Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Habitat Selection by Northern Pygmy-Owls in the Rocky Mountains

Abstract Elucidating the differential use of resources by animals is fundamental to both understanding ecological processes and making informed conservation decisions. Such information is particularly important for poorly studied species that may be dependent upon heavily exploited resources. We examine habitat selection of the Northern Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium gnoma), which is thought to depend upon mature forests, but for which information on habitat use is scant. We conducted our study in northern Idaho and western Montana, and used the synoptic model of space use. We obtained sufficient location data to include 27 radio-tagged owls in the study (16 in Idaho and 11 in Montana). To evaluate habitat selection, we developed 36 models in Idaho and 24 models in Montana, each with different combinations of habitat covariates hypothesized to influence Northern Pygmy-Owl space use. Covariates representing larger tree size were statistically significant ( ≥ 3.01, t ≥ 2.7, P ≤ 0.02) predictors of space use in the best-supported population-level models in both Idaho and Montana. In addition, the distance-to-stream covariate was a statistically significant ( = −3.60, t = −3.3, P = 0.005) predictor of the probability of use in the best-supported population-level model in Idaho, but not in the best-supported Montana model ( = −0.08, t =0.03, P = 0.98). Owls selected forested areas with larger tree sizes and (in Idaho) selected areas closer to stream courses. Differences between the two study areas in the apparent importance of stream proximity to habitat selection may reflect differences in timber harvest practices and the amount of coniferous vegetation; however, this hypothesis should be addressed with additional research.
ÇALIŞMA ORTAMI ÖZELLİKLERİNİN İŞE YABANCILAŞMAYA ETKİLERİ: BİLGİ TEKNOLOJİSİ ÇALIŞANLARI ÜZERİNE BİR ARAŞTIRMA

Anahtar Kelimeler: İşe Yabancılaşma İş Özerkliği Rol Çatışması İş Talep-Kaynak Modeli JEL Kodları: M150, M120, M110 İçinde bulunduğumuz Bilgi Çağında, Bilgi Teknolojileri (BT) çalışanları, yeni ekonominin büyümesinde en kritik faktördür. Bu nedenle iş ortamında BT çalışanlarının iş ortamlarının doğasının anlaşılması önemli bir araştırma alanı olarak görülmektedir. Böylelikle çalışmanın amacı, iş ortamını oluşturan; iş özerkliği, rol çatışması ve örgütsel adalet değişkenlerinin BT çalışanlarının işe yabancılaşma algıları üzerindeki doğrudan ve dolaylı etkilerini incelemektir. Bu amaç doğrultusunda İstanbul’da yer alan yedi teknoloji şirketinin çalışanlarından online olarak tasarlanan bir anket aracılığı ile gerekli veriler toplanmıştır. 172 sektör çalışanın katılımı ile elde edilen veriler, yapısal denklem modeli ile analiz edilmiştir. Araştırma sonucunda değişkenler arasında doğrudan ve dolaylı ilişkiler tespit edilmiştir.
Detection and Classification of Cancer on CT Lung Images using Krill Herd Optimization Algorithm and ANN

The most terrifying type of cancer is lung cancer, which is treated as very common disease amongst humans. Now a days, earlier detection of lung cancer is mandatory in order to enhance the survival rate of the afflicted. Earlier detection of lung cancer is the area, which is under the radar of most of the researchers because with earlier detection the life expectancy of the afflicted will be improved. For the last few years more of the research is going on to predict the cancer at the beginning stages.Here in this work, the raw CT Lung images are used which are preprocessed and this system will detect the cancerous nodules. In the proposed system Krill Herd Optimization algorithm is used to find the optimum threshold values by maximizing Otsu’s or Kapur’s objective function and the Artificial Neural Network is used to detect the cancerous nodules. This technique will assist radiologists to diagnose the lung cancer in the earlier stages.
Primary School Pre-Service Teachers' Collective Reflective Discourse On Reflection

Reflection is one of the most important processes that can be used to improve teaching. Even though preservice teachers' attitudes toward reflection, specifically to written reflection, are unclear, teacher education programs specifically emphasize the importance of written reflection for the education and development of pre-service teachers. In order to explore their attitudes, a collective reflective discourse was conducted. The research question is: What are the attitudes of primary school, pre-service teachers toward reflection, especially written reflection, at the beginning of the first preparatory year? A small group of eight, first-year, pre-service students participated in a collective reflective discourse on reflection at one of the educational colleges in Israel. The research findings according to qualitative content analysis indicate that most of the pre-service teachers' attitudes toward reflection changed from negative to positive during the discourse session. In addition, the pre-service teachers' misconceptions about reflection were also altered during the discourse. This article presents a literature review on reflection, collective reflection, and pre-service teachers' attitudes toward reflection. A description of the small-group method, collective reflective learning discourse, and the resulting qualitative content analysis will follow. Finally, conclusions will be presented with recommendations to improve teacher education programs.
Fuzzy Logic Weight Based Charging Scheme for Optimal Distribution of Charging Power among Electric Vehicles in a Parking Lot

Electric vehicles (EVs) parking lots are representing significant charging loads for relatively a long period of time. Therefore, the aggregated charging load of EVs may coincide with the peak demand of the distribution power system and can greatly stress the power grid. The stress on the power grid can be characterized by the additional electricity demand and the introduction of a new peak load that may overwhelm both the substations and transmission systems. In order to avoid the stress on the power grid, the parking lot operators are required to limit the penetration level of EVs and optimally distribute the available power among them. This affects the EV owner’s quality of experience (QoE) and thereby reducing the quality of performance (QoP) for the parking lot operators. The QoE is represents the satisfaction level of EV owners; whereas, the QoP is a measurement representing the ratio of EVs with QoE to the total number of EVs. This study proposes a fuzzy logic weight-based charging scheme (FLWCS) to optimally distribute the charging power among the most appropriate EVs in such a way that maximizes the QoP for the parking lot operators under the operational constraints of the power grid. The developed fuzzy inference mechanism resolves the uncertainties and correlates the independent inputs such as state-of-charge, the remaining parking duration and the available power into weighted values for the EVs in each time slot. Once the weight values for all EVs are known, their charging operations are controlled such that the operational constraints of the power grid are respected in each time slot. The proposed FLWCS is applied to a parking lot with different capacities. The simulation results reveal an improved QoP comparing to the conventional first-come-first-served (FCFS) based scheme.
Systematic LC/MS/MS Investigations for the IND-Enabling Extended Characterization of Antibody–Drug Conjugate Modifications

We hypothesized that systematic liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry investigations of an antibody–drug conjugate (ADC), its small and large molecular components, and surrogate small-molecule conjugates might comprise a simple and efficient approach for the extended characterization of ADCs. Furthermore, we envisioned that results from this work might allow us to assign specific composition changes in the ADC based on monoisotopic mass shifts of conjugatable modifications as detected in the surrogate small-molecule conjugates. We tested our hypothesis with a case study using an aldehyde-tag-based ADC conjugated to a noncleavable linker bearing a maytansine payload. Nearly quantitative bioconversion from cysteine to formylglycine was observed in the monoclonal antibody, and bioorthogonal conjugation was detected only on the formylglycine residues in the ADC. Using our method, both conjugatable and nonconjugatable modifications were discovered in the linker/payload; however, only conjugatable modifications were observed on the ADC. Based on these results, we anticipate that our approach to systematic mass spectrometric investigations can be successfully applied to other ADCs and therapeutic bioconjugates for investigational new drug (IND)-enabling extended characterization.
Regulated Charge Pumps: A Comparative Study by Means of Verilog-AMS

This paper proposes a comparative study of regulation schemes for charge-pump-based voltage generators using behavioral models in Verilog- Analog Mixed Signal (AMS) code. An accurate and simple model of the charge pump is first introduced. It allows reducing the simulation time of complex electronic systems made up by both analog and digital circuits while maintaining a good agreement with transistor-level simulations. Finally, a comprehensive comparative study of the different regulation schemes for charge pumps is reported which allows the designer to choose the most suitable topology for a given application and Charge Pump (CP) operative zone.
In situ investigation of interfacial properties of Sb2Se3 heterojunctions

Antimony selenide (Sb2Se3), emerging as a promising photovoltaic material, has achieved over 9% efficiency within only 6 years. Various kinds of buffer materials are employed for Sb2Se3 solar cells to construct heterojunctions with distinctive device performance. Herein, we introduce in situ high resolution photoemission spectroscopy (HRPES) to investigate the interfacial properties between Sb2Se3 and three types of widely adopted buffer layers: CdS, ZnO, and TiO2. HRPES results and theoretical thermodynamic calculations reveal that in the initial stage, the deposited Sb2Se3 reacts with buffer materials in terms of activity in the following order: CdS ≥ ZnO > TiO2. Distinct transition layers are formed at CdS/Sb2Se3 and ZnO/Sb2Se3 interfaces, whereas it is nearly absent at TiO2/Sb2Se3. Our results suggest that the CdS/Sb2Se3 heterojunction shows spike-like conduction band offsets (CBOs), whereas ZnO/Sb2Se3 demonstrates a cliff-like CBO, and TiO2/Sb2Se3 is almost flat. The transition layers and band alignments at the interface could be the reasons for the stability and performance of Sb2Se3 photovoltaic devices with different buffer materials. Our investigation deepens the understanding of Sb2Se3 heterojunction formation and can benefit further development of Sb2Se3 thin-film solar cells.
Crenças em saúde relativas ao cancro do colo do útero

Background: The increase in the prevalence of oncological diseases such as cervical cancer (CC) makes it a worldwide public health problem involving resources in the area of prevention. Objectives: To determine the influence of sociodemographic variables, gynecological and sexual context on health beliefs related to cervical cancer. Methodology: It is a quantitative, descriptive-correlational study. The data collection protocol was the questionnaire that allowed to characterize the sample in the gynecological, sexual and sociodemographic dimensions. We also use the Health Beliefs Scale, composed of four dimensions: vulnerability, severity, benefits and obstacles (Patrao & Leal, 2002). The sample is non-probabilistic for convenience, consisting of 946 participants. Results: Regarding the vulnerability dimension, significant statistical differences were found in the variables, having gynecological problems, frequency in the frequency of gynecological consultations, using contra￾ceptive methods, existence of family members with CC. For the severity dimension, significant statistical differen￾ces were found for the variables, frequency of gynecological consultations and use of contraceptive methods. In the benefits dimension, statistical significance was found for age (adults) and using contraceptive methods. For the obstacles dimension, we found statistical significance for the frequency of frequency of gynecological consul￾tations and the beginning of sexual activity. Conclusions: Understanding individual aspects involved in the prevention of CC is essential for individualized care, since these aspects are subjective in nature and require different actions.
Assessment of Ecological and Hydro-Geomorphological Alterations under Climate Change Using SWAT and IAHRIS in the Eo River in Northern Spain

Magnitude and temporal variability of streamflow is essential for natural biodiversity and the stability of aquatic environments. In this study, a comparative analysis between historical data (1971–2013) and future climate change scenarios (2010–2039, 2040–2069 and 2070–2099) of the hydrological regime in the Eo river, in the north of Spain, is carried out in order to assess the ecological and hydro-geomorphological risks over the short-, medium- and long-term. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was applied on a daily basis to assess climate-induced hydrological changes in the river under five general circulation models and two representative concentration pathways. Statistical results, both in calibration (Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient (NSE): 0.73, percent bias (PBIAS): 3.52, R2: 0.74) and validation (NSE: 0.62, PBIAS: 6.62, R2: 0.65), are indicative of the SWAT model’s good performance. The ten climate scenarios pointed out a reduction in rainfall (up to −22%) and an increase in temperatures, both maximum (from +1 to +7 °C) and minimum ones (from +1 to +4 °C). Predicted flow rates resulted in an incrementally greater decrease the longer the term is, varying between −5% (in short-term) and −53% (in long-term). The free software IAHRIS (Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration in Rivers) determined that alteration for usual values remains between excellent and good status and from good to moderate in drought values, but flood values showed a deficient regime in most scenarios, which implies an instability of river morphology, a progressive reduction in the section of the river and an advance of aging of riparian habitat, endangering the renewal of the species.
Inner Asian maternal genetic origin of the Avar period nomadic elite in the 7th century AD Carpathian Basin

After 568 AD the nomadic Avars settled in the Carpathian Basin and founded their empire, which was an important force in Central Europe until the beginning of the 9 century AD. The Avar elite was probably of Inner Asian origin; its identification with the Rourans (who ruled the region of today’s Mongolia and North China in the 4-6 centuries AD) is widely accepted in the historical research. Here, we study the whole mitochondrial genomes of twenty-three 7 century and two 8 century AD individuals from a well-characterised Avar elite group of burials excavated in Hungary. Most of them were buried with high value prestige artefacts and their skulls showed Mongoloid morphological traits. The majority (64%) of the studied samples’ mitochondrial DNA variability belongs to Asian haplogroups (C, D, F, M, R, Y and Z). This Avar elite group shows affinities to several ancient and modern Inner Asian populations. The genetic results verify the historical thesis on the Inner Asian origin of the Avar elite, as not only a military retinue consisting of armed men, but an endogamous group of families migrated. This correlates well with records on historical nomadic societies where maternal lineages were as important as paternal descent.
Soft Robotic Finger Embedded with Visual Sensor for Bending Perception

SUMMARY The various vision-based tactile sensors have been developed for robotic perception in recent years. In this paper, the novel soft robotic finger embedded with the visual sensor is proposed for perception. It consists of a colored soft inner chamber, an outer structure, and an endoscope camera. The bending perception algorithm based on image preprocessing and deep learning is proposed. The boundary of color regions and the position of marker dots are extracted from the inner chamber image and label image, respectively. Then the convolutional neural network with multi-task learning is trained to obtain bending states of the finger. Finally, the experiments are implemented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Synchronizing pricing and replenishment to serve forward‐looking customers

We incorporate strategic customer waiting behavior in the classical economic order quantity (EOQ) setting. The seller determines not only the timing and quantities of the inventory replenishment, but also the selling prices over time. While similar ideas of market segmentation and intertemporal price discrimination can be carried over from the travel industries to other industries, inventory replenishment considerations common to retail outlets and supermarkets introduce additional features to the optimal pricing scheme. Specifically, our study provides concrete managerial recommendations that are against the conventional wisdom on “everyday low price” (EDLP) versus “high‐low pricing” (Hi‐Lo). We show that in the presence of inventory costs and strategic customers, Hi‐Lo instead of EDLP is optimal when customers have homogeneous valuations. This result suggests that because of strategic customer behavior, the seller obtains a new source of flexibility—the ability to induce customers to wait—which always leads to a strictly positive increase of the seller's profit. Moreover, the optimal inventory policy may feature a dry period with zero inventory, but this period does not necessarily result in a loss of sales as customers strategically wait for the upcoming promotion. Furthermore, we derive the solution approach for the optimal policy under heterogeneous customer valuation setting. Under the optimal policy, the replenishments and price promotions are synchronized, and the seller adopts high selling prices when the inventory level is low and plans a discontinuous price discount at the replenishment point when inventory is the highest.
“It’s Just Constantly Having to Make a Ton of Decisions That Other People Take for Granted”: Pregnancy and Parenting Desires for Queer Cisgender Women and Non-binary Individuals Assigned Female at Birth

Abstract As more queer cisgender women and gender-expansive individuals become parents, research must consider current barriers to family formation. This study used a modified grounded theory approach to conduct 22 semi-structured interviews aimed at understanding the role of queer identity in pregnancy desires and decisions among individuals assigned female at birth (AFAB) who identify as queer. Numerous individual, relationship, and structural factors informed pregnancy desires, the choice to seek pregnancy, and experiences with pregnancy. Supporting queer individuals in a range of pregnancy and parenting options is vital to fully recognizing queer individuals as participants in a fundamental human experience—family building.
Foraging distances in six species of solitary bees with body lengths of 6 to 15 mm, inferred from individual tagging, suggest 150 m-rule-of-thumb for flower strip distances

Bees require suitably close foraging and nesting sites to minimize travel time and energy expenditure for brood provisioning. Knowing foraging distances in persistent (‘healthy’) populations is therefore crucial for assessing harmful levels of habitat fragmentation. For small bees, such distances are poorly known because of the difficulty of individual tagging and problems with mark-recapture approaches. Using apiarist’s number tags and colour codes, we marked 2689 males and females of four oligolectic and two polylectic species of Osmiini bees (Megachilidae, genera Chelostoma, Heriades, Hoplitis, Osmia) with body lengths of 6 to 15 mm. The work was carried out in 21 ha-large urban garden that harbours at least 106 species of wild bees. Based on 450 re-sightings, mean female flight distances ranged from 73 to 121 m and male distances from 59 to 100 m. These foraging distances suggest that as a rule of thumb, flower strips and nesting sites for supporting small solitary bees should be no further than 150 m apart.
European Vitreoretinal Society Macular Hole Study, Prognostic Factors for Anatomical and Functional Success

Background: To identify prognostic preoperative and intraoperative factors for anatomical and visual success of idiopathic macular hole (MH) surgery. Methods: We conducted a non-randomized, collaborative multicenter study using data of 4207 MH surgery from 140 surgeons. Main study outcomes were anatomical closure and best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) improvement postoperative at 6-12 months. Results: Information on anatomical success was available for 4138 eyes of 4207 operations. Anatomical closure of MH was achieved in 85.7% (3546 eyes). Closure was higher in smaller MH (stages 1-2 versus stage 3: OR=0.35; stage 2 versus stage 4: OR=0.16, and in MH with shorter duration before the operation (OR=0.94). Macular Holes were more likely to close when dyes were used to facilitate internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling (odds ratio=1.73 to 3.58). The most important predictors of postoperative BCVA were the preoperative BCVA (estimate=0.39, p<0.001) and closure of the macular hole (estimate=0.34, p<0.001). We observed Larger improvement in BCVA in combined vitrectomy and phacoemulsification (estimate = 0.10) and post cataract surgery in phakic eyes (estimate=0.05). Retinal tears occurred in 5.1% of eyes, and were less with use of trocars (OR= -1.246) and in combined vitrectomy/ phacoemulsification surgery (OR= -0.688). Conclusion: This international survey confirmed that staining with dyes improves anatomical results but not visual outcomes. After surgery, visual acuity improved during the first year, and final visual acuity was better in both pseudophakic eyes and eyes that underwent cataract surgery during the first year following MH repair.
Étude ethnobotanique d’espèces ligneuses des savanes sèches au Nord-Togo : diversité, usages, importance et vulnérabilité

Description du sujet. Au Nord-Togo, particulièrement en milieu rural, les populations utilisent des biens d’espèces ligneuses et des services écosystémiques pour satisfaire des besoins multiples. Dans un environnement marqué par une déforestation accrue, se développe une pression anthropique croissante avec une incidence sur la vulnérabilité et la valorisation de ces ressources. Objectifs. Cette étude sur la diversité et les usages des ligneux permet d’apprécier la richesse floristique des terroirs et d’évaluer, à partir de quatre paramètres, la vulnérabilité des espèces répertoriées et connues des populations en zone de savane sèche. Méthode. L’approche méthodologique est basée sur des enquêtes ethnobotaniques et socio-économiques menées auprès de 14 groupes ethniques par interview individuel et au sein de « focus groups ». Les analyses ont porté sur des calculs de fréquences et d’indices de valeurs d’usage et d’importance des espèces répertoriées. Résultats. Au total, 149 espèces ligneuses utiles ont été identifiées et réparties en 45 familles. Neuf principaux usages reconnus sont relevés : alimentaire (69 espèces), médicinal (91 espèces), bois-énergie (57 espèces), fourrager (57 espèces), artisanal (37 espèces), soins hygiéniques (36 espèces), bois de service (40 espèces), rituel ou magico-spirituel (35 espèces) et cosmétique (26 espèces). Ces usages portent essentiellement sur les feuilles, racines, fruits, graines, fleurs, bois et écorces. Sur l’ensemble des espèces répertoriées, 42 (28 %) présentent un risque élevé de vulnérabilité, celle-ci étant évaluée sur base de quatre paramètres : la fréquence de citation, le nombre d’usages différents, l’organe collecté et le mode de collecte. Conclusions. L’étude montre que l’utilisation des espèces ligneuses varie selon le milieu géographique et la valeur d’importance des espèces explique la vulnérabilité de celles-ci dans la savane sèche.