Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessing Habitat Quality for a Migratory Songbird Wintering in Natural and Agricultural Habitats

Abstract: As tropical forests are cleared, a greater proportion of migratory songbirds are forced to winter in agricultural and disturbed habitats, which, if poorer in quality than natural forests, could contribute to population declines. We compared demographic indicators of habitat quality for a focal species, the American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla), wintering in Jamaican citrus orchards and shade coffee plantations with those in four natural habitats: mangrove, coastal scrub, coastal palm, and dry limestone forests. Demographic measures of habitat quality included density, age and sex ratio, apparent survival, and changes in body mass. Measures of habitat quality for redstarts in citrus and coffee habitats were generally intermediate between the highest (mangrove) and lowest (dry limestone) measurements from natural habitats. The decline in mean body mass over the winter period was a strong predictor of annual survival rate among habitats, and we suggest that measures of body condition coupled with survival data provide the best measures of habitat quality for nonbreeding songbirds. Density, which is far easier to estimate, was correlated with these more labor‐intensive measures, particularly in the late winter when food is likely most limiting. Thus, local density may be useful as an approximation of habitat quality for wintering migrant warblers. Our findings bolster those of previous studies based on bird abundance that suggest arboreal agricultural habitats in the tropics can be useful for the conservation of generalist, insectivorous birds, including many migratory passerines such as redstarts.
Information re-finding by context: a brain memory inspired approach

Re-finding what we have accessed before is a common behavior in real life. Psychological studies show that context under which information was accessed can serve as a powerful cue for information recall. "Finding the sweet recipe that I read at the hotel on the trip to Africa last year" is a context-based re-finding request example. Inspired by users' recall characteristics and human memory, we present a context memory model, where each context unit links to the data created/accessed before. Context units are organized in a clustering and associative manner, and evolve dynamically in life cycles. Based on the context memory, we build a recall-by-context query model. Two methods are devised to evaluate context-based recall queries. Our experiments with synthetic and real data show that evaluation exploring the use of context associations can get the best response time.
Gearbox-Induction Machine Bearing Fault Diagnosis Using Spectral Analysis

Induction motor-gearbox group vibrations, caused by bearing defects, result in the modulation of the stator current. In this research, bearing defect is detected using the stator current analysis and mechanical vibration. The advantage of this method is in the detection of incipient faults. Faulty balls in bearing suspension and eccentricity are the relatively common faults in induction motors coupled with a mechanical speed reducer, which are responsible for a significant number of induction system failures. These effects have been extensively investigated during the 80psilas and the 90psilas. Several methods have been developed for the identification of this kind of faults, originally based on thermal vibration monitoring and current monitoring. Motor current signature analysis (MCSA) is nowadays a widely used method for the detection of mechanical fault. In previous works numerous MCSA methods have been proposed. The purpose of this paper is the evaluation of asynchronous motor current signature analysis and vibration spectra approaches, in order to determine the faulty origin. This paper discusses the potentials of current spectral analysis combined with vibratory analysis. Although the discussion is focused on these electromechanical devices, most of the content can be applied to the mechanical diagnosis of a large variety of other systems.
Application of Web-GIS and Geovisual Analytics to Monitoring of Seabed Evolution in South Baltic Sea Coastal Areas

Abstract Regular surveys of coastal zone seabed deliver important information about geomorphologic processes such as silting of waterways. The recent introduction of the Sentinel series of sensors has allowed for the use of satellite sensing for shallow bathymetry morphology monitoring. In this context, this article presents a dedicated Geographic Information System for Baltic Sea shallow water depth monitoring on the basis of Sentinel-2 imagery. The system employs Geovisual Analytics for differential analysis of bathymetry changes as well as monitoring the visibility of known wrecks in the coastal waters of Southern Baltic Sea. Results are verified with regard to known changes in shallow water bathymetry between 28 June 2015 and 3 March 2017.
Tracking a moving target in cluttered environments using a quadrotor

We address the challenging problem of tracking a moving target in cluttered environments using a quadrotor. Our online trajectory planning method generates smooth, dynamically feasible, and collision-free polynomial trajectories that follow a visually-tracked moving target. As visual observations of the target are obtained, the target trajectory can be estimated and used to predict the target motion for a short time horizon. We propose a formulation to embed both limited horizon tracking error and quadrotor control costs in the cost function for a quadratic programming (QP), while encoding both collision avoidance and dynamical feasibility as linear inequality constraints for the QP. Our method generates tracking trajectories in the order of milliseconds and is therefore suitable for online target tracking with a limited sensing range. We implement our approach on-board a quadrotor testbed equipped with cameras, a laser range finder, an IMU, and onboard computing. Statistical analysis, simulation, and real-world experiments are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.
A semi-automated high-throughput approach to the generation of transposon insertion mutants in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

The generation of a large collection of defined transposon insertion mutants is of general interest to the Caenorhabditis elegans research community and has been supported by the European Union. We describe here a semi-automated high-throughput method for mutant production and screening, using the heterologous transposon Mos1. The procedure allows routine culture of several thousand independent nematode strains in parallel for multiple generations before stereotyped molecular analyses. Using this method, we have already generated >17 500 individual strains carrying Mos1 insertions. It could be easily adapted to forward and reverse genetic screens and may influence researchers faced with making a choice of model organism.
Integrating Non-Pollutant Indexes into Pollution Levy Calculation: Theory and Implications for the Pollution Control in Tibet, China

Pollut ion levy cal ls for a levy on the negative externality generating activity equal to its marginal external damage. In Tibet, it is difficult to compare the levy with the marginal social cost because the environmental damage originating from various non-pollutant factors vary significantly as the implementation of the Western China Development Strategy. This study presents an expression of the optimal pollution levy for regulating the negative externality released into Tibet environment of producing a national consumed resource. The result suggests there is still a considerable room for improving the effectiveness of the pollution levy through integrating the non-pollutant indexes into the levy calculation. Policy proposals for the further development of the current levy system are made.
Integrating Kano Model into Customer-Oriented Reputation Model in Higher Education

Facing many rapid changes and challenges in the ever-increasing competitive pressure, higher education institutions are becoming increasingly aggressive in their service activities to raise their public reputation that is concerned by their customers. Higher education institutions are increasingly focusing on determining critical service attributes in order to fulfill customer needs and build a strong public reputation. This aim can be realized through an integrated model of Kano Model and Customer Oriented Reputation Model using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The objective of this research is to develop an integrated model that acquires critical service attributes that can promote good public reputation for higher education institutions. This integrated model is illustrated empirically in case study of Industrial Engineering department of four famous private universities in Jakarta, Indonesia
A Mechanism for Chronic Filarial Hydrocele with Implications for Its Surgical Repair

Background Chronic hydrocele is the most common manifestation of bancroftian filariasis, an endemic disease in 80 countries. In a prospective study, we evaluated the occurrence of intrascrotal lymphangiectasia, gross appearance/consistency of the testis, and the efficacy of complete excision of hydrocele sac in patients living in a bancroftian filariasis endemic area who underwent hydrocelectomy at the Center for Teaching, Research and Tertiary Referral for Bancroftian Filariasis (NEPAF). Methodology/Principal Findings A total of 968 patients with uni- or bilateral filarial hydrocele (Group-1) and a Comparison Group (CG) of 218 patients from the same area who already had undergone hydrocele-sac-sparing hydrocelectomy elsewhere were enrolled at NEPAF. Twenty-eight patients from the Comparison Group with hydrocele recurrence were re-operated on at NEPAF and constitute Group-2. In Group-1 a total of 1,128 hydrocelectomies were performed (mean patient age of 30.3yr and mean follow-up of 8.6yr [range 5.3–12]). The hydrocele recurrence rates in Group-1 and in the Comparison Group (mean age of 31.5 yr) were 0.3%, and 19.3%, respectively (p<0,001). There was no hydrocele recurrence in Group-2 (mean patient age of 25.1yr and mean follow-up of 6yr [range 5–6.9]). Per surgically leaking or leak-prone dilated lymphatic vessels were seen in the inner or outer surface of the hydrocele sac wall or in surrounding tissue, particularly in the retrotesticular area, in 30.9% and in 46.3% of patients in Group-1 and Group-2, respectively (p = 0.081). The testicles were abnormal in shape, volume, and consistency in 203/1,128 (18%) and 10/28 (35.7%) of patients from Group-1 and Group-2, respectively (p = 0,025). Conclusions/Significance Lymph fluid from ruptured dilated lymphatic vessels is an important component of chronic filarial hydrocele fluid that threatens the integrity of the testis in an adult population living in bancroftian filariasis endemic areas. To avoid hydrocele recurrence the authors advise complete excision of hydrocele sac and when identified, leaking or leak-prone dilated lymphatic vessels should be sutured or excised.
Active video object extraction

This paper addresses the problem of intelligently extracting objects from videos. Our method assumes that the video making process is purposive and attempts to extract those objects that the original authors of the videos intended to capture. We accomplish this by analyzing three types of actions of the author (saccadic movements, smooth pursuits, and multi-baseline pursuits) in an active vision framework using dense 2D disparity vectors computed from successive frames of the video. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our algorithm using real video sequences.
Evaluation of set-based indices based on incremental sampling framework

This paper proposes a new framework for evaluation of set-based indices based on incremental sampling. Since these indices are defined by the relations between conditional attributes (R) and decision attribute(D), incremental sampling gives four possible cases according to the increment of sets for R or D. Using this classification, the behavior of indices can be evaluated for four cases. We applied this technique to several set-based indices. The results show that the evaluation framework gives a powerful tool for evaluation of set-based indices. Especially, it is found that the behavior of indices can be determined by a firstly given dataset.
Coal Use, Stove Improvement, and Adult Pneumonia Mortality in Xuanwei, China: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Background In Xuanwei County, China, unvented indoor coal burning is strongly associated with increased risk of lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, the impact of coal burning and stove improvement on risk of pneumonia is not clear. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study among all farmers born 1917 through 1951 and living in Xuanwei as of 1 January 1976. The analysis included a total of 42,422 cohort members. Follow-up identified all deaths in the cohort from 1976 through 1996. Ages at entry into and at exit from follow-up ranged from 24 to 59 years and from 25 to 80 years, respectively. The record search detected 225 deaths from pneumonia, and 32,332 (76%) were alive as of 31 December 1996. We constructed multivariable Cox models (time variable = age) to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results Use of coal, especially smokeless coal, was positively associated with pneumonia mortality. Annual tonnage and lifetime duration of smoky and smokeless coal use were positively associated with pneumonia mortality. Stove improvement was associated with a 50% reduction in pneumonia deaths (smoky coal users: HR, 0.521; 95% CI, 0.340–0.798; smokeless coal users: HR, 0.449; 95% CI, 0.215–0.937). Conclusions Our analysis is the first to suggest that indoor air pollution from unvented coal burning is an important risk factor for pneumonia death in adults and that improving ventilation by installing a chimney is an effective measure to decrease it.
Systems cell biology

Systems cell biology melds high-throughput experimentation with quantitative analysis and modeling to understand many critical processes that contribute to cellular organization and dynamics. Recently, there have been several advances in technology and in the application of modeling approaches that enable the exploration of the dynamic properties of cells. Merging technology and computation offers an opportunity to objectively address unsolved cellular mechanisms, and has revealed emergent properties and helped to gain a more comprehensive and fundamental understanding of cell biology.
Effect of environment on mechanical properties of bagasse fiber reinforced polymer composite

In recent years the natural fiber composites have attracted substantial importance as a potential structural material. The attractive features of natural fibers like jute, sisal, coir and banana have been their low cost, light weights, high specific modulus, renewability and biodegradability. Natural fibres are lignocellulosic in nature. These composites are gaining importance due to their non- carcinogenic and bio-degradable nature. The natural fiber composites can be very cost effective material especially for building and construction industry. However in many instances residues from traditional crops such as rice husk or sugarcane bagasse or from the usual processing operations of timber industries do not meet the requisites of being long fibers. Bagasse contains about 40% cellulose, 30% hemicellulose, and 15% lignin. The present use of bagasse is mainly as a fuel in the sugar cane mill furnaces. It is felt that the value of this agricultural residue can be upgraded by bonding with resin to produce composites suitable for building materials. Keeping this in view the present work has been undertaken to develop a polymer matrix composite (epoxy resin) using bagasse fiber as reinforcement and to study its mechanical properties and environmental performance. The composites are prepared with different volume fraction of bagasse fibers. Experiments have been conducted under laboratory conditions to asses the effect of different environment such as subzero, steam, saline water and natural conditions on the mechanical properties of the composites. The change in weight, volume and dimensions are studied for various treatments. Shear strength of the composites was evaluated by three point bend test as per ASTM D2344-84. The volume fraction of composites having greater mechanical properties was taken for the second phase of experimentation. The second phase of experiment involves treatment of bagasse fiber with acetone and study of their environmental performance. The fibers were washed in soxhlet extractor. Micro structural examinations were also made to get an idea about the effect of treated and untreated fibers on the mechanical properties of the composites.
How to recognize cognitive biases in risk perception in case of disasters:－Applying cognitive psychology to reduce damages in disasters－

One of the most important themes of psychology in relation to disasters is whether ordinary people can correctly recognize the risk of disasters or not. There are many examples in our history that people could not appropriately recognize the risk of disasters and failed to evacuate in time. As a result, they suffered from serious damages, which they might have avoided. Many psy- chological studies dealing with cognitive information processing in human reasoning and judgment process have pointed out a lot of cognitive biases that cause such inappropriate decision-makings in emergencies. In this paper, I outline the nature of cognitive biases from the view point of cognitive psychology, especially of“the normalcy bias”. Then I will suggest that characteristics of such cognitive biases should be taken into account in order to improve our capacity in various disasters.
Double Centrifugation Versus Single Centrifugation of Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate in Sinus Floor Elevation: A Pilot Study.

PURPOSE To evaluate the regenerative results of the addition of bone marrow aspirate concentrate, using a single or double centrifugation protocol, to a xenogeneic bone graft in sinus floor elevation. MATERIALS AND METHODS Using a randomized, controlled pilot study design in 15 consecutive patients, sinus floor elevation procedures were performed with a xenogenous bone graft alone (control group, CG) or associated with bone marrow aspirate concentrate obtained by single centrifugation (single centrifugation group, SCG) or double centrifugation (double centrifugation group, DCG). In the patients in the single and double centrifugation groups, bone marrow was harvested from the iliac bone. Six months after the grafting procedures, bone biopsy specimens were obtained during implant placement and were analyzed by histomorphometry. RESULTS Histomorphometric analysis revealed a great amount of vital mineralized tissue in SCG followed by DCG when compared with the CG (38.44 ± 12.34%, 34.63 ± 9.84%, and 27.30 ± 5.55%, respectively). SCG and DCG presented smaller amounts of nonvital mineralized tissue when compared with the CG (13.70 ± 7.50%, 19.63 ± 8.35%, and 22.79 ± 9.60%, respectively), thus presenting higher levels of resorption. Although these differences were not statistically significant (P > .05), a tendency toward bone gain in the experimental groups (SCG and DCG) was found. All groups (SCG, DCG, and CG) showed similar levels of nonmineralized tissue (47.87 ± 6.31%, 45.73 ± 7.33%, and 49.90 ± 7.64%, respectively). CONCLUSION This pilot study indicates that the clinical use of bone marrow aspirate concentrate, obtained by either a single or double centrifugation process, combined with a xenograft for maxillary sinus elevation seems to result in more adequate bone repair. However, clinical trials with a larger number of patients are required.
Ecosystem‐based environmental flow assessment in a Greek regulated river with the use of 2D hydrodynamic habitat modelling

Despite the long‐term research on the use of hydraulic‐hydrodynamic habitat models (HHMs) for predicting the response of aquatic biota to habitat alteration, their practical application in model‐based environmental flow assessments (EFAs) has been limited due to reasons mainly associated with cost‐effectiveness, time‐efficiency, required expertise, and availability of hydroecological information. In this study, we demonstrate a cost‐effective and time‐efficient application of a benthic‐invertebrate, two‐dimensional, fuzzy rule‐based EFA in a 277‐m long reach in the downstream route of a regulated river in western Greece. Apart from developing ecosystem‐based environmental flow (eflow) scenarios, we highlight the valuable features of HHMs, comment on their disadvantages, and propose working solutions to overcome them. The results of the study show that the hydrology‐based eflow of 0.2 m3/s, initially proposed by the managing authorities, is not sufficient to ensure the long‐term functionality of the downstream benthic communities, as the ecosystem‐based eflow ranged between 0.6 and 2 m3/s. As social resilience relies heavily on ecological resilience, ecosystem‐based approaches can ensure the sustainability of aquatic ecosystems. This study demonstrates, inter alia, that HHMs‐based EFAs can be implemented cost‐effectively and time‐efficiently to serve as an accurate scientific basis for water managers and stakeholders, in search of the fine balance between anthropogenic water demand and long‐term ecosystem integrity and functionality.
What Affects User Adoption of Instant Messaging in China? An Empirical Study

Instant messaging (IM) is a popular Internet application around the world. In China, the competition in the IM market is very intense and there are over ten IM products available. However, many of these products are not well accepted by Internet users and they only have small market shares. These companies are eager to know what factors determine user's acceptance of IM. In this paper, we examine the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations that affect Chinese users' acceptance of IM based on the technology acceptance model (TAM) and flow theory. Results demonstrate that users' perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived playfulness and flow experience significantly influence their attitude towards using IM, which in turn impacts their behavioral intention. Users' intention determines their actual usage behavior. Moreover, perceived playfulness has a significant impact on the flow experience.
Simulator of Organic Rankine Cycle

A program package was developed to simulate the operation of an organic Rankine cycle system. The brine ejected from a geothermal plant usually is directly injected back through the injection well into the ground. The brine, however, with a flow rate of 3.125 kg/s and temperature range of 150°C to 170°C is considered to still contain significant amount of useful heat. The waste heat from the brine may be utilized to generate power using the Rankine cycle with working fluid of organic substances. Several organic substances such as R227ea, R124, R236ea, and R245fa are suitable to be uitilized as the working fluid. The simulation program package was developed using MATLAB that has been coupled with CoolProp. It can be used for simulation study of the thermal efficiency and working effectiveness of the system.