Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Decapod Utilization of Adjacent Oyster, Vegetated Marsh, and Non-Vegetated Bottom Habitats In A Gulf of Mexico Estuary

Abstract Few studies have compared oyster habitat use with adjacent vegetated and non-vegetated habitats. We investigated habitat use by six common, estuarine, invertebrate species. In order to better understand the species-specific use of oyster and adjacent habitats within the salt marshes of Grand Bay NERR, MS, we examined the abundance patterns and size distributions among oyster, vegetated marsh edge (VME), and non-vegetated bottom (NVB) for three seasons (Fall 2003, Spring 2004, Summer 2004) for the following species: blue crab Callinectes sapidus, brown shrimp Farfantopenaeus aztecus, white shrimp Litopenaeus setiferus, daggerblade grass shrimp Palaemonetes pugio, flatback mud crab Eurypanopeus depressus, and oystershell mud crab Panopeus simpsoni. Three main trends emerged concerning habitat use: 1) the three crab species (juvenile C. sapidus, E. depressus, P. simpsoni) occupied oyster and VME habitats in higher abundances relative to NVB with minor to moderate fluctuations in seasonal abundance. Smaller crabs tended to use oyster habitat (although differences were not significant for all three species) and this may be related to the higher abundance of smaller refuges in oysters; 2) for one species, P. pugio, abundance in VME was significantly higher than in the other habitats, which may be related to P. pugio reliance on VME stems, and associated flora and fauna for refuge and food; and 3) the estuarine-dependent species F. aztecus and L. setiferus had relatively equal use of VME and oysters, which both species selected for structured habitat over NVB and both species were significantly larger in oyster habitat. Additional investigation is needed to determine the mechanisms responsible for the species-habitat relationships documented in our study.
Comparative histology of the vaginal-cloacal region in Squamata and its phylogenetic implications

Sanchez-Martinez, P.M. , Ramirez-Pinilla, M.P. and Miranda-Esquivel, D.R. 2007. Comparative histology of the vaginal‐cloacal region in Squamata and its phylogenetic implications. — Acta Zoologica (Stockholm) 88 : 289‐307 We described the histology and morphology of the vaginal‐cloacal region in 18 species from 12 Squamata families. This comparative study revealed a wide variation in the cloacal morphology. Fifteen morphological characters were considered to be primary homology hypotheses and were optimized over the topology derived from the parsimony analysis of the available soft morphological evidence, including the characters described in this study. The synapomorphies optimized for Squamata are bifid urodaeum, common urodaeal cavity with similar histological features of the urodaeal horns, and presence of glands in the anterior urodaeum; for Scleroglossa the synapomorphy is the lateral position of the vaginal intrusion into the anterior urodaeal chamber, for Nyctisaura + Scincomorpha the synapomorphy is the presence of a bifid posterior urodaeum; and for Xantusidae + Annulata it is the presence of simple glands in the anterior urodaeum. The central position of the vaginal intrusion into the urodaeal chamber and the intraepithelial position of the glandular unit in the anterior urodaeum behave as autapomorphies for Iguanidae. This study contributes evidence that defines the relationships within Scleroglossa. Cloacal features provide interesting information that is useful as a source of morphological characters for phylogenetic studies in Squamata.
Mounding as a Technique for Restoration of Prairie on a Capped Landfill in the Puget Sound Lowlands

Closed landfills create large open spaces that are often proposed as sites for restored or created ecosystems. Grasslands are probably prescribed most often because of the presumption that grass root systems will not breach the landfill cap. Capped landfills have a number of soil degradation problems, including compaction, decreased permeability, lack of organic material, diminished soil fauna, inappropriate texture, and lack of structure. In this study in the Puget Sound lowlands, Washington, U.S.A. , mounding (low sandy‐loam mounds, about 20 cm high and 2 m in diameter), addition of fertilizer, and mulching with yard‐waste compost were applied to landfill sites as treatments in a factorial‐design experiment. Prairie plants (1,344 individuals, 7 species) were planted into 4‐m2 plots (n = 48), and plant growth and survival and the increase in weed biomass were monitored for 3 years. Mulching had no effect on plant survival or growth. Fertilization had a negative effect on Lupinus lepidus, a nitrogen‐fixing species. Mounding had a positive effect on growth and survival of Eriophyllum lanatum, Festuca idahoensis, and Aster curtus. Potentilla pacifica was indifferent to mounding, and Carex inops responded negatively. Mounds should probably be used as one element of a complex of habitats on restored landfills.
Purification of Glycomacropeptide from Caseinate Hydrolysate by Gel Chromatography and Treatment with Acidic Solution

: Glycomacropeptide (GMP) was purified from chymosin-hydrolyzed caseinate solution by the procedure involving: (1) gel chromatography on Sephacryl S-200 at pH 7.0 to obtain a crude GMP fraction; (2) addition of acidic solution, pH 3.5 to the crude glycomacropeptide to precipitate contaminating protein and/or peptide; and (3) re-chromatography of the material soluble in the acidic solution on Sephacryl S-200 at pH 3.5. The purified GMP accounted for 5.3% of dry weight of caseinate hydrolysate, and 0.7% of dry weight of sodium caseinate powder. The preparation was of considerably high purity with its amino-acid composition showing only traces (each < 1 residue / peptide) of arginine, histidine, phenylalanine, and tyrosine, the amino acids that do not occur in GMP.
Macropod Studies at Wallaby Creek V. Patterns of Defaecation by Eastern Grey Kangaroos and Red-Necked Wallabies

Patterns of defaecation by free-living eastern grey kangaroos Macropus giganteus and red-necked wallabies M. rufogriseus were studied by following animals and recording defaecations directly. For both species, rates of defaecation measured in this way were higher than previous measurements made on captive animals. Eastern grey kangaroos rarely defaecated while resting, but did so often during the first hour or two after their midday rest period; females defaecated more often than did males. In both species, defaecations tended to fall in bouts, with two or three in fairly quick succession.
Influence of Carotenoids and Pulps on the Color Modification of Blood Orange Juice

The causes of color modification in blood orange juice due to the heating concentration process were investigated. A Not From Concentrate (NFC) juice and a Reconstituted From Concentrated (RFC) juice, arising from the same stock of pigmented oranges, appeared very different in color although they had the same content of anthocyanins. CIE (Commision Internationale des Enclarages)-Lab measurements showed a slight decrease of L* and a* values and a very large increase of b* and hue values in RFC juice. Different distribution of carotenoids between serum and pulps and modification of pulp size appeared to be responsible for color modification.
Diversification and diversity partitioning

Abstract Model calculations predict that pathways of alpha- and beta-diversity in diversifying ecosystems notably differ depending on the relative role of competition, predation, positive effects of species' interactions, and environmental parameters. Four scenarios are discussed, in which alpha- and beta-diversity are modeled as a function of increasing gamma-diversity. The graphic illustration of this approach is herein called α-β-γ plot, in which the x-axis indicates increasing diversification rather than absolute time. In purely environmentally controlled systems, beta-diversity maintains near-maximum values throughout the diversification interval, whereas mean alpha-diversity increases linearly, with a slope being reciprocal to beta-diversity. A second scenario is based on the assumption that increasing richness will have predominantly positive effects on the addition of further species; here, alpha- and beta-diversity increase simultaneously (though not necessarily at the same rates) and without reaching a predictable upper limit. In ecosystems that are characterized by low competition between species, mean alpha-diversity asymptotically approaches a saturation level, whereas the increase in beta-diversity accelerates until alpha-diversity stagnates, and then continues to rise linearly. If competition is high, addition of species first increases beta-diversity until no further habitat contraction is possible, followed by a period in which alpha-diversity increase through adaptive divergence becomes the principal drive of diversification. Because there is a continuous transition between the late stage of the low-competition model and the early stage of the high-competition scenario, both can be combined in a single model of diversity partitioning under the premise of a diversity-dependent increase of competition. This summary model predicts three phases of diversity accumulation: (1) a niche overlap phase, (2) a habitat contraction phase, and (3) a niche differentiation phase. The models herein discussed provide a potential tool to assess the question which factors primary controlled the diversification of life over geological times.
A surrogate measure of stomatal aperture

cost of equipment (Pearcy et al., 1989; Weyers and Meidner, 1990; Willmer and Fricker, 1996). An important It is proposed that a measurement of the peristomatal criterion for choosing a technique is scale of measurement: groove distance (PGD) of guard cells on surface depending on the purpose of the study, researchers may
A NEW CONTRIBUTION INTO CURRENT CALCULATON METHOD FOR SALIENT POLE SYNCHRONOUS GENERATOR DAMPER BARS AT NO-LOAD CONDITION

The prediction of the induced current in damper windings with high accuracy are the key parameters in design process and pole shoe temperature rise estimation. This paper describes a new contribution in combined FEM -State Space method to calculate damper bar current of no load salient pole synchronous generator. In the first stage of the method, damper bar parameters have been calculated including inductances and flux linkages with the magnetostatic FEM calculation. These parameters are calculated in some rotor positions within one stator slot pitch, considering the machine rotational periodicity. Nonlinear interpolation used between calculated parameters is the contribution of this paper to decreasing simulation time and improving the accuracy of the results. subsequently due to obtained inductances and flux linkages, differential equations have been driven and solved. This paper claims that simulation time reduced 50 percent in comparison to original combined method. To evaluate the effectiveness of the suggested method, it has been applied to a small 4 poles, 9 KVA salient pole generator as well as a large 32 poles, 250 MVA generator. Comparing the obtained results of described method and the results of transient FEM confirms the validity of the proposed method.
Classification-based Image Watermarking Using Rank Order in the Wavelet Domain

In this paper, we propose a novel digital watermarking technique called Classification-based Image Watermarking using Rank Order in the Wavelet domain (CIWROW) for gray-level images. Due to WT (Wavelet Transform) having the characteristics of using both spatial and frequency resolutions, it can be effectively used to approximate target functions. Several relationships among the subbands in wavelet domain are explored and then employed to designate a classification algorithm using rand order for all wavelet blocks of an image. During watermark embedding, the target blocks to be watermarked are embedded by different methods according to which class the blocks belong to. The CIWROW technique retrieves watermarks without the original images. Finally, experimental results are included in this paper to illustrate that the performance of the CIWROW technique is acceptable. Furthermore, the CIWROW technique is rather robust to be immune against basic image-processing attacks.
Adaptive higher order numerical simulation of heat and mass transfer in fluidized beds

In this article we present adaptive numerical results of heat and mass transfer in fluidized beds using higher order time stepping methods. The model equations are strongly coupled and semi linear partial differential equations with boundary conditions. The invariant regions are presented for this model to check the solution bounds. These bounds gives the minimum and maximum values of solutions. The numerical discretization for the space using the finite element method is presented. For the time discretization higher order linearly implicit Runge-Kutta methods are used. These methods use the adaptive time step selection criteria to obtain the faster results. The present article focuses on higher order and efficient numerical results for the solution of concentration and temperature distributions inside fluidized beds (FB) with liquid spray injection. The numerical results are tested with different time stepping methods for different spatial grid sizes. These methods shows very good improvement for this particular problem compared to the numerical results presented in Nagaiah [12]. The numerical results motivate us to proceed to more complicated three space dimensional simulations including exact mass balance equation for the liquid spray injection.
New sources of resistance in Trifolium subterraneum L. to root rot caused by two races of Phytophthora clandestina Taylor, Pascoe and Greenhalgh

Eighty-four genotypes, comprising 71 ssp. subterraneum and ssp. yanninicum breeding lines of Trifolium subterraneum and 13 cultivars commonly used at the time of commencement of the experiment, were screened in the glasshouse for resistance to root rot caused by 2 races of Phytophthora clandestina that occur most widely in Australia. Resistance to race coded 001 was identified in 7 mid-season genotypes of ssp. subterraneum, including the new cultivar, Coolamon, and one genotype also showed resistance to race coded 373. Of the late flowering ssp. subterraneum genotypes tested, 13 showed resistance to race coded 001 and 4 of them also showed resistance to race coded 373. In the late flowering ssp. yanninicum group, 12 of 13 genotypes tested, including the new cultivar, Napier, showed resistance to both races. Of the mid-season ssp. yanninicum genotypes, all but 2 of 19 tested showed resistance to both races. The resistance observed in the majority of ssp. yanninicum and in some ssp. suberraneum genotypes, indicates that these are useful sources of resistance that can be exploited, either directly as new cultivars to minimise damage from this disease, or as parents in breeding programs to develop cultivars with improved resistance to P. clandestina. This study established the availability of 51 advanced lines and 11 cultivars as sources of resistance against P. clandestina race coded 001 and 36 lines and 4 cultivars for race coded 373, among which 36 lines and 4 cultivars were resistant against both races.
Secured Sharing of Medical Data on Hybrid Cloud Environment

— Cloud computing is emerging as a new computing paradigm. It provides lots of service like Software as a Service, Infrastructure as a Service, and Platform as a Service also it provides storing and sharing of data. Sharing of data in cloud platform among multiple applications to be done in secured manner. Many traditional approaches available for sharing of data in secured way but still with some data leakage issues. In this paper, a new approach has been introduced for secured storing and sharing of medical data on Hybrid cloud environment. The data partition technique, encryption and decryption techniques have to be performed on the medical data to store and share them in a secure way. The performance of proposed method is evaluated by comparing them with the information dispersal algorithm.
Coexistence in a subtidal habitat in southern Chile: the effects of giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera overgrowth on the slipper limpet Crepipatella fecunda

In many coastal areas substrate is the limiting resource for benthic organisms. Some sessile species can be used as secondary substrate, reducing competition and increasing coexistence. In southern Chile, annual populations of Macrocystis pyrifera recruit and grow on the shells of Crepipatella fecunda. This study describes ecological interactions between the kelp and the slipper limpet over an annual cycle. The degree of kelp overgrowth was established by collecting sporophytes and through in situ submarine photography over a 10 month period (starting when kelp recruits became visible and ending when sporophytes were no longer present). Changes in the biochemical composition of the limpet tissue were also recorded by chemical analyses, to evaluate the potential effects (positive/neutral/negative) of kelp on C. fecunda nutritional condition. The results indicate that both species coexist, although kelp overgrowth may cause a decrease in carbohydrates in C. fecunda tissues, restricted to the period when the kelp forest reaches its maximum biomass. Individually, the short duration of the maximum overgrowth period and the size reached by C. fecunda females (up to 65 mm shell length) may enable rapid limpet recovery, avoiding competitive exclusion. On a population level, the M. pyrifera annual cycle generates the needed ‘break’ for C. fecunda populations, reducing the effects of kelp overgrowth. Thus, in the view of the neutral effect of kelp overgrowth, together with the positive effect of C. fecunda on M. pyrifera recruitment described somewhere else, this ecological interaction can be categorized as commensalism.
How the current practice of learning instruction engages engineering students into learning in Edinburgh College?

Over the last few decades, significant progress has been achieved by educational researchers in developing an understanding of the nature of learning, across settings, and identifying principles which have enabled educators to design and develop learning and assessment approaches more effectively. This design research project addressed the following: How does the current practice of learning instruction or activity engage students or their attention in such a way that keeps the students’ interest in it and gets them actively involved in it? In order to approach the research problem, three research questions were formulated in order to focus data gathering: How successful is the current practice in directing or guiding students to appropriate learning activities or specific engineering knowledge? How effective is the existing practice of learning activity in promoting the acquisition of specific engineering knowledge or skills? How appealing is the existing practice of learning activity to engineering students? A qualitative research methodology was used to approach the research problem. Semi-structured interviews, observations, and artefact analysis were the main procedures used to obtain data. This paper presents only the results of the interview procedures. The interview transcripts coding evolved into six major themes and one concept that intend to reflect what works well in Edinburgh College (EC) engineering classroom learning. These major themes and concept represent valuable engineering students’ voices that will be communicated to the relevant stakeholders and will inform design for learning activities in order to create new learning approaches. It is hoped that these will improve the current practice of teaching and learning in this educational setting.
Hydrodynamics of model Posidonia oceanica patches in shallow water

The hydrodynamics of simulated patches of the Mediterranean seagrass Posidonia oceanica were studied in laboratory flume experiments in which the height of the pronated canopy was always greater than half the total water depth. The effects of variations in speed (from 0.08 m s™1 to 0.24 m s™1) and patch configuration on the hydrodynamics were investigated. Significant speeds penetrated the patches to approximately half their height. Reducing speed did not change the flow patterns observed, except to weaken and blur them. Flow encountering a single patch formed a turbulent wake at the height of the top of the canopy. Within this wake, the vertical shear stress decreased monotonically downstream, but the Reynolds stress increased initially and then decayed. When a second patch was positioned within the region where Reynolds stress increased (referred to as the “06 patch”), the wake center penetrated it, causing average turbulent velocities with horizontal components 3.3 times higher and vertical components 4.2 times higher than in the upstream patch. When this patch was positioned where the Reynolds stress decayed (referred to as the “14 patch”), the wake center rose above it. Nevertheless, the turbulence in the 14 patch had horizontal components 12% higher and vertical components 22% higher on average than in the 06 patch because its upstream end was closer to the Reynolds stress maximum. Thus the ratio of the patch separation to the length of wake in which the Reynolds stress increased was identified as central to quantifying the turbulence within the downstream patch. The increased turbulence is likely to be important in determining sedimentary and ecological patch characteristics by increasing retention of particulates in suspension and thus reducing depositional rates of, for example, larvae, nutrients, and dead organic matter.
Sign Language Decoder using Convolutional Neural Networks

---------------------------------------------------------------------***---------------------------------------------------------------------- Abstract - There exists an communication problem between the deaf community and the hearing majority. Sign language acts as a bridge between the speech and the hearing impaired community. It is difficult for most people who are not familiar with sign language and is not understood by everyone to communicate without an interpreter. In the era of multi modes for communication, sign language is, and continues to be, one of the most understudied areas. Automatic recognition of gestures using computer vision and machine learning is important for many real world applications such as sign language recognition. We hereby present the development and implementation of an American Sign Language (ASL) decoder based on a convolutional neural network. In this paper, we present a method for using deep convolutional neural networks to classify images of the letters in American Sign Language.
DAMAGE ANALYSIS OF SHINKANSEN VIADUCTS DURING THE 2011 GREAT EAST JAPAN EARTHQUAKE

Retrofitted bridge fragility curves provide a powerful tool for assessing the effect of retrofit measures on seismic performance under a range of loading levels. Nonlinear dynamic analyses to develop the fragility curves of the steel-jacketed RC columns of the Shinkansen viaducts are performed in a Monte Carlo Simulation. The fragility curves in this study are represented by a lognormal distribution as a function of peak ground acceleration (PGA) or response acceleration. The improvement of seismic performance from retrofitting is quantified by comparing the fragility curve of the as-built viaduct with that of the retrofitted viaduct.