the collective cumulative effect of train delay over a certain period, which is represented by the total number of arrival delays in one station. We propose a deep learning framework, train spatio-temporal graph convolutional network (TSTGCN), to predict the collective cumulative effect of train delay in one station for train dispatching and emergency plans. The proposed model is mainly composed of the recent, daily and weekly components. Each component contains two parts: spatio-temporal attention mechanism and spatio-temporal convolution, which can effectively capture spatio-temporal characteristics. The weighted fusion of the three components produces the final prediction result. The experiments on the train operation data from China Railway Passenger Ticket System demonstrate that TSTGCN clearly outperforms the existing advanced baselines in train delay prediction.
Remittance Flows from Healthcare Workers in Toronto, Canada

Previous research indicates that Canadian healthcare workers, particularly long-term care (LTC) workers, are frequently composed of immigrant and racialized/visible minorities (VM) who are often precariously employed, underpaid, and face significant work-related stress, violence, injuries, illness, and health inequities. Few studies, however, have analyzed the contributions and impact of their labor in international contexts and on global communities. For instance, it is estimated that over CAD 5 billion-worth of remittances originate from Canada, yet no studies to date have examined the contributions of these remittances from Canadian workers, especially from urbanized regions consisting of VM and immigrants who live and/or work in diverse and multicultural places like Toronto. The present study is the first to investigate health and LTC workers’ roles and behaviors as related to remittances. The rationale for this study is to fill important knowledge gaps. Accordingly, this study asked: Do health/LTC workers in the site of study send remittances? If so, which workers send remittances, and who are the recipients of these remittances? What is the range of monetary value of annual remittances that each worker is able to send? What is the purpose of these remittances? What motivates the decision to send remittances? This mixed-methods study used a single-case design and relied on interviews and a survey. The results indicate that many LTC workers provided significant financial support to transnational families, up to CAD 15,000 annually, for a variety of reasons, including support for education and healthcare costs, or as gifts during cultural festivals. However, the inability to send remittances was also a source of distress for those who wanted to assist their families but were unable to do so. These findings raise important questions that could be directed for future research. For example, are there circumstances under which financial remittances are funded through loans or debt? What are the implications for the sustainability and impact of remittances, given the current COVID-19 pandemic and its economic effect of dampening incomes and wages, worsening migrants’ health, wellbeing, and quality of life, as well as adversely affecting recipient economies and the quality of life of global communities?
Changes in Spatial Distribution of Bryophytes under CMIP6 Future Projections on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Bryophytes play important roles in ecosystem due to their extensive geographical coverage on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP). While there are few studies attributing the potential distribution and landscape changes on the QTP in response to climate change. Based on climate data averaged of nine global climate models (GCMs) for shared socio-economic pathways SSP2-4.5 under current (the years 1970–2000) and future climate scenarios (the years 2021–2040, 2041–2060, 2061–2080, 2081–2100), and other environmental variables, this study has applied the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model to assess the potential impact of climate change on the distribution of Bryophytes on the QTP. The key environmental factors which determined Bryophytes’s habitats and range shifts were also examined. The results showed that Bryophytes occupied about 9.12 × 105 km2 (35.43% of total QTP) at present, mainly accumulating in non-permafrost regions of southeast (SE) QTP. Niche suitability of the Bryophytes was dominated by soil moisture, ultraviolet-B radiation seasonality, temperature seasonality and precipitation of the coldest quarter. The occupied habitats of Bryophytes under future climate scenarios generally increased migrating towards Midwest and relatively higher elevation regions of QTP, where dedicated overall surface air warming and moistening, solar dimming. Additionally, the confusion matrix showed that most parts of the gained occupied habitats under future climate scenarios were low suitable habitats, and small parts for high suitable habitats, however reduced for the medium suitable habitats.
Decently transgressing: expressions of female heterosexuality and the discourses of (hetero)sexual pleasure in South Africa

This article explores sexual agency and pleasure among heterosexual women in South Africa. By focussing on Tupperware-style sex-toy parties, this article offers a glimpse into a ‘hidden’ world of white, middle-class women living in Johannesburg. What is revealed in this ethnographic account is that these gatherings promise women new ways of enjoying sex, while remaining within the boundaries of heteronormative notions of (hetero)sex. I use the term ‘decently transgressing’ to capture the ways in which the women in this study make sense of their (hetero)sexual selves and how they negotiate their (hetero)sexual agencies, particularly in relation to past and present heteronormative discourses within the South African context. The findings show that there are tensions between women wanting to embrace their own sexual agency and desires, yet at the same time being limited by certain heteronormative norms.
An Auto-Weighting Aggregative Fuzzy Collaborative Intelligence Approach for DRAM Yield Forecasting

In a collaborative forecasting task, experts may have unequal authority levels. However, this has rarely been considered reasonably in the existing fuzzy collaborative forecasting methods. In addition, experts may not be willing to discriminate their authority levels. To address these issues, an auto-weighting fuzzy weighted intersection (FWI) fuzzy collaborative intelligence approach is proposed in this study. In the proposed auto-weighting FWI fuzzy collaborative intelligence approach, experts’ authority levels are automatically and reasonably assigned based on their past forecasting performances. Subsequently, the auto-weighting FWI mechanism is established to aggregate experts’ fuzzy forecasts. The theoretical properties of the auto-weighting FWI mechanism have been discussed and compared with those of the existing fuzzy aggregation operators. After applying the auto-weighting FWI fuzzy collaborative intelligence approach to a case of forecasting the yield of a DRAM product from the literature, its advantages over several existing methods were clearly illustrated.
How Updates in Chicago Classification Impact Clinical Practice

Chicago Classification version 4.0 (CC v4.0), published in 2021, presents several modifications largely aimed at minimizing over-diagnosis of inconclusive patterns on high-resolution manometry (HRM). These include: (1) introduction of a standardized HRM protocol for consistency among centers, (2) emphasis on the need for supportive data in instances of inconclusive manometric patterns, (3) required presence of relevant symptoms in certain instances to reduce over-diagnosis and inappropriate interventions, and (4) classification as disorders of EGJ outflow or disorders of peristalsis. These updates aim to improve the clinical application of HRM and patient outcomes.
The Biology of Chernobyl

Environmental disasters offer the unique opportunity for landscape-scale ecological and evolutionary studies that are not possible in the laboratory or small experimental plots. The nuclear accident at Chernobyl (1986) allows for rigorous analyses of radiation effects on individuals and populations at an ecosystem scale. Here, the current state of knowledge related to populations within the Chernobyl region of Ukraine and Belarus following the largest civil nuclear accident in history is reviewed. There is now a significant literature that provides contrasting and occasionally conflicting views of the state of animals and how they are affected by this mutagenic stressor. Studies of genetic and physiological effects have largely suggested significant injuries to individuals inhabiting the more radioactive areas of the Chernobyl region. Most population censuses for most species suggest that abundances are reduced in the more radioactive areas. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, Volume 52 is November 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews. org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
Territorial damselflies are larger and show negative allometry in their genitalia

The ‘functional allometry’ hypothesis proposes that the variation in allometric patterns of sexually selected traits is related to their function. We hypothesize that the allometric patterns for genitalia of aggressively territorial organisms are different from those in non-territorial organisms and predict that in aggressively territorial species, where body size is related directly to reproductive success, males must allocate more resources to body size than to genitalia. We studied 59 species of damselflies in 51 genera. Species were divided into three categories: highly territorial and aggressive; low aggressive; and not aggressive. We measured the length of the genital ligula, the width at the basis and its maximum width, and we used body length and wing length as descriptors of body size. The slope of allometric relationships was estimated using ordinary least squares and reduced major axis regressions. Our results indicated first, that territorial damselflies are larger and that body length and wing length are not equivalent as estimators of body size in odonates. Second, ordinary least squares and reduced major axis regressions provided different results in some of the analyses. Third, we found that aggressive species have less steep allometric slopes than non-aggressive species, both for the length of the ligula and for the width at its basis.
Stereotypes and Dehumanization

Abstract. Across two studies, we tested the relationship between the stereotype dimensions of sociability, morality, and competence and the two dimensions of humanness (human nature and human uniqueness). Study 1 considered real groups and revealed that sociability had greater power than morality in predicting human nature. For some groups, sociability also trumped competence in predicting human nature. By contrast, the attribution of human uniqueness was predicted by competence and morality. In Study 2, participants read a scenario depicting an unfamiliar group in stereotypical terms. Results showed that competence and sociability were the strongest predictors of human uniqueness and human nature, respectively. Although with nuances, both studies revealed that sociability, morality, and competence relate differently to the two dimensions of humanness.
Macroeconomic sensitivity and firm level volatility: the case of New York Stock Exchange

Purpose – This paper investigates whether the macroeconomic factors affect the firm stock returns volatility differently depending on their location in different sectors. For this purpose, daily financial time-series data for 683 firms located in nine US sectors for the period of 2000 to 2017 are employed. Research methodology – The GARCH (1,1) model was applied to each firm located in nine US sectors. The four macroeconomic factors, namely, exchange rate, treasury yield spread, oil prices, and market return, are included in both mean and variance equations of GARCH (1,1) model to estimate the effect. Research limitations – This research study is limited to the New York Stock Exchange; therefore, it can be extended to the other economies as well. Further, this study uses one firm feature that is the sectoral location of the firm; it is recommended that some other firm features should be studied to explore the volatility behaviour of firms. In the methodological part, this study does not include the lag effect, since it is recognised in the literature that the investors underreact to public information, so future research can be extended to test the underreaction hypothesis. Practical implications – This study has implications for the investors and policymakers. Since it has emerged from the findings that some sectors are more sensitive than others to macroeconomic changes, so this knowledge will help the investors to diversify their portfolio and policymakers to maintain macroeconomic discipline. Originality/Value – The main contribution of this study is that it undertakes the assumption of heterogeneous nature of firms and conducts a detailed firm level analysis by sector covering a more extended period of time to investigate the impact of four macroeconomic factors, namely, exchange rate, treasury yield spread, oil prices, and market return on firm stock returns, volatility using daily data. Further, this study contributes by including all the macroeconomic factors together as an exogenous variable in mean and conditional variance equations of the GARCH (1,1) model to investigate the effect simultaneously.