Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Habitat variability and spatial assemblages of House Sparrows (Passer domesticus) along a gradient of urbanization

House sparrows (Passer domesticus) have declined world over, with their presence rarely seen in cities. Urbanization has lead to significant changes in the population biology of the species affecting their structure and community composition. We investigated the spatial and temporal distribution of House sparrow in various landscapes and the role of habitat attributes along a gradient of urbanization to uncover their possible sites of nesting and habitat preferences. With the study, we report that urban centres have lost favourable nesting habitats for House sparrows and they have locally migrated to the suburban and rural parts of the city. House sparrow abundance was higher in the suburban landscapes, compared to the rural and urban landscapes. House sparrow in the urban occupied a broader niche breath, than the populations in the sub urban and rural matrix. In the urban, the most preferred habitats of the House sparrow were residential areas with tiled and thatched roofs, in the sub urban, rice mills were most preferred and in the rural landscapes residential areas with tiled and thatched roofs and rice mills were equally preferred by the species. Our results revealed that along the gradient shrub cover, built up cover, socio economic status and economic prosperity were positively related to the abundance of House sparrow populations. We summarize the possible decline of Passer domesticus due to lack of insectivorous and granivorous food in the urban, lack of nesting sites and non availability of straw. We suggest to the urban planners and city managers to built urban structures that are eco-friendly to sparrows which can host viable nesting sites for the species.
Optimal planning with approximate model-based reinforcement learning

Model-based reinforcement learning methods make efficient use of samples by building a model of the environment and planning with it. Compared to model-free methods, they usually take fewer samples to converge to the optimal policy. Despite that efficiency, model-based methods may not learn the optimal policy due to structural modeling assumptions. In this thesis, we show that by combining modelbased methods with hierarchically optimal recursive Q-learning (HORDQ) under a hierarchical reinforcement learning framework, the proposed approach learns the optimal policy even when the assumptions of the model are not all satisfied. The effectiveness of our approach is demonstrated with the Bus domain and Infinite Mario – a Java implementation of Nintendo’s Super Mario Brothers.
Gender, Salary and Promotion in the Academic Profession

This paper examines the hypothesis that the gender salary gap observed in the academic labour market is predominantly explained by the differing average characteristics of male and female academics and barriers to female promotion. Preliminary analysis reveals that the crowding of women into the lower rungs of academia is a strong determinant of their lower average salary. This effect should be transitory as young women, now entering the profession, move up its ranks. We construct a rank attainment model and investigate the current and predicted distribution of females across ranks. Significant evidence of barriers to female promotion is revealed.
Sistema de reconeixement d ’ objectes en una escena dinàmica en temps real Jordi Vilaseca Corderroure

Project orientated to the field of the computer vision and machine learning. System in charge of recognising objects of a dynamic scene in real time. The scene is a representation of a real kitchen and the objects kitchen containers. The entire system is built upon Robot Operating System to make it easily integrable to other systems. The data is acquired using a Kinect 2 camera that provides with RGBD data that is stored in a point cloud structure in which is applied most part of the algorithms that the project uses. The system has different steps. The first one is the segmentation that is based on plane segmentation. It starts by finding the available planes in the scene and their limits, these planes are defined as the background and the elements above them the objects to be extracted. Shape (CVFH ) and colour (Colour Histogram) features are extracted from the objects, and using a Bag of Features scheme the object descriptor is computed. Then, this information is fed to a Support Vector Machine to obtain the identifier of the object. The resultant data is displayed into the rviz visualizer and made available for other programs to work with. Tools for capturing data and the posterior training of the Support vector machine are provided to ease the work to the user, including extraction the results for a determined set of objects point clouds. It also has some tools to integrate the system to a robot.
Adherence to Oral Antidiabetic Medications among Type 2 Diabetic (T2DM) Patients in Chronic Ambulatory Wards of Hiwot Fana Specialized University Hospital, Harar, Eastern Ethiopia: A Cross Sectional Study

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) refers to a group of common metabolic disorders that share the characteristic of hyperglycemia. It is associated with abnormalities in carbohydrate, fat, and protein metabolism and results in chronic complications including microvascular, macrovascular, and neuropathic disorders. Evidence indicates that it is the level of blood glucose, which the patients can achieve during their treatment, influences diabetic complications on the long run. Achievement of optimal blood sugar level is generally based appropriate utilization of existing oral antidiabetic drugs, proper adherence to prescribed regimens and patients' own managements of their illness. The study was, therefore, aimed to assess adherence to oral antidiabetic drugs among diabetic patients attending chronic ambulatory wards of Hiwot Fana Specialized University Hospital (HFSUH). Methods: Hospital based cross-sectional study design was conducted in HFSUH from January 1-February 28, 2015 G.C. Convenience sampling technique was employed to select eligible diabetic patients during the study period. The data was collected by interviewing T2DM patients receiving antidiabetic medication and attending chronic ambulatory wards of HFSUH using structured questionnaire that includes Morisky four item adherence assessment method. The most recent fasting blood glucose (FBG) level was used for glycemic control. The collected data was processed and analyzed with SPSS version 16. Cross tabulation followed by Chi-square (χ2) test was applied to show the association between categorical variables with adherence to antidiabetic medications. Results: As per the Morisky's four item method of adherence, 40 (20.4%) patients reported that they were not being careful in taking their medication, 31 (15.8%) patients forgot to take medications regularly, only 3 (1.53%) patients stopped medication when they felt better and the other 5 (2.55%) patients reported that they stopped when they felt worse. From this finding, 138 (70.4%) patients adhered to the prescribed oral anti-diabetic medications. However, the remaining 58 (29.6%) T2DM patients replied positive response (yes) at least one of the four items and were classified as non-adherent to their medication. Educational status and residence showed a statistically significant association with adherence status (P<0.05). Moreover, a statistically significant association was also observed between adherences status and glycemic outcomes in the study (p<0.05). Conclusion: the study showed that the level of adherence in T2DM patients was found to be suboptimal. The optimum blood glucose range might not be realized without proper adherence to the prescribed drug regimen. Therefore, patients should be advised on how to take their medication correctly and adequate information should be provided regarding the benefits of using them there by reducing both intentional and non-intentional non adherence.
NUTRITIONAL VALUE AND IN VITRO DIGESTIBILITY OF LEGUME PODS FROM SEVEN TREES SPECIES PRESENT IN THE TROPICAL DECIDUOUS FOREST

<p>The pods of trees from tropical deciduous forest are relevant in the dry season due to their high availability. Whole pods from seven plant species <em>Acacia pennatula</em> (Schltdl. & Cham.) Benth. , <em>Caesalpinia gaumeri</em> (Britton & Rose) Greenm. , <em>Leucaena leucocephala</em> (Lam.) de Wit, <em>Lysiloma latisiliquum</em> (L.) Benth. , <em>Mimosa bahamensis</em> Benth. , <em>Piscidia piscipula</em> (L.) Sarg. and <em>Senegalia gaumeri</em> (S. F. Blake) Britton & Rose which are reported as consumed by small ruminants were evaluated. Their nutritional value, phenolic compounds, <em>in vitro </em>dry matter (IVDMD) and organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) and metabolizable energy (ME) with and without the inclusion of polyethylene glycol (PEG) were evaluated. The pods from <em>P. piscipula</em> showed the highest crude protein content. The pods of <em>L. leucocephala</em>, <em>C. gaumeri</em>, and <em>A. pennatula</em> resulted with the highest IVDMD (46.3 and 44.5%)<em>, </em>IVOMD<em> </em>(44.8 and 45.4%) and ME (6.8 and 6.7 MJ) (P<0.05). The phenolic compounds were not detected in <em>C. gaumeri, L. latisiliquum </em>and <em>S. gaumeri </em>pods. The IVDMD, IVOMD and ME of <em>L latisiliquum</em> and <em>P. piscipula pods </em>(P<0.05) was lower when PEG was added. Pods from <em>A. pennatula, C. gaumeri </em>and <em>L. leucocephala </em>showed acceptable nutritional value for their use as supplement for ruminants. </p>
Bible translation and gender, challenges and opportunities – with specific reference to sub-Saharan Africa

This article focuses on issues of gender in Bible translation and looks at how the dominant patriarchal framework that underlies biblical cultures, including both traditional and contemporary cultures, influences biblical interpretation and ensuing Bible translations in diverse languages. This framework undermines gender-neutral or gender-sensitive interpretations and translations of the biblical text in favour of the dominant patriarchal tradition. Belief in biblical inerrancy and infallibility tends to buttress and lend solid unwavering support to the patriarchal standpoint in spite of the diversity and variety of numerous contested, differing and even opposing interpretations on many key biblical teachings. The article seeks to challenge the role of patriarchalism in biblical interpretation and translation drawing on insights from gender studies, translation studies, biblical studies and cultural studies. It seeks to interrogate the ways in which the Bible is used to defend patriarchalism and to propose a gender-sensitive approach rooted in the principles of justice, fairness and the equality of both male and female as created in the divine image.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article brings to question basic assumptions on issues of gender in the following disciplines – Biblical studies, translation studies and social-cultural studies – and propose a rethinking of these assumptions and if possible their abandonment and replacement by those that promote egalitarianism and justice across the sexes.
Investment and exchange rate uncertainty under different regimes

This paper examines the impact of the exchange rate uncertainty on investment under different exchange rate regimes. The paper presents a theoretical model where exchange rate is a stochastic process and investment decision behaves as a Real Option. The paper evaluates the performance of a new project investment under free float, fixed and intermediate exchange rate regimes (managed float and crawling peg). The comparison among the different regimes shows that the crawling peg has advantages when compared to other regimes. The regime stability implies that less currency devaluations are necessary to stimulate investment, especially when there is a significant loss of market power in foreign markets.
Democratic Legitimacy of the Forest Sector and Nature Conservation Decision-Making in Finnish Print Media Discussion

The study explores perceived democratic legitimacy of forest-related decision-making processes in the Finnish print media discourse. The data consists of the readers’ letters in four journals (n = 530), and the comments given during the preparation of the Finnish National Forest Program (n = 140). The objective is to identify the patterns of democratic legitimacy and respective performance evaluations of actual decision-making processes. The patterns can be classified as support for: (A) democracy and other forms of government, (B) different forms of participation, and (C) principles of democracy. The principles can be further classified into 1) core regime, 2) input, 3) throughput, and 4) output principles. Democratic legitimacy was found to be an important source of legitimacy in the public discussion since democratic patterns were found in more than half of the texts. The most common core legitimacy principles included freedom of speech, good national and international standing, forerunnership, and legality at national and international level. The central principles related to input legitimacy included popular sovereignty, a voice for the people, popular participation, openness, presenting alternatives, and urgency. The consensus and majority rules were found to be the most prominent throughput principles. Democratic output legitimacy included accountability, responsibility, cooperation, commitment, responsiveness, the possibility to appeal, credibility, comprehensiveness, and understandability. The findings suggest that among the writers of readers’ letters there is less contestation regarding the principles of democratic legitimacy but there are significant disagreements concerning the performance of decision-making processes. The negative performance evaluations were two times more frequent than the positive evaluations.
Comparing pre- and post-construction distributions of long-tailed ducks Clangula hyemalis in and around the Nysted offshore wind farm, Denmark: a quasi-designed experiment accounting for imperfect detection, local surface features and autocorrelation

We report a novel technique to model abundance patterns of wintering seaducks in relation to the construction of an offshore wind farm (OWF) based on seven years of aerial survey transect data. Distance sampling was used to estimate seaduck densities adjusted for covariates affecting detection probabilities. A generalized additive model (GAM) generated seaduck densities in sampling units in relation to spatially explicit covariates, using bootstrapping to account for uncertainties in both processes. Generalized estimating equations generated precision measures for the GAM robust to spatial and temporal autocorrelation. Comparison of preand postconstruction model generated surfaces showed significant reductions in long-tailed duck numbers only within the OWF (despite the fact that the model was uninformed about the OWF location), although the absolute numbers involved were trivial in a flyway population context. This method provides quantification of distributional effects on organisms over a gradient in space and time that offers an alternative to BeforeAfter/Control-Impact designs in environmental impact assessment.
Vegetation Dynamics of Anthropogenically Disturbed Ecosystem in Hilly Areas around Sargodha, Pakistan

Present study has been conducted in order to evaluate the effects of different anthropogenic disturbances (stone crushing, grazing and cutting of trees for fuel) on the growth and development of different plant communities in disturbed ecosystem of Karana Hills near Sargodha. The data for density, frequency, cover and other derived parameters was collected using fixed quadrate method and analyzed by using canonical correspondence analysis technique. It was concluded that 80% disturbance was caused by stone crushing, 10% disturbance by grazing and 5% disturbance by harvesting and remaining by fire with other factors. Environmental factors significantly affect the growth as well as distributional pattern of the native plant species. Anthropogenic activities, especially stone crushing significantly affect community structure and composition, and distributional pattern as more stress tolerant species replace the sensitive ones. © 2016 Friends Science Publishers
Graded cellular bone scaffolds

Bone scaffolds with graded porosities or graded cellular bone scaffolds are new innovations of bone replacements and biomedical bone implants, especially in cases of long-bone defects, multitissue regenerations, and functional-controlled bone prostheses. The concepts of graded cellular bone scaffolds are based on the complexity of bone characteristics (graded hierarchical structures and heterogeneity), which aims to closer replicate the multifunctions of bone tissues. The designs of graded cellular bone scaffolds are highly fascinating with the relative anatomical, biological, and mechanical similarity to the replaced bones. While it is difficult for the graded designs to replicate the actual bone models, additive manufacturing (AM) techniques with computer-aided designs successfully create well-controlled models with comparable bone properties. Potential advantages of graded cellular bone scaffolds are enormous. Graded pores can direct types of cell regenerations for multitissue regenerations. Furthermore, graded pores promote a greater load-sharing to adjacent bone tissues than conventional scaffolds do, while both mechanical properties are similar. To summarize, bone implants with graded cellular structures can be fabricated using AM techniques, and their mechanical and biological performances can be tailored by modifying the internal architectures.
Do emerging land markets promote forestland appropriation? Evidence from Indonesia

This paper empirically examines the emergence and functioning of land markets and their impacts on deforestation in Sumatra, Indonesia. While the evolution of land markets is expected to promote deforestation activities by rural households, we find no sizeable impact, due to two major reasons. First, land transactions occur in cultural and spatial isolation from forest encroachment. Second, the emergence of speculative land markets, which could accelerate deforestation, is evaded through institutional constraints, primarily weak property rights on land. However, while land markets do not promote deforestation, they also do not deter forestland appropriation, because of ambiguous legal frameworks.
Cyber Security Protection for Online Gaming Applications

In this chapter, the authors point out the threats to online gaming applications and present two strategies that can be used to build secure and dependable online gaming applications. These strategies not only seek the solution for gathering entropy to seed the PRNG used in such applications but also intend to eliminate malicious intrusions to protect the seed and to maintain replica consistency. By applying these techniques, the online gaming applications can ensure service integrity (both the service providers and the innocent players are protected) and guarantee high availability despite the presence of Byzantine faults. Finally, the authors outline some open research issues in this field.
MIDDLE PLEISTOCENE SMALL MAMMAL fAUNAS Of EUROPE: EVOLUTION, BIOSTRATIGRAPHY, CORRELATIONS

The paper is concerned with the small mammal fauna evolution in Europe in the Middle Pleistocene. The information on the faunas of the end of the Early Pleistocene has been also taken into consideration. The data available made possible identifying several stages in the small mammal evolution. Not all intervals within the Middle Pleistocene are provided with sufficient information for recognizing individual stages; that is particularly true for the cold periods of the Middle Pleistocene – the Donian and the Okian glaciations (=Elsterian, =Anglian). Based on the studies of small mammal localities, the biostratigraphic scheme has been developed, the principal phylogenetic lineages of Arvicolinae were traced, and maps of the Middle Pleistocene small mammal localities have been compiled
Simulating Shocks with the Hypercycles Model of Economic Production

Padgett’s hypercycles model of economic production (Padgett et al. 2003) is an agent-based simulation that demonstrates the emergence of novel forms of social organisation among limited-intelligence agents. In this paper we argue that it can be extended to explore issues of resilience and the responses to shocks in complex systems of agent-environment interactions. Based on learning by doing, a simple search heuristic enables a population of firms to adapt and find system states containing a collectively self-sustaining subset of firms with production rules and mix of materials in the environment. The self-sustaining systems Padgett finds persist in spite of variability from stochastic processes in the model. However Padgett has not yet explored the model’s responses to exogenous changes. We here outline experiments to simulate exogenous shocks. So far, the systems have proved highly resilient to the quantitative shocks, that is, to quantitative changes of various sizes in stock levels of rules and of environmental materials. However, systems were less resilient to qualitative changes to the structure of the emergent systems, namely in this paper changes to network links between firms. Suggested future developments include investigating the analogy between resilience and adaptive learning or search, and interpreting the model in the contexts of material flow analysis and industrial symbiosis.
The Dwyer-Kan model structure for enriched coloured PROPs

Coloured PROPs are a generalisation of coloured operads. In this article, we prove the existence of a Dwyer-Kan model structure on the category of small coloured PROPs enriched in a (sufficiently nice) monoidal model category V. This model structure extends the known Dwyer-Kan model structures on the categories of (small) V-enriched categories and V-enriched coloured operads.
A preliminary study on sound delivery methods for footstep sounds

In this paper, we describe a sound delivery method for footstep sounds, investigating whether subjects prefer static rendering versus dynamic. In this case, dynamic means that the sound delivery method simulates footsteps following the subject. An experiment was run in order to assess subjects’ preferences regarding the sound delivery methods. Results show that static rendering is not significantly preferred to dynamic rendering, but subjects disliked rendering where footstep sounds followed a trajectory different from the one they were walking along.
The Limits of Women's Quotas in Brazil

In this article, I examine the case of Brazil which, unlike many other Latin American countries, is an example of where quotas are not working. Drawing on over ten years of research and exploring the dynamics of a varied group of political parties, I contest that male resistance is not the only reason behind this failure. Vagueness around the quota law and a lack of sanctions, together with the elitist nature of politics in Brazil are all contributing factors. My research has also revealed a few anomalies, showing that contrary to much of the literature, women would seem to fare better in elections within less developed and smaller states in Brazil. In conclusion, I propose that in order to move forward and get quotas, working reform measures are needed to strengthen the law, but in addition, women's access to financial support for campaigning needs to be fully understood.
Excimer Laser Ablation of High Aspect Ratio Microvias Using a Novel Sensitizer-Enhanced Photopolymer

A new drop-in sensitizer has been developed for use with COTS negative tone photoresist to facilitate the laser fabrication of high aspect ratio microstructures in a thick film of photopolymer. Microvias with diameters as small as 50 mm have been successfully laser ablated in a 160 mm thick layer of the sensitized photoresist. Ablation rates of up to 86 nm/pulse have been achieved with an excimer laser.