Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Arrhythmic adult ecdysis but rhythmic emergence from the host chorion in Trichogramma embryophagum (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae)

In many insect species with a pupa covered by various "shells" (puparium, host remains, etc.) pupal-adult ecdysis and emergence to the open air represent two discrete steps. However, in Trichogramma, as well as in other insect parasitoids, these two processes have never been studied separately. We investigated the temporal pattern of pupal-adult ecdysis and of adult emergence from the host chorion in Trichogramma embryophagum Hartig (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) in laboratory conditions (12L : 12D, 20°C). Adult ecdysis was arrhythmic, while adult emergence showed a strong rhythmicity. The time lag between ecdysis and emergence varied from one to almost two days, depending on the circadian time of the ecdysis. The proportion of ecdysed adults that stayed in the host chorion ranged up to 60% (just before the highest peak of emergence). The cumulative percentage of ecdysed adults gradually increased with time, independently of whether the light was turned on in accordance with the entrained circadian rhythm or 4 h earlier. This arrhythmic ecdysis could be explained by the fact that the ecdysed adults get into a well protected space inside the host chorion and the timing of this event is adaptively neutral.
A Study on the Nutritional Value of Hurma Olives (Erkence cv.) that Lose the Bitterness on the Tree

Hurma olive (Olea europea L.) is known to be a product that is formed as a result of debittering that occurs in the fruits of Erkence olive cultivars leading the removal of the bitter taste in the olive when it is still on the tree and thus making the olive edible. “Debittering” is the term expressed as the maturation period occurring in the olive fruit while it is still on the tree. In this study, the aim was to harvest Hurma olives from different locations of the Karaburun peninsula in order to determine the nutritional value. For this purpose, measurements were carried out on samples in order to determine their oil (%), protein (%), total sugars (%), reduced sugar (%), starch (%), energy (kcal 100 g-1), pH, total phenolic compound (mg cafeic acid equivalent (CAE) 100 g-1), mineral element (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, B) contents. Besides, new harvested Hurma olives and dry salted ones stored for 1 year, that had been collected from three different locations of the peninsula, were compared in terms of some chemical properties. Hurma olives were determined to have 38.63% oil, 1.2% protein, 0.52% total sugar, 1.24% starch and the pH value of 5.52. They are regarded as a good source of energy due to the considerably higher oil (359.8 kcal 100 g-1), phenolic compounds (288.71 mg CAE 100 g-1) and mineral element content. It was found out that Hurma olives had high values in terms of mineral element content (N 0.57%, P 0.12%, K 1.42%, Ca 0.09%, Mg 0.04%, Fe 61.44 mg kg-1, Mn 5.23 mg kg-1, Zn 6.40 mg kg-1, Cu 5.53 mg kg-1, B 21.27 mg kg-1) as well. The effects of the salt applications on phenolic compound and reduced sugar content of the olive samples was found statistically insignificant (P>0.05). According to the results obtained, the consumption of Hurma olive might be considered to be beneficial for human health due to its salt-free composition, nutritive compounds, total phenolic compound content and the amount of energy it provides.
The accounting dimension in financial integration: International pricing under different accounting standards

We suggest that accounting homogeneity is a necessary step in the process of financial market integration. Specifically, we analyze the effect of integration in the 'accounting sense' in the correct analysis of international investments and fund allocation by estimating several pricing and valuation models in a cross-country context. We design our analysis in such a way that we can control for differences in accounting standards of the firms contained in the sample. Our results show that the accounting dimension is relevant for cross-country pricing and valuation: the use of homogeneous accounting leads to higher goodness-of-fit of international versions of the models, at levels similar to those of domestic versions and superior to those of non-homogeneous versions. Our results imply that accounting integration is an additional, and important, dimension of financial integration and that progress towards further accounting homogeneity would lead to more accurate pricing of international assets and to an improvement of the efficiency of international fund allocation.
Effect of Residual Stress Relaxation due to Sample Extraction on the Detectability of Hot Crack Networks in LTT Welds by means of µCT

Investigations on weldability often deal with hot cracking as one of the most prevalent failure mechanisms during weld fabrication. The modified varestraint transvarestraint hot cracking test (MVT) is well known to assess the hot cracking susceptibility of materials. The shortcoming of this approach is that the information is only from the very near surface region which inhibits access to the characteristic of the hot crack network in the bulk. Here, we report about an alternative approach to monitor the entire 3D hot crack network after welding by means of microfocus X-ray computer tomography (µCT). However, to provide sufficient high spatial resolution small samples must be sectioned from the MVT-welded joint. The sampling is accompanied by local relaxation of the residual stress distributions that are induced by welding, which can have an impact on the crack volumes prior to the sampling. The studies were carried out to investigate the hot cracking susceptibility of low transformation temperature filler materials (LTT). As high compression residual stresses up to -600 MPa in the area of the crack networks were determined by means of the contour method, stress relaxation caused by sectioning for µCT sample extraction can affect the detectability of the cracks later on. X-ray diffraction studies revealed surface residual stress relaxations up to about 400 MPa due to cutting. To investigate this effect, the specimens with hot cracks were subjected to a load test with known stress states. The results clearly show that local stress relaxations will have a strong impact on the volume images reconstructed from tomography analysis. This effect must be considered during hot crack assessment on basis of µCT data.
Examining Students' Representation Choices in University Modeling Instruction

OF THE DISSERTATION EXAMINING STUDENTS’ REPRESENTATION CHOICES IN UNIVERSITY MODELING INSTRUCTION by Daryl R. McPadden Florida International University, 2018 Miami, Florida Professor Eric Brewe, Major Professor Representations (such as pictures, diagrams, word descriptions, equations, etc.) are critical tools for learning, problem solving, and communicating in science, particularly in physics where multiple representations often serve as intermediate steps, a means to evaluate a solution, and highlight different aspects a physical phenomenon. This dissertation explores the representation choices made by students in the University Modeling Instruction (MI) courses on problems from across introductory physics content. Modeling Instruction is a two-semester introductory, calculus-based physics sequence that was designed to guide students through the process of building, testing, applying, and refining models. As a part of this modeling cycle, students have explicit instruction and practice in building, evaluating, and coordinating representations in introductory physics. Since I am particularly interested in representations across all of introductory physics, this work was situated in the second semester of MI. To address students’ representation choices, the Problem Solving and Representation Use Survey (PSRUS) was developed as modified card sort survey, which asked students to simply list the representations that they would use on 25 physics questions from across introductory physics. Using non-parametric statistical tests
NETLAKE toolbox for the analysis of high-frequency data from lakes Factsheet # 10 Pattern detection using Dynamic Factor Analysis ( DFA )

One of the main applications of time-series analysis is the identification of trends and cyclic patterns in the data. Many trend detection and frequency decomposition analyses already exist for those purposes, particularly to address single time-series. However, classical methodologies are not particularly well suited to cope with multivariate problems. Dynamic Factor Analysis (DFA) decomposes a collection of time-series into common patterns and associated error terms (Zuur et al. 2003a). Broadly speaking, this method resembles performing Principal Component Analysis (PCA) but it is specifically designed for time-series. The end-product is a collection of patterns shared by all time-series, the relative relevance of each pattern across time-series, and error terms.
Is There a Way Beyond Fundamentalism? Challenges for Faith Development and Religious Education

The global occurrence of fundamentalist developments and their highly political and sometimes scandalous quality call for a global perspective. The Chicago Fundamentalism Project (Marty and Appleby 1993a; 1993b; 1994a; 1994b; 1995) has the merit to address fundamentalism in such a global perspective across cultures and religious traditions. The global and highly political perspective however should not divert attention from the fact that there are also quiet and a-political currents within the fundamentalist movements. Moreover, it can be argued that at the basis of any fundamentalist orientation, there are religious orientations and attitudes. The global and political perspective should furthermore not obscure the possibility of individual biographical developments which may open up opportunities to change and to find new biographical trajectories, to engage in de-conversion and transformation. The study of biographies opens such a perspective. The two ex-fundamentalist case studies which will be portrayed in the first section below demonstrate not only the possibility of change, but also very different avenues of de-conversion and transformation.
Rotation effect on near-wall turbulence statistics and flow structures

Large eddy simulation (LES) of turbulent flow through an axially rotating pipe, coupled with nonlinear dynamic subgrid-scale (SGS) model, is carried out to investigate rotation effect on the near-wall turbulence characteristics and flow structures. In the rotating turbulent pipe flow, it is found that the tendency towards a relaminarized flow appears and the axial velocity fluctuation is suppressed; however, the azimuthal fluctuation is enhanced due to the presence of the pipe wall rotation. The joint probability density function (joint PDF) of the velocity fluctuations and the probability density function (PDF) of the helicity fluctuation are analyzed in detail. It is revealed that the resolved Reynolds stress and helicity fluctuation in the wall region are closely related to the correlation between the velocity and vorticity fluctuations and affected significantly by the rotation-induced azimuthal mean flow. Further, the budgets of resolved Reynolds stresses indicate that the rotation effect is responsible for the more active turbulent energy redistribution and the production of the azimuthal turbulence fluctuation. The near-wall inclined streaky structures with respect to the axial direction are ascribed to the spiral motion of the fluid induced by the rotating pipe. The turbulence characteristics revealed in this study are of great help for the understanding of physical fundamentals in the rotating turbulent flows and for the development of reliable turbulence model.
The role of workplace relationships in assisting nurses and engineers to solve work-based problems

This research comprises an examination of workplace relationships and the effect they have on the perceived usefulness of workplace networks for providing employees’ with information, knowledge and resources for solving work-based problems. In particular, this research uses two dimensions of Social Capital Theory as a lens to provide insight into the quality and size of workplace social networks used for problem-solving by both engineers and nurses. The findings confirm that the organisational factors tested affected the perceived usefulness of workplace social networks for providing employees’ with an appropriate amount of information to support efficient and effective workplace problem-solving .
A General Guide to Applying Machine Learning to Computer Architecture

The resurgence of machine learning since the late 1990s has been enabled by significant advances in computing performance and the growth of big data. The ability of these algorithms to detect complex patterns in data which are extremely difficult to achieve manually, helps to produce effective predictive models. Whilst computer architects have been accelerating the performance of machine learning algorithms with GPUs and custom hardware, there have been few implementations leveraging these algorithms to improve the computer system performance. The work that has been conducted, however, has produced considerably promising results. The purpose of this paper is to serve as a foundational base and guide to future computer architecture research seeking to make use of machine learning models for improving system efficiency. We describe a method that highlights when, why, and how to utilize machine learning models for improving system performance and provide a relevant example showcasing the effectiveness of applying machine learning in computer architecture. We describe a process of data generation every execution quantum and parameter engineering. This is followed by a survey of a set of popular machine learning models. We discuss their strengths and weaknesses and provide an evaluation of implementations for the purpose of creating a workload performance predictor for different core types in an x86 processor. The predictions can then be exploited by a scheduler for heterogeneous processors to improve the system throughput. The algorithms of focus are stochastic gradient descent based linear regression, decision trees, random forests, artificial neural networks, and $k$-nearest neighbors.
Epoxy-carbazole polymeric network nanolayers for organic light-emitting devices

We report the study of epoxy-carbazole polymeric network (ECzPN) nanolayers as a hole injection/transport layer in organic light-emitting devices. The ECzPN nanolayers were prepared by the thermal curing reaction of epoxidized cresol novolak and 3,6-diaminocarbazole in the presence of catalytic amount of triphenyl phosphine. The curing reaction was examined with Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy, whilst the thermal stability was studied with thermogravimetric analysis. Optical absorption and emission spectroscopy were employed to investigate the optical properties of ECzPN nanolayers, whilst atomic force microscopy was used to examine the surface nanomorphology of ECzPN nanolayers. The result showed that the device performance was greatly influenced by the weight ratio of monomers, because the highest occupied molecular orbital level of ECzPN was significantly changed with the ratio. This is attributed to the ground-state complexes induced by the specific interaction (hydrogen bonding) between the lone pair electrons in amines of carbazole moieties and the hydroxyl group of ring-opened epoxide moieties.
Robust Point Cloud Segmentation of Rodents using Close Range Depth Cameras in Controlled Environments

Rodent behavior analysis is a extremely important task for pre-clinical testing of new drugs and neurodegenerative diseases. Some of the underlying mechanisms regulating natural interactions among multiple animals require long term interaction, which implies the usage of automated, objective and systematic video analysis system. However, current video analysis systems are limited by idiosyncratic features of the 2D video technology, and requiring a great number of parameters. This early stage work focuses on the first step of a depth-based tracking system, offering some methods to robustly perform rodent segmentation in a controlled environment, fully exploiting its geometrical properties, providing a qualitative overview of the results attained so far.
MICROVERTEBRATE CONCENTRATIONS IN PEDOGENIC NODULE CONGLOMERATES: RECOGNIZING THE ROCKS AND RECOVERING AND INTERPRETING THE FOSSILS

Pedogenic carbonate nodule concentrations are an under-utilized resource for the recovery of terrestrial microvertebrate faunas. They have proved productive in Late Cretaceous, late Paleocene, and Miocene rocks of Texas and Louisiana. These concentrations of nodules and fossils form at channel bases and by erosion of soils in interfluves. Treatment of large samples of the conglomerates with dilute acetic acid allows recovery of delicate specimens, with teeth of small vertebrates being the main identifiable component. Geologists and paleontologists should be alert to these rocks’ potential, because relatively small lenses, which can be found in gullies and stream banks even in heavily vegetated areas such as western Louisiana, may yield significant fossil faunas.
Nomadic pastoralism in the Early Bronze Age of the central Balkans evaluation of background knowledge

The aim of the paper is to examine background knowledge about the orga­nizational properties of mobile pastoral groups in order to assess the likelihood of the existence of pastoral nomads in the Early Bronze Age in the central Balkans. The patterning found by A. L. Johnson (2002) is taken as a point of departure for the cross-cultural analysis conducted in this study. Johnson’s findings are in the main corroborated. Acquired knowledge about the workings of pastoral societies suggests that highly mobile pastoral groups should not be expected in the Early Bronze Age of the central Balkans.
Occurrence of post-endodontic pain after single-visit RCT using Balanced Force technique and two reciprocating system when apical patency is maintained

Aim. The goal of this research was to relate the occurrence of post-endodontic pain after single-visit RCT using Balanced Force technique and two reciprocating system when AP is conserved. Methodology: Two hundred and sixteen of 245 patients aged 18-65 years were incorporated in this research. All patients had teeth selected for conventional RCT for prosthetic reasons detected with only vital pulps. For hand instrumentation, Balanced Force were used. All canals were clean and shaped with hand Flex-R files. For mechanical shaping, all instruments were prepared with Protaper Next and Reciproc instruments in continuous brushing and reciprocating mode respectively. Final irrigation with cold (8 o C) 17% EDTA served as a lubricant. Results: The average age of the 216 participants registered in this research was 54 years. No statistically significant difference (p > .05) among the groups were found regarding degree or duration of pain. There was no statistically significant difference (p> .05) among the Balanced Force technique, PTN and R techniques in relation to the occurrence of post/endodontic ache at any of the three time points measured (Table 3, 4). Conclusions. The incidence of post-endodontic pain is lower when AP is maintained and presence/absence of pre-operative pain has to be consider. When previous symptoms are present, occurrence and period of pain is longer in teeth with this condition that when AP is maintained. It can be established that conserving AP with a thin K-file can help to prevent post-endodontic pain in some specific cases.
Earnings Management and Contests for Control: An Analysis of European Family Firms

In this paper, the influence of large shareholders on earnings management in family-owned firms is analyzed using a sample of firms from nine European countries. How contests for control for the largest shareholder and the existence of a controlling coalition in family-owned firms affect earnings management is considered. It was found that increases in the contestability of control by the largest shareholder reduce earnings management in family-owned firms. The results also show that in firms in which the largest shareholder is a family member, a second or third family shareholder increases discretionary accruals.
The Shape of the Aggregate Production Function over the Business Cycle and Its Implications for the Labor Market

Business cycle theory and practice commonly require consistency with a balanced growth path. This choice implies restrictions on the shape of the aggregate production function. Particularly, with investment-specific technical change a Cobb-Douglas production function is needed. However, this requirement does not constrain the short-run properties of the production function. We allow for cyclical fluctuations of the short-run elasticity of substitution between capital and labor, σt ∈ [0,∞). Using a competitive-markets framework, we structurally estimate that productivity shocks are on average biased toward labor (i.e., σt < 1) and that σt is countercyclical. The dynamics of σt makes wages less sensitive than labor productivity to productivity innovations at impact, but more sensitive thereafter. This framework resolves four main labor market puzzles at once: Dunlop-Tarshis phenomenon, labor productivity puzzle, labor share puzzle, and hours-productivity puzzle. Last, we show direct empirical evidence from KLEM panel data that supports the countercyclical behavior of σt. ∗We thank David Backus, Fabio Canova, Cristina Fuentes-Albero, Carlos Garriga, Nobu Kiyotaki, Claudio Michelacci, Rody Manuelli, Ellen McGrattan, Jesus Fernandez-Villaverde, Harald Uhlig and Tao Zha.
Customer loyalty to a grocery retailer: differences between urban and rural areas of Lithuania

Given the intensive competition in almost all the business sectors, customer loyalty research is gaining its popularity among marketers as well as among scholars. The aim of this research was to determine the differences in loyalty to grocery retailer between urban and rural consumers. In order to reveal the differences, questionnaire research was provided and differences between Lithuanian urban and rural customer loyalties were determined. The research results indicated the existence of statistically significant differences between the loyalties of Lithuanian urban and rural regarding their mostly visited grocery retailers in terms of their attitudes and repeat patronage behaviour. Moreover, based on the neo-behaviouristic approach, considering attitudinal and behavioural measures, all kinds of loyalties were observed stronger in the urban areas of Lithuania. The assumption was made that there might be an effect of limited-choice condition. Affected by the latter condition, rural citizens tend to seek for variety more than the urban ones. Consequently, considering the rural citizens’ evaluations, it can be stated that their loyalty is undermanaged, resulting in a very low amounts of truly loyal customers. Therefore, for the grocery retailers it was recommended to revise their customer loyalty schemes based on the point of residence of their consumers. In such a way the higher possibility of meeting consumer needs might be achieved.
English language teaching for students of management of travel and tourism

English has become the lingua franca in a lot of areas, including tourism industry. The aim of this contribution was to explain the way English is taught to students of Management of Travel and Tourism at the Faculty of Informatics and Management, University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic. The basic teaching approaches were described, and justified. Methods of collecting as well as creating teaching materials were exemplified. The resulting syllabi should be implemented in the coming years. Prior to this implementation, the whole curriculum of Management of Travel and Tourism has to be revised as the new accreditation is due in 2019. The new approach takes into account the fact that people working in tourism need to master especially speaking and listening as they are expected to communicate with foreigners.