Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of climate change and fisheries bycatch on Southern Ocean seabirds : a review

Over the last century, major climate changes and intense human exploitation of nat- ural living resources have occurred in the Southern Ocean, potentially affecting its ecosystems up to top marine predators. Fisheries may also directly affect seabirds through bycatch and additional food resources provided by discards. The past 20 yr of research has seen an increasing number of studies investigating the effects of climate change and fisheries activities on Southern Ocean seabirds. Here, we review these studies in order to identify patterns in changes in distribution, phenology, demography and population dynamics in response to changes in climate and fisheries bycatch. Shifts in distribution and breeding phenology were documented in parallel to increases in sea-surface temperatures and changes in sea-ice cover. Above all warm sea-surface tempera- tures negatively affected demographic parameters, although exceptions were found. Relation- ships suggest non-linear effects of sea-ice cover on demographic parameters and population dynamics, with optimum sea-ice cover conditions appearing to be the rule. Fishing efforts were mainly negatively related to survival rates, and only for a few species positively related to breed- ing success. A handful of studies found that chronic mortality of immature birds due to fisheries negatively affected populations. Climate factors and fisheries bycatch may simultaneously affect demographic parameters in a complex way, which can be integrated in population models to pro- ject population trajectories under future climate or fisheries scenarios. Needed are studies that integrate other environmental factors, trophic levels, foraging behaviour, climatefisheries inter - actions, and the mechanisms underlying phenotypic plasticity, such as some pioneering studies conducted elsewhere.
Framework for Distributed Computing on the Web

This work is a brief summary of a master thesis that focuses on design and implementation of a framework that uses computers of website visitors as computing nodes through web browsers. It contains an analysis of the Web environment, summarization of previous approaches and projects, design and implementation of the framework. The work describes the solution of computing node failure, reaction to slow computing node, possibilities of controlling the load of the framework on a website visitor’s computer, strategies for work distribution and security of the framework. At the end of the work, the experiment results and proposal of improvements are listed.
CS 497 CXZ Information Retrieval Final Report Personal Event Manager Using Information Extraction

Information Extraction (IE) has already reached the level of success at which Information Retrieval and Machine Translation have proved commercially viable [5]. However, one barrier in bringing IE technologies from research laboratories to common users is the sensitivity of the IE models to the training domains. A well-performing system trained on some pre-collected data set often performs very badly when an end-user applies it to different domains. Our insight into this problem is that user involvement is essential in building a robust IE system. Hence, in this project, our main objective is to design a system which facilitates the user’s involvement in the model building process. Users provide judgement on what should be included in the training set and whether they are satisfied with the entities extracted. Of course, we shouldn’t miss the point that Information Extraction is just a technique to make our life easier. To make IE truly useful, possible applications that are built on top of IE techniques is also an interesting research direction to explore. In this project, we designed a simple personal event manager which works on the seminar announcement domain. This application might be interesting to the large population of students and professors in educational or research institutions. Needless to say that another big part of this course project is to understand the IE techniques, especially the Maximum Entropy Model.
Seasonal movements of American horseshoe crabs Limulus polyphemus in the Great Bay Estuary, New Hampshire （USA）

The goal of this study was to determine the year round movement patterns of American horseshoe crabs, Limulus polyphemus, in the Great Bay Estuary, New Hampshire (USA) by using acoustic telemetry to track the movements of 37 adult Limulus, for periods ranging from 2 to 31 months. During the winter (December-March) horseshoe crabs moved very little. In the spring, when water temperatures exceeded 11 o C, horseshoe crabs moved at least 1 km further up into the estuary to shallower subtidal areas about a month prior to spawning. The mean distance traveled during spring migrations was 2.6 ± 0.5 (n=20) km up the estuary. Mating occurred in May and June and during these months animals spent most of their time in shallow subtidal areas adjacent to mating beaches. In the summer (July-August), animals moved 1.5 ± 0.5 (n=26) km down the estuary, towards the ocean, and ranged widely, using extensive portions of the estuary. In the fall (September-November) movement was more limited (0.5 ± 0.5 km; n = 24) while animals settled into wintering locations, where they remained until spring. The mean annual linear range for all animals was 4.5 ± 0.3 km (n =35) and the maximum distance traveled by an individual horseshoe crab within one year was 9.2 km. There was no evidence that any of the horseshoe crabs tracked during this study left the estuary (Current Zool- ogy 56 (5): 587-598, 2010).
The Asymptotic Expansion Approach to the Valuation of Interest Rate Contingent Claims

We propose a new methodology for the valuation problem of financial contingent claims when the underlying asset prices follow a general class of continuous Itô processes. Our method can be applied to a wide range of valuation problems including complicated contingent claims associated with the term structure of interest rates. We illustrate our method by giving two examples: the valuation problems of swaptions and average (Asian) options for interest rates. Our method gives some explicit formulas for solutions, which are sufficiently numerically accurate for practical purposes in most cases. The continuous stochastic processes for spot interest rates and forward interest rates are not necessarily Markovian nor diffusion processes in the usual sense; nevertheless our approach can be rigorously justified by the Malliavin–Watanabe Calculus in stochastic analysis.
Arabic Sentences Classification via Deep Learning

This paper presents a Convolutional Neural Network CNN Models to classify Arabic sentences into three topics. These sentences are derived from Essex Arabic Summaries Corpus (EASC) corpus, tokenized to words and transformed to sequences of word indices. All sequences are padded to be in the same length. The models of Convolution Neural Network are built on top of word embedding layer. The word embedding layer is either pre-trained or jointed into the model. Dropout and l2 weight regularization are used to overcome the overfitting during training. The CNN models achieve high performance in accuracy for Arabic sentences classification.
A Prediction Approach on Energy Consumption for Public Buildings Using Mind Evolutionary Algorithm and BP Neural Network

This paper proposes a prediction approach on energy consumption for public buildings based on mind evolutionary algorithm and BP neural network. The actual real-time data of some layer in a public building can be obtained online by our implemented building monitoring system, then several key factors which affect building energy consumption can be analyzed and determined by correlation analysis method. By using the mind evolutionary algorithm, the ideal weight values and threshold values of BP neural network are calculated, which can solve its problems of low efficiency and slow convergence. Finally, the performance and effectiveness of the proposed forecasting model are demonstrated through a case study of a building energy consumption monitoring system from practical engineering.
Pharmacophore Based Screening and Molecular Docking Study of PI3K Inhibitors

AbstractNon-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3Ks) play important role in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. PI3Ks constitute a lipid kinase family whichmodulates the function of numerous substrates involved in the regulation of cell survival, cell cycle progression and cellulargrowth. Herein, we describe the ligand based pharmacophore combined with molecular docking studies methods to identifynew potent PI3K inhibitors. Several pharmacophore models were generated and validated by Guner-Henry scoring Method.The best models were utilized as 3D pharmacophore query to screen against ZINC database (Chemical and Natural) andthe retrieved hits were further validated by fitness score, Lipinski’s rule of five. Finally four compounds were found tohave good potential and they may act as novel lead compounds for PI3K inhibitor designing.Keywords: PI3K, Non-small Cell Lung Cancer, 3D Pharmacophore. 1. Introduction Phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3Ks) catalyze phos-phorylation of the 3-OH group of phosphatidylinositol(PI) to generate phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate (PIP),phosphatidylinositol 3,4-bisphosphate (PIP2), and phos-phatidylinositol 3, 4, 5- trisphosphate (PIP3), which actas second messengers
Isolation and characterization of escherichia coli in ready-to-eat foods vended in Islamic University, Kushtia

Context: Escherichia coli is shed in the feces of warm blooded animals and humans and thus potential for public health. Detection and characterization of E. coli in the ready-to-eat (RTE) foods concerns due to their presence indicates fecal contamination of the food. Objective: To identify, characterize and RFLP pattern analysis of E. coli isolated from RTE foods vended in Islamic University campus, Kushtia. Materials and Methods: Fifty samples from four types of consumed foods in six student halls of residence, some temporary restaurants of Islamic University, Kushtia were assessed for bacterial contamination by standard methods. Identification and characterization of E. coli isolates were performed using IMViC tests. Genomic DNA was used to perform RFLP pattern analysis. Results : Thirty seven out of 50 (74%) examined samples of RTE foods had E. coli contamination. The highest number of E. coli was isolated from vegetable oriented RTE foods (90.90%) and fish, meat and cereals samples were also significantly E. coli positive. RFLP profiling of two E. coli isolates were observed. Conclusion : The results of this study provide evidence that some RTE foods had unsatisfactory levels of contamination with E. coli . Thus street vended RTE food could be important potential vehicles for food-borne diseases. Molecular characterization may be exploited to identify food borne pathogen among different species . Keywords : Ready-to-eat foods; Escherichia coli; RFLP pattern DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.3329/jbs.v18i0. 8783 JBS 2010; 18(0): 99-103
Telemetry as a Tool to Study Spatial Behaviour and Patterns of Brown Bears as Affected by the Newly Constructed Egnatia Highway – N. Pindos - Greece

From map (4) we observe a high level of home range overlap among most bears. Fifty-nine of the 82 possible pairings of bears indicated overlapping areas according the MCP95 and FK methods. For areas of high intensity of use (CA50) 40.24% pairings overlapping Telemetry is based on knowledge of various disciplines like Electronics, Measurement, Control and Communication along with their combination. This fact leads to a need of studying and understanding of these principles before the usage of Telemetry on selected problem solving. Spending time is however many times returned in form of obtained data or knowledge which telemetry system can provide. Usage of telemetry can be found in many areas from military through biomedical to real medical applications. Modern way to create a wireless sensors remotely connected to central system with artificial intelligence provide many new, sometimes unusual ways to get a knowledge about remote objects behaviour. This book is intended to present some new up to date accesses to telemetry problems solving by use of new sensors conceptions, new wireless transfer or communication techniques, data collection or processing techniques as well as several real use case scenarios describing model examples. Most of book chapters deals with many real cases of telemetry issues which can be used as a cookbooks for your own telemetry related problems. following:
Incorporating an adaptive learning rate in a neural model of action selection

In previous work, we have implemented spiking neuron models that use a biologically realistic action selection system to solve complex cognitive tasks, including the Tower of Hanoi and semantic memory search. However, such models often require the fine-tuning of multiple parameters so that the model can reach a desired level of performance. Recently, we demonstrated that a local, online learning rule, which only requires a single parameter, the learning rate, is sufficient for teaching our model how to solve a general cognitive sequencing task. Here, we refine our method by showing that adding adaptive learning is more robust regarding our choice of parameters, and will achieve better performance on all versions of the cognitive task that we tested. These results provide a foundation for building complex cognitive models that require no hand-tuning of parameters.
Braiding history, inquiry, and model-based learning: A collection of open-source historical case studies for teaching both geology content and the nature of science

ABSTRACT Many of the current issues facing humans are geologic in nature. Whether the issue is mitigating the impact of geologic hazards, reducing air and water pollution, managing the energy of mineral resources, or minimizing the impact of anthropogenic global climate change, we require a geosciences-literate population. This is crucial to developing policies to best address these issues and to voting to implement such policies. In this article, we introduce a novel strategy for teaching geoscience content, as well as the nature of science, to a diverse audience: the historical case study. Essentially, the historical case studies “braid” the separate strands of history, inquiry, and model-based learning into a narrative, thus allowing students to experience science in the making. This is in contrast to ready-made science as traditionally taught. We discuss the generations of the cases, summarize their content, and describe their implementation in multiple contexts of different courses. We also provide insights from the undergraduate researchers who developed the cases, the instructors who implemented them, and some preliminary data on student knowledge development concerning both geoscience content and nature of science. The cases are available online and open to the public. We welcome any feedback you wish to share.
Ability and Willingness as Sufficiency Conditions for Family‐Oriented Particularistic Behavior: Implications for Theory and Empirical Studies

Distinguishing sufficient conditions from necessary conditions is crucial in both theoretical and empirical studies. We propose that the sufficiency condition for family involvement to produce family‐oriented particularistic behavior in a firm requires the presence of both ability and willingness. We demonstrate how the omission of this sufficiency condition in commonly used theoretical models employed to explain how family involvement affects firm behavior can result in theoretical limitations and empirical indeterminacy. Finally, we discuss how considering both ability and willingness can lead to better theory, more generalizable empirical findings, and help explain heterogeneity among firms with family involvement.
Emotional Analysis for Text Search Queries on Internet

The goal of this study is to analyze if search queries carried out in search engines such as Google, can offer emotional information about the user that performs them. Knowing the emotional state in which the Internet user is located can be a key to achieve the maximum personalization of content and the detection of worrying behaviors. For this, two studies were carried out using tools with advanced natural language processing techniques. The first study determines if a query can be classified as positive, negative or neutral, while the second study extracts emotional content from words and applies the categorical and dimensional models for the representation of emotions. In addition, we use search queries in Spanish and English to establish similarities and differences between two languages. The results revealed that text search queries performed by users on the Internet can be classified emotionally. This allows us to better understand the emotional state of the user at the time of the search, which could involve adapting the technology and personalizing the responses to different emotional states. Keywords—Emotion classification, text search queries, emotional analysis, sentiment analysis in text, natural language processing.
Numerical response of common buzzards and predation rate of main and alternative prey under fluctuating food conditions

We studied the numerical response of a population of the common buzzard Buteo buteo to the fluctuations of its main prey (voles) and alternative prey (forest grouse) in western Finland between 1979 and 1996. Populations of main prey fluctuated in a cyclic manner with three years between peak densities. The nesting success of buzzards averaged 1.7 fledglings per nesting attempt and the brood size averaged 2.2 fledglings per brood. The nesting rate (no. of active nests per number of occupied territories) and the productivity rate (no. of chicks for all territories) positively correlated with the abundance of Microtus voles in the current spring but not with the abundance of grouse. The Alternative Prey Hypothesis (APH) predicts that, in the years when the main prey species decline, generalist predators can shift their diet to alternative prey and thus cause its decline. The Shared Predation Hypothesis (SPH) states that all important prey species, including alternative prey, are under high hunting pressure when the density of predators is high. The predation rate (the combination of numerical response and previously studied functional response) of Microtus voles by buzzards was positively correlated with the densities of these voles in the current spring, whereas the predation rate of grouse tended to peak one year after peak densities of Microtus voles. Therefore, our results appear to support APH rather than SPH and indicate that predation by buzzards may dampen population cycles of main prey (voles) but amplify population fluctuations of grouse.
Investigation of Parietal Polysaccharides from Retama raetam Roots

This study characterizes the cell wall hemicellulose and pectins polymers of Retama raetam . This species develops a particularly important root system and is adapted to arid areas. The cellulose, hemicelluloses and pectins were extracted. The cellulose remains the major component of the wall (27% for young roots and 80% for adult roots), hemicelluloses (14.3% for young roots and 3.6% for adult roots) and pectins (17.3% for young roots and 4.1% for adult roots). The monosaccharidic composition of water soluble extracts determined by gas liquid chromatography (GLC) and completed by infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy of hemicellulosic shows the presence of xylose as a major monosaccharide in the non-cellulose polysaccharides (47.8% for young roots and 59.5% for adult roots). These results indicate the presence of the homogalacturonans and rhamnogalacturonans in pectin. This study constitutes the preliminary data obtained in the biochemical analysis of the parietal compounds of the roots of a species which grows in an arid area in comparison with those of its aerial parts. Keywords: Retama raetam , Roots, Cell Wall, Investigation, Polysaccharides, Monosaccharidic
Creative arts, culture, and healing: building an evidence base.

While Indigenous societies have acknowledged the healing power of visual art, dance, music, drama, and storytelling for millennia, the western world’s recognition of the therapeutic benefits of the arts is more recent. The Aboriginal Healing Foundation recently completed a study of the use and benefits of creative arts in First Nation, Inuit, and Metis healing programs throughout Canada. This study presents compelling evidence that creative arts, culture, and healing are linked — to each other, certainly, and also linked to the idea that, when given the freedom to choose, communitybased healing programs overwhelmingly include creative arts. The findings should be of interest to Aboriginal communities and organizations engaged in mental health and healing, policy makers, funding bodies, program managers, healers, counsellors, artists, governments, and academics. 1. The authors wish to acknowledge all of the people in communities and organizations who took the time to respond to the Creative Arts and Healing Survey at a time when many were also in the process of shutting down programs or closing their doors due to the winding down of Aboriginal Healing Foundation funding. A special thank you is also offered to the healers, counsellors, and therapists who shared their ideas and insights about creative arts, culture, and healing in telephone interviews and to Tsow-Tun Le Lum Healing Society, workshop facilitators, and participants for allowing researchers to participate in the “Honouring Your Grief” art therapy workshop.
Purification of viruses from non-mammalian cells and tissues

 OptiPrep is a 60% (w/v) solution of iodixanol in water, density = 1.32 g/ml  To access other Application Sheets referred to in the text return to the Virus Index; key Ctrl “F” and type the V-Number in the Find Box.  This Application Sheet describes principally the isolation of viruses (Phycodnaviridae) from algal cells (Section 1), but also viruses from protozoa (Section 2), nematodes (Section 3), marine arthropods (Section 4), plant cells (Section 5) and yeast (Section 6).  Note that Application Sheet V13 describes the purification of the Group I iridovirus isolated from an aquatic species (Singapore grouper fish)  Note that Application Sheet V38 describes the purification of bacteriophages
Formalizing space and place

The space/place dichotomy has long been recognized in geography, and more broadly in the social sciences. The geographic information technologies that have emerged in the past few decades are almost exclusively spatial, however. The concepts, principles, and tools of the spatial perspective are reviewed, along with their importance in facilitating multidisciplinary social science. Arguments for a comparable placial perspective are presented and discussed.