Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sex-specific evolution of bite performance in Liolaemus lizards (Iguania: Liolaemidae): the battle of the sexes

461.475 Although differential selective pressures on males and females of the same species may result in sex-specific evolutionary trajectories, comparative studies of adaptive radiations have largely neglected within-species varia- tion. In this study, we explore the potential effects of natural selection, sexual selection, or a combination of both, on bite performance in males and females of 19 species of Liolaemus lizards. More specifically, we study the evolution of bite performance, and compare evolutionary relationships between the variation in head morphology, bite performance, ecological variation and sexual dimorphism between males and females. Our results suggest that in male Liolaemus, the variation in bite force is at least partly explained by the variation in the degree of sexual dimorphism in head width (i.e. our estimate of the intensity of sexual selection), and neither bite force nor the morphological variables were correlated with diet (i.e. our proxy for natural selection). On the contrary, in females, the variation in bite force and head size can, to a certain extent, be explained by variation in diet. These results suggest that whereas in males, sexual selection seems to be operating on bite performance, in the case of females, natural selection seems to be the most likely and most important selective pressure driving the variation in head size. © 2010 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2010, 101, 461-475. ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: diet - ecomorphology - interspecific variation - natural selection - sexual differences - sexual selection.
Research of The Deeper Neural Networks

Neural networks (NNs) have powerful computational abilities and could be used in a variety of applications; however, training these networks is still a difficult problem. With different network structures, many neural models have been constructed. In this report, a deeper neural networks (DNNs) architecture is proposed. The training algorithm of deeper neural network insides searching the global optimal point in the actual error surface. Before the training algorithm is designed, the error surface of the deeper neural network is analyzed from simple to complicated, and the features of the error surface is obtained. Based on these characters, the initialization method and training algorithm of DNNs is designed. For the initialization, a block- uniform design method is proposed which separates the error surface into some blocks and finds the optimal block using the uniform design method. For the training algorithm, the improved gradient-descent method is proposed which adds a penalty term into the cost function of the old gradient descent method. This algorithm makes the network have a great approximating ability and keeps the network state stable. All of these improve the practicality of the neural network.
Correct Me if I'm Wrong: Groups Outperform Individuals in the Climate Stabilization Task

Avoiding dangerous climate change requires ambitious emissions reduction. Scientists agree on this, but policy-makers and citizens do not. This discrepancy can be partly attributed to faulty mental models, which cause individuals to misunderstand the carbon dioxide (CO2) system. For example, in the Climate Stabilization Task (hereafter, “CST”) (Sterman and Booth-Sweeney, 2007), individuals systematically underestimate the emissions reduction required to stabilize atmospheric CO2 levels, which may lead them to endorse ineffective “wait-and-see” climate policies. Thus far, interventions to correct faulty mental models in the CST have failed to produce robust improvements in decision-making. Here, in the first study to test a group-based intervention, we found that success rates on the CST markedly increased after participants deliberated with peers in a group discussion. The group discussion served to invalidate the faulty reasoning strategies used by some individual group members, thus increasing the proportion of group members who possessed the correct mental model of the CO2 system. Our findings suggest that policy-making and public education would benefit from group-based practices.
VaR limits for pension funds: an evaluation

This paper evaluates the effects of imposing Value-at-Risk (VaR) limits and quantitative restrictions on portfolio choices in the context of a risk-based supervision framework for defined contribution pension funds. It shows the conditions under which VaR constraints are equivalent to constraints on volatility. The paper also presents some further considerations that regulators should take into account when adopting a risk-based supervision framework when contributions are mandatory and a significant part of the pension depends on the performance of past investments.
Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition of Semiconducting Boron Carbide Thin Films on Silicon

Boron carbide thin films were grown on the (100) plane of n-type silicon in a low pressure chemical vapor deposition (CVD) system from the thermal decomposition of boron trichloride and methane reactant gases with hydrogen as a carrier gas. Boron trichloride to methane molar ratio was 5, while the boron trichloride to hydrogen molar ratio was 3.5. Thin film deposition was carried out at 900 degrees Celsius at 25 Torr. The thin films were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS), Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), and current-voltage characteristics. The crystallography of the boron carbide films were determined to be largely amorphous with some polycrystalline regions. One sample was analyzed via LIBS to have a boron to carbon ratio of approximately 2. The current-voltage characteristics of another sample were Ohmic in behavior with a resistance of 300 kiliOhms. These Ohmic characteristics were hypothesized to be caused by boron carbide deposition on both sides of the silicon wafer, which created a p-n-p heterostructure. The orientation of the silicon substrate during growth caused boron carbide deposition to occur on both sides of the wafers.
Changing Motor Unit Firing Frequencies With Force In The Human Biceps Brachii

An sEMG model of the human biceps brachii muscle has been implemented and populated with experimentally obtained motor unit parameters. Of particular interest are the differences between type I and type II muscle fibre characteristics. Needle electrode studies reveal that in addition to different action potential conduction velocities, the different fibre types have specific ranges of recruitment thresholds and firing-frequencies. In order to assess the effect of these parameters with force, simulations were conducted over a range of force levels from 30 – 80% of the maximum voluntary contraction (MVC). In addition, experiments were conducted on human participants to verify the accuracy of the implemented model to experimental results.
Application of Model Predictive Impedance Control (MPIC) in analysis of human walking on rough terrains

By using Model Predictive Impedance Control (MPIC), two essential questions about human walking control have been considered in this paper: Which parameters are controlled by the control system and what strategies are applied? As a general method, MPIC was proposed as a possible model for controlling human movements in the previous paper of one of the authors (1) and it was also applied to periodic movements such as walking (2). According to the acceptable results of primary experiences, a more realistic walking model is presented in this paper to be controlled by MPIC strategy. A 3-dimensional 5-link simulated walking robot with 8 degrees of freedom in sagittal and lateral planes is employed to be analyzed while being controlled on an irregular condition, like ascending and descending stairs. The objective of the controller is to optimize the energy consumption, vertical orientation of the body, and forward speed of its center of mass. Visual feedback effect is applied when the robot targets specific footprints over the walking terrain. Each optimization sequence has been applied during the prediction horizon with one human step duration. The results have been animated for comparison with natural walking of a human in similar conditions.
Sea surface temperature variability off southern Brazil and Uruguay as revealed from historical data since 1854

About 300,000 quality-controlled local reports from ships of opportunity were complemented with the data extracted from global data records to compile monthly series of sea surface temperature (SST) for the period 1854 to 1994 on a grid 1° × 1° in latitude and longitude. These historical data are used to investigate the variability off the coast of southern Brazil and Uruguay in a broad range of temporal scales from seasonal to secular. With respect to behavior at these scales, three distinct areas can be identified in the study region. The first one, located over the shelf and controlled by winter invasions of subantarctic water along with Rio de la Plata and Patos-Mirim discharges, is characterized by large annual range of SST (7° to over 10°C), energetic mean square variability (from 1.4 to 2.2°C2, after removal of seasonal signal), and an extremely high secular trend toward warming (1.2 to 1.6°C per 100 years), especially in the proximity of the estuaries. The second one, an area of the Brazil Current influence, exhibits smaller annual range (5° to 7°C) and mean square variability (1 to 1.4°C2). The secular trend is from 1° to 1.2°C per 100 years, smaller than observed in the shelf, but still high compared to the global average. The third area, which encompasses the eastern deep ocean part of the region away from the influence of either major currents or coastal discharges, exhibits less energetic variability at all examined scales, as compared to the rest of the region. Everywhere in the region, 50 to 80% of interannual variability is associated with periods smaller than 10 years; however, compared to the rest of the region, the shelf zone is characterized by a relatively large contribution from decadal and interdecadal scales. In austral winter a thermal front forms in the study region, separating warm tropical water associated with the Brazil Current and cold subantarctic water flowing northward on the shelf with an admixture of coastal freshwater discharges. The position of this frontal zone is subject to strong year-to-year changes. More than a half of the energy of these migrations resides at periods smaller than 10 years where the spectrum is fairly white. In the interdecadal part of the spectrum, at least three significant individual peaks can be identified, corresponding to periods of 47±2, 27±1, and 18 years.
Modeling infection risk and energy use of upper-room Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation systems in multi-room environments

The effectiveness of ultraviolet irradiation at inactivating airborne pathogens is well proven, and the technology is also commonly promoted as an energy-efficient way of reducing infection risk in comparison to increasing ventilation. However, determining how and where to apply upper-room Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation devices for the greatest benefit is still poorly understood. This article links multi-zone infection risk models with energy calculations to assess the potential impact of a Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation installation across a series of inter-connected spaces, such as a hospital ward. A first-order decay model of ultraviolet inactivation is coupled with a room air model to simulate patient room and whole-ward level disinfection under different mixing and ultraviolet field conditions. Steady-state computation of quanta-concentrations is applied to the Wells–Riley equation to predict likely infection rates. Simulation of a hypothetical ward demonstrates the relative influence of different design factors for susceptible patients co-located with an infectious source or in nearby rooms. In each case, energy requirements are calculated and compared to achieving the same level of infection risk through improved ventilation. Ultraviolet devices are seen to be most effective where they are located close to the infectious source; however, when the location of the infectious source is not known, locating devices in patient rooms is likely to be more effective than installing them in connecting corridor or communal zones. Results show an ultraviolet system may be an energy-efficient solution to controlling airborne infection, particularly in semi-open hospital environments, and considering the whole ward rather than just a single room at the design stage is likely to lead to a more robust solution.
Video Prediction via Selective Sampling

Most adversarial learning based video prediction methods suffer from image blur, since the commonly used adversarial and regression loss pair work rather in a competitive way than collaboration, yielding compromised blur effect. In the meantime, as often relying on a single-pass architecture, the predictor is inadequate to explicitly capture the forthcoming uncertainty. Our work involves two key insights: (1) Video prediction can be approached as a stochastic process: we sample a collection of proposals conforming to possible frame distribution at following time stamp, and one can select the final prediction from it. (2) De-coupling combined loss functions into dedicatedly designed sub-networks encourages them to work in a collaborative way. Combining above two insights we propose a two-stage network called VPSS (\textbf{V}ideo \textbf{P}rediction via \textbf{S}elective \textbf{S}ampling). Specifically a \emph{Sampling} module produces a collection of high quality proposals, facilitated by a multiple choice adversarial learning scheme, yielding diverse frame proposal set. Subsequently a \emph{Selection} module selects high possibility candidates from proposals and combines them to produce final prediction. Extensive experiments on diverse challenging datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of proposed video prediction approach, i.e., yielding more diverse proposals and accurate prediction results.
Comparative behaviour in terms of wear and corrosion resistance of galvanized and zinc-iron coated steels

Materials degradation due to simultaneous chemical and mechanical effects may occur under a variety of conditions. Galvanized and zinc-iron electrodeposited steels are widely used to protect automobile bodies against corrosion. In such applications, it is important to investigate the electrochemical and tribological behaviour of the coatings, in order to understand the behaviour of those surfaces in a tribological contact exposed to a corrosive environment. In the present paper, the evolution of open circuit potential, for both surfaces, was monitored during reciprocating sliding against an alumina pin in a 3% NaCl solution. The coatings are compared in terms of electrochemical behaviour by polarization tests, open circuit potential and friction coefficient during sliding; and loss of mass after sliding. The surface morphology, after sliding, was examined by SEM. Under the experimental conditions of the present study, the results found in terms of corrosion and wear resistance could be correlated to the differences in morphology, rugosity and composition of the two analysed surfaces.
The Rate And Associated Features Of Stillbirth Among Eclamptic And Preeclamptic Women

SUMMARY THE RATE AND ASSOCIATED FEATURES OF STILLBIRTH AMONG ECLAMPTIC AND PREECLAMPTIC WOMEN Objective: This study was performed to determine the rate of stillbirth among hypertensive pregnant women and to document the relation between stillbirth and various demographic, obstetric and laboratory parameters. Methods: Forty-three hypertensive women were enrolled the study. Stillbirth was defined as those infants born at 20 weeks gestation or later whose Apgar score was 0 at 1 and 5 minutes. Results: The rate of stillbirth was 18.6% among eclamptic and preeclamptic women. Gestational age was found significantly small in stillbirth group than live birth group (32.6±5.7 versus 36.9±3.3, p<0.05). The majority of stillbirth was identified at the eclamptic women (62.5%, p<0.05) and hellp syndrome was associated to the clinic course in the half of the stillbirth cases. The stillbirth group had significantly higher mean values of conjugated fraction of bilirubin and total bilirubin (p<0.01). There was only one case of intrapartum stillbirth among the 8 cases. None of the women had antenatal care in the stillbirth group. Conclusions: Eclamptic women especially complicated by Hellp syndrome had had a greater risk of stillbirth when compared to preeclamptic women. The majority of stillbirth had occurred before admission to hospital. Sufficient antenatal ca
New Varieties and the Returns to Commodity Fuji Apples

According to the Washington Apple Commission (WAC) advertising campaign slogan, 1997 was the “Year of the Fuji. ” Developed in Japan in 1958, growers in Washington state began growing Fujis in 1990. However, with nearly 11,000 bearing acres in 1997, Fujis became the third most popular apple in the state. Faced with marketing a product that had increased from virtually no supply at the beginning of the decade, to 3.1 million cartons in 1995–96, and to 6.9 million in 1996–97, Washington apple growers recognized the need for a Fujispecific promotional campaign. This varietyspecific focus is relatively unique among commodity promoters because, in many respects, it represents an attempt to establish a brand identity for what is usually regarded as a homogeneous commodity. Consequently, there was some concern as to whether this campaign would be as effective as previous generic-promotion efforts (Ward 1993), Apple varieties are like brands in that they identify a subset of a product category whose members are likely to share more characteristics in common with each other than other members of the cat-
Natural disasters and social capital formation: The impact of the Great Hanshin‐Awaji earthquake

The Great Hanshin-Awaji (Kobe) earthquake hit Japan in 1995, causing devastating damage to the economic landscape of southern-central Japan. However, the earthquake also caused people to realize the importance of social capital in Japan. Based on a large, individual-level database comprising 488,223 observations, this study investigates how and the extent to which the earthquake enhanced the investment in social capital through participation in community activity. The differences-in-differences method was used, and the following key findings were obtained: (1) In Japan, people were more likely to invest in social capital in 1996 than in 1991, (2) the effects of the earthquake decreased as the distance of one’s place of residence increased from Kobe, and (3) he earthquake significantly increased the social capital investment rate of Kobe residents, whereas it had no significant influence on the investment rate of residents of large cities close to Kobe.
Experimental study of the proposed super-thermal-conductor: BAs

Recent calculations predict a super-thermal-conductivity of ∼2000 Wm−1 K−1, comparable to that of diamond, in cubic boron arsenide (BAs) crystals, which may offer inexpensive insulators with super-thermal-conductivity for microelectronic device applications. We have synthesized and characterized single crystals of BAs with a zinc blende cubic structure and lattice parameters of a = 4.7830(7) A. A relatively high thermal conductivity of ∼200 Wm−1 K−1 is obtained, close to those of best non-carbon crystal insulators, such as SiC, although still an order of magnitude smaller than the value predicted. Based on our XPS, X-ray single crystal diffraction, and Raman scattering results, steps to achieve the predicted super-thermal conductivity in BAs are proposed.
Habitat selection and spatial relationships of black bears (Ursus americanus) with woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) in northeastern Alberta

Les populations de caribous des bois (Rangifer tarandus caribou (Gmelin, 1788)) affichent un declin sur une grande partie de leur aire. On croit que les loups (Canis lupus L., 1758) sont responsables de la majeure partie de la mortalite des caribous femelles adultes; nous emettons, neanmoins, l'hypothese selon laquelle d'autres predateurs, tels que les ours noirs (Ursus americanus Pallas, 1780), peuvent contribuer de facon importante a la mortalite des petits. Nous avons evalue la selection d'habitat chez l'ours noir et les relations spatiales caribous-ours noirs durant la saison de mise bas des caribous dans le nord-est de l'Alberta, Canada. Les ours noirs evitent les tourbieres hautes et basses, mais choisissent les boises mixtes des terres hautes ainsi que diverses installations industrielles. A l'inverse, les caribous montrent une forte selection pour les tourbieres hautes et basses par comparaison aux ours, ce qui appuie l'hypothese qui veut que les caribous dans la foret boreale essaient de minimiser leur risque de predation en choisissant des milieux tourbeux afin d'eviter les regions frequentees par les predateurs. Cependant, la selection d'habitat par les ours noirs individuels est tres variable et certains ours choisissent des habitats semblables a ceux selectionnes par les caribous, c'est-a-dire des tourbieres hautes et basses. Les ours qui recherchent leur nourriture dans les milieux tourbeux pourraient etre responsables d'une partie de la predation sur les petits des caribous. Parce les declins des caribous ont ete causes par une combinaison de fortes mortalites chez les femelles adultes et les petits, les operations de gestion pour la conservation des caribous des bois devraient tenir compte de l'ensemble complet des predateurs potentiels plutot que se concentrer seulement sur les loups.
Semigroups and weights for group representations

Let G be a finite group. Consider a pair χ = (χ+, χ−) of linear characters of subgroups P,P− of G with χ+ and χ− agreeing on P ∩ P−. Naturally associated with χ is a finite monoid Mχ. Semigroup representation theory then yields a representation θ of G. If θ is irreducible, we say that χ is a weight for θ. When the underlying field is the field of complex numbers, we obtain a formula for the character of θ in terms of χ+ and χ−. We go on to construct weights for some familiar group representations.
Higher Symmetries of the Laplacian via Quantization

We develop a new approach, based on quantization methods, to study higher symmetries of invariant differential operators. We focus here on conformally invariant powers of the Laplacian over a conformally flat manifold and recover results of Eastwood, Leistner, Gover and \v{S}ilhan. In particular, conformally equivariant quantization establishes a correspondence between the algebra of Hamiltonian symmetries of the null geodesic flow and the algebra of higher symmetries of the conformal Laplacian. Combined with a symplectic reduction, this leads to a quantization of the minimal nilpotent coadjoint orbit of the conformal group. The star-deformation of its algebra of regular functions is isomorphic to the algebra of higher symmetries of the conformal Laplacian. Both identify with the quotient of the universal envelopping algebra by the Joseph ideal.